Page 3 of Ruthless Alpha

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I didn’t trust myself to speak; there was nothing but a growl lurking in my chest, and I wasn’t about to start a fight on someone else’s territory. Fortunately, Sam had no such issues.

“You were ordered to stop your flesh auctions.” After over four decades of leading Telaxis, the authority in his voice was effortless, and the Arbor trader cringed beneath its weight.

“We were ordered to stop selling females from other Packs to humans,” he managed to say, his head bent low.“Nothing was said about trading our own females for goods from our neighbors.”

Technically, this was true. Following the incident with Julia, Caleb and Ethan had gone on the warpath, and it hadn’t been difficult to convince the other Packs that sanctions needed to be put on Arbor. It was a rare occurrence for multiple Packs to band together to lay down the law—each Pack was governed by its own laws, and we tried to respect each other’s ways—but the fear of having their own females stolen away was enough to secure the support of almost every Pack in the archipelago. Arbor knew what was in store for them if they continued selling our women to humans. We had, however, said nothing about their females.

“The practice is just as repulsive,” said Sam, voicing my own thoughts on the matter. “You and this poor girl will be off my island before sunset, or Arbor will have their trading privileges on Telaxispermanentlyrevoked. Is that clear?”

“As crystal,” replied the trader. His voice was still slimy and obsequious, but he couldn’t hide the edge of anger in it. “My apologies for any offense caused.”

Then he was slipping away, and I couldn’t help watching the pair of them retreat into the crowd. I felt sick to consider who he might offer the girl to next, what kind of monster would look into those innocent eyes and decide he wanted to own her.

Beside me, Sam cleared his throat, a little awkward.

“My apologies,” he said. “I can assure you, Xander, that this is the first such offer we’ve had from the Arbor traders. I’ll let my Betas know to be on the lookout for any further—”

“Don’t sweat it,” I interrupted. “I know you’d never let that shit slide.”

Sam let out a sigh of relief. It was strange to see another Alpha—especially one with Sam’s decades of experience—be so apologetic, but it was satisfying to know the influence my friends and I had among our fellow shifters. Between the six of us, we ruled some of the most powerful Packs in the archipelago, and the united front we’d presented against Arbor during their attempted invasion of Lapine had solidified that power. No one wanted to look like they were associated with Arbor, for fear of attracting our ire.

I knew that Sam was far from sympathizing with Arbor; while Telaxis might not be the most tolerant of witches, they treated their females well—certainly better than we did on Ensign—and Sam wasn’t the type of Alpha to stand for females being sold like cattle right under his nose.

The trader and the girl had made a swift departure from the market, but they made no such departure from my thoughts. As I purchased the materials I’d need for Sam’s weapon development, I thought about where they might go next, what sort of shifter might be persuaded to buy a clearly terrified female who was barely more than a child. The thought of some shifter looming over her, touching her, making those huge blue eyes fill with tears, had a near-constant growl rumbling in my chest. I needed to get out of here before the wrong shifter thought I had a problem.

Taking my leave of Sam, I hitched the wagon full of steel to my belt, ready to pull it behind me all the way back to Ensign. One day, I would convince the Pack that buying a truck wasn’t an affront to their strength. It wasn’t weak to want a nice vehicle to transport your goods in, rather than walking for miles with a cart strapped to you, but try telling them that.

I’d only made it a mile or so out of Telaxis town when I caught that scent on the wind again: stale sawdust and just a hintof freshly tilled earth. Up ahead, the trader was sitting on a fallen log, taking long drags from a pipe while the girl stood trembling next to him. She looked so lost, so vulnerable, and I knew she’d haunt my dreams if I didn’t dosomething.Fate had put her in my path a second time, and I wasn’t stupid enough to ignore a sign like that. I couldn’t start a fight on another Alpha’s land, so there was only one option left to me.

“Hey, you!” I called out before I could think better of it, unhitching the cart from my belt and striding toward the pair.

The trader cringed, as if readying for a blow.

“We have time before sunset, Alpha,” he implored. I hated his red face and his groveling manner. “Please—”

“Shut up,” I snapped. “How much do you want for her?”

It was like I’d flipped a switch: the trader straightened, suddenly the picture of affability and confidence. The girl, in contrast, went pale.

“If the Ensign Alpha is willing to trade with us, we would certainly appreciate the weapons he might—”

“No. No weapons.” I was clearly willing to do some stupid shit for the sake of a girl I’d seen in passing, but I wasn’t willing to arm a Pack that had threatened people close to me.

“And what else does Ensign have to offer?” It was a loaded question. Arbor might be an island of lush grasses and tall trees, where the soil ensured they wouldn’t starve, but Ensign had no such luxury. Our forests were sparse, and our soil was hard, hiding no strong stone or precious silver. We had nothing but our bodies and our blood, and all the ways we knew how to kill.

What Arbor didn’t consider was that we—unlike them—had friends on other islands.

“You’re still on Ferris’s blacklist,” I said, which was putting it mildly. “I have a wagon full of steel here. I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.”

I could get another load from Ethan within a week. It would cost us, but we could afford it. If we pulled this weapon off, Telaxis would give us enough grain to keep the whole Pack fed through the winter.

The trader eyed my wagon greedily—clearly, I’d been right to think they were in need.

“How much you got there?” he asked, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

“That depends,” I said, before turning to the girl. “How old are you?”

“She just turned twenty-one,” offered the trader. I didn’t look at him.