Page 48 of Alpha Fate

“Sure you did. And now she’s all you’re thinking about.” She reaches for a water bottle and takes a deep swig. She’s barely broken a sweat while I’m dripping with it.

“I wouldn’t say that.” If I was honest, I would admit it, though.

“Well, I think you are.” She mirrors my thoughts. “You’re practically oozing hormones from every pore. I don’t get it with you men.” She rolls her eyes. “Jagger’s lost his fucking mind, too. These damned intruders are messing with our pack.”

“They’re not intruders, Stone; they need our help. And that’s what we do. We help wolves in need.” I’m struggling with the laces on my gloves, and Casey’s not helping me. I don’t expect her to. She’s pissed at me. At all of this. She’s suspicious of strangers, and who can blame her? Her entire pack was taken out by a group of renegade wolves pretending to be passing through their territory. She went from a happy little she-wolf to an angry orphan in one fell swoop. Still, it doesn’t mean I’m going to let her badmouth the twins.

“We do it too much, if you ask me. First those females, and now there’s another one.”

“The male.” My jaw sets. “Edirn.”

“That’s the one.” She throws out a hand. “I get it with the omega women…kinda. But why the fuck do we need yet another alpha male in the pack? And on top of it, he’s from Leadmills.” She glares straight ahead. “They should have put him down when they found him. Or left him for dead.”

“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think? He was the one who helped us, remember?”

What the fuck? You’re defending him now?

I must have lost my mind when she hit me in the head.

Casey’s not convinced. “Who knows why he did that? Could’ve been a ploy. A way to get in here. Make us think he was on our side, then worm his way in. Take us out from the inside. Or gather intel.”

“Well, he picked a pretty rough way to do it. From what I hear, he might not pull through.” I feel guilty as I say that. It’s probably our fault he’s in bad shape. Even if he wasn’t killed in the skirmish when we left, they would’ve taken him out when they realized he’d turned on them. And I’m sure that’s what he did.

Unless Casey’s right, and it’s all just a ploy. Seems a bit of a stretch to me, but I can’t put anything past Rack’s bunch. They’re basically feral, but they’re smart with it.

Meanwhile, Savannah’s at his bedside, even as we speak. I clench my jaw so hard that my molars grind.

“Looks like you don’t need me to break your teeth. You’re doing it yourself.” Casey cocks her head at me. “Trouble in paradise?”

“Hardly paradise.” I exhale through my nose. “I’m not even supposed to be hanging around her. Sierra’s got it in for me for some reason.”

“Right. Couldn’t possibly be because of your sunny disposition.”

“Fuck off, Stone. It’s more than that. Anyway, that’s not what’s bothering me.” I stare off at a spot in the distance, making a point of not grinding my teeth again.

“So…you gonna tell me what is bothering you? Or are you just gonna leave that comment hanging there?”

I run a hand through my sweat-dampened hair. “Savannah…” I fight down another wave of that annoying jealousy. “She went to the clinic. To check on Edirn.”

“Ah.”

“What do you mean, ‘ah’?” I look at her.

“Nothing. Just…” Casey fiddles with the hem of her gym shorts.

“Just what?”

“Well, he did save her, after all. No wonder she wants to see him.”

“I saved her, dammit! Why does everyone keep forgetting that? I found her there in those stinking cells. I promised I’d go back. And I did.” My hands have curled into fists. I consciously relax them.

“Yeah. With us. We helped. He was there on his own, putting his life at risk.” She lifts a shoulder in a half-shrug.

“Oh, so now you think he’s a good guy?”

“I’m not saying that. But Savannah might think that he is. I can’t say I’d blame her. If I were in her shoes, maybe I’d want to go and thank him in person, too. And maybe a little more.” She gives a sly wink, and I’m back to grinding my teeth again.

“You’re not helping,” I grumble.

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