The Alpha's Concubine (Historical Shifter Romance) (41 page)

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A Pack Divided

The weeks away from home had been a curious time for Khelt. He knew that Caspian would keep things in order back at the camp, and the hunters largely took care of themselves at this time of year, but still he worried over what might transpire in his absence. As he loped toward the tiny black dot of the outcrop on the horizon, his wolf's back laden with supplies from the North People, he could not help but feel relief at returning home.

Every day he'd been away he had thought of Netya, and the path she was embarking upon. He could not have picked a simple, obedient female, could he? Instead he had ended up with a girl who seemed to want more than he was able to give. She would have begun her apprenticeship as a seer by now, no doubt. The witch would have leapt at the opportunity to snatch her away from him the moment he left. He only hoped Netya had ended up with a wise mentor. Someone loyal to the alpha, who would be able to shield her from Adel's influence.

The thought of his consort being driven away from him had been first and foremost among his thoughts over the past few weeks, and, after a time, he had realised that he was at least in part to blame for his worries. Caspian had been hinting at it for months, he realised, but it had taken this long for Khelt to get it through his thick head. He regretted the way he had behaved when Netya asked him of his conflict with the den mother. She was not a girl who would fall obediently quiet when told. Well, perhaps she was, but her heart would never follow suit, as she had proven in her continued efforts to hunt, craft, and join the seerhood. Netya's spirit knew what it wanted, even if her mind did not. She had pressed him to take her as his mate, and he realised now that those desires would never fade just because he willed it.

It bothered him to have so many conflicting thoughts fighting for his attention and no clear plan to resolve them. He missed Caspian's counsel. Rather than finding the stay with the North People relaxing this year, he had instead been preoccupied the entire time, agitated and itching to return home. The primal side of him, the wolf that prowled beneath his skin, had become frustrated without a female to bed for so long. After the years of abstinence from such intimate company he had sunk his teeth into his new concubine and slaked his desires like a starving man at a banquet, and having to go without her for week after week had been a painful reminder of a time he had no intention of returning to.

Out of propriety, he and his pack mates had not allowed their wolves loose while they were guests in the village of the North People, and reining in his animal side had only made matters worse. Several times he had been driven to slip away in the night to go hunting by himself, sleeping away the days while his companions grew to know the North People and understand their language.

The furs, leather, herbs, and bone tools they had brought to trade had been exchanged mostly for clay pots and strong timber, and every able-bodied wolf now carried as much as they could bear slung across their backs in heavy bags. Their cumbersome bounty made the return journey a long and arduous one, but the sight of the outcrop in the distance spurred them along the final stretch with the promise of comfort and companionship that evening.

What Khelt would do with Netya in the long term, he did not know. For the time being he only wanted to take her to his bed again and fall asleep with her body close to his, warm in the comfort of his own den.

When they arrived home late in the afternoon he hunched down and allowed the clamour of welcomers to lift the supplies from his back, before stretching with a satisfied growl and returning to his two-legged shape. Everyone was eager to hear tales of the North People and rifle through the handful of exotic gifts they had brought back, but Khelt made sure all of their practical trade supplies were put in their proper place, before anyone got it in mind to snatch up a new pot or tent pole while no one was looking.

He searched through his own load for a bag of rare seeds that only the North People's farming talents could cultivate, and sought out one of the seers to deliver it to.

"Take these to the cave, I'm sure your mistress will be thankful to have them," he said as he passed the bag to one of the women wearing an unfamiliar white wolf headdress. He looked back impatiently when she took his arm, and paused in surprise when he saw her face. Dressed as she was, he had not even recognised the young seer.

"Netya." He breathed a sigh of bemusement. "You wear the garb of a seer already."

The girl smiled and bowed her head respectfully, presenting the fierce-looking features of her headdress to him. Even without the striking change of appearance that lent both size and majesty to her stature, she seemed different somehow.

"The den mother presented him as a gift to me," she said. "He is my guardian in the spirit world."

"A gift from her, was he?" Khelt said with a grimace. "I hope she has not been interfering in your training too much."

Netya looked down, shrinking into the protection of her wolfskin garb a little. "I wanted to tell you myself, before you heard the news from someone with a less careful tongue. Adel has taken me as her own apprentice. She is the one conducting my training."

Khelt stared at her, his brow twisting in frustration as her words sunk in. He knew he should never have left. Allowing Adel a hand in Netya's fate had been a dangerous decision to make, but he had never expected her to go this far just to spite him. What was she thinking, involving Netya in this? How long had it been going on? What lies had she filled the poor girl's head with already?

"Where is she?" Khelt growled, pushing past the group as Netya trailed after him.

"She has been a good mentor to me! Please, do not be upset. I was against it at first too, but I have learned a great many things under her guidance."

"And some strange ideas about visions," one of the elder seers chimed in from her seat by the fire, scowling past her toothless gums. "The den mother is talented in her own ways, but until now she has always kept them to herself, where they belong." The old woman looked to the alpha. "And she runs Netya ragged. The girl barely has a moment to herself. I never pushed any of my apprentices so hard."

"You see?" Khelt fumed, glaring at Netya. "The witch is filling your head with her own poison and making you suffer for it." He took a step closer to her, lifting back her headdress and studying her face. There were dark circles beneath her eyes. Had she grown even more skinny in his absence? His hand tightened on her shoulder in anger. Adel would not be allowed to get away with this.

"I have not suffered any more than I am willing to for the sake of my training," she said. "Please, I do not want to cause any more upset for the pack."

