Page 54 of Midnight Mate
I shook my head. “This is so fucked up.”
“No one disagrees with you on how wrong this is,” Tobias said. “You know, if you were a member of the pack, this would be easier.”
“No thanks. Like I said, I have a different code.”
Angus tensed, but Tobias didn’t even blink.
“I have a feeling our code is one and the same, East.” His voice was calm, but I could feel the ripple of his alpha energy.
My boiling temper made it impossible to care.
He studied me. “I can sense that you don’t belong to another alpha.”
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I said.
That was a lie. After tonight, I belonged to Cat—bite or no bite. But if Tobias could sense my wolf had chosen its mate, he didn’t let on.
“You belong to the beast inside you as we all do.”
“My beast doesn’t want conditions.”
“No one’s giving any.”
“If I joined your pack, I’d have to ask permission to leave town.”
“Ah.” He nodded in understanding. “You want to be free to go.”
“Like I said, I don’t belong to anyone.”
“And your wolf?” Tobias asked. “What does it want?”
I didn’t answer.
“Without the law to provide justice, I banish your father to the mountain for a term of fourteen days,” Tobias said.
My father growled.
“That’s it?” I demanded.
“As a member of our pack, your voice would carry the weight necessary to make sure he couldn’t hurt another person ever again.”
My eyes narrowed. “I plan to do just that.”
Tobias sighed. “Yes, I had a feeling you’d say that. Look, for better or worse, your father’s one of us. Any violence against him by an outsider will have to be addressed.”
My fists tightened.
He wasn’t saying anything I didn’t already know. Hadn’t I held off so long on confronting my old man for exactly this reason? It’s not like I had a death wish.
This town’s werewolf politics were really starting to piss me off.
“This is bullshit,” I muttered.
“Is that your official statement?” Tobias asked.
“My official statement,” I repeated then bit back a string of curses that I was tempted to offer, “is that my old man is a drunk and a wife-beater. Always has been, always will be. If none of you see anything wrong with that, then this isn’t a pack I want to be part of. Either you see him for the monster he is, or you don’t. But I won’t be forced into anything.”
“Fair enough.” Tobias motioned to the sheriff. “Why don’t you escort Bertram off pack land? I’d like to talk to East.”
