BORDER CONTROL

Chapter 34

MABEL ESTHER

Copper River is in my sights as, Beta Prescott, and the sinful pup run through the snow-covered forest.

It is mid-morning now and I can feel the anger rising through the bond. My head is painful with migraines as each mile we pass comes and goes. Ryden is pissed off, but not at me. His guards and patrols were supposed to watch the pup, but his Beta let him down entirely.

That punishment will be severe whether it was intended to or not. My Gamma has made him soft, if they were not mated, he would have attacked me the second I had stopped the shadow work.

"I've been trying to get this resolved for a while now." I grip the pup close to me, "each time I almost had you, you were ripped away."

Sighing, "I didn't have the heart to kill you, the bond between your father and I was still tethered, unfortunately."

"However, that didn't mean I wasn't angry or hurt by your existence, pup." My Beta and I cross paths, "I just wanted you far far away from me and the people I love."

The pup whimpers, "Are you gonna hurt me?"

"No. I am going to make an example out of you like I should have done in the first place." I shove him forward when he refuses to move forward on his feet, "if you don't keep walking forward, your example will be much worse for you than it should."

He squeals and keeps moving at a quick pace. Finally, the bastard pup listens and does something right for once as he never should have been born in the first place.

Some would call me heartless, some would call me crazy, and some would call me a jealous bitch... I call myself a grieving mate. Sure, the pup shouldn't matter now that I mated to someone else, but it does erk me that he went to lengths to protect the pup from me.

Yes, it was leverage. But is it really leverage when it shouldn't matter anymore? It has always been about power and the upper hand. I have the upper hand as he did the night he drugged me with wolfsbane.

"Tell me, what do you know about your sad and pathetic life?" I try to get the pup to talk, "we have many miles to go, this will make it quicker."

He turns to face me, but I shove his face away. There is a slight flinch that makes me stop to think about what I am doing, however, I push through that feeling.

"Um- I know that my mother was killed in a rogue attack... I think. My father abandoned me and I was raised in the North for a while until I was relocated." The child mixes some things up, but I believe that is what he has been told. The pup is only five years old, he knows more than a normal five-year-old pup would know.

In the distance, I can smell a running scent. My Beta can't smell it yet because only I can distinguish it until we get further into the forest. I keep my gaze on the forest while I find the right trail to take.

"Your mother was a slut and your father was a cheater to his mate." I boldly ask him, "do you know what that means?"

He shakes his head. "It means that your mother let her legs glide open for a mated male and your father willingly fucked an unmated she-wolf that was not his mate." The pups shiver.

"Alpha, will all due respect-" I snarl at my Beta, "SILENCE!"

I take a deep breath to compose myself, "your father was a higher-ranked male who wanted power."

"Your mother wanted to claim that power by becoming pregnant." I shudder at the memories, "your mother and father were killed for it."

The pup is quiet while we walk down to the ridge where the others are waiting for us. Walking through the morning to mid-day has taken a toll on our bodies, the pup seems to be exhausted.