AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shook my head. “Brand, you met her. She’d be way better off in Ontario with me—or in Colorado with your pack. She’s scrappy, a fighter. Take no bullshit, take no prisoners.” I swallowed. “She might choose one of us.”
Brand’s scent went slightly bitter. “You know how this’ll turn out. Your mom’s gonna meet her and kidnap her for you.”
I hoped so. Suddenly, having my overbearing mother descending on us didn’t seem so bad. “We have to make sure what happened to her down here goes before the Council. Southern can’t abuse their females like this. We’re losing too many shifters each year as it is.”
“Not enough are being born.”
“You know Mom thinks it’s because fewer true mates are being found. She’s going to lose her shit entirely when she meets Flor.”
Brand turned his head slightly, and I felt his gaze bore into me. “You going to tell her about me, and Finn? And Luke?”
I sighed. “Not Luke. Flor can’t stay here, or come back, ever.”
“Agreed,” he muttered. “Anywhere is better than here.” His lip curled again. “If she’s smart, she’ll pick me.”
“She can’t mate a dead shifter, Brand. You know my mom will probably murder you and Finn both to make sure I get the girl.”
“You’re not wrong. By the moon, I can’t wait until we get out of here.”
“Me neither.”
17
Unexpected Honor
FLOR
Iwouldn’t have bet more than a nickel I’d live more than a few minutes after that clusterfuck of an evening.
But as it turned out, the competitors I’d seen hanging around Finnick were more decent shifters than the ones in my pack. They were mainly Mountain and Northern wolves, although one of them, Joaquin, said he came from a small pack in Mexico, just south of the border with Texas. I hadn’t even known there were packs down there—other than the main four packs, there were only a handful of smaller packs. Supposedly, those had weaker Alphas who had sworn allegiance to one of the big ones, so I wasn’t sure they even counted.
But Joaquin didn’t feel weak at all; his power made my arm hair stand up when he came close, though it stopped like a faucet cutting off when I shivered.
He kept to himself, though. He was the only one in the group wearing real clothes, jeans and a black shirt. Everyone else had on the gray shorts, easy to strip off for a shift, or fight in as a human. A few of them had on t-shirts as well, but most of them were bare-chested.
The others had gathered around me as soon as I was ushered into the small area where the next rounds were being announced. All the winners were supposed to stay there until the end of the night for some winner ceremony thing.
For some reason, Alpha Callaway still hadn’t shown up to kill me.
“You’re amazing, kid,” a guy with curly red hair on his head and his chest stated, holding out a hand. “I’ve never seen fighting like that. How the hell did you beat my Alpha Heir?” He didn’t seem mad.
“Um, I didn’t know I’d have to. He was supposed to sign me up to fight a nobody, so I could get a bid from Glen.”
Another one of the winners interrupted. He looked slightly like Glen, with the same blond hair and straight nose. “Wait, you know the Northern Alpha Heir? Glen said he’d bid on you for our pack? Hell yes, we want you.”
I let out a shaky laugh. “Hate to tell you, but as soon as Alpha Callaway gets back, he’s gonna kill me. Like, literally.”
“Why?” The quiet solo wolf from the border spoke up. “Because you’re a female?”
Every guy around me went still, except for nostrils flaring, taking in my scent. I guess the rosemary and old bacon had worn off. Then they all started talking at once.
“No way.”
“A girl?”
“There’s no possible?—”
I held up a hand. “Guys, yeah. I’m a girl. I’m an unranked female in Southern, and long story short, your Alpha Heirs were supposed to help me get a bid so I wouldn’t be put to death. My Alpha accused me of murder.”
