Desire the Night(86)

I have to go.

I’ll be here if you need me.

She nodded again. When she turned to face her pack mates, there was no trace of the stranger save for his clothing and a faint smear of blood in the dirt. Three members of the pack shifted to their human forms to help Victor carry their fallen Alpha home. A fourth gathered the dead man’s clothes to be burned.

Feeling uncomfortable being naked in front of Victor, Kay shifted back to her wolf form and followed the others back to the compound.

She trailed behind as they carried her father into the house and up to his room where they laid him on the bed.

Kay hurried to her room. After shifting to her human form, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater, then returned to her father’s bedroom. Victor, Greta, and Brett were gathered around the bed, their expressions somber. It was obvious they had dressed in haste. Victor wore a pair of sweatpants, Greta had pulled on a bathrobe, Brett wore only a pair of jeans. They all looked up when Kay entered the room.

She moved slowly toward the bed. A sheet covered her father. How could he be dead? He had always seemed so strong, so invincible. And now he was gone.

Greta came around the bed to give Kay a hug. “We have some hard decisions to make,” she said quietly.

“And we need to make them right away,” Brett said.

“What kind of decisions?” Kay asked, although she was certain she already knew the answer.

“Your father didn’t leave a male heir,” Brett said.

Greta took Brett’s hand in hers. “Which means leadership of the pack falls to me.”

“You’ve always been next in line,” Kay said. “So, what’s the problem?”

“You know how it is. Word of your father’s death is probably already spreading through the werewolf community. We’re a small pack.”

Kay nodded as she began to see the dilemma. Even though Greta had been born an Alpha, it was rare for females to be pack leaders, mainly because male werewolves tended to be bigger and stronger. When challenged, the females were almost always defeated.

“As long as your father was our leader, we weren’t in any danger,” Brett remarked. “But now …”

“It’s come to our attention that the pack in Montana is looking to expand its territory,” Greta said.

“Why haven’t I heard anything about that?” Kay asked.

“There was no need to worry about it while your father was alive,” Greta answered. “He was one of the strongest Alphas our kind has ever had. No one was willing to go up against him.”

Brett slipped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Your aunt doesn’t have a reputation like that. I don’t want her risking her life.”

Greta touched her husband’s cheek. “We’ve already talked about this. I’ll do whatever I have to do. And I’ll win. I’m not afraid. My biggest concern is that the pack won’t accept me. If that happens, we’ll have a whole new set of problems.”

Kay nodded. A pack without an Alpha didn’t survive very long. “So, if you refuse to take over, or the pack doesn’t accept you—and I don’t see that happening—what then?”

“An Alpha from another pack will issue a challenge. If no one opposes him, our pack will be absorbed into a new one.”

“What if we don’t want to be absorbed into another pack?” Kay asked.

“Those who refuse will be disposed of.”

“Disposed of?” Kay shook her head. How could she have grown up here and never heard about any of this?

“It’s a pack thing,” Brett said, as if that explained everything.

Which it didn’t, at least as far as Kay was concerned.

“We’ll have to discuss this with the pack tomorrow night,” Greta said. “Right now, we need to get cleaned up and lay our Alpha to rest.”

With a worried glance at Kay, Brett followed Greta out of the room.

When Kay started to follow them, Victor took hold of her arm, then closed the door.

Kay stared pointedly at his hand. “Let go of me.”

“We need to talk.”

“I don’t have anything to say to you.”

“No? Well, I’ve got a few things to say to you, wife.” His hand tightened on her arm when she tried to pull away. “Tomorrow night, when the pack meets to discuss who should take over as Alpha, you will suggest that I take your father’s place.”

“Like hell I will. You’re not even a member of our pack.” She flinched as his fingers bit into her arm. “You’re hurting me!”

“I’ll do worse than that if you don’t do as I say. I want this, Kiya. If you’re smart, you won’t oppose me.”