Page 38 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
“Why does your alpha want you dead?”
Astra stumbles slightly, catching herself against a tree trunk. She doesn’t turn around, but her shoulders tense up. “It’s complicated.”
“I have time.”
She continues walking, her pace deliberately slow. I can practically hear her mind racing, trying to decide how much to tell me.
“Astra.”
“Fine.” She stops abruptly, turning to face me with her chin raised defiantly. “The King issued a decree. Each pack had to send their strongest female to mate with warriors from other packs. Cross-pack breeding or something.”
I keep my expression neutral, though my blood is already starting to simmer. “And?”
“And Alpha Gareth was supposed to send his strongest female to the Blue Crest Pack.” Her laugh is bitter. “That should have been Harper, his precious daughter.”
“But he sent you instead.”
“He tried to.” She starts moving again, her knuckles white where she grips her walking stick. “But I ran away before they could deliver me.”
The pieces are starting to fall into place, and I don’t like the picture they’re forming. “Why you?”
She’s quiet for so long, I think she’s not going to answer. When she finally speaks, her tone of voice hasn’t changed.
“Because I’m expendable.”
The casual way she says it, like it’s a simple fact instead of a devastating condemnation of her entire pack, makes my insides twist violently.
“Explain.”
“The Blue Crest Pack hates us. Two years ago, they asked for help when their pack was attacked and their healers were killed. Alpha Gareth refused to send any of ours because Blue Crest sides with the Council faction that wants to eliminate hybrids.” She pauses to catch her breath, favoring her injured leg. “They’ve been looking for revenge ever since.”
“So, sending anyone there would be a death sentence.” I told my father the decree was a bad idea. But the old geezer is too stubborn.
“Exactly.” Her smile is sour and humorless. “Alpha Gareth couldn’t risk his daughter. She’s too valuable, too loved. He decided to send the pack freak instead.”
“And you were supposed to accept that?”
“What choice did I have?” She whirls around to look at me, her eyes blazing. “He’s the alpha! His word is law! I was supposed to march to my death like a good, little sacrificial lamb!”
The fury in her voice matches the rage building in my chest, but there’s something else there now, too: a resignation that’s far worse than anger.
“You said you were expendable,” I say carefully. “Why?”
Her laugh is hollow. “Because I don’t have a wolf. Because I can’t shift. Because I’m weak and useless and—” She cuts herself off, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It matters.” I find myself putting my hand on her shoulder. “Latent shifters are supposed to be protected, not sacrificed for political convenience.”
She stares at me like I’ve spoken a foreign language. “Protected?”
“Yes, protected. Latent shifters have the ability to integrate into human society and learn from—” I stop myself. “Your alpha violated about a dozen laws by trying to use you in that way.”
“Laws?” Her voice is faint with disbelief. “There are laws about how to treat people like me?”
The fact that she doesn’t know this makes me see red. What kind of pack keeps their members ignorant of their own rights?
“Who else knows what he tried to do to you?”
“Everyone, I suppose. It wasn’t exactly a secret that I was going to be sent to Blue Crest.” She starts walking again, more slowly now. “Most of the pack probably thought I deserved it.”
