Alphas burden

It was over. By the time I was knocked aside and turned back to the fight, my father found the opening he needed and finished Clark. His wolf stood over Clark’s, muzzle coated in the blood of his torn out throat.

Avery’s scream shook me from my stupor. Why would her dad challenge mine? Anger swirled in my gut and the pain in my shoulder made my heart race.

I stalked to the edge of the circle while my father shifted back, dragging her away from hugging Liam.

“You—you’re in on it. You fucking knew,” I seethed. “You lured me out of here so I wouldn’t be around.”

Her amber eyes shone with her welling tears. “I, Caden, I didn’t! I—my father⁠—”

At her hitched breath, I grabbed her by her upper arms and shook her, ignoring the searing pain in my injured shoulder. “What? Tell me right now.”

I might only be the Alpha heir, but I don’t need the power of an Alpha command to make her confess to me.

“I didn’t know,” she swore between hiccuped gasps. “He said, he… All he said to me was that he had to convince Dempsey to listen about my mom.”

My eyes narrowed dangerously. “He made you an enemy of the alpha clan, Avery.”

My jaw clenches as I bury the memory in my mind. I was right to reject Avery.

I have to be. Because if I’m wrong about any of this…I’m no better than a monster for condemning her to the fate of living with a broken mate bond.

She’ll never feel complete with anyone else, enduring a lifetime of longing never fulfilled.

An uncomfortable burning sensation grows in my chest. I ignore it.

It’s near dawn when measured footfalls approach. I angle my head to the side just enough to see Liam without taking my attention completely off the cottage. His hands are in his pockets, pace slow and unthreatening.

“You stayed out here all night?” he observes in an overly neutral tone.

I grunt. He offers me the pair of pants folded over his arm. I accept them and yank them on.

“I tried to come over a few times to report on the run, but you were growling loud enough I couldn’t get close,” he says.

I pass a hand over my mouth, grounding myself with the scrape of stubble. Was I? Shit.

Clearing my throat, I turn my back on the cabin. It takes far more effort than it should. I blink at the blinding rays of sunlight rising above the treetops.

“The run?” I prompt.

“All good. A few curious about following you, but they were easily steered away.” He rubs at his nape. “By the way, I put Taryn Barnes in the hold last night for stealing.”

I huff. “What else is new? Put her on the usual punishment duty.”

“Your sister, too. Callie was the distraction.”

“Of course she was.”

I press my thumb and finger into my eyelids to alleviate the dull throb building there, an echo of my father’s admonition surfacing from my memories. I did the best I could raising Callie once he passed, yet still I feel like I’m failing him.

“Anything else to report?”

“The liaison from Timber Hollow Pack arrived this morning. I put them in one of the guest rooms in your lodge. You have a meeting scheduled with her at eleven.”

Right. She’s going pack to pack to review preliminary pla

I glance at the dilapidated cabin. “I’ll be down in an hour. My wolf’s still a bit, ah…”

“Out of sorts?” Liam suggests with a hint of amusement.

He can laugh all he wants. I don’t have time for this shit.

“Sure. Let’s go with that.”

He claps me on the shoulder. “So if you’re not around in an hour, I should come up to drag you down to the commons for work?”

I rumble in response. He takes it as a yes before leaving me to wrestle with my wolf to let me walk the fuck away.