I stood in the center of the room and looked around. I wondered what she’d think of the person I was today. Would she be proud of me? No. She’d be upset that I had ignored the pack this long. She’d be upset that I blamed Dad for her death. She had seen the necessity behind it, somehow. I couldn’t stomach it. Overwhelmed with a feeling of disgust and anger, I bolted from her room.
CHAPTER 14
I had been in Old Moon for 3 days and still hadn’t seen him. Leith was just as angry as I was, but there was nothing either of us could do.
For the past three days, we’d been surveying the wolves to find out their skill set. With there being 10 lycan warriors who came, we had 5 groups. We assigned each group 2 lycans to work with them on their fighting styles and strength training. Jackson really was helpless when it came down to his warriors, filling me with guilt. I had always been the warrior; he never should’ve had to worry about it. The longer I stayed here, the guiltier I felt for leaving.
I had gotten to know each warrior, and they had gotten over their shock about what happened between me and Leith. They seemed interested in working with me, and I was excited about it. It felt like paradise to be around people who were more skilled than I was. I might have alpha blood, but they had centuries of training. Every warrior I met had battle scars, proving they had been through a lot.
Leith spent a lot of time surveying the grounds, while Cain trained with me. Apparently, Leith’s training with me was aimed at tapping into my strength. Cain was way more adept at teaching than Leith. He had me on the ground more times than I cared to admit.
At night, I spent time with my brother. I wanted to know everything about him. He seemed way happier than I had expected. Apparently, he and Eli had leaned on each other a lot after Gabby died. They were best friends now.
I hadn’t seen Mav and Diana since we got here, and I was almost worried. I knew Diana missed having a big pack, and I knew Mav would do anything for her. It seemed like I might have lost them to Old Moon. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“Selene,” Jax came over. “Lord Drakov has returned. He wants to meet in my office.”
When I had arrived, I’d been told Drakov had been on a run. Three days later, that sounded rather suspicious. The wolves were getting skeptical. Brett told me Tate had suspected Drakov of trying to attack the wolves. Considering that he got the title of Deserter, I found it hard to believe. No matter, I didn’t feel comfortable knowing I would be meeting him. He was no better than my father, in my eyes. I couldn’t see how someone would betray their own family.
We approached Jax’s office, and I slowed down, a familiar scent in the air. I gripped Leith’s arm and glared at him. He looked at me calmly before speaking through our link. Give him hell, Princess. I smirked. I would have the upper hand. I couldn’t let him know that his behavior had hurt me. He obviously didn’t care, so why should I?
I had expected there to be two men when I entered but was surprised to find only my mate. Where was Drakov? I entered behind Jax and Eli and froze, causing Leith to bump into me. Was I really that stupid? How did I not figure it out earlier? I blinked rapidly, forcing myself to stay in control. My wolf wasn’t sure whether she wanted to run to him or attack him.
I looked over at him coolly; making sure my expression gave nothing away. He was just as beautiful as I remembered him; tall, dark and muscular, his hair no longer or shorter than before. His beard was trimmed, and his mouth was set in a firm line. I felt his eyes taking me in. They felt hot and intense, as if he never wanted to look away from me. Good, I smirked inwardly.
“Lord Sebastian Drakov, this is my sister, Selene, and vice versa.” Jax waved his hand absentmindedly between us.
“So, this is the Deserter?” I couldn’t stop myself. Confirming who he was pissed me off. It reminded me of my dad, and I only had anger toward him.
I saw a flicker of hurt cross his eyes before it disappeared. “Just Sebastian will do.”
So now he wanted me to know his name? I rolled my eyes. “This is my beta.” I pointed at Leith.
One of his thick eyebrows rose, pronouncing his arch more than it had already been. “I know.” He must have felt his tie with Leith sever as he joined my pack.
I glared at Leith as I realized with my mate being his former alpha; he hadn’t shifted allegiances at all. Was that why he was so happy? Because I chose him to be my beta? He was happy knowing he had my approval?
