Forbidden Hope: A Werewolf Wars Prequel Novella (8 page)

“Once Emily has conceived, she will be mated to the father of her child,” Emmett reasoned. “It will only last until a good breeding partner is found.”

Breeding partner?
Bile rose up in Emily’s throat at the thought. She wanted to hurl at the horror and injustice of it all.

“The other two girls here, are they of breeding age?” Fernando asked.

“No, Maddie and Amelia have not started their heat cycles yet,” Claire spoke up.

“They are fifteen and sixteen,” Emmett explained.

“Do you plan to take them?” Claire asked, her voice cracking slightly.

“I see no reason not to leave them in your charge until they come of age. May I ask how you happened upon them?” Fernando inquired.

Emmett leaned forward on his desk. “The two young girls came to us about three-and-a-half years ago. We received a distress call from a neighboring pack about an hour away. By the time we got there, there wasn’t much we could do. The men who lived aren’t fighters; from what I’ve gathered, the pack was quite docile in nature. Regardless, they have all become intricate members of our pack, and we have found jobs for each of them.”

“Tragic,” Luis muttered. “We are seeing more and more attacks recently. There are some packs where there are no female wolves at all. It is causing a lot of tension.”

“And you think forcing women to breed is going to calm the packs?” Claire asked.

“Claire, darling,” Emmett said, standing up. “Why don’t you and Emily set to work on supper, and leave the talks to us.”

Claire growled low in her throat. Emily snapped her head, watching her mother closely. She held her breath. Surely her mother would say something—object to this ridiculousness. Her parents stared at each other for a long moment before her mother rose from the couch, pulling her up too.

“Come along, Emily,” she murmured.

Emily gaped at her mother for a moment before allowing herself to be pulled from the room. She had a feeling that her mother and father would be revisiting the conversation later. The only thing left to do now was pray that her mother could talk some common sense into Emmett. If not, then she didn’t want to think about the consequences.

***

M
arcus fisted his hands at his sides as he paced Vincent’s bedroom floor. “I can’t believe Emmett agreed to this,” he snarled.

“I can,” Devon said as he pulled the monitor up through the heating ductwork.

“But mom?” Vincent started, collapsing on the bed. “She didn’t even fight it
—n
ot really. Do you think she is okay with this?”

“I think we’re going to have to assume she is going to side with Emmett on this,” Devon sighed, turning the monitor off, sticking in a box, and shoving back under the bed.

“I don’t care about them. What are we going to do about Emily? I know she doesn’t want this—and her being passed around is unacceptable,” Marcus growled. “We can worry about everything else later. How are we going to help get her out of this.”

Devon sank down onto the bed and ran a hand over his face. “I wish we could listen to the entire conversation.”

“I didn’t know the batteries were going bad, or I would have replaced them,” Vincent grumbled.

“I don’t even want to know why you have that to begin with,” Devon sighed, balling and un-balling his hands.

“It comes in handy,” Vincent smirked.

“This isn’t helping, Em,” Marcus snapped. Heat crept across his face as his anger boiled over. He grimaced as his nails dug into his palms, sending tiny rivulets of blood to the floor.

“You’re partially shifting,” Vincent noted, staring at Marcus’ hands.

“I could tear him apart.”

“He’d kill you. You don’t have the skill to fight him,” Devon replied.

“I don’t care. I’ll distract him, you two get Em away from here,” Marcus seethed.

“Run away?” Vincent questioned.

“We can’t just run away,” Devon said. “We need to plan it out. Leave when no one will notice and get as far away from here as possible before they even know we are gone.”

“Are we really doing this? Is this really what we are thinking? Where would we go?” Vincent asked, his emerald eyes darting between Marcus and Devon.

“I’m only here because this was the closest pack, and I thought it was safe. It isn’t anymore. I have no qualms about leaving, especially after what we learned from   Quinn,” Marcus stated. “The sooner we leave the better.”

“But this is our home,” Vincent stated, turning to his brother.

Devon stood up. “Only in name. This place hasn’t felt like home in years—at least not for me. If it weren’t for you and Em, I’d have left long ago.”

“What about Mom and Daniel?” Vincent stuttered.

