Page 34 of Wolf Sacrificed

Her emotions swirled around me, a mix of frustration, anger, and sadness.

Alpha Charles was a fool. My dad would be there in a few days, and he would obliterate him from the face of the earth along with everyone in his pack. It wasn’t just women he cared about. It was submission. You either joined him or you died.

Sloane had argued valiantly. It wasn’t her fault he was a fool. No one could fix that.

Alpha Charles walked away, flicking his finger so his enforcers fell in line behind him.

I hurried to my mate.

Her chest heaved with each breath she drew, and a rosy red colored her cheeks.

I cupped her face. “Are you all right, sweetheart?”

Her gaze flicked to me. Her face fell, a few tears slipping out of her eyes and trickling down her cheeks. “We needed him to join us.”

I could hear the panic in her voice and a hint of defeat. It broke my heart.

I pulled her into a hug, cradling her against me. I wished I could ease her worries. It felt like she carried the weight of the world right now.

“No, we don’t,” I said. “We are strong enough without him. The last thing we need is a fool like him in our ranks.”

Brandon put his hand on his sister’s back. “Lincoln’s right. He’s an idiot. I’m sad to say the rest of his pack is going to pay the price.”

She pulled away and looked down at the ground as she drew in a shaky breath. “Maybe there was something more I should’ve said. I could’ve been more convincing.”

I gripped her shoulders. “Look at me.”

She blinked a few times before her eyes met mine.

I gave her a small shake. “Don’t blame yourself. His mind was already made up long before you even made the call yesterday. He thinks he can hide. He’s going to find out the hard way that he can’t.”

She sniffled and dragged her palm across her face, swiping away her tears. “I failed, Lincoln.”

I put an arm around her shoulder and drew her toward me as I guided her back towards the cars. “You didn’t fail, sweetheart. You just can’t fix stupid.”

Ian cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Sloane. I didn’t think he would be so blind. Or that Alpha Dane might have already talked to him.” His focus stayed on the park, watching for movement. “I didn’t think he would work with Alpha Dane.”

The other enforcers fell in line with us. Sloane had brought up a good point when she’d asked if Alpha Charles was working with my father. Why had he called us out here? With everything going on, I wasn’t buying his getting to know the fellow alphas crap.

There was no sign of my father or his men. But I knew my dad, and if he knew we were here, then he wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to take me and Sloane out. I’d feel better once we got back on the road.

I guided Sloane to the car and opened the passenger door for her, helping her inside before shutting it. I climbed in the back as Brandon started the engine.

She sank down in her seat until I could barely see the top of her head. Ian climbed into the back on the driver’s side. Brandon put us in reverse and backed out of the parking spot. The other enforcers followed right behind us as we made our way through the winding roads of the park and back onto the main road.

Brandon tapped his palm on the steering wheel. “That didn’t go well.”

Sloane shifted in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. “It did not.”

Ian put his head on the window. “We don’t need him. We need men who are going to fight.”

I nodded and leaned forward to reach over the seat and massage Sloane’s shoulders. “Ian is right. We’ll just double our efforts. There are still people trickling in from what I put on the website. We can do another shout-out asking for help. This affects everyone, even if my father hasn’t made his way to their region yet.”

Sloane dropped her chin to her chest and covered her face. “But what if he’s right? I’m just a young girl who doesn’t know what I’m doing. How do I keep others from feeling that way, too? Only a few of the alphas are close to my age. Most of them were close to my dad’s age.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but it was Brandon who spoke up first.

“You’re stronger than you know,” he said.

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