Page 72 of The Forbidden Wolf

Kiana scoffed. “Don’t be absurd. Betas can’t use their powers on Alphas, only for them. They’re just glorified servants really.”

“This one can,” Sebastian said. “He tried to make me strangle him so he wouldn’t have to confess his crimes under truth serum.”

Kiana rolled her eyes. “You’re not an Alpha yet.”

“Neither are you.” Sebastian moved closer, his voice urgent. “He did this in a room coated in silver while wearing a silver-infused anti-shiftskin. His powers are beyond any Beta known to us.”

“Great.” Kiana leaned casually on the railing. “When can we have him back?”

Father looked at her sharply. “Kiana, I know you have affection for him, but these allegations are quite serious.”

“They’re baseless,” Kiana said. “They are simply fabricating reasons not to return him.”

“The attack on our own Beta is reason enough not to return him,” Sebastian said.

Father winced. “Yes, of course. Is Mateo…?”

“Alive? Thankfully, yes. Because we found ourselves direly in need of his services this evening after Elyse was mistaken for Kiana by a group of rabble-rousers who had seen a picture of your pack frolicking through the park.” He paused. “There were multiple human fatalities.”

Kiana shrugged. “Sounds like it was hardly a loss.”

My fists clenched. “There was an innocent bystander.”

“Human or wolf?” Kiana asked, examining her painted nails.

“Human—”

“So, like I said, hardly a loss.” Kiana yawned and pushed off the railing. “Is that all you called us out here to say? That Damian has been doing something he can’t possibly have been doing? And that you’re already causing your new pack trouble? I thought perhaps you’d both come to your senses, but it seems you’ve lost a few more.” She grabbed our father by the elbow. “Come on, Father. Let’s get you back inside where it’s warm and dry.”

He jerked away from her. “You are not the Alpha yet, Kiana. I will decide when I go where it’s warm and dry. Right now, I wish to hear more about Damian.”

Kiana’s eyes blazed. “Damian has served you faithfully—”

“Why are you covering for him?” I stepped closer to Kiana, studying her face. “Do you want to take credit for Monday’s disaster? Are you proud of how that turned out?”

“No,” Father said forcefully. “We are most certainly not proud. We are gravely ashamed of our behavior, and if you have proof that we may not have acted of our own volition—”

“Coward,” Kiana spat. “You would let Damian take the fall for your actions just to get back in this traitor’s good graces?”

Father’s nostrils flared. He turned on Kiana, backing her up to the railing. “Watch your tongue, daughter. You would have trouble giving orders without it.”

Kiana lifted her chin. “I would use my mind, which isn’t weak enough to be coerced by any Beta. If you’re so certain that yours is, then perhaps—”

“He is not just any Beta,” Sebastian said. “I cannot stress this enough, Alpha Phelan. There is no shame in falling under his sway, and your actions this week were so far removed from what my father and I knew of you, that we are willing to put the matter behind us forever if you will only listen to the recording of his confession and condemn his treason.”

“A recording?” Kiana sneered. “What can that prove when your own Beta may very well have influenced his answers?”

“Our own Beta was busy smoothing things over with the Mayor,” Sebastian said. “But we are willing to interrogate Damian in your presence next week, unless you wish to provide your own truth serum sooner.”

Father stepped back from Kiana and folded his arms with a heavy sigh. “Play it, and I will decide.”

“This is insanity,” Kiana paced away from us, heels clicking on the pavement. Seriously, why was she dressed like that? I understood the need for a disguise now, but it seemed a little much. Did she really think Sebastian had come here to hand himself over? Or would decide to if she looked sexy enough?

I felt the same burning shame I’d felt during the movie. It didn’t matter which of us was the true Alpha Heir when she was the one who had been humiliated at her own mateship ceremony. She had a human heart whether she liked it or not, and the fact that she hated it was what bound her thoughts to Damian’s even when he was locked in a bunker downtown.

“Kiana.” I jogged after her. “Wait. Please. Just listen to me.”

I caught her arm, halfway expecting a slap across the face, but she merely tightened her considerable muscles and became an unmovable concrete statue, staring straight back toward the Bronx. I squeezed her arm, trying to infuse the gesture with the kind of affection I’d always felt from Charlie’s touch. I hated the person Kiana was trying so hard to become, but I would always love the little girl I’d grown up with.

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