Free Owned By The Alphas: Part Two by Faleena Hopkins Page A

where it rested on the dirt floor, and soft ears perked in surprise. The brown wolf was spooning Borhan who was in human form and wounded. Ali recognized him immediately and started in surprise as she saw his newly broken limb, the rags that bound it well, and the paleness of his skin. She remembered he hadn’t approved of Calt bringing her home with him, and seeing him in this state sent a shiver through her. Had Calt broken that leg to send a message to them all, to protect her ? The idea both horrified and thrilled her, and her nerves began to calm as she looked at her alpha with greater appreciation and respect. The room waited with her.
    Calt drew two fingers up in the air. The wolf quickly shifted to human form, his bones cracking and reshaping. Ali winced, thinking how painful it must be to transform one’s body like that–but that it could be done at will, fascinated her. Rising up on stocky legs, his toes spread out and balanced, Lucin met his alpha’s eyes. Ali recognized him as the one who’d lit the torches upon her arrival, and put two and two together that he was also the one Lorn had cast her smile downward for when she mentioned his warm eyes, and warm they were.
    Calt’s irritation cut the silence into pieces. “Lucin, you will replace Tawny on the expedition.” Tawny made a sound that he ignored, and the worry in the other she-wolf’s eyes quickly dispelled as he added, “Bloo, you will accompany him.”
    Tawny stepped forward, but stopped at his expression, her body tight like she wanted to come closer. She shot a look to Ali with blame in her eyes. “What?! It should be me! You know this! You said so yourself! I am the strongestand the boldest–not them. Lucin doesn’t know how to fight anything more dangerous than a caterpillar!”
    Lucin exploded, “I can fight! I am just as strong as you are!”
    “Hardly!” Tawny snorted.
    Calt held up one hand. “I have only myself to blame for your arrogance. I give you preference and it has grown into a sense of entitlement I find both unattractive and not useful to the pack.” Tawny’s eyes rounded with hurt and shock.
    Ali bit her lips, her heart picking up speed as she took a step backward reflexively, as if the words had been said to her. She knew nothing of pack mentality, but it seemed unnecessarily cruel to call anyone not useful.
    Calt turned in a circle engaging all of the wolves with a power he clearly possessed. Ali had seen glimpses of it, but now with his eyes filled with the fire of anger, something had clicked in him and he exuded a strength and dynamic magnetism none of them could look away from. “We are nothing without each other. We serve the pack and not ourselves. By serving the pack and putting the good of all above the good of one, we are strong. It is in our unity that we have strength. Look at Lucin helping his wounded comrade to heal. Dak and Calus guarding the door so that all of us can relax and eat our meal in peace. Shaynah, healing our physical and spiritual wounds. Lorn, eager to feed and nurture us. And Bloo, happy to be of service in any capacity she is needed. Borhan, always with his cautious thinking and planning, looking out for the greater good of us all. Even tonight when he challenged me, he did so for you.” He stopped walking and fixed his intense stare on Tawny, whose chest was heaving, her eyes filled with angry tears.
    “I offer nothing?”
    Calt’s jaw hardened. “I said it before that you are bold and think on your feet, and your strength–it is inarguable. But if you do not make room for the counsel and opinions of your brethren, you are nothing. When you do not give credence to Bloo’s caution and order her around as if you were her alpha, your arrogance dangles us all before danger. You may not always agree with what everyone has to say, but that does not mean you do not listen.”
    “I WAS LISTENING!”
    “You were not,” Calt corrected with a tone that balanced hers. “If you had put