Page 6 of Fated to the Feral Wolf

When I thought about how the blood got there, I wanted to challenge the high alpha—my best friend’s fated mate—which was an epically bad idea.

“Has he been taking breaks like this?” I asked Reed, not taking my eyes off Dirge’s wolf.

“No, he hasn’t been still since the sedatives wore off two days ago. I’m not sure how he’s still upright, let alone fighting so hard.”

“Almost three full years of hard living have made him strong,” Kane murmured from his position behind us. “He was already a fighter, and now he’s been honed by nature into a killing machine.”

My lip curled up into a snarl without my permission. “He’s notjusta killing machine. He was trying to protect me!” The words were guttural in my mouth, but still, my wolf lay dormant. The reminder of her absence sent a pang of sadness through me.

“Yes, so the witnesses all agree. But why?” The high alpha paced forward, letting his hands drop to the desk in front of the security monitors.

They didn’t know. Somehow, in all the commotion,nobodyknew.

Was I even sure myself?

Part of me screamed yes, but the other part—maybe the larger part—wasn’t ready to say it. What if I was wrong? What if, somehow, him being feral triggered the mate bond inside me, but not in him? Had anyone ever found their mate while they were feral?

I didn’t know. Dragging in a steadying breath as Kane straightened, I looked just below the high alpha’s eyeline, not enough to outright challenge, but enough to push the limit and get his attention.

“He won’t hurt me. I want you to let me in to talk to him, and check on him. He may need medical attention.”

“No.”

“But—”

“It is pack law. Enforcers are the only ones allowed in, and then just to deliver food and water, or sedatives if urgent medical attention becomes necessary. We can all see that he’s fine… but probably bruised from his own efforts.” There was exasperation in his tone, and to his credit, he spared a glance to his third, who sat wearily in the monitoring chair. Reed’s sorrow perfumed the air with a thickly sour scent, but he didn’t comment.

“I respectfully ask for you to allow an exception.” The words were bitter on my tongue. I didn’t dislike Kane; in fact, I was happy Brielle had found him. But the situation was pushing me to fight, to argue, to rage against anything between me and my mate… and right now, that was Kane.

He didn’t answer immediately, sizing me up in that unnerving way that alpha wolves have, as if their power istastingyou on the air.

I lifted my chin and kept my shoulders square. I wasn’t going to back down, no matter how badly my body ached or how exhaustion threatened to pull me under.

“Everyone but Shay, out,” Kane said, eyes still leveled on me.

Leigh squeezed my arm as she made her way past, toward the door. Brielle stopped and whispered something in Kane’s ear, a stern look on her face before she followed Leigh. It felt like lead, filling up my chest as I watched my two strongest supporters in the world walk out that door. But if he wassending them out, I had to believe it was for a reason, that there washope.

“Alpha—” Reed protested, but Kane held up a hand. “You need rest, food, and a shower. You can come back as soon as those are seen to. You have my word as pack leader that your brother will not be unattended at any time.”

Reed followed Leigh and Brielle out with a sigh and a last, tormented look over his shoulder at where his brother’s wolf still sat, patiently waiting, on each of the monitors.

When the door clicked softly behind them, Kane pulled the chair out and gestured for me to sit. “You’ve been through an ordeal, and hurting yourself won’t help him.”

I sank into the chair with a mixture of relief and indignation. Kane was no dummy, even though I wanted to wring his neck right now.

Once I was settled, he propped his hip against the table and ran a hand through his hair. “Tell me.”

It was a command, no doubt, despite the fact that he withheld his alpha command. Probably out of respect for my relationship with Brielle. Or just because he was actually a good guy beneath all the responsibility.

“He’s… I think he’s my mate.” I dropped my gaze to the varnished floorboards, suddenly losing all my bluster.

“You think?” I could hear the amusement he tried to squash in his tone. “Why aren’t you sure?”

“He’s feral! Can he even acknowledge a mate bond? I don’t know if this has ever happened before or how to go about dealing with any of this.” I was surprised when tears prickled and gave in to the urge to pull my knees up to my chest to give me something to hide behind.

Kane let out a weary sigh. “I would have to have someone check the records, but to the best of my knowledge, there’s nothing that precludes a mate bond from forming with a feralwolf. In fact, if anything, they’re likely to hit harder, given he’s being ruled by his primal instincts and not his human side.”

I stilled in the chair, letting that sink in. I hadn’t considered that the reason he’d reacted so strongly to me was because the wolf was in charge and didn’t know how to handle the bond in a more civilized manner. Though it made a lot of sense, now that he’d pointed it out.

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