Traitor

“I thought so.” The feminine voice rose from so close to me that I nearly leapt from my skin. My jaw gaped as I turned my head to see that I was nearly shoulder to shoulder with our pack’s naked beta.

“Laura?” I whispered in a stunned voice. She had apparently changed to chase after us, too.

“I suspected Martha has been sneaking out here. I’d caught her wandering at night.”

Our whispering was muffled by the stone wall.

~And Martha’s far too busy to notice us right now.~

“Now we know why,” Laura said in disgust. “It appears I’ve some things to discuss with my mate.”

~Martha’s betrayal to the pack.~

“Clearly,” I agreed with her, hesitating for a moment.

“Yes, I’ll leave you out of it,” she assured me.

I nodded in relief and refocused my attention on the painful sight before us. I didn’t want to draw any more of the alpha’s attention.

~He already has plenty of reservations about me.~

Laura and I saw the unknown male throw up Martha’s skirts as he eagerly pinned her against a tree trunk. She was braced there, her legs wrapped around the back of his knees and clutching at his shoulders as if she couldn’t get enough.

“Who is he?” I asked more to myself than Laura. But to my surprise she answered.

“A Roamer of some relation. He’s her former mate, I suspect…”

“They don’t look so former…”

Laura frowned. “You do appear to be right.”

We both grimaced, but had no desire to interrupt. We wanted to know if she was up to more than a moonlit dalliance.

“Our alpha told me a tale about them,” Laura said.

“Oh?” I was achingly curious, hoping she’d tell me without me having to do much probing.

“They’d chosen each other, and—”

“Each other?” I was aghast. “She didn’t fear him?”

Laura deflated. “Apparently females in generations before us, were not so afraid of the mating rituals. That change was Martha’s doing.”

Everything she’d told me came rushing back to me. Every terrifying word that had made me fear that risking being mated meant risking my life.

My mates had been rough, they’d worn me to exhaustion, but there’d been no point they’d done something I thought might kill me.

~They were lies!~

“But she said a male years ago had ripped apart the female he mated!” I said in a hushed voice.

“Our alpha says that’s true, but it was Martha’s mate that did it. He had mounted her friend and ripped out her throat during the process.”

“What? Why would he mate with her, if Martha was his…That’s…”

“I know…It goes against all our instinct of loyalty,” she agreed.

“I don’t know why. But he killed her, to silence her whisperings in Martha’s ear, one could suspect.”

“What was she saying to Martha?”

“Our alpha believes she was telling Martha to stay away from him. That he was too violent…Too feral.”

“So, that is him?”

He looked much younger than Martha. Though I could only see his back, it looked well-muscled. He was a hulking monster. And from his profile, he looked rugged and vicious.

“A Roamer…” Laura was shaking her head in disbelief.

He tilted his head to kiss Martha, and I saw it.

The long scar which was ripped down his face.

~No!~

My wolf and I trembled in rage.

Ragged male grunts huffed on the other side of the wall. The wails of the old woman’s pleasure filled the air.

~Or her pain.~

It was hard to tell which. But since she’d come here of her own volition, I was guessing she was enjoying submitting to the brutality of her mate.

I caught the flicker of movement beyond that gap in the wall and knew the Roamers alpha was still there with Martha.

~My target.~ My hands balled into fists. ~He’s so close…~

But there was no way to sneak up on him now. By the time anyone got around that wall, he’d be long gone, and if we tried to slip through that crack, he’d be able to stick a dagger in us while we were still pinned between the stones.

~There’s no way to touch him right now.~ But I didn’t want to take my eyes off him. I wanted him dead.

“You should see yourself, Valerie,” Laura whispered. “That look on your face.”

“He should be dead,” I said venomously.

I gave her a look that lacked all fear. It was the eyes of my wolf. My mouth was tight. “I’m going to be responsible for putting him down.”

“Our alpha first,” she corrected.

