voice is hardly more than a breath, and I feel a rush of shame at how terrified and tearful I sound. “I don’t want any trouble. I’m leaving. I just want to go.”
He sneers. “Yeah? Tell that to your executioners.”
Without another word, Lawson literally drags me through the village by my arm as my legs scrape uselessly against the ground. Thank God the roads aren’t concrete, and only dust and gravel grates on my bare skin, but the pain still brings tears to my eyes. He’s moving too fast for me to get my feet beneath me, and my heart beats wildly in my chest as I struggle against his hold.
By the time we reach a metal barn on the outskirts of the village, I’m sobbing. His grip has made my arm numb, and I’m almost certain he’s wrenched it hard enough to pull muscles and ligaments. I’m wishing I never left Ridge’s house, that I’d been smart enough to stay put and keep out of sight.
If Lawson has his way, I’ll be lynched on sight.
He slams open the door to the barn with more force than necessary, and I yank against his hold in a last-ditch, desperate effort to get away. His other hand sinks into my hair and he grabs a handful, dragging me by the roots into a large open space rimmed by astonished faces.
We reach the central area, and Lawson throws me onto the concrete floor. I slam into the ground, barely keeping my head from making contact with the concrete as a hoarse cry falls from my lips.
The room is silent. Dozens of faces stare at me, just as surprised at my arrival as I am.
Shifters, I realize with another wave of terror. I’m surrounded by shifters.
Nobody moves, nobody even seems to breathe, and all I can hear is the rushing in my ears and the unnatural pounding in my chest.
Today is the day I die. After everything Uncle Clint did to me, I never thought it would end like this.
10
Trystan
These council meetings are a waste of my goddamned time.
But I come to them because that’s what I’m supposed to do. The alpha plays nice with the other packs. The alpha builds bridges and shakes hands and kisses rancid ass to ensure cooperation between them and us. Inter-pack cooperation and all that stupid bullshit.
That doesn’t mean I have to like it.
I hate this drafty barn the North Pack has built out of recycled materials and spit, and I especially hate listening to fucking Ridge Harcourt droning on about trespassers on their land, or Archer from the East Pack talking about his sick father.
Their problems are real, and they have my sympathies—but their problems aren’t my problems. My pack is doing fine. We’re handling the witch threat, beefing up our own security, and not for the first time, I’m spending every boring second of this meeting wondering what the fuck I’m doing here.
The West Pack has never been stronger. My pack hasn’t lost a wolf yet, and those goddamned witches haven’t trampled the slightest blade of grass on our lands. These two are the ones who can’t protect their packs. I’d rather be back home taking care of my people than standing here watching Ridge’s expressionless face drone on about recently lit campfires near the boundary.
So I’m catatonic as if I’ve been drugged, holding up the wall as if it’s my mission in life and trying desperately not to fall asleep.
One of my advisors elbows me every time I nod off, and irritation burns in my chest every time he does, but he’s got a point. I need to play nice unless I want to make enemies of the other packs. I may be a cocky asshole—hell, I’d be the first to admit that’s exactly what I am—but I take the protection of my people seriously. And maintaining good relations is part of that, as boring as it may be.
But my boredom is quickly shoved away when the door bursts open, slamming into the wall so hard the whole rickety shack quivers.
Lawson appears in the doorway, all bulk and no brains with a shadowy figure dangling from his hand.
The edges of my lips curl up, and I fight the inherent urge to snarl at the North Pack alpha’s younger brother. Lawson is as cocky as I am, but he’s got no fucking class, the kind of giant tornado that can do damage to a city but can’t wipe his own ass.
Even my people know he’s been