Page 37 of Wolf's Reckoning
“Where are the patrols? The scouts?” I asked him carefully. “This pack used to be heavily defended. I saw nothing when I crossed.”
Malric’s shoulders seemed to droop. “My pack is getting old, Wolfe. There are few youths left.” I watched as his hand rose and pushed back his white hair. “Very few wish to hold to the old ways anymore. Those who do are too old to patrol as they did.” When I said nothing, his look was once more assessing. “And you? Are you ready to fight for a pack that doesn’t know you anymore?”
I needed to be careful with my next words. “Stonefang Pack is keen to ally with its neighbors and those slightly beyond. The alpha believes that if the rogues were to face a united front, then they would become less bold. Maybe even move on.” I gestured over my shoulder, pointing to the door. “The pack doesn’t need to know us to benefit if it means their survival. But…a pack not willing to fight for itself, it’s not a good thing, Malric.”
His mouth twisted, not quite a smile, and I realized I’d addressed him as an equal. “And Rowen?” he asked.
I looked away. “She’ll claw through anyone who gets in her way.”
“Even you?”
Especially me. I didn’t answer, though, but Malric didn’t need me to.
“Which one of them would you pick for her?” he asked instead.
“None of them.” It was out before I stopped it. The old alpha laughed out loud, and I looked away ruefully. “Dick move, Alpha,” I grumbled, but I felt the smile at his cleverness.
“I never thought she would agree to it,” he admitted in a moment of vulnerability. “But then I never thought I would be leaving her like this. The druid is supportive, but…”
“But the druid hears the call of the land more often than not,” I finished for him. “They aren’t always reliable.”
“Agreed,” Malric said softly. He pulled himself up in the bed, sitting straighter. “You have given me much to think about. Your candidness is appreciated.”
I knew it was a dismissal, and I stood slowly, watching him assess me as I did. “Alpha?”
“You grew strong, Wolfe,” he said with admiration. “Your pack is lucky to have you.”
“You should rest,” I told him.
Malric surprised me when he held his arms out, and, slightly stunned, I moved forward and embraced the old shifter who had, in part, raised me.
I felt him stiffen and knew my mistake as soon as I made it. I’d let my guard down. “Malric?—”
“You can’t fool me, Wolfe,” he said in my ear. “Or should I say,Alphaof the Stonefang Pack?”
Chapter 10
Rowen
I’d been meetingwith my prospective marriage interests for two days.
On the first day, Tyler had brought flowers. Like I was some dainty she-wolf waiting to be courted, not a battle-worn alpha’s daughter holding her pack together with grit and willpower.
“They reminded me of you,” he said, smug and smiling.
Sharp-thorned and blood-colored? I could’ve believed that. But these were delicate things. Pale and pretty. I took them with a nod and laid them down on the table before he could say more.
Scott had already left the Hollow after I shut him down, his pride too bruised to linger. Tyler was clearly hoping to win by sheer persistence. And Dex…Dex was different.
He didn’t posture. Didn’t push. Just watched me the way wolves watched storms—like he respected what I did here.
That made him dangerous.
That also made him interesting.
Which made him a problem.
“You should rest before the next session,” the druid had advised earlier, ever the picture of serenity, wrapped in manipulation. “We’ll begin the final interviews soon.”
