Page 30 of Alpha Unbound

I do neither.

Eddard Rawlings sits at the head of the table like he’s presiding over a royal inquisition. The seat beside him is empty—Hudson’s not here yet. A flicker of disappointment tightens my throat, quick and sharp. I shove it down, lock it behind the mask I brought with me. I didn’t need him to fight this battle—but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want him at my back when the knives came out. And that fact irritates me more than I want to admit. I hate I walked into this alone. Even more, I hate that part of me expected him to be at my side already.

“Miss McKinley,” Eddard begins, folding his hands. “We appreciate your willingness to come.”

Right. Like I had a choice.

“Let’s skip the part where we pretend this is a friendly chat,” I say, lifting my chin. My palms are sweating, but I keep my voice cool, firm. I meet each of their eyes, one by one. “You didn’t call me up here for tea.”

Eddard doesn’t blink. “You’ve been asking questions. Stirring up old rumors. Trespassing in places better left forgotten.”

“I was making deliveries. If I crossed a boundary or two, it wasn’t intentional,” I snap. “I’m not the one laying traps in the old woods or sending out thugs to try to intimidate people just going about their lives. Tell me, did Hudson know about that before or after the fact?”

The color drains out of all three men's faces. Score one for the red she-wolf. There’s a twitch at the corner of Eddard's mouth. Not a smile—more like someone trying to hold his temper in place.

“You found surveillance gear,” one of the other elders says smoothly. “And you reported it to no one. That’s a concern.”

I laugh, sharp and without humor. “You mean I didn’t come running to a council that doesn’t govern me or mine? Shocking. Besides, if I was trespassing, that would mean I was on territory you consider Rawlings. And as I realized it was your land, naturally, I assumed you already knew everything happening in it.”

“Your family,” Shaw continues, “has always walked the edge of what is right and wrong. The McKinleys have never made things easy for anyone in Wild Hollow and especially the members of this pack..."

"Not in my job description," I retort.

Eddard blushes angrily. "Your brother was known to consort with outlanders, ask dangerous questions...”

"Consort? Dangerous questions? Sounds to me like you've got a whole conspiracy theory going here." I raise my hand to wave off their objections. "But if by 'dangerous questions,' you mean smart questions—questions that made you uncomfortable because they poked holes in your carefully sanitized stories, I'm okay with that.”

Hudson storms through the compound’s front doors like a damn thunderhead.

I stand in the center of the room, arms crossed, legs braced wide, face carved from fury. I know exactly how I look—like a goddess of war in flannel and tight jeans—and I’m not giving any of them a single inch.

He scans the room. “You summoned her behind my back?” He bellows accusingly.

“She’s a potential threat,” Eddard says coolly. “Given her family history and who her brother was...”

“She’s mine,” growls Hudson.

The words drop like an earthquake, and the room goes still. I blink once, lips parting. There’s heat in my chest now—but it’snot anger. It’s something rawer. Something that scrapes at my ribs and makes my breath catch.

“She’s not marked,” Eddard says, smugly.

“She will be.” Hudson snaps. “You want to question someone, question me. You don’t lay a finger on her without coming through me first. You want to push someone, old wolf? Try me. I am alpha, and you will obey me.”

"You would think to banish me?" asks Eddard.

"No. I'd rip your throat out and mark my mate in the pool of your blood."

Well, that was pretty graphic, and I hate to admit how aroused his protective and brutal instincts make me.

Instead of telling him that, I pin him with a look. “You’re really going there?”

“Kate,” Hudson says, trying to rein in his temper and placate me.

I whip around, eyes blazing. “What? I'm not sure how, but I'm pretty damn sure this is more about you than about me and Luke. You dragged me into this. You can bloody well get me out of it.”

“I didn’t drag you anywhere,” he says, voice low, rough. “I’ve been trying to protect you.”

I stare at him. “Then do something because that asshole summoned me up here behind your back and he's been taking shots ever since I arrived.”

---