Page 25 of To Challenge a Wolf

“They’re lucky to have you, Rhett. Malachi’s obviously smart and strong, but your military mind is something else. Your pack needs you.”

“My money helps too.” He smirked.

“Well, I wasn’t going to say it.”

She let her smile match the mischief in his, but then the gravity of what they had faced—what they might face again—fully caught up to her. Sudden nausea clamped onto her stomach as everything hit her at once. An alpha wolf out there somewhere was watching the footage from the drone. An alpha wolf who had, along with members of his pack, ambushed Malachi, shot with the intent to kill him. An alpha wolf who had violated April and meant to do it again, maybe to kill her too.

A warm hand settled on the back of her neck, and fingers kneaded the taut muscles. He was strong enough to rip a chunk from a picnic table, yet his touch was gentle now.

“Like you said,” Rhett growled softly, “I’ll protect them with everything I’ve got. And you too, Viv, now that you’re here.”

Oh… She lifted her head from her knees. “This is why.”

“Huh?” He cocked one eyebrow. His eyes had regained a bit of blue.

“Why you were so mad at me. One more person to look out for, and all this already on your plate. My timing sucks.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Of course it is, and I can’t blame you.”

“No, Vivian.”

He scooted closer to her, and she leaned against his arm, rested her head on his shoulder, and inhaled his comfortable scent of steel and wild game. The knots in her stomach began to ease. They’d sat like this countless times while they told each other hard things and silly things and deep things like what they wanted from life.

“I want to be what I want, Viv. Not what he’s trying to twist me into.”

“When you say stuff like this, I think there must be things I don’t know.”

“Maybe I can tell you someday. When I’ve gotten him out of me.”

Words she’d forgotten, rushing back to her. And once, the week before he left, they’d held hands, fingers laced and thumbs twining. Once. The week she had wondered if she mattered to Rhett. The week before she’d proved he didn’t matter to her. Not enough, anyway.

This morning she’d put on a snug sweater and a cute skirt. This morning she’d looked herself in the mirror and nodded.Resolved. She’d come here on a mission—well, on several, really. But now her presence here felt different.

“Maybe I could help,” she said. “You’ve been training the wolves, right? I bet they can creep around the forest in formation by now. But I could spar with you, show the women how it’s done.”

He growled low in his throat.

“What? Don’t want your pack to see me flip you over my back?”

“I’m not sparring with you, Viv.”

“You should want the women of this pack to be as formidable as possible too.”

“I do.”

“Then tell me what the problem is, Rhett Helvering.”

He snarled.

“Don’t start with me. You don’t get to—”

“Jones,” he snapped. “I’m Rhett Jones.”

Vivian’s thoughts seemed to trip over themselves. “Jones?”

“It’s how they all know me.” He nodded to the wolves, a few of which were trying not to appear like eavesdroppers. “I got rid of Stone’s name a long time ago.”

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