Page 19 of Wolf Hunted (Rejected Moons 1)

“Anyway,” Nate says, ripping away a chunk of meat with his teeth, “the pack chased me most of the way back home. I lost them in the end, but my alpha was pissed. He said he was going to put me in that cage for a week just to get me out of his hair. If you ask me, he just couldn’t handle even the slightest challenge to his authority. He lives in fear of the rest of the pack realizing that it’s possible for someone else to have a good idea, and that they don’t need to blindly follow his every whim.”

“Hang on,” I say. “You’re telling me the pack you stole from chased you? Almost all the way back to your pack’s territory?”

“I lost them before I went back home,” Nate said. “I never would have led them all the way there.”

“It sounds like you could have provoked a pack war,” I say. “Honestly, no wonder your alpha was pissed about it. That sounds like a pretty reasonable reaction to me.”

“Oh, okay, sure. And was locking me in a cage a reasonable reaction?”

“I didn’t saythat,” I say. “But from what I can tell, your alpha isn’t the only one who thinks he knows best.”

“Ah, what would you know about it?” he says mildly. “I’m obviously not the only one here who wasn’t cut out for pack life.”

And there’s nothing I can say to that. He’s absolutely right. I failed at belonging to a pack.

Of course, my reason is a lot more complicated than just not wanting to do what my alpha ordered me to do. But I’m definitely not getting into it. Not with this guy who I haven’t even decided whether or not to trust.

What I have learned about him, though, is that he’s reckless. Even if you think you have an idea that’s better than your alpha’s, throwing caution to the wind and taking matters into your own hands isn’t the way any reasonable pack member would behave. If I’m going to keep this Nate guy around, I’m definitely going to have to keep one eye on him at all times.

And even if I decide he can be trusted, I don’t think he’s someone I’ll ever be able to rely on.

Chapter 13

NATE

Emlynsurprisesmeagainby offering to take the first watch before I even have a chance to bring the subject up.

I wave her down, though. “I don’t think I’m going to be sleeping for at least a couple of hours,” I say. I’ve slowed down a bit, but I’m still stripping pieces of meat away from the big chunk we cooked and nibbling on them.

She eyes me critically. “You should take it easy on that,” she says. “You’re going to give yourself a stomach ache.”

“What are you, my mother?”

“Do whatever you want,” she says. “I’m just saying.”

“Yeah, well, I know my body. Besides, I don’t want the meat to go to waste.”

“So fine. Eat up. Don’t let me tell you what to do.” She shrugs. “Do you want the first watch, then?”

“Sure.” I raise my eyebrows. “You trust me to take it?”

“I don’t think you’re going to kill me in my sleep, if that’s what you mean by trusting you.”

“I could steal your backpack.”

“You definitely could. I don’t know what you’d do with a backpack full of women’s clothes. It’s not like they’d fit you. But I’m willing to take my chances on that one.” She stretches out on the ground beside our little fire. “Wake me up if you start to get tired, okay?”

“I’m good for at least three hours."

She looks doubtful. “If that meat starts to make you sleepy, make sure you wake me up.”

“Yeah, yeah. Will do.”

She gives me a dubious look, but I guess she’s pretty tired because she rolls over and I hear her breath settle into an even rhythm almost immediately, letting me know that she’s asleep.

Even though I’m surprised she trusted me so easily, she’s right to do it. I’m not going to try anything funny while she’s sleeping. I’m more interested in getting my fill of this deer. And while she’s probably right that it’s going to make me sleepy, for the time being, the only thing I can focus on is my hunger.

I try to eat slowly, to give my body a chance to process the fact that I’m actually getting food for the first time in days. If I just chomp down a whole bunch of meat after days of starvation, she’s right—I’ll make myself sick.

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