The Highlands Wolves

LAIKA

I returned to the house as the sun burned low in the sky, the warm glow hitting my skin, dissolving the goosebumps that dusted it. Inside, people rushed around, some carrying trays of food while others cleaned. They were doing all this for Lyall’s mate. Some of them glanced at me with sadness.

I ignored them and gunned for my room. If that was the way people were going to greet me around here, then fuck it, I was going to drive a fist into someone’s chest and make an example of them.

I closed my bedroom door with undiluted rage. The doorframe rattled, but I didn’t give a damn. What I needed now was to calm down enough to meet Lyall’s woman, then maybe drink myself to oblivion.

A sigh escaped my lips, and I counted to one hundred. It almost helped, but it looked like I was going to need a stress ball and to get laid, fast.

I showered quick, the cold water soothing my heated skin. With a towel in my hand, I dried off, not giving a damn about my wet cornrows. Damn them. There was no need for me to look pretty. Except for Lyall, the males all thought I was ugly—the consequences of living with a scarred face.

I dressed quickly, not paying attention to what I put on. Before I exited the room, I took deep breaths and said the same old mantra about being a good little woman. When I finally felt calm enough, I opened the door only to be met by Madison, the last born of Carolyn Clarke.

One look at her, and I turned to walk the other way.

“I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly, running to catch up with me.

I took another deep breath before I lost it. “Save it,” I told her.

“Listen, I wanted to tell you, but Father used his alpha voice on me. I had no choice!” She ranted as she walked next to me.

Well, I couldn’t blame her. The alpha voice was impossible to disobey. I have the scars to prove it.

What I hated was the expression on her face. No matter how sad she got, nothing was going to change. History would remain so, and the future was freaking uncertain.

“It’s fine,” I said.

“No, it’s not. I should have done something, but that command. I hate being helpless.” She threw her hands in the air in frustration.

“Believe me, I don’t blame you; I know what you’re talking about.”

“Have you met her?” Madison asked.

I looked at her this time. She had on a short red dress and black slip-ons. Her curly hair was pulled up in a neat bun, her brown skin smooth, not a scar in sight.

“I’m going to meet her at breakfast,” I said.

“You will love her! They moved in last night, and the noises they made in their room…”

I froze, my feet refusing to go forward.

“Oh gosh, I’m being insensitive.”

“You’re being truthful,” I told her as my damn legs found their rhythm again. Screw them.

“I’m hurting you,” she said in a shrill voice.

“That’s what the truth is capable of.”

I needed to change the subject, otherwise she would continue to apologize until I said I forgave her a thousand times. “How was shopping yesterday?”

“It was great. We visited almost every shop in town, but Adam’s brooding presence ruined everything. And he wouldn’t let me stop in the ice cream shop. He said, ‘No, we’re going home.’” Her furious voice echoed around the hall, and I laughed.

“He was doing his job,” I told her. Adam was Madison’s personal security guard. If anything happened to her, he would lose his head.

“Ugh! The hate that courses through my veins for that guy. I swear, I will get him fired one of these days.”

“He’s the best we’ve got,” I said as we entered the dining room, the long table piled so high with food that the weight of it all threatened to bring it to the ground.

“That’s why he’s so arrogant,” she said, frowning.

“Bear with him,” I said. “You turn eighteen in six months. Don’t do anything rash until then.”

“I can’t wait!”

Her loud cry brought Alpha Clarke’s attention to us. He smiled, and Madison rushed to hug him. I kept my distance, not out of fear, but respect. Even though he and his wife called me daughter, I never found it in me to return their affection.

“Laika, come sit. Are you all right, Daughter?”

“I will be fine,” I said. Lying to him wasn’t going to help me.

“I know you will,” he said in his booming voice.

Madison and I took our seats next to each other. I grabbed an apple and used the knife I always had on my body to slice into it.

“I envy the way you handle that weapon,” Madison said, piling her plate with eggs. For someone so small, she always had a large appetite.

“I can teach you,” I said for the millionth time.

“Violence is not my thing.” Her answer was expected. It was the same answer she gave every time I brought up self-defense lessons.

“It’s for your protection.”

“From what? The Highlands have known peace for decades now. War is not our way of life anymore. I see no need to train myself to kill, or disarm, or whatever you call it.” She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.

“Life is not all sunshine and rainbows, Madison, sometimes you’ve got to go through storms to get to the good side.”

“My forefathers fought for this peace. They weathered the storms so that I could be here enjoying all this sunshine and rainbows.” She sighed as if her words were the wisest.

“Ignore her. Being the daughter of the alpha has spoiled her.” Adam sat across from Madison.

A floral scent drifted in the air. It was foreign, not something I was accustomed to.

Lyall walked into the room, a woman on his arm.

As the two approached me, I stood to greet them. My back burned with the stares the others threw at us.

“Hi, I’m Laika,” I said, extending my hand toward her.

“Hello…,” she gasped, her mouth forming an o.

Lyall looked uncomfortable with her reaction, but it was his fault. He was the one that didn’t warn her.

It took her a few seconds, but she finally grasped my hand. Her skin was too soft, her grip too weak. Or maybe she was just another spoiled brat.

“Laika, I’d like you to meet my mate, Moon Lee,” Lyall said.

“Moon Lee, it’s nice to meet you.”

Her delicate features pulled up in a forced smile. “The pleasure is all mine.” She held onto Lyall like she was waiting for me to lunge at her and tear her to pieces with my claws.

Lyall guided Moon Lee to a seat at the other end of the table. All through breakfast, she glared at me from the corner of her eye.

Eventually, I got fed up with her staring and I narrowed my eyes at her, a sneer on my face. She quickly looked away.

She was just another one of those people who judged me because of my scar. She was one of many.

No one in this family knew what had really happened to me. When they asked, I told them I was attacked while walking in the woods. Telling them the truth wasn’t going to help me. It would only put me in unnecessary trouble, alerting the Northern Province that I was still alive.

It was my secret, and I planned to take it to the grave.

Suddenly, Alpha Clarke stood to address the family. “The yearly meeting of the alpha families is happening soon. This year it will be held in the Northern Province, and we will all attend, even you, Laika.”

The fork I was holding clattered on the table, staining the white cloth. Everyone turned to look at me.

My eyes closed as I shivered. It wasn’t cold, but hell, I was freezing.

“What?” I choked out.

“We’re going together, as a family this year, which means you too.” There was power behind Alpha Clarke’s voice. It was not a request.

It had been eight years since I left the Northern Province. Eight years since I was carved up, stabbed, and thrown off a cliff to die. And now my alpha was commanding me to visit with my enemy, the son of the alpha of the Northern Province. My mate.