Page 125 of The Alpha Dire Wolf
“Oh. Uh, I’m sorry.”
“Did I hurt you? I tried to hold back, but I know sometimes things happen. My strength …”
“What? No, no, no, Lincoln, not at all.” I smiled. “Truth be told, if we had more time, you could have been a bit rougher. I like being tossed around.”
He grinned from ear to ear, leaning in to kiss me. “I’m already looking forward to next time.”
“I can feel that,” I said wryly, looking down between us.
“You’re going to have to wait, though,” he said. “We really need to get going. I want to be far away from here before the sun begins to set.”
He withdrew, heading to the bathroom to get a towel and leaving me alone with my thoughts.
We were leaving. Heading off somewhere he hadn’t told me to see what we could discover. About me. Who I was.WhatI was. My grandmother had known, but her journal didn’t say. I’d scoured the entire thing now, but I was still in the dark.
Whatever it was, though, it had to do with the Chained. The evil was out there still, at the heart of the forest, and we knew it wouldn’t rest. We had to find a way to stop it. For good.
Because it was coming for me and whatever was inside of me.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Lincoln
Iwaited at the front door.
Sylvie was taking her time, but it wasn’t about me or what had happened earlier. Her entire life was changing by the minute, and leaving this house would be the leaving the last part of her behind.
When she stepped outside, she would be entering my world for good—a world she hadn’t known existed until days ago. And my world was now profoundly changed.
Neither of us had much of a home anymore. We were both leaving it behind. I could take credit for starting the trend, but it hadn’t been entirely voluntary. Vee was coming with me now because she trusted me.
I had to ensure I stayed worthy of it.
How that was possible, given I had been exiled from my own pack, I wasn’t sure. No real alpha would have let this happen. A real alpha would have put Elder Jackson in his place and dealt with Noel like one does a rabid dog.
Take it out back and shoot it.
I hadn’t done that. Was I taking the coward’s way out? It felt like it at times, though I did my best to keep it quiet and not bother Sylvie. She had enough going on. She didn’t need my personal problems dropped on her plate as well. I would deal with it, when the time was right.
My pack deserved better than whatever Jackson, Germander, and Noel were going to do.
Which is probably a whole lot of nothing. They’re cowards. They’ll just stick their heads in the ground and hope this passes them by.
I just hoped the innocent wouldn’t be hurt before I could return and deal with them for good. Once we discovered just who and what Sylvie was and proved she wasn’t evil or in league with the Chained, I would march right home and take back what was mine. Those who stood against me were going to get what they deserved. I just wasn’t going to risk breaking my pack in half to get it. Too many would be hurt that way.
No, this was the way it had to be done. Properly.
“I think I’m ready,” Sylvie said, coming down the stairs at last, still holding her grandmother’s journal.
I couldn’t help but be caught up in her beauty, the bounce of her hair, the curve of her jaw, the sway of her hips. Every part of her called out to me, to the deepest, most protected parts of my being that I shared with nobody.
Nobody but her.
Sylvie didn’t notice. She was too fixated on her own thoughts. Pausing at the front door, she hugged the book to her chest.
“I’ll be back, Grandma. I promise,” she whispered before setting the book down on the table at the base of the stairway. “Okay.”
I nodded, and she handed me her duffle bag while she put her shoes on. It was suspiciously light.
