Page 52 of Forced By the Alpha

“I won’t leave,” she said, over a desultory rumble of thunder.

Devon couldn’t trust his own ears. Perhaps in his yearning, he had heard only what he wished.

“I won’t try to track you down,” he said, daring a glance at her.

She was looking at him, and he recognized the proud tilt of her chin and the fire in her eyes. How quickly he had learned to read her.

“I won’t be leaving.” She rose and leaned against the mantle, the glow illuminating her face. “I won’t pretend I didn’t consider it, after Emma attacked me, but I was only fearful for our child’s safety, and of the decision you’d be forced to make. Between me and Emma.”

“It would be you, of course. How could it be anything but?” He held back from repeating his declaration of love, though it stuck to the tip of his tongue.

She hadn’t reciprocated, and that was her choice, he wouldn’t push it. He could hardly blame her for not falling in love with the man who had kidnapped her, but the hope that she would come to one day bloomed.

Finally, she came to him. Beth settled onto his lap, curling up in his arms, and he rested his chin on her still-drying hair. The physical closeness was a balm. If he could not hold her heart, at least he could hold her.

“We both want to protect our packs,” she said, tracing the patch of hair at the center of his chest. He shivered at her touch. “How can I blame you for doing the same thing I’ve been doing? But I think it’s obvious now that we can’t continue until our goals align. Not happily, anyway.”

“What will it take for you to be happy staying here? What can I do?” Devon was ready to promise her anything, but knew that empty promises wouldn’t suffice. Whatever he said, he had to mean it. Could he truly exile Emma, his own sister? He would lose both of his siblings then.

It was quiet for a long time. He held her, beginning to wonder if she’d fallen asleep with her head on his chest, the fire warming their sides.

“I don’t want to lie to the pack about us anymore. They must accept a Rosewood as one of their leaders. Tomorrow, we’ll stand before them together.”

It would be a hard sell. They might accept a Rosewood as their alpha’s mate, but accepting her as a leader was another thing entirely, and one that would be hard for them to swallow. Their deceptive plan was intended to skirt that, but Emma’s reaction to the pregnancy had proven that the plan was a flimsy one. Better to be honest and deal with the fallout, then continue walking on cracked glass.

“Very well,” he said, and the words hung in the air, drying like ink on a contract, sealing his fate.

Chapter 19 - Beth

She felt powerful as a wolf. Running with a pack beside her was intoxicating and heady, a feeling she couldn’t get enough of. At times, she never wanted to shift back to a human. Things were simpler as a wolf. Words were sparse, and much could be solved with a growl. Even a fractured pack could come together in a hunt, moving as one, their howls and barks like a shared song between them.

It was her first hunt as a White Winter. She’d joined it only after everyone had shifted, saving herself the sideways glances and the remarks. If the other wolves were cold toward her, it lasted only as long as the first break of prey from the brush. In the thrill of the hunt, all was forgotten. She and Emma were in the lead, on the heels of a buck.

The ground was slick from yesterday’s rain, and the deer was struggling, hooves slipping in the muck as it bounded through the forest. She could sense Devon somewhere to her left, behind her shoulder, ready to head the buck off should it dart in another direction. Her muscles flexed under fur.

Undergrowth cracked as the buck charged through it, whipping back toward the two wolves. They ducked under it as one and continued on, gaining on the beast. This part of the forest was vast, stretching all the way to the coastline, and it was new to Beth. The trees were skyscrapers, extending impossibly high, and vines roped from trunk to trunk.

Moss encased the trunks, dotted with mushrooms that were nothing but red and white blurs as they passed. She leaped off a log, landing in front of the buck, teeth bared. It spun and met Emma, standing tall atop the fallen tree. The buck was frothing with sweat, nostrils flared red, but it wasn’t yet beaten. It ducked to the side and took off again, Devon snapping at its heels.

She needed this, she thought as she ran, closing the distance between herself and her mate. Needed this to prove herself to the pack. Sunlight dappled the ground in front of her, shafts breaking through the canopy. Her time spent captive had done her endurance no favors, and she shared the buck’s heavy breathing and aching legs.

But this was not the time to give in to her body’s demands. She dug deep inside of herself and broke even with Devon, following the beacon of the buck's white tail. Its antlers caught in a vine, and the beast stumbled before wrenching them free. Devon and Beth were gaining on it.

She was pleased to see that Devon was not holding back, not even for her. Beth would never have forgiven him for it. Better to lose fairly than win in that way. But she still intended to win.

The forest had other ideas. A sloping hill led down to a stream, more than twenty feet across. They scrambled down the embankment, falling more than running now. Beth leapt. It was now or never as the deer approached the water's edge. Her teeth caught its leg, raking fur and flesh from it but too late, the buck was in the air, leaping across the stream in a single bound she couldn’t hope to match,

Trapped on the wrong side of the water, she let loose a howl. The other wolves skidded to a halt beside her, in time to see the deer depart on shaky legs, a ragged strip of fur hanging from its flank.

After the rainstorm, the stream was too violent to wade through. The current would pull them down to be buffeted by the rocks. Frustrated, they paced up and down the bank.

“At least you blooded it,"Devon offered, nuzzling Beth’s shoulder.

“It’s not enough,”she thought back. Not enough to impress the White Winters. She’d had her chance, and it hadn’t been good enough.

But Emma’s golden eyes were not mocking, now. She held a begrudging respect, and her posture, if not submissive, was at least not a challenge. The wolves loped home, exhilarated by the chase, and Beth let herself relax. Maybe it had been enough. The pack seemed at ease, joyful even.

They shifted back in the sunlit yard, stretching out well-used muscles in the grass. Beth stuck close to Devon, making a trio with Jonah, still unsure about her place without her alpha by her side. She stiffened as Emma approached, bracing herself for the confrontation that was, at this point, a guarantee.

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