Page 87 of Mated Exile

So I decide to stall him with a bit of talk. Walking over to stand between him and the cauldron, closer to the Glass Pack, I cross my arms and narrow my eyes at him. "Why do you care so much about taking over our pack? Last I checked it's just a burden you don't need. I'd think your people would prefer it if you didn't split your loyalties."

One of his pack members, a tall platinum blonde woman with a smattering of dark freckles on her cheeks, stiffens and looks over at her alpha at this. I feel tension running from her, towards the male standing beside her, from their alpha and back again. Though he holds tight control over them and they remain firmly at his side, I can tell that noteveryonein Stone Pack is equally enthused at the thought of fighting for their alpha to take over another werewolf pack.

"It's none of your business why I want Glass Pack," John says, though I sense there's something beneath his words. "That's between me andmypack members."

A voice behind me speaks up and says, "Why do you care so much, exile? It isn'tyourpack anymore."

I don't have to look over my shoulder to know who's speaking. "Bennett, just because he can heal you for a moment doesn't mean he's going to fix the pack. We have to knowwhyhe wants us before we just roll over and let him take over."

"Delilah is right," Lance calls out, his voice carrying strength and confidence. He paces over to my side and places a hand on my shoulder. "We should exhaust every option we have before we just let another alpha control our pack. If that means spilling a little blood, so be it."

There are growls at this from both sides. Feeling the tension, I make sure to whip my awareness out towards Bennett, grab onto his anger, and stoke it down. It feels like pouring water over hot coals or covering a boiling pot of water with a lid. Just in time, too—as soon as I touch his mind, I feel how his anger is aimed straight for me, and am glad to avoid his planned attack.

With that taken care of, I aim my attention back at John. His thoughts and emotions aren't so easy to sense; being an alpha has made that difficult. But even he doesn't have a straightforward wall up like Bastian, which only makes me that much more curious how the lone wolf got to be that way.

John feels mostly confident, a little annoyed and frustrated, but little else. His thoughts slide away from me when I try to touch them. Thankfully as I'm working at them, another voice pipes up to distract him, and he tears his eyes away from me for a moment.

"You never answered the question." Finn raises a brow in John's direction. "Why do you want to takeover our pack? If it's not something you're doing as a favor—and clearly it isn't, since you won't otherwise help us—there must be something you're getting out of it."

I feel a strong emotion suddenly: fear spiked with worry. It's coming from one of the Stone Pack wolves. Sensing it, I reach out towards its source, the platinum blonde woman. Unlike her alpha, she has a wide-open mind, and it doesn't take much to see what she's so worried about.

Narrowing my eyes at John, I pitch my voice above the growing tensions and growls to declare, "Thereissomething he and his pack want from us. Their pack is crumbling too—the three mated pairs in front of us are all that's left, as every other mate bond has severed, including the alpha's to his own mate. He thinks that if he siphons the energy from our Mating Circle, he'll be able to repair their own broken cauldron."

There are a few gasps at this, coming mostly from the Stone Pack, who didn't seem to see this coming. Stalking towards John, I stare across at him and demand to know, "What state would you have left us in when you were done with us?"

"You would be better off than you are now," he spits out, scowling. "I don't know who told you about our plans, but I'll find the traitor. It doesn't matter—your pack is cursed, and it will die regardless. Either you let Stone Pack take the strongest members left, and heal those that can be healed, or all of you will suffer and die."

I inhale sharply, about to tell him off—when Bennett's voice cuts through the crowd. "She didn't need a traitor to betray you. The exile bitch got that from your own mind. She's a wolf-witchhybrid."

There's a snarl from behind me, and I turn in time to see Lance pounce on him, too late. He drags Bennett away from the Mating Circle, cuffs him and throws him to the ground. Most of the tension in the stones isn't on what Lance is doing, and I sense it as I turn back to face the crowd.

John raises his voice as he calls out, "Is this true? The alpha's own daughter?" He shakes his head, disgust rippling across his face. "No wonder his pack is cursed."

I hear someone murmur, "Shereadhismind?"

My own people knew already what I am. They're looking at me differently now that they've heard I went rummaging in an alpha's mind. Roarke is doing his best to calm them, but John is the stronger alpha, at least in the sense that heisan alpha. He's pulling from his own pack's Mating Circle as well as the power of the stones around us to influence his people and mine.

Even when I look over at Finn and Kieran, I sense it within them. They're angry because of John's influence, and though it might be pointed at Bennett instead of me, their eyes glow with the light of their wolves' rage. Their fingers are sharpening into claws, and they aren't the only ones. Half the wolves in the circle are on the verge of transforming, waiting for the moment when a fight will break out. Even Lance is feeling it as he stalks back into the circle, shaking his head and lifting his lip in a snarl, his eyes glinting blue.

The only one not affected is Bastian. He hurries over to me, grabbing my shoulder and staring down into my eyes. As growls reverberate and Roarke locks horns silently with John, he leans down to murmur in my ear, "Do you want to get out of here? It wouldn't be the first time we escaped horrifying odds."

"No." I shake my head sharply. Even after Bennett's betrayal, I don't want to give up on the pack. Especially with my lovers—and possibly future mates—standing in the middle of the fray. "There's something I haven't done yet that I should do. I'm just worried that I'll lose myself if I try it."

As Roarke calls out, "Give us what we need, John! You won't save your pack by destroying ours."

"Your pack is already destroyed, simply by letting the wrong kind of creatures into your ranks." I close my eyes, swallowing and letting my awareness ripple down into the earth. John continues, "One of the first things I'll fix as alpha is cleansing your ranks. Enough is enough—some thingsdeserveto be exiled."

He's wrong. I know that he is. Even as he speaks the words, I feel a shadow of a day long past cross my memories. It's hard not to think of that moment, when I was rejected, exiled, and crushed by life.

As I open my eyes andpushmy awareness out towards the alpha, though, I know I'm no longer standing in that world. Seven years and a single month have changed everything. Here I am in that same place, but I'm not the same girl.

I whisper a spell I read in a black book full of curses,"Atinumus sona to meii."

In a single moment, John's mind is yanked out of his control and dragged into mine. I grit my teeth, feeling his will in my hands like a bucking bronco with a bit in its mouth. He jerks and fights it instantly, trying to free himself from my grip, but I narrow my focus and hold on.

He's the only one I can hold on to, though. "Roarke, calm the pack!"

"Got it!"

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