Page 12 of Wanted By the Wolves

“Alpha,” she says, her voice thick like syrup. Her lips trail down my chest.

I grit my teeth and yank on the remaining thread of my control. I will never forgive myself if I surrender to the haze of rut. My hands curl under her arms, and I bring her up my chest so that I can see her eyes.

They’re hooded, glazed over with the lust of heat. The dark bandages on her neck bring the severity of this moment back into shocking focus. My job is to protect her.

I try my best to explain, hoping I can get through to her. I cup her cheek and make my voice soft. “Hello, sweetheart. Mybrother, Briggs, and I brought you somewhere safe, but you’re going into heat.”

It doesn’t register. There is no fear, no memory of what brought us here in her expression. Her omega is in charge. She lunges for me, her small mouth sucking along my chin and down my throat while her hand blindly gropes for my cock.

I blow out a shaky breath and sit up, cradling her in my lap. I try to pull a blanket between us, but she’s wily. The moment her hand grabs hold of my cock through my jeans, I freeze. My balls pulse with the need to come.

“Sweet girl, you’re testing all my control,” I warn us both. “I know you don’t understand, but no matter how much the moon tells you that you want me, this wouldn’t be right.”

I pick her up and set her on the bed as gently as I can. She tries to twist herself around me. Her hands and lips are everywhere. Before I can give in to the temptation, I tuck my tail and run.

Her whined, “Alpha,” nearly breaks me, but I force myself not to turn around.

Gage isn’tin the cabin. I’ve searched everywhere in this sprawling pack house. I have to find him and a solution because even if it’s wrong, I don’t know if I can hear her cries of need and not do something about them.

Ignoring the omega’s whine has nearly pushed me to the brink. Every instinct I have says I need to go to her and stuff her full of my knot.

I’m torn. Leaving an omega in heat to fend for herself is fucking cruel, but so is putting her through a heat with a stranger when she’s barely made it from captivity.

Braving the cold, I head outside in only jeans because I’m too chickenshit to retrieve my jacket and boots from the bedroom. My wolf nudges me, snarling at me to go back and care for our mate. Instead, I scan the property. I was only here on assignment once, almost a decade ago, but the isolated place hasn’t really changed.

The pack house is in a clearing high in the mountains. Before the end of the month, the ground will be covered in snow, and getting out of here will be impossible.

That’s good for the omega. The time here will throw the ferals off her trail, and I doubt the new king even knows that this place exists. Briggs was right to bring us here.

The compound is warded against trespassers, with a wide enough berth to allow wolves space to run in safety. The property has a barn, a greenhouse, and a small smokehouse. It was built to be self-sustaining, relying on solar power. Gage has certainly proven the design.

I pick up the healer’s scent on the trail to the greenhouse. It’s full of more pain than my brother’s, and Gage isn’t the one currently laid out fighting feral bites.

The man who saved our asses this morning isn’t the same wolf I remember from a decade ago. Briggs and I were only here for a summer, helping to rid the area of ferals while the crew got this place up and running. I didn’t get to know Gage that well. That summer, there were more than a dozen wolves, but I remember Gage’s energy. He was hopeful then and quick to draw a laugh, even from me. The Gage of then was just as smart and powerful, but he was guided by a desire to change the future that seems missing now. He’s only in his late thirties, but he looks haggard.

I don’t know the details of what happened here, but it’s easy to guess. The compound is deserted except for Gage.

The last decade hasn’t been kind to anyone, especially not a wolf with a conscience.

His scent trail leads me through rows of plants. The floral and herbal scents help clear my head of the omega’s perfume. When the trail dies, the alpha is nowhere to be found. I double back and catch it again, following the scent through a small path in the forest that leads up to a jutting rock.

I climb up the rock as the dark-haired alpha turns to look at me, blowing a breath of smoke into the evening air.

“What part of ‘leave’ was unclear?” he asks around a coughing huff.The sweet stench of weed fills the air.

I get it. The world sucks right now, and he’s taking his calm where he can. But unfortunately for him, I’m not done wrecking his peace. There is no way we’re leaving with the omega until at least after the first snows have cleared. He’s stuck with us for now.

I gear myself up to say all I need to. I refuse to get tongue-tied. Not about this. I can find the words for her. “Whatever the fuck happened up here, I’m sorry. But no matter the shit we’ve seen, there is an omega in there going into heat, and I need your help.”

His silver eyes glow. “And how exactly can I help?” He brings the joint to his lips and takes another drag. His movements appear casual and unaffected, but the sorrow in his scent gives him away. “Because I’m sure as shit not down to fuck your mate.”

The fact that he’s hurting doesn’t excuse being a dick.

“Fuck you. You know that’s not what I’m asking.” He may be a powerful healer, but I’m a hunter and fast for my size. I rip the joint from his hands and toss it into the woods. “Get your ass up.”

Gage lunges for me, but I fend him off easily, and he tumbles, falling off the rock and into the dirt.

It wasn’t life-threatening, but I’m sure that it hurt. He rolls over onto his back, his nose gushing blood as he lets loose an unhinged laugh. That turns into a strangled shout full of outrage and heartache.

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