Page 13 of The Sacred Wolf

All heads swiveled Sebastian’s way, and for the first time since I’d strode into the room, the male who claimed I was his fated mate seemed to have lost his voice. I strode forward, the others parting like the Red Sea in the old human stories they used to share in this building, and stopped in front of him, placing my index finger right in the center of his chest. His broad, currently heaving so hard the buttons on his crisp white shirt… strained… the muscles in his… broad chest… heaving… furry abs under there…

Gigi snickered once again, snapping me out of the crest of my over-stimulated condition with a rush of blood up from below and into my cheeks. Embarrassment boiled the anger coursing through my veins, and my wolf bubbled over, showing her fangs in my mouth as I awkwardly snarled, “This is the last time you treat me like a child if you ever wish to have one! You know what I am!”

A collective gasp sucked all the air from the room. Sebastian’s eyes widened, caught between a smolder and a glare. For a moment, we stood like that, locked in some kind of ocular combat while our pheromones danced around each other like our damn wolves on that Gods-forsaken bridge. He knew it. I knew it. Damn it, everyone in the room knew it. Why in the name of Leto had I said that?

Finally, Sebastian dipped his chin, and all of my blood rushed downward again.

“Very well, Alpha Elyse,” he breathed, his voice rough, and it was all I could do not to curl my fingers into his jacket lapel and—

“What?” Gigi and Tony erupted at the same time, each fighting to speak first until Gigi shut Tony down with a withering cock of one perfectly drawn eyebrow. “You’ve got to be kidding. She’s the Alpha of the Bronx pack now?” She whirled to face Blaze. “What is the meaning of this? What’s been done to Kiana?”

“Nothing—” Blaze stammered, lifting his hands. He was a strong and powerful soldier, but he was no Alpha, not even close. He had as much business in this room as Cerys had in that battle. What was my sister doing?

“Yes, will someone please explain what’s going on here?” Yeh demanded, and his quiet voice seeming to have the effect of calming the others.

“I’d like some clarity as well,” Julius added, taking a seat and crossing his legs, brushing at the crisp pleat in his pant leg. “Although, I also think that someone,” he eyed Tony, “should remind his Beta that she’s allowed to attend on our sufferance, but that she needs to remember her place.”

Gigi’s overly bronzed face twisted, her mouth working as if it couldn’t comprehend obedience, but she said nothing.

Good girl, my wolf snorted.

Hey. I’m not sure we should be on Julius’ side here.

I don’t like her.

Who would? But these boys better not think they can talk to either of us that way.

“That’s better,” Julius said to Gigi, his smile never reaching his eyes.

I don’t like him either.

Ditto.

“Now,” Julius said. “If Blaze would like to explain why he came here claiming to represent Alpha Kiana, who could not be bothered to show up herself, yet now Alpha Heir Sebastian is claiming that Elder Phelan’s infamous spare daughter is the Bronx Alpha instead… I would love to hear it.”

Blaze met my gaze, his eyes questioning. “Your Grace?”

It was him who snitched. Of course it was him.

No going back, my wolf warned. But it was already done.

I nodded. Blaze bowed his head.

“It has come to our attention in the Bronx,” he said quietly, lifting his eyes to meet each pair in the room, “that along with all of his more recent crimes, our missing Beta was responsible for a long-held belief that Elyse was the second-born pup of Dinah and Alpha Phelan—a belief that has since been corrected. She is, indeed, the Alpha by birthright.”

Chapter Seven

A lump formed in my throat at the sight of my former arranged mate explaining this to the others, his tone warm and supportive. He could have had such a different attitude toward all of this, toward me… but it was obvious now that whenever he had seemed angry, he had been acting under Damian’s control. I had his allegiance, and it meant more than I ever could have imagined.

“Why weren’t we told of all this?” Tony demanded. “And why is Kiana pretending to be Alpha, then?”

“She’s not pretending,” I breathed. “She deposed our father. And I’m still…” I paused, not wanting to undermine myself so soon by admitting I had no fluffing clue what I was doing.

“Elyse has not challenged her for the throne,” Blaze added simply.

“And why not?” Yeh asked. “We can’t have this kind of… disarray.”

I dropped my head, feeling Sebastian’s eyes boring into me. There were many reasons why I hadn’t challenged Kiana, but among them was the fact that the original plan for uniting the Bronx and Manhattan packs had obviously been scrapped. Now, if I were to mate with Sebastian, she would have a birthright to the throne she’d already claimed, just as I would have had if she’d mated with another Alpha Heir without an arrangement in place. We were still females. If we mated with male Alphas, they would always come first. So I had essentially rejected him for a third time, mere seconds after implying he might still have a chance…

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