Page 29 of Ruthless Alpha (Nightfire Islands Alphas #3)

It was freezing on Telaxis. The large bonfire set up nearby did little to counter the effects of the biting wind, which turned my nose and cheeks pink. It was nothing to the cold on Ensign at this time of year, but at least on Ensign, there was no need to be standing outside for hours on end.

The First Pack had insisted on the goodbye ceremony taking place outside on the winter solstice, and they might be sacred to our people, but I found myself questioning their judgment as I pressed myself against Xander’s side, trying to use his larger body as shelter from the wind.

The First Pack themselves must have been even colder than I was, though they didn’t look it.

Clad in nothing but thick cloaks of sewn-together rabbit pelts, their feet were bare against the hard, icy ground.

“How do they not get frostbite?” I whispered to Xander, who looked similarly incredulous. It was Jace who leaned down to answer me.

“They cover their feet in animal fat for insulation,” he said, and I wrinkled my nose.

As important as it was to keep the shifter tradition alive, I was glad I wasn’t one of our sacred people.

I was happy with my electric blanket, my refrigerator, and my shoes, thank you very much.

Humans did have good ideas every so often.

We all stood to attention when Sam’s voice boomed out from the raised dais that had been hurriedly erected in the Telaxis town square.

“Friends and Packmates,” he declared, “I thank you all for joining us to bid goodbye to the First Pack, who have blessed our island with their presence for the last five years. This has been a singularly long stay, and for that, the shifters of Telaxis cannot express our gratitude enough.”

This received raucous applause from the Telaxis crowd, and a reserved nod from the members of the First Pack, though the smiles that accompanied them were warm. They’d clearly enjoyed their stay on Telaxis, and I pitied whichever island was due a visit next: they’d have a lot to live up to.

“As a token of our appreciation,” Sam continued, once the shouting had died down, “we employed our friends on Ensign and Opifex to design this parting gift.”

The harness that Sam held out was a far cry from the prototype sitting in our basement.

That had been made from cheap leather and decent steel, but this was a work of art.

Xander had stayed up far too late the previous evening, sharpening and polishing the obsidian blades until they resembled nothing more than solid oil slicks, all against the dark brown leather, oiled and cured to perfection. It was a thing of beauty.

I didn’t know where to fix my gaze as the First Alpha accepted his gift.

Part of me wanted to watch him as he admired the craftsmanship, to take in every detail of his reaction to the priceless object in his hands.

The other, stronger part of me couldn’t tear my gaze away from my mate, who was watching the First Alpha with an intensity that was only matched by Jace at his side.

Xander bit his lip as the First Apha turned the weapon over in his hands, examining the clasps and mechanisms, running his fingers along the butter-soft leather. He didn’t take a breath for the entire examination, only exhaling in a rush when the First Alpha nodded at Sam.

“This is a worthy gift and evidence of the great craftsmanship of your neighbors. We accept with thanks for your matchless hospitality.”

“Then let us break bread together once more before you leave our shores.” The words sounded strange and old-fashioned, but every shifter on the Nightfire archipelago knew them.

Those words had been uttered by every Alpha of every Pack to host the First for centuries.

It marked the beginning of the official celebration portion of the ceremony, and every shifter present was glad to hear them.

Immediately, there was a rush toward the bonfire.

Eventually, the Telaxis females would bring out warm food and vats of mulled cider, but for now, we had nothing but the fire to warm ourselves.

Xander caught my arm as I moved with the crowd.

“I’m going to catch Sam before things get loud,” he said. Sam had promised Ensign an enormous portion of their harvest in exchange for the gift, and with winter now thoroughly set in, I knew Xander was eager to get that delivered.

“Do you want me to come with you?” I asked, but he brushed me off.

“Don’t even think about it,” he told me. “Go get warm, angel.”

With a fleeting kiss to the top of my head, he was gone, and I was making a beeline for the bonfire. There were only a few gaps left, and I squeezed in between a Telaxis woman and—terrifyingly—a member of the First Pack.

She was considerably taller than I, with hair that fell in disheveled waves almost down to her bottom. Her face was arrestingly beautiful, and beneath her rabbit pelts, I could see that every inch of her pale skin was covered with brown freckles.

I flushed, embarrassed, when she caught me staring, but she said nothing.

“So,” I blurted, because I couldn’t think of anything else to do, “where will you be moving on to?”

The woman looked at me as if I had just drooled on myself.

“We do not yet know,” she told me, speaking slowly and clearly as though to a child. “The moon will lead us to our new resting place this evening.”

“Of course,” I said. I desperately wanted to know how the moon would lead them to a new place, but I didn’t dare ask for fear of embarrassing myself again. I may be Alpha Female of my own Pack, but whoever this woman was, she exuded more poise and authority than I would ever possess.

It was surprising, then, to see her tense as a large hand landed on her shoulder, a male from her own Pack leaning in close to her.

“Are you making a friend, Imogen?” he asked. His tone was light, but something sinister lay beneath it, and the woman—Imogen—did not respond. Instead, the new male addressed me. “I think your Alpha will not miss us.”

He wasn’t wrong about Sam wanting them gone—if only so he could step down as Alpha and enjoy his twilight years in peace—but I was hardly going to tell him that.

“I am not from Telaxis,” I told him, because ignoring him would be rude. He was the kind of male I would have instinctively shown my neck to, not so long ago, but now he only set my teeth on edge. “My mate is the Alpha of Ensign.”

