“Anyway, the old boy was loaded, wasn’t he?”Harrislooked at the heavy golden ring onCarter’shand with its four-carat diamond star shining above the crescent moon and the wolf’s head.“Leftyou quite a tidy little fortune plusWolvertonManor.”
I said nothing to this—it wasn’t my place to say.Itwas trueIwas quite a wealthy widow, but it wasn’t as thoughIwould be allowed to spend any of that wealth on travel the wayIwanted to.Toleave the site of my husband’s grave would be a scandal.No,Iwould be stuck here asMistressVivienneofWolvertonManorwith the official title of, “TheMoonWidow” all the rest of my days.
Even in death,Carterhad me trapped.
“You know, you’re not a bad looking woman, despite being past your prime,”Harriswent on, surprising me out of my dull gray thoughts.“Imight think about taking you on as a mate afterIwin theAlphaChallenge.It’sa damn shame to let all that wealth go to waste on a woman.”
He turned his sharp gray eyes on me, andIwas glad all over again thatIwas wearing a veil.Icouldn’t have hidden the loathing on my face otherwise.
If there was any male in thePackIwanted to be with less thanI’dwantedCarter, it was the ignorant, stinking bully standing beside me.Especiallysince he didn’t eventryto hide the fact that he’d only be marrying me for the money and property my late husband had left me.
“Could be that you’re not as barren as we all thought, ya know,” he went on, clearly oblivious to my hatred and disgust.“Couldbe you just need a younger, strongerAlphabreeding you.”Helooked me up and down again, his eyes lingering on my breasts and legs.“Iwouldn’t mind that—wouldn’t mind it at all.”
I wanted to turn on him and snarl thatI’drather die than marry him and how dare he speak about breeding me right in front of my dead husband’s coffin?Butcoward thatIwas,Ididn’t dare.IfHarrisreally did win theAlphaChallengeand becamePackLeader,Iwouldn’t be able to say no to him.Ifhe decided he wanted to marry me to inherit all my wealth, he could and would.Noone would stop him.
I turned away from him without a word becauseIdidn’t trust myself to speak.ButnowIhad a new dread—a fearIhadn’t had before.Theidea of this repugnant male breeding me made me want to vomit.Andthe bulge in his trousers frightened me.Somethingtold me thatHarrisMurdochhad more than the withered, twisted shaftI’dgotten used to withCarter.Evenmy husband’s knot hadn’t plugged me properly—it often slipped out, even when he was fully erect.
Somehow,Ididn’t thinkHarriswould have that problem and the idea made me sick with fear and loathing.Tobe knotted by such a male—tied to him for hours on end while he pumped me full of his slimy seed…Ireally was going to vomit ifIdidn’t stop thinking about it.
But how couldIhelp it withHarrisMurdochstill standing right beside me, eyeing me with that narrow, beady gaze that was half lust/half greed?
“Wouldn’t mind it at all,” he repeated and reached for me with one sweaty hand.Hetook me by the arm as though he already owned me andIsaw that his fingernails were black with grime.Thesight made my stomach turn.
“I…Ineed to use the ladies’ room,”Isaid quickly.“I…I’movercome with grief.”
“Grief,right.”Heleered at me and rather than letting me go, his grubby hand tightened on my arm.“Ormaybe you’re just getting excited for the first good fucking you’ve ever had in your life.Hmm?Couldthat be it?”
I couldn’t believe he would speak to me like that—especially right at my late husband’s funeral!Butif anyone else heard him, they didn’t say anything.Thefeeling in thePackwas thatHarriswould win theAlphaChallenge—no one wanted to get on the bad side of the male who would most likely become the newPackLeader.
Outside, it had begun to storm.Iheard a peal of thunder rumble overhead and lightning illuminated the whole room briefly—brighter than the overhead lamps.Iwanted to leave but there would be talk ifIwent too early—it was my own husband’s funeral, after all.Iwas supposed to be the last to go.
Also,Iwas intimidated by the idea of driving alone at night in the pouring rain.Carterhad almost never let me drive, insisting on doing it all himself on the rare occasion when we went anywhere.Ihad managed all right on the way to his funeral, but now it was dark and cold and wet out andIwasn’t sure how wellIwould be able to navigate the twisting back roads that led toWolvertonManor.
Still,Ihadto get away fromHarrisMurdoch.MaybeIcould hide in the bathroom for the rest of the funeral.
“Excuse me,”Isaid more firmly, twisting away from his grip.“Ireallyhave to visit the ladies’ room.”
“I didn’t say you could go, didI?”Suddenly, he was right in front of me, blocking my exit.“You’regoing to be fun to tame—Ican tell,” he said, leaning down to push his face into mine.“Poorlittle widow—never been fucked right in your whole life.IsawCarterat the urinal once, you know—Isaw how little he was packing.Alphaor not,PackLeaderor not, that male didn’t measure up.Ibet he never even knotted you properly.Well,Ican fix that.MaybeI’lleven do ittonight.”
I had no idea what to say.Ilooked around the room and saw that everyone was looking away, not wanting to get involved.TheotherAlphaswere carefully facing the other direction, talking about something under their breaths—something that was anything but whatHarrisMurdochwas doing—or planning to do to me.
“Please—”Ibegan but just then the door to the funeral parlor banged open.Atthe exact same time, lightning crashed overhead and thunder rolled deafeningly through the entire building.
“Oh!”Igasped and jumped away fromHarrisMurdoch.
All eyes were on the door, where a tall, broad-shouldered figure stood, backlit by the blinding flash of lightning.
“Hello,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the rumbling thunder.“IhopeI’min the right place—I’mlooking for the funeral of my uncle—CarterJamison.”
TWO
VIVIENNE
“Youruncle, you say?”FatherMacKaitystepped forward.Hisbrow was wrinkled but he held one hand out to the stranger to shake, despite his obvious confusion.
“Yes, his name wasCarterJamison.Oh—is that him?”
The stranger had dropped his voice now that the thunder had died.Hewas looking towards the casket at the center of the room.