Page 51 of Wolf Found

Amos snarled at them, teeth and claws sprouting like he was the out-of-control wolf man from a bad horror movie. Ash looked at him, then at Zeke, and he knew. And Zeke knew that he knew.

The man was barely hanging on. Whatever was wrong with him, it was so bad he wasn’t even strong enough to keep his enforcers in control of themselves. He truly was no alpha. A pack as big as the Martingales, without the stabilizing influence of an actual alpha, was one of the most frightening things Ash could imagine.

Even more, this wasn’t good for the possibility of himself and Graham escaping unscathed.

Traditionally, under the circumstances, Ash would challenge Zeke. They would fight, and the winner would get his way. Take the other’s pack if he wanted, or, as Ash wanted, take Graham and leave.

It was a terrible, archaic way to handle things, but it hadn’t made Ash nervous as a concept. He might have been able to beat Zeke in a fight the first time he’d been in this position; it simply wouldn’t have occurred to him to try back then. He could definitely beat him in a fight now. That would leave the enclave in a messy situation where their own alpha clearly couldn’t protect them, but Zeke had brought that doubt on himself.

The problem was that Zeke couldn’t or wouldn’t control his enforcers, so Ash wouldn’t be fighting Zeke. Ash would be fighting every wolf in the pack who was struggling to control himself. The backbone of the Martingale pack was failing, and even if they didn’t understand what was happening or why, they were all feeling the effects. They were all frightened and angry.

No wonder retrieving Graham had become so important. They might not know it logically, but instinctively, everyone felt that the slightest imbalance might tip the whole pack over. An imbalance like sweet, kind, talented Graham choosing another pack over them.

He looked Zeke in the eye long and hard. “You know what’s happening here, Zeke. You’re the only man who can stop this.”

Zeke turned up his nose, and Ash felt his gut clench. The man was too far gone. People liked to think of Ash’s pack as a step removed from feral, but that was wrong. They were a strong, thriving pack, not despite having three alphas, but because of the unity between them.

Zeke, though. Zeke was barely holding it together.

Ash shook his head sadly. He looked at the betas and omegas gathered to each side. “I’m so sorry I left you trapped here with a failing pack and a sick alpha. I had no idea it was this bad.”

Zeke roared, incensed by the insult, but tellingly, not one of the betas leapt to his defense.

“Asher?” He heard from one side. “Ancestors, it’s Asher.”

“Have you come to help?” someone asked from the other side.

Ash turned and looked at them. “I’m gonna be honest with you, that’s not why I came.”

“Of course he didn’t come to help anyone,” Zeke growled, his own fangs too sharp, cutting into his lip. A trickle of blood dripped down his chin.

None of the gathered pack members looked at him.

“I came because you kidnapped my mate, Zeke.”

Zeke scoffed, but none of his humanity returned. He believed Graham was Ash’s mate. He just didn’t want to admit it.

“I’m glad you’re not going to try to deny it,” Ash said as calmly as he could. “Graham tells me you tried to break his bond to me and failed. Which is why you hit him, I assume.”

Joey, standing in the center of the group of alpha and enforcers, was somehow completely in control of himself. “That’s true,” he mumbled.

“Men can’t be mates,” Zeke said at the same time as Amos slurred, “Mates are a myth.”

Ash didn’t answer, because he didn’t need to. He put a gentle hand on Graham’s waist and looked to the gathered pack members. “I’m taking my mate and leaving. I understand you’re not all in positions to pull up stakes and walk away from a pack that’s been your whole life, but this place, this pack, is crumbling.”

“You don’t know anything about this place, outcast.” Zeke took a step toward Ash, but paused and turned his nose into the breeze, frowning.

“You’re right,” Ash agreed. “I’ve been gone for eight years, and some of these people don’t even recognize me as the former alpha-heir. But you know what every single one of them sees, Zeke?” He let his hand drop from Graham, then turned and met his eye, silently asking him to stay where he was. Graham nodded.

Ash walked down the stairs, one at a time, and every eye in the enclave was on him. A few more feet forward, and Zeke and his feral enforcers would spring. Ash could fight. He was damn good at it. But a dozen feral betas could take him down.

He could almost feel the people around him holding their breaths, waiting.

“Don’t do it,” the young omega whispered before the older could make him be quiet.

Ash held out a hand and motioned to the line of enforcers. Among them, only Joey looked completely human and in control. “Every member of this pack sees that you’re not in control of your enforcers. They know that if I challenge you, in the tradition of our people, you’re not capable of giving me that challenge according to the rules.”

“You’re no rival alpha,” Zeke ground out, grasping at straws. “You’re nothing, and there’s no shame if I have my enforcers destroy you.”

---