Page 30 of Forced By the Alpha

She looked thoughtful as she considered my question before shaking her head.

“I don’t think so,” she said regretfully. “I’m sorry.”

Surprisingly, I wasn’t upset that nothing had changed. There was no anger at all for the failure of her plan to break the curse.

“There’s no need to apologize,” I told her.

“Are you sure? I could make it up to you,” she teased, trailing her hand down my chest toward my pelvis.

“Mmmm, if you feel like you need to help me feel better, I guess I can’t stop you,” I flirted back.

I stretched out on my back while she continued exploring my skin with her hands and then her lips. Her kisses ranged from my lips to my collarbone to my stomach while I closed my eyes. I was in rapture at the feelings she created in me without even trying.

The buzzing of my phone on the bedside table broke me from my reverie. I opened my eyes to glance at the caller ID and saw it was Dylan.

“Hello?” I answered while Sienna continued her ministrations.

“We’ve got a problem, boss,” Dylan said. “Better get over here. Right away.”

His voice was controlled, but there was a hint of fear behind it. There weren’t many things that Dylan was afraid of.

“What is it?” I demanded.

“We’ve got a visitor.”

I hung up the phone and reached for Sienna’s cheek as she kissed my chest. “We need to go,” I told her.

***

The Crescent Shield pack’s alpha, Colson, was standing at the bridge between the town of Preston and the territory claimed by the Forsaken Shadows pack. He was flanked by two wolves on either side of him. Their arms were crossed as they glared across the divide at my assembled wolves, who were on the defensive.

“How can I help you?” I asked the alpha politely.

“By leaving,” Colson replied tersely.

“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” I said, allowing the ice to creep back into my tone.

“It wasn’t a request,” Colson spat. “Our packs can’t continue like this, living so close to one another. The fight yesterday proved that.”

“If I remember correctly, that fight was started byyourpack. Not ours.”

The enemy alpha bared his teeth at me, and a few snarls sounded from my pack in response. I held my hand out to quiet them. As much as I wanted to defend our right to live here, this wasn’t the place for another brawl. Not in the early morning hours so close to the human town.

“Your pack is feral. An abomination beyond anything I have witnessed before,” Colson said. “They will destroy this town someday. Your control over your pack is barely hanging on by a thread. Is this the legacy you want them to leave? The destruction of innocents?”

“I don’t see any ‘innocents’ here,” I pointed out. “If you keep spoiling for a fight, you’re going to get one. You continue to harass us, to no avail. We have won every skirmish between our packs. Leave us be.”

“For now,” Colson said, narrowing his eyes toward the wolves who continued to gather behind me. He was vastly outnumbered at the moment, and he knew it. He signaled for his men to follow him as he backed away from the bridge. “This isn’t over,” he warned.

We watched as the group departed, but I didn’t feel my usual satisfaction at winning an argument. In my heart, I knew that my pack deserved a stable home, but Colson’s words rangin my ears. We had killed plenty of innocents before. Try as we might, that trend didn’t look like it would end anytime soon.

“He’s right, Alpha,” Dylan said. “This isn’t over between us.”

“Tell everyone to stay home today,” I ordered. “If he came to see us, that means he’s planning something. Today isn’t the day to find out what that might be.”

Chapter 15 - Sienna

After Alpha Colson’s appearance at the border, my task had become more urgent than ever. I had to find a way to break the curse, but all I had to show for my efforts so far was increased frustration. There were no more leads.

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