Page 5 of Redeemed Wolf

Morgan looked wounded. “But I can help! He just said—”

“Another human.Anyonebut you.” Jude’s eyes flashed green. “You’ve been in enough danger. Not again. Jesse needs you.Ineed you.” His voice cracked. And if that wasn’t enough, he added, “And Eric knows you.”

Morgan sagged in his seat, stroking Jesse’s dark hair. “Okay,” he whispered, looking defeated.

But it wasn’t like we had a lot of humans we could ask. By nature, shifters kept their existence a secret from humans, for the very reason we were currently dealing with. Humans were often afraid of what they didn’t understand, and that led to hatred and violence. How could we suddenly divulge our secret to a human, and then expect them to help us? That was an awful lot of trust to put in someone we didn’t know.

So naturally, they began talking about how to get a shifter in.

I was still sitting on my stool while the others had stood, crowding around the tablet. The sun had begun to set, the tablet’s screen lighting their faces from below. I’d already made up my mind. “Count me in,” I said, interrupting the discussion.

Tristan glared at me, teeth clenched. “You weren’t invited.”

Slowly standing, I leaned my palms on the table and looked around at each of them in turn. “You need someone inside, and I’m volunteering for the job. None of you can go undercover. They’d recognize any of you, and I don’t see any other trustworthy humans around here.” I caught Tristan’s glare and held it. “And if they find out I’m a shifter, why would you care? I’m expendable. I don’t have a mate or pups, and I’m not even a part of your pack.”Yet, I thought, meeting Shan’s eyes with the silent message. “And I think we can all agree that I’m more than willing to do whatever needs to be done. You need me,” I said with a feral grin.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Tristan grumbled, narrowing his eyes before he dropped back onto his stool.

Heads swiveled back and forth between me and Shan as their Alpha weighed their options, even though they all knew they had none. The screen went into battery-saver mode, leaving usin the near dark. The pack got silent and still, until the only sound I heard were the kids playing a game of tag in the clearing. Until even they seemed to sense something momentous was happening, and then all that was left was the wind through the trees, the day’s final call of a mourning dove, and nestled underneath it all, the beat of our hearts.

The silence was a physical thing, tension pressing in on all sides until I could barely catch my breath. Shan and I remained standing, two Alphas in a standoff, and the weight of his will nearly made my legs give out. We both knew why I wanted to risk this. I’d apologized, but actions spoke louder than words. Shan said he didn’t trust me, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want me to convince him.

The longer the silence drew on, the more doubt crept in. In the end, though, it wasn’t Shan who made the final decision.

“He will go,” a raspy voice said from the deepening shadows.

Shan startled and looked away first, searching out the woman who sat forward, her nightgown almost glowing in the rising moonlight. I’d almost forgotten she was here. Her eyes were unseeing, though she looked straight at Shan. “He will go to the lab,” she repeated.

Vesta was the pack’s shaman and midwife, but she was so much more than that. She held sway over them as a matriarch of sorts. She’d been on this earth longer than any of us, and she’d lived through much in her years. She’d seen even more in her mind’s eye.

For a moment, I thought Shan would argue, but instead, he nodded. “Okay. Silas will go.”

Chapter 3

Silas

I’d never been toa job interview before.

“Are you sure this is right?” I asked, scowling into the mirror. I compared my reflection to the image of a man in a suit that I’d pulled up on my phone, but whereas the model looked handsome, charming, and relaxed, I just looked like I was playing dress-up with something I found in my father’s closet—if I’d had a real father, that is. I tugged at the tie, tight enough to feel like a noose around my throat. No amount of straightening the collar could hide my scars that extended all the way up to my jaw.

Pacey appeared behind me in the mirror. “Of course I’m sure. Why would you doubt me?” Even though he didn’t even crack a smile, I felt like he was making a joke. He rarely smiled, which made it impossible to tell whether or not he was making fun of me.

Ignoring his question, I asked, “When the hell have you ever been to a job interview?”

Pretending he hadn’t heard me, he flopped down on the bed, the springs creaking dangerously. My Beta was an immovable beast, even in his human form. He looked like some kind of Viking, with his broad tattooed frame, long dark hair, and the way he braided his beard. I’d originally selected him as my second primarily because of his ability to intimidate with a simple glare, but I’d been pleased to find he had other redeeming qualities. Such as enough loyalty to follow me all the way to Fairhome for a fucking job interview.

I might not have had a job interview before, seeing as I’d always just been assigned tasks in my packs, but I’d had plenty of pointers from Morgan before I left for the city. “Make sure you smile,” he’d said, but when I’d tried out my smile on him, he’d grimaced. “Okay, maybe don’t show your teeth. You look like a predator.”

“Iama predator,” I’d reminded him, allowing my wolf’s canines to drop and my eyes to shine.

He’d rolled his eyes and continued with his instructions. “A little bit of eye contact is good, but since… you know,” he said, gesturing to my face in general. “Just try not to be intimidating.”

“The job is for security personnel. Shouldn’t I be—?”

“Don’t scare your boss,” he’d said, interrupting smoothly. “Try to be charming but not sleezy, and for the love of gods, don’t hit on him. You can expect questions about your previous jobs, so Joe and I have created a fake resume for you, showing how extremely qualified you are. If he calls your references, Joe has made sure someone will pick up, and they will give you a glowing recommendation.” He’d smiled tightly. “Just stick to your backstory and you should be fine.”

My backstory. Right. I’d been studying it ever since.

Morgan had stayed at the camp. Out of everyone, he’d spent the most time with this Dr. Taylor guy and would be recognized on sight. Jude, too, was no use in this mission.

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