Page 3 of Remy & the Wildcat

“You know what must be done,” he said.

She did know, but she didn’t know how to move forward.

According to pride laws, the alpha could take over once he or she reached age twenty-one. Thyme was twenty-five. But the other caveat of the law was that the future alpha couldn’t take over until he or she was mated, and Thyme was as single as a dollar bill.

None of the males in the pack were her truemate.

She could pick a male, there were several interested in being mated to her, but whether they actually liked her or liked the idea of being alpha male because of her was anyone’s guess.

Wildcats didn’t always wait for their truemate.

Her father and her birth mother, Estra, had been truemates. But when her mother was killed while out on a full moon hunt, he’d chosen Brilla for a mate and they’d had Leif almost immediately.

She wanted to wait for her truemate, the one male in the world for her.

Her half-brother was biting at her heels like a wayward puppy, his eyes on the alpha position and his mother and family fully supporting him. Thyme wasn’t sure that Brilla had ever even liked her, let alone loved her. And knowing that she didn’t have her stepmom’s or half-brother’s support had left her feeling hollow.

She’d had her father’s support, but that was gone now. And the elders supported her, but only as much as they could within the boundaries of their laws.

Or at least Liam supported her fully. Jacob only seemed to have her back when it suited him. And he would definitely support Leif over her.

Once Leif turned twenty-one, he’d be able to challenge her after he found a mate. Since no one liked the smarmy male, thankfully, his options were nil for now and she could breathe easy.

“I have a request,” she said.

“What,” Jacob asked, his upper lip curling.

“I’d like to go scouting for new hunting grounds.”

His brows lowered in suspicion. “Where would you go?”

“I don’t know. Maybe north? I would shift and let my cat lead. Maybe if we go north of the factory, we can find fertile hunting grounds and when I take over as alpha, we can move as a pride.”

“If you take over,” Leif said, his voice a low hiss of disapproval.

“I don’t see anyone lining up to be your alpha female,” Thyme retorted.

Leif growled at her, his eyes flashing to the cranberry red of his cat. His whole body flexed and bulked, like he was two seconds from shifting. Then Brilla put her hand on Leif’s chest, and he relaxed fractionally.

“You may scout,” Liam interjected. “But you do need to find a male to mate so you can take over. It’s been four years that we’ve waited for you as you hold your breath for your truemate to show up.”

“I know,” she said. “I want to find my truemate, I don’t want to just mate anyone.”

Liam gave a small nod. “Be careful scouting, and let me know what you find.”

She nodded and turned on her heels, leaving the house as quickly as possible.

Her sporty two-door was parked in front of the house, and she climbed in and backed out of the gravel drive, heading toward the duplex she shared with her best friend Dana.

Dana was the sweetest female that Thyme had ever known, and she was thankful to call her a friend. It was hard as hell to have friends when your dad was alpha. But Dana had stood by Thyme’s side through all the harsh realities of daily life in the pack, including the loss of her father.

“I think you’re nuts.”

Thyme glanced at her friend across the kitchen table where they were working on a five-hundred-piece puzzle of a covered bridge in the countryside.

“What? Why?”

“Because,” Dana said, hovering a piece over a section to see if it matched up, “going out on your own to scout for new territory is nuts. Dangerous.” She lowered her voice. “Spooky.”

---