Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

" Y ou think we'd let her leave with you?" Cadoc's icy voice slides down my back and tightens my stomach.

"Let me?" I stare at him.

"She's family. Our bond won't allow us to cause her harm." Liv gestures to me. Her actions speak louder than words could. Aung Gerda never took such a vow. It makes me more inclined to trust her.

"And the rest of your people?" Bo jerks his thumb toward the road we traveled along.

"Know better." Stem's voice is confident and full of power.

"Give me this time with her, please." Liv presses her palms together like she's praying. "In order to take over the item, she has to win its allegiance. Which she has to do alone."

"As has always been the practice of our people. You know this," Sten adds.

"You can monitor me with our link." I sense the reluctant acceptance creep in. I take a few steps toward the door. "We'll be fine," I assure my mates as we walk outside.

"When you get back, we'll catch up," Li says. Determination darkens her eyes to a shade closer to brown.

I've never had a bond with a female in my family outside of my mother. What would it be like? I dip my head in agreement, curious, but doubtful.

Pushing my conflicted emotions aside, I follow Liv outside. There's peace in the anonymity I have here. I don't expect ridicule or opposition as we walk. The trees form a thick canopy, shading us from the sun's rays filtering through the gaps. The silence between us feels cozy.

I study the quaint homes and people in gardens, on their porches, and walking the neighborhood. Liv nods and exchanges greetings. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. A group of children play on a swing set. I do a double-take. There are female children here.

Questions dance on the tip of my tongue. The proof is in front of my eyes. What once seemed a part of the cycle of life is looking decidedly unnatural.

Angering the gods took more than ignorant behavior. I think of Kirk's old life. What the hell was unleashed during those experiments?

"You must have questions," Liv breaks the silence as we leave the town behind and venture on a trail toward the forest.

"So many I don't know where to begin," I admit.

"I brought you something." She leads me over to a row of wooden benches that resemble the ones we have back home. Removing the satchel from her body, she unzips it and produces a worn manilla envelope with familiar loopy cursive.

"Mom." I look up at her. "You said she turned her back on you."

Liv nods. "For years, that was true, until your brother arrived. The illness grew worse, and we both needed to know the other was okay."

I take the envelope. "So, it affected your people too?"

"Not like it has yours." Live sighs.

"What does that mean?" I carefully open the envelope and remove the old letters. I can still smell my mother's rain and lavender scent lingering on some of the pages.

"The devastation your pack is experiencing is at a record high."

"Every pack is going through a decline. There's been talk among our people for centuries." I read the lines, smiling as I hear the words in her voice.

"Yes, but not like yours." Liv scowls. "I'm sure your Alpha worked damn hard to make sure no one discovered that."

"And why would he do that?" I look up. This woman knows more than she's letting on.

"You have the answer to the cure." I study her face to see signs of deceit.

"No." Liv holds up her hand.

"You avoided this question the other day." I trail my finger over the old photo of my family.

"Biologically predisposed to defend our Alpha, we perceive any derogatory comment as an attack. But there are valid reasons wolves have been leaving in the middle of the night."

"What?" I think of the hefty sum I paid for my freedom.

"They're risking everything to escape. It's gotten too big to contain."

"And yet no one helped?"

"Thostenson is powerful and not to be trifled with." She looks down. "And none of us wants his misfortune to transfer to us."

"Convenient, isn't it? You've got everything worked out." I set down the envelope and give her my full attention. I can't afford to be distracted. Duty needs to come before feelings.

"I think the cause is connected directly to him." Her words are too certain. I narrow my eyes. Pressing her now won't get me what I need.

"You might be right."

She blinks. "Excuse me?"

"I have no rose-colored glasses when it comes to my Alpha. He turns his head when it suits him and forced me into my clan."

She growls.

"We know he's keeping secrets, but right now, the amulet has to be my primary concern."

Her lips purse. "He won't get away with this."

"Why do you care?" I shrug. "If you knew about me, you could've come and claimed me at any time."

"I couldn't put my people at risk. No matter how badly I wanted to."

Such an easy excuse. "Of course, the pack always comes first."

"Ylva."

"You said you had something for me." I retreat behind a mask of indifference.

Sighing, her shoulders slump. "Our ancestors claim it was a gift from a powerful being." Liv opens her hand and reveals a silver oval broach with an intricate pattern of intersecting lines and runes. "Don't you feel the power emanating off this?" she asks. Liv lifts it toward me. "Occasionally I'll sense a flicker of energy. Probably because it's not meant for me." She holds it out to me.

"You think I'm supposed to have it?" I hesitantly touch the cool metal. My skin tingles, and I pull away.

"If you prove to be its master, yes. I've seen you wearing it in dreams. It was always my job to keep it safe for you."

"This is the first I'm hearing of it."

