Dakota had to struggle to remain calm. “That wasn’t your territory. I was in the east.”
“You had no business going there,” he growled at her.
Okay, that did it. “You actually think you can tell me where I’m allowed to go?” she yelled at him. “We’re not even mated, and you think you can control my every move?”
“We’re not mated because you don’t want to be mated!” he shouted. “You said you were leaving!”
“Well, maybe I would have thought about staying if someone gave me a reason to!” she shouted back. “And this is bigger than us! This is about the survival of this entire territory!”
“This territory is my business, and you will stay out of it!” he barked.
She went pale. “Yes, I certainly will.” And she walked back into the cabin and slammed the door shut in his face.
Outside, she heard a roar of rage, and when she looked out the window, she saw that Miles had shifted and was running straight into the forest. Baldwin was doubled over, retching onto the ground. Naomi rushed outside and kneeled next to him, stroking his back.
Dakota struggled not to cry in front of the cubs, who were all staring at her wide-eyed, except Sarah, who looked sullen and resigned.
“So you’re leaving us now?” she said to Dakota.
Dakota took a deep breath. “Of course I’m not leaving you. I’m leaving him. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
She saw the younger cubs glance at each other with relief. “She’s not leaving us,” Mary said out loud, as if to reassure herself.
“We’d be okay either way,” John said stubbornly. Then he glanced at Dakota. “But I’m glad she’s not,” he added.
“Are you crying?” Sailor asked Dakota. “Did he make you cry?”
“It’s not his fault. Sometimes grownups argue. He’s still a good person.” Dakota quickly wiped at the tears on her cheeks.
“Silver knife to the femoral artery is pretty fatal, even for an Alpha Prime,” Sarah mused. At the look on Dakota’s face, she added hastily, “So I’ve heard.”
“Jeez, child. Remind me not to make you mad.”
“You’d know if you made me mad. So far you’ve only succeeded in mildly annoying me a whole bunch of times.”
“So where are we going, if you’re not staying with him?” Sarah asked.
Dakota frowned. “There’s only one other place that I can think of where we’d be safe. We could stay with the bears. I think Anthea would take us in.”
“Are you sure about that?” Sarah mused. “I can never tell if she wants to kill us or not.”
Dakota heaved a sigh. “Only one way to find out.”
Chapter Sixteen
Dakota walked up to the bar at the Watering Hole, her heart aching and her stomach tying itself in knots. She looked around at the crowd of happy, drunken shifters, laughing and flirting and shooting pool and having a gay old time, and then she walked over to the bar where Macy was working and plopped down in one of the few empty seats.
Macy had a fresh claiming mark on the right side of her neck, still red, but healing. David was with her behind the bar, and he had a matching claiming mark. He waved cheerfully at Dakota, grinning wide enough to split his face open.
Dakota tried to smile back at him, but she had a feeling that all she’d come up with was a hideous grimace. She gave up and pulled out her wallet. “Give me a double,” she said to Macy. “No, give me a triple.”
Macy raised an eyebrow. “A double or triple what?”
“Er…a double…” Dakota hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Cosmopolitan?”
Macy snorted out a laugh. “What kind of frou-frou pack did you come from? You start out with ‘give me a double’, which sounds all badass, and then you puss out and say cosmopolitan. Real wolves don’t drink cosmos. Also, you strike me as a lightweight, and I don’t want you puking on my floor. Here, let’s start with a single shot of tequila and take it from there.”
She quickly poured Dakota a shot. Dakota picked it up and waited.
Macy looked at her with a puzzled expression. “You’re not actually waiting for a lime and salt, are you, like you’re in some fancy New York bar? Tell me you’re not.”
“Of course not,” Dakota said. She totally had been. But since obviously none was coming, she held up the shot glass and said, “To the newly mated couple. Congrats!” She slammed back the drink.
“Thanks. The lucky SOB actually made an honest fox out of me.” Macy winked at David as he rushed past them, and he blew her a kiss.