Chapter Fifteen

Willow

“Pack Shire isn’t royalty, though I guess we’re not too far off.” I consider. “Byron has a seat on the council, which technically makes us nobility.”

Already I sense Kane wanting to interrupt—probably to ask who the hell Byron is—but to his credit, he stays quiet.

I sit up straighter, my back pressed to his chest. When I tried to push him away, he growled, and my inner omega whined, so we settled on this: me, propped between his legs.

“My older siblings—three alphas, one omega—all received their posts when they came of age. That’s what happens when you’re born into a high-ranking pack. Your whole life is planned out before you can even walk.”

Kane’s chest rumbles. “And you? Guessing your big life plan wasn’t to live alone in the wilds.”

I laugh once, humorlessly. “You’d be guessing correctly.”

Once again, he goes quiet, giving me a chance to back out.

Tempting … but no. I’ve made up my mind. Kane has been respectful of me, in his own way. And he has kept me alive, like he promised. He deserves to know who he’s protecting.

“Council, church, and sentinels. That’s how we were all assigned.” My throat turns dry. “My fathers said, once I turned twenty-three, I’d be expected to join the latter.”

“Hang on.” I sense Kane’s frown. “Omegas get to be sentries where you come from?”

“No.” For some reason my face turns hot. “They don’t.”

Get it together, Willow. What is there to be embarrassed about? That I didn’t realize how fucked up this ‘assignment’ was from the beginning? That I was willing to let them lock me up in the barracks, playing brood mother? It’s no accident I was so na?ve.

“Mother made it out like some fantasy,” I mutter. “ You’ll never want for a pack, she told me. You’ll have all the doting alphas you could ask for .”

My stomach roils. I suddenly wonder about my sick bucket, left near the fireplace.

Kane shifts behind me. “I don’t get it.”

Of course you don’t. You’re an alpha.

Squashing down my bitterness, I explain, “The official position was ‘sentinel dam’. Basically a surrogate mother, meant to raise the next generation of warriors.” I shrug. “Some big initiative the council cooked up.”

Kane freezes. “The same council your dad is on?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Christ.” Disgust curdles his scent. “That’s … Christ.”

“The premise was solid. I mean, an elite, well-bred squadron, literally born into the ranks? I’m not surprised it passed.”

“Are you defending him?”

“Of course not.” I have to stop myself, realizing how quickly I’ve fallen into old habits. The number of times Byron vouched for this, convincing me to lend my body to a noble cause … what else could I do but believe him?

They’re laughing. And laughing. And laughing, and laughing, and laughing, and—

“Willow?”

Blinking, I find my fists clenched painfully in my lap. Kane must notice it too, as he gently unfurls my fingers, flattening my nail-printed palms against his.

“Next time you gotta grip something,” he growls, weaving his fingers through mine, “grip me.”

My heart skips a beat. Is this big mean alpha really holding my hand right now?

“Mother said they’d be kind,” I get out, “and strong. It was years before the penny dropped.” I hesitate. “Actually, it was three months ago.”

Kane is quiet. His hands are big and rough and warm.

“My fathers wouldn’t let me tour the barracks. Not even once.” I shake my head. “Looking back, I’m sure they guessed what would happen. A bunch of pent-up alphas in close quarters isn’t the safest place for a young omega.”

Already, I can feel Kane’s chest rumbling, his growl deepening.

“But I had to see it. Wanted to know where I’d be spending the next twenty, thirty years of my life. So I snuck in.” I squeeze his hands a little tighter. “I want to say it was the worst mistake I’ve ever made. But if I hadn’t … that’s where I’d be now. Trapped. With them .”

“What happened?” Kane demands. “They hurt you?”

I glare into my lap, eyes burning. “ Hurt doesn’t come close to what they did to me.”

Pure, alpha fury erupts through the cabin—noxious and choking. For someone who is at least a little bit angry all of the time, I didn’t know Kane had this side to him.

A side that screams murder.

“Tell me,” he snarls.

Cautiously, I answer, “There’s not much more to tell. I went home, I grabbed a bag … and I left.”

I hold my breath, expecting him to ask me why I didn’t confide in my family. Surely someone would’ve protected you ?

But instead, he asks, “Where’d those assholes touch you?” He turns me around, glaring my body up and down. “ Where ?”

“W–what? Why does that matter?”

“’Cause I need to know how many pieces to rip ’em into.”

My blood runs cold. “Kane.”

“Did they—” he stops himself. “Was it …?”

I understand then what he’s asking. Those piercing crimson eyes aren’t just looking for scars. They’re searching my essence. Figuring out exactly what the sentries took from me that day.

I don’t have the strength to speak, so I just nod. Once. Painfully.

Kane’s expression blackens. “ Fuck .”

Suddenly my head feels like an impossible weight. I look down, aching, remembering, trying not to cry.

Kane’s anger. His disgust. I’m drowning in it, dragged under a sea of potent alpha pheromones. I should’ve guessed he’d react this way. An unbonded omega without their ‘virtue’ is of no value to anyone. Until a few months ago, I was Pack Shire’s prime asset.

Now I’m just a whore.

“Shit,” Kane mutters. “Hey. Look at me.”

He takes my face in his hands, but I don’t lift my gaze.

“I’m … sorry,” he bites out. “Not trying to scare you.”

I sniffle. “’M not scared.”

“You think they’re gonna find you. Drag you back.”

“ I’m not going back .”

“Damn straight.” His lip curls. “This is my territory. As long as you’re here, no one fucking looks at you without going through me.”

Normally this is the part where I roll my eyes and remind him it was my territory first. But tonight … I let my inner omega take the reins.

Slowly, I lean into his chest, relaxing as his scent starts to even out. He’s still pissed—that’s not going away—but his entire body pulses with warmth and spice and sweetness as soon as I get in close.

“I’m staying here,” he growls, pulling me closer. “Right fucking here.”

It’s not a request, but it’s not an order, either. I decide not to complicate things more than I have to, lying on top of him with the blanket pulled over us.

Sleeping soundly, safely, in my rogue alpha’s arms.