Page 267 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
I instinctively stepped back from him, my arms covering my belly protectively. My lips pulled back from my teeth as my wolf growled.Dammit. With that one sentence, he’d put me on the defensive. How did he know about the baby? I had zero clue who he was, yet he seemed to know everything about me.
I continued to glare at him, and Lance took a small step back, which confused me even more. It was almost like he was giving me space, but if he wanted to give me space, why didn’t he just leave me the hell alone?
“You should stick close to your mate,” he said. “I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that there are people in this pack who hate Night, the Wargs, and everything you represent.”
“And what do I represent? Change?”
“Exactly.”
“And how do I know you’re not one of them?” I demanded. “You must be watching me at all times if you know so much about my personal business.”
He didn’t deny it.
“Why are you keeping tabs on me?”
He gave me a level stare, and I couldn’t tell if he was trying to intimidate me or scold me. “Because I know that the alpha challenge is only five days away, and once it’s over, no one will listen to you. Because I know that if there’s one thing these small-minded wolves believe, it’s that women are subservient to men. And because your being pregnant only makes that beliefworse, but I’m sure you already had a taste of that when you spoke to the elders earlier.”
I had to navigate this conversation with more poise. At the very least, I should try to be civil—for all I knew, I was talking to someone who was in direct contact with Troy. But the day had been too taxing, and I couldn’t keep myself from getting pissed off.
“Donotpatronize me,” I said. My voice took on a growl, thanks to my wolf. She was also sick of whatever game he was playing. “I am not a child, and I’m not the stupid girl that you, the council, and most of the pack thinks I am. I’ve been through hell, and I’ve made the best of it. I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve tried to make up for them. I’ve reached my lowest point, and I’ve crawled my way back. You don’t get to tell me what to do and pretend you give a damn about me or the people I care about.”
Lance took another step back, and for a second, something bright flashed across his eyes, but it was gone before I could read it.
“Have you considered that you might have just gotten lucky?” he asked. “You’re alive today, true, but that doesn’t mean you’ll keep succeeding. You’re making a huge mistake if you think the wolves in this pack won’t turn against you and your mate the minute they have the chance.”
“Night is going to be the next alpha. They won’t have a choice but to listen to him.”
“It’s never that simple, Bryn. And if your mate is telling you that, he’s either lying to you, or he’s an even bigger idiot than he looks.”
My temper spiked again, and my wolf seethed within me. But I caught myself before I exploded again.
“If anyone is lying, it’s you. After all, no one knows anything about you. Someone who’s being truthful wouldn’t need to keep so many secrets.”
He let out a brief chuckle. “You’ll know who I am when it’s time, but until then, you really should listen to my advice. I say it with your safety and the safety of that little wolf in mind.” He turned from me and started walking away.
“Sure you do,” I muttered under my breath, staring after him until the trees swallowed him up.
It was only the second time Lance and I had interacted, but he left me more confused each time. I shook my head and resumed my trek to the elders’ cabin at a much quicker pace. I didn’t have time to parse my way through Lance’s possible motives to seek me out and talk to me. I’d do that later with Night, hopefully in the safety of our cabin. Until we had the chance to talk, I’d file the conversation away. For now, I wanted to see my original mission through.
The sight of the elders’ white cabin had never been more welcoming. I knocked on the door, and Elder Queene let me in.
“Hello, Alpha Hunter,” he said.
“Hello, Elder Queene,” I replied. “I thought Elder Woods would be with you?”
“I am still here.” She came in from the side room and gave me a kind smile. “I will be heading back to Warg territory soonenough, but I wanted to be here when we discussed what you saw in your visions.”
“I’m glad you’re still around,” I said, returning her smile.
“I trust you have the sketches?” Elder Queene asked me.
“I do, yes.” I took off my tote and pulled out the drawings. I went to the nearest table and set them up the way I wanted. As Elders Forsythe and Sage entered the foyer, I explained which wall each paper represented. The three bent over the papers, poring over the drawings with obvious fascination.
“Oh, and I don’t know if this helps, or if it means anything,” I said as I finished my explanation, “but when I was in the room with my mother, I felt…different.”
“Could you clarify what you mean?” Elder Forsythe asked at the same time Elder Woods asked, “Different how?”
“Well, in the other memories, I could see them clearly as long as I stayed calm,” I said. “But when I was in that room, I felt weaker, and my vision had this weird, foggy quality. It was like I was looking through a curtain of mist. I wrote it off as a side effect of my mother going into labor, but it’s occurred to me that it might have been because of these symbols. I think they might have affected my mother somehow.”
