Page 11 of The Weakest Wolf

When I was still young, maybe seven or eight, the need wasn’t as urgent. Back then, I had no problem saying no or arguing back when Mom or Dad asked me to do something that I didn’t want to.

But as I approached my first shift at sixteen, the urge to do what I was told grew more intense. Having an alpha for a father and a beta for a mother, both shifters used to giving orders and expecting them to be followed, only made me more aware of the differences between us.

An alpha and a beta’s child is never a submissive. It can’t be with parents that dominant. So they assumed, just as I did, that the signs pointed toward me being a gamma. A helpful and obedient gamma, but most definitely not a submissive.

I proved to be the exception to that rule.

If the rest of the pack had known that, I wouldn’t have lived to see fifteen. I don’t know all the things they would’ve made me do, but it would have broken my spirit first, then they’d have broken my body.

So I strangled the need to follow orders. I learned to silence the desperately loud voice in my head that reminded me that my role was to keep my head down, eyes to the ground, and do what I was told.

I haven’t heard that voice in a long time. Now I barely even remember what it sounds like.

After a long moment, he shifts his gaze to the pendant he’s still holding. My fingers itch with the need to slap him away or snatch my necklace back, but the chain is thin enough that it will snap and I can’t let that happen. The safest place for it is around my neck.

“It looks clean. Well-loved.”

I shrug. “I wear it in the shower. That must be why.”

His eyes don’t move from the necklace. “It looks the right size to store a photo inside.”

“Does it? How fascinating.” I close my hand around his thick wrist and tug. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have—”

My attempt to remove his hand does nothing. But to my relief, he shifts his attention away from my necklace and back to my face, interest stirring in the depth of his eyes. “Places to go. The boyfriend who gave you this pretty little trinket to see?”

If that’s what it takes to get rid of you.

“Yes. Yes, I do.” I lie. There is no man I’d ever let into my bed in this place, never mind my heart.

Galen drops my necklace with his lips curled in disgust, as if regretting he ever touched the thing. “Unfortunately, true love will have to take a backseat today—if such a thing exists here. I have a job for you.”

Shit.

The last thing I need is to be spending any more time around Galen Hunt than necessary, especially since I’m going to be spending a fair bit of the next two days dodging the rest of the pack.

Bowen initiated things when he shoved me. It wasn’t supposed to hurt, not like all the things they will do to me later. He did it to show the others that I’m fair game now. Not only that, it was a test for the new alpha.

When Galen didn’t intervene, the pack would have got all the confirmation they needed that they can do what they want to me and they won’t get any pushback for it. It’s the reason for my lack of sleep last night.

“Well,” I say, as I step around him, “there are other women in the pack. I’m sure they—”

He has me pinned against my cabin wall a heartbeat later. Since the room is the size of a cardboard box, it’s not all that impressive. But I’m thinking less about how fast he moves, and more about how close his face is to mine as he peers into my eyes.

“I want you.”

Deep inside, a muscle clenches and my mouth goes dry.

He lowers his head until I feel his breath against mine. My eyes sweep over the strong lines of his face, his sloping nose, stubbled chin, and the uncompromising jaw that would tell me he was an alpha long before he spoke a single word.

The scent of him this close is almost unbearable, not only to me but to my wolf who, despite her fear, wants nothing more than to rub herself against him.

Just as I lift my hands to shove him away or drag him closer, I’ll know when it happens, his lips curve in a half-smile. “Eggs, bacon, and toast. Coffee, black.”

With half my attention on his mouth and the other fighting to hide the effect he’s having on me, I blink. “What?”

“That’s what I expect of my new beta. Breakfast. In addition to cleaning the farmhouse, you’ll cook lunch and dinner, but I’m not as particular about what I eat then.” The other corner of his mouth turns up, but no amusement touches his eyes. “I warn you, I have a big appetite. It takes a lot to satisfy me.”

Oh, God.

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