Seventeen-year-old Keri Edwards has led a hard life. She is the daughter of the most ruthless Alpha in the territory. In the shadow of cruelty, he molded her to follow in his footsteps.
Her father's unexpected death has freed her and made her the Al...
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Keri
As I waited for Cade I thought about my deceit. It had been easier than I'd first anticipated. They'd no idea Victor had a daughter. He'd made sure to keep my existence a secret. I'd started going to their school a few months before Scarlett had arrived. I'd kept to myself but I'd kept my ears open. Any information that concerned Cade's and Blake's packs had been relayed back to my father as I'd played the obedient role of a spy.
There was no way I was able to integrate myself into their packs because werewolves didn't associate with humans; they stuck to their own kind. It had only been when Scarlett had found out Cade was her mate and she'd started to hang out with the werewolves that they had allowed me into their group, not knowing who I really was. To them I was the human friend of Scarlett and nothing more.
I'd hated being deceitful but my father had given me no choice. He was the alpha and I couldn't disobey an order no matter how against it I was. He also had a hold on me that ensured I did everything he asked. I hated him. Even in death he'd left me in a mess I was going to struggle to get out of. And I'd lost my mate because of him.
My heart hurt every time I thought about Blake. The easygoing memory I'd always had of him was replaced by the memory of when he had looked at me with revulsion before he'd turned around and left me. There was no point in hoping he was going to be able to forgive me because I doubted he ever would. Somehow I had to forget about him and move on.
Being a female alpha who wasn't mated left me at a disadvantage. I didn't want to think about the fact that if Blake refused to mate with me, I would be unable to shift. It would leave me as a weak target to outside attacks that tried to take over my pack.
Only werewolves with alpha blood could run a pack. A beta could step in for a short amount of time but they couldn't run a pack indefinitely. If I was killed by another alpha they would take over my pack because I didn't have an heir. I didn't want to think about that now. First I had to figure a way out of here and back to my pack.
Half an hour I waited before Cade strode back into the room. He stood legs slightly apart and his arms crossed over his chest. Most werewolves would be intimidated by him, but I was an alpha too, so I wasn't.
I remained sitting on the bed as I held his gaze.
"You wanted to talk to me?" he said tightly. He was a good Alpha. He had a powerfulness that seemed to come effortlessly and he also had a good poker face. I had no way of knowing what he was thinking.
"Yes, I want you to release us," I told him. I was quick and to the point although I knew it wasn't going to be that simple.
"And why would I do that?" he asked flippantly as he arched an eyebrow.
I got off the bed and walked over to him. My father had taught me never to show weakness in front of other people, including alphas of other packs. If Cade thought for one moment I wasn't strong enough to stand up against him, my pack would be in trouble.
"Don't play games with me, Cade," I said as I started to get annoyed that he was treating me like I didn't know what I was doing. My father had trained me well.
"Do I have to remind you I'm the one with the upper hand at the moment?" he said with steeliness as he glared at me.
He was right. I was locked up and he wasn't. But the truth was my pack was bigger than his and I could make his life difficult if I wanted to.
"The fact that you also upset Scarlett doesn't sit well with me either," he added, his eyes hard.
I felt a pang of guilt at the fact that I'd hurt her even though it was for her own good. He was very protective of Scarlett. It was to be expected since they were mates. Seeing what I was missing hurt so I pushed the emotion away. When I got out of this mess and back to my territory I would mourn the loss of my mate in private.
"Scarlett has a hard time understanding that forming a connection with all of you was necessary to fulfil my job as a spy," I said, trying to explain. "Any connection that was made wasn't real."
"Even the connection you made with Blake?" he asked softly as he cocked his head to the side, his eyes trying to see deeper.
That had been a low blow.
"Yes."
I lied outright. I wouldn't gain anything from being truthful. In fact it would put me at a disadvantage because then he might try to use Blake to manipulate me and I couldn't allow that to happen.
Talking about my deceit wasn't going to help us to a point where we would be able to reach an understanding. I had to steer the conversation back to the problem at hand. I had to explain to him that I wasn't a threat and I wasn't interested in fighting with other packs. I just wanted to go back to my pack. The only time I would fight was when I needed to defend my pack.
"Look, my father was the one that made a decision to attack you. It wasn't right," I began to negotiate. "My pack was in the wrong."
He remained silent.
"But he's dead and I'm the alpha now. I don't want a war, I just want to get back to my pack."
A pack had to follow the orders from an alpha whereas they could ignore orders from a beta. It was a recipe for disaster.
He pressed his lips together as he watched me intently.
"It would be detrimental for both of us for me to remain a prisoner. If my pack became unstable then your pack, as well as the surrounding packs, would be at risk."
He remained silent. He knew I was right.
"You also run the risk of my pack attacking yours to save me from imprisonment. After everything that has happened, do you really want more bloodshed?"
He studied me for a few moments. I knew he didn't want to chance losing any more of his pack members.
"Your only option is to negotiate with me. It's in your best interests to trust me," I added, hoping that my argument had swayed him. If it hadn't, there would be a lot more bloodshed on the way.
He laughed at me.
"Trust you. The werewolf who was planted into my territory to spy on us and you are asking me to trust you," he said and scoffed. "You played all of us and you expect me to forget about that and put the lives of the people I love into your hands?"
He looked at me like I was crazy. Although he had every right not to trust me, I needed him to if I was ever going to get back to my pack.
"I can't be held responsible for my father's decisions," I said. I wasn't sure I was making any headway with him.
"His blood runs in your veins so I have no way of knowing that you won't do the exact same things he did."
He was right. He had no way to know for sure that I wasn't going to lead my pack exactly the way my father had.
Silence followed.
"I'll be meeting with the other alphas and we will decide on what terms we'll release you," he informed me coldly. He gave me one more glare before he turned and left me alone in my cell. The door banged closed behind him. Whatever the terms they came up with were, I would have to agree to them and that made me feel helpless. It was a feeling I hated.