“You said you had something you wanted to talk about?” Jackson spoke up. I couldn’t tell if he could feel the tension in the air, but if he did, he didn’t question it. It was adorable how focused and hardworking he was. It almost surprised me.
“I believe the wendigos are travelling in packs.”
I snorted. “We already knew that.”
He looked at me, clearly not happy at my interruption. “As I was saying, I think they’re part of a larger pack. I traced a group of them as far out as I could. They seemed to disappear close to a mountain.”
“Those Mountains aren’t part of Old Moon territory.” My heart raced at the thought of him trespassing. The rational part of my brain told me it was because crossing without permission could jeopardize the treaty. I wanted that treaty as much as he did. The other part of my brain panicked at the thought of him making an enemy that wanted him dead. If a reaper backed up the alpha’s claim for execution, they would kill my mate.
Drakov sighed, looking up at me. He must’ve assumed I was just trying to be irritating, interrupting him again. Thank the goddess he didn’t know the truth. “Are you done?”
“I’m just saying; you don’t need to be making enemies and putting the treaty at risk.”
He sighed again. “I know it’s someone else’s territory, that’s why I didn’t follow them. I’ve been searching around the mountain to see what I could find.” He turned to Jackson, “That’s what took me so long to come back.”
“Did you find anything?” Jax asked.
“I found traces of other groups around the mountain.”
“How do you know they weren’t the same group you traced there?” I saw him stiffen as I continued to question him. His wolf was starting to get restless. He wasn’t happy his mate was disagreeing with him, especially in front of others.
He looked at me, unamused. “Their smell?”
I shrugged, “Fine. How do you know they’re not dead?” My own wolf was coming out to play. She wanted to get back at him for leaving her alone for 6 years.
“I never said I did.” If they couldn’t feel it before, no one could miss the tension in the room now.
“Then what makes you think a pack is in that mountain? We know wendigos aren’t known for being smart.” At this point, I was just egging him on. He was probably onto something, but I was so pissed at him I didn’t care.
“It’s worth looking into.” Jax interrupted before Sebastian could retaliate. “We’ll send out a team. Selene, maybe you can send your pack warrior along with a lycan or two and some of my wolves?”
I paled, looking at Leith. I had totally forgotten about Clyde. “Alpha Dylan took my warrior.”
“So, we’ll send someone to retrieve him.”
“I don’t think he’s going to let him go.”
“He will if a lycan shows up to collect him.” Sebastian said.
I narrowed my eyes at him, “I would think you of all people would know not to use your race to control someone with fear.”
Sebastian flinched, and Leith placed a hand on my arm, silently pleading with me to stop. “Sometimes it’s necessary.”
“That’s the kind of arrogance that landed your people in exile to begin with.” How could people ever trust lycans if the lycans were using their strength to blackmail others into doing whatever they wanted?
His eyes met mine for longer than I was comfortable. I could see him shaking slightly. His brown eyes had gotten even darker, and I could see his canines starting to come out. “They’re your people, too.”
&n
bsp; Jax must’ve gotten tired of the tension between us because he attempted to break into our conversation. “Technically, she’s not fully a lycan.”
The slight upturn of Drakov’s lips let me know that hadn’t been what he was saying. He was referring to them as the people I would be sworn to protect as his mate. I shuddered slightly, not liking the idea of who my mate was.
CHAPTER 15
“It took you 4 days to search around the mountain and get back here. That doesn’t count the time it took you to get to the mountain, and the fact that you followed a wendigo there. We have no proof that there even are any wendigos there, but it’s worth a shot.” Jackson was speaking to Drakov, in a small room filled with people we thought should know about our plans. Leith, Brett, Cain and Eli were all there with a few of Jackson’s pack members, Tate and my dad. I didn’t want them there, but Jackson respected their advice.
