Page 18 of Tangled Fates

I tried to walk away again, but Hudson used his entire body to block me off. “Why the hell would you want to do that to her? After everything else she’s been through? How could you even suggest breaking that kind of bond with her?”

I tilted my head as my face settled into stone. “You seemed pretty adamant earlier about not sharing her with anyone. Are you seriously defending this shitshow now? I mean, this way, you wouldn’t have to. We could go on about our lives, fix what she’s broken with this pack already, and you could have her all to yourself. That’s what you want, right?”

Dean came up to stand beside Hudson. “Things are tense right now, I get it. But going against our magic? Our fate? It’s never been done before.”

“A first time for everything,” I growled.

“Levi!” Hudson bellowed.

“Look,” I said curtly, “she’s half human. Is it really fair of us to force something onto her that she doesn’t understand? She’s clueless, and that’s why she’s driving this fucking place into the ground. We’re already pushing her to be Alpha. To take control of a pack that didn’t raise her or educate her or even come to love her. We want her to take control of a place that rejected her. But now, we’re asking her to be our mate? For all three of us? How the fuck is that any fairer than what I’ve suggested?”

Hudson and Dean looked at one another for a long time before Hudson took a step back. For the first time in my life, I watched him back down from a fight, and that meant I had really resonated with something inside of him. Did I like rejection? No. But did anyone? Hell fucking no. And Raven had been rejected her entire life. From this pack. From her family. Hell, even her mother made it seem like she had been rejected by her own damn father.

Did we really want someone like that leading us? Loving us? Providing us families and leading us into war? Did we really want someone who fled at the first sign of stress? Who couldn’t seem to handle the life everyone kept telling her she was more than suited to fit? She trusted no one around her. She believed no one around her. She wanted no one around her.

Was she honestly suited for this role?

Or were we putting up with this shit because of Colin’s will and testament?

“He might be right, you know,” Dean murmured.

Hudson raked his hands down his face. “You can’t be serious.”

Dean shrugged. “As much as it would kill me, I do agree with what Levi just said. It’s drastic, but so is this entire situation. And can we really force her to—Hudson!”

“Shit,” I hissed.

I grabbed Dean’s hand and ripped him backward as Hudson dropped to the ground on all fours. The bombastic roar that peeled from his throat rooted me to my place as he began to shift. The black hair of his wolf peeked through his skin. Those brooding brown eyes of his flickered between ebony and onyx as his entire body started to grow. Clothes ripped. Stitches popped. His screaming turned into howling that practically rattled the ground we stood upon.

And as he shifted into his demon dog, those wide black eyes of his locked on us.

Which meant we were his targets.

6

HUDSON

The two of you are despicable.

“Hudson?” Dean asked. “Take a deep breath and realize where you are.”

I took a step toward them. I know exactly where I am, and I’m standing in front of two cowards, from what I can see.

Levi shook his head. “That’s not fair and you know it.”

I barked at them. Life isn’t fair! Since when did you two pussies start wanting it easy?!

Levi tilted his head. “Again, this is coming from the man that has proclaimed on many occasions that he doesn’t share.”

Dean nodded. “I’m a bit taken aback too, Hudson. Why the hell are you so upset right now?”

I stalked toward them, my wolf looming and cloaking them in my shadow. Because if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s disloyalty. And the two of you reek of its stench.

Levi’s eyebrows rose. “Because we don’t want to be stuck being unhappy for the rest of our lives with some woman that doesn’t even want us?”

I howled toward the sky. Because you refuse to fight. Colin would be disgusted.

Dean lunged at me. “You take that back, you sorry son of a bitch.”

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