Page 49 of The Alpha Dire Wolf
“Iam the alpha of this pack,” I snarled, cutting him off before he could utter a single syllable. “Not you. Not any of you.”
Elder Jackson snorted. “If you think it’s that black and white, go against us openly. It won’t go well, and you know it.”
I jabbed a finger at his face. “You are doing this pack no favors with your isolationist fearmongering,Elder.” I threw the term at him derogatorily. “We have long helped the humans by patrolling the forest and keeping the darkness at bay. We were welcomed in the town by its residents, those who know our true nature and those who don’t. We make their lives easier and safer by preventing the Chained from extending its influence. The Chained isourproblem. Our duty. Not theirs.”
“And look where it got us,” Elder Jackson said, shaking his head sadly. “We should be far larger than we are. There should be no empty houses out there. We should be one of the most powerful packs on the continent by now. Instead, the lasttime we tried to save them from the Chained, their treachery decimated us! We lost nearly half of our people.”
“That was generations ago,” I countered. “A century and a half. We don’t even know exactly what went on at that time.”
Elder Jackson didn’t back down. Neither did those at his side. “What we do know is that much more in the way of losses back then, and we would have been forced to merge with one of the other packs. What we know is all those deaths were at the hands of human treachery.”
Most of the other elders nodded along with Jackson as he spoke, making their feelings clear. A few did not, and one or two of those who did nod looked hesitant to do so.
“Regardless, your desire to hide iswrong,” I said, coming as close as I dared to calling him a coward.
“And so is violating the boundaries of the heart of the forest,” Elder Jackson countered. “We do not cross the Dyne. You know this. It is against the rules.”
“Rulesyouset!” I snarled, staring him down. The word was on my lips. But such an insult was not one I could take back if uttered.
Being branded a coward in a wolf pack was a death sentence. Any wolf would challenge such a claim. I did not want to do that. Fighting an elder would ensure a split in the pack, a fracturing that we could ill afford at this time. No, I had to find a way to unite, not destroy.
Otherwise, my people would suffer. And what kind of alpha would I be if I allowed them to suffer, or worse yet,causedtheir suffering by pushing for a schism?
Somehow I had to get the elders to stop being afraid.
“We will see what the forest has to say,” Elder Jackson said, making it clear that he was done talking about it.
Snarling in disgust, I pushed through them and started up the stairs.
“Lincoln.”
Elder Germander’s voice stopped me, but I refused to turn back.
“Be careful how close you get to the humans. Remember, that too is forbidden.”
Baring my teeth at no one, I did not acknowledge the comment. I left before I said anything else.
They would not understand if I told them that staying away from Sylvie was no longer an option. That every time we were apart, my wolf howled incessantly for her. That my body felt dull and unalive unless I was by her side.
I hungered for her—a hunger I could not quench by staying away. The only thing that would satiate me was her. To hear her voice. To look into her face.
To hear my name spill from her lips, taste her skin under my lips, and feel her body under my fingers once more.
The shift to wolf form came unexpectedly, the beast exploiting my temporary distraction. It was too much to resist at that point. The call was too strong. The need too great. I had to see her. To be with her.
My feet started to move on their own accord, and I left the meeting grounds behind. Cabins and other shifters passed by. Trees began to blur as I picked up speed, disappearing into the forest as I ran on without stopping.
Right back to her.
Chapter Twenty
Sylvie
Iwent out the next day to get some answers.
When Lincoln had failed to return, I had been left with yet more questions, and I was growing sick of being clueless. It was time to get my ass in gear and figure out something,anythingabout what was going on.
I covered a giant yawn. But none of that was going to happen before coffee.
