Page 49 of Scapegoat

I wanted to say something, anything to fill the resulting silence, but I didn’t, we couldn’t. Words seemed too small, too fucking weak to pit against this. Because we’d all smelled the burnt rose scent of Kai’s pain until it turned our fucking stomachs.

“So…” My voice was thin and weak. “That’s it? We just…” I tried to swallow the massive lump in my throat, but didn’t succeed. “We just—”

“Leave.” Xavier’s reply was clipped and concise. “We said we would, after we’re done with the shearing. We’ve spent the last two years looking for Kai and now…” He straightened up. “Now we’ve found her. We have to respect what she wants.”

“The fuck we do,” I growled.

“Yeah, we do, Jay, if we love her.”

I could go toe to toe with angry Xavier, bossy Xavier or even artificially calm Xavier, but not this one. Not the guy who stared at me, his whole fucking soul bleeding in his eyes.

Just like mine did.

“If being around us hurts her more…” I watched Xavier’s jaw flex. “Then we can’t do that to Kai again. No more. No fucking more.”

“But…” I wanted to argue, wanted to make some fucking amazingly smart point, but when it came down to it, I had nothing. That scent of burnt roses seemed to hang in the air, my nose working, trying to suck in the clean breeze, even the stink of sheep shit, if that’s what it took to rid myself of it, right before I caught a hint of something different.

A floral scent, it played on the wind, there and gone again, making me question if I really did smell it. But my nose worked again and my eyes raked across the yard of the farmhouse, settling finally on the track leading in. And there she was, a beautiful grey wolf, trotting closer and closer.

“Fuck, is that…?”

“Is she yours?” the old biddy that owned the property asked, coming over to the edge of the veranda to stare at wolf-Kai with a slight frown on her face.

“Her?” I grinned then, able to shove my brothers’ bullshit to one side right then, because suddenly the feeling of rightness hit me, full on. I went down into a squat, holding out a hand. Sure enough, wolf-Kai stepped closer and closer, sniffing at my fingers. It was then I told them what I knew to be true. “Yeah, she belongs to us. She always has.”

She came then and settled against my chest, the wolf pressing into my body, even if the woman didn’t dare. I didn’t fucking care about that. I just cared that I had her, had my Kai, my mate. My breath was coming in too hard and too fast as I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her. She was mine, mine, mine and I’d tear the whole fucking world down if that’s what it took to have this.

“You’re my girl.” I tried to say this in the way a human bloke might about his dog, but I’m not sure if it worked. The woman who’d hired us drew closer, looking us up and down.

“You didn’t say anything about a dog. Is she one of them huskies?”

“Yep.” Xavier’s reply was immediate. “She’s well trained and won’t harass any of your stock.”

“Well.” The woman eyed us with suspicion, but beggars can’t be choosers, right? “See that she doesn’t.” Her expression softened as she looked down at wolf-Kai. “Though you are a pretty thing. They say those dogs look like wolves, but hell… this one? With those yellow eyes, she damn well could be one.”

“Right, but there’s no wolves in Australia, so…” Xavier said.

“Right.” Logic and instinct warred inside the woman’s mind, but logic won. “Well, if you want a nice juicy bone for her, I’ve got some old leg bones from a roast lamb we had the other day.”

“Cooked bones are no good for dogs,” Atlas said, then clicked his fingers. I didn’t want to let Kai go, but she moved to push her head into his hand and he scratched at her ears. “But we might go into town and grab some supplies. We’ll be starting shearing early in the morning.”

“Oh, well, that’d be good,” the woman said, brightening instantly. “I’ll let George know.”

Xavier watched her back until the woman disappeared back into the house and then all our focus was on wolf-Kai. Our girl. She stared right back, panting lightly, looking so fucking beautiful.

“Well, girl…” Xavier said. “Feel like a run into town?”

Chapter 29

I’d told Atlas I didn’t want any more to do with him. I’d sent him on his way, ostensibly for the last time. We were to part ways, go and live our own lives. So why was I in wolf form, sitting in the front seat of the boys’ truck, watching Xavier behind the wheel? And why was he sneaking too many looks at me, only looking at the road when I gave a wolfish whine?

I was on a date with the guys in wolf form, it soon became apparent.

“Stay here, girl,” Xavier said when he parked his car in front of the truck stop, reaching over to scratch at my ruff. “We’ll be back in a sec.”

But when the three of them got out, the wolf’s feet shifted on the soft car seat. Her eyes followed their every move through the windscreen, watching them get smaller and smaller until they disappeared into the truck stop. I felt her pain, her uncertainty, her whole body quivering each time the door opened, but they didn’t come out. She let out a little whine, unable to get comfortable inside the car until… The door finally swung open and out they came, toting a couple of plastic bags full of food. Food that made my mouth water and my tongue loll out when they got back in the car.

“You see anywhere we could stop for a feed?” Xavier asked Jayden.

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