Semua Bab The Tyrant alpha: Bab 221 - Bab 230

“What’s wrong with me?” It’s a busted down, broken plea, and I’d never ask anyone else, but I can say anything to Kennedy. She would never judge me, and she will always be gentle with the truth.“Nothing,” she snaps without hesitation. “There’s something wrong with him. He’s a fucking asshole.”“I-I don’t want to f-force someone to be my mate if they don’t want to be.”Kennedy shakes her head. “That’s not how mates work. You get what you get, and if you don’t like it, there’s a way to go about it. You don’t just use someone so you don’t go into rut and then throw them away afterwards like trash. Males in this pack—” Her nostrils flare. “They get away with everything.”They do.They suck the marrow from their chicken bones and toss them on the floor when the bucket we set out is right in front of them. They mount whoever’s willing, and then they continue about their business like it never happened, except to laugh their heads off when the females end up fighting over them in the middle

Darragh’s wolf seriously wanted me dead. If Kennedy had been seconds slower—I shudder, and then I can’t stop. I shake so badly that I couldn’t unbend my legs to stand even if I could get them to follow my directions.Una smooths my tangled curls and hums under her breath. “It’s over now, Mari. You’re safe.”No, I’m not. What if Darragh’s wolf hunts us down? What if he’s out there now, waiting for his chance to finish me off?“We need to get in the house,” I mumble, and despite the shivers convulsing my body, I force myself to roll onto my hands and knees. Pain stabs my side. I grab the railing while Kennedy wedges her shoulder under my armpit, and I haul myself upright. I’m so focused on getting inside that I don’t notice the new arrival until Annie gasps.Did she materialize out of thin air? One minute the path was empty, and the next, Abertha is there, a patchwork bag slung over her shoulder, palms raised like she means no harm.“I heard you met an animal in the woods,” she says. “

Darragh’s throat bobs. “Abertha says you’re okay.”She left here and went to him. They talked about me. He talked to her. The cold black pit inside me yawns wider.“Are you okay?” he asks.The wound in my side is hot, and I guess it hurts, but I don’t even register it as pain. I can’t feel anymore. I won’t.“You’re safe. He can’t—I won’t let him near you. I swear.” His voice is gritty and raw, his face bloodied, his golden eyes wild and tortured, and I don’t care. The black pit is overflowing like floodwater, like a thick fog, numbing everything.A very calm and clear voice lists out facts in my head. He sent Abertha to you. He didn’t come himself. Then, he talked to her about what his wolf did, and he got into a fight, and hours later, he comes to stand outside your house to tell you that Abertha says you’re okay.He is not your mate.The black spreads until it doesn’t exist inside me anymore. It is my insides. This is reality. I don’t have a mate.And yet, still, without conscious i

“Okay.” I stand there with my hand open, and he’s right there, so close I notice the button missing on his flannel and the frayed collar of the undershirt beneath it. The nick on his neck where he evened his beard. The way he’s holding himself so stiff and still, and how he’s so much bigger than me, than most of the males in the pack, and how that makes me feel small and intimidated and mad and confused.How his wolf is totally silent in his chest.“I don’t know why you needed to tell me. You could have told Kennedy,” I mutter, head bent, staring at the concrete patio because it’s too much, trying to read a face that gives nothing away, avoiding eyes that have seen me like no one else ever has.For a moment, I think he won’t answer, that I’ll have to take the sack from him and turn my back on him and go back inside. Which I can do. I’m not scared of Darragh Ryan.“I’ll have elk next week,” he says.“I don’t need it. Just give it to Old Noreen.”“If not elk, definitely venison.”My wai

That’s why Kennedy and I decided to keep it to ourselves when we first sat down and made a list of all the males we know from other packs. We itemized their pros and cons and had pragmatic discussions about whether being a rich asshole from Moon Pack is disqualifying for reasons of rank solidarity, and if North Border is too far to go for a one-night stand.There was no clear good choice, and we were getting ready to settle for a dude drawn at random, when Lenox landed in our lap.It was karma. There was this guy that Kennedy played online with, and he just talked like a shifter. I played the game for a few weeks while we were trying to figure out how to smoke him out. Since the coup, nothing interesting has happened, so deducing that “flowb4bros” was one of us was a big thrill. Eventually, Kennedy worked up the courage to ask him point blank what pack he’s from, and he said Salt Mountain.And then he asked for my number. He texted me immediately, and we’ve been talking every day sinc