Page 4 of Wolf Sacrificed

“Is there a problem?” My voice came out harsh, demanding respect.

The alpha tilted his head and took another step forward. I balled my hands at my sides and stayed rooted in my spot.

My mom whispered behind me, and it took me a moment to register what she’d said. Thomas. That must’ve been his name.

He continued to glower at me, still silent.

I spoke up again. “Do we have a problem, Thomas?”

Luna, I really hoped that was his name. I’d lose any sway with him if it wasn’t.

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked over his shoulder and back at me. “Our allegiance was with Alpha David. I understand he put you in charge, but you haven’t earned our respect yet.”

I swallowed hard. He wasn’t wrong. “I understand that. I do. Respect has to be earned, and I fully intend to do that. You have my word.”

His gaze darted to Lincoln. “And yet your mate is the very blood of the alpha who sees fit to destroy us.”

Lincoln moved like he might step forward, but I swung my arm out, blocking his path.

“He may be related to Alpha Dane,” I said, “but I assure you, he is nothing like him. Lincoln is the one responsible for bringing us all together. He is the mastermind behind the DarkSide website.”

The man’s brows dipped into a frown, and he let his arms fall to his sides as he appraised Lincoln. “Like I said, respect has to be earned from the both of you. Before I can commit my pack to you, I need to know what your plans are. What are we doing? We can’t stay here. We should have already fled.”

I blinked at him through the steady rain. Leave. Or flee. Where did he think we would go?

Words failed me, but the longer he went without an answer, the more I was adding fuel to the fire.

I patted the outside of my thighs while I scrounged for something to say.

“We are not running, if that’s what you’re asking. We are staying here. We are rebuilding, and we are making a stand.” I pointed at the ground as I gritted my teeth.

This was my family’s land, and I wasn’t about to just give it up.

The man—Thomas—lifted his hands and motioned around. “Alpha Dane knows we are here. We’re sitting ducks just waiting for him to show up and slaughter us all.”

“Alpha Dane knows where we are, but this is our land.” I wiggled my feet into the mud as I stood my ground, and water seeped into my shoes.

I jabbed a finger at the ground. “We know this land better than him, and we can defend it better because we have the home advantage. There isn’t anywhere that we can run that Alpha Dane won’t get to eventually. He’s not going to stop at the packs near us. He’s power hungry. He’ll keep expanding until he has the entire country under his thumb. There will be no place he can’t reach if he goes unchecked.”

Thomas shook his head as he laughed out loud. “That will take him years.”

I exhaled slowly. “Look how much he has accomplished in such a short amount of time. He’s destroyed at least eleven packs that we know of, with more to come. The bigger he grows, the faster his assault will be. Maybe you want to take your pack and try to find a safe place to hide, but I won’t do that.”

“We make a stand now while we still can,” I said, “before he grows stronger and there aren’t as many of us to fight.”

Thomas’s nostrils flared, and he dropped his leer to the ground.

Good. Maybe I was getting through to him.

“I don’t want to live my life looking over my shoulder,” I said. “I want to have a safe place to call home, to raise a family, so my pack can raise their families and not live in fear. If we run now, we will never be safe. We will always be waiting for the day that Alpha Dane catches up to us. That isn’t a burden I want for my family.”

Thomas pointed behind him. “Where will we stay? The pack house and some of the other quarters have been completely destroyed.”

Tears burned my eyes at the reminder. All our pictures, our family mementos, were gone. The house had burned to the ground. All I had left of my dad and Darrin were my memories.

I pounded my palm against my chest hard, making my wet sweater smack against my skin. “The house is gone, yes, but our will and our packs are not. We will rebuild. With all of us, it won’t take long. We are in this together, all of us.”

Thomas had the decency to look ashamed. Rain droplets beat down on him, shrouding his face in a curtain of water. “You don’t intend to leave, then?”

---