The One 26

THE ONE 26

Chapter 26: Being the Legend Sophie “You’re thinking very hard,” I say, chewing the bread that Hunter fed me. I’ve thought more than once in the last 24 hours that I must be the luckiest woman in the world to have Hunter as a mate. He’s given me the fairy tale. Everything I ever dreamed that finding my mate would be when I was a young girl. And he’s perfect. He doesn’t make me feel foolish for not knowing things. He doesn’t make fun of me, but he gives me the choice, let’s me decide how I want to proceed. I’m pretty sure that even without the mate bond, I would have fallen completely in love with this man. And let’s not ignore the fact that he’s the s**t man I’ve ever seen. It’s been a while, but I grew up in a pack. Nudity was common, so I’ve seen naked men and women. But this man…I’ m getting warm in tender places just thinking about it. I touched quite a bit of his body while he was sleeping, and even after he woke. His strength, his muscles, only add to the heat that has begun to pool yet again in my core. Since I’m sitting on his lap, I’ m not surprised when I see his lips twitch and he looks at me. out of the corner of his eye. “Something on your mind?” he asks, holding another piece of bread up to my mouth. I don’t think either one of us loves this breakfast, but we’re both hungry after exerting so much energy last night and as Alphas, our bodies burn a lot of calories in general. 16:50 D The Legend 203 Mouchers “Just thinking about how s**y you are,” I say honestly. That makes him smile. “Mmmm, I’d love to explore that further, but for now, we should talk. We need to get back to the pack. I want to officially instate you as my Luna tonight.” “Already?” I ask, surprised. “Yes. You know there will be push back from many packs. We’ve been working to create a council, a group who can preside over these types of issues, but we’re so divided that we haven’t even been

able to come to an agreement about who should sit on the council. So, without that, and knowing that I’ve technically broken a law by claiming you like this, I want to take away any possibility of them stripping you of your title.” “We’ve broken,” I say, and he frowns at me. “We’ve broken the law. It wasn’t just you. If we’re going to face off against the ones who refuse to make change, then we will do it as a unified front,” I say, determined that I will stand beside him. I won’t let him take the brunt of whatever is to come because he wants to protect me. He’s already given me more than I ever dreamed to hope for in the last two years. For that alone, I’ll fight beside him. Add to that, I’m completely and totally in love with this man already, and I would die for him, just as I know in my heart, that he would die for me. He takes my face in his hand, leaning into kiss me in a much deeper kiss than I was expecting. “How did I get so f**g lucky?” he asks, chewing the bread that was in my mouth a moment ago. “Are you talking about me now, or the food?” I tease. 11 He smacks my a** making me jump. “You know exactly what I’ m talking about,” he says, holding out another piece of bread for me. I use my tongue to pull his fingers into my mouth, then bite them, just enough to get him back for smacking my a** All it does is make him smile and increase the possessive look on his face. I can feel the heat pooling in my core and Hunter’s nostrils flare before he shakes his head. “Hold that thought for tonight. We do need to talk.” I nod, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. I realize, I’m perfectly happy being naked in my mate’s presence now. That didn’t take long. He takes a deep breath and sighs, before looking me in the eyes. “What Kinsley and Penny said is true. I’m not sure why or how, but something about you leaving that night, changed everything. The news of your leaving spread like wildfire through the packs. The Alphas are probably partially responsible for that because they were very vocal about your father searching for you and bringing you back. His absolute refusal to search for you caused a ripple

unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the packs.” He looks past me, his eyes unfocused as he remembers. “The Alphas were angry. They threatened to wage war against your father and your pack. Several of us stood with him, your sister’s mate being one of them, agreeing to fight at his side if there was to be a war. There were enough of us, enough strong packs, that stood beside your father, that the other packs backed down.” “Are all the packs either for or against the law?” I ask. 16:50 1208 Vouchers. “There are a few who are neutral. Those that have few, if any, ranked she-wolves in their pack. But for the most part, the packs are divided one way or the other.” “So, what does that have to do with me?” I ask. “You remember how naïve you were that night? It was the same with your sister, I’m sure,” he says, and I nod. I remember my mother giving Amelia ‘the talk’ that morning. Why wait until just before the event to tell her what was going to transpire? “It was the same with my sister as well and I’m sure, most ranked she-wolves. There are almost never any ranked she- wolves at a coming-of-age party for another ranked she-wolf, for that reason. However, once you left, everything changed. Mothers who hated the future for their daughters began telling them of what was to come. They began hiding money, setting up secret bank accounts, apartments in big cities, anything they could do to get their daughters out of the packs before they turned 18.” He sighs. “It worked, for a while, especially for Alpha females, I’ m told. Having more money, they were able to hide and put away money more easily. But then, she-wolves started disappearing, not just from a pack here or a pack there, but from all of them. The Alphas and other ranked wolves figured out what was happening and some of them started locking their ranked she-wolves in the pack, not letting them leave, even if they are years away from turning 18. Others went on the hunt, as you know, hunting down ranked she-wolves and claiming them. They stopped caring if the she- wolf was their fated mate, they only cared that they caught and claimed their mate.” I knew this, Penny had basically told me how awful it had

16.50 11 gotten, but to hear it from Hunter’s perspective, to hear it from an Alpha, was almost worse. He looks at me, and I’m not sure what I see in his eyes, but it feels almost like pity. It makes my stomach clench and I know I’m not going to like whatever he’s about to say. “It started about a year or so ago. A ranked she-wolf was captured, dragged back to her pack and claimed publicly in front. of the pack. I’m not sure if the Alpha was her fated mate or not, and honestly, I don’t think it matters. From what I heard, he wasn’t careful with her, he was angry at having to hunt her down, so he punished her, by stripping her down while he claimed her for all to see.” He stops, clenching his teeth. I’m not sure he realizes that his arm has tightened around me, almost as if he’s instinctively protecting me from something like that ever happening to me. “To my knowledge, she was the first to start it.” “Start what?” I whisper. He looks into my eyes and takes a deep breath. “She ran to a cliff edge. Her mate and the pack tried to stop her, but she had already decided death was better than the life she had. I wasn’t there, but the rumors flew afterward. She apparently turned to look at the pack and before she jumped,” he sighs, taking. another deep breath. “Before she jumped, she cried out, ‘For Sophie! For all of us!’ and then she jumped to her death.” Tgasp, my hand flying to my mouth. “Why? Why me?” “I don’t know. I don’t know why she said it, but it started a whole other ripple effect. Every time a she-wolf intentionally took her life after that, she’d either scream the words, or write them 16:50 Chapter 26: Being the Legend 258 (Vouchers down, so someone would find the note and know that she chose death over this life. That’s why they call you the legend. You started this ball rolling, and they’ve turned you into a martyr, a beacon for the choices that they are making. Exclusive content from .

I stand, the bread in my stomach threatening to come back up. When I turn, Hunter hasn’t moved, the hand that was around my hip reaching out like he was trying to hold on to me. “I never wanted any of this. I just. I just didn’t want to be claimed publicly. How…?” In a moment, he’s up and his arms are wrapped around me. “Breathe, Sophie. Breathe. This is why I waited to tell you. I knew it would be a lot. I knew it would be a heavy burden on you. “All those lives…” I say, tears running down my face. Hunter pulls back, taking my face in his hands and wiping away the tears. “Those lives are not lost because of you. Do you hear me?” he asks fiercely. “It’s because of this process, this law, that needs to be eliminated. You are not responsible for those deaths, Sophie. The law is. Tell me you understand that.” My head is spinning, I don’t know what to think. I had no idea, none, that any of this was happening. “SOPHIE!” Hunter growls, shaking me, bringing my attention back to him. “You are not responsible for their deaths,” he says carefully and slowly. “Aren’t I?” “No, you are not.” Chapter 26 Being the Legend 1288 Muchers There’s something about the way he says it, the way he is looking at me, that helps me to breathe, helps my head to stop spinning. “No one knew what happened to you. You hid much better than anyone else did. Maybe the first woman thought you were dead. or at least assumed you were. I don’t know. But it’s become frequent enough that everyone, and I do mean everyone, knows your name Sophie. You need to be prepared for that.” I look into his eyes, feeling desperate and lost. “What am I going to do?” “We, Sophie,” he says, putting his forehead against mine. “What are WE going to do? A unified front, remember? You and me, together. And WE are going to change the law, WE are going to change history. WE are going to make a better life for all she- wolves.”