Free In Deep Shift: A Wolf Rampant spinoff serial (Bloodling Serial Book 2) by Aimee Easterling Page B

offer assistance in keeping my young pack fed and happy. No, my dear older brother would have found a way to stick a knife into my back, and this letter would be the twist of the handle that took out my heart.
    Luckily, Chase possessed the acting skills that I sorely lacked. So when my friend glanced my way, human head tilted to one side, I lifted my lupine chin in agreement and watched as my milk brother accepted the letter out of Oscar's hands.
    Every eye in the room was now trained on my milk brother as Chase tore through the flap of the envelope and pulled out the letter itself. The scent of my blood brother grew stronger in the air as Chase read silently, Tia and Oscar perusing the letter over his shoulder. I watched the trio with a predator's eye, analyzing the letter's contents through the minute expressions flitting across their faces, and by the way strong emotions changed each shifter's scent. Chase's nostrils flared with what I suspected was outrage on my behalf, while Tia's eyes squinted together in anticipation of my pain. But no one else noticed the signs of distress beneath the readers' clenched jaws and quiet demeanor—unlike me, my family possessed nerves of steel and knew when to keep their tension hidden deep inside.
    Well, if my inner circle could appear so calm while two-legged, then surely I could strive to exude at least as much confidence while in lupine form. I took in a deep breath through my nose, doing my best to calm the adrenaline rush that had tensed my muscles as soon as Justin's scent filled the air, then I sank down into a relaxed sit at the same moment that Chase crouched onto his heels by my side.
    My milk brother's intent had clearly been to bring his eyes level with mine, and I suspect that Chase didn't even notice how Justin's note now dangled nearly forgotten in one hand. But all I could really focus on was the scent of gun metal emanating from that paper while Chase informed me that my—and Justin's—father was finally dead.
    Good riddance . I knew I wasn't alone in that sentiment due to the murmurs emanating from the surrounding shifters, their words muted but cautiously joyful. We'd all spent the last seven years looking over our shoulders and expecting to be dragged back to my father's pack at any moment. So learning Chief Young was dead would be a weight off all of our shoulders...until, that is, Oscar prompted Chase to read the second paragraph of the letter aloud.
    " You won't be surprised, I'm sure, that I have stepped into our father's shoes, " Chase quoted, Justin's harsh words sitting awkwardly on my milk brother's warm voice. " We all know you're not alpha material, and after all, I am the older son. "
    Pausing, Chase let his hand fall onto my ears once again, asking without words whether I really wanted to hear this now, in front of our pack mates, where I'd need to hold onto my emotions with an iron fist.
    And, personally, I would have liked to burn the letter unread. But a glance in Tia's direction confirmed that we couldn't afford to stick our thumbs up our butts and ignore the implied threat that my blood brother's letter represented.
    So I just nuzzled Chase's hand until his eyes dropped back down onto the letter that lay between us. "He wants you to come to All-Pack," Chase continued, not reading now, but summing up the rest of the missive in his own words, likely smoothing over the rough edges while he was at it.
    But Oscar once again interrupted. "Don't paraphrase," the older shifter said firmly, his face pinched as if he'd smelled something foul. And not the good kind of foul that a hunting wolf might roll around in to mask his own scent. More like the hurt-your-nose scent of bleach accidentally mixed with ammonia while cleaning out the bathtub—unpleasant and dangerous all at once.
    "Okay," Chase said, willing as always to obey even a submissive wolf like my uncle. Still, my milk brother had to pause and gather himself before he was able to read out Justin's