She schooled her features into a mask of indifference when he tracked her down an hour later.
“How very domestic of you,” he remarked, noting the piles of folded laundry she had stacked on the counter. “I don’t see any of my clothes there,” he said, crowding her into a corner. “Surely, as a devoted wife, you should be doing my laundry and not your uncle’s.”
When he lowered his head to kiss her, she turned away. She should have known better. He shoved her against the wall, trapping her between his arms, his body holding hers in place.
She glared at him. When he lowered his head again, she started to lift her knee, intending to drive it into his groin, only to stop when she recalled Gideon warning her earlier not to make Victor angry.
She closed her eyes as his mouth covered hers. It was all she could do to keep from gagging. And then she heard her aunt’s voice, calling her name. It was the sweetest sound she had ever heard.
“Oh, Kiya, there you are,” Greta said from the doorway.
With a low growl, Victor stepped away from Kay. “I’ll talk to you later.” Nodding in Greta’s direction, he left the room.
“Greta, bless you! Your timing couldn’t have been better.”
To Kay’s surprise, her aunt hugged her. “I knew you didn’t want to be alone with him, so I’ve been sort of keeping an eye on the two of you all day.”
“Thank you!”
“I had another reason for coming down here. The pack is starting to gather.”
“All right.” Kay tossed a load of towels into the dryer. “Let’s go.”
Kay’s nerves were on edge as she dressed for dinner that night. She wore all black—black jeans, sweater, boots.
Earlier in the day, Victor had told her exactly what he expected from her and had gone into great detail outlining the consequences should she fail.
She tensed as he entered the bedroom.
Victor lifted a brow as his gaze ran over her. “Did someone die?”
“Only my mother,” she retorted. “And my father.”
He glared at her as he went to the closet and pulled out a pair of navy slacks and a pale blue shirt. He ran a comb through his hair, then sat on the end of the bed and pulled on a pair of dark gray loafers. He looked so smug, so sure of her, that she wanted to scream. And yet, what could she do to thwart him? She had no doubt he would do exactly as he’d said, and as opposed as she was to having Victor as the Shadow Alpha, she didn’t dare object, not when her aunt’s life hung in the balance. She had lost her mother and her father. She couldn’t lose Greta, too.
Victor stood. “It’s time to make our entrance.” He took a last look at his reflection in the mirror, nodded, and said, “Let’s go.”
Kay kept her gaze on her plate during dinner, surreptitiously listening to the hum of conversation at her end of the table as her pack mates speculated on what it would be like to have a female Alpha. The wolves liked and respected Greta, but she was, after all, a female and not likely to survive a challenge. Kay heard the name of the Montana Pack’s Alpha—Simon LeClare—mentioned several times. No one wanted to be absorbed into LeClare’s pack, or any other. It would mean leaving the Shadow Pack’s compound, adjusting to a new Alpha, a new pack hierarchy. She heard the worry in their voices, saw it in their furrowed brows as those nearest to her contemplated such a drastic change.
Kay glanced at the table where the children were seated. It would be hardest on them, having to leave all they knew. Not every compound was as large as this one, or had swimming pools and ball courts. The children of the pack were schooled here; most of the very young ones had never been outside the fence line.
Tonight, when the pack went out to choose a new leader, those under the age of eighteen would stay here, in the house.
And suddenly, it was time to go. Parents wrapped their young ones in blankets and settled them on the sofa. Some of the kids sprawled on the floor to watch a movie, while the older kids pulled out cell phones and iPads.
Kay’s nerves were stretched wire-thin when they reached the gathering place in the woods just outside the fence line. She refused to look at Victor, who stood on her left, his hand squeezing hers. A silent warning, no doubt.
When everyone was present, Greta stepped into the center of the circle. “You all know why we are here tonight. Our Alpha has been killed and we must choose a new leader. As Nagin Luta’s sister, and as the only other Alpha of the Shadow Pack, it falls to me to take his place. If there are any here who will not support me as Alpha, speak now.”
Victor nudged Kay. She glanced up at him, into his cold dark eyes, and knew that unless she suggested Victor’s name, her aunt’s days were numbered.
Torn by guilt for what she was about to do, Kay stepped into the center of the circle. “I know Greta Crayton would be a credit to our pack, and that she has the heart to be our Alpha, but …” Kay swallowed hard, fighting down the bile that rose in her throat. “But I don’t believe she has the strength to defend us. We are a small pack. News of my father’s untimely death has already spread. As you all know, my father trusted my husband, and loved him like his own son. For that reason, I believe that Victor Rinaldi should reign as our new Alpha.”
