Page 27 of The Wolf She Shouldn't Desire

Three hours later the wolves we brought back to the pack house to question are either crying or glaring at Eric and I with the threat of retribution and/or death. A knock on the door behind me breaks through the noise in the room, and Eric turns to open it.

“Hey boss, I got the info you were looking for.” Lochlan appears in my peripheral, and I turn my head towards him.“This group was part of Conner’s pack but was then cast out because they couldn’t seem to follow the rules. They came from another city seeking out a new pack but couldn’t handle it after a month.”

The leader of said wolves in question growls towards Lochlan. “Pussy ass pack didn’t have a spine and let everyone walk all over them.”

Lochlan glares at the wolf. “That pussy ass pack isn’t the one being interrogated by the dominant pack in this city right now. Neither were they close to being killed by members of the dominant coven of the city you dumbass. The way you’re going from the info I got from your former alpha and tonight, you’re not too far off from getting your ass and your buddies around you in serious trouble or killed.”

Lochlan has a point. Werewolves have rules we live by to protect ourselves and to keep the balance in any city or area we live in. This one doesn’t seem to get that, and it isn’t going to get him anywhere but a good beat down or six feet under.

I walk slowly towards him and crouch down, still out of reach if he gets any stupid idea to try to attack me. He’s restrained, but you can never be too careful. The scars on his face stand out in distinct contrast from the rest of his face in the lighting in here. What or maybe who the hell did that to him and why? If I had to guess, it was the start of his anger at anything from I’ve learned in spending time with him and his disregard for preservation or life in general. “I don’t know why you insist on going against every rule, spoken or unspoken, we have as wolves, but you’re going to get yourself killed if you don’t take a good hard look in the mirror and make some changes.” I bite my tongue in adding pup to the end of the statement. It seems to trigger him like a hormonal adolescent finding offense and trying to prove he is an adult when, in fact, he isn’t. From the looks of him, he’s maybe in his early twenties, but his maturitydefinitely is a few years behind. “You want to find yourself in an early grave? Have nothing to live for and pushing all those around you to deal the killing blow? Don’t mind if you take your friends with you? Huh?”

“You don’t know anything about me old man,” he growls trying to sound tough, but it comes off weak to my wolf ears.

“I don’t need to know anything about you past what happened tonight. You blatantly claimed my territory as your own. That in its self is a killable offense in any wolf’s eyes. I have the right to eliminate any that try to steal my territory and that’s what you were essentially trying to do when talking to the vampires.”

“Why do you care so much what those bloodsuckers think?!” he snaps and lunges forward to get in my face.

“It’s not about the fucking vampires!” I yell. “It’s about my territory and my city!”

The room goes silent. His friends that were crying stop as my words laced with the power of an alpha ring through the room. The wolf in front of me pulls back, but his face remains in a stubborn expression of defiance.

I stand and glance at the others in the room that are restrained. “The rest of you better think long and hard if you want to continue following the lead of this child trying to pretend he is a leader. All its going to lead to is a lot of pain or your potential death.”

Turning my back on all of them knowing that Eric and Lochlan have eyes on them still, I tell Eric, “Let them sit in here for a day or two. Minimal food and water. Then we will check to see if sense comes to them and whether they decide to either take this lesson for what it is and leave the city or if they wish to greet death with open arms.”

Leaving the room, I hear two voices crying out that they do not want to die and will leave the city, but neither of them comes from the group’s leader.

Once through the door and in the hallway, the weight of being an alpha seems slightly heavier on my shoulders. The wolves are young, and I don’t enjoy killing other wolves, but it comes with the territory at times.

I walk upstairs and head to my room to take a shower. The grime of the day coats me in a sticky, dirty film that I can’t tolerate anymore.

As the warm water cascades down my back, my thoughts of course find the open window to turn back towards Talia. Time to formulate a plan and have a talk with the fiery woman.

Chapter 14

Talia

We don’t make it to the warehouse district in time to find and kill the men my father instructed me to kill. And he’s pissed. He grabs a vase off of a side table as he passes it in his agitated pacing and throws it against the fire mantle. Neither Danny nor I flinch at the sound of the vase shattering.

“I gave you one thing to do, and you fucked it up!”

“And like I told you, a group of wolves delayed us from getting there in time. I’ll—”

“That isn’t an excuse! You should have killed them the minute they got in your way!”

“And start a feud with them for no damn reason?” I ask calmly.

He stops in front of me and glares. “You are too damned concerned about a supposed feud with the fucking werewolves daughter. It’s weak, and you are allowing them to walk all over you and get away with far too much as of late in my opinion.”

I clench my teeth, and he smirks as he knows he has hit a nerve. If there is anything I hate above all else is being considered weak and a pushover. “I’ll go out and find them tomorrow night to take care of it.”

“Don’t bother,” he hisses. “You had your chance. I’m sending someone else.”

“Who?” I snap furiously.

“It’s no concern of yours. Not get out of my sight.”

I could argue further, but I have a feeling I’ll end up with another bruise on my face like a few weeks ago or worse if I do. So, I turn and walk quickly out of the room. I hope whoever he chooses to take care of the job fucks it up just so I can throw it in my father’s face that I’m the only one for the job. Although I’d have to clean up the mess afterwards likely. A sliver of apprehension slithers in too. His statement has me questioning if he suspects my interactions with werewolves of late, especially Jordan. He would kill me…. possibly…if he knew about any of the thoughts or feelings, no matter how confusing or undefined, I’ve had towards Jordan.

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