“Obviously, we can’t send Lycans, considering that’s not my territory, and they haven’t agreed to letting Lycans on their land.”
Brett raised his hand eagerly, like a child waiting to be called on. Jackson raised his eyebrow, thinking he was weird, and glanced at me. I rolled my eyes and glared at Brett. He giggled. “I’m just wondering why you wouldn’t wait until, like, after the party? Aren’t they supposed to come and sign a treaty then? And you’d be able to send lycans?”
“It could all be a waste of time.” My father said. “There’s no guarantee they’re even still there, if they ever were at all,” He shot a glance at Drakov.
“So, you suggest we do nothing? Ignore that they’re gathered somewhere within our reach?” I argued back, ignoring his comment toward my mate.
“Oh, please, Selene.” My dad scoffed. “You know they aren’t intelligent. They aren’t capable of planning ahead enough to gather in hiding”
I rolled my eyes and Leith spoke up, “They’re intelligent enough that we believe they target strong wolves. Intelligent enough that we think they’d come to a party with powerful wolves in attendance. Might they also be smart enough to hide together somewhere out of reach?”
My father rolled his eyes, “For argument’s sake, let’s say I agree they’re clever enough to hide. Why would you believe they wouldn’t be ready for us? Or that they have multiple hideouts?”
“First, they didn’t exist, then they weren’t smart enough to gather in hiding and now you think they’re smart enough to plan a trap and spread out?” Drakov asked, eyes narrowed.
“You know what? You’re right. Let’s just storm the mountain. If we’ve found a hideout, why bother with a party and a treaty we might not even need?” My dad didn’t realize his mistake.
Drakov growled at him, “Excuse me?”
“Well, I don’t see the point of that if we can take them out this easily.”
“We get the treaty in exchange for offering our services and training your people. We’ve done both, whether or not the party takes place.”
“I’m just saying,” my dad defended, “That maybe there’s no need for it.”
“Fine.” Drakov agreed. “You don’t need it, then we’ll leave.” He nodded at Cain and glanced at Leith. “Time to go.”
Before he could go through the door, Jackson spoke up, “You have my word the treaty will happen whether we find them in the mountain or not.”
Drakov looked at him for a long moment, as if debating whether he should trust him. “If you go back on your word, we will have war.” Jackson nodded once, but I knew he wouldn’t go back on it. I may not have known him for 10 years, but he was still my brother, and I believed he would keep his promise.
“Going off the idea that they have many bases,” Leith cut in, “Perhaps it would be wiser if we waited till after the party? They would send wendigos from all bases, if there are more, when they plan to attack. We’d have a greater chance of eliminating them all at that point, rather than attacking one hide-out.”
Cain nodded, “You’d have us available to help take them down. If you found them in the mountains, we wouldn’t be able to do anything to help you take them out. You could lose more men than you can afford.”
Jackson thought about it for a minute. “What if it’s only a temporary hide-out? What if this is our only chance to find them?”
“What if we go now, and they kill all your men because they’re unprepared?” Cain countered. “Is that a price you’re willing to pay?”
Jackson sighed. “The party is in a week; I suppose we can wait till then.”
✽✽✽
I was on the training field with Leith and Cain when Drakov finally sought me out. I was losing very badly but had no intention of stopping. I smelled him coming long before he reached us, but I managed to stay focused the entire time.
I saw Cain stiffen and slow down, afraid to be too rough with me with his king watching. Leith and I had been doing this for too long to slow down now. He kept throwing punches, and I kept dodging, faster than a werewolf could keep up. Drakov didn’t speak, he just stood there, arms crossed, watching. Cain stopped. “I will take a break,” he glanced at his alpha then looked at Leith, “maybe you should do the same.”
Leith glanced at Drakov, then at me, raising an eyebrow. I groaned but shrugged at him. “You can take a break too, if you’d like.”
“You sure?”
I nodded, “If you want to, yeah. I promised Jackson I’d train with him at some point, so I’ll probably go find him.”
