The Mark of Betrayal (by Cooper) novel Chapter 2

Samara

Current Day

It’s my birthday, not that anyone here knows it. I never told them when my birthday was, not my real birthday anyway. I didn’t give them anything that could make them put two and two together and come up with me being the lost daughter of Alpha Royal and Luna Jessica, or the lost sister of Alpha Theodore. But today, I turn 18. Today, I can finally begin to implement my plans for revenge.

Less than a year after coming to Alpha William’s pack, I got my wolf, Ayla. I knew it was time for me to shift, so I snuck off the pack lands and went deep into the forest where no one would find me. My first shift was painful but having my wolf made it all better. In the light of the full moon, we had gone to a nearby lake and looked at Ayla’s gorgeous form. She’s winter white, just as I expected.

I’d been horribly lonely since I lost my family, miserable and alone, until Ayla came into my life. From that night, I knew I’d never be alone again. Of course, Ayla had to mourn the loss of her parents and her siblings. We had run as far as we dared from Alpha William’s pack lands, and she had howled her pain for the family she would never know.

I had to be very careful after that. With Ayla, I began healing at a fast pace. My senses were much stronger than that of any omega and I had to pretend I couldn’t hear people coming or smell the scent of someone nearby. I could and Ayla helped me to keep my secret, reminding me that I needed to stay quiet or that I shouldn’t be able to sense something that I easily could.

Early this morning, I snuck off the pack lands and shifted, letting Ayla run for our birthday celebration. I’ve long since given up the need to celebrate my birthday. I get a cake from the pack three months after my actual birthday along with some presents, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s more like a bonus than a birthday.

I usually sneak out every night, letting Ayla run. She likes to stretch her legs, and I like the freedom that being in my wolf form gives me.

As Ayla runs back to the pack border, she slows.

‘Ayla, what is it?’ I ask in our mind link.

‘Listen. The patrols are ahead of us talking,’ she says, laying down in the undergrowth and belly crawling toward the sound of the patrols.

“Are you serious? How many?” one of the patrols asks.

“I think they’re all invited, so maybe 50 or more. But let’s not forget, where there are Alphas, there are Alpha’s daughters,” they say and begin chuckling.

“You’re a bunch of pigs,” one of the female patrols says.

“What’s your point. If some sweet Alpha female is lonely and needs someone to warm her bed, why wouldn’t I give her what she wants.”

I tell Ayla that we need to get past these patrols. If there is an Alpha meeting happening, Alpha William will be meeting with the omegas soon. I need to know when the meeting is. I had planned to leave the pack soon, planning to enact my revenge, but if there is a possibility that Sawyer will come here, then I can wait for him. I’ve been biding my time for nine long years. I can wait a little longer.

When I sneak back to the packhouse, the Lead Omega grabs my arm. “Where have you been? Alpha wants to meet with us now. You’re a mess! Hurry and get cleaned up,” she says before racing into the kitchens.

I rush to my room, quickly brushing the leaves out of my hair and washing the dirt off my arms and legs before getting dressed and racing into the kitchen where Alpha William has already started talking.

“Thank you for joining us, Samantha,” he says with a slight scolding tone in his voice. It’s the most discipline that he ever gives his omegas. The omegas in this pack adore their Alpha, so even a slight scolding makes them feel terrible for days. Since I’m not an omega, I feel the sting of his words, but I won’t suffer because of them.

“As I was saying, we will be having a very large Alpha meeting here in two days’ time. We will have Alphas from all of the surrounding territories, including the Alphas of the north. I don’t need to tell you that this means that very strong, very powerful Alphas will be in our packhouse,” he says and my heart stutters in my chest. The north, that’s where I’m from. It’s where Sawyer is from. I wonder if Roman will be here too. Maybe I can kill both of them at the same time.

I need to think about this. I can’t have their deaths come back on Alpha William. He’s a good Alpha and he’s been good to me, taking me in without having any idea who I was. I won’t betray him for his kindness by setting him up to take the fall for the deaths of two Alphas in his packhouse. Yes, I need think long and hard about how I’m going to kill my brother’s betrayers when they arrive.

And I have two days to figure it out.