Mated to the Pack(3)

"Let go of me, you nasty bitch!" Cassie turned into a full-on demon wolf  as she howled her own fury. Twisting, kicking, and slashing with her  beautifully sharp claws, she fought her way out from beneath Aliana.

One paw kicked hard onto the hard earth of the ledge. A small shower of  pebbles skittered off the ledge into the yawning space below. Cassie was  certain if she fell again, there would be no more ledges to land on.

Another howl from far above told her Trevor was still there. Watching,  and probably mad as hell he couldn't get down here to help her.

Cassie was completely on her own against this she-bitch.

The one who was trying to kill her for the very last time.

"We'll see about that." Cassie's snarl was low in her throat.

Aliana had regained her composure. Crouched a few feet away, ready to  strike again, she said in a smooth yet sarcastic voice, "Well, now.  Aren't you just full of surprises. So our alpha bit you in order to keep  you close to him forever. How very sweet of him."

Her mocking tone grated, but Cassie was careful not to let it show.  Instead, she played Aliana's psychological mind game right back. "He's  not your alpha anymore. Remember? You're banished, Aliana. You have no  alpha. You have no pack."

Cassie felt the slightest flash of shame at her pettiness as shadows  skated over Aliana's light brown wolf eyes. But Aliana, it seemed, was a  survivor, too.

"No, little human." She spat the word out with intentional disdain,  disregarding the fact that Cassie actually was a pretty big wolf. "I no  longer have a pack. But that has not broken me yet, now, has it?"         

     



 

She jerked her head upward, toward where Cassie knew her mate watched  them, though her gaze never left Cassie's. "The alpha, however, finally  will be broken when you die. He finally will be ended, and it will  finish there. And," something truly frightening glinted in her eyes,  "you will leave him, little human. I'm going to see to that."

"And then what? What the hell is your game plan here, Aliana?" Cassie's words snarled out of her.

The other wolf responded without blinking. "Your death, first. That will  reveal Trevor's weakness, allowing Thayne to challenge him and finally  take his rightful place as pack alpha. And I, of course, will be  reinstated into the pack and become the alpha's mate."

Cassie narrowed her eyes. "Why not just leave and find another pack? Or  make your own? That's got to be easier than all this craziness. You  pushed me over a cliff! And fell with me!" Cassie whuffed in what seemed  to be the wolf version of rolling one's eyes. "That seems like it was a  pretty complicated plan."

Aliana's lip curled up in what Cassie recognized would be a nasty grin  if she were in human form. "You cannot simply start a pack and expect to  have any power. Or money. It takes hundreds of years for packs such as  this one to form and come to the strength and influence it has."

Interesting. Cassie took the knowledge and filed it away in a part of  her brain that seemed to be-not new, exactly, but now somehow released.  Like she hadn't been using it to its full capacity before.

Fucking sweet.

Aliana's eyes seemed to be glowing brighter. Like a wolf getting ready  to leap again. Narrowing her own eyes back, Cassie watched the other  wolf very closely as she listened.

"Perhaps cliff diving was a little crazy, yes." The gleeful look on  Aliana's face said it had been a rush, though. "Yet was it also  calculated, planned, and practiced? Definitely."

Cassie gave her opponent another sizing-up look. The bitch was  absolutely insane. "Practiced? You practiced jumping off a cliff?"

The other wolf's answer was careless. Like leaping off a cliff into  empty space was the easiest thing in the world. "It was planned very  carefully, of course. I knew this ledge was here. The first time was a  bit of an accident. But I figured out how to get off this ledge. Then we  practiced. You never know what you'll need to do in order to protect  your place in the pack."

Something in her tone skirted the edges of an absolute darkness at which  Cassie didn't really want to take a closer look. But she had to. "We?"

Aliana hadn't moved, as far as Cassie could tell, but she was closer.  Somehow, she was inching her way toward Cassie. Fur ruffed up, Cassie  held her ground. Every muscle in her incredible new body was taut,  tensed to spring if Aliana so much as twitched.

"Thayne, of course." Aliana's voice drawled with pride as if that should  have been obvious. Pride and something that sounded like a real  attachment. "He's been at my side the entire time. We've planned this  for years."

