Page 72 of Wolf Sacrificed

He waggled his finger at me like he was giving me a stern lecture and not begging me to get laid and impregnate a girl.

I licked my lips. He wouldn’t let up, and I should have known he wouldn’t. This was important to him.

I shifted my feet and cleared my throat. “It’s not that I don’t want to have an heir. It’s…”

My heart pounded so hard I thought it might pop out of my chest.

Dad growled, his face turning into a sneer.

I maintained eye contact with him. “It’s Fiona. There’s something about her that just… It rubs me the wrong way. I’ve tried to like her, but…”

I didn’t know what else to say. It was the truth. She unsettled me, and everything about her grated on my nerves.

The glare he gave me was nasty enough to kill. I’d never been on the receiving end of it before, but I’d seen people who had, and they didn’t live long after it.

Everything was fine. I could tell him this. I had to. Anything to get him off my back about Fiona. She was a snake. I had to keep my cool and not give anything away.

An idea popped into my head then.

I forced myself to yawn and took a few steps back so I could lean against the railing of the deck. “She’s just overly eager, Dad. She seems opportunistic. I don’t want a doormat like Willa, but I want someone who’s going to fall in line with our way of thinking. Fiona seems like she is only worried about herself and not our pack.”

The disdain slipped off his face, and he gave me a small smile. “I suppose I can see where you’re coming from. But no one here has a higher standing in the pack than you and I do, Sawyer.”

I wiped at a spot on the railing where some idiot had put out a cigarette. “I know that, Dad. But I also don’t see her as being motherly.”

I glanced at him as I stood straight. “I want someone more like Mom. Someone who will be caring for the kids while I’m away at other packs. I need to know that they will be loved and taken care of in my absence. That the mother of my children will care for them and not worry about herself and her position in the pack. You did say Fiona wouldn’t be the only woman I have a child with, right? Does she know that? I don’t think she’ll take that well. She could take that out on our children. Or on the other women.”

Dad’s eyes glazed over, and he looked away from me as he rubbed at his jaw. “Your mother was a fine woman and an excellent mother. You’re right. Fiona is nothing like her.”

I pushed off the railing and put both hands on my dad’s shoulders. “Let me go down to the houses where we’re keeping the females. I’m sure there are a few in there who would be better suited to be the mother of my children.”

Dad followed my gaze to the houses before finally nodding as he clapped one hand on my bicep. “Fine. Yes, of course. It should be your decision anyway, after all. You’re the one who will have to be with her.”

He heaved out a sigh and pulled me into a hug, clapping me on the back. “I’m sorry, Sawyer. It’s just with Lincoln betraying us and Mikey gone…I need to know that our pack will go on when I join your mother in the afterlife. We’ve worked so hard for this. Only our blood should lead it.”

I let my eyes slide shut as I relaxed into his hold. “I know, Dad. I won’t let you down.”

But I would, and there was still a small part of me that wanted his approval. It was stupid, though. He’d gone mad, and I couldn’t follow in his footsteps. He was past the point of return, but I wished to Luna that there was a way I could make him see reason. There were moments like this when he was almost the same man I’d loved and looked up to as a boy.

He held me in his embrace for a few more moments before pulling back. He ran a hand under his nose as he twitched it back and forth.

I took a few steps back and motioned with my thumb over my shoulder. “I’m going to go for a run. Sitting in a car all day has my wolf on edge.”

He bowed his head. “Of course. And you’re right. Start an investigation. Someone here is still feeding information to Lincoln. I want to know who.”

He frowned and narrowed his eyes as he stared off at something in the distance.

I took that as my cue to leave and turned on my heel, heading back down the porch and toward the trail that led to the housing.

The property was split up into groups. The main house was where my family stayed, along with our trusted enforcers and members. Then there was another set of housing where other loyal members lived. Then down toward the bottom was where we kept the women we’d taken and men we hadn’t deemed as trustworthy yet.

They were allowed outside under strict supervision so they could shift and get sun and air. It wouldn’t be a stretch that someone overheard something, but to pass the info along would be difficult. I had to be careful to make sure that no one took the fall. It wouldn’t be right for an innocent to get caught up in my lies.

My back pocket buzzed, and I gulped, realizing I’d left the burner phone there. I’d need to find somewhere to stash it. The caves. I hadn’t been since that last time Lincoln, Sloane, and I were there, but it would be a safe place to keep my phone. A go bag might not be a bad idea, either.

I glanced around, making sure the coast was clear before digging the phone out. It was a simple text with a list of names.

I sent a quick reply. Can we trust them?

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