Page 322 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

“But Night, we swore we wouldn’t lie to each other. There were so many times that I felt you weren’t telling me something. I couldn’t tell if it was real or if I was imagining it. You could have told me that you were sworn to secrecy about something. Yes, I would have had follow-up questions, but I’d at least have known what was going on. I would have the information I needed to trust you. Instead, you kept me in the dark.

“This was your last chance to prove that you could keep that promise, and you failed.” Tears burned my eyes, but for the first time since I’d found out I was pregnant, I kept them from falling. “I don’t want your apologies, Night. I need to see action. You arenever to lie to me for the sake of my ‘protection’ or at the expense of my autonomy. Do you understand?”

Night moved from the chair down to his knees in front of me. He lowered his head, and his answering “yes” was a whisper, a promise that only he, I, and our wolves knew.

It was awful having to say all those things and mean them, and I couldn’t bear seeing him like this even a second more. It took effort, but I went to him and pressed my lips to his forehead. When he looked up at me, I kissed him.

The kiss was gentle, and I tasted sweet relief on his tongue. I could have stayed there kissing him forever, but he pulled away.

“There’s something else,” he said. “When we leave here, we’re taking Oakley’s daughter with us.”

I blinked. I didn’t know the Camas alpha had a daughter. “Why?”

Night explained that Oakley’s daughter had saved the Camas children, but her efforts had cost the lives of several women. Listening to Night, I found myself becoming just as heated as he had been when he spoke to Oakley about it.

“There’s no way we can let her stay here,” I said. “The last thing that poor girl needs is to be imprisoned.”

He smiled. “I knew you would understand.”

“If I didn’t know better, Night, I’d assume you were making a habit of saving women and having them join your pack.”

He scoffed. “Hardly.”

He sounded normal, but something about the way his eyes looked down as he said it made my chest tighten. Maybe hedidn’t like my joke? Or maybe there was something else he needed to tell me about where we stood.

"Night, what is the status here?” I asked. “Is there still an active threat?”

“Not at this moment,” he replied, his face darkening. “But it’s clear that this war with Troy is much, much bigger than we thought.”

My stomach dropped, but my hands curled into fists. War meant more death, more injury, but I was ready to fight him to the end. Troy needed to be stopped, by any means necessary.

116

NIGHT

Bryn told me she wanted to go home to Wargs’ territory because she’d missed it so much. I had business there, anyway—the Wargs Council had heard about the attack on the Camas Pack, and they wanted to speak about it. I wasn’t looking forward to it; the meeting would be full of half-veiled threats again.

The day Bryn was well enough to leave, she, Lance, and I were ready to head out. Tavi was on Kings’ territory to help Dom keep an eye on things.

Samara was waiting for us at the entrance to the Camas compound. She had a small linen bag filled with her belongings. She was around six feet tall—give or take an inch—with freckles spread across her nose. She had very long wheat-blond hair that lifted in the wind as we reached her.

“My father said I was to go with you,” she said politely.

“That’s up to you,” Bryn replied. “But we’d be very happy to have someone like you with us.”

“Someone like me?”

“A woman with courage,” Bryn explained. “A woman who’s willing to fight even if she knows people will go against her.”

Samara’s hands tightened on her bag. “I think there’s some misunderstanding. I got people killed, Den Mother. I wasn’t brave.”

Bryn shook her head. “You acted when no one else would. I know your father has a different opinion, but”—Bryn moved closer to whisper in her ear—“he’s wrong.”

Samara’s eyes widened as Bryn stepped back again. It might have been the first time that Samara heard a woman contradict her father.

“You saved the lives of those children,” Bryn said. “In my pack, that is seen as very brave.”

Samara gave her a small smile before glancing down again. I caught the sheen of tears in her eyes. “Then I think, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to see what life is like in your pack.”