Page 5 of Pack to the Wall

Before that, I’d thought her small and weak, just some silly human who was a fool for drawing the attention of our pack.

And yet… I’d never met anyone, human or wolf, who could face Harley like that. She’d been a fierce bitch protecting her pack and a part of me had respected that.

Then when she’d killed Harley… it was like some switch had been flipped inside me. For just a second my senses had been overwhelmed: blinded, deafened, numb. All I’d smelled was the sweet lavender of her perfume even though I wasn’t anywhere near her. And when that inexplicable stupor had worn off, it was like she was glowing, all I could see. She’d become my entire world, and I’d had to help her, claim her, protect her.

I still didn’t understand these new feelings, nor the actions they’d compelled me to perform. It went against everything I’d been taught. The commands and rules I should have followedhad vanished and were replaced by a clarity and simplicity of purpose: serve her, support her, save her.

And shedefinitelyneeded saving.

Without my help, she’d be dead in a week.

Brick, my father, would challenge her. She’d die. And I… I had to stop that from happening. It would mean going against my own family, but I’d just told the pack I supported her, that I wished to be her prime beta just like Brick had been for Harley.

Gods, I didn’t even know this woman’s name.

And looking at her now, unconscious in my arms, she seemed so small and frail, yet still somehow extraordinary. Thick waves of brown hair framed a lightly tanned face, worn with lines across her forehead and at the edges of her eyes – soft brown eyes that had shone like a beacon before she’d passed out. Her cherry-red lipstick emphasized thin lips. She smelled of soap and lavender, but beneath that manufactured perfume, I caught her true scent of sun-warmed skin and the fresh aroma of dewy spring grasses. Some might think her plain, but she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, perfect. I knew, without a doubt, she wasmine.

No…Iwashers.

And when her hand had touched mine a moment ago, I’d seen in her eyes that she’d felt it too, a bond between us.

“You heard the man. Get to work!” I knew that voice, the hard alto of my mom.

Instantly, the pack began to move, picking up Harley’s body and taking it away. They’d dispose of it in the forest, away from prying eyes, since it was a rather gruesome process. The body would be hacked up, cleaving meat from bone. The flesh and organs would be burned to ash. The bones were kept and spread among the pack, chewed and eaten in our wolf forms, taking our former alpha’s strength into us. It was how all shifters were disposed of. It was gruesome but necessary. We’d learned longago that we couldn’t leave any trace of our kind. If any scientist worth their salt got ahold of any part of us, our centuries-old secret would get out.

“Get inside, girl.”

I glanced over to see my mom talking to our new alpha’s daughter.

“You’re not going to hurt her, are you?” the young woman asked, clearly terrified but showing strength enough to address us.

“No.” The word was out before I could even process that I’d said it. “Never. And I wouldn’t hurt you, little pup. Your mother and your family are under my protection now.”

“Oh.” The daughter blinked, confused for a long moment, then simply nodded. She backed away, then stumbled back to the house.

“What’s gotten into you?” my mom hissed at me.

“I don’t know!” I hissed back, still baffled by all of this. It didn’t make any sense. “It’s like my entire body’s on fire, and the only thing that puts it out is touching her, protecting her.”

“Gods damn it,” my mom said with a stern look. “You sure?”

“Sure of what?” How could I be sure of something I couldn’t explain?

“That that’s how you feel? Burning up? You have to be near her, touch her, protect her?”

“Yeah, and I have no idea why!”

My mom’s frustration mirrored my own. “Fuck,” she hissed, struggling to find the right words. “This can’t… you can’t…”

She knew something… or at least suspected something.

“What?” I demanded, desperate for any insight. “What is this curse?”

She barked a bitter laugh, a mix of sympathy and concern in her eyes. “Curse indeed.” She winced, her expression revealingthat she did know more than she let on. “I can’t be certain… Tell me everything.”

Carrying my new alpha back to her house, I recounted the events, my mind racing, trying to make sense of it all. My mom followed, listening intently. The look on her face only got grimmer, and I could tell she knew what this was. When I finished — stopping at the front door, unsure if I should go in — I waited as my mom shook her head.

“I don’t know how or why, but you’ve gone and gotten yourself fated to this little whelp of a woman. Fuck, Tyson, why her?”

---