Page 17 of Lost and Pound

“Shilo.” The new alpha nodded in return, and they shook hands. “It appears you’ve found a male that interests you and the Silvermoon pack is contesting it.”

“I never signed any paperwork to join—” I raised my voice and flinched when Alpha Silvermoon raised a hand sharply to silence me, a gesture that would have finalized with a slap if I were any younger or part of his pack. I knew right then and there if I eventually went with him, I’d become intimately familiar with the back of that hand.

“I have paperwork here that says otherwise,” the stranger, Ares, said as he opened his folder and handed a sheet of paper to Shilo, like his word decided my fate.

Shilo’s brow furrowed as he tapped the paper. “He couldn’t have signed this.”

“How so?” Horace stiffened and Shilo offered the paper back to Ares.

Godfrey stood a little taller.

“Neither you nor Godfrey have seen him since the wreck.” Shilo glanced at me to confirm, and I nodded. “Also, you didn’t even know he was alive on this date.”

“I’ve known he was here since the day after the incident. I’m not sure why you’d dispute that.” My father gave Shilo a warning glare that warned of war and violence.

“But he wasn’t here,” a familiar voice spoke up, inundated with bitterness. “He was stuck in a fucking dog pound.”

“Blake,” Shilo warned, but Blake had his phone out, flicking through something.

He held up his screen and on it was a rather pitiable picture of me in a piss-soaked cell, my gray fur streaked with foulness. My first instinct was to swat the phone away to hide the indecent picture, but Shilo circumnavigated the other alphas and rested ahand on my arm. “Do you want to be here or go home and wait for me to handle this?”

I swallowed hard. “I’ll stay.”

“And do you want to stay here? On my land, with me? For me to be only yours, and you mine?” Shilo leaned in and his lips brushed the shell of my ear. His warm breath made me shiver.

“Yeah. I want that.” Shilo pulled back and looked me in the eyes before flicking his gaze toward Councilman Ares and back to me.

“Unless we’re mated, it may be a bit of a fight for this, or may get expensive.” Shilo met my gaze and leaned in, making my heart flutter over the softest of kisses.

The gravity of what he asked didn’t hit at first as he ran his lips over my cheek to my ear. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” My whisper cut short as, in a flash, he pushed his face into the tender line of my neck, mouth opening. I had the barest warning before half-shifted teeth bit down over my neck. I cried out with sharp pleasure and trembled.

I’d heard mating could be intense, that the union would make us stronger, give us power. It made alphas calmer, omegas stronger, and packs more loyal. He was no longer a single, unmated alpha leading the many, but a male lifted by his mate, given something to build and protect. My breath petered out in a soft whimper. “Oh goddesses…”

“You can’t just—” my father shouted, earning a snarl from Alpha Silvermoon.

“You have any idea how costly of a mistake you just made?” My father pushed Shilo away from me and tensed his shoulders, but he hadn’t been a dominant brawler in many years. Shilo was young, still in his prime, and something neither of the others were—mated.

“Tell me, Godfrey. Explain to me how I have slighted you. Explain to Councilman Ares—” Shilo turned, his lips tinged red, fangs still out as he licked his lips.

“I can wait forthatexplanation. What I cannot wait for is an explanation of what exactly happened. The report we received stated that he’d been in Shilo’s care for months.” Ares stifled a growl in his throat.

I shivered on the spot, my knees weak as Shilo pulled me into his side and gave me a soft kiss. “Blake, take my mate to the kitchens. Councilman Ares and I have some talking to do. And I imagine I’ll be making a peace offering to one of these two misinformed alphas over thiscommunication error, correct? I’m sure nobody purposefully lied or broke the law.”

Alpha Silvermoon paled as my father’s jaw clenched. Long seconds passed before he relented with a short nod. “Perhaps there were a few miscommunications we couldrectify. I certainly wouldn’t want to be in bad standing with the council. Nor would you, Horace.”

“Cool. You four talk it out. Maybe talk to Alpha Silvermoon about his policies on omega pups and find out why he’s so desperate for them.” Blake sneered and took my arm, muttering something along the lines oftrainingomegas and the cost he still bore, paying for their departure.

As they led me away, I glanced back, my mind spinning. Shilo gave me a nod and the brief glance I caught of the councilman’s face told me something grim.

We stormed our way to the kitchens, where Blake handed me off to another beta, determination in his gaze.

Chapter Eleven

Shilo

“A pound. A fucking pound? Your son spent time inside of a goddamn pound?” Councilman Ares, who was somewhat of a cousin to me, wheeled on Godfrey—my new father-in-law. Much to my chagrin.

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