Page 317 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
The venom in his retort took me aback, as did the blood that filled his cheeks and spread across his face. He waspissedin a way that he hadn’t been only a few minutes ago. Even Dom stiffened beside me, immediately on guard.
Oakley and I stared at each other for several seconds, and when I spoke again, my voice was firm, but I tried my fucking best not to be accusing.
“The reason I wanted to know,” I said, “was because she and the women defending the nursery did a fantastic job. Without training, and while their men were absent, they kept their young safe. It’s amazing what they were able to do.”
A few more tense moments passed, and then Oakley let out a tight breath. “My daughter is in prison.”
“What?” I demanded. “Why?”
He raised his chin. “Because in defending this nursery, she defied our most sacred rules.”
“What the hell are you saying? Didn’t she keep the children safe? Didn’t she help?—”
“At the cost of many young women’s lives,” Oakley snapped. “Some had pups, others were unwed. Losing some of our men is one thing, but our women?” He shook his head. “It is against our way to risk such a valuable resource.”
My eyes narrowed at him.
“A valuable resource?” Dom repeated, incredulous. Even he couldn’t let something like that slide. “Every life is valuable.”
“We treasure our women,” Birchen snapped. “We’re not so eager to put them on the frontlines as you lot.”
“So they should have abandoned the pups?” I demanded. “What other options did they have?”
“Of course not!” Oakley snapped. “They should have tried to escape with them.”
“Escape?” I could hardly believe what I was hearing. “And go where? To the forest, where there were more ferals? You said yourself that you were overwhelmed by this attack. If everywhere was overrun, nowhere was safe. Their only option was to stay somewhere defensible.”
He said nothing. He knew as well as I did that his words made no sense. Still, he stared down his nose at me. He had a few inches on me, but I couldn’t give a shit. The last time another wolf had made me feel small was when I was a kid. Oakley had another think coming if he thought he could intimidate me into silence.
“Punishing your daughter like this is backwards,” I said. “She has a fighting spirit and a tactical mind. You need her fighting alongside you, not punishing her.”
“That is unheard of. We do not devalue our women by forcing them to fight. A woman’s place is in the home, with her children. My daughter has never understood that. She is under lock and key until she learns her place.”
Because women were seen as such a commodity in this pack, he could do what he wanted with his daughter since she was his “property.” I had no say in this, but I was approaching my limit with this alpha. I couldn’t back down on every opportunity to call him on his bullshit. It just wasn’t in my nature.
“If you’re too stubborn to see how your own traditions have held you back, then maybe she belongs somewhere she can make a real difference.”
He scoffed. “You want me to give you my daughter?”
My skin crawled. “No. She should be able to make the decision herself.”
But Oakley had reached his limit. “No, if it’s what you wish, I’ll let you take my daughter off our hands for a few weeks. I’m sure once she sees how little you value the women of your pack, she’ll want to come back on her own.”
My upper lip curled, and my wolf growled. It took everything in me to hold myself back. Dom put his hand on my shoulder.
“Night.” His tone was even, but it held a warning. “You sure you want to make this an incident?”
I ignored his silent question and shrugged off his touch, my attention still on Oakley. “You go too far.”
He was an alpha through and through and didn’t back down from my glare. “So do you, Night.”
I would have said more, ahellof a lot more, but a commotion in the distance drew our attention. We all rushed to the area where the wounded had gathered. Women were sprinting from the forest. All of them were pale, and the fear spread from them to the other wounded. There was so much anxiety in the air, even my wolf was affected by it, running around inside me and eager to escape.
I looked for Bryn, needing the sight of her to still my rushing blood, but I didn’t see her, only Tavi and Frankie, who seemed equally confused. This only heightened my worry.
“Everyone!” Oakley used his alpha voice to be heard over the screaming. “Calm yourselves. Now.”
And then there was silence, which didn’t help with my worry.
