Page 29 of Claimed By the Feral Wolves

Ferals are wolves that do not have a pack. Sometimes ferals become ferals by being thrown out of their pack for seriously poor behavior, while some ferals simply have the misfortune of being born to feral parents. Still, ferals are welcome at The Selection, where they are given an opportunity to be reconnectedto a pack through an omega. If a feral chooses the same omegas as other alphas, they will be added to the alpha’s pack as mate to the alpha’s omega and alphas, recognized by the pack. It’s a chance at a new and better life for them.

Most omegas tend to be scared of ferals. Since they live outside the laws of the packs, they are seen as wild and dangerous, unless of course one of their parents was a feral. Alphas tend not to want to be linked to them because they complicate their pack life.

I, for one, just want to avoid them. If I find alphas frightening, the last thing I want is to be near ferals. I can’t imagine much worse than being tied to them, except for being tied to Kurt.

He’s definitely worse.

“But we don’t need to focus on their arrival right now, when there is the next event to enjoy! Today’s activity is gathering together—berries, mushrooms—whatever wild produce you can find and collect. Work with your potential mates to find what you can in the forest. The winning team will be whoever has the most produce at the end of the time limit.”

“Wow,” Addilyn whispers, “there’s never been a winner so far in these games. I wonder what the winner will get.”

I grin. “No idea.”

“Maybe another strip dance from your alphas?” she asks innocently.

I lightly smack her arm, and we laugh.

“Well, I’m going to go find my own harem, since you already have your own. Have fun with your boy-toys.”

She heads off to join up with the other unmated alphas and omegas, and I see Ezra and Cayson making their way over to me.

“Faye,” Cayson says, bouncing over to me like a puppy. I can’t stop picturing the way he looked naked, how his body fit withmine, arched over me. A flush climbs up my neck and out over my cheeks. “You smell like us.”

This only makes me blush harder with the realization that everyone around us must know what happened, and that’s why the omegas were giving me strange looks. It’s weird enough to have had my first time with two alpha men at The Selection, I really didn’t need everyone to know we’d done it.

Cayson pulls me into a hug, whispering in my ear, “Don’t worry, Jelly Bean, we’re just selling the story, remember?” But there’s something about the way he says it that makes me wonder if thisisstill a story we’re selling.

After my conversation with Addilyn, I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse. Of course his words were an act. Everything between us is an act. Except, maybe, the sex, but I don’t even know about that.

After Cayson pulls back, Ezra speaks up, drawing my attention to him. “You look nice,” Ezra says, leaning forward and plucking at the purple sundress I’m wearing. “This is your color.”

It’s so different, seeing him in the daylight, perfectly collected, versus how he came apart in bed. I have no idea how a man can be this tight-laced in life and a complete wild man in bed. Is that normal? I have no idea.

How am I going to get through this day if I can’t stop thinking about what happened?

“Thank you,” I say, dropping my eyes to the floor, still unsure how to accept a compliment.

He just chuckles, tucking me into his side.

Then, everyone pauses in their conversation as a group of riders appears on the horizon, travelingfast. My heart jumps into my throat. Who the hell are they? And what could possibly cause them to ride like that?

“Who is that?” Cayson asks, shielding his eyes and looking out over the field.

“Ferals,” comes a voice from behind us, and I bow my head when we turn and see Brock, also staring out at the riders getting closer and closer to us, their horses kicking up dust in their wake.

“Ferals,” Ezra repeats, and we all watch them in stunned silence.

Of course. Somehow, I didn’t picture them arriving on horses. I pictured them creeping out of the woods at night and slipping into our groups like a fox in a hen house.

When Brock had said the ferals would be here, I hardly thought he meant right now. I guess… things would be changing. The ferals will get to join all of us and look for their own omegas. They just didn’t get to join until the alphas had had enough time with the omegas, a nod to the fact that they’re beneath the alphas as feral-alphas.

For some reason, my heart is positively hammering in my chest, and Ezra reaches over, running his thumb over the pulse point on my wrist.There’re enough men around us already. We don’t need more.

“Hey,” he murmurs, “it’s going to be okay.”

Just as he saysokay, the group of riders comes to an abrupt halt in front of us, and we wait, holding our collective breath, as the dust around them clears.Now, what?

11

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