Page 17 of Reformed Wolf

Jude was shaking his head. “You can’t stay here by yourself. You saw what that place was like. You need someone watching your back. You need me!”

I reached out my hand, my shoulder protesting, to squeeze his knee. “I’ll always need you, Jude. You’re my pack brother. But right now, I need you to do this for me. Can you imagine what Shan would be going through if we didn’t come back? After everything he’s been through. We barely avoided a war with Thorn’s pack not even two years ago.”

Jude’s face crumpled. The tension that had been engrained in his body since we left camp—gods, was that just yesterday morning?—had reached a pinnacle. He was torn. His loyalty to me told him to stay, to protect me to the bitter end, but he also knew I was right. Shan needed to know, and there was no way to reach him by phone.

It broke my heart to send him away, but in truth, I wasn’t just doing this to spare our Alpha. A small voice whispered in the back of my mind. If something happened to me here in the shadowy depths of the city, I refused to take Jude down with me. This was not his sacrifice to make.

“Okay,” he finally agreed. “But I’ll be back. Give me two days.”

I hoped I lasted that long.

Chapter 8

Dylan

Tristan left for the night, taking a piece of me with him. Logically, I knew he would heal. Shifters were good like that, but right now, I would’ve done anything to be able to take some of the pain I knew he must’ve been feeling. It was hard to watch him bleed, staining his wolf’s beautiful fur.

My panther wanted to bury our face into that fur, to lick and clean and preen him, to sleep cuddled into his side. We would make a stunning pair side by side, the contrast of our fur in midnight-black and snow-white.

My mate and his packmate weren’t the only two to leave, of course. So did the losing families. They went home to tend to their wounds and bruised egos. My father would continue working with them, business as usual, but they had missed their chance at making a serious profit. As for the winners? Their clans seemed more reluctant to leave, planning instead to ride the high until the early hours of the morning. They would no doubt use this opportunity to play mind games on tomorrow’s competitors, hoping to make them lose their nerve.

I didn’t stick round to watch their machinations. It was too much of a risk to have my omega hormones added to the volatile mix of alphas. My father escorted me back up the stairwell to the main part of the house. Even though it was well after midnight, I wasn’t even a little tired. I had no idea how I was supposed to go to sleep after the fear and adrenaline. And the anger…

My pulse throbbed in my temples, a headache building. How the hell did we get here? Once upon a time, I used to be happy. Either that or I was somehow blind to how bad things were behind the scenes. When my mother was still alive, my dad smiled, he laughed! These days, the stretch of his lips was nothing more than a sad imitation of a grin. His eyes remained dull. The only emotion that lit him up from within now was fury, and I pitied the soul who pushed him too far.

The door at the top of the basement stairwell clicked shut behind us, effectively closing out the raucous roar from downstairs. It was like another world up here, one where opulence and splendor reigned, not a single drop of blood in sight, no hint of this night’s violence. As we crossed the main entry hall, the light from the chandelier refracted across the walls, sparkling stars of light off the polished marble floor.

I headed straight for the wide main staircase, my steps muffled by the rich carpet. I was eager to lock myself up in my suite. I was vaguely aware of my father following behind me, but I refused to even look at him right now. This was all his fault.

As much as my father claimed this competition was to choose a strong mate for me, I knew it had more to do with him and what he wanted. The powerful alliance he would make, the authority it would grant him. It made me sick. Didn’t he understand this was my life he was toying with?

I went to turn down the hall toward the residential wing, however my father stopped me. “Come with me,” he said without explanation, but he left no room to argue. Gritting my teeth, I turned and followed him back toward his office. What the fuck did he want now? Wasn’t owning my entire future enough for him?

When we turned the last corner, I saw two of his guards bracketing the door. That was odd, since he wasn’t in the room to protect. They opened the double doors ahead of us, and I filed in behind my father. I hadn’t been able to see around his broad frame, but as soon as he moved to the side, I saw what awaited us inside.

I choked on a gasp, the floor unsteady under my feet as I looked around in confusion. “Father, what—?”

Edgar, my usual shadow, was kneeling on the floor on top of a white sheet, his shirt rumpled and untucked, steely gaze focused on a distant point. I hadn’t even thought about him since he’d escorted the viper from the basement, but now I realized he’d never returned. There was another guard standing behind him, gun in hand.

My father took off his jacket and draped it over the back of his desk chair. “Edgar neglected to do his job in protecting you. That kind of failure is unacceptable.”

My stomach dipped low, a prickling sensation crawling up my spine. “What are you talking about? He stopped the guy. I’m fine.”

He hooked a finger into the knot of his tie and loosened it, pulling it loose from his collar and setting it gently over his jacket. “You left the premises unguarded last night.” He held a hand up when I opened my mouth to dispute it. “Don’t try to lie about it. I was alerted the second you used your credit card.” I cursed my stupidity. Of course it was being tracked!

“But Father, it was my birthday!” I said in my defense, my eyes darting to where Edgar still knelt. “I just wanted to have a drink, dance a little. It was harmless fun.”

Father unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and began rolling up the sleeves. “The guards are for your own protection. It may have seemed harmless at the time, but you could’ve been targeted by any number of dangerous men. You could’ve been hurt, killed, taken. You’re lucky you only brought home a stray.”

My panther balked at his description of our fated mate, but I bit down on the snarl that threatened to force its way out.

“And if I’d said I wanted to go out for my birthday, you would’ve allowed it as long as I took a few guards?” I was skeptical, proven correct when my dad just shook his head, looking disappointed in me.

He sighed. “If I’d known you wanted to celebrate, we could’ve thrown a party here, invited all your friends.”

“What friends?” I spat, my temper bubbling over. “The only people you allow me to associate with are all your buddies’ kids. Do you honestly think any of them actually like me? No more than those alphas downstairs actually want me as their mate. This is all about you! My entire life has been about what you want!”

He wasn’t listening anymore. He’d crossed the room to stand in front of Edgar. “Do I need to bind your hands?” he asked the man on his knees.

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