“She doesn’t want me to be your mate.”
“We’ll, I can understand that. I am the most eligible bachelor here on the wolf preserve.” He flashed a mischievous smile at me.
“Don’t flatter yourself. But seriously, she’s out to prevent me from being with you.”
“That’s silly. She can’t stop you from being with me.”
“She said”—I air quoted—“‘Not everyone survives the transition. There are ways to swing the odds either way.’”
“That’s impossible.” He shook his head and let out a sigh. “No one can mess with the transition.”
“Argue with me all you want. She claims she knows how. I’m just repeating what Ms. Diana told me right before she knocked me out.”
“And, I’m telling you that’s impossible, so don’t worry about it. She’s probably just trying to scare you. It’s up to fate to decide if you turn wolf or not.”
“Well, her slamming me onto the stone floor while my back was turned might have something to do with it. That’s a little more than trying to scare me.”
His jaw tightened. “I’ll have a talk with her.”
“You’ll have a talk with her?” That phrase just didn’t bear the weight it should have. “That’s your solution here? She just attacked me and instead of defending, you’re just going to have a friendly little chat?”
“Oh, it won’t be a friendly little chat. But she is pack. There are rules to dealing with these situations. I can’t punish her until I have all the facts.”
“How diplomatic.” I was beginning to be sick of the pack way of doing things. “Don’t bother. She’s just going to deny any involvement anyway.”
“Well, what do you want me to do? I won’t have someone threatening my mate.”
“You could have her euthanized.” I was only partly joking.
“Sorry, no. Our pack is too small; we need every wolf we’ve got. I could have her muzzled if you like.” He snuggled up next to me on the ground. “You want me to beat her with a rolled up newspaper?”
“I’d appreciate that, baby.” I giggled at the thought of her wearing a muzzle while Aiden stood over her saying “Bad dog.” His heart was definitely in the right place though it seemed the pack had his hands tied. “Really, I would, but this is my battle. I plan to take care of this myself.”
“You’re going to fight her for me?” He puffed his chest out a little.
“Don’t be cocky. I love you, baby, but this goes farther than that. She’s threatened my life. I’m going to put that bitch in her place.”
He nuzzled into my neck. “Do you know how sexy that sounds, Mrs. Alpha?”
“Yeah. But baby, my head is killing me. Can we take a rain check on that right now?”
“How long are you going to make me wait?” he purred in my ear.
“Just till the fire alarms stop blaring.”
“Oh, you poor thing.” He ran his fingers through my spiky hair.
“Don’t pity me. Let’s talk about my fur coat.”
“Wow, what a change. Yesterday you wouldn’t consider the idea, and today you’re practically begging for it.”
“I just want to get this over with.” And then I can take care of that meddling bitch. “What do we have to do, wait until the full moon?”
“No,” he chuckled. “The moon has no effect on the transformation. Our ancestors were pagans and used the moon for celebrations. We can do it anytime.”
I turned my head to look at him better. “Right now?”
“You’ll want to be at full strength before we do this. It’s not an easy process, and whether or not you transition is up to your body’s ability to heal.”
I cringed. The fear of death returned. It was really only a fifty-fifty shot, and injured as I was, I wondered if that really did have an effect on the odds. “What’s involved?”
“To start, you’ll need to eat the flesh of the Alpha.” He said it so matter-of-factly, as if it were nothing to perform an act of cannibalism.
I felt my breakfast rise to the back of my throat. “Eat … what?”
“Sorry, babe. That’s how the curse enters your blood. You have to ingest some of the wolf to become one.”
I swallowed back the bitter chunks in my throat. This whole idea just gets worse and worse the more I learn about it. But, gross as it sounded, I’d made the commitment, and I would go through with it.
“Then what?” I prayed there was nothing else icky I had to eat or drink. I wasn’t sure my stomach could handle it.
“Then comes the hard part.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Then … you get mangled.”