Page 236 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

Cathy seemed hesitant, but seeing the concern on Bryn’s face made her ease her order.

“Fine. You can stay, Alpha. Butthatone”—she jabbed a finger toward me—“get out of his room. I don’t want anyone like you near my boy.”

Bryn turned her worried gaze my way. She wanted to know what I was going to say, wanted to know that I wouldn’t be hurt if she stayed to look after the boy.

My heart pounded. Cathy’s words stung. Her distrust of me came from the fact that I was the alpha of the Wargs, but Bryn’s worry helped smooth things over for me.

“Of course.” I inclined my head.

Adam gently touched my shoulder and guided me out of the room. “When he gets like this, there’s hardly anything we can do to get him out of it.”

“I’m sure Bryn will do everything she can.” I folded the sketch in half carefully. Poor kid was even more traumatized than I’d thought.

Adam and I went outside while Bryn and Cathy calmed Samuel. He took out his pipe and lit the tobacco with a match. He took a few somber puffs and blew out the smoke.

“I’m impressed,” Adam said to me. “Alpha Hunter was very good with him, and you were patient. The males of this pack treated him poorly, even when he was just seven. They asked him so many questions that he started to scream and cry. When they didn’t stop forcing him to talk, he hit himself to get them to leave him alone.”

It made me incredibly sad to hear that Samuel ending up in tears was the best-case scenario, and we wouldn’t be able to get more information out of him because whatever he’d seen had affected him so terribly. I looked down at the pictures and tried to arrange them into a neat stack.

“I’m sorry they put him through that. It couldn’t have been easy for him, or you and Cathy,” I said.

“It was torture. I mean, we tried to do right by our son. We let him go out and play with his friends, disciplined him when he was naughty, and gave him all the attention he could want. But even when you do everything as best you can, things still happen that are totally out of your control.” Adam clenched his hands at his sides. “You never think anything bad will happen to yourchild, but when it does, all you can do is hope they come back to you in one piece.”

My heart broke for this small family and all they’d suffered, and it broke for the families who’d lost children and who would probably never know how or why they’d died.

“What do you think happened, Adam?” I asked.

He puffed from the pipe again before answering. “Well, when the investigation happened, and they couldn’t get much out of my son, the official story was that the boys were scared by an animal or something and were separated. I think that’s bull. Animals fascinated Samuel, and we taught him how to identify the ones he would likely see. To this day, he can look through a picture book and recognize each creature without being afraid.

“No…I think we had a child killer in our pack. I think someone waited until those poor boys were in the woods by themselves, then grabbed them and killed them. Fates know what he did with their bodies. Honestly, I don’t even like to think about it.”

“I don’t blame you.” That was what the council had said, too—that a killer had been hanging around the Kings’ pack. “Why do you think the kidnappings stopped?”

“I’m hoping it’s because someone killed the bastard,” he said. “But in my heart, I know it’s never that simple. In my head, the monster got what he needed from our pack, and either went to another pack to do the same thing or stuck around. He could still be in this pack somewhere, biding his time, waiting to do it again. Or at least, that’s what my paranoia tells me. I don’t know, but no one in this damn pack seems to care.”

“I care,” I said. “And so does Bryn. We want to figure out what happened and bring justice to the families who suffered.”

“I can see that you’re being honest. Like I said, you two were good with my son. When he walked up to Alpha Hunter with the sketch, I was worried you would push him or hurt him, but you didn’t even touch him. I appreciate that.” The expression he wore wasn’t a smile or a frown, but it was open and friendly. “I know you’re going to compete in the alpha challenge with the others. For what it’s worth, I hope you win. This pack could use a leader who doesn’t jump to a violent solution at every turn.”

I winced inwardly, remembering the hurt and anger radiating from Bryn during our argument. I needed to talk to her as soon as possible. “I appreciate that, Adam.”

He nodded. There were another few moments of silence, and then he said, “You know, Night, I heard a rumor in the pack that our current alpha is pregnant.”

Shock coursed through me, causing me to straighten. “Who’s saying that?”

“I don’t know who started it, but not everyone believes it. It doesn’t matter one way or another to me, but if it is true…congratulations. There’s no greater gift than a child. It’s hard with Samuel sometimes, but I thank the Fates every day that he is still with me because I know not every father is lucky enough to say that. It’s important to always put your kids first and cherish every moment you have with them because they go so fast.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that, whether I ought to acknowledge it as the truth or play it off. It bothered me that there were rumors about Bryn spreading around the pack, but I knew Adam didn’t mean any harm by it. And I appreciated what he had to say. So, instead of answering, I just stayed in the moment with him and mulled over his words.

89

BRYN

While Cathy rocked Samuel back and forth, I told him one of the stories I had read to Pax about a knight who protected his princess. I was surprised I still remembered the story after so many weeks, but what surprised me more were the emotions that hit me as I recited it.

I associated the story with children, the adorable ones who still had wonder behind their eyes. Now, I was telling the story to a boy whose childhood had been stolen from him. Whatever he’d experienced or seen, it had done incredible harm. He still hadn’t healed. And how could he heal? I thought of Pax, who was around the age Samuel had been ten years ago. If he were to die or go missing, we would feel insurmountable loss.

And with a little one of my own on the way, the weight of Samuel’s fear and sadness hit hard. The more I spoke, the more he calmed down. Eventually, his sobs and whimpers died down, and he lay still.