"Your parents kept a lot of secrets from the two of you. Did you know the elders paired them to produce powerful offspring?" Liv asks.

I frown, unable to smell a lie in her words. "They never mentioned that."

"Of course not. My little sister always did what she could to soften the blow." Sighing, Liv shakes her head.

Why would they do that? I always thought my parents were a true love match. Learning otherwise makes my heart hurt. "I'm missing something here."

"Ingmar knew what life would be like for you. Spinning a fairytale romance about fate and happily ever after was her way of sugarcoating the truth." Liv's eyes darken with sadness.

"How dare you put words in her mouth when she's not here to defend herself?" I slam my fist onto the table.

"Those were her words. We fought about it on numerous occasions. I offered her a home here, you know?" She tilts her head.

I swallow. "She didn't take it?"

"No. She believed in the Thostenson pack and its alpha for a long time." Liv's brow dips.

"Why didn't you?" I whisper.

"My dissolution was a slow, painful process. I'm not sure what our parents wanted when they had children, but it wasn't me. Nothing I did was good enough. I wasn't an omega, made to birth a new generation, prized by the males, or an alpha with enough power to rise through the ranks. I could hold my own in a fight, and I had a good head on my shoulders. But I didn't excel at any particular thing. They never forgave me for that."

My aunt looks over my shoulder, seeing something I can't. "They pushed me to my limits and beyond; forcing me into extreme obstacle courses and controlling every aspect of my life. I saw all kinds of doctors."

"Doctors? Were you sick?" I had never heard of a survivor of the sickness going on to have children.

She laughs bitterly. "No, they ran test after test, looking for who knows what. But I knew deep down by the age of twelve they'd never find it."

I recognize the downtrodden expression of a woman who sought approval only find rejection. I'd been in that same position for years growing up until I learned not to look inward for approval.

The similarities create a kinship. "Did you ever ask them?"

"Hah." She snorts. "They were not the type of parents you questioned. It was unyielding loyalty and compliance or silence."

"So, what changed?"

"They tried to match me with a man three times my age with a history of cruelty and a line of dead spouses behind him." Her cheeks flush and she grits her teeth. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. That came later."

I shudder at her emotionless tone.

"Once Ingmar was born. I took a backseat. They tasked me with keeping her safe and being a good example ." She gives a shaky smile. "The sad thing is how grateful I was for the role. It was easy, and I made them happy. I found approval for the first time, and it was addicting." Her lips twist. "I lapped it up like a starved puppy."

I hold my tongue; afraid she'll stop talking if I interrupt. The pictures she's painting of my grandparents are bleak. No wonder my mother never spoke much about them.

"I always knew your mother was special. But once she hit puberty, you could sense it. And not just because she was an omega. She had an extra quality that made you take notice of her. She commanded respect without trying and outshone everyone else in the room."

I can hear the genuine affection and admiration in her voice. I try to recall what being in my mother's presence felt like. She exuded peace, warmth, and safety. All things a child should experience with their parent. I sift further, separating her as my mother from her as an individual. She possessed a gravitational force that pulled others to her. "There was a light."

"Yes." Liv nods. "What else?"

"It was almost magnetic?" I see the knowing expression on my aunt's face. "Why?"

"I think it had to do with our resistance to the sickness. We lost the old alpha and a strange darkness settled over the pack. There was a lingering sadness that never lifted. I think evil slithered in through the crack grief made and made itself at home."

"And if you're right?"

She meets my gaze. "Then we've found the right person to finally deal with it."

"I'm no one's savior."

She laughs. "Spoken like a true heroine."

"No. Someone who wants to make a difference. Do you know what they're doing now? Mating matches. And you can guess who's benefitting from it. They put down enough money, offer Alpha favors, and they're handed a beautiful, young woman duty-bound to fulfill their every whim. No. This isn't the way of the pack. I am not saving it for the Alpha to continue moving everyone around like game pieces. He's got skeletons in his backyard. I plan to dig them up and dump them on his front porch. Every last one of them. Then the pack can decide what comes next. All of us, not a small group of elitist assholes, clinging to their control and affluence."

"Do you think there's a strong contender to take his place?" She lifts a thin eyebrow.

"I'm not sure." I run through the older members of the pack and find them all lacking.

"I do." She looks at me pointedly.

"No."

"Cadoc is a trusted member of the pack with plenty of power to spare."

I lift my hand. "When is enough, enough?"

"Only you can decide that. But," she says, stretching out the "t" sound. "Once you hand over the reins, you lose control of the situation."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"You should prepare because the creek water is rising and if you want to escape, you'll need an ironclad escape plan." She stands. "I'm not the one who decides."

"Who does?"

"Have you ever heard of the Norse God of Justice and Trials?"

"Vaguely."

But I sense a crash course coming.