Page 49 of A Wolf's Heart

“Alpha.” Emma hesitated before bowing her head, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Lila. She notched her chin up, steeled herself behind an invisible wall, and turned to my luna.

“Emma,” she said, “I’m the one who’s sorry.” The pain within me dissipated, along with any warmth that the thought of my mate brought.

“What?” Emma said. “You’re not mad?”

“God, no! You’re amazing for putting up with him. If ever you need an escape, you can always come to my place.”

A cold emptiness settled in my heart. I welcomed it like an old friend. This was who I was. No one could ever break the control I had over myself. Not even Lila Evans.

The drive outof the city was a silent one. Lila hadn’t argued with me, even when I refused to allow her to order a taxi. If I saw her home, then I could report to Weylin and Rainor that she was home safely, and they wouldn’t be compelled to check on her or go to her. At least, that was what I told myself.

“What needs to be done to be rejected?” Lila asked, breaking the silence. “And once I am, will this”—she waved a hand between us—“be done? I’m ready for it to be done.”

My wolf took a deep breath, though I could sense his anger bubbling. “I’m unsure,” I admitted, reaching over and adjusting the temperature in the car. It was getting a bit stuffy. “I’ve never done this before.”

She scoffed.

I held my tongue for as long as I could, however when she shook her head to herself, I couldn’t help gritting out, “What?”

“All I have ever known—up until a week ago—was that, since I was a toddler, I had the ability to shift into a wolf. That my sense of smell, my eyesight, and my strength rival that of adults. That’s it. Everything else, I had to learn on my own, through no fault of my own. And you know what? I got by. I made it work.

“But since I have met you, you act like I should know all of this, everything. From the etiquette to-to-to the customs.”

I reached for the temperature control again, turning up the cool air.

“In two days, Rainor and Weylin have taught me pack territory and pack ranks, in a way. Challenges and what they mean. Weylin talked to me about mates and the stories involving them. And you? You criticize my every move and constantly tell me I will never be good enough. It’s not like I forced my way in and refused to learn. I want to know about being a shifter.”

As sweet creamy lemon filled the car, I licked my lips.

“No, you know what? Go ahead and keep telling me everything you want to. Your words mean nothing to me,because I know I’m good enough. I know my value and worth. I’ve worked from the bottom to get to where I am.”

“Lila.”

“For the record, too, Kage, I never wanted to be claimed. I never asked for mates. I was happy working at my job. Don’t act like all of this is my fault.”

I rolled down the window just enough to get some fresh air. “That is exactly why I can’t accept you as a luna. You know absolutely nothing, or maybe you know everything.”

“Excuse me?”

“How is it a shifter of your age, not only survived but thrived, undetected, by a pack such as mine?”

She scoffed. “Sorry if I hurt your ego because I was right beside you all along, living in, I might point out, one of the very few conservation forests in this area. How did you not think a shifter would be there? A rogue? Anything. Don’t get pissy at me because your skills were lacking.”

I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, the leather creaking in my grip. I was ready to pull over and show her exactly how my skills were anything but lacking. My palm itched to spank the brattiness out of her. My wolf, on the other hand, was proud.

My wolf puffed out his chest and held his head high, wanting to show off the strength and determination of his mate. This was not the direction I wanted to go at all with the bond. Our wolves needed to hate one another.

I pulled the car into her driveway, got out, and opened the back door, letting her mutt out. Lila exited, standing at the front with her arms crossed.

I took a breath and prayed to the fates to forgive me. “Because of you, I now have to set up a job opening for a gamma agent. In case you still don’t understand your own customs, that’s our task force. Because of you, we lost a good agent, welost a dedicated member, and he lost his entire pack. You threw out a perfectly good soldier because you didn’t keep your mouth shut.”

Sharp pain spread through my heart.

“Because of you, I no longer have a guard. Weylin can barely keep up with pack duties during the day because he’s gone all hours of the night, chasing a bitch in heat.”

The muscles in my chest clenched, making it difficult to breathe, but I managed. I had to.

“Because of you, my beta is deemed useless, because every fucking time you get emotional about us rejecting you, he loses control. When Rainor is out of control, there is nothing on this planet that will stop him, and the blood he spills stains his hands, something he lives with every fucking day.”

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