Cassie couldn't help a little bark of laughter at that. "You planned  jumping off a cliff for years? That doesn't sound very smart to me. Or  like a good use of your time, no matter how damn rich this pack is."

Aliana's ears pricked up even higher in anger. Encouraged, Cassie kept goading her.

"In fact," she went on, "how did you ever think I'd even be out here? I  mean, years ago," she added, warming up to her own leaping thoughts,  "you didn't even know I'd be in the picture. Are you trying to tell me  part of the magical power of being a wolf shifter is the ability to  foresee the future?" Deliberately, she let disdain color her tone, while  keeping her entire body firmly in attack mode.

A growl was her first answer before Aliana replied. "No. But we have  long planned how to topple Trevor from his mighty perch." Venom shot  through her voice. "As for you, little wolf, I knew eventually you would  walk into one of our traps."

One of? Cassie tightened her body even more. This wolf was dangerous not  only because she was, well, dangerous, but because of how long and how  carefully she had plotted. Cassie readied herself for the inevitable  final battle to come.

"I couldn't get close enough to you at the estate." Aliana's tail lashed  once, hard, as she admitted that truth. "It's too well guarded. But if  Thayne and I laid low, eventually the alpha"-her voice spat more  bitterness at that word-"would lose his vigilance. I simply followed you  every time you left the property. I always was the best, stealthiest  tracker in the pack." Harsh pride circled her words. "When I saw him  taking you up here, I knew it would be too easy. I admit you being  turned was a surprise. But you still think like a human." A low warning  growl shook her words. "You have nothing on your side but that alpha up  there, and he cannot save you now. Nor could he save the last one."         

     



 

The last one? The last one what?

Aliana went on before Cassie could ask. "I certainly hope you've said your good-byes to that foolish wolf."

She huffed in a nasty delight, raising Cassie's hackles at both her tone and her insolence toward Trevor. Fuck her.

"And after you kill me," Cassie said, "how are you planning on getting  off this ledge yourself? Are you a magical winged werewolf? Going to fly  yourself away?" She let her voice sing-song a bit. In her wolf voice,  it sounded like a snippy bark.

Really, being a wolf was going to be a lot of fun.

Aliana snarled back in cold laughter. "You like to amuse yourself, don't  you? Of course I cannot fly. There's a small chimney up the cliff over  there." She tipped her head slightly to the right, never taking her gaze  from Cassie.

"Chimney?"

"A large crack in the cliff that goes all the way up. It can be climbed  up by those who are strong. Which I am." She narrowed her eyes.  "Definitely stronger than you. A newly turned wolf? Who used to be a  pathetic little dishrag of a human? You're nothing. You would do nothing  but weaken this pack."

"I am the alpha's mate," Cassie said. Her voice was a sharp snap.  Hearing herself converse as a wolf should be strange, but it simply  felt-right. "I am stronger than you think. Much stronger."

Aliana pressed herself against the ground, mere feet from Cassie.  Everything began to pinpoint to this moment. "Really?" Her voice  practically purred. "We shall see about that."

A strange humming filled Cassie's ears as the predator in her stared,  unblinking, at the threat before her. Despite the darkness beginning to  shroud the ledge, Cassie could still see extraordinarily well. That sure  was a nice perk. Enhanced eyesight, and a body that easily could leap,  run, and kill.

Kill. A light shiver jagged its way through her.

The really interesting thing was, it was a shiver of anticipation.

The voice she almost wasn't sure belonged to her spoke again. Deep,  dark, and certain, she said, "I told you to come and get me, Aliana.  Let's see if you're made of more than just hot air."

Quicker than a heartbeat, Aliana leapt toward Cassie while screeching out a hair-raising howl, deadly intent in her eyes.





Chapter 3



Trevor's hide furrowed with a cold chill as he watched the interplay  below him. Dusk was blunting the scene, although of course he could  still see quite clearly. He couldn't hear a word either wolf spoke, but  their body language told him enough. Cassandra, his lovely, surprising  Cassandra, seemed to be stringing Aliana along. Asking questions,  listening, while she assessed the situation. While she took stock of the  reality.