Page 2 of Rogue Wolf

Yes, like turning into a shifter. And, unbidden, a shudder passed through her.

What would it be like to have fur?

Tamaska swallowed, her skin prickling like a blast of cold air hit her despite the exertion from cleaning all day. Sweat soaked into her shirt, which she’d borrowed from Kodiak.

I’m going to become a wolf. She couldn’t stop the frightening, thrilling thought. And the only thrilling part was it would bring her closer to Kodiak.

These were the wrong thoughts. With the vampires declaring some kind of war and coming for her because of the Blood Opal she needed to not just up her game in scrubbing up blood. She needed to get her fight on. But as a human she was weak.

Would becoming a wolf give her those fighting skills she desperately needed?

She wasn’t even sure the transformation would happen, anyway. Despite everything that had happened, the pack hadn’t entirely accepted or approved her becoming one of them.

Some of them looked on her as the one that had brought dissent and trouble to their ranks. And they weren’t wrong. Turning her—if she survived—wouldn’t make it go away. No, it would make it worse.

The recently killed alpha, Olcan, had ruled mating with humans was forbidden. He’d reasoned that the pack needed to keep their bloodline pure; only finding and mating with other shifters from other packs.

They had a job to do, and bringing humans in would muddy their waters. After all, the wolf shifters had come from America decades ago, following vampires to Australia to help keep humans safe.

Kodiak, the new alpha, was going rogue immediately, changing pack rules and causing a stir. Ash whispered to her earlier in the day that word of his changes would spread fast and wide. After all, his first act as alpha was to officially announce he intended to take Tamaska as his mate and she’d undergo the rarely used transition of human into a shifter.

That decision had divided the pack.

Since then, tension hung heavy and thick in the air. It was her fault—that, and the Blood Opal’s mystery.

She seemed to be entwined with that gem for reasons she couldn’t begin to understand. The vampires had attacked the shifters because of her, the opal, and whatever they needed her for. Because they wanted her, and the pack—no matter their collective feelings on her being Kodiak’s chosen mate—bore the brunt of that want.

If she went away, the pack would be safe. They all knew that.

And yet they protected her, anyway.

She owed the pack. Big time.

They had a code, though. One so ingrained and strong even she could see it. Tamaska didn’t doubt for one moment the pack members would see her as weak if she didn’t repay her debt—not that she didn’t want to.

It was more than that. If she was going to be changed and become part of the pack, she had to work to convince them of her worthiness so they’d accept her.

That was one big reason why she cleaned alongside them beyond the point of exhaustion. Beyond her capacity for pain and death and destruction. She needed to find that inner strength, use it, push past all limitations.

If she could do that, then they’d see she could one day be the mate Kodiak needed and deserved. And that meant getting past her fears. Embracing the change to come.

At least, that’s what she hoped. Of course, acceptance could only happen if she managed to survive the change.

With the mark of the vampire the change seemed so much more dangerous.

Kodiak—her heart squeezed tight at the thought of him—had instructed Ash to research ways to ensure a successful transformation.

For the last hour, all Tamaska had wanted to do was question Ash about what she’d found; more importantly, when would she be changed?

Fruitless to ask, though, so she kept scrubbing away the blood. And it seemed insane to her this was one of the last things on the clean up list. That’s how deep the damage from the brutal vampire fight went.

“He’ll be back, soon,” Ash said.

Kodiak was off trying to shore up the barriers outside. He’d gotten up early, leaving her arms, leaving her missing that warmth of him, the heady scent that spun her head slowly, the heaviness of his limbs that felt so right.

They’d taken a dorm room for themselves, one of the few places untouched by the fighting. And for two nights, after the maelstrom of emotions that whipped up in the compound, he was hers.

They’d kissed and touched and made love. They did it like they had forever, like everything was about to be stolen from them the next second. Desperate and slow, a dichotomy of need and want and refuge.

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