The Alphas Sister (Complete)

Chapter Six: Trails, Traps, and Tangled Packs

After breakfast with Electra, the kitchen had felt too small, her question about Cade. "Why's he got a problem with us now?" hanging in the air like smoke I couldn't clear. It'd rattled me more than I'd let on, dragging up memories of when we'd been a trio, her, me, and Cade, before he'd taken over as alpha and my own messes piled up. I needed out, space to breathe, to shake off the council's ruling still gnawing at my pride and the cell's dank stench clinging to my skin. Anger management classes twice a week were my new leash, and they'd yanked me off patrol duty too, a gut punch to my beta status in a pack of a thousand wolves. Didn't mean I couldn't check the traps I'd set yesterday, though, keep an eye on the borders, rogue or not. Rules be damned, I wasn't about to sit idle while the forest beckoned.

I slipped out the back door, avoiding the main hall where Shane's trial would've just wrapped, probably a banishment, judging by last night's chaos and headed for the trees. The afternoon sun slanted through the pines, warm on my bare shoulders as I stripped behind a thick oak near the pack house's edge, folding my jeans and dark green shirt into a neat pile. No one was around, but modesty was for humans, I'd shifted in worse spots. I closed my eyes, letting the change rip through me, bones stretching, muscles knitting, fur sprouting black as pitch until the world snapped into vivid clarity. My wolf hit the ground running, claws tearing into the damp earth, the wind whipping through my coat, sharp with pine and freedom.

I bolted east toward the river, where I'd rigged those net traps Electra had pitched in Cade's office a week ago, her voice crisp, "They'll snag rogues without killing them, Kyan,". The forest blurred past, pine needles stinging my nose, the faint musk of deer lingering on a trail, the rustle of leaves overhead. My jaw ached faintly, a ghost of Cade's training punch, but the run burned it away, every stride bleeding off the tension coiled in me since the council chamber. A thousand wolves, miles of borders, and I was benched, Gavyn's voice still echoed, "Your temper's a liability." I checked the traps, wire taut, markers reeking of herbs and urine, pits undisturbed. No rogue scent, just the woods' quiet hum. Good enough, even if it wasn't my job anymore.

An hour later, I looped back toward the pack house, slowing as I neared the tree line. Hanging back in the shadows, my dark green eyes caught movement, Shane, trudging out the front door, a battered suitcase dragging behind him. Two enforcers flanked him, Kael, hulking with a broken nose, and Mira, wiry with a scar across her cheek, their broad shoulders squared, faces grim.

 Shane's head was bowed, a bruise blooming dark across his jaw where I'd clocked him last night, blood on my knuckles earning me a night in the cell. Served him right, bastard had it coming after what he'd done to Diana. She stood on the porch, her sobs carrying on the breeze, hands pressed to her face. Even from here, I could smell her grief, bitter and thick, laced with that faint pregnancy tang I'd caught last night through the bars. My chest tightened, it was for the best, him gone, but her pain cut deeper than I'd expected. She loved him, somehow, despite the bruises he'd left, the ones I'd seen when she'd come to me, cuts still pink on her healing skin.

I wanted to go to her, say something to ease that hurt, maybe "You're better off," or "The pack's got you" but I'd done enough. My fists had spoken, landed me in front of the council with a hundred wolves watching, and stirred up this mess. Guilty plea, anger classes, no patrols, Gavyn's gavel had hit harder than Shane's jaw. She didn't need me barging in again, not when her tears were already soaking the porch boards. 

I retreated to my clothes, shifting back with a groan as my bones snapped into human shape. The forest air chilled my sweat-slick skin as I yanked on my jeans and shirt, the fabric rough against my still-thrumming pulse. Sneaking around to the back door felt smarter, no point wading through the pack's stares or Diana's sobs.

I pushed the door open and nearly collided with Cade, his bulk filling the frame like a wall of alpha muscle. His arms were crossed, hazel eyes fixed somewhere past me, jaw tight under that short brown beard he'd grown since taking over. Great, not in the mood for one of his lectures, I tried to sidestep him, but my shoulder clipped his, solid as stone. He didn't budge.