Page 9 of The Awakened Wolf

I was, of course, and the guilt made me take a step back, as good as an admission. He would never believe me about Damian now. If only I could get Leto on the line, but she didn’t seem to be taking my calls now, which was inconvenient, to say the least. Apparently, show only showed up when she needed something.

“What are you hiding, girl?” Max’s nostrils flared, scenting me again as if the pheromones could reveal anything more than that the deed had indeed been done. “Did you mate with someone else? And Sebastian found out? Is that it?”

My mouth dropped open. The only word that escaped was, “No.”

“Another lie,” Max said through gritted teeth, his eyes rolling over me like a bull sizing up the next matador it planned to gore. “All these years, while the other young males soiled themselves and their mateships with dalliances, Sebastian kept himself pure.” He shook his head, preparing for the fatal charge. “He was far too romantic not to wait for his mating ceremony, and he never would’ve walked away from his fated mate without explanation. Not even to keep his mother safe.”

With each word, Max moved closer to me, and I moved back, without so much as a red flag to protect me, until my back hit the wall with a dull thud. I was aware that tears were streaming down my face as I repeated the word, “No,” but nothing stopped the volcanic tumult of accusations spewing from Max’s mouth.

“Alpha Max,” Kenzo said, stepping near, but not between, the two of us. “I’m sure that whatever happened here, Elyse has done nothing wrong.”

Wrong. Wrong. We were wrong and now we must pay.

I didn’t have the energy or conviction to shush my wolf. Her misery intertwined with mine. She was right. We were wrong. It didn’t matter what Kenzo was saying. Or Ruby, who’d now boldly chimed in. If words hadn’t failed me, I’d have told them not to bother. Because Max was right about everything except the cheating.

Until he wasn’t.

“I bet you and that sister of yours were in on this whole thing,” he raved, drops of spittle flying from his mouth. “Of course you were. Both of you are so smug—always flouting the rules of our society, the will of the true Alphas. There must be some ulterior motive for you abdicating your throne.”

“Your Grace,” Kenzo interjected, placing a hand on Max’s elbow. “Why don’t we discuss this once your wound has been tended? You feel a bit feverish.”

Max threw Kenzo off so hard that the shorter but stockier shifter stumbled, and I slid along the wall, eager to get away from the shouting, snarling whirlwind that had replaced the jovial man I’d met a few weeks ago.

“I know.” One corner of Max’s mouth turned up in an ugly smirk. “I bet you mated with that strange male of yours.” He nodded with supreme self-satisfaction. “You must know that’s the reason the original shifters bit humans, right? Because they wanted to mate with them. Seems pretty coincidental, doesn’t it?”

“I never—” I began, anger blooming in my chest. Stumbling over the news that Sebastian wasn’t his son and not knowing how to tell anyone was one thing, but I was not lying about mating with Sebastian. With Evan of all…

“You get out!” Max cried, lunging at me. Kenzo grabbed him in earnest, pinning his arms. “Get out of my house and go live on the streets where females like you belong!”

The bristle of Max’s wolf beneath his skin was unmistakable, and it awoke my wolf from her love-addled stupor. The smooth length of my fangs slid against my gums.

No, no, no. That’s not an option, sweetheart.

Knowing that my wolf gave zero fluffs whether I wanted to fight a prospective in-law to the death, I jammed the elevator call button a thousand times, willing it to come at light speed. I cast one last glance over my shoulder, eyes locking with Kenzo’s. He knew Sebastian had changed my scent.

“Just go, Elyse,” Kenzo said, as he struggled to control his incensed patriarch. “Please. Leave for your own safety.”

“What’s happening?” Ruby was crying, her hands in front of her face. “Elyse?”

Max’s fangs began to lengthen, and I fell into the elevator as the doors opened. Scrambling to my feet, I slapped the Floor 18 and Door Close buttons at the same time. With a whoosh, the doors obliged, and the last thing I saw before they clicked closed was Max’s wolf exploding from his body.

Chapter Four

I flung open the Tower Room’s heavy wooden door and barged into the living room, intent on rushing to my little round bedroom for a full-on cartoon princess bed-flop, but stopped with an embarrassing squawk instead. Snug beneath a throw on my ivory sofa, and seemingly deep into the second season of Alma Mater Animalis, was Jayla.

“Elyse, thank God!” she cried as she jumped up and ran to give me a hug. I had just closed my arms around her when she grabbed my shoulders and pushed me to arms’ length, brow furrowed. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” Her eyes flew over my shoulder, searching. “Where’s Evan?”

Confused and scattered, I mumbled, “Evan’s okay,” without adding any detail. The swirl of emotions within me began to coalesce into a single lead ball, deep within, and I stumbled to the sofa and dropped onto it, letting my head settle in my hands. How did I begin to explain the last twenty-four hours to my friend? I couldn’t even explain it to myself. Damien was dead. My sister was Alpha. Sebastian was gone. And I was alone. With nowhere to live.

An argument broke out on the show and caught my attention, which had been unable to latch onto the questions Jayla posed. I looked up at a rain-soaked scene, a group of sopping wet wolves facing off in a downpour, but the dialogue suggested this was friend group drama, not life or death.

“Do you mind if we turn that off?” I asked, my tone flat.

With a tentative smile, she said, “No, I don’t mind, and I’ll tell you why. I’m four episodes in, and they still haven’t brought my future husband back yet.”

She meant to cheer me up with a joke, I knew. That only made it worse. The gaping Sebastian-sized hole inside me filled with a torrent of sorrow. The rush of it burned the back of my eyes and throat, and I curled up as the river broke free. Wracking sobs came then, bouncing and tumbling over the boulders of my mistakes and miscalculations. Every time I tried to protect someone, I failed. Every time I tried to lead, I ended up following. Why I’d been chosen to carry my gift, I’d never know, but the stories of heroes never mentioned them being homeless. Perhaps the Gods had been wrong to choose me.

“Whoa, I was just kidding!” Jayla said, settling beside me. “He’s coming back!”

---