My Sister Couldn’t Tame Her Alpha? Fine. I’ll Do It! Chapter 09

My Sister Couldn’t Tame Her Alpha? Fine. I’ll Do It! Chapter 09

Vance moved first.

He grabbed Auriel’s arm and yanked her close, teeth clenched.

“Shut your mouth.” His voice was low, but every wolf heard it. “I’ve got a fated mate at home. Three kids. Whatever mess is in your head, keep it there and don’t say another word.”

The threat in his eyes was real. Auriel flinched-then did what she did best. She ran to the one man who’d never turned her away.

She spun toward Corvax, tears pouring down. “Corvax, I’m sorry. Everything I did before-it was all because I was jealous. Because she was with you and I couldn’t stand it.” She reached for him. “You know I’ve always liked you. Please-”

Corvax didn’t move. Didn’t speak. His hand was still holding mine.

Then everyone smelled it.

Every wolf in the clearing caught it at the same time-Vance scent, buried deep in Auriel’s skin. Not surface contact. Not a passing brush. The kind of mark that takes weeks, months of constant intimacy to sink in that deep.

Auriel’s eyes went wide. She knew. Every wolf could smell what she’d been desperate to hide, and no amount of tears could wash it away.

Her legs gave out. The miles through snow and rubble, those heels, the stress of this confrontation, Vance’s public denial-her body couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed for Vance’s arm to steady herself, face completely drained of color. One heel snapped clean off.

She collapsed into the snow. Vance tried to shake her off, but she clung to his sleeve, whole body trembling like a leaf.

The pack’s healer pushed through the crowd, crouched beside her, pressed two fingers to her wrist. Checked her eyelids, felt her stomach. Two minutes later, she looked up at Fenwick.

“She’s pregnant.”

Vance’s jaw locked tight. He didn’t say a word.

Fenwick didn’t need him to. The Lycan looked at Vance like something stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

“Strip him of western pass management. Effective immediately. Transfer the transport lines to pack control.”

He turned to one of his officials. “Notify his home pack. Within a week, have his registered mate and children

brought here.”

Then to Vance. “Hiding your family, abusing your authority sleeping with a woman young enough to be your daughter. Your council title is suspended pending final review.”

Vance opened his mouth to say something. One look from Fenwick shut him up.

The fallout came fast,

Three days later Vance’s fated mate arrived with three half-grown kids, pissed off enough to blow up a mountain. Those three took one look at Auriel and marked her as the enemy. Less than a week in, the yelling from Vance’s yard became the pack’s background noise.

The woman who pushed me off a cliff to steal a man was now stuck with a man who’d denied her in public. Pretty ironic, but I was too busy to appreciate it.

Fenwick had spoken-no pack would take her in. And the kid in her belly tied them together whether they wanted it

or not.

Once the western pass got taken from Vance and handed to pack control, things ran smoother than before. Shipments south doubled. The women’s crew expanded. Wintermaw’s treasury was fuller than anyone could remember. The pack elders started asking my opinion on business instead of telling me to mind my own.

I should’ve felt great. But mostly I just felt tired. The good kind of tired-the kind that comes from building something real.

Two weeks before the full moon, I loaded up the truck.

Last time I drove this road, I was alone. Radiator hose held together with duct tape, hands covered in oil, hair reeking of diesel.

This time was different. Corvax sat in the passenger seat, one arm draped over my headrest, thumb tracing lazy circles on my shoulder.

Funny. Having someone next to me made the road feel shorter.

When the sun went down, we hit Forgeborn pack territory. I stopped the truck and sat there without moving.

“Thera.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’ve been gripping the steering wheel for four minutes.”

“I said I’m fine.”

He reached over and peeled my fingers off one by one. “Whether they yell or throw things, I go in first. Deal?”

“I’m not scared of my mom.”

“Your heartbeat says otherwise. I can feel it.”

“Fuck the mate bond. Worst feature ever.”

He laughed and opened the door. “Let’s go. Before you chicken out.”