Page 11 of Wild Fated

Seeing Kael again opened up a lock box of memories that I thought I’d long since buried. The past clawed at me, and I swung harder, splitting the log clean in two. The crack of wood echoed through the clearing.

The wind kicked up, threading between the trees and pulling at my jacket. The air whispered of the cold waiting just over the ridge. I shivered once, not from the chill but from the thought of being caught unprepared. I only had a few hours, and then I needed to start on my rounds. I didn’t have weeks to give, but that was what the northern alphas had stolen from me.

I pulled the axe free from the stump, wiping sweat from my brow as the sun dipped low, sending shadows stretching long across the clearing. I balanced a log on my shoulder and headed back toward the cabin.

Another flash. Lava Forks. The disappointment in my old alpha’s eyes. The ground rumbling beneath my feet. It didn’t matter how many years passed, that sensation of being completely and utterly powerless stayed with me, biting deeper every time I remembered.

My wolf stirred, restless inside me. He wasn’t used to sitting back, but I had my task list for the week. Reinforce the cabinwalls. Fix the roof where a branch had dropped a few weeks prior. Traps—check the traps. Always the traps. Everything had to be ready before the snow came, before the mountain locked us in for good.

My wolf didn’t care about roofs or firewood. His needs were simpler. Eat, sleep, fight.Mate.That last one lingered longer than it should have. I’d always met my needs—found what I required when the urge struck, but I’d never taken a mate. Never wanted one. It was easier that way. Cleaner.

A low growl rumbled inside me, and I pushed my wolf back. No, I hissed. He was singularly obsessed with Lana. The woman in black. He’d noticed her right away—too much fire, too much fight. Dangerous. He liked that. Wanted to know what she’d taste like, how her skin would feel under his teeth.

I shifted the log on my shoulder, jaw tightening. He couldn’t think past the fact that she smelled different—wild. Strong. Like she didn’t belong to anyone. I exhaled, my jeans tightening as I threw the log down.Not helpful, I grunted.

And then the wind shifted, and her scent whispered through the trees. I ground my teeth. If this was another memory?—

No. Another scent. Kael’s.

My senses heightened, taking in every shift in the air, every twitch of a branch. I felt the thud of paws on damp earth, the soft scrape of claws against roots. They came in wolf form, bodies low and quick.Kael.He didn’t belong here, not anymore. He’d made his choice to leave and now to be a pack wolf.

He’d brought his mate and the woman in black. She smelled like rain on dry earth. My wolf whimpered.

When they stopped just beyond the tree line, they shifted. The crack of bone, the slide of muscle beneath skin. Years in the woods had dulled the spectacle for me. Shifting wasn’t something to gawk at. It was just survival. But I had a difficulttime convincing my eyes to stay on the wood pile knowingshewas there in the trees.

Kael emerged first, his shoulders tense. His mate followed, pulling on a jacket and rubbing her arms against the chill. The other woman appeared last, moving with a confidence that scraped against my senses. Her steps were sure, her stance strong. She didn’t seem to care about the cold. Her breath drifted in clouds, but she stood still as stone, eyes scanning the clearing like she belonged here. My wolf stirred—too interested, too aware of her presence. I moved back to the chopping block.

Kael stepped forward, gaze cautious. "Took a while to find you up here. I forgot how far back this place is."

I shrugged.Isolation was the point.Kael knew that, which meant he was saying that for his mate’s benefit. He was probably trying to impress her. Avoiding talking about the truth we both knew. That this had been his home. He’d always planned on staying a lone wolf just like me.

I turned back toward the axe embedded in the stump. They could say their piece, and then they could leave.

Kael’s eyes drifted to the traps scattered along the edge of the clearing. "Still using the same tricks."

I nodded. "They work."

He chuckled. “Only if you don’t know they’re there.”

His mate turned in a circle. “You grew up here?”

I stiffened, then balanced a log and swung the axe harder than necessary. A few moments later, Kael and his mate stood next to me. "This is Callista." He gestured toward her, and she grinned like she hadn’t spent a day of her life suffering. "And this is Lana."

I gave them both a nod—enough acknowledgment to be polite, not enough to invite conversation—and returned to my work.

Kael picked up a log and stacked it next to my block. He didn’t ask. Just worked. I leveled him with a stare, waving him off with a quick jerk of my hand. "I don’t need your help."

Kael walked to the scrap pile and hoisted another log without missing a beat. "I know."

His mate moved to join him, but Kael stopped her with a glance. "Stay back. It’s cold. No reason to?—"

She shook him off, sorting through the pile to find a solid piece. Lana stopped on the opposite side, far enough back that she wouldn’t be hit with flying wood, then gathered the pieces I split and carried them to the stack behind us. I glowered at the three of them.

"What’s the problem?" she asked. "You don’t want help, or you don’t want help from she-wolves?"

I grunted. Let her believe whatever the hell she wanted to about me. Her animosity would only make things easier for me. I swung my axe, and as she bent to collect the pieces, her scent moved like a wave, wrapping around me.

I jerked my chin toward the shed. "The kindling needs moving."

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