Page 120 of The Alpha Dire Wolf
Sylvie’s arms drooped. Bringing her hands in, she looked at them, slowly turning them over, as if a physical examination would suddenly reveal all.
“What am I?” she whispered to nobody in particular. “Are you sure I’m not evil?”
“We all saw you fight the tree-thing when I went down,” I said. “And kill it. There is no doubt that whatever is in your blood, you are not its creature.”
I walked over to her and put my arms around her, holding her tightly. When her knees began to wobble, I instead picked her up and held her to my chest.
“Is there?” I growled, not just at Rome but at the others, many of whom were also sporting suspicious and unsure looks.
There was no response, and I didn’t wait for one. Instead I started walking. It was a long way back to the den, and our people needed us. We couldn’t waste time arguing, not when we didn’t have all the facts.
We left the clearing behind, soaked to our bones from the storm with mud up to my shins. But we left alive. Together.
“Let me know when you’re ready to ride me.”
Sylvie looked up at me, blinking. “Ummm, I don’t really think now is the time for that.”
“Mywolf,” I reminded her. “So we can return faster.”
I didn’t need the light to know she was blushing furiously, her mind having jumped to something else entirely.
“Right. Your wolf. Of course. Um, maybe now?” she said.
“Okay.” I set her down. “You told me you didn’t want the other meaning yet. I won’t push you into it. But I’m glad to know it’s on your mind too. Because every second that goes by without being able to have you really sucks.”
I left those words hanging in the air as I shifted back to my wolf form, saving Sylvie from having to answer as she climbed on. Once she was settled on top, and my wolf was finally calmed, I set off at an intermediate pace. There was no need to move at breakneck speed now, but I also didn’t want to dawdle.
My people had been attacked, and I needed to get back to them. After the fires were out, the wounded tended to, shelter found for those who had lost it all, and the dead acknowledged, we could turn to Sylvie and what to do.
That plan went to shit the instant I stepped into the den and saw the wall of elders waiting for us. Behind them, and to the side, Rome stood as well. When my eyes landed on him, he shifted uncomfortably.
Damn. So much for sleep.
I slowed to a halt. Sylvie slid from my back and waited as I shifted, my bones reshaping themselves and reknitting into a bipedal form.
“What is this?” I growled as my snout shrunk and became my nose. “There are still fires going on. People need tending to. We wereattacked. Why are you waiting here?”
“You know why,” Elder Germander said calmly, taking the lead.
“Do you know what it means?” I asked, referring to the dual magics within Sylvie.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “But between that unknown and the danger and pain she has brought to us this night, we cannot allow her to return to our lands.”
My growl echoed out across the den. Many more heads turned to face the confrontation between the elders and me.
“You don’t have the authority,” I snarled. “Iam alpha here. Not any of you.”
Elder Jackson sighed. “You are only alpha if there is a pack to support you. Look around, Lincoln. They’re scared. Uncertain. They don’t want her here. She only brings more danger. More destruction. Moredeath.”
I bared my teeth in challenge.
“We recognize that she did not do so willingly. That she fought back, and was even instrumental in the destruction of the Chained’s chosen servant. That is why we will not seek her death.”
Theat this timewas all but shouted into the silence that followed.
“But she is not to remain here,” Elder Germander said firmly. “Not after what has happened.”
Flames from one of the burning cabins rose higher into the night, emphasizing his point about what had happened.
