Chapter 34

Kyp

It didn’t take Sam long to get back to the cabin. And it didn’t take long for us to give him the short version of what happened that day.

“Woah. And you took both of them on in a fight?” Sam asked, his eyebrows shooting up. He glanced at the stark bruises on my face.

“I did. It’s been a while, but it wasn’t unusual for the Kentucky Alpha to pit two or three bigger wolves against me. It was part of my training he said.” I couldn’t help the bitter note that slipped into my voice. It had been part of their entertainment, but in the end, it had made a competent fighter out of me. I could hold my own with wolves much larger than me, and with more than one wolf at a time. As was evidenced by the fight I’d just won with the two idiots who confronted Rachel. After fifteen minutes, they’d flashed me their underbellies like white flags of surrender.

“I’m impressed,” Sam said.

“I also made it clear to them that they were to leave the area by tomorrow morning.” I wasn’t sure if that was overstepping myself since I wasn’t in my own territory—even if I’d had any—but as Rachel’s Alpha, I felt justified. No one was going to screw around with me or mine, now that I could help it.

To my relief, Sam nodded. “We don’t need wolves like that hanging around. They’d just be asking for trouble. We’ve got enough of that. I’ll speak to Dad or their parents if you want the added support. Immature wolves aren’t going to help our cause. Austin Thornehill will back that up, too. Especially since they’re his wolves.”

****

I laid awake in bed a long time that night. Thoughts of Rachel, Avis, the two wolves that had accosted Rachel, and then my fight with them all jumbled in my brain. I rubbed my chest to relieve the tight knot of tension lodged beneath my ribs.

Rachel’s reaction—and her quick belief that I would betray her like that—sat heavily on me. Her lack of trust in me both as her boyfriend and as her Alpha soured in my belly. Should I even be her Alpha? I was certain she deserved better—someone who actually knew how to be an Alpha, someone who could properly care for her and look after her. Her lack of faith in me had rocked my own perception of myself. I was floating on a sea of doubt and had no anchor.

Maybe I should rescind my Alphaship and beg Dominic to take Rachel into his pack. I’d leave. Go my own way. Find some dark corner of the earth and just live out the rest of my days as a wolf.

Wolf snarled inside me, puffing out his chest. He flooded my head with images of Mom. I couldn’t leave her. I had a responsibility to take care of her. And Rachel. Wolf stood up straight, displaying his dominance, reminding me that we were the Alpha. He sent images of Rachel to the front of my mind. The way her green eyes sparkled when she looked at me. The way she’d kissed me that night behind the stage curtain. The way she’d felt, all curve and kindness.

Shaking my head, I rolled onto my side. A floorboard creaked and I wondered if Rachel was still awake, too. Part of me wanted to go check, to pull her into my arms and soak in the feeling of hers coming around me. Would she kiss me again? Would she hold me back? Did she need me? Could I be what she needed?

The night passed with fitful sleep.