Page 12 of Rogue Wolf

Kodiak punched him again. Time to cut that negativity towards Tamaska out. He wasn’t unreasonable. He got it, but this really wasn’t about her and he knew it. This was anger, fear, and frustration. This was trying to get a handle on the change in power and the changes set to roll in.

No one knew how to change a human into a shifter. They had once, but that knowledge was buried in history. Kodiak needed to check on Ash and see if she’d learned anything about how to do that. And do it safely.

He wouldn’t attempt to change Tamaska if the process put her life at risk, no matter how much she claimed she wanted it.

To take a risk on something she said she wanted wasn’t worth it. Not that he thought she was lying. It was more…he didn’t know if she understood what it meant.

It wasn’t just a chance to be with him. It was everything. And he didn’t know what that damn vampire marking might have done on a molecular level to her. Or how well a human would handle it. They were complicated compared to shifters. They were both less and more than shifters. Lines weren’t delineated like for him and his kind.

And his Tamaska…only a few days ago she feared and hated dogs and now she wanted to be a canine shifter. For him.

Right now he couldn’t start to unpack it all. He’d only been at the top for a day, and he already had his hands full of problems, one thing on top of another.

The Tamaska thing of what, exactly, she was beyond human needed to wait.

So far, Ash hadn’t found any evidence that Tamaska was anything but human. Kodiak was sure that Tamaska had some supernatural abilities. But, so far, proof had eluded them. And now they had so many other things to deal with.

Correction. He did. Her change, if they did it, couldn’t be a top priority right now, even though he knew she wanted just to get it over and done with.

You’ll understand what it feels like to juggle when you’re in charge. Olcan’s words echoed in Kodiak’s mind, a sentence from one of the few conversations when the previous alpha had opened up to him.

You’re laughing at me, aren’t you, Olcan? Wherever you are.

Right now, he had a very particular problem to deal with and aggression was the only way.

“You’re going in chains,” Kodiak said, pulling Moki up from the ground, ignoring his bleeding nose and swollen eye. “For treason.”

“Controlling the cameras with my phone is easier than relying on the system here,” said Moki, pointing to the desk’s three computers. , a big screen showed Ash cleaning the meeting room by herself.

An unpleasant thought came to him. Had Moki been watching Tamaska?

His stomach lurched with regret. He shouldn’t have let her get the carpet cleaners by herself. Then again, she wasn’t any safer among his own pack members. Not until they got the systems back up and running, patched and improved.

Besides, it was broad daylight, where the sun was strongest. She’d be okay. Still… He wished he was with her.

“Yeah, but you were only setting it up so you could watch Tamaska,” said Channing, goading the other pup.

“I was going to fix the system. I just needed more time,” said Moki in the same tone.

Kodiak’s gut told him he shouldn’t trust Moki. Even his head agreed, but he had to consider the pack’s code.

None of them would follow him if he simply killed another member. He had to prove his strength, forgiveness, and intelligence to bring the pack together. Putting Moki in chains would do that, but giving him a second chance would still be better.

Kodiak’s gratitude to Channing, who had let him know about Moki’s disobedience, eased the new alpha’s stress a little. At least there were a few wolves who still supported him. Kodiak hoped that would be enough to pull them all together.

Just like he hoped Moki would come around. They didn’t need more in-pack fighting. They needed unity.

“You want the chains or are you going to obey?”

I don’t want the chains,” he said.

“Are you going to obey?”

Moki took a beat too long to respond. “Yes.”

So Kodiak gave him another hard shake.

“Let me go,” growled Moki, blood dribbling from his nose to mouth.

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