Page 32 of Alpha's Baby Girl
“Spit it out,” I snapped.
“You know Kato’s pack, the one that’s been causing us a lot of shit by rallying for leadership in the town?” The hair on the back of my neck prickled. Kato and his pack had kept their eye on the town for years. My mother had assured me it was nothing, and, true to her advice, Kato had been quiet. He was an ambitious yet dangerous wolf shifter who’d taken up residence in an abandoned car manufacturing warehouse on the outskirts of town. My father had been trying to pin him down but any crime he’d thought he could tie him to had slipped loose. There had been word of him taking advantage of lone wolves, employing them into his pack, training them for purposes that weren’t as honorable as he first made it seem.
Conall sighed deeply. “I had some of the pack running the perimeter the day of that survival trial, like you asked. Lyna heard one of your she-wolves on the phone. She stayed hidden but listened in. She didn’t mention Kato but she talked about some sort of plan. She said her friend’s name, and we dug into that name. The friend is a leopard shifter from another town, whose ex was part of Kato’s pack. Now there’s unrest in the warehouse. We have eyes on it. I’ve been including it in the scouting runs while you’ve been gone. There’s something going on, Fenrys, and I’m worried. I think you have a she-wolf somehow involved with Kato.”
“Did Lyna say who the she-wolf was?”
“She didn’t know her by name but…” He inhaled deeply, and dread coiled in my stomach. “She described a wolf with white-blonde hair and golden eyes. She was distinct. I remember what Thalia looks like, Fen.”
A sick feeling came over me.Thaliahad wanted to leave so suddenly for space. Her friend showing up. Had she set this whole thing up with Sasha? Was that the friend and ex-girlfriend of one of Kato’s previous pack members? Thalia’s insistence on not hearing me out tonight despite wanting an explanation so vehemently when she first entered the Games. I had been surprised that she would evenbehere.
I felt like a bucket of ice had been thrown over me when I recalled her words at the diner.Do you ever wish you’d made different decisions?Was that what she was doing here, in the Games? Trying to usurp me, to ruin me from inside my own pack? Play as my mate, use it to her advantage, and then betray me, payback for years ago? I didn’t know whether to feel angry or demand she tell me the truth.
“What are your feelings for her?” Conall’s question was quiet but it summed everything up. I had to decide what to do now.
“You know how I feel about her, Con,” I said helplessly. “She’s my mate.”
“Fenrys, if she’s a traitor, then she’s got to go.”
“She’s my mate,” I repeated through gritted teeth. “I can’t just—God, there has to be an explanation for this.”
“Then I hope she has a good one,” Conall said. “If you let this go because it’s her then you’re putting us all at risk if sheisworking for Kato. She has some sort of plan, Fen.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, collapsing back onto my pillow in frustration. I had betrayed her years ago but had I hurt her so severely that she would turn toKato? A man who wanted me toppled off as top alpha. A man who had been after Silverlake Valley’s prosperity for so long to make it his own? He boasted of wanting to incorporate all shifter forms, but I knew he wanted to remodel the town, and make it his criminal empire. He wasn’t good, and I had no doubt he’d been feeding Thalia a thread of lies, spinning a pretty story for a heartbroken girl to believe. She wasn’t a lone wolf but she would have been a vulnerable one. I didn’t blame her for believing him. Just the thought of her betraying me was enough to anger me; I had hurt her far worse. But why hadn’t she justtoldme? Anger coiled deep in my gut. I wanted to march to her room immediately but I had to think of the best plan of action. She wouldn’t talk to me if I went over there with accusations, even as the alpha in me demanded that was exactly I needed to do.
“It’s the final trial tomorrow,” I told Conall. “I’ll get this sorted. I’d appreciate it if my mother doesn’t find out about it. She’s warned me about Kato too many times and I’ve dismissed her concerns.”
“Of course,” he said. “When you need us, the pack is ready to go. What about T—”
“I’ll deal with Thalia.”
“I don’t want to overstep, but don’t be an idiot. She’s your mate. If you believe she’s good, then there has to be a reason for this, but please don’t jeopardizeoursafety. You turned her down once, you can do it again.”
“You know why I turned her down,” I muttered. “And it wasn’t because of my lack of feelings for her. What if I never stopped loving her, Con?”
“We’ll figure it out together. We always have, always will. I’m your brother, I swore my loyalty to you. That means everything to me.”
He was right. While I wouldn’t be able to take my mind off the issue, especially during the final trial, I had to remind myself that Thalia had heard me out and she deserved the same. My hands clenched in restrained fury. She wasn’t one of my packmates who’d fooled around and done something wrong. She was mymate, and plotting against me in some form. And yet she’d let me touch her… Let me bond with her. Let me talk about children with her.
How long did she intend to keep this going for?
Was that why she had called Sasha? To discuss the final steps of the plan now that we were so close to the final trial?
I hung up and flung my phone across the bed. I had to believe a reasonable explanation existed for Thalia to work for Kato. I had to believe that her not making an offensive move on me yet was a good thing, a sign of doubt rather than a bigger plan to execute her goal later in the Games.
There were only four she-wolves left. Thalia, Dakota, Shiba, and her friend. The fifth she-wolf had been quietly excused earlier that day at my request, not wanting another public elimination.
Could I handle the possibility of my mate betraying me, could I take that risk? I called Graham, uncaring of the hour. He answered immediately with a groggy, sleep-thick voice. “Fenrys?”
“Bring the final trial forward,” I ordered. “I want Thalia ready to start at sunrise.” I hung up, not giving him a chance to protest. These weremyGames.
I had one hour with each she-wolf, and we were to prove ourselves as a pair to communicate, hunt, and lead each other. I had to find out if I could trust Thalia. We would be at our most vulnerable and strongest as wolves. Unable to talk but our physical strength would be increased. We would only have our wolves to take us past any verbal barriers—and maybe that was the best option. Maybe the time for words had to be paused for now; perhaps it was time to let our base instincts guide us.
I wanted to trust her, and I knew she was still building my trust, and while I couldn’t ignore the shock at finding this out from Conall, I couldn’t ignore a lot of the evidence that went in her favor. If she had intentions to usurp me—or worse—then this final trial, before we were committed to anything and she became Luna of my pack and watched, therefore less able to commit anything against me, would be the place to do it. But if she had these plans all along had she faked wanting me?Wasit fake? Too many questions rotated in my mind, over and over.
The thoughts kept me drifting in and out of a fitful sleep. When I had my wake-up call to go down for the trial, Thalia waited for me, bleary-eyed but determined. I couldn’t look her in the eye. I couldn’t regard her and not question why she would go to such lengths to get rid of me. Kato wanted my pack eradicated, I knew that. He had made good on threats before. Our packs had gotten into fights. He had to be spinning her pretty words. Thalia was good. She didn’t have hidden bad intentions, I needed to believe that.
“Fenrys?” she said, coming to my side. Next to her, Graham looked weary and exhausted. I felt bad for causing both of them to sleep poorly.
