“Aidan, she’s going to come back,” she said, her voice hitched on her tears. “I promise.”

I tried to smile at her, but I was sure it fell flat. The reality was it didn’t matter if she came back or not. I couldn’t restart the games. I didn’t have a choice. Tiffany had won by default when Jade walked away. My fate had been sealed the second she said she wouldn’t fight.

A phone rang, breaking the silence, and Jared groped in his pocket, digging out his phone. He looked at the screen and chuckled, before tapping it and bringing the phone to his ear. “Miss me already, little girl?” Jared said and smirked at me. “Your house or mine?” he asked, and then paused. “Be right there, kitten.” He chuckled softly, “Get used to it, Jade.” He hung up, and slid his phone back into his pocket. Looking at Beck, he said, “See you in a bit,” and then he pushed off of my desk.

“You’re not going anywhere,” I growled, pushing my chair back and standing up. My hands were shaking with rage, and I pushed them down on the desk to keep them steady. I couldn’t believe she called him. She wasn’t wasting any time replacing me. Not that I was really hers to start with, but right then whether I had been hers or not didn’t matter. Jared chuckled, obviously enjoying my reaction and white-hot fury flooded over me.

“Enforcer business,” he replied coolly, and padded over to the door, pulling it open.

“Screwing my mate isn’t enforcer business,” I snarled. I shouldn’t have said it, and I really didn’t mean to, but it just came out. As far as my inner-wolf was concerned, Jade was mine. She always would be, and the lust-filled scent that Jared was giving off right then, sent the beast inside me over the edge.

“Jade’s not your mate, alpha. Tiff is. Beck, track down Tiffany and bring her in,” he said, keeping his eyes on me. There was a warning in his voice, and his muscles visibly coiled, as if he was just waiting for me to step over the line, and break a rule.

Beck chuckled. “Sure thing, boss,” he said, and right then I felt as if I was dead.

CHAPTER 32

~ JADE ~

I waited impatiently as Jared made the call. He had been waiting for us on my porch when Erika and I had emerged from the forest. For the last hour, I’d sat in my bedroom and listened as they filled me in on everything they knew about the cougars and the alpha female games. The gist was that the cougars were sick bastards and had been tormenting the town for more than a hundred years. Jared said that about forty years ago the wolves started to fight back, which was when the pack decided not to hide their presence in Dog Mountain.

As for the alpha female games, well, it all sounded stupid. I just found it hard to believe that all these girls would fight for a guy just to become the alpha female. Erika said it had nothing to do with the guy. She claimed that love didn’t matter. Alphas were paired together because of dominance, leadership, and strength. She said that she didn’t even really like Aidan, and she had been fighting for the pack, not for him. I hated to admit it, but I thought she was crazy. How could she not like Aidan? And why did I still want him?

When Jared walked out of my bedroom to make the call, I told Erika about the scent. I told her what Jared’s had done to me, and what Aidan’s did to me. I was hoping for some kind of explanation from her, anything to make my cravings for the two men make an ounce of sense, but all she said was that my inner-wolf had alpha in its scent, and when dominant wolves of the opposite sex meet, it causes a different reaction. She figured my inner-wolf was recognizing them as potential mates. She explained that for most of them, the scent was crippling, basically telling me things I’d already (somewhat) figured out, and not really helping with the things I hadn’t.

Needless to say, the last hour had been … tense. I had a few meltdowns, learned more about the pack than my brain could really absorb, and overall, came up with a plan that would probably get me killed. The whole time I tried to tell myself that this near suicidal idea had nothing to do with Aidan. It was for the pack. That was it. But my heart (and my inner-wolf) wouldn’t believe me.

Jared rubbed his sandpaper looking jaw as he strode back into my bedroom, his cell phone still in hand. “It’s done. Tiffany has just accepted the position.”

“And even without the games I can still challenge her, right?” I asked. I was more than a little glad that my voice was strong, and not showing the nerves that were jumping around as if I had a circus of juggling acrobats in my belly.

He considered it for a moment and then nodded. “Yep, at any point an alpha can be challenged. It’s just harder to beat them once they’re branded, which, by the way, is happening to Tiff right now.”

I threw my hands up in the air, frustrated, annoyed, and more than a little confused. “What the hell is the point of the games if she can be challenged at any time?”

