Chapter 59
DAKOTA’S POV
The journey back home was filled with a lot of emotions—happiness, anxiety, satisfaction, and peace, while at the same time, a storm was brewing in my soul. Bonding with my mother was always something I was open to doing. I noticed that deep down, I no longer blamed her for her actions when my father died. Instead, I understood, and I forgave her.
The only hitch to this would be Adam. Try hard as I might, I could not help but hate the guts of the giant. And it made me question the moon goddess if she couldn’t have found someone better for my mother.
But then, even I couldn’t deny that he was a good teacher. Coupled with Alpha Orion and Katie as well. I didn’t just feel strong; I knew that I was much stronger than I was before leaving for Russia.
The second all four of us got back into the house, I took a shower and went straight to bed. My mind was a jumble of thoughts. Those thoughts conveniently saw to it that sleep evaded me well into the night, even after everyone in the house had gone to bed.
Akela rolled over and cuddled me from behind, and I melted against his chest, smiling sheepishly, and for a few moments, all thoughts vanished from my head. The mate bond was something.
“What are you thinking about?” I sighed and rolled over in his arms, so I was facing him. I was always quick to forget that now that we were mated, he could sense my emotions.
“You can take a wild guess…” I said, running my hand down the side of his face, slowly and softly. He sighed and opened his eyes.
“Odin?”
“Yeah…” I swallowed hard. “What if I…”
“Shh…don’t say that. You’re going to do just fine. Trust me.”
“What if I am not ready?”
“Dakota. You have been trained by the best warriors in the west. You’ve got this in the bag.”
“But Odin is an Alpha.”
“He is an Alpha that has cheated and lied to get to where he is currently. And he plans to do more if he isn’t stopped. He will not be able to cheat his way out of this one. Do you know why?” I shook my head.
“Because we know what his game plan is. We know about all his moves. And do you know the best part?”
“No…”
“We have a solution to the potion. I just need you to be strong. We all need you to be strong and believe in yourself.”
I smiled at Akela and nodded.
“Thank you so much…”
“Anytime, my love.”
My heart warmed at the endearment. I gently rubbed the side of his face until he started snoring softly. I carefully got out of bed and decided that I would go for a walk. My body felt a little too tense.
I stepped out of the house and breathed in the chilly night air. I began my walk down the street and then ventured into the woods, following the trail and just enjoying the feel of dewy soil and snapping twigs under my feet. I walked well into the woods when my ears became alert to breathing that wasn’t mine. I stopped walking and raised my nose in the air and sniffed. I caught a whiff of a disgusting scent. I choked on the smell and barely had time to collect myself before I saw a wolf charging toward me. I shifted out of the way just in time, and they slammed into a tree. Judging from the size, I could tell that it was a male. I half-shifted, so my claws protruded, and my canines extended.
He came charging at me again. I ran at him as well and met him halfway, jumping up and slashing him across his face with my claws. He landed with a hefty thud, whimpering. I looked at my claws and saw that I had clawed an eye out. I resisted the urge to puke and shook the blood out.
The wolf got to his feet and tried running away. I grabbed his hindlegs from behind and flung him into a tree and smiled when I heard a satisfying crunch. The hit coupled with his eye must have been too much for his wolf body because he began to shift back to his human form.
He looked even worse naked. I walked over to where I had thrown him and stepped on the leg that seemed out of shape.
“Hey there…” I squatted beside him, ignoring the horrid smell that he exuded.
“Fuck you.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He began laughing. I punched his nose and watched blood begin to flow freely.
“What the fuck are you doing here? In this pack? That isn’t normal rogue behavior.”
Truly, it wasn’t. If rouges were found near pack territory, they were up to something bad.
“You will find out soon. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”
He began laughing again. I swore under my breath and cracked my knuckles. This wasn’t going to be pretty. I intertwined my fingers with his and bent them backward, keeping a hand across his mouth to muffle his screams as his fingers broke. When I was done, he was sweating profusely despite the cold air and almost struggling to breathe. I dropped his hand and picked up the other one.
“Let me ask you again for the last time…” He began laughing again. I honestly didn’t know what he was finding funny.
“Last time. Like you don’t plan to kill me already.” He was right, but I didn’t need him to know that.
“No. I just want to know. I’ll tell you what. You tell me what I want to know without any more stress, and I let you walk…”
“Bullshit!”
“The way you look, I doubt you would make it too far across the border anyway. So, win-win for us.” The way his eyelids fluttered told me that he was considering it.
“Or…you can decide to not tell me, and I can try to torture it out of you and eventually kill you. Which would lead to you having a very painful death.” He was quiet, weighing his options. I sighed and decided to help him make his decision faster. I picked up the second palm, and he began nodding his head vehemently.
“Okay! Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you what you need to know!” I smiled sinisterly at him.
“Good boy.” I sat on the ground and crossed my legs “Let us hear it.”
“Odin has a group of us gathered nearby.” I rolled my eyes. Why wasn’t I surprised?
“Okay.”
“He plans to attack the Alpha chief and take over.”
I saw red. My wolf took control, and without much ado, we snapped his neck. I stood up and fell to my knees, and then I was shifting. I shook the remnants of my nightwear off my body and went hunting. I had work to do tonight.