Page 16 of Wolf Lost

Even when Asher, an experienced wolf from a family of wolves, had told Sawyer that the three of them were pack, he’d had a hard time believing it. His father and Mark had struggled to maintain any kind of bond before Mark turned eighteen, let alone in the decade after. Alphas didn’t get along. Sawyer knew that like he knew he needed oxygen to breathe. It was common knowledge.

But there they were, three alphas bound by more than blood. And when Gavin had claimed him as part of them, he’d felt the ghosts of pack bonds form, instantly replacing the dead shells of the bonds that had been there before.

Those tentative links made him wonder if the Holt pack’s bonds had been failing for longer than he had realized.

There was Asher—bright, excited, and hopeful, even in the face of a fight—like a ray of freaking sunshine.

Gavin, like a stone statue or a redwood, upright and unwavering.

And Dez. Dark and determined, still prepared to go after the betas, but with an underlying anger at something else: himself.

Sawyer shivered, and everyone turned to him. The amount of focused attention was overwhelming. He swallowed hard. “Um, hi.”

“I did one of those things, didn’t I?” Gavin asked, going from deadly serious to sheepish in an instant. “Where I don’t know what I’m saying, but it means something in wolfish?”

“Um, yeah, a little,” Ash agreed. He came over and put a hand on Sawyer’s shoulder. “You okay? I felt that from across the room.”

There was a tiny vibration in Dez’s chest—a growl. Ash pulled his hand away, an amused smirk on his face, but he didn’t look away from Sawyer.

“Felt...” Gavin said, and then trailed off, looking to Ash to fill in the blank. He didn’t understand what he’d done.

Asher shook his head and scrubbed one hand down his face. “You claimed him for our pack. It’s not something wolves just do, much less without permission or discussion or anything.”

Gavin flinched and looked at Sawyer, head lowered and eyes concerned, as though he were waiting to be told off.

For a moment, Sawyer considered. He definitely wasn’t angry at being claimed for the Kismet pack, but he had technically just lost his old pack. Shouldn’t he feel bereft? He wondered if it said something bad about him, that he’d let go of them so easily.

He wasn’t going to lie, regardless. If he had any hope of truly belonging to this pack, he couldn’t start like that. “I’m fine. It’s kind of, um... a relief?” He winced at that, but he couldn’t take it back. “I mean, I was trying to escape them. I won’t—I won’t hold you guys to it, if you don’t want me in your pack.”

“It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?” Dez asked, the growl still in his voice.

“Why don’t we take this as it comes? I mean, I accidentally dragged you into a pack without your permission. You don’t owe us your loyalty. Or anything at all, really.” Gavin turned and closed the terrace door, then looked down at the remnants of the destroyed comforter. He picked up a scrap that had a smear of blood on it and frowned. “Are you okay, Sawyer? Physically?”

Sawyer pulled away from Dez enough to show the almost-healed claw marks the beta had left. They’d been grazes; the amount of blood was minimal, but Dez’s growl amped up again. Sawyer smiled at him, letting one hand drift from behind his neck down to cup his cheek. “I’m okay. I am.”

“No thanks to—”

“You guys did exactly what you said, and you were right. The betas were nothing. They didn’t even try to fight you.”

Ash let out his own growl at that. “No, because there were four of us, and it wasn’t two on one in their favor anymore.”

All Sawyer could do was stare openmouthed. Not that he’d have counted himself out entirely, but without hesitation, Ash had said four, not three. Just like that, Sawyer was a part of everything, including his own defense. It was both exhilarating and terrifying. He’d never been made responsible like that before.

“I’m calling a security company in the morning,” Dez announced. “We can get motion sensors put in. Alarms. The cops showing up might not be a threat to wolves, but knowing they’re here before they’re already in the damn house would be good.”

Ash made a face. “I wonder why the place didn’t already have, like, a huge security system. That’s weird, isn’t it? That the last people who owned the place didn’t have one?”

Gavin gave a halfhearted shrug. “Sometimes old rich people don’t make sense. But it’s a good idea, Dez. Maybe we should have new locks installed too. These ones are pretty archaic.”

“For now, we need a new place for Sawyer to sleep,” Ash pointed out. He grinned saucily at Dez. “I mean, he could sleep in my—” When Dez growled at him again, he cut off and stared at the floor, shoulders shaking as he tried to not laugh.

Meanwhile, Dez looked perturbed with himself. He shook it off quickly. “He can take my bedroom for now. I’m up for the morning anyway.”

Ash raised an eyebrow and looked outside, where the moon was still visible, but he didn’t say anything.

“I can sleep here with a new blanket,” Sawyer announced. As much as he actually wanted to get back into Dez’s bed, he was going to wait and try to do it the normal way. The way that resulted in Dez also being there, and hopefully involved nakedness and lots of—he cut that thought off and cleared his throat. “There’s a nice one on the couch. That’s plenty.”

Ash zipped out and came back with a stack of two fluffy blankets, neither of which were the one Sawyer mentioned. “Are these okay? They were in the linen closet. I can get the couch one too.” Without waiting for an answer, he dropped them on the bed and ran off again.

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