Page 35 of Rejected Wolf

I pulled back and looked up at him, confused. “What are you talking about? You’re the one who saved me!”

He held my face between his palms and kissed me tenderly, before resting his forehead on mine. “No, baby. You’ve been saving me every day since I first laid eyes on you. And you did it again tonight. I wouldn’t have madeit out of that standoff alive if it weren’t for you.” He kissed me again, with a little more heat. “Come on. We still have a ways to drive left, and it’s getting late. Let’s get you home.”

I liked the sound of that.

Jude took over driving, since he knew the way home, and he held my hand the whole time, refusing to let go for even one second. The number of cars we saw on the highway slowly diminished as it got later and we put more distance between us and Fairhome.

I turned in my seat, facing Jude. Gazing across the dark cab at my lover’s face lit dimly from the dashboard lights, I took in the tightness of his expression, the intensity in his eyes. I didn’t want to dredge up the past, but I wanted nothing more than to help. To do that, I needed to have some idea about what to expect in our future. “What’s next?” I asked cautiously. “He said your dad was alive.”

The line of his mouth flattened, and he sighed. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t trust a single word that comes out of that prick’s mouth, but…” He paused, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

“What if he isn’t lying?” I finished for him.

“Yeah. Exactly. But did he really just tell me in order to save himself?” He let off the gas and flicked on the turn signal, guiding the truck onto a rough back road. There was a lot more snow here, but I could see a set of tracks, likelyfrom when he’d left earlier. “If my dad is still alive, it means they’ve had him all these years. It means I abandoned him. I can’t help but think about all the tests they’ve been—” He cut off, shaking his head sharply; that was a road he couldn’t go down right now. “Getting him back won’t be as easy as knocking on the door and saying, ‘Hey, Dad, hop in.’ It’ll take planning, and now that Eric’s told us, they’ll know we’re coming.”

“Unless he doesn’t regain consciousness to tell them he let their secret slip,” I said darkly, feeling zero guilt for hoping.

“Right.” Jude gave me a sly smile. “I need to talk to my Alpha, but it can wait until tomorrow. For now, I just want to take care of you. Can I do that?”

“Okay,” I whispered, nodding. Jude’s eyes seemed to glow an unearthly shade of green in the dark, and I knew my wolf was taking care of me too.

We eventually pulled through the close-growing trees into a clearing, and I gasped. The moonlight reflected off the snow, making the entire camp seem to glow. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered, in total awe.

I could feel Jude watching me, holding his breath as he gauged my reaction. “It’s not too… remote?” Jude asked skeptically.

“Are you kidding? I’ve been dreaming of your home for so long. After all my disastrous camping efforts, I was looking forward to living in a cave or a burrow, hoping for somewhere warm and dry. This is practically a palace!” I looked around, taking in the small collection of buildings. “Are those solar panels?” I asked, wishing I could borrow my wolf’s night vision. “And a greenhouse?!”

“I can’t wait to show you around tomorrow and introduce you to everyone. I know they’re excited to meet you.” Jude chuckled as he hopped out of the truck, letting in a draft of frigid air.

I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. The adrenaline drain paired with the warm truck had lulled me into a sleepy exhaustion. My body was urging me toward sleep, but my brain was still firing on all cylinders.

“Where is everybody?” I asked Jude when he opened my door to help me down. “It’s so quiet.” Jude laughed. “What’s so funny?” I asked, wondering if I’d said something naivelyhuman.

“Trust me, they know we’re here. It’s impossible for a vehicle to pull up without alerting the entire pack, but they’re giving you some time to settle in before they unleash the chaos.”

“Oh. That’s nice of them.”

“Come on, let’s get cleaned up before bed.” Jude grabbed my suitcase from the back then took my hand, and together we crunched through the snow and down a shoveled path through the trees to a small building at the back end of the camp. When Jude opened the door, I was greeted by a wave of warmth, and a motion-sensor light clicked on to reveal a bathroom.

In the yellow glow from the overhead bulb, I got a better look at my mate. “Oh, Jude,” I said sadly. He was splattered with gore. I had smears of blood on my clothes too, but nothing so gruesome as he did.

We both stripped off the offending clothes and washed up in the freezing water in the sink. I took the time to help clean all the blood from around his fingernails. I wanted not even a single drop of Eric in my new home. I found no sign of injury anywhere on Jude, no matter how much he swore shifters healed quickly, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurting on the inside. I gave him extra hugs and kisses, just in case.

“I promise you a hot bath tomorrow,” Jude said, pulling out a change of clothes for me from my suitcase. Nothing had ever sounded so amazing.

Jude didn’t have a fresh change of clothes with him, but he promised he’d be fine. I was skeptical, but I watched in wonder as my mate walked barefoot through the snowthrough the camp. Steam lifted off his body in a curling vapor; if I hadn’t already been enthralled by him, I certainly would be now!

We headed to a gap between cabins, but it wasn’t until Jude stepped aside, shoulders hunched and head down, that I caught sight of the canvas tent. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not much. If I hadn’t been so stupid, if only I’d been able to admit how much I wanted to keep you, I would’ve been better prepared, but I—”

I set a finger against his lips, cutting off his steam of self-doubt. “It’s fine, Jude. I’m fairly certain my alpha will work hard to keep me warm?” I suggested cheekily, strutting past him and crawling through the tent flap, leaving my boots outside.

Jude was right, it wasn’t anything fancy, but as he wiggled into the sleeping bag with me and drew me closer into his arms, it got surprisingly toasty. I tucked my socked feet between his calves to warm my toes.

Jude rubbed his hands up and down my back and arms to warm me up faster. “I really am sorry. First thing in the morning, I’ll talk to Shan about building a cabin. Whatever you want, I’ll ensure it’s yours.”

“I just want you,” I assured him, cuddling closer and placing a kiss on his jaw. “And what about you? Are yousure you’re okay? That was a lot, and I wouldn’t blame you if it’s too much.”

“I’m… okay,” he said after a moment. “My wolf helps share the burden of all my trauma.”

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