CHAPTER 002

ODESSA:

I'm pacing in my bedroom when I hear the shouting start downstairs. Damon has been back barely six hours and the pack has already been turned upside down.

At first I try to ignore it because I don't have the energy to deal with pack politics right now, I'm still reeling from the day's events, but then I hear Damon's voice rise louder over the others and my hands ball into fists.

How dare he come out of nowhere, after being gone for years and immediately start acting like he owns the place.

I move closer to the door and crack it open slightly so I can hear what they're saying better. Their voices are coming from outside, probably on the front lawn where the elders usually hold important discussions.

I can make out Elder Thomas's voice and Elder Margaret's, and they're both arguing with Damon about something but I can't quite hear what they're saying over each other.

"This is not how we do things," Elder Thomas says loudly, his voice strained, he sounds exhausted and I don't blame him.

"Then maybe it's time things changed," Damon responds, and even from up here I can hear the arrogance dripping from his words.

I roll my eyes.

What an asshole, he disappears for years and returns conveniently now that his brother's body is barely cold in his grave.

"You cannot just waltz back in here after five years and expect us to…”

"I expect you to follow pack law," Damon cuts him off. "Or are you suggesting we abandon our traditions entirely?"

There's a pause and I press my ear closer to the crack in the door, holding my breath.

"The law is clear," Elder Margaret says, and she sounds tired. "The eldest Alcide heir has the right to claim the alpha position in the absence of a successor."

"Kade had no children," another elder adds, and the reminder feels like a knife twisting in my chest because we were going to start trying next month, we had talked about it just days before he died.

"Then it's settled," Damon says firmly.

"No," Elder Thomas argues. "We should put it to a pack vote. Let the people decide who they want to lead them."

"And risk tearing the pack apart?" Damon's voice is cold. "We need stability, not democracy. The Silverfangs are still a threat and without a strong alpha, they'll attack again."

He's not wrong about that and I hate that he's not wrong about that.

"I don't like this," Elder Margaret mutters.

"You don't have to like it," Damon replies. "You just have to accept it."

There's another long pause and my heart is racing because I know what's coming, I can feel it.

"Fine," Elder Thomas finally says, and the word makes my blood run cold. "By the authority granted to me as Head Elder, I recognize Damon Alcide as the alpha of the Alcide pack."

No.

No, no, no.

I'm moving before I can think, throwing open my bedroom door and racing down the stairs so fast I almost trip. My feet hit the hardwood floor hard as I run through the hallway and burst through the front door onto the lawn where they're all standing in a circle under the full moon.

"No!" I shout, and everyone turns to look at me.

Damon stands in the center with his arms crossed, looking completely unbothered by my interruption.

The elders are arranged around him, and they all have various expressions of surprise and concern on their faces. Elder Thomas looks particularly uncomfortable, like he knew I was going to react badly to this.

"Odessa," he starts, holding up his hands. "Please, let's discuss this calmly—"

"Calmly?" I laugh but there's no humor in it. "You just handed over Kade's pack to the brother who betrayed him and you want me to be calm about it?"

"I didn't betray anyone," Damon says coolly. "I challenged him for the position, as is my right. He won and I left. That's how our laws work."

"You abandoned him!" I'm shaking with anger now, my wolf pushing at the surface. "You left when he needed you most and now you think you can just come back and take everything he built?"

"He's dead," Damon states bluntly, and the words hit me like a physical blow. "Someone has to lead this pack."

"Not you," I spit out. "Anyone but you."

"Unfortunately for you, pack law disagrees." He takes a step toward me, and I hold my ground even though every instinct is telling me to back away from the dominant energy radiating off him. "You're the Luna. You know how this works."

"I know that you're a coward who ran away five years ago and now you're back because you see an opportunity," I say, my voice shaking. "Kade was worth ten of you."

Something flickers in Damon's eyes but it's gone before I can identify what it was.

"Be that as it may, I'm your alpha now," he says.

"No." I shake my head violently. "I will never accept you as my alpha. I would rather die than watch my mate's betrayer brother take his place."

The words hang in the air between us and for a moment nobody moves or speaks.

Damon stares at me with those dark, unreadable eyes and I glare right back at him, refusing to submit. And then it happens. Something clicks into place in my chest, right where the mate bond with Kade used to be.

It's like a puzzle piece sliding into position, a connection forming where there shouldn't be one. My eyes widen in horror as I feel it, this betrayal of everything I love.

Damon's expression shifts and I know he feels it too because his jaw clenches and his hands curl into fists at his sides.

No.

The Goddess wouldn't do this to me.

She couldn't.

But under the full moon's bright light, as my dead mate's brother stares at me with shock written across his face, I feel the unmistakable pull of a mate bond forming between us.