Page 31 of Wolf Forgotten

Turning, I covered myself the best I could and faced two wolves who were not the three I knew. They snarled at me and lowered themselves as if they were going to stalk forward.

I felt the smallest jolt and was falling before I processed I was shifting. My legs caught me, and I snarled back at the wolves who had moved toward me as if stalking their prey. The last thing I wanted was a wolf fight, but I was excited and yearning to put these two in their place. They were disrespecting me by showing me their teeth.

I turned my attention to the larger male and growled, showing my own teeth. My tail stood straight up and the hair on my hackles bristled. I crouched and lunged forward at the same time he did.

We clashed, snarling and biting into each other. The other wolf backed out of the way and cowered as he watched the fight. We rolled around on the ground before separating and continuing to circle each other. He had bitten my hind leg, which was dripping blood, but I could already feel it healing.

“Enough. He is pack.”The voice entered my head, and I snapped my attention to the approaching gray wolf with a snarl.

Cole.Alpha. Mate. Mine.

I snapped at him and lowered my body in a crouch, ready to spring if he rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe I needed to be locked back up after all.

“Don’t test me Ivy, I don’t want to fight you.”

Before I could stop my wolf, I jumped and butted my head into his side, sending him flying. He grunted but was up quickly and was pissed.

“I warned you.”He charged, and we tumbled across the ground.

He quickly pinned me under his much larger wolf and snarled in my face. My heart clenched, and I shrank back from him but refused to look away. My wolf really wanted to look down, but I didn’t let her.

“I’m the alpha of this pack and you need to learn to show some respect.”His voice was a snarl in my head. “The first thing you're going to do is apologize to Manny and Dante. Then you and I are going to go back to the house and lay down some ground rules.”

He had to be kidding.“They are the ones that came at me growling. I was protecting myself!”Well, mostly.

“You were challenging one of my betas!”His voice was a roar and made me flinch under his strong paws, the nails slightly digging into my shoulders. “And then you challengedmein front of them. Do you have any idea what I usually do to wolves who challenge me?”

It was unnerving getting a lecture from a wolf inside my head.

“Make sweet wolf love to them?”I caught him off guard with my retort and he shifted his weight. I rolled out from under him before he could recover. “I win, wolf boy. Catch me if you can.”

I let out several celebratory and slightly deranged yips before taking off at full speed toward the house. My wolf and I were going to get along just fine. It seemed like the more we acknowledged each other's existence, the more in sync we were.

I heard him behind me, and I wasn’t sure what he was going to do to me for that little show, but it made a rush of excitement flood my system. I tumbled forward, shifting back to human. There had to be a secret to doing it on command because I sucked at it.

I face planted in some leaves and groaned, turning my head to spit out a leaf. Bare feet came to a stop in front of me, and I reached out and patted the top of his foot.

“Please say my punishment is a spanking.” I glanced up at him, his face barely visible in the moonlight. I could see his eyes though, and they burned a hole right through me.

He reached down and yanked me up by my arm before releasing me and taking off toward the house. He was livid, but his eyes had also burned with desire.

I ran after him, concerned with his quietness. A part of me was excited every time we exchanged words. My wolf was not happy he was walking away.

“I was hungry.” My skin prickled as I followed him into the warm house, hoping my vague explanation was enough to warrant a response. It didn’t, and he made his way toward the stairs. "Say something, Cole."

The living room was empty and most of the house dark. Eli was nowhere to be seen or heard, which left us alone.

A small spark of something unexpected made its way through my body as I followed Cole’s nakedness up the stairs. I wanted him in a deep, soul-crushing kind of way.

My wolf whimpered as he shut his bedroom door without a look back in my direction.

* * *

I stared at the ceiling,replaying the events of the day. I should have wanted to sleep, but my mind wouldn’t quiet down. A tight knot had formed in my stomach at the realization I was inexplicably drawn to Cole. The more I was around him, the worse it became.

Maybe he really was my mate.

Before I chickened out, I got out of bed and went down the hall to his door. It was just past three in the morning, and instead of sleeping, all I could think about washim.

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