Feint of Heart Page 4

  Not possible, I reminded myself. I'd offered Wilder my word to do his bidding, but had made it perfectly clear that only myself, not my pack, would suffer for my sins.

  Plus, Keith was still shielded by my clan's growing influence. Surely Wilder would back down once he saw we were in the position to harm his own flesh and blood.

  "You think you're so clever," my opponent said at last, when we'd walked far enough into the trees that no one else could hear. "But what you don't realize is that Alexis was a test. A test that you failed."

  "I thought...." The words were out of my mouth before I could call them back. And the smirk on the other alpha's lips proved that he'd gotten the exact rise out of me that he'd hoped for.

  Let him gloat. My opponent's tension eased a bit more with each minute he made me wait, and I forced my shoulders to hunch inward in supposed cowardice. If Wilder needed a show of submission after being dragged back to his own camp unconscious, then I wasn't too proud to give it to him.

  He seemed to be waiting for me to speak, though. So I offered up a comment at last. "If I failed the test, does that mean you don't want to call in my debt?"

  Wilder rubbed the back of one hand across the stubble that coated his chin, and his eyes narrowed into dark slits as his lips spread into a humorless grin. "Oh, no. I'll still take that favor. But I think I'll let you sweat a little longer first. Triumph is always so much sweeter when your adversary falls shaking at your feet before you even bother to strike the first blow."

  The old cuss turned away from me while his words were still ringing in the air, and I thought the meeting was over. But then the wily alpha looked back over one shoulder and added, "In the meantime, I wish you luck training your second young halfie to heel. A mixed-blood raised by humans. He's of no value to me."

  And then, having proven that in this game of cards aces were low, Wilder walked away muttering and chuckling to himself. The older alpha seemed to be drifting into madness...and my honor was clutched in his decompensating fist.

  From the author

  I hope you enjoyed Feint of Heart! If so, I'd be eternally grateful if you'd consider writing a review (even of just a sentence or two) on Amazon or Goodreads. Your kind words help strangers decide to take a chance on a new author, and they urge me to keep on writing.

  While you're on Amazon, don't miss the final episode in this serial: Hair Apparent. It's come down to the wire and Wolfie has to face his greatest challenge yet—a tricky oathbreaker and the threat of becoming an oathbreaker in his own right.

  Next, why not check out the Wolf Rampant Trilogy? Shiftless, Pack Princess, and Alpha Ascendant are novels told from the point of view of Wolfie's mate and they bring both shifters' stories full circle. Meanwhile, the FREE anthology Beyond Secret Worlds contains a short story about Fen's future adventure as an outpack drifter.

  Finally, if you sign up for my email list at http://forms.aweber.com/form/35/528967935.htm, you'll be the first to hear about new releases and periods when my books are free or on sale. A spinoff series featuring Fen is coming down the pike next, so stay tuned.

  Thank you so much for reading and for spreading the word! You are why I write.