"These are her words coming out of your mouth, not your own," Khelt said. "This is Adel's way, Netya. You are even willing to blame yourself for what she has wrought. I will not forgive her for toying with you like this." He rounded on the elder. "Go and fetch your den mother. Bring her up from her pit and let her know the alpha demands her presence."

The old woman gave him a sour look, clearly unhappy that her gossip had resulted in more work for her, but she bowed her head obediently and hobbled up the path toward the seers' cave.

"If you must argue this with her, do it away from the others," Netya said quietly. "It will only upset them."

"I will not argue anything. I will remind her of her place, and put an end to this game of hers," he replied with a hint of annoyance, perplexed for a moment at being told what to do by the girl. He was ashamed at himself for directing his anger toward her. It was not Netya's fault, it was his for leaving the pack unattended. Where had Caspian been in all of this? Why had he not put a stop to it?

Khelt closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. Caspian would have some reason, as he always did. Some wise, level-headed reason that made Khelt feel a fool when he paused to think about it. In his moment of clarity, he realised that Netya's suggestion had been a sensible one also. It was exactly the sort of thing Caspian would have suggested had he been there.

With a grunt of frustration, he walked away from the group without another word, overtaking the elder on his way to the seers' cave and waiting outside with his arms folded, glaring into the antechamber. The old woman grumbled something on her way past, but a low growl from him sent her scurrying off into the cave at twice her previous pace.

Adel made him wait, like she always did. It was a small, petty thing on top of everything else the den mother had done, but it never failed to stir his temper. It was her way of saying that she was beholden to no alpha. An act of defiance that conveyed so much through so little.

He was vaguely aware of Netya following behind him, but she remained quiet as she sat down on a rock off to the side. Good. Let her hear Adel when she was caught in her lies. As much as he wanted to shield Netya from such matters of leadership, his desire to win back her loyalty was greater.

Adel swept through the darkened drapes with her usual air of detachment, the den mother's fur gown flowing about her as she came out to meet him with as little urgency as she could muster. She was the only woman in the pack who matched his height, and even though they stood eye to eye, Khelt could not help but feel like she was looking down on him. She held her chin high, head tilted slightly back, eyes half-narrowed, as if he was undeserving of her full attention.

Not to be outdone, he bared his teeth, tensing his shoulders as he strode forward to meet her.

"What?" she said bluntly.

"Don't push me, Witch. I may have allowed Netya to join the seers, but I never agreed to you training her. Did you think I would roll over and let you do with her as you wished?"

Adel's lips tightened, and she lowered her head to direct every bit of ice in her blue eyes at the alpha. "It is no concern of mine whether you approve of my choice or not. You may control the pack, but the leadership of the seers is my business. The alpha has no say in it."

"The seers are part of my pack, too," he growled. "As are you, Den Mother. I forbid you to continue training Netya. She is to be given a different mentor, someone of my choosing."

"No."

The air seemed to grow colder as a light breeze stirred Adel's hair. Her response echoed in the silence that followed, a plain challenge to his leadership.

"I am your alpha," he ground out through clenched teeth.

Adel gave a brief shake of her head. "To the others, perhaps. Never to me. Netya has it in her to become more than just your plaything, and I shall ensure she follows that path, with or without your approval."

"You are using her to spite me. You care nothing for her wellbeing!"

"So says the man who stole her away from her own home. If there is any part of you that respects her, you will allow Netya to make her own choices." Adel looked to where the girl sat, but she averted her eyes with an anxious flush.

"It is not my place to decide such things," Netya said.

"You see?" Khelt said. "She at least has respect for her alpha. You will not twist her into playing your wicked game."

Adel's lip curled, and she gave him a look of such venomous disgust that even Khelt felt a tremor run through his body.

"You think a young woman's life is a game? You are the one she needs to be protected from, not me."

"If you do not obey your alpha, I will have you driven from my pack!" Khelt said.

Adel did not flinch. "Then I will take half of my seers with me. They are loyal to their den mother, not you. How well will the pack fare with only the stubborn elders left to tend its wounds and seek the wisdom of the spirits?"

"You would not dare."

"You know I would. Now allow Netya to make her choice, unless you are afraid to let a female speak her mind for once."

It took all Khelt's years of restraint to keep from letting his wolf rise up and take control. Challenging a woman in anger was the dishonourable refuge of men who had not the strength of will to assert themselves, and he refused to give in to the urge. Adel wanted it, he could tell. She would relish nothing more than to make him disgrace himself in such as way. That she had used Netya to push him this far made it even worse.

"Very well," he said. "I will allow her to prove you wrong, if that is what it takes to put an end to this." He beckoned Netya over to his side, noting her reluctance, and put an arm around her shoulders. She did not deserve to be put in such a situation, but Adel had left him with little choice. He would find some way to make amends for it later.

"I do not wish to come between you," Netya mumbled.

Her response drew a glare from Adel. "You have wits, girl, use them. You are a seer now."

Netya looked up at him. "I have no desire to stop being your consort," she said, "but Adel has taught me things I wish to learn more of. I promise you, she is not trying to turn me against anyone."

"I will not be able to teach you properly if you are still at his beck and call," the den mother said.

"Then lighten her duties," Khelt replied, seeing his opportunity. If he could not wrest Netya away from her immediately, he could at least set it in motion. "Look at her. She is exhausted. Even your loyal seers agree you are pushing her too hard." He added the last with a hint of satisfaction, smiling as he saw how his minor embellishment of the truth struck home. He had no way of knowing whether the others seers agreed with what the elder had told him, but it seemed that Adel did not know either. Perhaps she was not as certain of their loyalty as she claimed.