The Weakest Wolf's Revenge

Chapter Two

Roxie's POV

"You're wrong." I yanked my arm away from him, even though his touch felt like coming home. "I already have a mate."

The scarred man's laugh was bitter. "Had. Past tense. I can smell the broken bond on you like rot."

My wolf whimpered at the reminder. Less than an hour ago, I'd been preparing to claim Marcus. Now I was standing in rogue territory with a stranger whose very presence made my skin burn.

"Raptor." Another wolf approached, this one smaller but covered in twice as many scars. "The rogues were just scouts. There's a larger pack coming."

Raptor. Even his name sounded dangerous.

"How many?" Raptor asked, still staring at me like I was a problem he needed to solve.

"Twenty. Maybe more."

"Get her to the compound," Raptor ordered. "Now."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I said, taking a step back.

"You have two choices." His voice was emotionless. "Come with us, or wait here for the rogues to tear you apart. Though judging by your pathetic wolf energy, you wouldn't last thirty seconds."

The words stung because they were true. "I don't even know who you are."

"Ironfang Pack." The smaller wolf grinned, showing too many teeth. "And you just became our newest problem."

"I'm nobody's problem. I'll leave—"

"No." Raptor's word was final. "You crossed our border. Pack law says you're under our protection for three days. After that..." he shrugged. "After that, you can die wherever you want."

More howls echoed through the forest, closer now.

"Move," Raptor commanded.

This time, I didn't argue.

We ran through the dark forest, and I struggled to keep up. My wolf was weak, had always been weak, but these wolves moved like shadows given form. Raptor stayed behind me, and I could feel his frustration every time I stumbled.

The Ironfang compound wasn't what I expected. Instead of traditional pack houses, they'd built a fortress. Concrete walls topped with razor wire. Guard towers. It looked more like a military base than a home.

"What is this place?" I gasped, trying to catch my breath.

"Survival," Raptor said simply. "Tor, take her to the guest quarters."

"Guest quarters?" The smaller wolf—Tor—laughed. "You mean the interrogation rooms?"

"She's not a prisoner," Raptor said, but his tone suggested otherwise.

"Then what am I?"

He turned those golden eyes on me, and my wolf practically purred. Traitor.

"A complication."

He walked away without another word.

Tor led me through the compound, and everywhere I looked, I saw wolves training. Fighting. They moved with a brutality that made the Silverstone Pack look like puppies playing.

"Don't take it personally," Tor said. "Raptor doesn't believe in mates. Says they make you weak."

"Smart man."

"You say that now." Tor opened the door to a small but clean room. "But the bond has a way of changing minds. Even his."

"There is no bond," I insisted. "I felt something, but—"

"But nothing. You can lie to yourself all you want, but your wolf knows the truth." He paused at the door. "Word of advice? Raptor's not like other Alphas. He's not even supposed to be Beta. He's cursed."

"Cursed?"

"Uncontrollable strength. Killed his own father when he was fifteen. Lost control during a training session." Tor's expression was grim. "The Alpha keeps him as Beta because he's useful in a fight, but everyone knows the truth. Raptor's a weapon, not a wolf."

He left before I could ask more questions.

I sat on the narrow bed, trying to process everything. Six hours ago, I'd had a pack. A family. A mate. Now I had nothing except a pull toward a man who apparently didn't believe in the very thing connecting us.

A knock interrupted my spiral.

"Come in."

A woman entered, carrying clothes and a tray of food. She was beautiful in a sharp way, all angles and danger.

"I'm Katya," she said. "The Alpha's daughter."

Of course, she was.

"Roxie."

"I know who you are." She set down the tray with more force than necessary. "The rejected omega from Silverstone."

"News travels fast."

"Everything travels fast here." She studied me like I was a bug under a microscope. "Raptor says You're his mate."

"Raptor's wrong."

She laughed. "Raptor's never wrong. It's part of what makes him so irritating." Her expression turned serious. "He also says you're weak."

"Thanks for the reminder."

"I'm not finished." She pulled out a device I recognized—a wolf energy reader. "Your reading is interesting. Barely registers as a wolf, but..." She showed me the screen. "There's something else here. Something hidden."

"That's impossible."

"Is it?" She tilted her head. "Tell me, has anyone in your family ever tested your blood? Really tested it?"

"Of course. Every wolf gets tested at—"

"Not by your pack. By outsiders."

I shook my head.

"Interesting." She pocketed the device. "Get some rest. Tomorrow, you start training."

"Training? I'm only here for three days."

"We'll see." She headed for the door, then paused. "Oh, and Roxie? That mate you're so hung up on? Marcus? He completed the ceremony with your sister an hour ago. The bond you're clinging to? It's dead."

The words hit like physical blows.

"How do you—"

"We have contacts everywhere. Your father put out a kill order on you, by the way. Fifty thousand to whoever brings him your head."

My own father wanted me dead.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because Raptor asked me to." She smiled, but it wasn't kind. "He wanted you to know you have nowhere to go. No one to run back to. You're stuck here, whether you like it or not."

She left, and I sat in the darkness, feeling the last threads of my old life snap one by one.

A howl echoed through the compound. Not a normal howl—this was rage and pain mixed into sound. It made every hair on my body stand up.

Footsteps pounded past my door. Shouts filled the air.

I crept to the window and looked out.

In the courtyard below, Raptor was shifting. But something was wrong. His wolf was massive, bigger than any I'd ever seen, and his eyes were pure black. Wolves scattered as he thrashed, destroying everything in his path.

"Get back!" someone shouted. "He's losing control!"

This was the curse Tor had mentioned. The uncontrollable strength.

I should have been terrified. Should have hidden.

Instead, my wolf surged forward with such force that I gasped. She wanted to go to him. To help him.

Without thinking, I ran from the room.

"Stop!" Katya grabbed my arm in the hallway. "You can't go out there. He'll kill you."

"He won't," I said with certainty I didn't understand.

"You don't know that!"

But I did. Somehow, I knew.

I broke free and ran into the courtyard. Raptor's wolf turned to me, lips pulled back in a snarl that showed teeth as long as my fingers.

"Raptor," I said softly.

He lunged.

I didn't move. Didn't flinch. Even as those massive jaws opened wide enough to tear me in half.

His teeth stopped an inch from my throat.

The courtyard went silent.

Then, impossibly, his wolf whined and dropped to the ground at my feet. The black faded from his eyes, returning to gold.

"How?" Katya breathed from behind me.

But I wasn't looking at her. I was staring at Raptor's wolf, who was staring back at me with an expression I recognized.

Wonder. Fear. And something else.

Hope.

He shifted back to human form, naked and shaking.

"What did you just do?" he demanded.

"I don't know."

"That's impossible. I've never..." He stood, and several wolves tossed him clothes. "No one has ever stopped me during an episode. No one."

"Maybe you just needed the right person," Tor said quietly.

Raptor's expression hardened. "She's not—"

An alarm suddenly blared through the compound.

"Attack!" someone screamed. "Northern border!"

Katya grabbed a tablet from another wolf. Her face went pale.

"It's Silverstone," she said. "They're here for her."