A female, dressed in all black answered the door.
“Lady Besh,” Farrow greeted. “We need to speak with Alpha.”
Her expression was empty as she glanced at Trager. “He’s having dinner. I’ll tell him you’ll wait in the hall.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
On the way back to the main part of camp, Kerrigan leaned close and whispered, “Do you think the alpha will come quickly? Maybe we can say our piece and go home tonight.”
“No one leaves after dark,” Vesh barked. “No one except hunters. You’re stuck here tonight, little kitten.”
Little kitten. Trager swore. If he called her that one more time…
Kerrigan tucked her arm through his, and his wolf calmed. But not enough. He needed to get his mate alone. Needed to touch her, breathe her in, feed her, and sleep with her. And it didn’t need to be in that order.
Much of the pack had already gathered at the hall by the time they arrived. Apparently this meeting was going to be public. Trager blew out a breath. He could only hope the humiliation wasn’t as bad as he suspected it would be.
He recognized many faces, but there were three specific ones missing from the crowd. He went from wolf to wolf, from glower to glower, but there was no sign of his family. His mother and father and Gabby.
Kerrigan tugged on his arm. “I need to uh, use the bathroom.”
“I’ll take her,” Avan said.
“No, I will.” No way in hell was he losing sight of Kerrigan. Not here.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Just show me where. I can take myself.”
Under the guards’ watchful eye, he led her to the bathroom. Resisting the urge to follow her in was no easy task. He cringed when Avan flashed him a cruel smile and slid past him into the room.
Fuck. This wouldn’t be good.
Trager ran his hands through his hair, counting off the minutes his mate was away from him. If she wasn’t out in five, he was going in after her.
***
Kerrigan washed her hands, studiously ignoring the gorgeous wolf-girl as she opened a cabinet, removed a tee shirt, and pulled it over her head. It was long, but it barely covered her butt.
“Something tells me that little stunt you pulled with Vesh was fake,” she mused. “How much did Trager pay you?”
Say what? “Pay me?”
Her eyes leveled on Kerrigan. “Yeah. How much?”
“He hasn’t paid me. Are you crazy?”
“No.” She shrugged. “I just don’t believe you’ve mated with him. Or that you plan to. I think he talked you into coming here, for whatever reason. Most likely to start a war, because he’s nothing but trouble. And when this whole meet-and-greet with the alpha is over, you’ll be on your merry way.”
Kerrigan shook her head. “You’re wrong. About everything.”
She thought of her half-packed apartment and felt sick. What was she doing here? Trying to help Trager save the people he cared about. But when it was over? What then?
Wolf-girl laughed, sounding like an evil cartoon. “No way. I can’t be wrong. It’s all in the prophecy.”
“What prophecy?”
“Of course you don’t know about the prophecy. It’s the whole reason Alpha forced Trager to leave the pack.” She slinked over to Kerrigan so that her face was inches away. “You’re going to deny him. Reject him. Refuse to be his mate. A wolf who can’t secure a mate is useless.”
This made no sense. They threw Trager out of camp for this? She forced herself to remain calm. She needed more information.
“There are worse things than being rejected.”
Wolf-girl shook her head. “Not to a wolf. And especially not by a mate.”
“Let me get this straight, he was thrown out of the pack at the mere possibility that I might reject him? That’s insane.”
“No. You got it all wrong. He got thrown out of the pack because without a mate, he can’t have young. He becomes a useless member.”
Useless. Kerrigan went numb. It was a word Ethan had thrown around a lot. Usually referring to her. These people were heartless. Or was it just wolf-girl?
“His worth isn’t dependent upon whether or not he has children. Do you have children?”
“Not yet. I’m unmated.”
“And you obviously aren’t useless to the pack.”
“It would be a different story if my mate rejected me. Clearly, you have a lot to learn about pack dynamics.”
Kerrigan glared. “Clearly, I do.”
“You can start with this: I’m going to make sure I fuck your mate before you leave here.” With that, wolf-girl breezed out of the bathroom.
Kerrigan braced her hands on the sink, breathing deep. She wanted to go after the bitch, but Trager’s warning came to mind. They’ll challenge you. That’s what this was. A test.