Page 37 of Wulf's Pack
The crowd disperses very reluctantly, but after a few menacing glares from a perturbed troll, they wise up and scatter. I’m left standing among a handful of dead wolves, naked and bleeding. My new beta and third are in a similar state.
“Who were they?” Gorgeous asks, toeing at the dead wolf still in his human form.
“My old pack,” Skylar says with a shiver. “I don’t know how they found me.”
Gorgeous cocks an eyebrow. “You made national news last night. Footage of you saving Carl has been plastered all over TV and the Internet all day.”
I curse. How had I not thought of that? Of course they found her.
“I didn’t realize you were in hiding,” Gorgeous says. He turns his piercing dragon eyes on me with a sternness rarely seen from the laid-back shifter. “Did you know she was running from someone?”
I gulp. Guilt and self-loathing are threatening to consume me. “I knew she escaped, but I never considered they’d come after her. I didn’t think?—”
“You have to do better, Wulf,” Gorgeous says gravely, pushing the knife in further. “You’re a mate now. You have to start thinking like one. You’ve got a very special woman to protect.”
I want to be sick. How could I have failed her so badly already? “I know.” I rake my hands through my hair and curseagain. “I just don’t even know where to start. So much is happening. Everything’s changed. I’m not prepared.”
Gorgeous places a hand on my shoulder. His grip is gentle, but his voice is still stern. “You need to find a way. She’s counting on you.”
They all are.
The world starts to close in on me as the weight of responsibility crushes me.
Get it together, Wulf! You can’t fall apart!
I take a deep breath and try to compartmentalize. First things first, I have two new pack members who could use a healer, and I have to get that damn collar off my mate.
“I’ll call in a clean-up crew to clear this trash out of here,” Gorgeous says, looking at the dead bodies on the floor. “And I need statements from those of you involved.”
I give small nods to Carl and the lioness. Then I grimace. “I’m sorry,” I tell the cougar. “I don’t even know your name.” I scrub my hands over my face, rubbing my eyes. I’ve got to be the worst alpha on the planet.
The lioness smirks and holds out a hand to me. “Bree Sutton. It’s nice to meet you, Alpha.”
I shake her hand, and beside me, Gorgeous chokes. “Alpha?” His gaze bounces back and forth between us. His brows are so high up his forehead it looks painful.
I sigh. “Yes.”
“The bear too,” Bree says, nodding toward Carl.
Gorgeous’s mouth falls open. Guess he missed that part. His stunned gaze turns back to me. “Lucy, you’ve got some splainin’ to do.”
I rub my temples. “It’s a long story, but we’ve got more important things to focus on right now. I need Enzo and Oliver again.”
Nick folds his arms and eyes me up and down. “Seems to me you need the whole clan.”
My shoulders slump. “They aren’t my clan anymore.”
Nick narrows his eyes and doesn’t let up on his serious attitude. “You think they’ll abandon you just because you’ve claimed a couple of shifters as pack?”
No. I know they won’t. “It’s seven shifters. And it’s more complicated than that, and you know it. I’m Wulf Winters. Notorious lone wolf and member of the most famous underworld clan in the world. Or I was. And now I’ve started my own pack.Everyonewill be watching my every move. I can’t run to my old clan for help at the first sign of trouble. I’ll be seen as weak. Every ambitious alpha in the country will come to challenge me for my omega. I have to do this on my own. I have to prove to the world that I deserve to be alpha of a pack, and that I can and will protect my mate.”
Gorgeous chews on this, but it’s Terrance who speaks. “Seeking advice and calling on allies when outnumbered is not the sign of a weak leader.”
For a split second, I perk up, but Gorgeous shakes his head, squashing my hope. “No. He’s right,” he tells Terrance. “This is a shifter issue. Wulf has claimed a mate, and not just any mate, but an omega. He needs to prove he’s worthy and capable of protecting such a claim on his own, or he’ll never have peace. He’ll be challenged over and over again. He can’t just protect his pack; he has to earn respect. He won’t do that by depending on the strength of your clan.”
Terrance glares at Gorgeous. “We’re family. We won’t stand by and let him fight alone.”
Nick Gorgeous is probably one of the only underworlders in Detroit willing to go head-to-head with an angry troll. He doesn’t even flinch. “You have to this time. Until he proveshimself. After that, you can help all you want. But have faith. Wulf is strong. He’s smart. He can do this.”
