Rabid (Kingdom of Wolves #6) - Ivy Asher Page 0,63

as if he knows what I’m thinking, and I glower at him to keep the blush from my cheeks. “Come on, the alpha has called a meeting,” he declares before grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him. His deceptively soft shirt hangs mid-thigh, and the blood from my bite is already dotting the fabric.

I’m dragged behind him as we pass the back of cabins with gardens and playhouses for pups. It’s all so quaint and normal looking and doesn’t fit at all with the image I’ve always had of the Ruin Falls pack. I try to dig my heels in and stop his forward momentum, but he’s too strong. Even with my wolf’s help, I don’t stand a chance. Nerves and worry flash through me as it looks as though this male is aiming for the front of the pack like he’s eager for a good seat, or maybe to turn me in.

I’m glad to be covered, but not stoked about the fact that I’m bleeding, especially not right now when I’ll be seeing the alpha for the first time. I know he’s ruthless and formidable, as savage as they come. The last thing I want when the alpha sees me for the first time is to be bleeding like I’m prey he should take interest in.

I’m tugged to a stop just as we reach the front of the pack, and I almost let out an anxious sigh but stop myself. I don’t know what’s going on or what my place in all of it is, but as I look around me, I don’t see any worry or tension in the faces or body language of the surrounding wolves. Next to me, the infuriating male who was just playing my body like his favorite game drops my hand. I’m both relieved by it and equally annoyed, which just serves to anger me even more at the divide happening inside of me.

I keep my eyes diverted from him, focusing instead on the front of the pack house we’re all gathered around. It’s elevated slightly, a deck and wood balcony positioned perfectly for the alpha to stand above the gathered wolves in a position of power, making whatever decrees he sees fit.

Everyone seems to quiet just before the pack house door opens, and out walks a large man with blond hair and brown eyes. He strides confidently down the flight of stairs that leads from the front door to the deck. He’s younger than I thought he’d be, and his face is kinder than I expected. As feral and vicious as this pack’s reputation has grown to be, it’s only been that way since this new alpha took power about ten years ago.

Alpha Tyran was young when he bested this pack’s former alpha, which marked the beginning of his legendary notoriety. It didn’t take him long to become the most feared and despised alpha in power, and that’s saying a lot when so many packs are led by wolves like Burke and worse.

The blond male grows more and more somber as he closes the distance, and even though I do get a sense of power radiating off of him, it’s nowhere near what I thought it would be, given his renown. Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone start to climb the stairs that lead up to the deck. I pull my eyes from the alpha and look over to see that it’s my male, his coppery brown eyes fixed on the blond guy as they both reach the deck landing at the same time.

I look to my right as though I expect the male who was just standing next to me to still be there. Sure enough though, I’ve been abandoned once again, because he’s standing up there with Tyran.

Heat fills my face as I realize he must be a high standing beta. Worry fills me that he’s up there to announce our mating, and apprehension moves through me at the thought of the whole pack’s eyes turning to take me in. I’m a mess. I’m also still divided on how I feel about all of this, and I don’t know what happens to me if that’s written all over my face when he announces it. I shift my weight anxiously. For fuck’s sake, I still have his dried cum on my thigh.

I look up as the two males nod at one another, and then the blond moves to the side as my male steps forward. His