“I do,” I confirm, looking towards the door. I know war will come with my words—that Alpha Ramos and Marilyn will begin marching down here as soon as possible to kill Amelia, Kaylee, and Lucas. As guilty as I feel about this, I must consider my freedom.
“As you suspected, Lucas and Kaylee are here, and it seems like they’ve mended their bond,” I continue, getting a dark chuckle from the man on the other line—a chuckle that sends shivers down my spine and fear rocketing through me.
“But there’s more,” I add before the pain of the Blood Pact can affect me. “Your sister, Amelia Cross, is the alpha, and Kaylee is her beta.”
A sudden sense of weightlessness fills me with the words, and the shackles of the Blood Pact are gone. I take a deep breath, shocked and elated. I’m free.
“I see,” Alpha Ramos states. “Come back here immediately so we can discuss the next steps of the plan,” he orders, his voice filled with the power of an alpha command—a command that slides right off me. I find myself laughing.
“What’s so funny, Devon?” Alpha Ramos asks, anger growing with each word he spits.
“The Blood Pact has been fulfilled. You no longer own me,” I respond with glee. “You can go fuck yourself, Ramos. I’m a rogue, free to choose what I do now.”
“Devon, you bas—” I hang up on Ramos’ curse, my smile growing wider.
I’m a free man now—a man who can leave Ivory Fangs and find a life for himself.
23
Ramos
“That fucking bastard!” I snarl, throwing my phone against the wall. Anger fills me as I think about how Devon, a trusted warrior, betrayed me—just because a Blood Pact was fulfilled. That snake had used this opportunity to escape Oak Fur right from under my nose.
“Darling?”
The door to my office opens, and Marilyn comes rushing in, her appearance settling me slightly as I look at the slight bump growing on her stomach. I take a deep breath, breathing in her scent and calming further. As angry as I am with that bastard Devon, I cannot take my anger out on my pregnant soon-to-be-mate.
“I heard you snarling. Are you okay?” she asks, coming to my side and pressing her hand to my cheek. I reach out, wrapping an arm around her waist, and pull Marilyn towards me.
“I just received both good and bad news,” I answer, a growl slipping through my lips. “It seems my elder sister went and became an alpha, and that bitch of a she-wolf Kaylee is her beta.”
My words become snarls as the anger at this news rises inside me once again. My sister, the firstborn of our parents, had always been my mother’s favorite. She was raised to be an alpha’s mate one day and taught how to run a pack. Oak Fur would have been hers and David’s if I hadn’t been born, and my mother had made sure I knew this fact from the moment my father started training me as his heir.
Growing up, Amelia was the one the pack went to for everything until I was made alpha. That’s when I finally had the power to keep her under my control, as my sister hadn’t found her mate by then. I had her under strict surveillance, punishing her and any wolf that went to her with concerns while I led Oak Fur. I even had her whipped until she was a breath away from death when she overstepped her boundaries and argued with me about going to war with a smaller pack.
Then she met David, and everything changed. She still fought me on how to run our family pack, but I could no longer torture her the way I had in the past. David made sure I learned my lesson the one and only time he caught me bending Amelia to my will with an alpha command.
Knowing that Amelia is the thorn in my side that kept that wretched pack Silver Paw from being destroyed—and had even turned it into a strong pack since—infuriates me. And Kaylee,that little whore, should have been killed over a year ago. Yet here she is with my son, playing happy family under my sister’s guidance. If I don’t kill them, then Oak Fur is at risk of falling into Lucas’ hands sooner or later, and I cannot allow that waste of space son of mine to take what I built, what I deserve.
“Does that mean Lucas is there too?” Marilyn asks, pressing closer to me and clinging to my dress shirt. For a moment, my anger subsides as I look at the helpless she-wolf in my arms. She’s so delicate and fragile right now, and my sister and her kin now pose a threat to her and my pup.
“Everyone is there,” I practically shout in frustration, guilt creeping in when Marilyn flinches. “Lucas, Kurt, David, and Simon are all there, but that’s all Devon told me before he told me to go fuck myself.”
“So what do we do now?” She asks, her body shaking as she buries her face into my neck. My poor Marilyn shouldn’t be enduring the stress this situation seems to be causing.
“We, my dear, will do nothing,” I say, running my hand up and down her back. “Iwill prepare the men for war while you prepare for our pup, and to be marked,” I continue. Marilyn pulls away from me for a moment, a look of shock on her face as she stares into my eyes.
“What do you mean by preparing to be marked?” Her voice wavers, and I smirk.
“My pack needs a Luna, and since you are carrying my pup, I’ll be initiating you as the pack Luna tomorrow night during the full moon.”
Watching her eyes widen and her perky mouth part at my words, I find my anger dissipating as lust takes over. Goddess, Marilyn is so tempting. It’s been so long since I fucked that tight cunt of hers.
“But what about the pup?” she asks, her hands moving to cradle her growing baby bump.
“The doctor already confirmed that we can perform the mating ritual. Marking you will help our pup grow stronger inside you,” I inform Marilyn.
A few days ago, I discussed mating Marilyn with the pack doctor. I was told that if the pup were mine, mating her would not harm the pup in the slightest. Not only that but marking the mother of my pup would also strengthen me further. With a war to prepare for, I could use the boost in strength.
