Surprisingly, the next he approached was Natalie. I held my breath, uncertain if he was naming her to something or challenging her—this Rite could be used to remove threats, too.
“Sister, I stand today for freedom, for unity, and a new dawn. I will take down our Alpha, or die trying. Will you stand with me?”
“Yes.” She didn’t even hesitate.
Rig nodded. “I stand in my mate’s stead. And she Names you Second. Beta for her power. If she is… is harmed, will you step in for her and call the packs to safety?”
Natalie sucked in. We hadn’t expected Cara’s Naming since she wasn’t here. It was the role of the Luna to call retreat at the loss of th
~ RIG ~The weirdest thing happened when I named Natalie as Cara’s second.We’d discussed it. I knew Cara trusted her—and had hoped to bring Tessa in as Advisor well. There was nothing we could do about that at this point.But when I officially stood for her and Named Natalie, I felt something shift, and even with everything else going on, it washed me in joy and hope.Something went out from me to Cara.She was still out there, somewhere. Even if we were too far away to link. Even if I couldn’t speak to her, or bring her in on this… the power knew.She was alive, and she was still my mate.It
SOUNDTRACK: “How Soon is Now” by AG & Dresage*****~ RIG ~‘The packs are moving. You can’t leave it too much longer, Rig. They’re trying to be casual, but the numbers are too big. Someone’s going to catch wind of this pretty soon. It’s time.’Natalie’s sending was both reassuring, and horrific.It had been hours. Meanwhile, neither of us had heard from Mack yet. He’d had time to get to Stephen, to make the call, and should have been on his way back by now. Even if he was out of range of the link, he should have been in cell coverage by now.
~ RIG ~“It’s not like you to show up at home, Rig,” my father said quietly, starting to jog down the stairs. He was in suit slacks and a white shirt, but he’d opened the top button and rolled up the sleeves.The knuckles of his right hand were red.Fury washed through me in such a tidal wave I almost lost it. Almost went straight for his throat. But I couldn’t, I reminded myself. I had to do this right. All the formalities. All the witnesses.All the prayers that Cara was with the Night Walker and not directly in my father’s hands.“How was your trip?” he asked and anyone who didn’t know him would have thought the question was entirely casual. Just a dad asking his kid
~ MACK ~I swore loudly as I yanked the steering wheel so the car tires squealed, sliding around the corner, then careened up the street.I’d driven like a devil to try and get back, but those fucking rogues followed and I’d had to evade them more than once—and now I was hours past when I was supposed to be back.At least my wolf reflexes were still good when I was in human form—I could feel the weight of the car and even in a slide, know how to adjust. But I couldn’t take the time to appreciate the fun of it in that moment. I kept reaching out for the others, searching the link for them, but even though I was finally back in town, they were still out of range.Fuck.I glanced in the rearview
~ CARA ~I lay slack in the Night Walker’s arms, praying that I looked truly unconscious and that Rig’s Dad was too distracted to notice how fast my heart was beating for an unconscious person.My skin crawled. The Night Walker—he had told me his name was Troy, which seemed way too normal to fit him, but there were too many other details to figure out. I didn’t have time to worry about this killer sounding like a frat boy—was holding me tightly, but everything walked such a tightrope, I just had to keep reminding myself of the plan.Troy was done with David. And he wanted my help to free him from his own deal with the devil.I’d convinced him that helping Rig beat his father was the fastest way to freedom.
~ RIG ~When my father touched Cara, I didn’t even think. I just leaped towards him.Cara screamed through the link, obviously thinking I’d lost control. But she underestimated me. I knew him even better than she did. I knew he didn’t have any attraction to her. He was baiting me, alright. And even though I was a little calmer knowing she wasn’t unconscious, it still freaked me out. The only thing that stopped me shifting to take his throat on the spot was the knowledge that I needed to do this right. If I didn’t take him in a formal challenge, with witnesses, he was going to weasel out of submitting to me. I knew it.I had to do this right.So, I leaped for him—and his enforcers came for me—but I drew up short, right in front of
~ RIG ~I’d talked to her that morning, explaining a wide variety of scenarios that we could meet on this day. I’d even briefly discussed what to do if she ended up in my father’s hands. But I hadn’t really expected it to happen. Hadn’t really thought he was that far ahead of me.And this… this was never what we’d discussed—Dad having Stephen as well as my mother and sister?No. No, the pressure was too much. There were too many cards stacked against us. He had ignored the challenge and kept me here and now my head spun because I couldn’t see my way clear with all these things stacked against me.When she said the Night Walker wasn’t loyal to my father anymore, I wanted to laugh. Who cared?! He was so desperatel
SOUNDTRACK: “Be a Hero” by Euphoria and Bolshiee.*****~ NATALIE ~I stood alone on the dirt on the challenger’s side of the arena as the bleachers began to fill. At first it had been so heavily weighted in Rig’s favor because we’d notified the lower ranked wolves first, that I was gaining tentative hope that perhaps his father wouldn’t have the support we’d thought.But as the ticked and word began to spread, the steady trickle of wolves on the Alpha King’s side became a river, and then a flood.And my chest ached.I was shaking, but I couldn’t seem to stop. I couldn’t stop looking at the rows and rows of wolves on the other side of the ar
~ RIG ~ I let my upper lip curl up and bare my teeth. Let him see that he was dealing with a helluva lot more than a spoiled rich kid. His instincts were dulled by humanity and alcohol, but even his dimwitted senses caught the flash of my teeth. He stiffened. I smiled. “My wife wants to share her wedding with her Mom—we eloped, but we’ve just watched some friends getting married and it’s making her think about what we missed, so we’re going to do it properly. Make another memory. And Cara wants to share that with her mom. So, we’re going to renew our vows in front of everyone we care about. Which, sadly, includes you.” He smiled and I wanted to bite his face off. “You are invited,” I growled. “But you
SOUNDTRACK: “Your Daughter” by Chase McDaniel. ***** ~ RIG (Three weeks later) ~ Getting out of my jeep in the driveway of the house that was the site of Cara’s torture turned my stomach. My Alpha power—still difficult to contain at times, making me itchy and prone to aggression—surged as I took in the cracked cement with weeds and grass growing up, the overgrown flower beds now little jungles of three foot weeds, and the grass that was thin and patchy, and mostly dead. This was the place that her fucking father had made her believe no one could love her. This was the place she’d been hurt. This was the place I wanted to burn to the fucking ground. But for today, at least, that wasn’t the assig
SOUNDTRACK: “Unbearable” by Nathan Wagner. ***** ~ CHARLIE ~ Watching Mack salivate over Natalie as she walked up the aisle was a very specific kind of torment. Because even though I was supposed to be watching our friends publicly vow themselves, my eyes kept drifting back to Meg who, alongside Cara and Tessa, was standing with Natalie today. She looked… stunning. Natalie, always with the impeccable taste that I didn’t understand, but could fully appreciate, had draped all the girls in floor-length, light-green, figure-hugging-but-not-clinging dresses that revealed flesh without being suggestive. It was fucking torture.