She was right. I bowed my head, grateful.

“We let them think we still don’t know. If we leave now, our alpha may decide to attack and we’ll know where to pick up his trail.”

I loved the wisdom of her words, but my fury was barely tempered.

We ran back to camp.

***

We slipped back into our clothes. Laura left to go talk to our alpha. When I drew near the Faber cottage, I was relieved to see Sabar awake and sitting up. He pressed fabric to the bleeding side of his head.

As we approached, the healer put a motherly hand on Sabar’s shoulder to get him to focus on the questions she was asking about his pain. Calum watched nearby.

I returned to the cottage. Taking a long breath, I cracked the door and tried to sneak in. I closed the door slowly to keep the latch from ticking too loudly.

But when I turned, there was a large male towering over me.

“Did you think I wouldn’t hear someone sneaking around?”

“Huntley…”

~Of course he would.~

“I heard something outside and went to check it out.”

“By yourself!”

“Shh.” I put a frantic finger to my lips.

“Don’t bother,” Victor’s dry voice rose from the bed. “We all heard you leave. And no one is sleeping with the racket you two are raising.”

“Sorry.” I knew he needed to rest from his time guarding the wall earlier today.

“It’s fine.” He rolled to a sitting position. “Care to share what was so important you crept out in the dead of night without any of us to protect you?”

~There’s that dangerous note that means I’m in trouble.~

“We’d dearly love to know.” Chase sat up on his bunk as well.

They were all exuding fury.

“I heard something. I saw Sabar was injured.” I opted for the truth.

“Sabar?” Chase asked in confusion.

“You went out to check on a male?” Huntley objected, obviously angry at the prospect I may’ve been sneaking out to see another male.

~But I wasn’t.~

~I can barely keep you three sated!~

Closing my eyes, I steadied myself.

~Why am I afraid of them? I know they have no desire to hurt me.~

To keep control of them, I had to always be an artful balance of strength and submission.

“What happened to Sabar?” Chase asked.

“Martha,” I explained.

“That bitch has caused every male in this pack more trouble than her skills are worth.” Victor swore vehemently. “Our alpha should’ve put her down a long time ago.”

~I couldn’t really argue that point. Especially now.~

“Tell me the rest.” Victor’s keen gaze pinned me to the door.

“You won’t like my answer,” I whispered.

“Tell us anyway,” Huntley said.

“Laura was there.”

“What was she doing out without our alpha!” Victor looked even more furious.

“She was already following Martha,” I said, hesitant.

“Best explain quickly woman. I’m losing patience.”

Victor’s eyes had the yellow sheen, and his jaw was jerking in a way that told me pointed teeth were sliding into his mouth.

The air around us seemed to thin, in a way that indicated he was perilously close to becoming the beast.

“Victor,” I pleaded, then sighed. “Martha hurt Sabar and took off. I got the healer and followed Martha. She led to the crack in the wall, and I found out that Laura has been watching her because of some of the things she’s been doing and telling the she-wolves.”

“What’s she been telling them?” Victor deflated, looking at me in surprise.

“That the males often kill their mates under the Mating Moon. That it’s common for wolves in our pack to become so aggressive in the act or the marking that they cause their mates to bleed out.”

Huntley tossed up his arms, spitting epithets. “Well, no wonder you were scared half to death! I knew we were animals with our hormones in full rage, but we’d never have killed you!”

“I didn’t know that…”

“Damn Martha!” Victor swore, turning a full circle in his fury. “That old woman better hope she doesn’t cross my path anytime soon.”

“A crack in the wall means our territory can be breached,” Chase said.

My three mates tensed.

“That scarred male could come back.” Huntley connected the dots.

My fury kicked up. “I want him dead.”

The words escaped me. I lifted my chin as my mates all eyed me carefully.

“We would need the alpha’s blessing,” Victor said.

A commanding howl broke the night. The alpha was summoning the pack.