Page 6

6

Naomi

“ I … what are you talking about?”

Dread. Icy dread runs through my body.

My mind goes blank, as it often does when Brad turns those cruel grey eyes on me, and I can’t get my brain to function as he unleashes the full force of his dominance.

His wolf isn’t much stronger than mine, it's just that he's an asshole about it, and uses his alpha position to force submission far more often than others do.

If every strong shifter unleashed their power in a show of dominance with every wolf they met, they'd do nothing but fight and posture. Good manners and the rules of pack hierarchy dictate you keep your animal on a leash and only use your alpha command when the situation requires it.

Alpha Steel never behaves this way because he doesn’t need to. Respect and trust garner more loyalty than fear.

But Brad is a bully, plain and simple. He can't help himself. He just loves pushing people around.

And that’s the main reason I need to win this pack and find myself, but more so, for Maddie, and somewhere new to live.

I grit my teeth, remembering how he refused to let her travel to the Alpha Games with me, just out of spite, saying it was too far for her to travel for even one day.

Jackass.

She was supposed to be free now that her mate is dead, but he has seamlessly stepped into the role of her tormentor with unnerving ease. Brad might not be giving her black eyes and cut lips like his brother did but layering on psychological abuse when she’s already reeling from the severing of the mate bond is even more cruel.

Keeping her away from her proper family when the broken bond is causing her such pain amounts to torture in my book. All I want to do is bring her home.

Or maybe now, to a new pack.

"If I win," I stutter, hating how shaky my voice sounds. "The pack is going to be mine. Steel will make me alpha, and we’ll finally be out from under your feet. Isn’t that what you want?”

He says it often enough to Maddie that she’s a leech on the pack. A constant reminder of his brother’s death. But if that’s true, then why won’t he just let us move on?

Frustration bubbles up inside me, and I ball my hands into fists at my sides, careful to keep my emotions and my voice in check in case anyone around us overhears.

“No. I want you. Wearing my mark, and ruling alongside me.”

But to what end? He knows I don’t like him. Months of repeatedly knocking back his advances have made that clear, so why would he want to be bonded with me?

Brad sits back, looking smug. He’s enjoying building the suspense, taunting me with whatever he knows I don’t. I'm immediately even more nervous. Brad is only happy when he’s screwing someone over, and unfortunately, that someone is now me.

Grinning like the cat that’s got the cream, he dips his head nearer to mine. I lean back, hating even being near this excuse for an alpha. His scent makes me want to recoil. My wolf can sense the evil side of him that he keeps well hidden.

"Except in one situation, my dear. Did your father not bother to teach you about pack law?"

When I don’t speak, Brad continues, looking pleased that I haven’t figured it out. “Nevermind. You’ll understand once we’re mated. And you’ve made sure Wyatt is eliminated from the competition.”

This guy is as fucked up as his brother was.

"No. No way," I say, staggering backward and then catching myself before I create a scene. “Why would I mate you when you’ve been so horrible to my sister?” When I speak, my voice sounds panicked, even to my own ears.

Brad smiles, enjoying my discomfort. I hate him knowing he’s got me rattled.

"You've been dealing with your sister's poor mental state and have barely left her cabin. Finally, when my animal forced me to find you, and I scented you, I realised what had been wrong all this time. But then, we didn’t want to rub our love in your grieving sister’s face.” He chuckles and twists his mouth into a sneer. “It sounds almost romantic. The fairytale your sister was probably hoping for."

I stare at him, the mention of my sister pushing my fear aside and causing red-hot anger to burn deep in my belly.

"Leave Maddie out of this. You know damn well none of this is her fault."

Maddie was defending herself. She may have been responsible for Rowan’s death, but only because he was hurting her every day. Not that Brad would ever admit that.

Glancing around, I see everyone else has drifted forward, trying to see or hear what’s going on out on the course, or timing the length of Wyatt’s race. Callum, Dean’s beta, is busy preparing for my turn and explaining something to a curious spectator who’s peppering him with questions.

Nobody’s listening to Brad.

"She's mourning her mate, who died so tragically," he says with a mocking expression on his face, that he’s not even attempting to pass off as genuine. "Are you telling me there’s more to the accident? Is that what you'd like me to do, Naomi? Start investigating what really happened to my brother?"

Brad knows that’s the very last thing I would want.

He presses forward into my personal space, and my wolf rumbles a warning. He might be my alpha, but he doesn’t get to intimidate me, not when he knows what kind of man his brother was, and what he was doing to my sister.

If he was any kind of decent alpha, he'd have protected her himself.

"Would you like me to announce to everybody here what really happened to my brother? It's not every day a shifter dies in such strange circumstances. Maybe I should ask the council to look into it."

The urge to lunge at him is strong, but the desire to protect my sister is even more powerful. I glare at him tight-lipped and choke back the words I’d love to spit out.

