Marking the Alpha My Cousin Couldn't Tame Chapter 8

The rumors about Liora and Desmond spread faster than I could ship Frostbloom.

I didn't have time for gossip. The business had taken off—three weeks of steady orders, a supply chain running south, and a crew of pack women who showed up every morning before sunrise. Cold Moon hadn't seen this kind of income in years.

Then the blizzard hit.

It buried the drying racks, collapsed the storage shed, and turned three weeks of stockpiled herbs into frozen mulch. I stood in the wreckage at dawn, snow still falling, staring at the mess.

*Setback. That's all. I'd rebuilt bigger things from less in my last life.*

I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. By midday, half the crew had shown up to help without being asked. Tamsin brought hot broth. Two of the older she-wolves dragged a spare tarp from the armory. We hauled debris, salvaged what we could, and started drying fresh batches inside the communal hall.

My hands were raw. My back ached. Snow had soaked through my boots hours ago. But the orders wouldn't fill themselves, and I wasn't about to tell our southern buyers that Cold Moon couldn't handle a little weather.

That's when Liora showed up.

She picked her way across the rubble in patent leather heels and a fur-trimmed coat. Two miles of mountain trail in those shoes—through snowmelt and loose rock—to stand in front of my ruined shed looking like she'd stepped out of a catalog.

Her ankles were already swelling. She didn't seem to notice.

"Well, if it isn't Roxy." She looked around at the wreckage with a smile. "Lost everything already? Want to know what a real woman's life looks like?"

She turned slowly, showing off the coat, the heels, the watch on her wrist.

"I used to be naive. Thought a battle-scarred Alpha like Kaelen was the answer. Now I see it clearly—a woman needs a man with real power. Someone who controls the things that actually matter."

*She teetered across the debris like the blizzard was an inconvenience to her fashion show. I was standing in work boots, sleeves up, hauling scorched herb bundles with the rest of the crew.*

*And somehow, she thought she was the one winning.*

"You walked two miles in stilettos through snow to tell me that?"

Her smile sharpened. "Desmond controls the western mountain pass. Every shipment you send goes through his checkpoint. One word from him and your herbs rot in that warehouse."

She stepped closer. "Your little business is done, Roxy. And while you're at it—tell Kaelen he can forget about the Lycan candidacy too."

"So you traded one man's name for another's." I met her eyes. "Last time it was Kaelen's reputation. Now it's Desmond's transport route. Is there anything you do that doesn't require a man to back you up?"

She flushed. "You dare—"

"I dare plenty. You want to play kept woman, that's your life. But the second you threaten what I've built for this pack—you and I have a problem that your boyfriend's mountain pass can't solve."

"This trade operation was proposed for the benefit of the entire western alliance."

The voice came from behind us. Low. Heavy. The kind that made every wolf in earshot lower their head on instinct.

I turned. Magnus Ashford—the western Lycan himself—stood at the edge of the clearing with a small entourage. Kaelen was beside him, expression unreadable. They'd come to inspect the trade operation. The Frostbloom business had apparently caught the attention of the entire western alliance.

Perfect timing.

Magnus's gaze locked onto Liora. "Who exactly do you think you are to threaten it?"

He turned to Desmond, who'd materialized from somewhere behind the tree line, looking like a man who wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

"And you. What is your relationship with this Omega?"

Desmond's face went gray. "Lycan Ashford, I have no idea why she's dragging my name into her personal drama. There's absolutely nothing between us."

Liora stared at him. The color drained from her face.

"Desmond..." Her voice cracked—real this time. "How could you say that? I'm carrying your—"

She stopped. Her hand flew to her mouth.

The clearing went dead quiet.

*Carrying his what?*

Every wolf in earshot had heard it. Including Magnus. Including Kaelen. Including Desmond, whose face had gone from gray to white.