Leith laughed, then covered it up by coughing as he nodded and began walking away. Drakov grabbed his arm before he could leave, “Since when do you follow her orders and not mine?”
I was already walking toward my brother when I heard him say “Hey, man, you did this to yourself.”
I grinned, catching up to Jackson. “Hey, bro! Remember when you asked me to train with you?”
He looked at me confused for a second because he hated training with me, and I knew that. “No..?” I widened my eyes and shook my head, motioning toward the lycan headed my way with my eyes. I was desperately hoping he would understand what I was trying to say. “I mean, yes! I totally remember that. I would rather train with you than do anything else. This won’t cause me pain in any form. Yay me.”
He glared at me, but played along, and I smiled brightly at him. As we slowly began circling each other, he started talking. “How do you like being alpha?”
I smiled, dropping to the ground and kicking at his legs. He moved out of my way. “My pack makes it worth it. How do you like it?” We were circling each other again.
He threw a series of blows at me, “It was never meant for me.” He got me in the stomach, and I winced. I wasn’t expecting the emotions that attacked me when he answered. None of us had wanted to be alpha. Not even Gabby. But her mate had beta blood, and I had an affinity for fighting.
I spun around, landing a kick to his side. I had forgotten he wasn’t a lycan and kicked harder than I should’ve, sending him into a nearby tree. I froze and looked at him, hoping he wasn’t too mad. He sat there for a minute before sighing and getting up, “This is why I hate training with you. You’re mean.”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to. I just think maybe we shouldn’t catch up on the training field?”
He coughed. “Yeah, you’re right. And you should be training with someone closer to your strength, anyway.” He glanced at Drakov. “I’m not sure what your issue with him is, but he looks like he wants to talk to you. I don’t think you’re gonna’ get rid of him.” He patted my shoulder and walked away.
My jaw dropped as he walked away from me. That jerk! He really just left me here to deal with this-ugh! I turned to Drakov with a tight-lipped smile. “What do you want?”
“To talk to you.”
I laughed, “Now you want to talk, huh? You’re about 6 years too late, pal.”
He stared at me, not saying anything. He just stood there, his arms crossed, beautiful eyes staring intensely into mine. My heart was racing, and my stomach was fluttering lik
e crazy. I wanted this feeling to end. “Then reject me.” Then what?
I frowned, “Why would I do that?” Was it that easy for him? Is that what he wanted?
“You said I’m too late. That means you wish to reject me?” He still hadn’t moved, his face a stony mask.
I narrowed my eyes and walked toward him, slowly, as though I would scare him off if I moved too quickly. He didn’t move, his muscly arms still folded over his chest. I examined his face as I got closer, able to see every little hair on his beard. Goddess, he was perfect. “Do you want me to reject you?”
His face broke for less than a second. I saw the stony resolve crumble and fear replaced it. There was a deep sadness in his eyes. “If that is what you want.” I saw him swallow, and it seemed like he was holding his breath, worried that I might say I wanted to reject him.
“It’s not.”
He relaxed, dropping his arms. He nodded once, “Good. Then let’s talk.”
I rolled my eyes, seeing no way out of talking to him.
“You grew up here, yes?”
“If I don’t get to know anything about you, you’re not getting anything out of me.” I snapped defensively. If he really thought he got to unlock my tragic backstory, the third time he spoke to me, he had another thing coming.
He smirked. “I only asked because I wondered if you knew a good place we could go eat.”
Of course, that’s all he wanted. I sighed, knowing he was going to make my life very difficult and very frustrating.
CHAPTER 16
We went to a local Mexican restaurant. It had been my favorite place to eat once upon a time. I came here all the time. Drakov sat across from me. We chose to split a taco platter.
“I should explain.” He stated. I looked at him, waiting for him to explain. Did he need my approval or something? Damn, just tell me already. “Okay, maybe I should apologize first.”
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