Kay nodded. A pack without an Alpha didn’t survive very long. “So, if you refuse to take over, or the pack doesn’t accept you—and I don’t see that happening—what then?”
“An Alpha from another pack will issue a challenge. If no one opposes him, our pack will be absorbed into a new one.”
“What if we don’t want to be absorbed into another pack?” Kay asked.
“Those who refuse will be disposed of.”
“Disposed of?” Kay shook her head. How could she have grown up here and never heard about any of this?
“It’s a pack thing,” Brett said, as if that explained everything.
Which it didn’t, at least as far as Kay was concerned.
“We’ll have to discuss this with the pack tomorrow night,” Greta said. “Right now, we need to get cleaned up and lay our Alpha to rest.”
With a worried glance at Kay, Brett followed Greta out of the room.
When Kay started to follow them, Victor took hold of her arm, then closed the door.
Kay stared pointedly at his hand. “Let go of me.”
“We need to talk.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“No? Well, I’ve got a few things to say to you, wife.” His hand tightened on her arm when she tried to pull away. “Tomorrow night, when the pack meets to discuss who should take over as Alpha, you will suggest that I take your father’s place.”
“Like hell I will. You’re not even a member of our pack.” She flinched as his fingers bit into her arm. “You’re hurting me!”
“I’ll do worse than that if you don’t do as I say. I want this, Kiya. If you’re smart, you won’t oppose me.”
“Are you threatening me?” She stared at him, appalled by a sudden niggling fear that Victor was somehow responsible for her father’s death.
“Of course not,” he said, his eyes narrowing to mere slits. “But it would be a shame if anything happened to your aunt Greta, her being next to the last of your blood kin and all.”
There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Victor would carry through on his threat. Even worse, the suspicion that Victor had killed her father no longer seemed as far-fetched as it had only moments ago. Victor had always been power-hungry. Alpha werewolves lived a long time. She had a horrible feeling that Victor had grown tired of waiting and had decided to hurry things along.
“If you suggest that I take your father’s place, the transition will be smooth. No one will get hurt. With your blessing, the pack will agree. After all, I’m your husband and everyone knows how much your father loved me. Who better to take his place?”
“Anyone but you!”
“Think about this, then. If you don’t back me, I will challenge Greta for leadership of the pack. Who do you think will win?”
Feeling sick to her stomach, Kay could only stare at him, mute.
“So, do we understand each other?” he asked, his voice a low growl.
She nodded curtly.
“You need to get ready for the funeral. I’ll help you dress.”
“I don’t need any help.”
“It’s my husbandly duty,” he said smugly. Still grasping her arm, he opened the door and escorted her to her bedroom.
When it became obvious he wasn’t going to leave, Kay turned her back to him. She longed to take a shower, but it wasn’t going to happen with Victor in the room. She quickly pulled on the black dress she had worn such a short time ago, brushed her hair, stepped into her heels.
When she was ready, Victor grabbed her hand and hauled her to the guest room at the other end of the corridor. She moved to the window, staring out into the night while he dressed. She tried to think, but she was numb inside. Empty. Her parents were gone and she hadn’t had a chance to tell either of them good-bye. But even worse, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Victor was responsible for her father’s death. She told herself it was impossible. Her father’s death had been an accident. A hunter in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Let’s go.”
She turned away from the window, her jaw clenching when Victor again took hold of her arm.
He grinned at her. “I’m not taking any chances on your doing something stupid.”
“I already did that when I married you.”
She gasped with pain when he struck her across the face, her head snapping back from the force of the blow.
“That tongue is going to get you in trouble one of these days, Mrs. Rinaldi. I’d advise you to choose your words with more care in the future.”
Werewolf funerals were always held in the deep woods late at night. Her father’s body, tightly wrapped in a wool blanket, was laid out on a bier to be burned. The pack, all clad in unrelieved black, surrounded it.
Shrouded in a long hooded cloak, Greta stood at the head of the bier. “We are met here this night to mourn our Alpha, Nagin Luta. He has served our pack well. We know not whether his death was accidental or provoked, but the man who caused it will slay no more of our kind.”
Brett moved up beside his wife. “Nagin Luta was my brother-in-law, and my friend. Under his leadership, the Shadow Pack knew fifty-three years of peace and prosperity. He will be sorely missed.”
One by one, the members of the pack paid their verbal respects to their Alpha.
As his next of kin, it was Kay’s duty to ignite the funeral pyre. She stared at the lighter that Brett offered her, then shook her head. “I can’t do this.”
Without a word, Victor took the lighter from her hand.
Tears flooded Kay’s eyes as the hungry flames devoured her father’s remains. A morbid part of her mind wondered if fire consumed all preternatural creatures as quickly and completely.
As the flames died away, mournful howls of sorrow rose on the wind.
In the distance, a wild wolf yipped in reply.
Standing a good distance away, Gideon watched the proceedings. He didn’t miss the way Victor Rinaldi kept Kay close to his side. Gideon had only to brush her mind to know what she was thinking, feeling. It came as no surprise that Rinaldi had threatened her. What was a surprise was her suspicion that Rinaldi had murdered her father so he could take over as Alpha of the Shadow Pack.
Which was exactly what had happened. Gideon couldn’t say for sure what Rinaldi’s reasoning had been, but Gideon had seen the whole thing, which had taken only a few moments. Victor had paused at the foot of the rise and Alissano had stopped beside him. The murder itself had happened very fast. Victor shifted to human. A man stepped out from behind a tree and fired once. The bullet struck Alissano in the heart and he went down. Victor had congratulated the shooter on a job well done. Then, in a move quicker than the human eye could follow, he had shifted into his wolf form, ripped out the shooter’s throat, and quickly shifted back to human. By the time Kay reached the scene, Victor was kneeling beside Alissano.