Page 55 of Forced By the Alpha

Devon forced himself to relax. He hadn’t slept, tossing and turning all night until dawn, and coffee had only made him feel jittery rather than awake. Jonah, meanwhile, was bright-eyed and raring to go. They’d let him in on the plan since Beth was going to stay behind. It was too risky for her to go, but she hadn’t wanted Devon to face it alone.

She’d marked the map with the tree's location, deep in the Rosewood territory, and explained the best route to avoid contact with the other pack. Then she’d erased the mark, terrified the others would see it. Trust would take time to build.

He and Jonah made their way through the forest, treading unfamiliar ground. Beth’s path took them a roundabout way, winding across an old plank bridge that spanned a chasm, a river far below, to a hilly field that must have been an orchard once, still dotted with twisted apple trees. Jonah rolled onto his back at the top of the hill, his stomach to the sun. They’d been running for hours, and Devon couldn’t begrudge him the break, flopping down onto his side in the grass.

But he couldn’t settle. Jonah’s eyes lolled close, but Devon hopped to his feet and shook the dirt from his fur, nudging the other wolf awake with his nose. They continued on. He felt exposed outside of the tree cover, crossing meadows with an imaginary target on his back, scenting the wind every step for a hint of Rosewood. Their scent was present but faded here, as if it had been some time since they’d last passed the way.

Finally, they came to the tree. It stood alone; somehow, he knew it on sight and would have without Beth’s description. There was something to it that asked for reverence. He left Jonah at the edge of the branches’ reach and raced to the trunk, dropping the letter there. His heart didn’t beat until he was back by Jonah’s side.

Somehow, they’d pulled it off. He had trusted Beth, knew by that point that she would not take the opportunity to betray him by leading them through the Rosewood’s most used paths, but his old habits were hard to shake, too used to betrayals and backstabs. His breathing didn’t relax they were safely through the apple orchard and over the bridge.

“If Emma ever knew about a back way into the Rosewood lands,” Jonah’s thoughts echoed Devon’s.

His sister would use that for battle, catching the Rosewoods unaware. It would be ugly, bloody, everything that Beth had been trying to avoid.

“She can never know.” Not that he needed to tell Jonah twice, but his best friend still held a candle for Emma, no matter how many times she bit him.

Their return home was met with fanfare, and Emma and Beth were waiting on the deck for them, but for different reasons. Emma stalked the railing while Beth sat as far from her path as possible, watching the tree line for their shapes to appear.

“Welcome back,” she said as they reached her.

Devon stooped to kiss her cheek. The faintest roundness now stretched her sundress, the telltale sign of their child inside her. She looked like perfection, sun-kissed rosy.

Emma rounded on them. “Where have you been? I know something is going on, Jonah wouldn’t tell me where he was going and you know he’s a terrible liar. It was obvious something was up.”

Jonah looked sheepish, rubbing at his rumpled hair with one hand. “I just said we were heading out for the day. You’ve got such a suspicious mind, Em.”

She shot him a dirty look then focused on Devon. “Well? Are you going to tell me or make me guess?”

Devon crossed his arms, refusing to be cowed by her. Beth was right, he couldn’t rule the pack if he was forever in fear of his own sister cutting his legs out from under him. He had to trust that she’d meant her oath to Beth, that she’d abide by her decision to stay and behave.

“You’ll find out with the rest of the pack when the time comes,” he said, voice firm.

She was clearly struggling to accept his words, practically squirming in her skin, her mouth pressed to a thin line. “When will that be?”

Beth chimed in, “When the moment is right. You’ll just have to wait until then. We can’t tell you anything right now.”

They had decided it was for the best that they wait until they heard back from the Rosewoods before they announced their plan. If the Rosewoods never responded, telling the pack ahead of time would just breed more trouble and calls to action. Between the two of them, they hadn’t yet decided what the next move was if the Rosewoods did not respond, or denied their request outright.

It would leave them with few options. They would have to fight for the land, settle for the small strip they had, or leave the area entirely. None of the options were ideal. Beth was optimistic that the Rosewoods would take their offer into consideration, but Devon spent each night mentally preparing for the worst. After years of fighting and mistrust, he knew he wouldn’t accept such a request from the Rosewoods, why would they?

Emma was fuming, a telltale streak of red creeping up her neck. “Is this how they do things back where you’re from? A pack shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.”

Beth snorted. “Seriously, Emma? You’ve spent the past however long skulking around, trying everything in your power to unseat Devon apart from outright betrayal. You can’t seriously be lecturing us on openness and honesty.”

“I thought we were turning over a new leaf,” Emma retorted.

“You first,” Beth replied, leaning forward in her chair.

Emma looked away first, sauntering back inside as if the interaction hadn’t bothered her.

“Can we trust her not to keep digging?” Beth asked when the door closed behind Emma. “She might be in there stirring up trouble right now. They could follow your scents if they really wanted to.”

Beth twisted to peer in the windows of the house. Devon caught her chin and brought her attention back to him.

“Like Emma said, we’re turning over a new leaf. She decided to stay and we have to trust that she meant what she said. It’s out of our hands now.” Devon perched on the arm of her chair, wishing he felt as confident as he sounded.

It wasn’t easy, letting go of the tight control he’d tried to keep over the pack. He could blame many of the grey hairs sprouting from his head on it, he was certain. Beth sighed, a faraway look on her face.

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