Page 35 of Claimed By the Feral Wolves

“Sure,” I say, “I understand that you want to follow the rules when it comes to choosing a mate, but the truth is that I’m not even sure that there is a mating bond between us,” I say, gesturing between myself and the ferals.

My heart is beating double-time, my body denying that, trying to tell me that I can feel the pull, clear as day. Except, there may be a pull. It doesn’t have to be a mating pull. It doesn’t have to be something that completely changes my life forever.

“I’m sure enough for all of us,” Maverick says, crossing his arms over his chest in a way that mirrors Ezra, the tattoos on his arms and chest moving as he does so, in a way that’s hard to look away from.

“How can you be, if you’ve never felt the mating bond before?” I ask, nervously shifting from one foot to another.

“A man just knows,” Maverick says, winking at me.

“I know,” Xander asserts, looking ready to fight.

I glance around, searching for help, and discover Cayson is gone.

Frowning, I say, “Where did Cayson go?”

Everyone starts looking around.

“Cayson!” I shout, feeling a flash of worry.

“Here, Faye,” Cayson says, startling us all by coming out of the woods. He has his hands cupped, full of berries, the juice smeared on his skin. He smirks at the others victoriously as he dumps them into my basket. I blink. I’d forgotten that’s what we were supposed to be doing here in the first place. “I got these for you.” Then, he presses a kiss to my cheek.

“If she wants berries, she’ll get lots of berries,” Xander says.

“I’ll get the most,” Maverick challenges.

Ezra glares at both of them.

Immediately, they turn, tromping off into the brush while I’m left, mouth gaping, as I stare after them.

14

Faye

“Here,”Ezra says, holding a berry up to me. I open my mouth for him to pop it inside. “Try this one. It’s from the top of the tree—it tastes the best.”

“Mine are bigger,” Maverick growls, popping two more berries in my mouth after Ezra’s. My mouth explodes with the warm sweetness of the berries, but I’m starting to feel sick from eating so many.

“She’s not going to taste the difference now!” Ezra says, scowling and rolling his eyes. I swallow them down, wishing I had some water. “Now I have to go back to the top of the tree.”

While Maverick and Ezra are on the hunt for thebestberries, Xander and Cayson are simply trying to see who can gather more, coming back with armfuls of berries, most of which are smashed, and dumping them into my basket. It’s cute, the way they seem to be trying to impress me, but it’s overwhelming at the same time.

“Guys,” I say weakly, when I see the berries starting to overflow. “Guys, there’s enough?—”

“Ha,” Ezra says, returning a moment later, a huge branch in his hand like it’s nothing. “I brought this down from the top, where the berries are sweeter. Now, Faye, try oneon its own?—”

“Look at this one!” Maverick says, producing a berry that really is the biggest I’ve ever seen.

“Wow,” I say, without meaning to, and Ezra frowns like I’d personally insulted the size of his berries.

I think of Addilyn and her plans to find a whole group of alphas—how is she planning to juggle that many at once? I just have four of them here, now, and it's overwhelming. Surely, I’m not a woman equipped to handle multiple men. I don’t think I could even handleone.

Ezra and Cayson have agreed to back off after we take care of Kurt, but Maverick and Xander are under the impression that there’s some sort of mating bond between us.How am I going to convince them otherwise? Especially when they’re being so sweet, and working so hard to impress me.

“Guys!” Cayson says, his voice full of excitement and joy. We all turn to him, seeing him vaguely through the trees. “Oh my god, it’s so cute! Come here!”

“Cayson,” Ezra says, his voice already wary. “What are you doing?”

We push through the trees, and stop short when we see the cutest little bear cub standing in the middle of the clearing. It’s just a few feet tall, with soft fur and big eyes.

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