Page 38 of Hunted

Every alpha knew that full moon nights could be either a joyous occasion or a frantic, dangerous mess.

“I do miss them.” Dominic turned back to Luke, who was looking at him with a kind of honesty that made Dominic almost uncomfortable. He forced himself to inhale as the other alpha continued speaking. “I think they will need me soon, but I don’t want to leave Abigail just yet.”

Dominic nodded. “Of course. She’s your mate. I understand.”

Luke spoke just as Dominic was making to leave. “I need to ask you something.” He swallowed a heavy sigh and looked at Luke. “And I need an honest answer.”

“Watch what requests you make in my territory.” A deep warning lay in Dominic’s voice.

Luke took a step back and nodded. “I just need to know what your feelings are toward Abigail. That’s all. I’m not blind you know. I see how you are with her. And I know she cares about you—a lot.”

Dominic allowed himself to sigh. “Why don’t we sit down?” He led Luke through to the shared study in the pack house.

“I care about Abigail.” Dominic decided to be completely honest with Luke after they had sat down. “I care about her deeply, but I know she still loves you.”

“Is that a problem for you?” Luke asked Dominic.

Dominic had to think about it for a few minutes. His answer, when he said it, surprised him. “Not really. I don’t feel any kind of jealousy toward you. All I feel when I am around Abigail and you is protectiveness toward her. I know she was really hurt by you—by what your father did. I’m not jealous, but all I want to do is protect her.”

Luke nodded. His eyebrows were slightly raised. “Somehow, and I don’t know how this has happened, I—” Luke stopped himself. He spoke again after a moment’s silence, “I also don’t feel that jealous of you. I just want Abigail to be happy.”

“She actually seems to want both of us,” Dominic voiced the thoughts that had been growing in his mind for a while. “She seems to be happier with both of us around.”

Luke nodded and threw his head back to laugh slightly.

Dominic found himself laughing too, along with Luke’s infectious laugh.

“Maybe we should just let her take the lead on this,” Dominic said after a while. “And we’ll stay out of each other’s way.”

“Yeah,” Luke agreed. “And whoever she decides to choose in the end, we’ll just stay out of each other’s way.”

Dominic stood and stuck his hand out.

Luke stood too, and the two men shook hands quickly.

“So, I guess I’ll be staying a little longer then?” Luke asked as they walked back out into the pack house.

“Yeah, I guess you will be.”

Dominic realized then that some of his protectiveness over Abigail in Luke’s presence was falling away. For the first time, he found that he could trust Luke to take care of Abigail. Hopefully, that would make it easier for him to let her go if she decided to choose Luke instead of him.

The thought of Abigail leaving him made his stomach twist into knots with anxiety and anticipatory pain. But Dominic ensured that his face remained neutral. He didn’t need Luke to see how much the thought of Abigail choosing the other alpha hurt him.

“What you should do is come on the full moon run tonight.” Dominic found himself saying as they stepped outside.

“I haven’t had a full moon run as a guest in a long time.” Luke yawned and stretched.

“We also have a pack dinner every month before the run. I am sure Abigail would love to have you there.”

The two men continued walking and talking, and Dominic learned more about Luke’s history in the Crimson Claw pack.

“Did you always know you were going to be alpha? As a young wolf?” Luke asked Dominic.

Dominic shrugged. “I think everyone expected it of me. But I didn’t force it. I kind of just let it happen.”

Luke nodded. Again, there was a hint of reflectiveness in his eyes.

“I suppose things were slightly different for you?” Dominic asked Luke.

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