“They stay behind. I’m not entirely sure we can trust Mom and I know we can’t trust Daniel.”

“When do we leave?” Marcus growled, continuing his frantic pace across the floorboards.

“Give me some time. Fernando doesn’t plan to take Em for a few weeks. Let’s think this through, plan it out,” Devon explained. “I don’t want this to happen to her any more than you do. But if we’re going to run, we are going to do it right.”

Marcus opened his mouth to argue.

“If we rush, we stand a greater chance at failing, and at least two of us will be dead. If we take a minute and plan it out, I think we can pull this off. I know it’s hard, Marcus, but be patient. Give me a few days to come up with a plan,” Devon explained.

“You know you could always challenge him, Dev,” Vincent spoke up. “Claim your-”

“No!”

“It might not be a bad idea. There are men here who would follow you,” Marcus spoke up. “We wouldn’t have to leave.”

“No. I’ll figure this out. Give me a day,” Devon said, trudging toward the door. He turned back to them. “In the meantime, don’t do anything stupid. Keep your cool,” he ordered. He gave them a pointed look before exiting the room.

Marcus turned to Vincent. “It’s too bad he doesn’t try to claim his title.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I can’t just sit around and wait,” Marcus said, putting his head in his hands. “How can I just do nothing?”

Vincent patted him on the back. “Dev might not be willing to take his place as alpha, but I have every confidence that he will lead us out of here and into a better life.” He shrugged, a grin slipping over his face. “Well, it’s not like it could be any worse.”

Marcus opened his mouth to chastise the younger wolf for always cracking a joke but thought better of it. He was right. It couldn’t get any worse. Hopefully, it would get better.

***

E
mmett walked into his bedroom, undoing the buttons on his polo as he entered. Claire sat perched on the bed with a book in her hand, but he could tell from the glazed-over look on her face she wasn’t reading it.

“What is it?” he questioned, skipping straight to the point.

Claire sighed heavily. “You can’t honestly plan on sending Emily there. If it were just one of his grandsons, that would be one thing. But to send her off to be passed around like a...” she trailed off and met his eyes.

“Do you have another option in mind, Claire?” he asked, annoyed.

She looked away, and he gritted his teeth.

“Our home has been attacked three times in the past few months. Eleven times in the last three years. Two of our neighboring packs are gone—obliterated from existence. Juarez offers us protection. We won’t have to live in fear anymore. Other wolves tried to kidnap Emily a few years ago. More continue to come. With Juarez’s protection, we will have the men and resources to keep our daughter safe
—
as well as Maddie and Amelia.”

“At what cost? We don’t need his protection from these renegades, who we’ve already fought off successfully,” Claire scoffed. 

“It’s not just about the security, Claire. Think of the power our pack will have. We are not going to be some lowly pack in the food chain. We will train his men. We will be on the inside. At some point in the future, we will have the power to overthrow him. Claire,” he grasped her elbows, pulling her to him as he smiled wickedly. “We could be in charge of everyone.”

Claire wrenched her arms away from him. “The alliance is barely twenty-four hours old and you are already scheming against them. Do you really care more about power than your own family?”

Emmett narrowed his eyes. “An alpha is always thinking of how to better himself and his situation, Claire. That’s why our species as a whole is in the situation we are in. Everyone is looking to better their pack. There are not enough female wolves to sustain our species. We will become extinct if this rapid decline continues. This alliance ensures our family’s survival. Emily will breed and so will Daniel.”

“You could always tell Juarez no. Emily and Marcus can carry on the family line, and, when Maddie and Amelia are older, perhaps they’ll fancy one of our boys or another here.”

“Can you honestly see Marcus leading the pack some day? That’s ridiculous, Claire! This decision is the best for our pack and our future.” Emmett sputtered.
Why couldn’t she just understand?
“He’s already killed the Frasers in Montana and the Smith’s in Idaho. He didn’t even give them a chance to join, because they didn’t have any females. Their packs were bigger than ours. If we don’t join him, then he will kill all of us too. He has the men and resources to take us out within a matter of minutes. If you think what he plans for Emily is bad now, what do you think he’ll do with her when there is no alliance? I guarantee she will suffer a far greater punishment than the path that’s been laid out for her. And there is also Maddie and Amelia to think of. We must work with Juarez.”

