Page 79 of Wanted By the Wolves

The power of the command rings through the circle. Magic crescendos and bursts, the raging campfire’s flames turning a shimmering blue.The feral leader howls, and the others of his kind join him, sending an eerie chorus into the night air.

My mates and I huddle together, watching the feral wolves retreat, dragging the king’s wolves into the dark forest behind them.

Dex turns to us, the red of his eyes boring into me. He looks like the incarnation of death, and the power he wields is terrifying. I have the uncanny urge to kneel before my brother and bend my neck.

Nova springs from our hold, but I can’t move. Whatever power my brother wields holds me in place. I never thought I would have to question whether our omega was safe with Dex, but he isn’t himself right now. My insides tighten, fear traveling up my spine.

Nova doesn’t seem to have the same reservations. She walks toward Dex slowly, surely, bending her neck in submission. Inches from his monstrous form, she holds out her small hand until he kneels for her. She traces the glowing rune on his chest.

Her words are soft, barely audible in the night. “Take me home.”

Chapter 46

Nova

Dex doesn’t speak. My warrior mate rips the chains from my neck, tossing them aside before he picks me up like a bride and carries me from the leftover destruction of the king and his followers.

I loop my hand around his thick neck, rubbing his wolf’s fur. He isn’t really his wolf, nor is he the man; he’s trapped somewhere in between. I don’t even bother to guess what this means or why it’s happening. All of that will matter at some point, but right now, he smells like home and safety, and that’s the only thing I need to know.

Behind us, I hear Briggs’s confused voice. “Does that mean we follow?”

“I don’t know. I’m just glad he isn’t taking her here in front of his dead enemies like a true Viking. For a second, I wasn’t sure,” Gage grumbles. “I swear it’s always the quiet ones.”

“Of course you follow,” I tell them between giggles.

I don’t know why I find their conversation so funny, but I keep picturing their faces when Dex looked our way, and I can’t stop laughing. It’s a deranged sound, hysterical and half-full of the giddiness of my rising heat. It shakes loose some ofthe tension in my muscles. I snuggle against Dex’s furry chest, content not to think about anything that just happened.

I let my eyes track the beams of moonlight spilling from between the trees, getting lost in the shadows and light. My mind is fuzzy, the heat rising under my skin. The feral wolves sound in the distance as we move through the forest, but I’m not afraid. Instinctively, I know that another feral will never hunt me.

My alpha mates fall in behind Dex, the two of them shit-talking the whole time. Their banter is comforting, and the scent of my pack makes my racing heart settle even as my blood heats.

When we reach the river, Dex wades through the icy water, lifting me so I don’t get wet before settling me back against his chest once he hits the other bank. The longer he jogs through the forest toward home, the more the heat seems to take over my thoughts.

By the time we’re in the courtyard, the moon's haze has made me slick. I run my hands through the fur on Dex’s chest and squirm in his arms, desperate.

Dex growls a sexy sound that zips straight through my core.It’s a wordless command I don’t understand, but it seems to get my other two alpha mates moving.

Something warm and tingling settles around me, and I recognize Gage’s magical touch. Green sparks swirl around me as Gage’s hands soothe my neck, taking away the last of the wolfsbane. The other aches and pains just below the surface of my raging heat abate as a rush of magic floods my system, sweeping away the last of this strange night.

“Rest, little star, and let the magic work,” Gage murmurs.

Before I can comply, a wave of cramps makes me whine. My core clenches, empty and desperate.

Dex moves, but I close my eyes, unable to focus.

Hot water jolts me back to the present, and I roll my head around, trying to take in my surroundings. It’s a shower in the cabin but not ours. It’s Gage’s old room from when he was hiding out.

Good. I don’t want to go back to our room. The thought of those wolves in my nest makes another whine creep up my throat, but Dex’s steady palm soothes my back.

“It’s all right, sweet girl. Let me get you cleaned off, and then I promise there will be no more waiting.”

The clarity of Dex’s voice draws my eyes to him, and I realize my mate has returned to me. He still looks a little more wolf than man, his eyes wild, but the red has receded, and his voice has lost that strange rattling power.

He gingerly sets me in his brother’s waiting arms, his deep purr rumbling around us. I brace myself against Briggs’s chest, plastering my cheek to his glowing mate mark while Dex gently washes me.

“You’re all right, pretty wolf. We’ve got you. You're safe and ours,” Briggs murmurs, his big palm rubbing my soaked hair.

I refuse to open my eyes, refuse to see the sickness washing down the drain. The king’s darkness has no business here with my mates and me.

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