Page 35 of Bullied By the Alpha Wolf

The new alpha, my old bully and apparently closest ally now, seemed open to change when we’d spoken. But we hadn’t done much more of that that didn’t revolve around the assassination, and I wasn’t feeling so sure anymore.

Kaiden didn’t hate humans. It had been dumb teenage bullshit. I thought I could at least believe that. Maybe…

But there was still so much keeping us apart. He couldn’t bring himself to be alone in a room with me for longer than a few moments, and Kaiden barely made eye contact with me when we were alone. Why exactly was being around me still so hard for him?

Shit, he said some pretty intense things in the heat of the moment, and now…

What if all that had just been a ruse to get into my pants?

I stifled a chuckle. Kaiden was gorgeous, and slim pickings could obviously get a guy desperate enough to mess with someone beneath him, but there were wolves here—female wolves—who looked all too happy to spread their legs for their young new alpha.

That nausea flared again, and I had to stop this train of thought before I forced myself to go worshipping at the porcelain throne.

As the exhaustion slowly started to win me over, that ache in my chest just burned. I wanted to talk with Kaiden. I wanted to figure all this shit out, because the truth was that single time with him had been the best experience of my life.

But there were bigger things at stake right now. Not that it made me feel any better to remember that. The heart was a stupid organ, it seemed, and even though I logically knew that the time to discuss all this would come later, it did nothing to ease that gnawing hole in the center of my chest.

My eyelids felt heavy as my breathing evened out, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

***

“We’ll be heading out in fifteen minutes. I want everyone shifted before we even get outside. I’ll be near the front with Kit, who’ll be guiding us through the safe approach. Do not get ahead of the pack. You are all to remain deadly silent and follow every command I give. Understood?”

Kaiden addressed his pack members as I stood at the opposite side of the room. His features were set in a stoic mask, but I could see the tension squeezing down on the muscles of his neck.

“Understood, Alpha,” Lupe responded, the handful of other wolves going on this suicide mission returning the gesture.

Gray was coming, of course, and it looked like three other wolves I’d only been adequately introduced to two days ago were as well.

There was River, Sunny’s mate, and I could see the worry as plain as day on the woman’s face that her man was about to head off into the unknown.

She’d been incredibly kind since I’d been allowed out of Kaiden’s room, providing me with several sets of loaned clothes donated by herself and a few of the curvier residents in Pack de Kaiden. Sunny had even helped get my room clean, apparently, and she was happy to check over my injuries as the pack’s resident MD.

An older male wolf named Bolt was also coming, and it had taken everything in my power not to bring up the movie I’d managed to watch when I was younger. I mean, hell, the guy was even sort of a “dog,” and he was named Bolt. It was right there.

I was clearly better at biting my tongue than teenage Kaiden, though, and it was easy enough to let it slide, considering what we were all going to be doing.

Cirrus was the last male wolf who’d volunteered to come. He was thinner as far as shifters went, more of a swimmer’s body than the thick, broad types I was used to. Still, he was brilliant when it came to tactics, and he and Lupe had plotted the entire course we’d be using on the little hand-drawn map I’d made.

Kaiden had eyed their work approvingly, and the rolled-up map was tucked into a small satchel I'd been given to bring with us on our infiltration.

Silence hung, and then, in response to Kaiden’s nod, each wolf there shifted into their primal form. I’d seen wolves transform before, of course, but it was still a sight to behold, especially when they were doing it all at once. The room rang with the sounds of their growls and howls, and I trembled despite myself.

Scratching to my right drew my attention to where Kaiden stood in his massive wolf form. He pawed at the floor to get my attention, and I got up on top of him as we’d discussed. I was too slow and noisy as a human, so riding on Kaiden’s back had been the best plan we could come up with.

His thick black fur was like silk under my fingers, and the enormous spread of his back was plenty large enough to hold me comfortably. With no words, because there couldn't be any, Kaiden sniffed at the air, making a gruff sound that drew his pack to the door behind him.

Turning over my shoulder, I could see Sunny pet River a solemn goodbye. Then she walked over to the front entrance and held it wide for us all.

Here we go.

***

Navigating through the woods to the compound had been the easy part, but as soon as I’d led the pack to the back entry that I used to sneak in and out of Eli’s, I’d found it double-bolted and the rusty hinges fixed. Eli had known I’d lead them here.

We were so fucked.

Kaiden had sprinted around to a low window on the first floor and jumped through. Lupe and Gray were hot on his tail, but he hadn’t let me go in with him, snarling at me until I stomped my foot down and sat on the ground behind a bush Kaiden pulled me toward with his teeth.

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