Page 35 of Wolf Crowned

She met my eyes and gave me a small smile. “I know these men.” She exhaled loudly. “They’ve sworn themselves to your father. The only way that they’re going to break that is if they see that he’s been neutralized.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You’re also going under the assumption that these men are acting because of my father’s hold on them. What if they’re really just like him?”

Sloane shook her head adamantly. “I don’t believe that, Sawyer. Not for a second. Some of these men, these packs were our neighbors, people that we were friends with. You really think that they’ve all lost their mind?”

I considered what she was saying. It was a fair point, but they’d been under my father‘s rule for so long now. What if they couldn’t help themselves? What if this was who they were now?

It was too big of a risk.

“I don’t know. Some of these men have been with my father for a few years now. Even if they were good people, you don’t think that they’ve been tainted in someway?” I rubbed the back of my neck as I sucked in a breath. “That’s a long time to live being angry and... the things they’ve done. I’m not sure how you come back from that without scars.”

I’d gotten lucky. While I’d played my part, I’d never had to do anything brutal to another wolf. It was probably the only reason I’d been able to stay sane.

It was too easy to think they could come back from all this. Some of them had done unspeakable things in my father’s name. Even if they were released from his hold, the horrible things would stick with them always.

We needed to consider the possibility that these men would be forever indebted to my father and set in their new ways.

And if they were, what was I supposed to do with them? We couldn’t kill them, but we couldn’t just let them go back to their normal lives. What if someone tried to take my dad’s place?

It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. He’d built an empire. I’d have to think of something to do with the guys to make sure that there wasn’t another uprising like this again. The shifter community couldn’t take it.

Sloane gave me a tight-lipped smile. “I guess we cross that bridge when we come to it. At least it’s top of mind right?”

It was on our radar now and just one more thing on the ever-growing list of things we had to figure out. And to add insult to injury. “I’m not going to be able to bring everyone back to the pack. Dad will never do it.” Asking him to would give away the attack and I wanted it to catch him off guard. “We have a few dozen men spread across two packs currently.”

She plopped her head on my shoulder. “Oh.” She huffed. “We’ll make do. The majority of the pack is there. If we stop Alpha Dane, then it’s just making sure we round up any stragglers.”

I buried my nose in her hair. Her vanilla-cinnamon scent washed over me as I breathed her in. She was home. I’d be here with her for real in just a few days. “Are you feeling any better now?”

She nuzzled into my neck. “As good as I can, given the circumstances. I’m ready for this to be over with. I’m so glad you came.”

“Me too.” As glad as I was to be here for her, I couldn’t help but wonder. “Where’s Lincoln?”

She let her eyes flutter shut as she all but curled into my lap. “Helping prepare. I would have asked him to come, but I didn’t want everyone else to know I needed a minute of comfort. I don’t know how alphas do it, Sawyer.”

I grasped her chin gently and tilted her head up. “I imagine they have the same struggles as you. And, Sloane, this is different. We’ve never had anything like this happen in generations. This is all new for every alpha. I think the key is to making a decision and sticking to your guns.”

She cracked a small smile. “Like deciding to stay.”

I rocked her a little and then pressed a kiss to her lips. “Yeah. Or deciding to bring the fight to my father. He only got so powerful because no one stood up to him.”

“I think for better or worse we’ve all learned our lesson in that respect.”

I hummed my agreement as I shifted on the floor. A buzzing sensation tickled the back of my neck. I scratched at it but it persisted and it took me a minute to realize that I wasn’t here and whatever was happening was in the forest.

I gave Sloane one last quick peck. “I have to go.”

I didn’t wait for her to respond before breaking the connection.

I shot to my feet as I opened my eyes. I twirled around, listening and watching. No one was here. But my spidey sense, for lack of a better term, had been tingling.

I brushed off my pants and narrowed my eyes as I marched back down the path. Had someone been spying on me? Did they know what I was up to? Worse, had they seen me in my trance?

It wouldn’t take much for anyone to put two and two together. Even if they didn’t know about Sloane, Dad knew Lincoln and I had a ‘twin thing’ as he called it.

But as I continued through the woods, and still couldn’t find anyone I relaxed. No one was out here. Not this far out anyway.

I emerged from the trees. The enforcers were finishing up their sparring. Drake led another group on a jog around the prisoner compounds. Dad stood in his usual spot in the middle of the yard, arms crossed, legs shoulder width apart, watching.

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