Like claws, his words scraped against my self-esteem. I straightened my spine and squared my shoulders. “Did Liam put you up to this?”
“No.”
I backed away from him.
A shadow muddied the green in his eyes. “Ness-”
“I’m a big girl, August. I’ll make up my own mind.” I walked toward the hamper and chucked the towel inside. “Thanks for your concern, though.”
“You’re going to go through with it, aren’t you?”
“I like proving people wrong.”
“This isn’t a game.”
“I’m aware of that.” I drew the door wide.
Sienna scrambled out of my way and flattened her back against the mirrored wall. At least I inspired fear in someone. Not the right someone, though.
“Sorry to have kept your date away,” I muttered.
Not that it was my fault. I hadn’t asked August to come and tell me how foolish I was.
From anyone else, I wouldn’t have cared. But August…August’s opinion mattered.
I hated that it mattered.
I hated that it made me question my decision.
Halfway back to my bedroom, I crossed paths with Everest. “If you’re here to talk me out of it, don’t waste your breath.”
He kept up with my hurried strides. “Are you kidding? I’m totally on board with you going up against Liam.”
That took me by surprise. I stopped. “You are?”
“Hell yeah. But if you’re sure, you need to tell the elders before midnight.”
“Why? Do they turn into pumpkins after that?”
Everest smirked, and it shook off the cloying anxiety that had marred his face since Becca swan dove off her roof. “The blood oath happens at midnight.”
I remembered my father telling me about blood oaths, but it was in the context of electing the Alpha. Pack members needed to slash their skin, then touch their seeping wounds to the Alpha’s. Once the contact happened, the magic took place and turned an ordinary wolf into a true beast. I wasn’t sure how it worked in terms of competing for the title.
“Get cleaned up and meet me on the deck,” Everest said.
In front of the dining room entrance, I spied Liam exchanging words with Matt, the blond giant, and another boy who was as tall as Matt but built narrower, with shaggy black hair and an ugly scar across one of his eyebrows.
When they caught me staring, I turned my attention back to Everest. “I’ll be there in a sec.” And then I jogged away to get ready.
I’d give the jerk a run for his money.
Did I want to win? Sure. Who wanted to lose? Did I want to lead a bunch of jerks? No. But if I did win, I could probably nominate someone else to run the pack. I wondered what my father would’ve thought of my decision. Would he question my sanity, or would he be proud?
My mother had raised me to go after what I wanted. And what I wanted was to stop another Kolane from being in a position of power. I held on to that as I readied to fight for my beliefs.
Dessert and drinks were being served on the spacious deck when I arrived. Flickering candles in giant hurricane holders cast eerie glows and moving shadows over the faces angled my way. Conversations halted. The only sound was the instrumental jazz whirring from hidden ceiling speakers
Jeb shifted toward me, a tumbler of whiskey clutched between his fingers.
“Sorry I missed dinner,” I said.
“You want to eat something?”
“I’ll eat later.”
He lowered his glass to his narrow hip, and the ice clinked. “Ness-”
“Please, Uncle. Don’t tell me what to do.”
“A month ago, you didn’t want to come back here. You wanted nothing to do with the pack, and now you’re vying for-for Alpha.” He joggled his hand, and whiskey splashed out.
“Let me guess… I shouldn’t compete, because I’m a girl, and according to you, girls are mangy little things.”
Color crawled up his throat.
“I might’ve been weak when you kicked me out of Boulder, but I’m not anymore.”
“Stop saying I kicked you out, will you?” he hissed.
“Well, it’s true.”
Through gritted teeth, he added, “It was to protect you.”
I dropped my voice. “Because of what Heath did to Mom?”
White appeared around Jeb’s iris rings.
Although people were near, they were too busy gossiping to listen to us. Or maybe they’d heard.
Like. I. Cared.
More whiskey dribbled along his wrist. “You-You-”
“Know about it? Yeah. Mom told me. I also know you didn’t do shit about retaliating. Besides getting us to leave, that is. Better Mom not tempt your revered Alpha again, huh?”
At first, I’d believed the cancer had made Mom delirious, but then Everest had confirmed it during one of our late-night chats after Becca’s attempted suicide. The confession came out almost at the same time as Mom’s last breath. Once she’d untethered herself from the lurid secret, her soul slipped out of her body and left me to deal with the aftermath of the terrible truth.
I’d been angry with her. But then Evelyn reminded me anger was one of the stages of grief, so I allowed myself to feel angry. With Mom and with Heath. Where I’d forgiven my mother for not telling me, I hadn’t forgiven Heath.