Wolf Shifter Diaries: Lies Tamed (Sweet Paranormal Wolf & Fae Fantasy Romance Series Book 2) by E. Hall (books for men to read TXT) 📗

Kenna steadies herself on the back of a chair and then lowers to sitting. After a few moments, she takes a deep breath, wipes her face, and then says, “I’ll be fine. I just don’t want to bring you or the pack into whatever it is that’s going on with me.”

“Too late for that. I’m tangled up with you. We’re in this together.” I wrap my arm around her and squeeze. “I’m just glad I didn’t kill you that first day.” I chuckle softly to lighten the mood.

“But that’s just it. Had you done so, maybe Amanda would still be alive and—”

I shake my head. “I’d like to think at the core, everyone is good but makes mistakes. That’s how it works in the human world, right? Maybe that was the case with Amanda. Or perhaps she was rotten all the way through. In the magical world, some people are just straight-up bad, evil. Unseelie fae for instance. They tend to be horrible. All of us are monsters at our base nature. You exist outside the spell of the Accords and the Klave is lifting them, bringing the danger back to us all.”

“And that’s it. That’s why I’m a danger.”

More than anything I want to tell her that she’s wrong. But she’s not. “From what I’ve seen, you’re not evil, Kenna. You have a big heart. Listen to it.”

“My mother used to always say my heart will always tell me the truth.” Her eyes plead with me to agree.

I nod as I wage an inner battle between my duties and the truth of my heart. I love Kenna, yet in accordance to my agreement with the Council, I have to use her to expose her father and bring down the Klave. But it’s for her safety, to protect her and keep the Accord spell intact.

She sniffles. “What else did Clint say?”

“He spotted Amanda, appearing and disappearing. That confirms what we thought about the cloak. I wonder if it requires a spell or—”

I didn’t notice, but Kenna has the red cloak wrapped around her shoulders. She draws the hood over her head and poof. She’s gone.

However, her voice remains right beside me. “I can see you. Can you see me?”

“Nope.” I extend my arm. It’s as though it moves through cool, somehow thick vapor. “I can’t feel you either. But I can hear you.”

She drops the hood. “Gives a new meaning to Little Red Riding Hood.”

I chuckle more heartily this time. “When it comes to fae and wolves, I’m not sure which is the real monster in the woods.”

She laughs darkly and gazes at her hands, turning them over. Her eyes lift to mine. “I think that would be me. Both. All of the above.”

I stagger a breath. “And that’s exactly why we need to keep you safe.”

“I think it’s the other way around. I need to be kept from others.” Kenna’s expression puckers.

I want to offer comfort, but again, she’s not entirely wrong. “I’m calling a den meeting. It’ll be your first one as an official Alpha.”

Kenna’s eyes widen.

“Don’t worry. You’ll do great.”

In less than five minutes, my betas, except Avril gather around the table in the den. Baker has his laptop open.

“Losing Amanda is upsetting. I’d like to have offered her an honorable funeral, however, her betrayal cut her from the pack.” I’d already told them about my encounter with her and the werewolf at Richard Dubois’ cabin.

“Where’s Avril?” Trigg asks.

“I excused her from beta duties for the time being.”

“She mentioned that she’s on probation, but I didn’t believe her. What gives?” Trigg asks.

“Formally, she’s letting her personal opinions cloud her judgment as a beta wolf. Informally, she’s having a hard time playing nice.” I glance at Kenna.

“Guys, I feel like I’m causing trouble right from the get-go. I’m sorry. I—”

I hold up my hand to stop Kenna from saying more. “Being raised in the human world, you may have been taught to be polite and apologetic. However, the wolf hierarchy is different. In this position, we maintain a posture of servant leadership. We’re strong but wise. Tough but always have what’s best for the majority of the pack in mind. We have the ultimate say but listen to what’s wanted. Kenna, as Alpha, your job is to listen to your wolf.”

She nods as though relieved to receive a set of guidelines.

“Most of this stuff we learn growing up with knowledge of the magical world or it’s instinct. Don’t worry, you’ll get it,” Camilla says, assuring Kenna.

“Okay. Down to business. Anything from Brucker?” I ask.

Inga chuckles. “He’s not a fan of hot sauce.”

The others break into comments about his spice attack and desperation to lower the heat flaming in his mouth.

“He asked a few questions about suspicious activity on our land,” Camilla adds when everyone quiets. “I told him all of our wolves are accounted for. If Amanda wasn’t eliminated tonight, the answer would’ve been different.” Camilla lets out a long breath.

Kenna shifts uncomfortably and gazes at the floor. “I’m sorry. I don’t know—”

“Girl, what did Corbin say about apologizing?” Inga says.

Camilla, Baker, and Claude chuckle.

“You have to tune into your inner wolf. She was defending you.”

Kenna shakes her head. “No, it was fae magic. It was like Amanda somehow drew it out of me.”

The others go still, silent.

Kenna rubs the torn stitching on the hem of the cloak between her fingers. I want to keep the existence of the cloak to myself for now, but wonder if it had something to do with it. Then the color reminds me of something and so does my wolf.

Trust your betas.

I tell them about how Kenna found the cloak in the woods and what Clint said about the person