Page 51 of The Scent of Vengeance

Chapter Fourteen

Cordelia

“Alpha.”

I lifted my head from my task at the sound of Dillon’s voice, the leaves and flowers I was spreading on drying racks laid out in front of me where I knelt beside Ulf’s hut.

He gave me a friendly smile as he gestured over his shoulder. “Everyone is gathered and waiting.”

I blinked at the beta before glancing up at the low height of the sun and cursing under my breath. Pushing to my feet, I brushed off my knees and dropped my thin gloves to the floor by the doorway.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to run so late.”

He gave me an easy shrug. “Don’t worry about it, you’re the boss, we can wait.”

I laughed at that, falling into step with him as we headed into the centre of the village. “Don’t let Liam hear you say that.”

He grinned. “I trust you.”

My heart warmed at that, knowing that he meant it. We’d been back in the village for over a week now and the pack had welcomed me with open arms, the strengthening pack bonds obvious to all as we reunited without the taint of my mother’s magic. Even so, the shock of Mina’s betrayal and the death of their old Alpha pair had left a heavy cloud hanging overhead, and even after the funeral ceremony a few nights ago the atmosphere remained subdued.

Keeping busy helped, and the pack had been happy to turn to me for anything they needed rather than disturb Liam as I tried my best to take any weight off his shoulders, leaving him the time and space to organise the ceremony for his parents and grieve in as much peace as possible.

We didn’t have the luxury of time though, and we had called a pack meeting so that we could face the hard truths together and figure out our next steps. It was finally time to fill in the gaps and tell them the whole story, and as the small crowd around the main firepit came into view I silently prayed that the gathering storm clouds in the distance weren’t symbolic of the path ahead.

“So, I’m gonna take one for the team here,” Dillon mused, rubbing a hand over his jaw as he eyed the gathered pack.

I raised a brow at him in question and he nodded at them. “We need to find our fight again, to move on from all this grief and guilt. Someone has to start bringing the life back to this place if we’re going to stand a chance of winning this… so just go with it, yeh?”

I narrowed my eyes slightly in suspicion, but he stopped my answering questions by throwing an arm around my shoulders and tugging me close as we walked. I stiffened a little but managed to hold back my instinctive reaction and not shock him as he bent down to murmur in my ear.

“Relax, Alpha, I’m just looking for a reaction.”

I huffed a disbelieving laugh as I glanced towards the pack and the many eyes turning our way. “They’re going to kill you.”

He grimaced even as his eyes danced with amusement. “Let’s hope not.”

“Don’t you dare kiss me,” I hissed as his breath ghosted across my cheek, feeling the vibration of his silent laughter in response.

“Don’t worry,” he answered with a grin as he pulled back slightly. “You’re not even my ty…”

I gasped as he was suddenly ripped away from me, crashing unceremoniously to the ground a few feet away and revealing a seriously pissed off Alpha shifter glaring at me. I raised my palms and fixed an innocent expression on my face, biting my cheek to fight the smile that threatened to appear.

“That was nothing to do with me,” I said, wincing slightly as Liam grabbed Dillon’s collar and hauled him back to his feet.

“You think you can touch her?” he snapped, a low growl rumbling from his throat as the beta wolf just grinned.

I moved to step forward as Liam’s fist clenched tight, not wanting him to hurt Dillon, but an arm wrapped around my waist like a steel band and I was pulled back into a hard body.

“Don’t even think about it,” Noah said in a low voice, anger radiating through him. “He deserves at least one punch for that.”

The pack were on their feet now as they watched the drama Dillon had intentionally created, their eyes alight with a mixture of confusion and amusement. It was the biggest response I had seen from any of them since we’d been back, and I couldn’t help appreciate what Dillon had achieved.

A meaty smack made me flinch, my gaze whipping back to where Dillon now lay on the ground at Liam’s feet.

“Liam! Stop it!” I yelled, gritting my teeth in frustration when he ignored me.

Dillon grinned again as he sat up, gingerly pressing his fingers to his split lip in an attempt to stem the blood that was streaming from it. He glanced up at his Alpha and bared his throat, submitting and making Liam release an irritated huff of breath before pointing down at the beta.

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