Page 8 of Tamed By the Alpha Wolf

They were almost out the door when my resumed finger-drumming landed on the stack of purchase orders. “Oh, hey,” I called after her, “can you tell Kai the part for his SUV will be in by the end of the week?”

Maddy paused, her eyebrows climbing high. “Really? Kai said it’d be at least a month.”

Yeah, well, sometimes I fixed the problems instead of causing them. Even if it was just making phone calls to other shops for an inventory check instead of waiting for a shipment from the vendor.

I shrugged and turned away, pretending to straighten a counter display of air fresheners. “Guess they had it in stock after all.”

I waited until I heard the ding of the exit chime before letting out a breath. Well, at least I’d done one thing right today. Maybe I could still salvage the clusterfuck of my life.

At the very least, maybe I could repair the damage I’d done with Nico.

If he hadn’t abandoned our bond—and sanity—entirely.

The sun was settingas I pulled up to the abandoned cabin where I’d stashed Nico. My stomach churned with nerves as I killed the engine and stared at the ramshackle building.

Would he be angry that I’d left him?

Was he even human again?

What if he wasn’t here anymore? What if he’d wandered off somewhere, and I never saw him again? Or worse, someone else found him. Someone who couldn’t handle his rougher edges.

That was the danger with rogues. Once their animal took control, they were no better than the beasts in the woods. Hurt was met with hurt, whether it landed on another shifter, some wild creature, or an innocent human.

To keep ourselves safe, rogues were put down before they could ruin lives and reveal our existence to the world.

So, what did I do? Mate one.

My nose twitched as I stepped out of my car, searching for any trace of recent patrols. Nothing. Just musty wood, rotting leaves, and the faintest touch of familiar fur.

Anger flared in my chest, even as relief doused the heat. This was the far edge of Dusk Valley territory, but still our territory. The pack would have passed through if we had our full numbers.

But no fresh scents meant no one had stumbled across my dirty little secret.

The cabin door creaked open, and my stomach clenched. I took in the wreckage with a frown that deepened by the damage—splintered furniture, gouged walls, shredded curtains. It looked like a tornado had torn through the place.

Fuck. What had I been thinking, leaving a feral wolf alone here?

I stepped inside, my boots crunching over shattered glass and plaster. The silence pressed in around me, broken only by the rapid thudding of my heart. Where the hell was he?

A low growl rumbled from the back bedroom. I squared my shoulders and strode forward, shoving aside my rising panic. This was my fault. I’d marked him without permission, without even knowing if he was sane enough to understand what I’d done. The least I could do was face the consequences.

I found him crouched in the corner, fur bristling along his spine. Those silver eyes locked onto me, filled with feral rage and confusion. His lips peeled back from gleaming fangs as another snarl ripped from his throat.

Ignoring the threat display, I tossed the bag of shaving supplies at his feet. “Shift,” I ordered, injecting steel into my voice. “Now.”

He didn’t move. Just kept growling, muscles bunched and ready to spring.

I took a deep breath, calling on every ounce of dominance I possessed. It wasn’t the raw power between a true alpha and packmate, but I’d been raised by an asshole and surrounded by rough shifters my entire life. No way in fuck would a strange rogue with my mate mark send me tucking my tail in fear.

“I saidshift.”

For a long moment, we faced each other down. My wolf paced restlessly beneath my skin, itching for action. To fight or fuck, I couldn’t tell. All I knew was that she was hungry for the male glaring daggers at me from his haunches.

Then, with a whine that was equal parts pain and frustration that I understood down to my bones, his form blurred. Fur receded, limbs elongated, and suddenly Nico knelt before me in all his naked glory.

Fuck, he was gorgeous. All hard muscle and olive skin, marred by scars both old and new. My eyes traced the line of dark hair trailing down his abs, and lower still...

I jerked my gaze away, furious at myself for the surge of heat that pooled low in my belly. This wasn’t the time. He needed help. Not a hormone-addled idiot thinking with her clit instead of her brain.

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