A hum of excited conversation filled the air as Victor, looking properly humble and surprised, took his place beside Kay in the center of the circle.
Greta held up her hand, silencing the crowd. “As is custom, anyone seeking to be accepted as Alpha must shift on a night when the moon isn’t full to prove they are able and worthy.”
Victor smiled at Greta, then bowed from the waist. “Ladies first.”
He was as good as his word. He waited for Greta to begin, but before she finished, he shifted from man to wolf and back again, proving that he was stronger, faster.
Murmurs ran through the pack.
Resuming her own form, Greta made a slow circle, her gaze resting on each man and woman present. “The choice is yours. Those of you who wish to follow Victor, please stand behind him. Those of you who wish to follow me, join me on this side of the circle.”
Kay held her breath, wondering what the outcome would be. Marriages had broken up when couples refused to follow the same Alpha.
Brett was the first one to make a move. He went to stand at his wife’s side.
Victor looked at Kay; after a moment, she went to stand beside him. She lowered her head, hands clenched at her sides, unable to meet her aunt’s disbelieving gaze.
In a surprisingly short time, the pack had made its decision.
And Victor had lost his bid to be the Shadow Pack’s Alpha.
It took all Kay’s self-control to keep from smiling. She had done what Victor asked and the pack had rejected him. He couldn’t blame her for that, she thought, until she saw his face. His eyes glittered with anger. Tension rolled off him in waves as he fought to keep his wolf in check.
The pack members felt it, too. Their unease was a palpable thing in the taut silence.
Fear’s cold, clammy hand curled around Kay’s insides. This wasn’t over, not by a long shot.
Chapter 37
Victor made a slow circuit around the circle, his gaze resting on the face of each pack member. Most of them held their ground; a few glanced away.
He stopped in front of Greta. “You’re not strong enough to hold the Shadow Pack. Either surrender to me, or fight me for it, here and now.”
“No!” Brett sprang in front of his wife. “The pack has made its decision, Rinaldi. Go home, where you belong.”
“My wife is here,” Victor replied with a sneer. “So here is where I belong.” His gaze shifted back to Greta. “Surrender or fight?”
Head held high, Greta stepped around her husband. “I will never surrender to you.”
Victor smiled as if the fight was already won. “So be it.”
Kay placed a restraining hand on her aunt’s arm. “Don’t do this.”
“I have to,” Greta said. “To refuse would be to dishonor everything my brother stood for.”
Kay nodded. She embraced her aunt, then moved away, her heart aching because she knew Victor was right. There was no way Greta could win.
As Kay walked away, she felt Gideon’s presence. Looking up, she saw a familiar black wolf standing beneath a tree about a hundred yards away. Just knowing he was nearby made her spirits rise. Maybe there was still hope after all.
Silence descended over the pack as Victor and Greta shifted.
Kay felt her heart sink when she glanced from one to the other. Victor was larger, more muscular, easily the stronger of the two.
The wolves faced each other, ears twitching back and forth, nostrils flared. Victor snarled, then lunged forward, his teeth snapping but biting only empty air as Greta spun gracefully out of the way.
Kay watched breathlessly as the two wolves circled and snapped at each other. For a time, neither one did any damage. To Kay’s surprise, her aunt drew first blood. Victor howled with rage as Greta sank her fangs into his shoulder, but he shook her off with ease, then sprang forward, his jaws closing on her left foreleg.
Kay flinched when she heard the bone snap.
Victor let Greta go and took a step away, his lips peeled back in a wolfish grin of triumph as she struggled to her feet. Blood dripped from her injured leg.
Kay watched in horror when Victor closed in on her aunt again. Greta tried to defend herself, but it was no use. On three legs, she couldn’t outmaneuver Victor; running away was not an option even if she could manage it. Once begun, it was a fight to the death.
Kay’s horror turned to fury as she watched Victor viciously attack her aunt again and again. Instead of granting his opponent a swift, clean death, it was obvious Victor intended to torment her, to inflict as much pain and damage as he could before delivering the final, killing blow. What was worse, he was enjoying it.
With a cry of rage, Brett darted forward, only to be pulled back by three other pack members. He struggled against them, but they refused to let go. In his human form, he had no chance against Victor.