Page 12 of Wolf Betrayed

“As it’s my job as Healer to use those bonds to Heal physical wounds,” Walker put in.

“And I take care of the emotional ones as the Omega,” Brandon added. “Or I try to.” The other man grinned, but Shane saw a sadness in the man’s eyes that he couldn’t quite place.

“And you?” he asked of Bram, who had been quiet up until this point.

“I’m a Redwood, not a Talon,” Bram answered. “I’m the Alpha’s enforcer, his protector. I think they’re called lieutenants here.”

Gideon nodded. “Same role, different name. We have a few other roles in the Pack, but those are our immediate ones.” He frowned. “Do you know what happened to you, Shane?”

Shane met the Alpha’s gaze, but before he could speak, a woman walked into the room. Gideon let out a growl, but his face softened at the sight of the woman.

“What are you doing here, Brie?” the Alpha growled softly.

“I heard your voices and knew Shane was awake,” Brie said with her brow raised. She looked around the very large man and waved at Shane. “Hi, I’m Brie, Gideon’s mate. How are you feeling? Did they let you at least get up and try to move around before they started to interrogate you?”

Despite the situation, Shane smiled. He’d read about Brie in the past, of course, much like he had Gideon, but no one had mentioned that her mere presence could make him feel…protective and eased.

“Brie, you shouldn’t be here.” Gideon’s words were low, but Shane could hear the softness in his voice, a gentleness that must only be for his mate. “Not in your condition.”

Brie rolled her eyes. “This is the man who saved Ryder, and there are four of you in here to stop him if he suddenly has the idea to attack me. I know I’m safe, and you need to calm down, grumpy wolf.”

“Brie, honey, Gideon is an Alpha wolf with a pregnant mate. Being calm isn’t going to happen until way after the baby is born.”

Shane marveled at the connections and the way they all acted with one another. They were truly just a family with their own issues and jokes. They weren’t the monsters some of the humans tried to make them out to be. He’d always known there was something more than what Montag said, but seeing it firsthand told Shane he’d made the right choice.

“Congratulations,” he murmured, and Brie’s eyes lit up.

“Thank you. How are you feeling?”

Shane decided to go with honesty. “Like the man I once saw as a mentor turned out to be a traitor to his country and a monster. And then that same man created some kind of serum he was sure would turn me into a wolf like you and injected it into me without my consent. They didn’t know what would happen to me, but before they could cut me open and see how I worked, I escaped and ended up on your doorstep. Now I’m here, part of a Pack that might resent the fact that something is wrong with me, that I wasn’t changed like the rest of you are or were, and I’m just now learning to breathe again. Only I don’t know why I can now, and the fact that it might have to do with the man standing beside me and not anything within myself worries me. So I don’t know what I’m feeling beyond overwhelmed and freaked out.” Shane took a deep breath, aware the others were staring at him like he’d lost his mind. “Am I a wolf? Did it work? Or am I going to be something else you might need to put down if I become a danger? Or worse, will I die before you get a chance to do that and hurt someone along the way? I don’t know who I am anymore, but I’ve been asking myself that question long before Montag injected me with whatever he did.”

There was a tense silence, and it was Brie who spoke first. “That is a lot for one man to feel. Wolf or not.”

Shane closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that Bram hadn’t moved a muscle during his entire speech. He didn’t know why he cared so much about what Bram thought, and that worried him as much as, if not more than, whatever poison filled his veins.

“We’ll discuss the serum once you’re out of bed,” Gideon said after a moment. “As for if you are wolf or not, we don’t know. You scent of wolf, but it’s different. We’ll go down that road when we need to. Any wolf who is turned needs time to learn to control the beast inside. Usually, it takes a human being near death and the bite of an Alpha or a very dominant wolf to start the change.” A pause. “The human population doesn’t know that yet.”

“I’m not exactly human anymore, am I?” Shane asked wryly.

“I guess not,” Gideon said with a snort.

Walker and Brandon had been quiet during the conversation, but Shane felt their studying gazes. Bram, however, was pointedly not looking at him. Why was a Redwood wolf in the Talon den anyway? There were far more questions than answers at this point, and that unnerved Shane to no end. He solved puzzles for a living, and now he seemed to be the puzzle itself.

“What do we do now?” Shane asked.

“That’s up to you, isn’t it?” Gideon asked.

Shane pressed his lips together, knowing the Alpha was lying…or at least partially. There was no way Gideon would let him leave the den now as he was, but there were things Shane could do to help. At least, he hoped so.

“I risked my life for one of you, but I’d have done that no matter what. I don’t need to be even for that. I’m here because I had nowhere else to go.” He paused, knowing he was changing his life once again. Forever. “You have me. My loyalty. My…whatever I am. You took me in when you didn’t have to, and I will do everything I can to repay you.”

Gideon nodded, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. “You left your people—in essence, betrayed them because they were betraying humanity and the world. I get that. I admire that. But not everyone within the Pack and outside it will be happy that you’re here. But I speak for my Pack and my family as I welcome you. I don’t know what’s coming next, but I have to trust the moon goddess and the fact that you came to us when you knew I could kill you on sight. You’re Pack now, Shane. Earn it. Help us save our people.”

Ourpeople.

Shane nodded, but his mind whirled. He was Pack, but was he wolf? What would happen when he tried to shift? What would happen when Bram left the room, and he couldn’t control himself anymore?

Bram.

Why did Bram matter? And who owned that sweet and floral scent from before?

His life had changed irrevocably, and though he’d come to the Talons for help, he had a feeling a cut on the hand wasn’t all that was required to be entered into the Pack. It wasn’t that easy. Gideon was right. He’d betrayed Montag, and the General wouldn’t take that lying down.

Even though Shane had spent his life protecting others, he might have made a huge mistake in coming here. His actions, in the end, might prove to be the lynchpin that destroyed them all.

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