“And here a minute ago you were speaking of overthrowing him. I’m confused Emmett, are you scared of him, or do you want to take over?” Claire snipped.

“I didn’t mean conquer him right now,” Emmett snarled, exasperated. “We must bide our time first, gain his trust, then we strike at the opportune moment.”

“Deceit is never the way. A real alpha would never allow this to happen. Stop being a coward and take a stand now! You know that is the right thing to do, you’re just too scared,” Claire stated.

Emmett saw red. His hand whirled up and he snatched a large clump of Claire’s hair, pulling her so she was just inches from his face. “I’m more alpha than Joseph ever was,” he smirked, knowing that bringing up her first husband was a sore topic. “You will back me on this Claire. Unless, of course, you’ve forgotten our bargain?”

Claire looked away, her face falling. He released her hair and took a moment to tuck it behind her ear.

“I haven’t forgotten,” she whispered.

“Good. I’ve already had enough outbursts from Emily on the matter. Let’s not have another from you,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

Claire nodded and pulled away from him. She clicked off the lamp and rolled to her side.

“Good night, Claire,” he said softly as he headed for the bathroom.

M
arcus pushed the thick brush out of his way eager to see Emily. Her soft lilac and grass scent lingered in the air, calling out to him. It had been two days since he’d been able to hold Emily. He’d only seen her in passing, and he couldn’t wait to feel her soft body in his arms again. At the thought of Emily, he began to sprint. A fine sheen of sweat beaded on his forehead, and he used the back of his arm to swipe it away.

“You’re late,” Emily called from his right.

Marcus turned toward her voice as she emerged from the bushes. He smiled. Relief and love swallowed him whole as he took her in. Her long chestnut hair was swept up into a ponytail, and her emerald eyes shone brightly as she grinned back at him.

“I was helping Devon.”

“I’ve missed you,” Emily sighed as he enveloped her in his arms.

“Are you alone?” Marcus inquired, his eyes scanning the woods.

“Vincent came out with me to keep up appearances. He said he would stay out of hearing range to give us privacy. But you know how he is, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Emily shrugged.

“How are you?” he asked, pulling back to appraise her.

“Better now.”

“Not being able to talk to you is killing me,” Marcus admitted.

“How long until Devon figures things out?” Emily asked, running her hands up and down his arms.

“We’ve already got a plan. We’re setting everything up. I need to ask you something,” he took one of her hands in his and used his other hand to cup her chin.

“What is it?” Emily breathed.

“Are you willing to leave? To leave the pack—everyone behind?”

Emily swallowed. “Just you and me? Isn’t that risky? All these attacks lately, the wolves have been relentless. What is to stop them from trying to take us again, and won’t we be more vulnerable without the whole pack to protect us?”

“Devon and Vincent will come too. I don’t know where we’ll go yet, but it will be someplace safe. Away from other packs, if we need.” He wouldn’t let anything happen to Emily. 

“We’ll be lone wolves,” she started slowly. “But we’d be together. I’ll leave in a heartbeat if it means we get to spend our lives together.”

Marcus grinned. They were going to be together. This was going to work and they could be happy together far away from Emmett and the Gulf Packs. He would keep her safe and they would marry and have their own family. Elation filled him at the thought.

“Good!” Marcus leaned forward capturing her soft, pink lips with his. She tasted like strawberries. He wove his hands into her hair, pulling her lithe body flush against his. Her cool fingers slipped beneath the hem of his shirt, and she began to draw lazy patterns on the small of his back.

Marcus growled and pushed her against the tree trunk. His hands rolled up the bottom of her shirt, exposing her creamy torso.

“We can’t,” she whispered, but made no effort to stop him. “My father-”

“Let’s not talk about him now. We only get a few minutes together, let’s not waste it thinking about him.”

“But-”

“Have you transitioned yet?”

Emily shook her head.

“Did you bring extra clothes?”

Emily nodded.

Marcus grinned. “You’ll wash my scent off when you shift. You can go for a swim in the creek to be extra safe.”