Kingdom of Wolves - Page 79

“Izzy Wolfbane, you are not welcome at Wolfsfoot Town. Iwill contact the town council in a moment and lodge my grievance. But know itwill be upheld because even though the town is full of rogues, we have honorand would never leave a town member to fight alone. You need to make your wayto no-man’s-land, and I wish you all the luck in the world because you aregoing to need it.”

For a moment, I see panic and worry flash across her face,but she masks it quickly and does her best to look untouched by the news.

“I can cope with whatever is thrown at me. You, however,need to watch your back.” Izzy storms towards the packhouse to grab which ofher things she can carry. I turn and see Alpha Aurora looking blank, whichmeans she is mind-link speaking to pack members, or she’s wondering how it cameto this with Izzy.

Not sure what to do, I stand quietly and wait. Carolinasteps to me and grips my elbow. “Come on, let’s go get a drink. I’m sure AlphaAurora will call a meeting about the rogue attack when she knows more.”

“Yeah, I’ll call Thomas Stringbold the Town Mayor. He’llspeak to the other town council members. I think it is important that they knowwhat I’ve just done, and lodge my objection to Izzy becoming a part of thetown.”

Making my way to my room quickly, I make the call to theMayor, waiting impatiently for him to pick up my call. I stand at the window ofmy bedroom and watch four pack members follow Izzy away from the pack house.

“Hello, is something wrong, Tatiana?” The mayor quicklyasks.

“I’m not sure if you would call it wrong, but we have had anincident here at Blood Pearl, and I needed to speak to you about it.” Rubbingmy hand over my forehead, I quickly relay what happened and wait for themayor’s response.

“Okay, I agree with what you’ve done, Tatiana, and I’llspeak to the other council members. We don’t want someone in town who wouldtake out and not put back in. We’ve all said so many times that we are not apack, but we act like one, and that includes protecting each other if needed.”I hear someone speak to the mayor on the other end of the phone and am notsurprised when the mayor speaks again. “I’ll contact Alpha Aurora also,Tatiana, but thank you for letting me know promptly. Goodbye for now.” I lookat the phone when I know he’s gone. Male shifters, I’m thinking, are likeprehistoric men, all grunt and no manners.

The door flies open and Carolina walks in, holding a bottleof whisky, two glasses, and a bag of ice. Lifting an eyebrow because I’m notsure what the heck is going on.

“Well, Alpha Aurora is busy, so no meeting, at least today.After the rogue attack this morning, my warrior status, I hope, is going to bedropped because I realized my heart’s not in it anymore.” Throwing herself ontothe bed, she holds up the bottle. “Come on, we’re going to drink whisky withice.”

Now I’m only seventeen, too young to be drinking, but I’vegot to admit I’m intrigued, so I take my glass and a small sip from the glassCarolina hands me. Fire runs down my throat and settles in my belly. Panting alittle with the shock, I look at Carolina who tips her glass back in one throwand swallows the fiery liquid.

That’s how both Carolina and I end up drunk. Now it’ll notlast as long as for a human because of our high metabolisms, but dang, itdidn’t stop the passing out, snoring with drool, or the headache in themorning.

Turning to look at Carolina who is leaning against theheadboard next to me looking like she’s been in a war, with red-rimmed eyes,hair standing on end, and a silver line from her mouth down to her chin fromthe drooling she’s been doing. I give her the best glare I can manage with theraging headache I’ve got going on. “Never again, you hear me. This is the firstand last time I drink.”

Carolina giggles a little, and when she inspects my messed-upself, she turns the giggle into a head-back laugh that is loud enough foranyone in the packhouse to hear.

Chapter 32

TATIANA

“What have you two been up to?” I hear as I enter the packkitchen. Turning to give a smile to Crispin, who is sitting at a small tablenext to the back door.

“Good morning. Nothing, we just got up.” I take a bottle ofwater out of the fridge and drink half of it down quickly. I’m sure the alcoholhas made me a little dehydrated. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m going to try out for a warrior position. We lost twowarriors yesterday at the pack border.”

“Oh, no. I hoped they had gotten away.” I sit oppositeCrispin and do not know what more I can say.

“We all know it’s risky being a warrior on patrol, butsomeone has to do it. I’ve been training for a long time now and I think I’mmore than good enough. I’m going to spar against Wallace this morning and he’llreport back to the Alpha if I can be upgraded to full warrior status.” Lookingat me closely, I’m surprised when he asks. “Someone told me how well you foughtyesterday. Can I ask who you train with?”

I’m not sure if it’s wise to say Drake’s name because hewasn’t impressed with me for spilling the beans at Spirit Walker Pack andhaving Lyle train with Chief Glen looking on. “I’m not sure I’m supposed totell anyone, but I have a good trainer. He’s very strict and pushes me all thetime. I had no training when I arrived in town, and he was kind enough to takeme under his wing and teach me. But if you ever needed to know for any goodreason, I’d have to ask his permission to tell you first.”

“Drake Redwood teaches you.” Someone says from behind me.

I will not give whoever it is the satisfaction ofacknowledging them. I’m certainly not going to add anything more to the conversation,either.

“How do you know that?” Crispin asks.

“Alpha Aurora told us when we knew Tatiana was coming here.You don’t think we agreed to have a rogue in our pack without checking out howdangerous she was, do you?”

I can feel Ebony uncoil from the resting position she heldin the back of my mind. She gets to her feet and stretches, yawning widelybefore sitting and waiting for whatever happens next.

‘Be ready Ebony, just in case.’ I state and see her raiseherself to her feet.

I’m always ready to protect us, Tati. But I don’t thinkhe’s a threat, just nosy. I don’t like our business being bantered around,though.