Page 43 of Cursed Wolf

She’s my baby.

Stone

After destroying those fucking rogue Alphas in the woods, we catch up with the carriage and run alongside them until we reach the tavern. All five of us spend the night in a broom closet of a room—something I wouldn’t mind if it was just Crius, me, and Narah. With Jae and Kaira with us, Crius and I slept on the floor so the girls could take the bed. We leave at the crack of dawn. The path in the woods is long, but we finally arrive in the Shadowlands Sector.

I quickly notice two things.

First, there are few undead roaming these woods, unlike the many groups we encountered back in Savage Sector. Second, we haven’t run across one rogue Alpha or Beta in the forest.

Dušan, the Alpha of the Shadowlands Sector, has kept his backyard clean of undead and wild wolf shifters. I also haven’t seen any guards watching us. So, either I’ve been distracted and not seen them, or the Alpha is confident of his safety. Then again, as we move closer into his territory, the carriage comes to a pause where the dirt track ends, and we all look up at the lofty wall that surrounds his pack compound in the distance.

The woodland opens up to a piece of land I recognize from the last time we traveled here. We reached Shadowlands Sector on an errand for Narah to find her sister, Jae. The three sisters had been split up once they escaped from the Storm Wolves, and our job had been easy—find Jae and, in exchange, Narah would use her magic to help us overtake the witches in the middle of the Poisonous Woods.

I almost laugh out loud at how that task had snowballed into chaos and changed our lives forever. Look at us now!

We’re about to have a baby!

The compound in front of us looks more like a medieval castle. Lofty stone walls with crenelations across the top spread outward, encompassing the enormous fortress. I’m impressed by how well the Alpha has securely set up his pack home. A steadfast fortress lays inside, along with huts for the pack members. I read up on the location, and in ancient times, it had been called the Râ?nov Fortress, where knights lived to protect the locals against invaders from nearby countries.

Now, the Ash Wolves call this place home.

Watch towers dot the walls, and I see movement in the one ahead of us. Two men step outside on a small veranda of the tower, with guns pointed in our direction.

“Fuck,” Crius mumbles. “Want me to deal with this?”

“No.” I’m well aware his attempt might lead us to war against the pack we need help from. “Tell the others to remain in the carriage. I have this,” I mutter under my breath, then step forward, raising my hands in the air.

“My name is Stone, and we are returning friends of Dušan,” I call loudly. “My Alpha, Ragnar, and a few of us visited here months ago when you were dealing with some unfortunate takeover troubles.” The kind that came in the form of Dušan’s brother trying to overthrow him for the position of top Alpha and taking over his pack.

In this world, you couldn’t even trust your family, which is why I’ve forgotten mine. My newfound family with Ragnar and his men has replaced what I lost. Now, we have Narah and her sisters joining us. For them, I have to make this work.

When the two guards only whisper to each other—standing too far for me to hear their words—frustration flares.

“I’m sure if I could speak with Dušan, he’ll accept our visit. How about you collect him?”

The dark-haired man raises his head in my direction. “You’re not welcome. Leave. I won’t warn you again.”

Grinding my teeth, I calculate how many seconds it would take me to rush to the wall, scale it, and wring the prick’s neck. Instead, I grin and take a step closer.

“Dušan arranged this meeting, so we are here at your Alpha’s request.” I stretch the truth and bend it every which way I need. Fuck them.

The asshole’s head raises to someone behind me just as the soft tap of footfalls on the grass has me twisting my head around. Narah and her sisters join me, with Crius behind them, shrugging—meaning he failed at controlling them. I growl, but it’s too late.

The guards’ eyes roam over the females, their interest piqued, then sniff the air for their scent. Thank the Moon Goddess, Narah’s pregnancy has helped block her heat, or these men would be already fighting us to reach her.

“You’re here to trade Omegas?” the guard barks.

I recall Jae telling me, when she’d spent time in the Shadowlands Sector pack, she discovered the Ash Wolves traded females with other packs for merchandise such as guns and supplies. She insisted the pack only sent the Omegas to Alphas approved by Dušan.

Let’s be honest… this is a fucked-up world, and everyone is out for themselves, but if so-called approved Alphas help Dušan sleep at night, that’s his demons to deal with.

“Yes,” I finally answer, figuring once we get in front of Dušan, I can explain the situation and not deal with these fucking monkeys. “Now, call your Alpha, or better yet, take us to him.”

They chat to themselves again, and I glance down at Narah.

“You should have stayed in the carriage. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“My back hurts, and I can’t sit down any longer. Besides, I’m pretty sure we just helped you.” Her sweet grin has me adoring her, which is wrong when I’m annoyed that she doesn’t listen to me even to keep her safe.

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