~ MACK ~ When Natalie and Cara finally reached us on the stage, I knew that there was an exchange with the officiant. Cara and Rig said something, but I didn’t hear it. I just took Natalie’s hands and pulled her up to stand in front of me. I was aware of people speaking after that. The officiant—a wolf who’d been among the rebels, whose aunt was human, and had become ordained—spoke for a few minutes about marriage and what it meant, but all I could think about was the deep pools of her eyes, that hollow in her throat that she’d offered me the night before last, and how my entire blood hummed with love and desire and— There was a ripple of laughter. “Oh, what?” I asked. Someone had asked me something. Oh, right. “I do!”
SOUNDTRACK: “Don’t Give Up on Me” by Andy Grammar ***** ~ MACK ~ I had been shitting myself. Absolutely, one hundred percent, about-to-claw-my-own-hair-off, crapping my pants. When Cara told me about the human traditions around a wedding, and what she was planning to do with Rig for their vow renewal—which included not seeing or sleeping with each other the day before the ceremony, which sounded crazy—I’d joked with Natalie that we should do that too. I’d thought it would be cute and maybe increase anticipation for when we did come back together after the ceremony. I hadn’t banked on my mate getting cold feet about doing this in front of the packs, and how her nerves would kick my insecurities into gear—and that the whole damn thing would b
SOUNDTRACK: “Break Your Fall” by UNSECRET and Marc Scibilia. ***** ~ NATALIE ~ “This is stupid and… and indulgent and it doesn’t matter! I should never have agreed to this. It’s nothing but a dumb, human tradition and… it means nothing. I’m not doing it.” I stood in the bedroom that we’d made into a bridal suite—complete with three-way mirror—and folded my arms. I’d been staring at myself and all I could see were the imperfections. Tessa had done a beautiful job on my make up, but everything else just felt… sticky. My dress was a touch too tight around my breasts. There were too many people here and they were all going to be staring. I could feel Mack out there panting with nerves, but what if he didn’t like the dress? I should have shown it to him! Why had I let Cara talk me into all this traditional nonsense? “Natalie, you get your gorgeous ass out there and marry that man before he sweats through his Armani suit,” Cara growled. “Seriously, don’t make me turn it into an orde
~ RIG ~I started towards her, but was halted almost immediately as I watched in awe while my mate carved through lines of wolves as if they were butter.Claws, teeth, whirling body—despite her bulk, she moved like liquid, tail lashing and claws like wicked hooks designed to tear through fur and flesh.I shook and trembled because my father’s power was shifting to me and my veins were boiling with it—while the rest of me simmered in the rising rage and terror of the wolves around us.The transfer of Alpha should have been peaceful. There was an established hierarchy waiting, swelling with the newfound power. But my father was a liar and cheat, and he’d encouraged his wolves towards the same.The hierarchy, the elders, his advisors, every pack and family of power rolled towards us, howling in rage and fear.And my wolves, newly risen and brimming with the triumph of victory and the added confidence of success, tore right back to meet them.Mack, Charlie, Jack, and Natalie tore for me,
SOUNDTRACK: “Legendz” by AG and Devvon Terrell ***** ~ RIG ~ Everything slowed to a crawl, time seemed almost not to move at all as I watched my father go for my mate and I turned, twisting, pushing my body in ways I never had, panic screaming in my head, frantic to reach him before he got her. I couldn’t move fast enough. He was going to land at her feet before I did and his power would carry him right to her throat. She wasn’t equipped for this… It all washed through me in that second—the rage for what he’d done, the fury about his injustices, the anger that he would still cheat, even before the witnesses, and the shocking weight of grief because that was my mate. But then the second wave arrived that left me desperate, panicked, humiliated and hating myself. If she died right now it was my fault. My side screamed in pain as I launched myself after him, but my father seemed to hang in mid-air. I had time to see Cara bare her teeth and crouch. Everything moved so slowly I could
~ RIG ~My father saw the opening he’d been waiting for, gathered himself on his haunches and launched at me, the light of victory in his eyes.Instinctively, I didn’t even try to meet the attack, just leaped straight into the air in an attempt to deflect, dropping my chin, trying to hide my throat as my father snaked in—and to my horror, he would have taken me, except that was the moment Stephen howled in the link, then sent images to us both:Himself. Head bowed. Shoulders rolled forward. His human form submitted.To me.It was a boom of thunder right over my head. In any context, the submission of an Alpha brought al