Page 6 of The Weakest Wolf

It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.

I pull open the front door of the farmhouse and step outside into early evening darkness. With the bodies I passed on the way to Galen’s gathering now missing, it looks like Bowen got some of the others to dump them in the forest. But, while the bodies are missing, that doesn’t mean I’m alone.

The pack stands grouped around identical dark-stained wood cabins, their eyes on me.

I should’ve expected this, but I didn’t. Shifter ears are second only to our natural wolf cousins, which means they would’ve heard every last word Galen just said about me being a submissive wolf. If I didn’t know it, the predatory smiles twisting their lips would’ve clued me in.

They know what I am, and now they have new prey to play with.

Me.

2

GALEN

Sierra doesn’t make it two feet from the farmhouse before an older man with watchful, sly eyes peels off from where the other members of the Stone pack gather around in small huddles.

Although she moves to go around him, he plants himself right in front of her, cutting her off from the small, run-down wood cabins she was heading toward.

Bowen. The first guy to come sniffing around to see how I could help him. It shouldn’t surprise me that he’s the first one to make his move.

Since no alpha stepped forward to challenge me for the position in the dining room, I can only assume there isn’t one. Was he expecting to take the top spot even though his wolf isn’t the strongest or the most dominant? And would the pack have accepted a leader who isn’t an alpha?

I shake my head. It doesn’t matter. For now, the pack fears me. They don’t know me, and they don’t know what I’m capable of, so they won’t do anything to force out a strange new alpha who has no connection to them.

But that fear won’t last forever.

I’m on my own here in a pack of fifty or more and no alpha can stand against that many if they decide to attack at once.

My wolf snarls as the auburn-haired, brown-eyed man towers over her.

Mine.

“Back the fuck down. She doesn’t deserve protection,” I breathe. “And she isnotours.”

That doesn’t stop my wolf from raking my insides when Bowen shoves Sierra to the ground. She hits hard. Her back smacks loud enough for me to hear the impact crystal clear from the dining room window. It had to have hurt, or at least surprised her. Yet not so much as a sigh passes her lips.

As she pushes herself to her feet, I turn from the window. Right now, the clawed attack from my wolf is in my head, but he’s pissy enough that he’ll force a shift soon. Fast approaching thirty, I’m old enough to read the signs.

It won’t work, but that’s never stopped him from trying before. Even when you’re human, you’re still a wolf, Eden would laugh.

Back when she still saw you as a brother, that is.

My jaw tightens, and I head for the duffel that I shoved under the scarred wood dining table. I’d intended on wearing more than just blood when I called the Stone pack together, but from what I know of this pack, first impressions count.

A burst of laughter draws my gaze back to the window. I turn just in time to catch Sierra going down again, her arms wrapped around her stomach from a kick or a punch. This time the blonde girl who looked ready to crawl in my lap is the guilty party as she smirks down at Sierra.

Fucking hyenas. This place…

My phone vibrates, but the sound doesn’t come close to drowning out the incessant growling of my wolf in my head

In a healthy pack, you’d never treat a submissive like that. The strongest always protects the weakest. It’s how the pack survives.

Not here. Here, even the submissive has become infected. Sierra Stone is no different from the rest. Just because I haven’t been around long enough to see what nastiness she’s capable of doesn’t mean it’s not there.

One glance at the cell phone I dig from the bottom of my duffel reveals who’s calling. The only person who ever would be. “I told you that I’d call you. This isn’t what we agreed,” I snarl.

“Just checking to see if you’re still alive. Or if I’ve been promoted,” Dom says, his voice as dry and as unfazed by any growl, snarl, or threat I throw at him. But that’s betas for you.

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