Page 6 of The Alpha's Heart

Of course, then he sheepishly admitted that—because Declan is a delta—Kendall insisted on a second male going along on the journey. I knew even before he added that one particular wolf volunteered who it would be.

And that’s how I ended up on a three-hour flight, sandwiched between Guy Holsom’s anise scent and Declan Slate’s comforting lemon.

Talk about feeling like a chew toy. I had to sit between them because, if I didn’t, the two males sniped at each other. First, on the ride to the airport, then through the tedious human security. By the time we were being seated—and after Guy berated the poor human flight attendant for not giving me the best spot on the plane just because he thought I deserved it—Declan was goading Guy as much as Guy was doing everything he could to convince me to get off the plane with him.

I didn’t, obviously. I’m the type of she-wolf that, once she gives her word, that’s it. I said I would become Bishop Dupuis’s mate since we’re fated, and that’s what I’m going to do. Andwhen he didn’t drop it, he irritated my mild-mannered wolf to the point that she appeared in my eyes even though I had to stay in my skin.

I snapped my fangs. Guy swallowed back a howl. Declan smirked at him.

We spent the rest of the plane ride in tension-filled silence.

Now Declan and Guy flank me as we finally approach Sylvan Pack territory on foot. Frustrated and a little more anxious than I thought I’d be, I tried to shake them at the airport, then again after Declan rented a car to drive us out toward the hidden shifter land. I watched him drive to the airport back home. I figured I could do it.

They wouldn’t let me, and deltas or not, when the two males decided to work together and turn on me, I couldn’t beat their wolves’ dominance.

The car is tucked on a small road buried deep in the trees. Once we got to the point that Declan couldn’t drive any further, each male took one of my large luggage cases out of the trunk, then the three of us went against our instincts and headed toward another pack’s territory.

River Run is cut off from the unsuspecting human population by our river. Hickory is protected by a thick wooded area that is, predictably, made up of towering hickory trees.

Ah, wolf shifters. We are nothing if not literal, except maybe overprotective.

The two males simply refused to let me go on my own. I tried to get Guy to wait with the car, but that didn’t happen, either. Maybe this is the closure he needs. When I cross the invisible border that separates the Sylvan Pack from the rest of the woods, he’ll have to accept that I’m not going to mate him and, hopefully, move on.

We sense that border before we see it. There’s a reason why shifters live in secluded areas out in nature, far from any otherpacks. Our wolves can handle being close, and like our non-supe beasts out in the wild, we’ll instinctively avoid each other’s territory almost subconsciously.

The slight zap makes it easy. So do the tell-tale markings that warn the land is claimed by a powerful Alpha for his pack. Only knowing that I have an express invitation to cross that border, to join my new mate, allows my wolf to pad forward despite the fact that I’m still in my skin.

There are too many new scents for me to process all of them; the piss overlaying everything, warning away other predators, is so strong, it’s all I’m choking on. I’ll get used to it. Once I’m officially a member of the Sylvan Pack, I’ll come to appreciate it. For now, I breathe shallowly through my nose as we break through a copse of trees, finding two shifter males waiting on the other side.

Declan stops, parking my oversized rolling suitcase. Guy tightens his grip on the handle he’s holding. The plastic groans, nearly cracking. But he stops, too.

I’m the only one who keeps moving forward.

They’re both beta wolves. I can tell their ranking immediately. Sometimes it’s hard to gauge one delta wolf’s power level from another, but just like how alphas are in a class of their own, so are betas.

One of them is a striking male who appears to be in his late fifties; for shifters, that could mean he’s that age or, thanks to our regenerative properties and slow again, pushing seventy-five. His salt-and-pepper hair is slicked back, his gold shifter eyes both watchful and welcoming.

The other beta wolf is much younger. Sixteen, maybe, or seventeen. Not a pup, but older than a juvenile. He’s a little lanky, his brown hair cut short, and his eyes… they’re not as welcoming as the other male’s, but that could be because they’re the strangest grey shade.

What kind of wolf hasgreyeyes?

The younger beta sniffs. A hint of a frown tugs on his lips before he glances over at the older male.

He nods, a single jerk of his head. “You must be Sofia Russo. We’ve been waiting for you. I trust you’ve had a pleasant trip. Weston? Get the Alpha’s intended’s bags, please.”

The younger beta walks easily over the invisible border. I know what’s happening here. It’s a shifter power play. The teenaged beta has more power than two River Run deltas combined. He can come and go out of Hickory while Declan and Guy have to remain outside of their pack territory.

After all, the invitation to cross into Sylvan Pack land was only extended to the Alpha’s intended.

Tome.

He’s a lean male, barely growing into his maturity. That doesn’t mean anything. This Weston is still a shifter, and he lifts both of my heavy bags easily, moving them back across the border.

The older beta smiles. “Welcome to Hickory, Sofia. Now, if you’d like to say your goodbyes… Bishop is waiting for you.”

I plan to just wave at my former packmates. This is goodbye. Once I step over that line—and unless Bishop decides to reject our bond and send me back to River Run—I’m a member of the Sylvan Pack. I’ll still keep in touch with my former pack. Declan, definitely, and my best friend actually stopped and bought me a cheap, prepaid phone for me to bring with me into Hickory so that I had a way to contact him in case my future mate proves too possessive to let me call him on one of his lines.

I should’ve known better.

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