War of Hearts(119)

It was a promise he kept.





Butterflies fluttered in Thea’s belly, but it wasn’t fear. It was nervousness and anticipation.

To say Conall was not happy about the recent turn of events was an understatement, but as she met his gaze in the crowd encircling her, he gave her a stoic nod of support.

Inside she knew he was probably desperate to tear Richard Canid’s head off and be done with it.

The murmurings of the gathered Pack MacLennan grew an octave, and they parted as Peter Canid led his son and daughter and three of their warrior wolves through the crowd.

On the opposite bank of Loch Torridon there was a little cove of beach that for some inexplicable reason was host to pure golden sands. This was where Pack MacLennan had congregated to watch their new alpha female challenge Richard Canid.

Thea had only been a werewolf for three days, which was kind of the reason Conall was pissed. But when she’d woken in his arms after a vigorous night of lovemaking in her new existence and her mate had told her he would face Richard Canid in a Challenge, Thea was not happy.

For starters, a Challenge could be anything two dueling wolves wanted it to be. Conall had declared it a fight to the submission or death in wolf form. It wasn’t that she didn’t think her mate could take Richard. It was because she thought he could, and that Richard would be too stubborn to submit. Thea believed Peter Canid a worthy ally for Pack MacLennan, and she didn’t want to ruin that. Mostly, however, she was the one who’d been kidnapped, so why the hell was Conall requesting the Challenge?

“It should be me,” Thea had argued as she followed Conall out of the shower the previous morning. He’d just told her Peter had found his son and returned him to Torridon to face Conall.

Her mate threw her an incredulous look as he pulled on his jeans. “Forget it.”

Indignation had stolen her tongue for a few seconds, long enough for him to stride out of the room with a casual, “Coffee?” over his shoulder.

Coffee?

She hauled one of Conall’s shirts over her head and hurried after him. He was in the kitchen and as soon as she walked into the room, he said without looking up, “I’m not arguing about this, so forget it.”

“Conall, Richard kidnapped me. Not you. Me.”

His eyes flashed with anger. “You’re my mate and my pack member. The offense was against me.”

Okay, no way. Thea’s hands flew to her hips. “Oh, I’m sorry, was it you who felt the agony of Ashforth’s iron concoction being injected into you or the despair of being handed over to your tormentor, all for cash?”

Conall slammed the fridge door shut and whirled to glare at her. “No, but it was me left behind panicking about your whereabouts.” He strode toward her, his furious expression probably menacing to anyone but her. Still it was intimidating enough she had to force herself to stay put as he bristled and towered over her. A bleakness entered his eyes. “It was me who watched Devon Ashforth plunge a fucking iron dagger into your heart. It was me who had to bite you all the while not knowing if it would save you. It was me sitting in a car with my sister, you dying on my back seat, contemplating if I’d be able to fucking go on if the change didn’t work and I lost you. And all of that, Thea love,” he bent his head to whisper angrily against her lips, “happened because Richard Canid kidnapped you.”

Thea stared up at Conall’s anguished expression and knew how it felt to watch that vamp back in Oslo stick the silver blade in his neck. She remembered what it was like to feel her mate’s pulse fade and the terror at the idea of a life without him.

She reached for his face, her fingers caressing his scarred cheek. “You’re right. He did do that to you.”

Thinking that was it, Conall relaxed into her touch, lifted her hand from his cheek, pressed his lips to her wrist, and then turned back to the kitchen to finish making the coffee.

Thea took a deep breath and then exhaled. “But I still think I should be the one to Challenge him.”

Conall’s back was to her but she watched his shoulders tense as he stared at the kitchen cabinet in front of him. “Fucking save me from alpha females,” he muttered.

“I heard that.”

Turning around, it was his turn to sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. “Fine. Explain.”

She smiled because this was one of the reasons she loved Conall. He might be an alpha, but he was fair-minded, and he didn’t bulldoze people with his opinions or feelings. “Okay, my first reason is pretty basic. I hate the little shit and I want to put him in his place.”

Her mate conceded that with a nod.

“My second reason is that I think the clan needs to know that I’m a worthy addition to your pack. I know you’re alpha and it’s your pack. I don’t expect you to consult me on pack business. I’m new,” she shrugged, “and I get there’s a hierarchy here. But I’m also your mate and I want to share your burdens. I want you to value my opinion.”

“You know I do,” he said, his voice gruff.

She smiled. “Then the pack needs to know that too. They need to know that I’m not your wife. I’m your mate. There’s a difference. I’m here to stay forever. And they need to understand what that means. If I take on Canid in a Challenge, I think that will help pave my way to finding my place among the pack.”