Page 82 of To Challenge a Wolf

Trevor stared him down, then said, “It’s time you gave a little trust, man.” He set his elbow on the tray and positioned his hand for the next match. “Come on, fight me.”

“No.”

“What if this can make you ready to claim your mate?”

Rhett snarled. This wouldn’t do that. To prove it he grabbed Trevor’s hand and wrestled, more careful this time. However vexing this wolf could be, Rhett had no desire to hurt him.

He did win, though.

As Trevor’s hand went down the second time, Rhett focused on restraint, on the safety of Trevor’s hand hitting the tray, on the scent of his friend, which had just begun to thicken with pain from theotherhand—

His head exploded. He was blind. He was disintegrating. He heard his groan as if it came from some other wolf. He collapsed toward the porch floor, but someone caught him. He writhed as the fever tried to burn him up.

“Mal, he’s dying.” April’s voice was thick with tears.

“No,” Malachi said. “He’s freeing himself.”

They were still close by, all four of them. They weren’t letting go of him. The thought brought another wave of pain, and he pressed the heels of his hands to his head and breathed through it. Time was passing, but he didn’t know if it were seconds or hours or days.

“Easy, Rhett,” came the low rasp of his alpha.

“We need to do something. He’s too hot,” Trevor said.

“No,” Malachi said. “They’re all collapsing at once, the constructs that were put into his mind. We have to let it happen. It’s not going to kill him.”

“You specifically said some of the wolves didn’t survive.”

“Those wolves languished unattached. Rhett has a pack. And he’s about to be free.”

No, he wasn’t. He was about to combust. He flailed blindly, and hands caught his. One that felt cool compared to his own, callused and hard from years of woodworking. One that felt like ice, soft and small. Trevor and Kelsey.

“No,” Malachi said. “Step back, Kels. He wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

The small cold hand withdrew. Rhett held on to Trevor’s.

“We’re here, Rhett,” Kelsey whispered from an extra few feet away.

It wasn’t letting up. It was getting worse. He tried to tell them, but all he could do was squeeze his eyes shut. No one could…or maybe the alpha could. Lore-master who’d solved what Rhett hadn’t even known was a mystery. Friend who cared.

“Help me, alpha,” he whispered.

The arms around him tightened. “Rhett, can you hear me right now?”

“Yeah. Please.”

“Let the walls Stone built in your mind fall down. Stop fighting to keep them up.”

“H-how?”

“Remember what you told me when you joined the pack. You longed for a place to rest and be. I think that’s the key, Rhett. Allow yourself to rest and be.”

“I d-don’t know h-how.”

“Let us hold you. Feel yourself being held, friend.”

Rhett battled past the pain and the fever and tried to feel the rest of his body. Malachi’s arms supported him, one at his back and one across his front, wrapping to support his shoulders too. Trevor’s other hand—yes, the injured one—supported Rhett’s neck. April and Kelsey stood at a safe distance for humans from Rhett’s thrashing, but they were here, their scents close by.

“Pack,” Rhett whispered.

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