Page 7 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 1

“Let her through. Post your men outside this door and each window. My daughter isn’t going anywhere tonight.”

I grabbed a pillow, not sure if I wanted to scream, cry, or smother myself with it. In the end, I just screamed.

“What the hell is going on, Tilly? And who are those arseholes? Why is your Dad letting them be here?”

“They’re Campbells,” I whispered.

We both knew damn well they could hear everything we said.

She shrieked. “Filthy Campbells. What the hell, Till?”

“Dad made an alliance with them.”

“What sorta alliance?”

“A mating alliance.”

Her jaw dropped. “Chelle agreed to marry that dipshit, yeah?”

I shrugged. “I dunno. She’s gone, Kayla. Sounds like trappers or something got her out on a run tonight.”

“No! That's what all the commotion's about? I know they called in the scapegoats. When I got there Mom told me to checkon you instead. I didn't know why, but I guess because of this. This is insane.”

I nodded solemnly.

“What now then?”

“If she doesn’t return before the full moon, then. . .”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“But Aiden Campbell is definitely not your true mate.”

“I know.”

“So you can’t. You just can’t.”

“I might not have a choice in this, Kay.”

“Bloody hell. What are we gonna do?”

She laid down next to me and I clung to her.

“I don’t know,” I whispered into the dark.

Kayla had been my best friend since childhood. I had one older sister and one little brother, but I wasn’t that close to either of them. It had always been me and Kayla against the world. We’d met on the first day of school.

In our Tribe order, the Alphas reigned at the top and at the very bottom were the scapegoats. Many of them didn’t live long enough to mate and have children, but Kayla’s parents were both scapegoats and still remained a vital part of our Tribe today. In fact, over time, they had even changed our viewpoint of scapegoats.

Her parents were fearless, and they fought hard for our Tribe. I’d always admired them. They went out to the fields, ensured we always had food, and bravely sacrificed themselves in times of danger. They were the real heroes as far as I was concerned.

But most didn’t see it that way.

Being the daughter of the Alphas meant befriending a scapegoat was practically scandalous.

At five years old, life was pretty simple, though, and while I probably should have known better by then, no one had thought to teach me that we were supposed to be different. And after Kayla and I swore to be lifelong friends forever on that very first day of school, there was no going back for either of us.

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