Page 100 of Tempted By the Alpha Outlaw

Plenty of time to run.

I could do it.

It’d be so damn easy.

My muscles are still loose from sitting, my wolf tense beneath my skin, coiled tight with instinct. I know exactly where the fence is weakest. I know the patrol schedules. I could be gone before Grant even had time to yell my name.

I should want that. Should want to disappear, slip away into the night, go back to drifting through the world like I’ve always done.

But I won’t.

Because I made my choice when I stayed, when I looked Magnolia in the eyes and told her I loved her…when I told Reyes the truth, knowing full well it might get me killed.

We’re at the community center door too slow and too fast. Too slow, because every step drags under the weight of what’s coming. Too fast, because I don’t have time to brace myself before we’re here. The doors loom in front of us, lantern light spilling through the cracks, casting long, flickering shadows across the dirt path. My pulse beats against my ribs, slow and steady, the kind of rhythm that comes before a fight.

But this isn’t a fight. There’s no battle I can win with teeth and claws.

This is worse.

Grant shifts beside me, rolling his shoulders like he’s shaking off the weight of the moment. Then he looks at me. “You ready for this, dude?”

I swallow hard, my throat tight. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

He nods once. Then he opens the door.

The entire community center is packed, bodies filling every available space, the air thick with curiosity, apprehension—even fear.

The lanterns on the walls flicker against the wood-paneled interior, casting uneven patches of light and shadow, but it doesn’t feel like a trial. Not exactly. This isn’t a courtroom, and it sure as hell isn’t some cult condemnation.

It’s just a den—a community—trying to figure out how the hell they’re supposed to handle something like this.

They’ve never had to before.

Some people stand, arms crossed, whispering among themselves, while others settle onto benches and worn couches. A few parents sit with their kids tucked against their sides, some too young to understand what’s happening, others old enough to watch with wide, uneasy eyes.

The tension is there, but it’s not all anger. It’s uncertainty.

No one knows what comes next.

I scan the room, instinct kicking in, even though I already know there’s no way out of this. The front of the room is all authority—Reyes standing solid as a stone pillar, arms crossed. Beside him, Tilda watches—not looking at me like I’m a monster, but not offering a lifeline either. To the left, Frankie stands straight as a board, jaw tight, arms folded, ready to cut. Will is next to her, his stance stiff, shoulders squared like he’s bracing for whatever comes next. Grant moves to join them, slipping into place with the easy belonging of someone who has never had to doubt where he stood.

And then?—

Magnolia.

She’s near the back of the room, standing apart, arms wrapped around herself like she’s trying to hold in everything she doesn’t want them to see…like she’s bracing for the impact. Her parents are on either side of her, flanking her, and Peaches is holding her hand. Out of all of them, Peaches is the only one who’s actually looking at me.

I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing…but it makes me feel like a real fucking asshole.

I barely have time to register the ache in my chest before Reyes clears his throat.

“We’ve never had to do this before.” His voice carries, even without raising it. The pack settles, murmurs dying off. “But we don’t turn a blind eye to betrayal in this den. And we don’t make decisions lightly.” He exhales through his nose. “Colt has asked for the chance to speak for himself before the pack makes its decision.”

His amber eyes flick across the room. “You will listen. And then you’ll decide what to do with him. If he’ll stay, if he’ll go…or if he’ll die.”

A hush falls over the den, everyone shutting up.

I take a breath, slow and measured, rolling my shoulders back. My head bows for only a moment before I straighten, my voice steady but raw.

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