Page 8 of Untamed

But the real cock-block is walking towards us now, eyes bright with happiness, her left hand entwined tightly with one of her males, one of my rescuers and adoptive brothers, Ezra.

Our Luna, Penny's older sister Lyri, wanted her sister to wait. Penny is twenty-one, but Lyri clings to her sister like a starved rat with a scrap of food. 'Wait to mate,' she would tell Penny, usually in a sing-song voice.

Now the waiting is over. Alpha Argus is coming to collect Penny for his eldest son. I'm going to miss her so badly, but she's Ilian's mate, and we've grown up.

"Lyri, Ezra," I nod to them both.

"Hi sweeties," Lyri greets her sister with a kiss on the cheek and a hug, then enfolds me in her arms. I pat her back, outwardly stoic, but inside, my wolf and I are happy to accept the affection of this she-wolf.

I am the Alphason of this pack, and this is myfamily. One that I will protect with my dying breath. I lost one family already, as a pup too young to stop it. The goddess blessed me with a new family, and I won't lose them, too.

The only thing I need now is my mate.

She's out there, my mate. I try not to think about it. I told Rhet, another of Lyri's males, about my fears. Will my mate be like one of those giggling idiots over there? Or, my true fear, is she from my birth pack, and if so, where has she been for the past decade?

I don't think I can imagine what it would be like to learn that my mate was enslaved for years while I've been here, safe and happy.

I rub my palms on my leather pants, wiping away the feeling of sick guilt churning in my stomach. I can't leave to find her. That's the worst part. I'm an alphason born from another pack. There's a fear that runs deep in the spirits of RustClaw wolves that if I leave, I'll never come back. I'm trapped here. Duty calls.

Lyri and her three males have started traveling more and more. Our region of this vast expanse of forest and mountains is in turmoil. The wall of teeth and claw in the northwest of the GriMaw pack is shedding its weakest and most disgruntled wolves into the wilderness. The unrest is bleeding into our northernmost borders. Small packs are disintegrating. Skirmishes are becoming commonplace. Wolves are leaving packs and causing trouble to the more established areas.

At the same time, our connections are spreading, and it's important to have allies to strengthen RustClaw in the region and beyond. Our Alpha is older, and he's beginning to withdraw from the pack, to lose himself to his wolf. Jax has never really gotten over the destruction and deaths of his family. He blames himself to this day.

Penny is leaving. So I'm stuck. Shit. I feel like I'm suffocating here.

"Yo, In," Asher slaps me on the back, a wide grin gracing his face. I always know when Asher's coming, he smells like an over-eager puppy, glue, and chocolate milk, with energy pouring off of him in a way that most of us don't have.

"Ash," I respond with a chin lift for my best friend... after my brothers. He's kind of family. A distant relation to Ezra. They seem like blood.

"Cuz!" Ezra booms. Asher laughs, and they do some secret handshake that involves fist bumps and hand slapping before giving each other a quick hug. If-you-blink-you'd-miss-it, sort of embrace. Definitely blood relatives.

"You ready?" Ezra turns his attention to me, sympathy stirring in his green eyes.

I nod, stoic. I hate that Penny is leaving. I hate that I won't be with her to protect her. I hate that she won't be here to protect me from the other females...

I inhale deeply, grey tinging my vision as we both become alert.

"He's here," I rumble, the warning shaking the air, ruffling the fur on every wolf here. RustClaw knows their alphason isn't happy.

Alpha Argus of the mountains comes out of the trees with a broad grin on his face.

I try to keep the scowl off of my face. He's early by an hour.

Lyri greets him with the collected cool that makes male alphas sit up and take notice. "Alpha Argus," she says shortly.

"Luna Lyri!" he practically bellows. "Little Luna!" he greets Penny next. She just nods, calm and collected, in response, a fact that the Alpha enjoys immensely, judging by the glee and pride in his gaze.

Cold, light brown eyes stare at me, all humor evaporating at once. "Alphason," his greeting to me is less than enthusiastic. I don't return the greeting at all. I don't trust the KilClaw with Penny, and Alpha Argus doesn't trust that I'm not in love with her.

"Alpha," Lyri interrupts our staredown. Her smile is thin. She is not pleased with his early arrival, either. "You are unexpectedly early," she suddenly says, and I watch her, curious, from the corner of my eye. "I'm afraid that Penny hasn't said her goodbyes yet."

Alpha Argus' smile doesn't fall at the rebuke. He spreads his arms wide and replies, "Travel was easy, Luna. My wolf and I are eager to welcome our new daughter."

"Of course," Lyri agrees, "well, why don't we take you on a tour of the town while we wait for Penny to say goodbye to our parents? And then, perhaps supper?" The questions are an apparent demand.

Now the Alpha seems slightly chastened andcaught. Maybe he wasn't expecting Lyri to know how to play the diplomatic game, but he can't deny her 'tour' and 'supper' now. I have a feeling that Penny won't be leaving until tomorrow morning.

I let the slightest smirk curl my lips. Sucker.

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