She stared at his hand debating what to do with his touch.
“Erm, I’m Victoria. Life unknown.” They shook hands. The new beginning had started between them. “Can I get up?”
“Sure.” He went to his feet and helped her up. “My home is your home.”
Words failed her as he kept hold of her hand. She liked the way his touch felt on her skin.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it, honey. I’m an alpha not a monster.”
Victoria didn’t argue with him as he took her around the grounds never further than five miles from the house. The snow felt wonderful under her feet. For a short period of time she thought about Chain but cut it off. He couldn’t touch her here. She knew with Scorch in her life, Chain couldn’t hurt her.
He’d find a way.
Ignoring the warning, she walked back into the house, ready to start a new life in a different pack.
****
After dinner had been served and many couples headed to bed Scorch stayed behind to play pool with David and several of his friends. The last week had been hectic with Victoria’s arrival. Everyone talked constantly about her presence within the pack and what it meant. He didn’t mind the gossip. The Fire Pack had always been partial to gossip.
“How is she handling things?” David asked, taking his shot.
“I don’t know who her old pack was. I think the alpha has found some way to hurt them.”
David paused, staring at him. “Are you sure? No alpha has been able to hurt a pack before. It’s insane to even think like that.”
“Everyone knows that the alpha is bound to his wolf and cannot be broken. The alpha wolf takes care of its pack, not hurts it.” Blake, another pack member spoke up.
Scorch agreed with them. In all of his years as alpha he’d lost his temper once with a pack member, but he’d paid dearly for the experience. He remembered the forced change, the feel of his bones breaking, shattering underneath the command of his beast. Every second had been a lesson to his human side to never allow anger, pain, or evil to rule his actions. The wolf would not see a member of its pack hurt.
He recalled the weeks of pain as his body grew accustomed to being human once again. His father had stepped down as alpha, giving Scorch the pack. He’d been so scared at the time, and his father had said the best alphas learn from their mistakes. Providing he never put the pack in danger, the wolf would never make him pay.
Since that moment, Scorch learned to control his temper and to understand the beast within him. His temper declined. There was never a forced transition. However, Scorch, like many alphas, knew about the process to tear the control of the beast from the man. His father had shared the knowledge with him.
If an alpha was to fight with another alpha and win, the one who won would have shattered a part within the beast’s soul. That shattered part would no longer hold a grip on the human. The human would be in control and could do whatever they wanted.
No alpha had ever wanted so much control to go out and kill another alpha. Scorch hoped no one ever tried. That kind of person would become pure evil, and the evil would spread throughout the pack turning his followers into wild beasts.
“It’s not something I ever want to consider,” Scorch said. “I don’t want to think of how an alpha could go out of his way to hurt a pack member.”
They’d all seen her when she arrived. The bruises alone were sickening while the cuts just forced the issues deeper.
“No alpha could want that kind of power. It’s out of control,” David said.
Scorch agreed with him. The very thought was frightening. When the game was over he wished all of his men good night and headed up to his room. Victoria still occupied the room next to his. Opening the door, he found her curled up in a ball facing the window. All of the females had gone out of their way to make her feel welcome while also giving her clothing. A lot of their women were particularly slender. He had sent one woman out to get Victoria plenty of clothes her own size.
The scent of her humiliation had been too much for him to bear.
Satisfied with her sleeping he entered his own room, tearing off his clothing as he did. Naked, he stood to look out over the darkness wishing there was something he could do to stop whatever pain Victoria was feeling. The last thing he wanted to do was witness her pain. Pouring himself a drop of brandy, he walked to the bed and got under the covers. He settled back, listening to the sounds of the night go by.
Howling, hooting, and many other sounds drifted from the forests and beyond. Drinking down the last of the brandy, he lay back and closed his eyes. There were many wolves out there in the world. Some didn’t turn into man at the end of the full moon while there were many who did.