Page 3 of Tamed By the Alpha Wolf

I bolted for the trees. I felt the pack’s eyes on me. All that worry and concern. But I didn’t deserve their comfort.

I didn’t deserve any of it.

I ran until my lungs burned and my paws ached. Until the faces of my packmates stopped swimming behind my eyelids. Until the hateful words I’d thrown around so casually became an accusing wind in my fur.

Weak.

Selfish.

Unworthy.

I ran until my lungs burned and my legs trembled, finally collapsing by a stream at the far edge of Dusk Valley territory. Water rushed past in a steady current. The chill air stung my muzzle, and the clear water reflected my disheveled appearance.

I hated the gold eyes that stared back at me. My father’s eyes.

The shift back to human was agonizing, my battered body protesting every movement. I crawled to the water’s edge, wincing as the cool current lapped at my wounds.

Fuck. What had I done?

As the adrenaline faded, the full weight of my actions settled over me. I’d goaded Rafe into that fight. Just pushed and pushed until he had no choice but to pull rank. Worse, I’d lost control. Just like?—

No. I couldn’t think about that. Couldn’t face the terrifying parallels between myself and the father I’d helped kill.

I scrubbed at my skin, as if I could wash away the shame along with the blood and dirt. The water stung my already healing cuts, but I welcomed the pain. It was better than the gnawing emptiness threatening to consume me.

A twig snapped behind me.

I whirled, heart pounding, to find a stranger standing naked at the edge of the clearing. I didn’t recognize him, but the bright silver eyes and wild energy radiating off him marked him as a shifter.

“Who the fuck are you?” I snarled, surging to my feet.

Lone wolves weren’t uncommon, and we’d ordered more than a few in my lifetime to keep moving. Rogues were their dangerous cousins—unpredictable beasts who spent more time in fur than human skin. Most lost themselves to madness and whatever alpha eventually put them down.

The stranger canted his head. His nostrils flared as his eyes swept over my naked frame, lingering on my tits. A low rumble vibrated in his chest—not quite a growl, but a sound that sent a shiver down my spine.

He was obscenely hot, in a feral sort of way. Broad-shouldered and muscular, with olive skin and a mess of dark hair hanging past his shoulders. A half-sleeve of tattoos decorated one arm, the black ink a stark contrast to his skin.

And that scent... cedar and espresso, with a hint of something wild and strange. I wanted to bask in it, bury my face in his neck and drown in his aroma.

But it was his eyes that held me captive. They were so bright, so silver, and for a moment, I saw myself reflected in their depths. The pain, the anger, the desperate need to run from something I couldn’t escape.

All I felt was a spark of recognition and understanding.

Mate.

I shook myself, trying to clear the fog from my mind. No.No.I didn’t want a mate. Especially now, with my life falling apart.

The way his gaze traveled over my body made my skin tingle with awareness. It was wrong, so wrong, but I couldn’t look away. The tension stretched between us, drawing tighter with each passing heartbeat.

“You need to leave,” I said, injecting as much authority into my voice as I could muster. “Now.”

The man didn’t respond, just kept staring at me with those wild, glowing eyes.

Then he took a slow, deliberate step toward me.

CHAPTER TWO

NICO

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