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“So, you mentioned your mom—what’s the rest of your family like?”
“Oh…” she paused. “Well, it’s actually just me and my mom. I don’t have any siblings, and my mom has never had a mate or even a lover since I’ve known her.”
The word “mate” stood out for me and not just because of the dreams that I’d had about Bryn. Dom seemed to have picked up on it too.
“You said ‘mate,’ but your mom is human, isn’t she?” he asked
“No. My mother found me as a baby alone in the woods by the Kings’ pack, and she adopted me on the spot. I don’t have any idea what happened to my original family.”
So she was literally raised by wolves. No wonder she’s got so much courage. It also explained a bit about why she was so eager to get back home. She probably missed the woman who raised her.
“What about your family?” Bryn asked. “Do you have siblings?”
I turned my head to look at Dom. This was a touchy subject for most of the wolves in the Wargs pack. Considering the fact that Bryn had been raised with the Kings’ wolves, if Dom told her the truth about what happened to his family, it could introduce some animosity into their almost-friendship.
“No. Not anymore. But that’s a long story meant for another kidnapping,” Dom said, effectively evaporating any potential tension that another answer—the true answer—could have caused.
Bryn laughed, and the sound of it ate at me. Over the past couple of days, she had been able to relax and even joke with Dom. With him, she almost seemed accepting of her kidnapping. But with me, she was snappy and angry and tried to run. Jealousy burned in my chest. I could admit that the circumstances under which we had met weren’t exactly ideal—but Dom was part of my pack—shouldn’t Bryn be just as upset with him as she was with me?
These emotions were made much worse by the fact that I was obsessed with being near her. Her scent alone was enough to take over my senses, but often when we stopped for a rest, Bryn would go off by herself to cry. She probably thought that she was quiet enough that none of us could hear her, but I heard every gasp, every sob. When she came back, I could smell the salt of her tears. Something tugged at my chest every time.
Outside of those quiet, somber moments, and when she wasn’t being friendly with Dom, she was arguing with me. And though her angry face, balled fists, and stiff posture told me that she hated me, I tasted the spice of her arousal on the air. It washed over me whenever we were near each other or fighting with each other. She was turned on by me, and I felt an answering ache in my own body. The aroma of her arousal was so potent, it kept me up while everyone else slept.
I had never in my life experienced something like this, and the fact that a human woman was the one who drove me mad was even more ridiculous.
When our pack lands finally came into view, I let out a sigh of relief. I had been more concerned about retribution from Troy than I had fully acknowledged to Dom or even to myself. But now that we had reached home, I knew that as much as Troy obsessed over Bryn, the new Alpha wouldn’t send his men miles away from the Kings’ compound to cross the Kootenai to retrieve Bryn—at least, not while he was still getting used to his new role.
As we continued moving, the cabins came into view, and I heard Bryn gasp beside me. I hadn’t heard her come up, the sight of my home had been enough to briefly distract me from her, but I was actually grateful for her closeness.
We had taken things slower to accommodate her, but she had kept up with us remarkably well. One of the female members of the pack had let Bryn exchange her large boots for a smaller pair, and she was wearing almost all of the clothing that I had stashed around the woods. (I’d need to make a note to build up my stash again when I found the time.)
The shock and exhaustion that Bryn had suffered at the beginning of our trek hadn’t slowed her down. I had made sure we stopped to have breaks and to catch a few hours of sleep, but we had never taken a full night’s rest, and there were always wolves on guard.
After days of travel, my pack lands, neatly tucked into the side of Gypsy Peak, were such a welcome sight. I think that was true even for her.
As she looked over my pack lands in awe, pride filled my chest. The Wargs had so little compared to the other packs in the area, but we were a family, a unit that raised our pups together and shared resources. We Wargs had worked for years to fix up the lands after the mess that first Gregor and then Peter had left them in.
There were still things that needed to be done, but we now looked and felt like a tight-knit pack. And for reasons I didn’t really understand, Bryn’s approval of the land pleased me a great deal. My wolf, too, purred in satisfaction.
On the final mile of the trip, most of the men and women sprinted ahead to meet their mates and children who had heard us approach. I was relieved that we’d suffered no casualties, that the wounds we had collected were minor enough that the injured were already back to full health or close to it. But the weight of guilt settled on my back when I thought about how badly things could have gone. Changing the plan to kidnap Bryn was one thing, but my lust for vengeance was another. I couldn’t let myself become blinded again, not by revenge and not by whatever was going on between me and Bryn either.
I spotted my mom squeezing through the small crowd at the gate. The moment I saw her smile, I left Bryn’s side and jogged to meet her. Her arms were open, ready to pull me into a tight hug. She patted my back and hummed a sweet, happy note. I let her hug me for as long as she wanted. I’d missed her more than I’d expected, and I felt nothing but joy at her attention and love.
After a few moments, she pulled back. “Glad to see you safe and sound,” she said, her hand warm on my cheek.
“You and me both,” I said.
She smiled and glanced around me to look at Bryn. I turned to look too. She stood a few yards away, looking incredibly out of place in her bulky, borrowed clothing. And yet, as I stared at her, the sun emerged from behind the clouds to brighten her hair and cheeks. Her dark hair lifted in the breeze, and her blue-gray eyes were captivating. Bryn looked like an angel confined to mortal clothing.
“And who is she?” Mom asked, slightly breathless herself. “A new friend perhaps?”
I rolled my eyes. I wanted to chastise her for the ridiculous question, but I caught the rest of my pack staring at Bryn. They weren’t just stares of confusion or curiosity; they were also lingering stares of appreciation from many of the single wolves in the pack. Not even four days of traveling through the wild and being covered in my scent protected Bryn from the attention. Part of me couldn’t blame them. My wolf, however, was less forgiving.
Though my pack didn’t discriminate against humans, we hardly interacted with them, so the males didn’t see Bryn as anything but a fresh female. We didn’t have a large supply of single females, a problem that would only be worsened by Bryn’s presence. I hadn’t considered that this would be a problem.
This presented a dilemma for me. I couldn’t let her go unattended, but I sure as hell couldn’t watch her twenty-four seven either. Besides, she was my prisoner, and letting her go off on her own would give her the opportunity to try and find a way back to the Kings. The only solution I saw was to show everyone that she was not a new addition to the pack.
“It’s just such an interesting twist of events,” Mom said when I didn’t reply. “You leave to kill an Alpha and return with a woman. A human at that.”
