† Maddock †

Stinking, stupid, useless, Beta.

I’d run the border in a hurry all day, marking every sporadic patch where the idiot Bruce had made our territory weak and open for dispute.

Sure, Apollo was sober now–Gods knew how long that’d last–but even drunk he knew our pack didn’t have enough warriors to defend our lands if anyone tried to challenge us.

Smoke and mirrors was the game I’d been playing for the past few years. Apollo, Kera, and my strength alone weren’t enough to protect us all. The Sigma markings had kept us safe.

If Apollo gave two shits about the pack he’d woken up this morning and decided to lead again, he’d have marked the borders himself.

Then again, maybe that’s what had deterred the other packs all this time. The ghost of the mad Alpha haunted these grounds that a Sigma claimed. For all they knew, he was dead.

He might as well have been.

I was starting to wish he was too.

It was sundown when I reached the Fenrir border to the west where I’d smelled the single male shifter the other day and I growled with our snout low to the ground, picking up the fading scents of my brother and his idiot Beta.

I circled around, noting the line of the border that I’d marked clearly and committed to memory.

The Fenrir male markings hadn’t crossed our side which could only mean…

Fool. My wolf howled as he pawed the ground in frustration. It wasn’t pack politics or my whirling thoughts that fueled his anger.

Kill the Beta. Protect my mate.

In time, I tried to quiet him as we stepped close to the border to sniff the air.

Bruce and Apollo’s markings had left our territory to mark over the Fenrir shifter in a show of stupid dominance. In doing so, they’d condemned our pack.

This was an open declaration of war.

I barely heard my own thoughts cursing my brother over my wolf snarling in fury.

Instinct told me to run and get back to Sage.

We’d leave this place and start fresh somewhere. I didn’t need a pack, but I’d find one to take us in for the latent pup. Kera would come with us too. If Apollo wanted to kill us all, he could burn by himself.

My wolf ignored my human thoughts, setting off on his own mission.

His goal was simple, finish marking the borders, and do everything else possible to protect his mate so she’d forgive us.

He was running on adrenaline after this morning and I had to coax him back from his fears.

She hadn’t rejected us like Apollo’s mate had done. Melinda was a child who’d run from our brother’s control. Sage was a full grown woman who’d needed some space.

My wolf wasn’t happy about that. I had to force myself to walk away before he took control and threw her over our shoulder to carry back to our den. He wanted to make her beg for release with promises that she’d never send us away again.

You broke her trust. He hated me.

I omitted the truth because the pup asked and said she’d leave us if we didn’t.

No excuse.

I was wrong, but her whole life she’s been fighting to protect her sister and I didn’t want the girl to hate us.

My mate is a warrior. She’ll protect my pups while I destroy the threats.

I ignored half of his snarling demands, pulling him back from his rant in utter shock.

This possessiveness was out of control.

She’s ours.

She’s mine. You don’t deserve her.

That’s it. We’re going back.

I couldn’t keep going at this level of tension. My wolf needed Sage to calm him down and I was anxious to fix this fight fast.

Something deep in my gut told me she needed us too.

My wolf howled his approval and took off back through the woods at full sprint.

*

We were a few hours away from our den and I had to slow the pace so my wolf didn’t run us into the ground. I promised him we’d crawl into our bed next to her and apologize until she was satisfied. I wouldn’t even worry about the pups hearing us.

Panting hard, he slowed to a trot while the damp forest floor muted our steps and the waning moon shone overhead. I bared my teeth when I saw the shadow dart through the trees.

A wolf raced into our peripheral vision just as Kera made her

presence known. “Gods, I’ve been tracking you for hours. Where have you been?”

“Is something wrong with Sage?” Blood pounded through our veins as we got ready to run again.

“She’s fine.” Kera fell into a trot beside me, nudging her shoulder against mine. “But she is worried and wants me to check on you.”

My wolf bristled at the thought that I’d need someone to check on me, but we were both a little pleased that she cared so much. The tension eased as we inhaled the cool air of the night.

But the nagging thought wouldn’t go away. I wanted to get us all out of here. My mate deserved better than the foolish depravity of this pack. I’d find her a place where she could run her restaurant without a power struggle.

“Kera, I’ve been thinking. How attached are you to becoming the Alpha of Cerberus pack one day?”

“You want to leave,” Kera said as her wolf shook her head. “You

know I can’t live in another pack. My wolf would try to take control and no Alpha in their right mind would accept me. My place is here.”

“In the cemetery.” I sighed.

My loyalties were torn in so many ways, but in the center of it all was Sage. The beautiful, magical, strong little witch who’d stolen my heart with one look of those honey brown eyes.

If it came down to this pack or her, I would always pick my mate. It wasn’t fate that chose for me. I’d decided she was mine the minute I met her.

“About that.” Kera nudged me again, trying to draw my wolf into play. “I don’t think we’re doomed anymore. Now that Sage and Coral are here, they’ve been showing me what this pack has been missing. We can turn things around and fix what my father destroyed. I know you’re not

ready, but it’s time that I challenged him.”

“No.” I growled, picking up the pace. “This is not a game.”

Kera’s wolf snarled and stopped as her rump fell to the dirt with her tail swishing across the ground. “You’re just as bad as he is.”

“What?” I skidded to a halt, glancing over my shoulder to see the Alpha fury vibrating from her body. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do.” The wolf narrowed her eyes. “You think I’m not strong enough to win.”

“That’s not true.” I huffed, even as a small part of me wondered if it was. “But killing your own father isn’t something I’d wish on anyone,

especially not someone so young.”

“Enough,” Kera commanded. Her teeth chomped at the air. “Sage

says Coral is an adult on her eighteenth birthday, which is on the next full moon just like mine is in case you forgot. But even if I wasn’t an adult by human standards, you were younger than me when you all took over the pack. It’s time that I end this and take what’s mine.”

Pure panic gave me pause. “You don’t know what you’re saying.” I

knew this day would come, but not this soon. “We can leave for a few years and continue your training. You can return to claim the Cerberus pack

when you’re older.”

Kera stood her ground and refused to budge. “I’m not leaving them. They need me. If you’d have heard the females come together to talk today and seen the excitement in their eyes then you would…”

“Came together where?” I cut her off with a growl. A sense of urgency pulled at my gut.

“They all came together, even the ones who haven’t spoken to each other in years, to help Sage rebuild the tavern. Lisa showed up to give her support too.”

The smug grin on her face raised my hackles and my throat constricted with a foreign thickness. Every single part of my body was on high alert and panicked as my vision tunneled.

“You left her alone after that without protection?” My voice was barely a whisper over the pack link.

“She asked me to come find you and she’s safe at the cabin…”

Understanding dawned in my niece’s eyes. “He wouldn’t.”

Pure blinding rage turned the night to ash and a feral howl tore from my chest. My wolf took off through the woods, running like his life depended on it.

While I prayed to the Gods that it didn’t.