She's been through enough. I can’t be the one who brings a council interrogation down on her head. Not when I have a chance here to get her life back.

I left my pack to help her deal with her abusive mate, to support her while she got brave enough to leave Rowan. I never realised that his alpha brother was just as bad. Maybe not physically violent, but just as much of a coward for turning a blind eye.

I’d assumed that once Rowan was gone, Maddie would be free to move home, and that Brad wouldn't want us under his feet anymore.

But I was wrong. This bully is enjoying keeping us both trapped within his territory, Maddie, by not allowing her to transfer packs, and me, because he knows I won’t leave without her.

"You don't really want to mate with me," I say to him, attempting a different tack. "Your fated mate is out there somewhere. If we were together, you'd never find her. She'd be lost to you forever. Surely, you don’t want some extra land that badly?"

He stares at me like I’m an idiot. “Every alpha wants the strongest female around. It’s in our DNA. But if you’re still concerned, we could agree that our mating would only be temporary.”

My heart skips a beat. "What do you mean, temporary? Mating is for life."

Fear grips me as he smiles, slow and predatory. Could he really be suggesting what I think he is?

A mating isn't just a ceremony or a mark, it's a soul bond, a joining that can't be undone without catastrophic consequences. The only way to make a mating "temporary" without causing grave injury to his own wolf would be...

Is he going to kill me?

Does he think I'd go along with this plan, knowing that he plans to off me as soon as he gets what he wants, a strong heir?

"What if in, say, a year's time, we agree to dissolve the bond if you still miss your home pack? Though it would be painful, you and your sister would be free to go wherever you desired."

I blink at him. He really has thought of every angle. Except wolves don’t leave their mates because of a little homesickness. Once marked, I’d develop an attraction to him, a bond. Like Stockholm syndrome times a thousand. And once the bond is formed, and our fates are intertwined, alphas, especially ones as self-centred as Brad, don’t voluntarily put themselves through the torture of separation. Shifters can die from the pain of a broken mate bond.

He’ll never let me go. Even more horrifying to contemplate, the bond might make me want to stay, and that’s what he’s banking on.

"It's not as easy as that, and you know it."

Without being true fated mates, it might not be as bad. But I have a mate now. As much as this would hurt me, I couldn’t do it to Wyatt. He doesn’t deserve it.

Maybe I should tell Brad that Wyatt’s mine, but something in my gut tells me to wait.

Who knows what he’d do?

"No, it wouldn’t be easy," he says thoughtfully, rubbing his chin as he stares around, also conscious that we’re out in the open. "But I'll have power, money, and it’s the first step in getting back some of the land that my father lost in the last war. Land that Steel should be returning to us rather than hosting this farce of a competition to find a new alpha. Losing a Luna would be painful, but I’m sure I could manage."

The flippant way he says it is pretty unconvincing.

No alpha gives up power willingly, or the potential to have strong pups. But I’m not stupid enough to challenge him on it. Not now anyway.

I stare at the people milling around, enjoying the competition and the sunshine, unaware of the dilemma I’m in. None of their worlds are falling apart. It’s not fair. I should be cheering for Wyatt and celebrating my mating, not listening to this arrogant wolf and his despicable schemes.

"This is a pointless discussion. I'm not going to make it through anyway," I say, throwing my hands up and feeling defeated. Immediately, I’m contemplating forfeiting the whole competition and walking away. Or maybe feigning an injury, because that’s probably the only way Wyatt will let me bow out without asking too many questions. “Get someone else to do it. There are lots of ladies here looking for a mate.”

Brad rolls his eyes. “No.” His gaze locks on to mine, like a predator stalking their prey. “I need somebody who has an excellent incentive for sticking to our agreement."

Maddie. He’ll have her thrown in jail if I don’t go along with his plan. Or worse, and right now, she’s not strong enough and too scared to put up a fight. She can barely get out of bed and get dressed. How the hell is she supposed to battle an alpha who’s trying to ruin her life?

"There’s no way it would work, Brad."

Callum lifts his eyes from the clipboard in his hands, a she-wolf beside him running through a checklist with him, and glances in our direction.

A pit opens up in my belly as the world around me spins.

"You never know unless you try. And I really recommend you do. It’s what’s best for Maddie."

Brad follows my gaze into the trees. I can no longer hear Wyatt, but I can hear shouting and roaring in the distance. He must be close to finishing his race.

A rumble of dissatisfaction travels through the other waiting males. They aren’t pleased at his quick pace, but I am.

"Did you know the rogue is tipped to win? All the other alphas are talking about what it would be like to have him among them, the havoc that could cause. A man like that won’t respect the rules. He’s driven by instinct and primitive urges.”

Brad circles me, leaning down to whisper close to my ear.

