I thought that was what made me an Alpha female.
But my wolf tells me now that it’s never been about my inquisitive spirit. I’ve questioned everything all my life because I don’t belong here.
The wolves start to chant, causing the fur along my back to stand on end.
They want Canton’s decision.
They want vengeance.
They want blood.
Because they blame me for existing. And my father’s expression tells me he blames me, too.
He’s not my father, I think.
Yet he raised me. Loved me. Groomed me for this position today. And now he’s disowning me before the pack.
I don’t hear the words, my heart beating too fast in my ears for whatever he’s saying to register in my mind. But disapproval and hatred radiate from his stiff form.
He kicks my mother again.
She’s not even awake or moving, the asshole taking advantage of her prone form.
He picks her up and tosses her to Alpha Crane’s feet.
My wolf growls again, furious at the site of a male treating his mate with such disrespect.
Alpha Crane nods at two of his men. They prowl forward with hungry eyes, picking up my mother’s lifeless form and dragging her toward the trees.
My wolf steps forward, the hair standing on end.
But a growl from Alpha Crane holds me captive, confusing my senses.
Not my Alpha, my wolf thinks.
Yet my paws are frozen to the earth.
I don’t understand this power, it doesn’t feel right. My wolf wants to fight it, to claw her way out of his hold and destroy everyone in her path.
Alpha Bryson adds his own growl, forcing my legs to buckle beneath me, bringing me down to the earth. “She’s going feral,” I hear one of them say. “She’s useless to us.”
A conversation follows, something about my mother paying for her sins.
“Send her to Carnage Island,” someone suggests, the words sending a blade of ice down my spine. “Let those animals rip her apart.”
No, I want to say. No, please don’t.
But my wolf won’t let me shift back into human form.
Maybe because I don’t actually know how to do it.
My mate is supposed to teach me that. Yet he’s standing next to his father with his back to me, treating me like I’m nothing. Like I didn’t just spend the last six months going through the mating trials with him.
None of this makes any sense.
I should be frolicking in the trees right now, basking in the scents of the earth, and— An agonized scream reaches my ears, causing my wolf to perk up.
Mom…
Chuckles follow.
Hungry growls, too.
My father does nothing, his face expressionless, as my mother pleads for them to stop. I can’t see them, but I can hear them. I can smell what they’re doing.
They call her a whore.
They call her worthless.
They tell her she’s going to die on her back.
My wolf growls low, the urge to move clawing at my instincts and shattering the hold around my paws.
In the next moment, I’m sprinting across the earth toward my mother’s screams.
She’s crying.
I’m coming.
She’s in pain.
I’ll save you.
She’s terrified.
I’m almost—
A larger wolf tackles me to the ground, the fierce snarl one that I recognize. Canton. He has me pinned to the earth beneath his much larger body, his jaws on my throat.
My wolf doesn’t accept his dominance, fighting beneath him with all the fury and terror inside me, trying to free herself from his weight.
It’s useless.
I can barely breathe beneath him, his canines in my throat and piercing skin.
He’s going to rip my head off, I realize, panicking. He’s going to kill me!
My spirit renews my fight, turning from anger to an outright need to survive.
But he won’t move.
He’s too big.
He’s too strong.
And I’ve only just met my wolf. I can’t control her at all.
A whimper escapes me, my eyes locking on those vibrant blue ones, so familiar in his wolfish features.
My mother’s screams begin to fade.
The world is darkening.
My life… is over.
I try one last time to swipe my paw at Canton, but it’s too late. My limbs no longer work, my body fully subdued beneath his growling form.
This is my end.
A nightmarish reality.
A cruel fate.
The last sound I hear is my mother calling my name. “Aspen…”
And the world goes black.
3
VOLT
I fucking hate wearing suits. They’re claustrophobic and suffocate my wolf. And the damn ties make me want to choke something.
Not my own neck.
Someone else’s neck.
Like the human sitting across from me.
Fortunately, he’s useful.
Unfortunately, he’s the reason I’m in the suit.
I wait patiently as he counts the cash in front of me, showing me the bonus he’s giving me for a job well done.
He gave me a mark. I carried out the assignment without any inquiries or assistance required. And now I’m being paid for it.
“You military-types are unnervingly silent,” he says.
I don’t reply. He assumes I’m military because I’m good at what I do. I don’t bother correcting him because I don’t need to explain myself. I’m a freelance assassin. The suit is just my version of a mask.
If he saw the claws beneath, there would be questions.
And I really fucking hate questions.
This guy has several on his mind. I can see them in his dark eyes. But he’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut, instead thanking me with cash.
He slides the final payment across the oak desk. “Send my best to your brother.”
I nearly snort as I slip the thick envelope into my jacket pocket. Tieran isn’t my brother. He’s blond with blue eyes and about two inches shorter than my six-foot-five frame. But sure, we look exactly alike, what with my dark hair, matching eyes, and inked arms.
Standing, I dismiss myself without a word.
If this jackass needs another hit, he knows who to call.
My brother.
This time I do snort.
Tieran will fucking love that.
Caius looks more like me than fucking Tieran.
Not that the human knows Caius. His specialty in this world is making deals and putting people in debt. Specifically, our debt.
I’m the assassin.