Rabid (Kingdom of Wolves #6) - Ivy Asher Page 0,65
pack nods almost in unison. “May it be a good reminder for everyone that your alpha does not tolerate disobedience or selfish acts that could put the pack in jeopardy.”
Without another word, he turns and walks into the large house with the blond male, door slamming shut behind them. And I...I just stand there, gaping, blinking, a hundred thoughts swarming in my mind. But one blares louder than the other. He didn’t announce me. He didn’t announce that my escaping the shed and running in the hunt has resulted in him claiming me. And for some reason, that bothers me. Much more than it should. Yet when I look around, I find every single pack member is still standing in place, staring at me, and my wolf and I bristle.
A nervous lump gets stuck in my throat, but I meet their gazes head-on. Tipping up my chin, I pretend I’m not covered in dirt with their alpha’s teeth marks in my shoulders or his release caking my thighs. I pretend I’m not completely clueless about pretty much everything when it comes to this pack or what the hell is going on.
The rankling fact of the matter though is that Tyran has left me to flounder. The prick bit me not once but twice, ensuring that my blood tainted the air during this announcement, making his scent mingle with mine more than it already is, and has essentially just left me to be fed on by his wolves. I’m no better than the meat roasting on spits over the spread out fires. Will someone do to me what I did to their food earlier? Swipe me away and gobble me down?
“Problem?” I ask testily, my gaze swinging from left to right. It might seem a little bit like poking the beast, but I’m not left with another alternative. If I drop my gaze and tuck tail, I have no doubt this pack will pick their teeth with me. No, I need to make each and every one of them think that I’m the biggest, baddest bitch they’ve ever seen.
Tense seconds tick by without anyone saying a damn thing. My muscles are stiff, my wolf so near the surface that I’m itchy all over, dying to scratch the fur right out of my skin. The next pass of my gaze snags on Warrik, and I’m stunned at the level of resentment I see reflected back in his golden eyes, as if he blames me.
The entire pack looks between us, a level of excited anticipation staining the air, and then Warrik spits on the ground and cuts through the crowd, walking in the opposite direction. As if his movement acted as the catalyst, everyone else begins to disperse too, and I’m finally able to let out the breath I was holding.
That is, until I hear Presley’s voice behind me. “Did you hear him? Alpha is pissed that she got loose and that his wolf claimed her. I don’t blame him, though. I mean, look at her. Did you see her eyes? Her wolf is bent as fuck. It’s only a matter of time before she goes completely rabid.”
I whirl around, catching the tail end of her biting comments. She and three other females are staring at me over their shoulders, their eyes dripping with disdain. Presley shoots me a look of contempt before turning back around, her words getting swallowed up with distance and the rest of the pack’s mingling voices and sounds. My hands curl into fists, my nail beds aching with the press of sharp claws just threatening to break through.
But I can’t do that.
I can’t lose control and prove what Presley just so loudly said about me. I’d just be playing right into her hands, giving merit to her words, and making myself even more of a leper to a pack I might be stuck with.
“Don’t worry about her.” I look over to find Harlan coming up next to me. “Presley has some deep-seated bitterness against other females. She’s neither a powerful alpha, a coveted omega, or an equal beta.”
“She’s a delta?” I ask with surprise.
“A kappa,” Harlan corrects. “Just one of our hunters in charge of feeding the pack.”
I wince a little. No wonder she got so pissed my wolf took part of her kill roasting over the fire. It wasn’t just her food, it was her contribution to the pack.
“She’s been wanting to rise in rank for years, and going about it in all the wrong ways. Your