Page 86 of Taken By the Alpha Priest

I take a step forward, reaching for her hand. “I know it’s hard to understand, but I’m starting to think we’ve been on the wrong side. They want to make a deal with us—a real partnership. They’ll provide medical supplies, insulin, vaccines, in exchange for livestock and fresh produce?—”

She jerks her hand away, shaking her head so hard her hair flies around her face. “No. No way.” She takes another step back, her voice trembling with a mix of disbelief and anger. “Did they hypnotize you or something?”

“Enid, stop,” I say, my voice firm, but I can feel my stomach twisting. This isn’t going the way I hoped.

“I’m serious!” she snaps, her voice cracking. “Tilda, rebels killed our parents. Are you really going to forgive them for that?”

My heart lurches, the old wound ripping open at her words. It’s a scar I’ve never told Reyes about–not when my side did so much worse to his family. “That was a long time ago,” I say, but my voice falters. “Things have changed. People have changed.”

Her eyes flash with anger as she shakes her head again, more furiously this time. “Not for me, they haven’t,” she says. “Not for Mayor McAllen, either. You know he’s never going to go for this, right?”

My chest tightens, a sinking weight pressing down on me. “Enid,” I say softly, stepping closer again. “You’re too important to me for me to just…give up on you. I can’t leave you here.”

Her expression shifts, hurt flashing in her eyes before they harden again. “Is that what you’re saying? That it’s me or the rebellion?” Her voice is quiet now, trembling with barely restrained emotion.

I open my mouth, but no words come out. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, a familiar sensation prickling down my spine. My pulse quickens, and I glance back toward the woods.

Reyes is coming closer.

I turn, my breath catching as I watch him stride through the tall grass, his movements steady and purposeful. I can feel it—the calm, the grace, the certainty he carries with him. It reaches me even from a distance, grounding me in the storm of my emotions.

But I know the others don’t feel that.

All they see is a massive man emerging from the woods, his broad shoulders cutting an imposing figure against the backdrop of the trees. His amber eyes, the most alien part of him when he’s in his human form, seem to pierce right through the crowd gathering at the gate. The watchtower’s rifle swings to track him, the red dot of the laser sight landing squarely on his chest.

It takes the breath right out of me. “No,” I breathe.

We’re already in too deep to escape, even if we wanted to…and the man I love is in their crosshairs.

29

TILDA

Istand between my past and my future…and it’s clear now who the villains are.

Enid’s voice is sharp, tinged with panic. “Did you bring them here?”

“Enid, it’s okay,” I say, turning back to her, trying to keep my voice steady. “Just calm down.”

Her wide eyes dart between me and Reyes, suspicion and fear clouding her expression. “This doesn’t look okay, Tilda!”

Reyes keeps coming, unbothered by the rifle trained on him. The wind carries his scent to me—earthy, grounding, familiar—and for a moment, I feel a flicker of relief. But then I see the way the others are staring, the tension in their postures, the nervous murmurs spreading through the small crowd behind the gate.

Reyes halts when the red dot finds its mark on his chest. He raises his hands slowly, palms out, his voice carrying across the prairie. “I just want to talk,” he calls, his tone calm but firm. “I’m here with Tilda.”

I don’t know if his powers have some kind of sway over them, but the red dot on his chest wavers. I get the feeling this isn’t the first time he’s had a gun held on him, maybe even from before the Convergence.

“You one of them?” a voice calls from the watchtower. I vaguely recognize it—maybe Tom, an old farmer who joined us from New Braunfels a few years ago.

“They don’t want to hurt us,” I call out, forcing my voice to sound steadier than I feel. “We just want to talk to the mayor.”

For a long, agonizing moment, there’s no response. The silence presses down on me, every second dragging out as that damn red dot stays fixed on Reyes’ chest. My breath lodges in my throat, and I glance at him, hoping his unshaken posture will calm me.

Then, a voice cuts through the air, sharp and unmistakable: “You the only wolf here?”

My stomach twists. Mayor Patrick McAllen. My former commander during the Crusades. The man who trained me to follow orders without question. He’s a reasonable man—at least, he used to be—but he’s also the person I’ve been most afraid to face. The one who could dismantle this entire fragile plan with a single word.

And he’s been watching the whole time.

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