This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,93
the sour one. I consider the other women, all of varying ages, all with children. None of the children appear older than fourteen. None of the women appear to have mates with them.
I take a moment to assess their reactions, accepting the way they clear the corridor ahead of us, standing aside so we can pass.
When we reach the elevator, the shifters who were about to get into it also stand aside so we can walk right in. They don’t attempt to join us.
I let out my breath as the doors close.
“They’re not going to treat me as anything other than a threat,” I say, leaning against the back of the elevator as I turn to Iyana and Danika. “You could have walked out of here days ago, escaped from all this shit.”
“Not on your life,” Iyana says.
Danika smiles. “We’re here for you, Tessa.”
“This might sound stupid,” Iyana continues, “but we’re your pack now. Tristan says that anyone can be pack. Well, that’s us. We need each other.”
I shake my head at her, fighting the tears that fill my eyes. “You’re going to make my mascara run, aren’t you?”
“Making you smile is my favorite pastime, Tessa,” Iyana says.
We exit the elevator at the sixth floor and enter a conference room to find it nearly full already. I scan the crowd for the women I beat yesterday, finding them sitting together with Bridget at the back of the room. Only a couple of them glance my way. The others quickly look to Bridget, who fixes her focus on a spot at the front of the room.
Tristan stands at the far window, but he turns the moment I step into the room, a move that isn’t lost on the shifters. Iyana and Danika follow me closely as I stride to the front of the room, where Jace waits.
Jace has taken up a military pose. Like Bridget, his focus is firmly fixed anywhere but on me.
Tristan seems surprisingly relaxed, considering the growing friction in the room. He takes a moment to look me up and down, a smile growing on his face as he approaches me while Iyana and Danika stay with Jace at the side.
Leaning in, Tristan murmurs, “Now they really want to kill you.”
I arch back, tipping my head. “That’s why you’re smiling? That’s not a good thing.”
“Wait and see.”
His smile vanishes as he turns to the crowd, giving a low growl that hushes them. We wait in silence for the remaining families to enter and take their seats.
“This is going to be quick,” Tristan says, the corners of his mouth turning down as he levels his gaze on them all. “The rumors stop. Right fucking now.”
If the room was silent before, now it’s deathly quiet.
“Bridget broke the rules yesterday. She challenged Tessa without my permission. She’s lucky Tessa didn’t kill her. In fact, you’re all lucky to be alive.” Tristan’s voice rises. “I have rules for a fucking good reason. Your pack was nearly destroyed.”
He pauses, scanning them, before he announces. “Tessa and I have melded.”
Gasps and murmurs fill the crowd before they quickly fall silent again.
“Tessa Dean is now a lone alpha, allied to the Western Lowlands,” Tristan continues. “She’s here as my guest. She will fight beside us, protecting our border. You will treat her with the same respect that you would treat any visiting alpha. Do not challenge her. Do not look sideways at her. Do not displease her. Or I will kill you for dishonoring me. Do you understand?”
They’re all silent.
Tristan roars into the silence. “Do you fucking understand?”
His shout is like a trigger. The entire congregation breaks into a roar in the affirmative and, surprisingly, the tension breaks.
Tristan grins at them and they all grin back.
I’m not sure how his speech broke the friction, but the danger of conflict instantly disappears.
“Now,” Tristan says. “Let’s fight to live another fucking day. Get the fuck out of my sight.”
I return to Iyana and Danika and we wait while the shifters mill about and take their time leaving. I don’t want to get pulled into the crowd, so I stand clear of them all. The other females leave quickly, but I’m surprised when Bridget approaches us.
I glance at Tristan, who has remained at the center front of the room, to gauge his response to her approach. He seems calm but watches us closely.
She stops at a respectful distance away from me, her hands folded in front of her. “If you’re going out to the bridges, I’d like to