Page 8 of Into the Grasslands

“I did. I still believe that you need that, so you can see that maybe your fated Luna isn’t all she’s cracked up to be. I never liked Nika. She thinks she’s better than everyone else just because she finished all those college credits while we were still in high school.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I went to school with her.” Kyla’s admission caught me off guard. While we didn’t have the largest pack in the nation, I thought that maybe they hadn’t known one another before.

“So, this has all been because you felt inferior to Nika when you were in school together?”

“How was I to know she would be your Luna?” Kyla’s attitude and the rage-filled look she tossed my way were indication enough that she had indeed had an agenda when she convinced me that a harem of willing women would hold me over until my mate came along. Specifically, for a year longer until my mate was supposed to come back to the pack. Something else bothered me though. Kyla mentioned ‘all those college credits’ Nika took while still in school.

I narrowed my eyes at Kyla because it wasn’t a secret that everyone thought Nika would one day stand by my side. “You knew she would be back before the year was over,” I accused.

“How would I know that?”

“You just talked about the college credits.”

Kyla nodded, but couldn’t hide the smirk that spread across her face. “I figured she would finish early, but I had no clue that it would be that early. How could I? It’s not like we kept in touch. For all I knew, she got to college and changed her mind about what she planned to study.”

I wanted to throttle the woman who stood before me. How was it possible that I hadn’t seen her scheming for what it was?

“I should call her back,” I admitted out loud. The sentiment was more for me than for Kyla, but she still answered immediately.

“You can’t!” She all but shouted at me. “If you do that now, you’ll appear weak and indecisive. No one will follow a wolf with a wishy-washy mind.”

She was right about that. Unfortunately, I had a terrible feeling that my decisions were about to prove far too costly, as there was no going backward. “You’re right,” I conceded. “I won’t wait the full year, but she needs a couple months to cool off and the pack needs to see that I mean business when I give an order.”

“That’s the Alpha I respect and love. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll convince Tania to stick around, too. After all, onceyour Lunais back, she’ll still need a guard.” I didn’t miss the way Kyla sneered Nika’s future title. Her tone and the calculating look in her eyes left me worried for Nika’s future arrival in the pack.

“You need to leave, now.”

“I thought you’d want me to spend the night with you.”

“Not here,” I explained.

She glanced around. “Why not? This isYOURroom!”

“Exactly. It’s my suite, and when Nika gets back, it will be ours to share. I will not taint this space with another female. You’ve been in here far too long already.”

Kyla threw a dirty look my way before she flounced around and practically threw a hip out with the unnatural way she attempted to sway her hips for me. It should have been enticing. Instead, it appeared to be exactly what it was, an act of desperation. If only I had come to that realization before I sent my moon-blessed mate away.

Chapter 4

Fallen

THORIN

“You’re here,”I whispered to Catalina.

“Thorin,” her worshipful voice struck a chord in my heart, as if the damn thing could play its own notes. Catalina’s dark hair draped over her shoulders. She was always far paler than most shifters and her nearly black hair made her skin seem even lighter than it really was. Her ice blue eyes also gave her a glacial, unapproachable appearance. Many shifters had a hard time meeting her eyes when she spoke to them. It never bothered me because I knew she wasn’t the ice princess they all tried to pretend she was. Catalina had been warm and caring when she was with me.

“You’re here.” Reverence bled through my words of astonishment. It had been too long since I’d seen her sweet face.

“You must listen to me, my love, as our time here is short. There is another waiting for you to claim her. Your moon-blessed mate.”

“No.” I couldn’t be blunter if I tried. There would never be another. Not one that I would claim. Catalina should have been mine. She never had the mate dreams, which could only mean that her mate died before his time. Despite my extensive travels, I never came across my own mate either. I searched formany years before Catalina and I decided it was time to give in and take our friendship to the next level. Unfortunately, she was taken from the world before we could perform the mating ceremony that would bind us together.

“Thorin, you must. You know as well as everyone else that if you do not have a Luna by your side, you won’t be able to rule the pack long before the madness takes over. You’re already on borrowed time.”

“I can’t replace you,” I argued.

---