chapter 20

Tally bit her lip. Nerves sucked. But she didn’t know how to stop herself from showing them. Theron led her into a community of houses in a forested area. It was growing late in the day. The sun’s light had dimmed through the thick trees. She’d swear it was closer to nighttime than early evening.

“Theron...”

“Relax, darling. You shouldn’t be afraid,” he admonished.

“I’m not afraid.” She truly wasn’t. She was nervous. Meeting people had a bad effect on her. She tended to be sarcastic and a lot of times nerves made her babble. “I’m a little weirded out about meeting new people.”

“Don’t worry, love. We’ll both be here for you.”

Lovely. The fact both her men, which happened to be the leaders of this pack, were there as her babysitters didn’t really give her any warm fuzzies.

“Where’s Connor?” she asked just as they reached an open area where a large group gathered at the center. She stopped dead in her tracks.

There were a lot of glowing gold eyes staring at her. Instinct told her to move back. To get away from the danger, but something new and angry roared to life inside her. An emotion she’d never known she possessed spread wings and took hold of every one of her cells. Dominance.

She squared her shoulders and continued forward. No longer worried about what the people might think, now she worried about what Connor and Theron would think of her.

“Thank you all for coming tonight,” Connor greeted the large group. His voice was low, so she didn’t know how she could hear him so far away.

“We want to meet your new third,” a woman said. She was tall. Much taller and slimmer than Tally. With beautiful porcelain skin and rich auburn hair. The woman didn’t smile. She eyed Tally with open interest. “My name is Aura. What is yours?”

Tally opened her mouth but Theron answered for her. “Her name is Tally,” Theron said to Aura.

Another woman, circled by three others, moved forward. She had chocolate-brown skin and short curly hair. Almond-shaped eyes glared at Tally. “She doesn’t look to be Alpha mate material.”

Theron growled low. Tally almost got whiplash glancing to the side to see his partially shifted face and looming stance. “You have a problem with our choice of mate, Keya?”

The woman, Keya, continues to stare at Tally with hostility. Her eyes brightened with her animal. “Maybe. You know the rules, Theron.” Keya took a step forward. The other women hovered behind her. “She can be challenged.”

“Why would she be?” Theron growled. “She’s our choice. It is not up for debate.”

Tally’s insides burned with anger. She’d never been a people person, but Keya’s death-glares were making it hard for her to want to like her. Fury bubbled in her blood, growing heated and explosive with every word thrown back and forth between Theron and Keya. Her muscles burned. She blinked the group into focus, but it was hard. Her vision swam every few seconds. It was like having her pupils dilate and try to focus once again.

“She looks like a weakling,” Keya spat. She took another handful of steps until she stood in the center of the clearing. People moved back to give her space. The crowd was quiet.

Tally glanced at the spot where Connor stood. She cocked her head to make out what his features tried to tell her. Then, she heard it. A distant calling to her in her mind.

“What exactly do you want, Keya? You were not a choice for us at any point.” Theron’s voice sounded like it was coming from under water.

“I demand a challenge for the Alpha third spot. Now,” she said, her voice deep with her coming shift.

“Tally is not ready for a challenge,” Theron argued.

“Too bad. You are Alpha. You know our rules. She accepts or she leaves and her position is mine,” Keya said.

Theron growled next to Tally. She’d swear she could understand his growl which was absolute insanity.

Then she heard the calling in her brain again. She marched to the woman, ignoring Theron, and stopped in front of her.

“They don’t want you. Don’t you understand English?”

The shifter smirked and Tally’s new and unusual anger flew off the handle. She slapped the other woman hard. So fast she almost wouldn’t believe it had it not been for the shocked gasp that sounded around them.

“You are so dead.” Keya growled and swiped a shifting claw across Tally’s arm.

Fire spread across her shoulder and blood oozed down to her elbow.

“Enough!” Theron’s voice thundered.

“Let them fight, Theron,” Connor ordered. “You know our rules. We cannot break them for anyone. Especially our own mate. She will be fine.”

Tally almost smiled at the amount of conviction in Connor’s voice. She could hardly see one step ahead of her and her insides felt like they were going up in flames.

The burning in her limbs increased. Keya pushed her hard. She stumbled back and lost her footing. She twisted her body at the last second and landed on all fours.

“Look at her. How could you want her when she cannot even defend herself in her human body? Do you think she will survive my wolf?” Keya’s voice grew so rough it was impossible to make out her words. “We shall see now.”

Tally forgot all about Keya and her animal. She focused on the pain and spreading fire taking over her muscles.

“What is she doing?” someone asked.

“She’s in pain,” she heard Aura say. “She needs help. She is our new Alpha.”

“No interfering,” Connor commanded. “Tally will be fine.”

Tally wanted to yell at him to shut the fuck up and help her. If only she could figure out what was wrong. She’d lost control of her body. Muscles shook and burned. The sound of something breaking came from so close she worried Keya had attacked her and she was too far gone to notice. Of all the people, the last person she’d think would allow her to be in pain was Connor. That big jerk.