“Ensign,” he repeated, his smile growing wider. His teeth were sharp and pointed, as if he had never fully shifted back to his human form. “Your people are true to the old ways. Wolves respect strength.” His grip on Imogen’s shoulder tightened—it must have hurt, but she did not flinch.

I doubted that the First Pack had heard about the overhaul that Ensign had undergone over the last few months, and I was certain I knew what this particular shifter would make of it.

Before I could reply, there was a hand on my own shoulder.

This hand wasn’t controlling or possessive, but gentle and supportive. Xander.

“When the moon next leads you to our shores, I will be pleased to show you the changes we’ve made recently,” he said. His voice was friendly enough, but there was a hint of Alpha authority in his words. He might not be bending anyone to his will, but he was happy to demonstrate his power.

The First Pack shifter clearly recognized the tactic for what it was, taking a step back, his hand still firmly on Imogen’s shoulder.

“I will look forward to it,” was all he said before he dragged Imogen away from the fire and back toward a larger group of their own Pack.

“Sorry, angel,” Xander said, depositing another kiss on the top of my head. “I shouldn’t have left you on your own.”

“It’s fine,” I told him, leaning back against his chest and pulling his arms around me. As much as I’d disliked the First Pack male, he hadn’t sent fear coursing through my system. It was a new feeling, and one that still took me a little by surprise. “I’m just sad for her.”

We both glanced over to where the First Pack was standing, Imogen still tense and quiet under the male’s hand. Was he her mate? I snuggled closer to Xander, grateful beyond words for the generous hand fate had dealt me.

“How much longer do we have to stay?” I asked. I was immensely proud of what Xander and Jace had created, but I was cold and uncomfortable and ready to leave.

“Not long,” he promised. “This celebration is really for Telaxis and the First. We can dip out whenever we want.”

“Now?” I ventured, and he chuckled.

“Sure, angel. Let’s say our goodbyes.”

The saying of goodbyes predictably took far longer than it should have.

Sam thanked Xander again for his work, insisting on a brief introduction to the First Alpha before we left.

He was not nearly as objectionable as the male I’d met by the bonfire, and Xander glowed as the First Alpha praised his craftsmanship.

I could feel the warmth of his pride through our bond, and I fed my own back to him.

Saying goodbye to Jace was easier—there were no manners to consider, and we’d see him again soon at any rate. He saw us to the truck with an easy hug and an ironic salute as Xander helped me up into the passenger seat.

The moment we were inside, I turned the heat up as high as it would go, rubbing my hands together.

“I love this thing so much,” I said fervently, and Xander snorted in agreement.

“I still can’t believe Bart challenged me over it,” he said.

That had been a ridiculous few days. After the upheaval of the new rules being set in place, Xander figured it wouldn’t hurt to buy the Pack a truck in case anyone needed to travel long distances or carry big loads.

One of the older fighters had decided that, not any of the other new rules, was the final straw.

He was recuperating well in the med center, with a broken collarbone and significantly wounded pride.

I’d go and check in on him when we got back, I decided. He was an ornery old guy, but it was nothing a few sweet smiles couldn’t soften, and I’d had him eating out of the palm of my hand since I brought him a batch of pity cookies two days ago.

Baked goods in general had turned out to be a powerful weapon in Xander’s fight to civilize Ensign; offering Pack members a gooey brownie while Xander scowled at them over my shoulder was apparently the exact right mix of positive and negative reinforcement to keep the shifters of Ensign in order.

There were still discontented rumblings every now and then, but they’d been growing less and less frequent as the weeks passed.

“You know,” I said as the ground beneath us changed and the lush fields gave way to crashing waves, “I’m not so sure that the First Pack has it all right.”

“Sacrilege,” Xander replied easily. “How come?”

“They just—they haven’t changed for so many years. Sure, I know that some things are important to preserve, but others are outdated. Better to leave them behind than hold them up as sacred.”

Xander hummed thoughtfully. He didn’t offer a response because we both already knew what I meant.

I reached over to put a hand on his thigh as he drove, squeezing gently and pouring my appreciation for him through the bond.

He lifted my hand to his mouth, pressing a quick kiss to the back of it before returning his grip to the steering wheel.

The rest of the journey was spent in comfortable silence.

As I watched the waves crash in the sea beneath us, I thought wistfully of everything that awaited us back on Ensign.

Lenise had promised to come over and light our fires this afternoon so the house would be warm when we arrived, and I knew she’d leave us a crock pot of something delicious, too.

It would be a quiet evening for me and Xander, curled up on the couch together.

Maybe I would take a bath to get the chill out of my bones, with Xander perched on the side of the tub to trace my body beneath the water line.

It was a relief to see the now-familiar shape of Ensign town when it appeared in the distance.

A few of the new family buildings were still unfinished, but no one was at work now that the sun had dipped below the horizon.

It was quiet when we pulled up in front of our house, and Xander hopped out of the truck quickly, ready to help me down from the high cab.

I didn’t really need him to, but I wasn’t about to turn down his hands on my waist and the brief feeling of weightlessness as he lifted me.

This time, I wrapped my legs around his hips as he did so, clinging to him like a baby koala. Xander huffed out a laugh, nudging the truck door closed with his hip.

“You’re affectionate this evening,” he commented, pressing a kiss against the thick material of my scarf where it covered my still-fresh claiming bite. I nuzzled his neck in return, sighing sleepily.

“It’s good to be home.”

*****

THE END