I keep staring straight ahead and accidentally lock eyes with Callum’s. His eyes glaze over, just for a second, showing he’s speaking telepathically to someone via mind-link. The woman beside him pops her head up and stares at me, brow furrowed.

Shit.

“He's clearly taken a bit of a shine to you,” Brad continues, unaware we now have an audience, before sniffing me, picking up Wyatt’s scent on my skin. “A rogue like him isn’t used to women giving him the time of day, let alone an attractive female like you. Use him. Use his infatuation to your advantage, Naomi. Sure, have some fun with your bit of rough, but convince him to help you. Let him think that you’re friends. And then, in the last round, grab victory from the jaws of defeat."

My ears ring, and my vision blurs. Panic is pressing in on me, and I can feel my heart racing. He wants me to screw over my mate to save my sister.

"I'm not using Wyatt like that." My voice is small and timid. Afraid. Afraid that I’m trapped in an impossible position.

The mate bond between us is so precious. How could I betray that? How could I use him and discard him, as if he were nothing? The very thought makes my wolf howl in anguish.

Brad shrugs. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to help. For a little love and affection, a man who’s been deprived of it will do all kinds of things. Stupid things. Like trusting a woman."

Wyatt. My strong, handsome mate.

"You're vile." I hiss, anger bubbling up inside me as I think of Maddie stuck back in Brad's pack, living under the threat of him blowing the whistle on what she did. He’ll never let her leave, and he’ll kill her out of spite if I don’t go along with his plan.

"Just accept it, Naomi. It’s a good deal. Your sister gets your freedom, eventually, and I get… you.”

It’s almost laughable that he thinks this is a good deal. And that I’m stupid enough to think he’ll let us just disappear into the sunset.

But what choice do I have?

Lynn, the she-wolf standing beside Callum, tips her head in the universal gesture for ‘Are you okay?’. She takes a step in our direction, but I stop her with a tiny shake of my head.

“When I see you at dinner later, I expect you to convince everybody that you're madly in love with me.”

He stands straight and smiles, looking smug as he waves at Ryan Williams, who’s just arrived, sweaty and red-faced, no doubt here to check up on the competition.

“I can’t. Wyatt will see,” I blurt out, my brain scrambling to come up with any way to get out of this. “How can I convince him I’m interested if I’m seen with you?”

I cling to this objection like a lifeline. The idea of pretending to adore Brad makes me want to vomit. I wait, praying he doesn’t have a clever answer.

Eyes narrowed, Brad reluctantly agrees. “Fine. We stay apart in public until after you win.”

Breathing out an enormous sigh of relief, my shoulders drop. I’ve bought some space and a way out of having to spend time with Brad.

The she-wolf nudges Callum, her attention still squarely on me and Brad.

He looks up again, expression serious, and approaches with a scented cloth in his hands. The one I need to find the trail for my race. The big beta eyes Brad with suspicion. "Competitor area only. You need to wait at the side."

No pleasantries. No sucking up. I like him already.

“What about him?” Brad points at Ryan, who, while technically a competitor, is not involved in this wave.

“He’s going to be leaving shortly, too.” Callum’s tone is ice cold, and he doesn’t even look in Ryan’s direction.

“Fine.” Brad raises his hands in surrender, attempting a friendly smile, but I can see how he bristles at the stern tone from the beta. "Just wishing Naomi good luck."

He leans over and pretends to give me a peck on the cheek.

“Don’t do anything stupid like get knocked out,” he whispers before he pulls back, his lips grazing my ear as he retreats.

It takes every ounce of willpower I possess not to recoil from his repulsive touch and shove him away.

He’s not my mate. His touch disgusts my wolf.

As he walks away, Callum stares at the side of my face, but I don’t turn, needing to wait until my wolf is gone from my eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asks, picking up on my unease.

I’m shaking, and my breathing is ragged. There’s no denying I’m freaking out. I bounce up and down on my toes, nodding, trying to get myself back in the game. "Just nervous."

Unconvinced, Callum glances over my shoulder at Brad's retreating back. "I don't blame you."

He opens his mouth, about to say something else, but then thinks better of it, instead, pointing out onto the trail. “Good luck.”

Channelling my anger at feeling boxed in, I focus on the task at hand, willing my body to relax and get ready to run. Speed is the one skill I have in human form. I stare at the trail, trying to push what happened out of my mind, so I can get through this round and figure out what the hell I’m going to do.

Through the mate bond, I reach out to see if I can sense Wyatt. The connection is faint but there, a golden thread connecting us across the distance. I focus on it, and my wolf steadies, drawing comfort from the knowledge that we're not alone anymore.

And yet, we’re not together, and can’t be for now, because I won’t put Wyatt in Brad’s crosshairs.

As Callum’s deep voice fills the air, I push my concerns away and concentrate on the job at hand. I let my animal take the lead and tell me which direction to go first, trusting her to get us through this.

"Three, two, one. Go."