“It’s entertaining,” Jared offered dryly. I could have smacked him. Entertaining? Really? I’d been put through hell for the last few days to entertain them? He started to chuckle, as he padded across the room, and sat beside me on my bed. “I’m just kidding. The games happen when more than one female wants to be alpha.” He ran his hand up my leg and winked at me.

“Cut the crap, Jared,” I said, slapping his hand away from my knee. “Will the plan work?”

“Don’t know. Never heard of a female winning and then not taking the alpha male as her mate.” He leaned back on my bed, propping himself up with his elbows. He hadn’t bothered to put on a shirt before he came over, and his abs flexed and rippled as he got comfortable.

“But is there a rule against it?” I asked, forcing myself to look away from him. He may be a complete dick, but he was hot, and the last thing I needed was more temptation. His scent was more than enough to drive my inner-wolf crazy, and the visual seriously wasn’t helping.

“Number three?” Erika asked meekly from the other side of the room.

“She can’t screw him over if she doesn’t claim her rights to him,” Jared snapped, glaring at her, and she pressed herself further into the corner, hiding behind my dresser.

“Stop freaking her out,” I hissed, giving him a dirty look. “If I win today, she’s going to be my beta, so be nice.”

He rolled his eyes, and rubbed his jaw, as he looked me over. “I really don’t know about you joining my team, little girl. No offense, but you don’t have what it takes.”

I stood up, spun around, and put my hands on my hips, glaring down at him. “No offense? Really, that was an offense. I’m seriously offended. Did you miss me taking down three challengers, one of which when I was still human?” And hadn’t he just told me that I’d be good at it?

It felt weird admitting it out loud and even weirder knowing what I had done. But I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t all a little amazing, though. I’d beaten three werewolves that I hadn’t even known why I was fighting in the first place. And right then as I glared down at the enforcer, who only a few hours ago had me sweating with fear, I was pretty sure it was going to my head — a little.

Jared didn’t move. He stayed on my bed and grinned at me. “The enforcers go up against alphas, too, not just pack members.”

“Tiff is the alpha right now,” I scoffed, “and I’m going up against her.”

“You’re too soft, Jade,” he said with a chuckle. “You care too much.” He glanced over at Erika then, and I had a pretty good idea what he was talking about. Maybe I was too soft. Erika had put me through hell and back, but even with that, I hadn’t been able to walk away when she needed help. Did that make me soft or just a good person? I wasn’t entirely sure. I didn’t really feel like a good person right then. Not while I was planning to attack someone and fighting until only one of us was left alive.

I narrowed my eyes. I wasn’t going to back down on this. As far as I was concerned, the enforcers needed just as much work as the rest of the pack. They were all screwed up, and I figured the best way to try and fix them was by becoming one of them. Well, that, and if I actually won, working with them would give me a distraction, and I was pretty sure it was a distraction I’d need if I wanted any chance at staying away from the alpha male. “If I win, you take me on your team and train me.”

“If you lose and survive it, I’m taking you as my mate,” he countered. “You will not compete in the next round of games after we take her out.”

I didn’t think about it because I knew if I did, I’d back out of the deal. I nodded, a stiff bob of my head, and said, “Fine,” as quickly as I could.

“Jade, don’t make a deal with him,” Erika said, still cowering in her little corner by my dresser. “Rule number four: You can’t screw over an enforcer. You won’t be able to back out of this.”

“Rule number one: Always obey your alpha. When I win, he won’t be able to back out either.” I shrugged, and cut her a straight-faced look. “It’s a fair deal.”

“But he can just deal with this himself,” she said, her voice rising, and pitching. “We have proof. The enforcers can handle it. You don’t have to challenge Tiff.”

“Erika, stop,” I said, forging calm into my tone. “If I don’t, then it leaves the door open for the games to start again.” I sighed, and shook out my trembling hands. “I want this to end.”

CHAPTER 33

~ AIDAN ~

Tiffany screamed when she received her imprint and I had to hold her in place, while the metal seared her skin. If she moved too soon, it would just heal and we’d have to do it again. It was painful to watch and even more painful to listen to. I thought the thing that made it hurt the most was that the girl screaming in my arms wasn’t Jade. But then, I couldn’t really see Jade screaming. She’d have put on a brave face, and hid the pain, just as I had when it was done to me.

It has nothing to do with love, I reminded myself, as Tiffany sobbed against my chest. I held her loosely, like I was supposed to, and rubbed her back gently. It was better this way. Love was an unneeded distraction. Jade would be better off and so would I, definitely, maybe.