Chapter 176

• I closed my eyes. If she died on this mountain, I’d rip it up from the earth to find who’d killed her. “He always seemed to be my exact opposite. My sister and I were rash and impulsive. He was steady and grounded. He’d been born to be an alpha, and he used to tell me that I was born to be a king. I always laughed it off because it seemed ridiculous. I had more raw power, but he was so much more contained. My parents were rarely there, and there were times it felt like we were orphans. Until we were orphans. When my parents and my sister were killed, he was my rock. He kept me together. I never once saw him cry, but I felt his pain. I know he wept in private, but in public, he was my backbone.
• “He liked music. I think in a different life he was probably some kind of rock star. He used to sing in bars, and there’d be a line of women ready to take him home. And when he had Rune, his son, he was the most amazing father. Not that there was ever any doubt that he would be. He practically raised me.”
• She was quiet, but her fingers intertwined with mine. I continued. “He pushed me to be king. To test my wolf to the point that I started to hate him for it. In fact, before he died, we had a huge fight. I didn’t want to be more than I was. I just wanted to be by his side. Now, I suspect he was hunting something or someone. I don’t know if he wanted me to be secure before he went after them or if he wanted access to more power, but when he died, I knew what I had to do. Partly I wanted him to be proud of me, but also, I never wanted there to be anyone to tell me no when I went looking for his killer.”