“I won’t lose,” he said. “I never have before, and I don’t plan to when I fight tomorrow night either. Tanner might be big, but I’ve helped train him. I know his weak spots.”
“Then he knows yours too." The worry didn’t leave the pit of my stomach, mixing up with the guilt. I swallowed, trying to tamp it all down.
“I don’t have any weak spots,” Kaden said, and that made me roll my eyes. Sure, other than an alpha's pride.
Another thought was twisting my stomach in knots. “Did you mean it?”
“Hmm?” Kaden’s arms tightened around me, and I tilted my head back so I could see his face.
“That I’m the new alpha female.”
"Of course." He touched my neck, in the spot where the mark branded me. "What did you think this meant?"
"I didn't think it through, I guess." I bit my lip. "I'm not exactly alpha female material, after all."
Kaden kissed my forehead. "You are. I wouldn't have chosen you otherwise."
I shook my head. I was grateful for Kaden's belief in me, but all my life I'd been an outcast. Even once I joined the Ophiuchus pack I was the newbie, and now it seemed half the people in the pack hated me. Maybe more than half. How could I possibly lead them as their alpha?
Then again, if Tanner had his way, he would be alpha tomorrow, and I wouldn't have to worry about any of this. Unfortunately, for that to happen Kaden would have to lose. I'd likely be cast out, since it was clear they didn't want me here. Which meant in twenty-four hours, I could be packless again. Worse, Kaden could be dead.
He had better not lose.
When I woke the next morning, Kaden was already gone. In fact, the cabin was completely empty. He and Stella must be out there talking to pack members. As I poured myself some coffee, I wondered if I should go out there to do the same, or if my presence would only make things worse. If I was a true alpha female, I'd be out there among my people, or beside my alpha...but I wasn't. No one would respect me if I tried to act that way either. I was still too new, and I hadn't even been born into this pack. Why would they ever accept me as their alpha female?
They wouldn't. Especially right now, when they blamed me for what happened with the Leos. I understood their feelings because I felt the same way. Even now, I was putting them at risk by being here. Shit, maybe I should leave. Maybe that would make Kaden's life easier, along with everyone else in the pack. All I wanted was for them to be safe.
I was halfway ready to pack my bags when someone knocked on the door. I tensed, but then I made myself get up and open it. Clayton stood on the other side, and he wrapped me in a big bear hug when he saw me.
"Glad you're back." He let me go with a grim look on his face. "I heard what happened last night. I would have put a stop to it before this went so far, but I was hunting in the woods when it all went down."
I gestured for him to come inside, and then went to pour him some coffee. "It was definitely not the welcome we hoped for when we arrived."
Clayton accepted the coffee with a nod. "It's bullshit. Tanner has gone too far this time."
"I thought he and I were friends. Or at least, I didn't realize he hated me so much."
"He doesn't hate you. Or Kaden, for that matter. But he's always been skeptical of the plan to go up against the Leos. He thought we would be safer if we stayed hidden as a pack and didn't get involved with the other Zodiac Wolves. Then his older brother was killed when the Leos attacked Coronis, and he needed to find someone to blame. I'm sorry to say that with you gone, it was easy for him to point to you as the enemy. Especially since you left with the Leos. That didn't look good."
"I only did that to protect the pack," I said with a sigh.
"I know that, but Tanner didn't believe it, and many others felt the same. There has always been a small group of people who opposed Kaden's plan to try to rejoin the Zodiac Wolves, but after the Leo attack, that group has grown larger and more vocal. Especially with Tanner as their spokesman."
I sipped my coffee as I considered. "Would it be better if I left?"
"No," Clayton said, his voice adamant. "I know it seems like the entire pack is against you, but I promise, there are lots of us who support Kaden—and you. People are just scared right now. They lost their homes, and some of them lost family members too, and they're not sure what's going to happen next."
I slumped down on the couch. "Kaden and I have been trying to form alliances with some of the other packs. At this point, I fear there's no way we can stay out of the fight with the Leos and the Sun Witches. They want to take over all the other packs—including ours. If Tanner becomes alpha..." I swallowed hard at the implications.
"He won't," Clayton said.
Another knock sounded on my door, and when I got up to answer it, I found Harper outside, along with Jack and Dane. They had a box of donuts with them.
"We came here to show our support," Harper said, pushing her way inside without an invite. "We brought food too, cause we figured you were probably starving."
"Thank you," I said as I took the box, my eyes filling with grateful tears. I knew they'd been friends with Tanner, so it meant a lot that they'd chosen to come here and publicly show they were on our side.
Dane followed Harper inside, though he stopped to rest his hands on my shoulders and give me a firm nod. I wondered why he never spoke, but it didn't really matter—I accepted him as he was, just as he accepted me. I owed him a debt too since he'd shown the truth to Kaden about why I'd left with the Leos.
Jack rested a hand on my shoulder next and gave me one of his charming smiles. "Don't worry. This will all blow over soon. And even though Tanner is one of the pack's best warriors, no one is better than Kaden."
I blew out a long breath. "I hope you're right."
Everyone settled around the couch, and we all ate donuts and drank coffee, catching up on things that had happened over the last few weeks. Harper told me all about how they'd taken down the Leos stationed with the Pisces pack, and I told them about how we'd found the Cancer pack, along with my brother. Grant, Clayton's mate, showed up at some point and joined us too, eating the last of the donuts.
I glanced around the table at my friends, my heart warming despite my fear over what would happen tonight. Maybe I wasn't a total outcast in this pack after all—and my place here was worth fighting for.
Chapter Twenty-Four