But instead of lunging, he crouches low.Ears back.Tail tucked between his legs.
I take one step forward.
He bolts.
Straight into the woods, tail still tucked, running full speed.The six Frostbane wolves behind him hesitate for maybe two seconds, then turn and follow.
I stand there and watch them go.
The parking lot goes quiet.
I shift back.Jesse is grinning.He claps me on the shoulder."Well, that was the funnest five seconds I’ve had since…”
Cole smirks.“Since you disappointed your last girlfriend?”
“Fuck you!Human-licker!”Jesse barks, which is his worst insult because he intensely dislikes humans, and they both shift and lunge at each other.
Idiots.
Dax looks deeply disappointed."Fun?I was promised a fight.Nobody bled today.Not even a little bit."
He lets out a huff of angry breath and stalks off toward the truck.
I turn to the small crowd that's gathered—Moonstone wolves, a few Shadowpine members who must have heard the commotion and followed.Silas is still standing in the center of the lot, breathing hard, looking shaken but alive.
“Uncle Silas.You shouldn’t have done that,” Henrietta’s voice is shaking.“You could have died.”
“I’ve failed you before.I’ve failed the pack.I never stood up to your father, never told anyone the truth about what he did.If I had, maybe the rest of the family could have stayed here all along.”He blinks, his eyes watering.“I had to stand up for you.I couldn’t let him take you.”
“Well, nobody is taking her, ever!”I raise my voice."Henrietta Romero is under Moonstone protection.Spread the word."
Silas meets my eyes.He nods once.“Thank you,” he husks.
I turn to look at Henrietta.
She's staring at me.Her arms are crossed.Her hair is a mess, and she's got pine needles stuck to her bare shoulder, and I just told everyone in earshot that she's mine.
I smile fiercely.
My wolf lets out a sigh of satisfaction, settling down inside me for the first time since I laid eyes on her.
Chapter Fifteen
Henrietta
The meeting room at pack headquarters is stone and timber, with a long wooden table in the center and windows looking out over the pack lands.I'm sitting at one end of the table.Andrew is at the other end.His brothers Jesse and Cole are on one side, his mother Marion on the other.Dax sits near the door, arms crossed, looking like he's already bored.A few council members fill the remaining seats.
"The Frostbanes are going to see this as a direct challenge," Dax says."Roderick won't let this go."
"Darius Frost is the Alpha," Jesse says."He’s already looking for trouble.And he’s not going to be able to control Roderick.Roderick's his nephew and he's already stirred up half the pack about this."
One of the council members—an older woman with silver-streaked hair—leans forward."If we don't handle this carefully, we're looking at pack war."
My stomach drops.Pack war.Because of me.Because Roderick decided he wanted to claim me and Andrew stepped in.
Andrew nods."I understand.The Romero family can’t stay here.”
A sickness swirls in my stomach, and hot tears prick my eyes.I know he’s right, but he’s just rejected me and my family – after saying that he’d claimed me.Where will we go?And will Roderick and his goons chase us, wanting revenge for their humiliation?Almost certainly.