Page 22 of Tamed By the Alpha Wolf

The cool air wrapped around me, clearing some of the fog from my head. I took a deep breath, trying to sort through the jumble of emotions swirling inside me. Guilt, fear, anger, and underneath it all, a fierce protectiveness I didn’t want to examine too closely.

Movement at the tree line caught my eye, and I froze in place. A flicker of shadow. A rustle of leaves that didn’t match the breeze. My wolf perked up, nose twitching as she caught a familiar scent on the breeze. Cedar and espresso.

Nico.

I followed the clues—a bent branch here, a disturbed patch of leaves there—until I found him. He sat nude on a fallen tree,gloriously nude and utterly unashamed. Shadows danced across the hard planes of his muscular body. My mouth went dry at the sight.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” I said, even as I moved toward him.

Nico’s hands came to rest on my ass, drawing me between his spread thighs. He grinned, wolfish and wicked. “And miss the chance to see you in that sexy gas station uniform? Never.”

I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t stop the smile tugging at my lips. “It’s hardly my best lingerie.”

“You could make a potato sack look good.” His fingers dipped beneath the hem of my shirt, tracing lazy circles on my lower back. “Besides, I like a woman who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.”

The innuendo in his voice sent a shiver down my spine. But as much as I wanted to lose myself in his touch, something in his expression gave me pause. There was a tightness around his eyes, a tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there before.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, running my fingers through his now-trimmed hair. “You look... off.”

Nico’s cocky grin faded, replaced by something more serious. He rubbed at his chest absently, as if trying to ease some unseen ache. “I don’t know. I just... I needed to be near you.”

The admission sent a pang through me. My wolf whined, sensing his distress. I cupped his face in my hands and forced him to meet my gaze. “Your wolf’s restless,” I observed. It wasn’t a question.

A flicker of something—fear? shame?—passed through his eyes before he looked away. “Maybe. It’s hard to tell sometimes. The lines get... blurry.”

I chewed on my lip, hesitating. Part of me wanted to wrap him in my arms and tell him everything would be okay. But Icouldn’t shake the nagging feeling in my gut. The timing was too convenient; his restlessness too concerning.

“Orion told me some news,” I said carefully, watching his reaction. “A coven of witches in Denver was killed. Like the ones in the file Wyatt shared.”

Nico’s eyes snapped back to mine, suddenly sharp and alert. “And you trust this information? These... sources?”

“At one time? No.” I couldn’t blame him for his suspicion. Past Me would have scoffed at the idea of working with our enemies. “But after everything that happened with my father, and Jude mating Asher... It’s not perfect, but everyone seems more interested in coexisting than drawing blood these days.” The words felt strange on my tongue, but I couldn’t deny the truth of them. “As much as I hate to admit it, it’s... nice. Not waking up wondering if today’s the day I’ll have to light another packmate’s pyre.”

Nico’s jaw clenched, and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what I had to ask next.

“There’s something else,” I said. “Orion caught an unfamiliar scent along our border during his patrol. It didn’t cross into our territory, but...” I trailed off, unable to voice my suspicions.

“You’re wondering if it was me.”

I nodded, hating the hurt that flashed across his face. “Was it?”

Nico snorted, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “Please. Do I really seem like the type to respect boundaries?”

Despite everything, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Fair point.” But my amusement faded quickly as another thought occurred to me. “But... would you even remember if it was you? You said there were gaps in your memory.”

The humor drained from his expression. He was quiet for a long moment, his fingers tightening on my hips. “No,” he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “I wouldn’t.”

The admission hung heavy between us. I wanted to reassure him, to tell him it didn’t matter. But we both knew that would be a lie.

He needed to stay sane. I needed to protect my pack. Far too much hurt waited where those roads crossed.

“Do you know why anyone would want a bunch of witches dead?” I pressed.

Nico shook his head. “The Bassani family had a few on the payroll—all the families did—but I never worked with them directly. Witches were always... unpredictable.”

Wasn’t that the truth. Wyatt kept one close, but I didn’t trust her. Didn’t trust any of them after some of our own were hunted down by humans using witchery to erase their scents. Selling off their vials and trinkets to idiot humans was irresponsible at best, and downright... cannibalistic at worst.

My wolf growled within me. She hated this waiting for the next shoe to drop, especially when it came to the safety of our pack. If anything happened to them, I’d?—

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