Page 48 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

“I want the Russo Alpha found and brought back immediately. This reeks of Russo cowardice. Send out three enforcers.” I gave the order to no one in particular, but the sound of running footsteps assured me that it would be carried out.

I would kill the bastard who did this, and I wouldn’t lose control a second before. My wolf would have his revenge, sate his bloodlust with his fangs in the throat of the man who dared strike the high alpha of Pack Blackwater.

THIRTY

Brielle

My hand shook on the knob to Shay and Leigh’s bedroom. I shoved it open, not bothering to knock.

“Is that Brielle? I need all the details on your time at the hot springs!” Leigh practically purred from the bathroom, but I couldn’t respond. I was in shock, and sad, and my head was spinning. It felt like I’d been strapped into a roller coaster of emotion tonight, and I was not in the least prepared for it.

The highs had been incredible, but the lows… I couldn’t compute the lows yet. The look on his face when he saw his father’s body and the moment when he pushed me away, sending me off like a kid with a scary babysitter were currently warring forworst moments of my life.

Shay stood from her spot huddled behind her Mac at the small desk tucked in the corner, worry creasing the skin between her eyebrows as she pulled her headphones off. “Brielle? What’s wrong?”

The sobs came before the words, and she rushed to me, wrapping me in her arms as she called for Leigh.

“What? I told you she was going to come back smelling like sex and sin—” Leigh’s whole demeanor changed when she came out of the bathroom, hair half-curled. “Oh my Goddess, if he hurt you, I’m going tokill him!” she snarled as she wrapped her arms around me too, right over Shay’s. “You have to tell us what happened, sweetie. Did he hurt you? Push you? Try to make you bond with him before you were ready? I don’t care who he is, I’m going to rip off every toenail and shove them up his nose before I take his asshole head off!”

I shook my head, trying to get her to stop. “No, Kane was amazing. It’s Alpha Kosta. Somebody killed him.”

Shay gasped, the sharp inhalation blowing against my damp hair and making me shiver in their arms. “That’s terrible. What happened?”

“I don’t know yet, but I didn’t see any blood, so it didn’t look like a physical attack. Maybe poison? There was an open drink on his side table, and no signs of an intruder, though I didn’t look around long.”

“What a coward’s way out. Who else would poison the high alpha but someone who couldn’t challenge him in a fair fight.” Leigh was vibrating with anger. Wolves might have been natural-born hotheads, but we respected a fair fight. Strength led in the wolf world. She pulled back a few inches, studying my face, before urging me to the end of her bed.

“I don’t know, I really don’t. But whoever it was, they got away.”

Three days.It had beenthree dayssince I’d seen Kane, and I was losing my mind. The three of us had been cooped up in this room, Gael and Reed perpetually on guard, with them being the only ones to bring us food or speak to us.

The announcement of Alpha Kosta’s death had rocked the gathered wolves, howls tearing through the air the next morning, when word spread. The activities had been called off immediately, but no one had left, at least from the little Leigh had managed to wheedle from our guards. Gael seemed to have a soft spot for her, despite the fact that they fought like enemies. Or lovers, though Leigh would never admit if she was attracted to him. Right now, she was cussing him a blue streak after pounding on the door until he got tired of the racket and opened it.

“You can’t just keep us locked in here! This is insane, and I want to speak to our Alpha!”

Gael stood solid and immovable in the doorframe, his shoulders filling it solidly and leaving no room for an escape attempt around his crossed arms and rock-hard chest.

Leigh was unimpressed, glaring at him as if she wanted to punch him in the throat. She had tried yesterday, but he deflected it with annoying ease, which only ticked her off more.

“I’ve told you this for three days now, and I’ll tell you once more in the hope it gets through that thick skull of yours. I have orders from the Alpha himself that you three don’t leave this room until I get word otherwise. Now are you going to accept that like a good she-wolf, or am I going to have to put a muzzle on you so you don’t scream down the whole dorm?” His voice was all gravel on the wordsgood she-wolf,and I wasn’t sure if Leigh was going to self-combust or jump him.

Leigh gasped, and cocked back a hand like she was going to slap him across the face.

She’s going to beat the brakes off him.

I moved faster than I thought possible, snatching her hand and pulling her back from Gael. It was hard, but I put myself between them and walked her back a few steps, rage blazing in her eyes. We didn’t know this alpha well enough to push those buttons without there being serious consequences. While I’d like to believe my bond with Kane meant he would be respectful no matter what, I would have also liked to think that I wouldn’t be locked in a room for three days.

So, taking a chance on Leigh losing it on Gael was a big fatnope.

“Give us a minute, Gael,” I called over my shoulder, and was relieved when I heard the door click shut behind him.

“That arrogant son of a bitch!” She spat the words and paced away from me. Her shoulders were so tight, she could probably pop a kernel of popcorn between them.

“I know, Leigh, but he’s following orders.”

“Yeah, well, his orders suck. I can’t stand being cooped up like this, and what’s the point?”

“They haven’t found the killer, Leigh, and you know that. This is for Brielle’s safety.” Shay’s calm tone belied her own unease, though I could see it in the lines of her jaw, how stiffly she held herself now. She had a thing about enclosed spaces, and the charming room was beginning to close in on all of us.

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