Page 17 of Pack Kasen: Part 2

He’s smiling, but there’s a rod of steel in the Alpha from Washington State, my closest neighbor. I know all about that rod of steel because I’ve seen him fight. There’s a reason he came second in the Wolf King Trials, and that reason had nothing to do with his amiable disposition.

I don’t like people underestimating me. It’s a waste of time—theirs and mine—when they think they can beat me. I make it clear they can’t and they won’t.

Tagge likes to trick people with the smile that makes them think he’s friendly.

He’s a threat.

Stubborn. Pig-headed and an annoyance I don’t need.

“I want you gone,” I snarl at him.

He’s already ruined my breakfast this morning because I haven’t been able to take one bite from my plate without him reminding me that his sister is here, she is available, and he doesn’t intend to leave Burning Wood until we’re mated.

Notwhat I needed after being forced to leave Kat behind, driving for five hours to return to our remote northern Montana home at nearly two a.m.

I’m tired, I want my mate, and I won’t be able to relax in my own home until Tagge has left.

Finan raises his eyebrow.

I know.

I could learn to be more subtle, but I don’t have the patience for diplomacy.

I want the Wolf Lordgone,and I want him gone yesterday.

Patience and subtlety are not working on the cheerful Wolf Lord, who is not getting the message that he isn’t wanted.

“Shira has spoken of seeing more of Burning Wood,” Tagge says between large bites of his breakfast. “What better man to show her the sights than its Alpha?”

I eye his sister, Shira, who doesn’t look the least bit diseased. Or interested in anything except her breakfast.

She’s quiet.

I was young when I overheard one of the older shifters in my pack say that it’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for. I hadn’t known what that meant.

Like all the pups with a question, I went to the best person in the pack to get an answer. Gregor, pack medic and my teacher. He always had an answer for everything. Even my father, the former Alpha of Pack Kasen, went to him for advice.

“Always the quiet ones who didwhat?” I’d growled at Gregor.

Gregor hadn’t been gray then, and his short beard wasn’t the salt and pepper it is now. He’s always had the same sharp, observant brown gaze though.

“What have I told you about growling in lessons, Aren?” he’d asked mildly.

I’d glowered at him. “I’m going to be Alpha, so you’re going to have to get used to it.”

As a pup, I was difficult, but dominant shifters tend to be.

Nevertheless, he had answered my question.

“Loud ones like you demand all the attention.” He had kept speaking before I could argue that I wasn’t loud. “But the quiet ones have the greatest capacity for surprising you.”

I hadn’t understood.

Quiet meant submissive, and I was strong and dominant. If anyone surprised me, I’d still beat them in any fight.Easy.

Now I’ve met Kat, I understand that there are different types of strength. She is quiet. Always quiet. But not shy. Watchful, careful with her words.

No matter how many times I growled at her, she decided when she would tell me something. I couldn’t make her do anything she didn’t want to do.

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