Page 77 of Wolf's Endgame

“Willomenia, have I ever boasted about my sex life before?” Cannon asked with a dry tone that made the desert seem lush. When the woman shook her head, he looked over at me. “Well, I could start now, but I’m worn out.” Several of the pack laughed at his playfulness and my reddening cheeks. “Kezia, as you all know, is my mate.” He pulled me into his side. “My true mate. And I am delighted that we have made it official.” Cannon bared his neck, showing the silvery scar of my bite. “Kezia?”

Blushing furiously, I moved my hair aside to show my own mate mark. Causing the hall to cheer loudly.

“Well, thank Luna for that,” Willy said loud enough for everyone to hear. “If I had to listen to either of you naysaying it one more time, I was going to paddle your behinds myself.”

Cannon faked a wince, which made the hall laugh, but as he grew sober once more, so did his pack. “I would love to tell you that was the only reason we were here…but I’ve never lied to my pack.” Cannon’s hand took mine and we stood together, united, when he told his pack we were at war. “As you know, Pack Leader Bale of the Anterrio Pack took my mate and her family hostage. They recruited one of our own pack to betray me, and with the inadvertent help of another of this pack, they sought to break the mate bond.”

There had been a low rumbling when he told them I was taken hostage, but there was outright fury at the fact they sought to remove a mate bond.

“An alpha’s mate is a gift from the Goddess,” Cannon told them. He tugged on the end of my hair, causing me to look up at him. “A fact that this one tried to deny for the longest time.” He grinned as there was a general chuckle around the room. “But the bond is sacred. We all know that, and even thinking of breaking it is a crime against Luna.”

Confused, I looked up at my alpha. “Weren’t we thinking of breaking it?” I whispered quickly.

“And don’t you think she has punished us for that?”

I had nothing to say to that. It was all very well and good for me to accept that the mate bond itself was a gift from Luna, but all the bad stuff that had happened? Was that my punishment for thinking I could run from my mate?

To be honest…I didn’t want the Goddess to be watching me that closely.

“Anterrio Pack has lost their way,” Cannon spoke above the murmuring of voices. “Not only did they take my mate, they caged her brother, their head of security and a trusted beta, along with his mate. When we found them and broke them free, they both wore collars of silver around their wolf forms.”

The murmuring this time was more of a rush of anger that swelled around us.

“The pack leader of the Anterrio Pack conspired with Tev to strike me down. He gave him the blade that struck me, knowing the damage that silver can do.” Cannon let that sink in, and I wondered how many of his pack knew that he had been stabbed with silver. “They have threatened us. They have struck against your alpha, they have chained your alpha’s mate and her brother with silver, they have tried to assault my mate. This needs to end.” He looked around the room. “Too many of us have turned our heads in regards to this pack. They are not different, they are not an anomaly. They are dangerous and manipulative, and they need to be stopped.” He looked at his pack, meeting their curious or angry glances head-on. “You are my pack. Will you fight with me?”

“I’m insulted you ask us, Alpha,” a man at the back spoke, his voice filled with amusement. I recognized him from somewhere but couldn’t quite place where. The moment our gazes met, a wave of familiarity swept over me. It wasn’t until he crossed his arms over his chest that I remembered where I knew him from—the fighting ring. He had been beside Royce the night that Cannon faced me in the ring.

Cannon wasn’t insulted by the male’s forthrightness, and he shared a grin with him that spoke volumes. “I wasn’t asking the likes of you, Ned; you’re with me regardless.”

Ned laughed and I noticed several others did too. The more I looked at the pack, the more I realized there were several males like Ned scattered throughout it, and knowing the sneakiness of my alpha, I wondered how random their randomness actually was.

“You be needing us all, Alpha?” The male who spoke this time was the one who had a limb missing, and I struggled to remember his name.

“I will.” Cannon held his stare. “This is my pack, and while I am an Alpha, I will listen to your concerns. If the will of the pack is to stay out of this one, then I will do everything in my power to keep my pack from my fight.” His eyes swept the room. “But I will go forward with my plan to bring the pain to Bale like he has to me.”

