Page 59 of The Alpha's Mates

Her shrewd sky-blue eyes assessed me as her lips twitched upward into a small smile. "A friend."

I doubted that very much. Something about her had my inner beast pacing in agitation. I decided not to fall into whatever little game she was playing. "Where are they?"

"They're safe," she assured me with a wave of her hand.

"I don't believe you."

Her smile grew bigger, more feral, and she shrugged. "That's your prerogative. Theyaresafe, but you on the other hand… I want to help you."

Like hell you do.I took a step back as she moved forward, my eyes narrowing on her. "Stay away from me."

She stopped advancing, but didn't move back. "You need to be prepared."

"For what?"

"The war that's coming." She tilted her head in my direction. "Do you love your mates?"

My mouth opened, then shut. I did, even though we hadn't had much time together, I loved them more than I could comprehend. My mother had explained it to me as a child. When shifters' unions were blessed by the Moon Goddess, their souls were meeting once again. They were all one, united, before they were created, and once they found each other again they completed one another. Mom's eyes had been sad when she'd told me and I knew now, as an adult, it was because she never got to find the other half, or halves, of her soul. She'd been stuck with my father, who’d taken her from her village without permission. Without caring that she didn’t want to be with him.

"If you do," the woman continued as though my answer didn't really matter, "you'll want to be on the winning side. Won't you?"

My eyes narrowed. "And what side is that?"

She smiled at me again. "Mine."

Winning side, as opposed to the right side.That distinction wasn’t lost on me. "Of course," I replied. She clearly missed the heavy sarcasm in my tone because a smug look drifted over her face. "You're Arune, the Sun Goddess."

"I am. And you're Lyas's priestess." She began walking, circling around me like the little reef sharks from back home did whenever we went swimming in the sea. I didn't circle with her, just let her go until she stopped in front of me again. A look of disappointment settled on her features. "I expected...more."

As if that was going to hurt my feelings. "I grew up with Haron Silvest," I informed her. "Nothing you say to me is going to sting, but good try."

I saw a moment's anger flash behind her eyes. Being compared to a shifter, and found inferior, in any way, was a grave insult. It was her turn for her eyes to narrow on me. "You could join me," she suggested. "I will-"

"Not interested."

Anger clouded her eyes again as I cut her off and I felt her power rise in the air around us. I'd heard about the Sun Goddess and her power, but had never encountered it before. I'd never even seen her before. According to legend, the Gods and Goddesses used to walk among us here on Elaria. Something changed and we haven't seen them in centuries. I had a feeling the Goddess standing in front of me had something to do with that.

"I could squash you like a bug."

I shrugged despite the fear that rose inside me. The last thing I wanted was to show her my emotions. "You could try." It was probably the truth. Shewasone of the twelve. I was a lowly shifter, an alpha, but just a shifter nonetheless. But something about her display just seemed off. She wouldn't, or couldn’t kill me directly. Why?

She started laughing again and I didn't know what was so funny, but it was starting to piss me off. Her moods were giving me whiplash. "Perhaps I underestimated you." She smiled at me, a real smile this time. "I like you, Reese."

"Thanks?" I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"I have a proposition for you." Her eyes were sparkling with excitement as she stopped in front of me again and folded her hands together in front of her. "Join me and I'll make you immortal."

"You can do that?" I asked, surprised.

She nodded eagerly. "Yes! I can."

"And what exactly would I be doing if I joined you?"

"Killing Haron," she answered without hesitation. "You're an alpha female. You should be leading a pack, not hiding in the woods with a bunch of omegas and betas."

I could sense her excitement. She thought she was swaying me. I had no desire to be immortal. And though I did want to kill my father, I knew that wasn't everything she wanted. Iwould also happily chew off my own leg in wolf form rather than lead The Silvest Pack. Those miscreants couldn’t be trusted any further than I could throw them. "What do you have against my father?"

"He's a shifter," she said with a delicate shrug.