The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

great today don’t you? | mean, | wear - | haven't had chest pain all day!“ kan,” she 101, eyeing the toilet and the

splotches of vout that remain on the

1 nod. “Please don’t fry anything else, | hiss, spitting in the sink. Do we have any of the

She right, “Yeah, We do, is that what you'll be having?

sile, the toothplate fuming around my mouth and dripping into the sink. “Yug

“Are you

“up”

su being gross on

in purpose?

She cringes, stepping away fromwith a look of pure disgust. “Gabriel was here. | told him you were sick. He

said there's a special visitor today and the council is holding an emergency meeting. He toldto tell you he'd

check on you after. He said it was imperative that he be there to greet the visitors.”

| take a couple of shallow breaths to contain my nausea. “Good. After what Adam toldlast night, it's better if

| don’t see him yet anyway.” Because want to tear

his balls off for spreading rumors about you, “So what were you saying about chest pains?” | ask, washing the

sink and replacing my toothariah.

“They r gone!” She croons, doing a little dance around my

“How are yours?”

1 stop for a moment, taking a slow inventory of all that I'm feeling. | think - une are gone too. How weird”

“Maybe at a finally been long enough,” she shrugs, heading back down the hall toward the kitchen...

But something tells me, thats not it at all. Adam said that when mates were in constant pain whereparated. One

of the most common occumeces was chest pains. Of course, | hadn't told Emily what he said, to the wouldn't

know any better. But | did.

The absence of chest pains could only mean one thing. And that one thing I certainly prepared for

The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

Chapter Eighty

DOMONIC

Koda and | prowl through the backwoods. Careful to move around the giant wall that rounds the grounds of

Village Du Loup Rouge. | spotted two armed guards near the front of the complex. Young wolves, neither of which

| recognize. | have to wonder, did our pick truly separate as | was told they did all those years ago? Or did they

relocate and merge with another pack somewhere out here on Crown Mountain?

Moving along the base of the forest, where we won't be scented, | count the rooftopsible beyond the wall. All the

while sniffing for the familiar scent of my mate. | finally find it coming from about two miles in. | shift back into

human feem right here and climb the nearest tree, settling on a branch high enough to take in the town hidden

behind the gate.

What | see takes my breath away. Cottages line the street on both sides. A marketplace and towns all at the

forefront. | smile to myself as | realize that there doesn’t seem to be a packhouse. Nope. This is a pack town.

Kind of like we structured ourselves around Port Orchard after the rest of our people left.

Fil he donned

I'm curious who the Alpha is. I'm going to have to meet him. Tomorrow of course. It's too late tonight. It's already

one in the morning and most of the windows are dark. A sudden weight shakes the branch I'm on and | don’t

need to look to know it's Koda who has climbed up next to me.

“Holy shit,” he says in obvious wonder. “Is that our pack?”

“Village of the Red Wolf,” | say. Tasswe're in there somewhere. But | didn’t recognize the guards, so our

fathers must have merged with another.”

“Interesting.”

| sigh. They're

re in there somewhere. They're in one of those cottages. Let's head back We'll head over Ent thing in the

morning. I'd like to try and get in without alerting my father if we can help it.”

Kada sighs, gritting his teeth. “My little brother is there somewhere. He'd be ten no

| glance at him, shaking my head. “We should try to avoid seeing them if it's possible. But if you insist on seeing

him, you do it after | leave.”

He nods. “Maybe we can get the Alpha to tellsomething about him instead.”

| chuckle. “Don’t be stupid. Just because | refuse to see my dad, doesn’t mean you need to refuse to see yours.”

His eyes usap toward mine. “I don’t want to see mine rither.

[af

“Right,” I say. “I forgot.” Rodas dad was pretty abusive. When Koda’s mother died in the fire, the man only got

worse. The reason Koda didn’t keep his little brother when the rest of the pack left, was because the boy didn’t

want to stay. He didn’t want to be reminded of losing his mother. “Well definitely check on your brother

boo

Koda smiles sadly. “Maybe he'll agree to cback with us. It's been long enough.”

“Maybe,” | agree, swinging down from the tree and shifting back into my wolf in the

Back at the lodge, the two of us climb back up the balcony naked. The moment | open the sliding glass door to

the suite, | sent him.

it switch. “What the fuck are you doing in here?

“Goddamn it.” I snap, flipping on the light

“Hello son,” my father says from the amchair closest to the front door. “I was wondering how long it would take

your stubbom ass to cand get your mute.”

1 growl, stepping inside the room and nodding at Koda as he excuses himself to head for his own suite. “Get

srest,” | tell him as he grabs his discarded clothes then steps into the front hall completely naked. Once the

door clicks shut, I turn my angry eyes back on my father. “How did you know | was here?”

He chuckles, lighting up a cigarette and taking a deep drag. Tve been scouting the lodge every night since

Draven showed up. | was hoping you weren't quite dumb enough to let her go completely. Glad to see | was right

about that, if nothing else.” He shakes his head at me, disappointment filling his eyes. “Your mother would be

asumed of

1/3

Chapter Eighty

“Tuck you.” | sup. You don’t get to thi

thit shout my

my mother. You're the

He takes another hit of his cigarette, his eyes filling with momentary sadness. Testo por just as close minded an

“I'm only here to check on Draven and meet your Alpha,” | him, pulling on my jeans. Then 10 be heading back

For sreason my Red Wolf Pack

ry statement strékes him as funny. He begins to laugh so hard that be chokes

the Alpha, of the

I glare, a cold chill trembling over my body like ice in my blood. The Red Wolf Pack. “What are you saying? You

toldour pack brok

He grins, reaching for the ashtray on

un the coffee table and putting out his cigarette as slowly as possible. “It did.” His eyes shoot up before

continues, From you.”

| stomp toward the sofa and take a seat, still scowling at my father with hateful end | suppose a

a new Alpha was named. Or is it still

He grins and | know what be about to tellis