Page 3 of Make Me

She looked up when Bethany entered. Her long blond hair, so similar to Bethany’s, was pulled into a low bun that did nothing to soften her sharp cheekbones. Her golden eyes narrowed. “You’re back early.”

Her mom had been pissed when Bethany had first reached out from the Fae lands for their aid. But that anger turned to understanding, and—she had to give her mom credit—she’d shown up with the pride’s warriors and helped them in battle. It probably had something to do with the grudge her mom held against the former-council member Roland, but she was still grateful. From what Bethany had been able to glean growing up, Roland had slighted her mom in some small way that she never got over. Like a true feline shifter. After the battle, her mom had wanted Bethany to come home, but she’d needed to protect Claire and help with the cleanup. She couldn’t imagine her mom was going to be thrilled that Bethany was about to leave again.

“There’s been a change of plans.”

Bethany explained the prisoner escape and the new task that Claire had asked them to take on as her Ambassadors. Well, Bethany had volunteered them for it, but her mom didn’t need to know that. Her mom perked up at the Ambassador title, and Bethany tried not to roll her eyes. Anything that lifted the pride’s power and prestige made her mom’s eyes light up. When she finished, she prepared herself for her mom’s response.

“How long will you be gone?” Sadara asked.

Bethany wasn’t expecting that. She expected her to forbid her from leaving, but maybe the prestige of the Ambassador position was working in her favor.

“I’m not sure. A few weeks, maybe? It depends on who helped the prisoners escape and where they’re hiding.”

Sadara nodded. “Tell me about this Ambassador position.” Her golden eyes gleamed. Called it.

Her mom was a brilliant strategist, but the safety and security of the pride were her first, second, and third priorities in life. She was already strategizing about how to use the Ambassador position, and Bethany hadn’t even officially accepted it yet.

“We didn’t get a chance to talk a lot about it, but Claire is appointing several Ambassadors to serve as her advisors.”

Sadara hummed, eyes glazing over as she thought. Bethany fought not to fidget and mentally ran through the list of reasons she should go. But Sadara surprised her when she smiled.

“I’ll put out some feelers to the other shifter groups and see if anyone has noticed anything.”

“Really? You don’t want me to stay here?”

Bethany didn’t want her mom to change her mind, but she was confused and more than a little wary of her mom’s easy capitulation. Any time that was not taken up by the Academy, Sadara usually required her to be at the pride. And with the Academy’s closure for the foreseeable future, Bethany had been sure her mom was going to order her to stay close to home. But the Ambassador title must hold more weight for her mom than she thought. She wondered if that was Claire’s intent when she created it.

“You need to. If you help the Queen with this, she’ll owe you a favor for later. The Realm is unstable right now, and we’ll need all the help we can get to ensure the pride comes out on top. A favor from the new Queen will help with that.”

Bethany pitied her mom. Always thinking about ways to get ahead and never having a meaningful connection with anyone. She wanted to tell her that she would do this for Claire because she was her friend, but her mom wouldn’t understand that. Worse, she would think Claire was a vulnerability for Bethany because Bethany was displaying emotions. Her mom was stuck in the old ways of thinking that power ruled all, which meant the pride was stuck in the old ways of thinking.

Bethany had a feeling that power was going to be defined differently under Claire, but who knew when the pride and her mom would get on board? Either way, she didn’t want to get into it. Not when Claire and her friends needed her. She would find the escaped prisoners for her. She just wished she could escape her duties to the pride, or, at least, escape this version of the pride.

“Okay, I’ll pack up and head out,” Bethany said, rising from the chair.

There was a knock on the door. “Message for you, Alpha.” Nik, one of the Deltas, poked his head in. “From the Academy.”

Holly was at the Academy. Was something wrong?

Sadara gestured him in, and he handed her the message and left. Bethany waited and kept her face carefully blank.

“It seems the Queen’s other Ambassadors are on their way here,” Sadara said, reading through the message. “They’ll be here tomorrow. Come.” She stood up. “We’ll reach out to Bryson. We’ll need to throw a celebration for them.”

Bethany groaned internally. So much for a quick retreat. But she stood up and followed her mom out the door. Thankfully, Zack was staying with Cody, so he would be fine for the night. Cody could protect him. Then they could head out after the party tomorrow.

Bethany followed Sadara through the pride’s territory into the neutral grounds. The trees around her were as familiar to Bethany as the back of her hand. She had many memories of these woods, including some of her most important ones.

CHAPTER TWO

BETHANY

Age 11

Neutral grounds at the pack and pride land

Her nose twitched.

The afternoon sun beat down through the trees, camouflaging her tawny coat against the bark of the trees at her back. Her whiskers brushed the leaves next to her. Bethany wrinkled her nose. It twitched again.

---