Page 38 of Winning the Wolf

The shaggy haired hulk of a man would've drawn my eye less than twenty four hours ago. In fact, he'd been the only pack member to show me a smidgeon of decency recently. Now, however, my no go zone had widened to include him. It was as if a switch had gone off inside me, disconnecting me from my attraction radar.

"Can you please get Killick? She wants to talk."

Pausing, he looked into my eyes, his gaze narrowing as his eyebrows creased. My skin prickled when his nostrils flared and his eyes widened. "Of course," he said, stepping away." I'll get him."

My hand shot out to grab his wrist, stopping him from going any further. "Don't judge me, I-"

His fingers covered mine and squeezed before he released me. I rubbed the skin he'd touched, shocked by the burning his fingers had left behind.

Looking down at my hand, I stared. There was no red mark or anything to show that he'd harmed me.

"You've been claimed by... another wolf. It means you can't touch another affectionately without feeling the sting of it."

"I didn't touch you in that way," I said, still perplexed.

His head tilted to the side as his lips pursed.Shrugging, Caleb smiled. "My touch was meant to comfort. Apparently, that's against the mating games rules."

My cheeks heated, no doubt turning bright red. "Thank you."

"For what?"

I was tempted to reach forward and smooth out his furrowed forehead. Instead, I clenched my hand and shook my head. "For being a friend."

His smile had a sadness to it as he turned and left me in the hallway. I hugged my arms and glanced out of the large window at the end of the corridor. The expanse of trees stretched towards the gorge, hiding the many houses of those belonging to the pack. A pack that had been thrown into turmoil through the brutal murder of its alpha.

How would the other wolves react when they realised that I was mated to the new alpha? Caleb hadn’t exactly been all happy joy joy about it… and he was the kindest wolf I knew. Apart from Dinky. Dinky! I hadn’t told her that Nyla had been found. She would kill me for being such a terrible best friend.

Tears entered my eyes as I leant on the windowsill and looked out at the sky. The twinkle of stars spoke to me, inviting me to let out the pent up emotions that had built in my chest. They called to me, asking me to join them on a fairy tale adventure that soothed the soul. Almost calling me home.

An image of Chris came into my mind. Had he been called to return to the wolf spirit? Had his soul been in too much pain to bear this world?

“She’s awake?”

Spinning, I wiped the stray tear that had escaped down my cheek and cleared my throat. Killick’s hard expression softened, just for a second, before returning to stone.

Stepping forward, I reached for him, gripping his thumb as he tried to move away. “Please go easy on her. For my sake.”

“Your sake?” he spat. “You… you dare ask that of me? After everything she’s done!”

“You don’t know what she’s done!” I ground through my teeth.

He stepped closer, his height forcing me to bend my head back and look up at him. Looking into his eyes, I sucked in a breath. My throat bobbed as I swallowed down the rising fear. His eyes were full of pain, a pain that I had experienced myself.

Loss.

Unable to bear the pain in his eyes, I dropped my gaze. He was my alpha, first and foremost. He could do whatever the hell he wanted with the members of his pack.

His breath fanned on my face, warming my skin until he turned his back on me and went into the guest room. Following him, I clenched my hands into fists in an attempt to keep myself under control.

The door closed behind me, shutting the three of us together. Nyla turned to look at Killick as he approached the side of the bed. Her tired red eyes were glassy where she’d been crying. My heart squeezed from bone-deep compassion. If only my sister hadn’t got involved with Jeremy, we wouldn’t have been in this position.

"Killick," Nyla started, "I'm so sorry."

She tried to push herself up into a sit but her arms wobbled too much. It was hard not to rush to her aid. My hands itched to help her to be more dignified. Instead, I stood away from Killick, twirling a strand of my purple hair in my fingers to distract myself. This was between them.

"What happened?" His tone was sharp, demanding.

He had no time for apologies, he needed the truth.

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