The male nodded. “I understand,” he said, his attention shifted to me. “And for Zia, I think we all do. Silver collars sound like a whole lot of hurt, and we don’t want any of that here. But…” He rubbed his limb, and I saw the flush to his cheeks.

Vic. His name was Vic, I remembered now.

“I grew up in the Anterrio Pack.” I stepped forward as I spoke. “I didn’t know pack life could be so different until you welcomed me in.” Taking a deep breath, I continued to share my story. “I was shunned most of my life. I mean, who wants a white-haired girl, who had to be forced not to shift, around their kin? I was considered unstable, unpredictable, wild.” My voice held a bitterness that I thought I had left behind me. “I shifted as a babe.”

Looking at my brother, I beckoned him forward. “This is Kris, my brother, he’s an alpha. Bale took us both in, and he knew when he did so who my brother was. He told me recently that he realized who I was not long after. You see, our parents were nomads. My mom came from the Anterrio Pack. You may have known her. Her name was Andrea.” I heard the slight murmurings.

“Your mom’s hair was darker than yours,” Vic said gruffly. “Was always in trouble too, if I recall,” he added with a wink.

“It runs in the family,” I said with what I hoped was a carefree shrug. “I learned recently that Bale was quite keen to secure my mom as his wife. I guess us standing here tells you he was unsuccessful. My mom met her mate and together they opted to be nomads. They had Kris and then me.” Swallowing hard, I watched the faces of the pack as they listened. “Bale murdered my parents. He shot them with silver, then shot their son and the wolf pup that was with him.” I pointed at myself as tears spilled over. “Only I wasn’t just a wolf pup. Through the grace of the Goddess, I lived, and so did my brother. Kris tried to raise me, but I am mischievous like my mom, I guess.” I smiled at Vic. “And so Kris went to the nearest pack and asked them to let us join them. He didn’t know that he was seeking refuge from the very male who took our family from us. He didn’t know that he was a beta in a murderer’s pack until the night he realized that his mate was Bale’s daughter.”

There were more rumblings amongst the pack.

“Not only did Bale have his lost obsession’s children in his pack, but one was also an alpha and mated to his daughter.” I took in a shaky breath. “I’ve done bad shit in my life. I fought in human fighting rings for money, never knowingly using my wolf strength, but I wasn’t fighting fair, I know that now. I’ve stolen from humans, disrespected pack law, and done it all to survive.” Deadly silence greeted me. “But my brother hasn’t. My brother is so good it’s…well, it’s kind of sickening.” A few of the pack chuckled. “He’s the kind of male who’ll let you have the last of the meatloaf even if it’s your second helping and he’s had nothing. He’ll stay up all night with you if you think there’s a monster in the shadows under your bed, even though he’s worked a double shift and must do the same the next day. He’s the kind of male who worked tirelessly to make us fit into a pack that didn’t want me. And it was that same pack that Luna mated him to.”

Kris stood beside me, his expression solemn, but when he glanced at me, I saw the emotion in his eyes.

“Yes, Bale took me, yes, he beat me and almost raped me.” I ignored the gasps. “And yes, Bale told his son that if I wasn’t going to be tamed, then I would be given to the men to ease their stress.” I heard the low growl from beside me and plunged on, knowing if I looked at Cannon now, I’d be too emotional to continue. “But I am not here in front of you for me. Those bastards put a silver knife in your alpha, not once, but twice. They left him to die. Those fuckers put collars of silver around my brother’s neck for being an alpha and a mate to that sick, twisted fuck’s daughter. Don’t fight for me.”

I met every one of their stares as I continued, “I’m not worth it; I deserve what Luna punishes me with. I don’t deserve your alpha, but he is mine and I will die before I let him fight this alone, and I hope you feel the same. Fight for Cannon, avenge him. Fight for my brother and his mate. Fight for what you know is right. The Anterrio Pack has evil within it, and it needs to be stopped. Fight for that, for justice, and for Kris, an alpha who deserves to lead. For his mate, who did nothing other than be mated to the son of an enemy long dead.”

The silence in the hall was heavy, and I decided it was now or never to purge my soul.