The mark she’d left on him wouldn’t heal, either. But hers was more discreet.
“Maybe you want to cover that,” she said.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror, then shrugged. “Or maybe I don’t. They’ll find out eventually. It’ll look weak to slink around in the shadows covering it. I’m not doing a thing, and if anyone has anything to say, they can get their ass beat.”
“I’m not sure I want to beat any asses right now,” Sydney said.
“Smart ass.”
She rifled through the drawers in the bathroom until she found a brush and some hair sticks. She ran the brush through her long blonde hair and then put it up in a bun with the sticks. She found some brown boots in the closet and added some jewelry.
“Are you going to the mall?” Noah asked.
“I can’t even believe you know what a mall is. No. I just thought, if we’re really doing this thing with the pack, I can’t look hesitant about wearing or using anything that belonged to the former alpha. We have to lay claim to everything. Isn’t that how wolves think?”
“Yeah. That’s how they think. You’ll fit right in.”
“Or I’ll beat asses.” They both knew these weren’t idle words. Sydney wasn’t sure if he realized it, but drinking a full normal amount from him had made her even stronger. She was confident she could hold her own with most of the wolves lower in the hierarchy. And she could bluff with the others.
When they reached the lobby, Sydney was underwhelmed. No one was down there. There was only one wolf in the bar. Had they deserted? Maybe they’d gone hunting. It was the full moon, still. But from what she knew, the alpha led the hunt on the full moon. Packs didn’t just wander off on their own without permission.
The guy behind the bar stepped out, nervously. “T-they were supposed to be back before sunset.”
“Where. Are. They?” Noah said, sounding very much like the asshole who’d called her by a number instead of a name in the exercise yard, back when she’d thought he might bust through the glass and kill her. “Rafe?” he growled.
Rafe was visibly shaking.
“Did they go on the hunt?”
The other wolf shook his head. When he spoke again, his voice came out barely above a whisper. It was hard to discern his words over the metal pounding through the lobby. “T-they went to bury her.”
Noah growled and Rafe jumped back as if he’d caught on fire. He thought the other wolf might piss his pants. Good. It wasn’t that Noah cared about them burying Shira. She’d been their alpha, maybe even for a long time. Giving her a proper burial ceremony was the right thing to do and would facilitate the transition that much easier with no bad blood. But they should have gotten permission first.
The fact that they’d slunk off to do it in the day behind his back was not a good thing. And he had no idea how he’d handle it. If he went on a killing rampage, they’d all fear him. If he acted like it was no big deal, he’d never hold the pack.
“S-sir?”
“WHAT?”
Rafe cringed again, and something in Noah just wanted to kill the weak fucker, but then, he’d been the only one who’d stayed behind. Why punish that?
“I tried to tell them to wait and ask, but they were afraid you’d say no. Shira meant a lot to the pack. She kept us together and out of trouble for a long time.”
“If they liked her so much, why did they all so quickly jump to follow me?”
“No one else in this group is much of a leader. And we need a strong leader to survive out here.”
If only they knew how long he’d been kept in that cell. They wouldn’t be turning to him to save them all. There was only so far brute strength could take him. And the half-faded, barely there memories of how his dad ran things weren’t going to help him now, anyway. His dad had run an established pack for decades. This wasn’t the same situation at all. He had no idea how to gain their trust and respect.
One or the other would have been easier, but to put the fear of God in them while also gaining their trust and loyalty wasn’t the most realistic task he’d ever been assigned.
Sydney squeezed his hand. And that was yet another issue. If he came off weak, someone might try to hurt her, even with his mark.
Wolves began running in through the revolving doors and shifting back to their human forms. Noah let go of Sydney’s hand and crossed his arms over his chest. He let out a low growl.
“Who is responsible for this?”
The pack members looked at the ground.
“Should I just start killing until one of you talks?”
Sydney let out a shocked gasp. Noah rounded on her and glared. He wished he could make her understand, but she had to stand with him now. Thankfully she closed her mouth and masked whatever emotions she was working through. He couldn’t reassure her. Every eye was on him, determining if he was fit to lead, determining if they could trust him. He wondered if this rebellion wasn’t a test, rather than an actual rebellion. After all, what were their other options right now?
If he and Sydney just left them, what would they do? There was no one else to lead. The pack would fall apart and they’d fall prey to the vampires lurking in the area. Possibly some of them would be taken by the magic users into the city. If they scattered and tried to get farther from the city, they’d just run into unfamiliar territory. They wouldn’t survive without each other and an alpha. Of course it was a test.
“Rafe, shut that shit off.” Noah pointed up at the speakers still pounding out the metal.
The wolf that had stayed behind scrambled to obey the order.
“WHO is responsible?” His voice echoed off the walls.
He didn’t have to bluff. If these wolves were going to pose a threat or problem for him or Sydney, he had no qualms about taking them out. And judging from the fear in the room, they wouldn’t be able to organize well enough to overtake him. They’d hesitate. And that would be enough. From the looks on their faces, they all knew he wasn’t just putting on a show.
One of the wolves stepped out of the pack.
“It was me. Shira was my sister.”
Noah shouldn’t have been surprised that it was a female wolf. Between his mother and Shira, it wasn’t as if the idea was all that shocking. But from what he’d gleaned, statistically male wolves tended to be stronger, and they also tended to cause more trouble.
“Livia!” one of the other wolves snapped.
“He’d kill me when he found out, anyway. Isn’t it better to keep the rest of you safe?”
Traditionally when a new alpha came in, they didn’t just take out the former alpha, but any close blood relations that might cause problems in the new structure. Given what she’d already done, it wasn’t crazy for her to think she was about to die. But if he killed her, he’d look like a monster. He might have their fear, but he’d never gain their trust.
“Come here.”
She stepped away from the group and approached him. Noah allowed himself to shift just enough for his claws to come out. The room went absolutely silent. Even Sydney didn’t make a sound. Livia squeezed her eyes shut and cringed. Instead of slitting her throat like another alpha would have, his claws sliced through her shoulder, leaving a trail of blood and torn flesh behind.