Page 59 of Out of Peril

“Like what?” Leo asked. “Honestly, I’m just genuinely curious.”

“I don't know all the details, but I know that they combined cheetah, eagle, bat, probably another bird, and who knows what else. I like to think her wolf is still dominate, but she's really fast, flies, and hears and sees better than anything I've ever known,” I said proudly. “She's one of a kind.”

“So cool. She’s like a hybrid or a superhero,” Leo said excitedly.

“You're starting to geek out on this,” Kian warned him. “It's gonna ruin your own asshole reputation if you aren't careful.”

Leo scowled.

I didn't know much about the guy except that he was the heir to the NOLA Pack and had a reputation for being a playboy. Some say he is no better than his father, but having met them both, I was struggling to believe that.

A commotion outside caught our attention and the door burst open as the Alpha stormed inside.

“This is an outrage Leonard,” Phillip bellowed.

“This will only take a moment. I've had a change of mind. There would be great benefit in having a member of Westin Force in my Pack. Have the two of you bonded already?”

“Not yet.”

“But you will, won't you? You'll actually seal a mating bond with the hideous monster?”

I lunged off the bed ready to attack him, not even caring that he was a full-blooded Alpha, but Kian and Leo held me back.

The man laughed. He actually laughed.

“This is rich. Look boy, I don't really care what your kinks are. Mate her already, and when you do, I have a few much better prospects lined up to battle her in the Challenges for you. I'm a reasonable man, and I do like the idea of a Westin Force boy under my control. This will work perfectly.”

“But you already banished her,” Leo said.

“Perhaps, but when one of my chosen champions kills her in the Challenges, then he becomes mine.”

I laughed in his face. “You have it all wrong. I'll never be under your control. You ensured all ties were broken with me when you banished my mate. But none of that matters. She is my one true mate and I'm a Westin wolf, not NOLA. I don't follow your rules, sir. My Alpha preserves true mates. I am not obligated to play your little games at all.”

The smirk on the Alpha's face told me he had me exactly where he wanted me.

“We'll see about that. Are you aware that the Grand Council is currently making a visit to Westin Pack right now? Things are about to change.”

With that said, he turned and left.

Michael ran in to check on me. “What was he doing here?”

“What is the Grand Council’s visit about exactly?”

“I don't know, why?”

I thought I might just throw up.

“Relax, my dad is great at making empty threats and getting under people's skin. We all know that there's a strong alliance against the Challenges. But he's old school and making a petition to bring them back.”

“The Mating Challenges were never abolished, just waved for true mates,” I explained.

“It would be a death sentence to go up against Lindsey's beast,” Kian said. “You'd have to be suicidal to agree to that.”

“My dad doesn't care about stuff like that. He'll still make them do it. And he likes to bend the rules. I wouldn't put it past him to petition for a skin-to-skin fight, claiming her beast has advantages over his wolves.”

“That's ridiculous. It's like saying an Alpha has to battle in his skin because his wolf is naturally stronger.”

Leo shrugged. “I'm just giving you fair warning. When he sets his mind to something, he'll do absolutely anything to ensure it happens.”

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