Lone Wolf (The Westervelt Wolves, Book 8) by Rebecca Royce Read Free Book Online Page B

in the pack.
    “We’re going to burn them.”
    Tristan’s jaw clenched. “Even Mom?”
    “Everyone had a mom,” Gabriel snapped. Anger pulsated in his temple. “Every member of our pack still alive at one time had mated parents.”
    Carrie’s mother and father came to mind. The memory of her mother’s proud face on the day of their mating made his stomach turn. They’d been so glad she’d mated a Kane. A royal. Ha! Now the name Kane would never stand for anything but death and destruction.
    Tristan looked down. “You’re right, of course.”
    “Damn it, Tristan. Don’t you ever look down with me. I’m not your gods-damned Alpha. Your wolf can’t be telling you that’s what you should be doing.”
    Tristan met his gaze. “I know it had to be disconcerting when you blacked out earlier. It’s a strange day, and—”
    “Be who you’re supposed to be, or go fuck yourself.” Gabriel rubbed his eyes. His wolf would have lambasted him for that statement if he’d been around to take him to task.
    Hello? He had to keep checking. Maybe his wolf would, at some point, change his mind and come back to him. Silence answered him again. Damn it.
    He charged away from his brothers, ignoring Tristan’s call to him. He knew what they wanted. Gabriel should be taking charge like he always had when things got rough, should be leading the crew to save all of their lives. He was their head warrior wolf. Even if Tristan—who should be Alpha—had been leading, Gabriel would be helping. Since Tristan didn’t seem to know himself to be the natural leader, Michael had to hold the pack together until he did. The gods knew Michael could use Gabe’s help. In many ways. But how could he do that? Carrie had been taken from him. He swallowed, knowing himself to be a selfish bastard.
    With the exception of his own mating, which no one could remember, and his aunts, whose mates had killed themselves—as Gabe should have done—in order to keep from killing their mates, every joined couple had died that morning. He didn’t know if his aunts would be able to make it. They were the most powerful magic wolves he’d ever known. But even that might not sustain them. Murder and then suicide. Over and over again.
    He still had Carrie’s soul deep down inside him. What would he do if he lost that? Closing his eyes, he made himself count to ten. He’d made a decision to keep her safe—it still resonated as the right choice in his conscience. Hopefully it always would.
    Opening his eyes, he ran back toward where his brothers stood. They hadn’t moved. He cleared his throat. “All right. Michael wants to burn them; we need to get that ready. Tristan, would you like to gather everyone together? Let them know? We’ll have a blaze started in no time if we all work together.”
    Tristan nodded and took off running. Gabriel regarded Michael. “You know we have to make him Alpha. We have to make him see the truth of his path.”
    “No choice now. I’ll hold this together as long as I can, but I’m not going to take the Alpha challenge. There have to be plans made. A way to destroy Father. There will never be peace in Westervelt while he lives.” Michael would never age, not until he mated, but Gabriel thought he looked twenty years older in just the hours since the destruction.
    “Then maybe that’s what I can do.” An idea formulated in Gabe’s mind. “I can keep training us. When we attack Dad or he attacks us again we can be really ready. He’ll never see us coming.”
    And when he asks me to hold up my end of the bargain by telling him things, I’ll be able to withhold information. Tell him about Michael. Tristan. Az. Not about what I’m doing. He’ll never know how ready we are to defeat him .
    Gabriel pointed to the clearing where they always held the mating ceremonies. A vision of Carrie walking toward him that day came and left his mind. He rubbed his eyes. It had only been hours since they’d parted. How on earth would