Page 40 of The Weakest Wolf

“Do I?”

The sneer on his lips and the smugness filling his eyes are suddenly more than I can take a second longer. I don’t care that he’s a beta. I don’t care that he’s a threat to me.

My hard shove sends him back a step. But only one. So I try to squeeze past him instead. Mom’s necklace has to be in his cabin, and Iwillfind it.

His fist drives almost all the air from my lungs. I lose the rest when my back hits the ground. As I cough and choke, I push myself to my feet, my belly still tender.

For a second, tiny white dots float in my vision, but I blink them away.

“It’s mine,” I say. “Give it back.”

The pack laughs. I hear Tera and Erin and Neale’s voices the loudest, but more and more cabin doors open as this early morning commotion draws out the rest.

This time, Bowen doesn’t deny it. “Nothing in this world is free, Sierra. If you want something from me, make me an offer and I’ll decide if it’s something I want…” His eyes drift over my body before they return to my eyes. “Or not.”

I want to curse him, to snarl, to set his cabin on fire. There are a million things I would happily do to Bowen, but none of them will get me my necklace back. If I’m not careful, I might never see it again.

And I need it back like I need to breathe.

If I survive this place, in ten years' time I might not remember what she looked like or what she smelled like.

It’s happened before.

Once I forgot her smile. Another time I forgot the shape of Dad’s face. Panic gripped me, but it was okay. I had the necklace, and all I had to do was open it, and then it all came flooding back.

The memory of her face, the scent of her, the feel of her arms around me.

What if I forget?

“Are mornings in the Stone pack always so exciting?” an expressionless male voice murmurs from a few feet away.

I turn, and there, leaning against a cabin with his arms folded across his chest, is Galen. Like Bowen, he’s fully dressed and has the fresh-faced look of someone who's been up for hours.

I try and fail to read his expression, so all I can do is hope he didn’t hear everything.

Because if he knew how much that necklace meant to me, and what I was willing to do to get it back, he would take it from Bowen and hold it over my head.

I hope I’d be strong enough to keep Eden’s secret, but I don’t know that I am.

“It’s like no place in the world,” I mutter as I stalk back to my cabin.

I could never hate a place more.

10

GALEN

My eyes track Sierra as she places a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me before she turns away. I’d thought she was wearing a mask before, but it’s nothing compared to the cold stiffness on her face now.

“Sierra,” I say, just to see what she’ll do.

Her gaze remains fixed on the table she set moments before. “Yes?”

Something is going on between her and Bowen. Something big.

“You and Bowen…?” I let my voice trail off as I watch closely for a reaction.

There’s none.

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