Forsaken (Book 3 of the Zara's Wolf Trilogy) BWWM - ON HOLD

23. The Chains Come Off

Zara's POV

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"What did you have in mind?" Evan asks.

I stare at my mate. Despite his bloodshot eyes, he's calm and collected. He's not at all angry or scared of Kairo and what he can—and will do.

"Aren't you the next in line to inherit the land and title?" Kairo asks.

Evan swallows. "In theory, but I'm not alpha material. That's why my parents signed the deed over to Alicia and Rick."

"I could make you 'alpha material' as you call it," Kairo says. "All you need is proper training and discipline."

Evan shakes his head. "I don't want it."

Kairo's dark eyes turn to me. "What about you, Zara? I didn't get to properly train you."

I furrow my brows at him. "Train me? I don't want to be alpha either."

"Yes, train you," Kairo says. "I know you didn't have a proper shifter upbringing. That's not your fault. I could tell by how weak you are. The apple never falls far from the tree and no pup of mine can be as weak as you pretended to be. I could see it in your eyes. Like me when I was sixteen. Defiant. Rebellious. I knew the fastest method to make you stronger was to channel that drive to rebel, even if it was against me."

I clench my jaw. He really is crazy.

His arms fold across his chest. "You don't believe me. That's fine. No one else did in the beginning either."

Evan's looking back and forth between us, puzzlement playing on his face. "Do I want to know what you two are talking about?"

"No," I tell him quickly, but Kairo seems all too eager to spill his guts to him.

He pulls out the chair Muse previous sat on and turns it around so he's leaning his arm on the back of it. "It's not complicated. I train the weak. Make them want to be stronger. Make them want to fight back. Adversity makes men. Prosperity makes monsters."

"Until those monsters turn on you like Ryan," I spit out.

"He was already a monster. Spoiling pups does that. You want to be strong? You need to be challenged. Physically, Ryan was powerful because he was trained to be, but he was twisted inside. He seems to have a lot of envy toward you, and he may have harbored that beast for far too long," he says, his attention turning to Evan as he says that last part.

Evan scrunches his nose. "Envious of me? How was I supposed to know that Megan was his mate?"

Kairo shakes his head. "No, that kind of envy turned to resentment long before that happened. That was just his tipping point."

Lowering his head, Evan's thinking over Kairo's words.

"Why don't you want the alpha title?" Kairo asks Evan. "With proper training, I believe you and Zara could make a fit alpha pair."

My mate simply shakes his head. "Because I don't want to be alpha. It's a responsibility too great for me. I won't be strong enough to do justice by my pack."

"Many great leaders think that," Kairo points out.

Evan's nose scrunches up. "I'm not built to lead. I'm built to run. You saw Ryan. He ran me over and—"

In a flash, Kairo is up and wrapping his large hand around Evan's throat—his eyes wild and fierce.

I'm on my feet immediately and lunging at the larger man, pounding my fists on his shoulder and screaming at him to stop.