Page 117 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

It was eerie how quiet it was as I cleared through the tree line and into pack camp, slowing to a quick walk. The camp slept, their untroubled heads resting on pillows. The remnants of last night’s drinks keeping them in the comforting bosom of sleep.

Discarded cups and bottles littered the spaces between the cabin, left to be cleaned up another day. The fairy lights that’d been strung through the trees now hung limp and lifeless, their lights gone out.

A stillness in the cool, damp air made my skin bristle. I couldn’t do what I needed to do without every single pack member present. I couldn’t give Ryland the opportunity to weasel his way out of this. If I challenged him alone in his cabin, there was no telling what he might do.

But challenging him in front of everyone…

He would have no choice but to accept. To play fair for once in his miserable existence.

Steeling myself, I crept up to the dead firepit, sending a last prayer up to whatever god would hear me with the last tendril of white smoke twisting upward to the heavens.

Gaze fixed on Ryland’s cabin, I shifted, shaking off the wolf as easily as I would a jacket.

“Ryland!” I screamed, hauling in a long, shuddering breath before bellowing his name a second time, making sure my voice would be heard across camp. “Ryland!”

My fists began to shake as the first signs of life awoke in the clearing.

The bang of a door shutting somewhere behind me.

A shout. The naked shape of a man rushing from the woods to see what was going on.

Charity rushing up from my left, in nothing but a long t-shirt, eyes ringed in red and her dreads sticking out at odd angles from how she slept. “Allie?” she asked,

a worried crease in her forehead. “What’s happening?” Destiny was the next to approach, with Seth, Kyle,

Trey, and Todd lagging behind her in various states of undress.

Destiny peered around me, searching for signs of Vivian.

“She isn’t here,” I told her.

Destiny looked between me and the direction I’d come from.

In my heightened state, I found I could faintly hear her pulse as it built in tempo.

And as she broke into a sprint for the trees, gone in search of her mate, I heard the distinct sound of Ryland cursing and the squeal of Sam as something slammed loudly within the cabin.

I clenched my jaw, willing myself to remain where I was.

“What’s going on?” Seth asked, flipping his dark hair away from his eyes.

“Has something happened?” Trey added. “Are Clay and Jared okay?”

My stomach pooled with acid. “No,” I growled. “But they will be.”

“Go find them,” Seth barked at Kyle, and he nodded once to Seth and took off running after Destiny. Then he turned back to me. “Are you going to tell us what happened?”

Just then, Ryland stepped outside, still fastening the large silver buckle of his belt. Barefoot, barechested, and every inch the monster I always knew he was.

“I think I’ll let him tell you,” I replied to Seth, raising my voice to let it carry over the still-gathering pack.

Ryland made no secret of his rage; his eyes flared with ruddy orange light and his muscles rippled. “What is the meaning of this?”

How could he do it?

How could he sit there, smug and haughty with disdain after all that he’d done? As if my appearance here inconvenienced him. Fucking seriously?

“Where are the missing wolves?” I shouted across the space between us. “Tell them!”

I had the satisfaction of watching his face bleach of color before he recovered, lifting a brow as though I’d just said something that made absolutely no sense to him.

I had to hand it to him. He was good.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Allie, but if you’ll come inside, we can discuss—”

Ignoring him, I continued, my voice broken and raw but loud enough for all to hear me. “Tell them!” I demanded. “Tell them how you killed Jared’s parents— skinned them—and kept their tails as souvenirs.”

Charity gasped, and from the corner of my eyes, I could see her looking at me like I’d gone and lost my damned mind. I didn’t care. I wasn’t finished.

“Tell them how you shot Thomas Armstrong in the back of the head and walked away like it never happened!”

Sam, tugging a robe closed over her naked body, froze mid-step as she appeared behind Ryland on the porch. Her face screwed up into a disgusted scowl.

“Ryland,” she said. “What the fuck is going on?”

He held up a hand to silence her, never taking his eyes off me. “Those are some pretty serious accusations,” he said, his gaze tentatively sliding to the gathered pack, judging their reactions.

I knew I hadn’t won them over.

“Allie’s lost it,” I heard someone mutter just before Charity whispered. “I think you should calm down.”

I balked at the suggestion, resisting my wolf’s urge to snap at her.

The tether at my core gave a sharp tug and a lick of apprehension skated up my spine. I was running out of time. I could feel Jared and Clay—they were close now. They’d be here soon.

Charity hesitantly curled a hand around my arm, but I shrugged her off. “You can pretend all you want,” I hissed at Ryland. “But I know what you’ve done.”

The bastard smirked.

For the first time since he came outside, I tore my gaze away from my alpha and turned to the crowd, making sure they were all paying very close attention.

“Ryland,” Sam repeated, and I heard him growl at her.

“That’s enough,” Ryland roared, feeding enough of his alpha will into the words to bend the heads of weaker members of the pack.

“I agree,” I said, my chin high.

Something in my eyes must have alarmed him because his lips parted, and I saw understanding flash across his features before I gathered the courage. I needed to say what I came here to say.

“I challenge you, Ryland Stone, for the right to rule this pack.”