Page 36 of Marked for the Pack

“Yes, we can head out tomorrow.” He paused. “Will do.” After another pause, he growled, “Understood.”

His footsteps wandered to the front door, and I heard it bang closed behind him. Only then did I emerge from the safety of my room.

I looked around to find Flint and Heath in the kitchen. A wide smile cracked Heath’s serious expression, but that smile soon dropped.

“What’s on your mind, little wolf?”

I gestured toward the front door. “I… just remembered that Shante said Gage’s father was the Frost Fang pack alpha. Is that why Gage hates women? Did she kill his father to become pack alpha?”

In some packs, pack alpha status was inherited, like how Luka would’ve become the Ironwood pack alpha after Jameson. But pack alpha status could also be taken in one-on-one combat.

Had Nira killed Gage’s father and stolen his birthright? If so, I could understand why he hated her. Though that didn’t explain his hatred of other women.

I glanced over at Flint as he turned off the burner and faced me. He and Heath shared a look.

“This is Gage’s story to tell—” Heath started just as Flint answered, “No, Nira didn’t kill Gage’s father.”

Heath frowned and crossed his arms, and I came into the kitchen, hungry for breakfast, hungry for the story I’d been piecing together for so long… and still hungry for something else, but I pushed that hunger down. Now definitely wasn’t the time. Not when I might finally understand what had happened before I met these men.

“She killed his brother,” Flint went on. “His littermate.”

Heath gave a short chuckle and shrugged as if to say, ‘I guess we’re doing this.’

Then he added, “That was after Garth fucked Nira right in front of Gage. His own brother bit and claimed her to prove she never actually loved Gage.”

I reeled in shock. “Nira… and Gage?”

Flint came to me and took my hand before kissing it. “Ancient history, moonbeam. This all happened after I was already kicked out of the pack. Why don’t we eat breakfast, and then Gage can answer any questions you have.”

“Maybe we should tell her, after all,” Heath muttered. “So that Gage doesn’t need to relive it.”

His concern for his packmate left me feeling a strange sort of jealousy. Why couldn’t he show me any of that kindness?

Flint set a full plate down in front of me. “Fine, where should we start?”

“This is why Gage hates women so much?” I asked. “Because of something one woman did? And after the way his own brother screwed him over, why doesn’t he hate men just as much?”

“No,” the venom in Heath’s voice surprised me. “Nira orchestrated her rise to power. There’s a lot more to it than that. She even played me against him at one point. She made mequestion why Garth was next in line to become pack alpha, not Gage.”

“Which was a valid question,” Flint pointed out as he fixed himself a plate.

“Yes, but it was because she was busy seducing Gage at the time,” Heath growled. “She saw Gage as her ticket to power in a pack that wouldn’t normally recognize female leadership. She wanted them to become the alpha pair. But Gage didn’t want to betray his brother or his father’s trust by challenging Garth for pack alpha. When she realized Gage wouldn’t give her what she wanted, she began plotting behind his back. Nira got all of his father’s mates on her side. After the old pack alpha died, she convinced all of them to support Garth, even Gage’s own mother.”

“But that was always the plan,” Flint pointed out. “For Garth to become the next pack alpha.”

“True, but Nira was always a few steps ahead. She knew that once Garth claimed her as his mate, she couldn’t act against him without him sensing it through the mate bond,” Heath said. “So, she needed allies. Since Garth didn’t allow her to bite him back, he had all the power. He could sense her sneaking around behind his back. He thought she was cheating on him with Gage again, and she encouraged his jealousy. She wanted Gage out of the picture.”

“But Nira and Garth were already the alpha pair.” I shook my head, not understanding her motivations. “She had the power she wanted. Why did she care about Gage?”

I’d never wanted power over others. Only power over my own life, to live on my own terms. Her motivations made no sense to me.

Heath snuck in a bite while I was talking, and he swallowed before answering. “That wasn’t good enough for Nira. With the one-sided mate bond, Garth still had more power than shedid. But she knew that if she acted against Garth, Gage would challenge her for pack alpha status. She couldn’t beat Garth or Gage alpha-on-alpha through combat. So she encouraged Garth’s jealousy, and he eventually kicked Gage out of the pack.”

“His own brother,” Flint growled. “His own littermate.”

Heath nodded. “I followed Gage into exile. It was only later that we learned Garth had been killed, and Nira had taken over as the sole pack alpha. To thwart the mate bond, Nira probably got the other women to do the deed, but we knew who was really behind it.”

I stared at the two of them as I processed everything Heath had just informed me. Flint frowned, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

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