Page 1 of Gabe's Lone Wolf

Chapter One

~ Eliza~

Someone had betrayed me, and from the scent that carried in when the front door of the bar opened, my time was finally up. My past waited outside, and there was no way I’d allow them to drag me back to the pack I’d left in my dust years ago. I hadn’t belonged with them then, and I didn’t want to be among them now.

I pushed away the beer I’d been enjoying and stood, dropping some bills on the tabletop before squaring my shoulders and heading toward the exit. I wouldn’t hide, and I sure as hell wouldn’t wait for my former pack mates to grow tired of waiting and head inside to trap me in a dark corner. There were too many humans, and despite the fact they were all strangers to me, I didn’t want to see their blood spilled.

I inhaled the fresh air as I stepped through the exit and immediately scented the pack. No need to search them out. I knew they’d come to me as I headed across the shadowed lot to where my Jeep was parked. I would never make it to my car. I shouldn’t have parked so far from the bar, but I’d been under the impression I was safe. At least, temporarily. I’d been wrong.

“Find what you’re looking for?” Cam Lockhart, the alpha of my former pack, stepped out from between two trucks and faced me, heavily muscled arms crossed over his wide chest. He was short, maybe an inch taller than my five-foot seven-inch frame, but he had me beat in sheer brute strength. He also had eighteen years on me.

“Not yet.”

He shook his head. “Wrong. It’s time to come home, Eliza. I’m done letting you run around. It’s time to take your place at my side, bear the future alpha.”

Never going to fucking happen, but I wasn’t stupid enough to say that aloud. Not when I far too easily recalled how violent his temper could be.

“Soon,” I lied instead, but he wasn’t buying it.

Not that I expected him to. You’d think an alpha would take the hint when a girl ran instead of mating him. No. Cam took it as a challenge and wouldn’t let me fucking stay gone.

“If I need to take you to the ground and mount you here to show you your place in this pack, I will,” he sneered, and I heard the chuckles of those who’d traveled with him though I couldn’t see them yet.

Bullies and brutes. Just like their alpha. One guess why I ran. I mean, what teenage girl wouldn’t want to become the mate of a man like Cam? So romantic, right?

“Seems a little crass even for you.”

I could have bitten my tongue in two when anger darkened his face. I knew his moods better than anyone. I’d been forced to live inside his home from the time I was fourteen years old. Because he’d wanted me there. With my mom’s death, there was no one willing to stand up for me and refuse. Not my father, who’d fallen into the bottle and, as far as I knew, never found his way out. I was left at the mercy of a pack who didn’t care if their alpha planned to claim a child and force her to live in his home so he could groom and claim her. I ran from his home when I was seventeen because I knew he wouldn’t wait any longer to take me as his chosen mate. The claiming would have been public since Cam thought it was important for the pack to see I belonged to him and only him. His choice. Mine never mattered. Not to him. Not to anyone in our pack.

“You’ve forgotten your place in this pack,” he snapped.

I hadn’t. I knew exactly what awaited me if I went back there with him. I refused to be a brood mare for the alpha. His infatuation with me was sick and twisted and sent ripples of fear through me. I’d never survive a life where I was his mate. I’d die instead. By his hand or my own.

“There’s no place for me there anymore. I left, and I’m not going back.” In sharp contrast to the frantic beating of my heart, I kept my voice steady and calm.

“Wrong again, little wolf. You’re coming back, even if I have to tie you up and gag you for the extent of the journey.”

More snickers echoed around us, and I saw two of his faithful edge closer to us. I eased backward, trying not to alert them I planned to turn and run. My only chance was getting to my vehicle before they caught me. I’d never outrun them on foot, as human or wolf. The only way I’d managed so far was by always staying a step ahead of them.

“No.” I was close to losing the tenuous control I kept on my temper.

“You’re my property. You’ll do as you’re damn well told. Now, get your ass over here and greet your alpha properly.”

My temper snapped.

“You’re not my fucking alpha!” I snarled and turned, running for my only chance at staying free.

Cam roared as he came after me. Then we were both startled when my Jeep fired up and barreled toward us. It came to a jarring halt inches from where I stood, creating a solid barrier between me and Cam.

“What the hell?” I wasn’t sure if those words had come from my lips or if I’d merely thought them while Cam voiced them. Either way, it didn’t matter. The passenger door was shoved wide, and I got my first glimpse of the man behind the wheel of my Wrangler. I caught a glance at a strong forearm with some raised scarring before it disappeared back into the vehicle. I was still processing what was happening when the stranger’s growl broke my momentary paralysis.

“Get in!” The command was fired from a deep voice, and I jumped inside, pulling the door shut as my tires squealed on the asphalt. Some might say better the danger you knew then the unknown, but I’d take my chances with the lone wolf rather than Cam and whoever he’d brought along. I wasn’t stupid though, so I remained vigilant.

“Looks like you walked out just in time,” he stated as I kept careful watch of his every move. He was far too comfortable behind the wheel of my ride.

“Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in my Jeep? Are you working with them?”

That didn’t make sense. Why would he drive me away from them if he was working with Cam and the shifters with him? Unless it was some sort of sick trap, which would make complete sense if not for the intelligence it would take to come up with such an idea. Cam had brute strength in spades. Intellect was another story.

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