He didn’t try to avoid my gaze. Didn’t challenge it, didn’t shrink from the fact he just told me he followed Rowen’s order instead of mine. He just stood there, calmer than the damn mountains above us.
“You take orders from my betas or me,” I said, as calmly as possible. “No one else.”
“Not yourmate?” It was the sneering Hollow shifter who spoke, and I knew I would pay for this later when she found out.
“I am the alpha of this pack.” My voice was firm, not hard, not loud, not angry. Firm. “Since the attack on Blueridge Hollow a few weeks ago, security of the pack is of the utmost importance.” I looked at each one of the shifters in front of me. “Unless Brand, Killian, or I tell you otherwise, the order you receive in the morning for patrol dutystaysas it was. If you are told it has changed, you askme.” I met their gazes one by one. “Each of you has accepted me as your alpha. Whether you approve of me or not”—I made myself not look at Cale—“you have accepted me. So you don’t need to physically come and find me to confirm a change in your patrol route. Do you?”
“I’m never sure if you can hear me,” the young male admitted timidly.
Why the fuck is he on patrol?I demanded of Brand and Killian.He’s likely to jump at his own shadow.
We need everyone, Brand reminded me.This territory is larger than you think.
“You are wary of the mindlink?” I asked the youth.Then let me try it.He looked surprised and then looked to his companions.It’s only you and I that can hear, I reminded him.Say something.
You’re very loud.
I didn’t hide my grin quickly enough, and his cheeks reddened in response.I’m too loud?I asked, making the conscious effort to lower the level of my thoughts, which I’d never had to do before.
That’s better.He actually looked relieved.
“When you want to ask me about patrol changes that haven’t come from me, then you ask.” I looked each of them over once. “Understood?”
“We didn’t change patrol,” the one who sneered a lot spat. “Wedid as you ordered.”
“And I wasn’t only talking to you,” I reminded him sharply. “Doyouunderstand, Cale?”
“I do,” he agreed. “But you told us when we came here that she was your mate and a leader of this pack… Are you now saying she isn’t?”
Thisis why I disliked him so much. It wasn’t that he asked the difficult questions; it was just that it washimasking the questions.
“I’ll speak to Rowen about this.”
Smooth, Killian snickered in my head.Perfectly dodging the question asked.
Cale lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. “She changed the route, and she wasn’t wrong, caught the tail end of them.” He gestured to the gash at his neck. “I guess someone has to keep these Hollow shifters alive.”
“But he isn’t alive, is he?” I pointed to the dead shifter not far from us. “So who exactly do you think yousavedtonight?” I stepped closer. The scent of blood and pine clung to him, thick and sharp. “I asked you a question.”
“We chased them away from here, and we lost one, but how many did we save by chasing them away?”
“Watch your tone.”
“I am,” he said, looking past me to my betas as if seeking confirmation that he hadn’t done anything wrong. “Are you?”
The anger in me flared—quick and hot, like the edge of a shift. I tamped it down before it broke the surface, and I turned away instead and faced my betas.
“Brand. Burn the remains. Scout the perimeter. I want a full report by dawn.” My beta bobbed his head at the command. I spoke over my shoulder to the others. “Everyone else, go home.”
The others moved fast. Too fast.
Cale stayed behind. I could feel him behind me, and Killian moved slightly so he was in my direct vision. Once more, I saw the subtle warning in my second.
“You’re bleeding,” I said to Cale without turning.
“This whole pack is bleeding,” he said.
There was no comeback to that. I walked away before I did something I’d regret. Or worse—something I wouldn’t.
