It’s clear that his words don’t fully register for her, too consumed by her pain, but she doesn’t resist. Her head rests against his shoulder, and her eyes begin to glaze over. Scared, I reach for her through the mate bond and find pain, weariness, and the abyss of darkness.
“Losing her!” I call out, rushing toward them, half forgetting that Felix shouldn’t be around non-wolves at the moment.
Nolan moves swiftly away and holds her tightly against his chest. “I’ve got her. I feel the same things you do. I promise I’ll take care of her.” He motions with his head toward Felix. “Get him somewhere safe.”
I feel split in two as I watch Nolan walk away with my mate, while holding Felix in my arms. He’s right. Only I can bring Felix to pack land. Only I can make sure he gets what he needs as a new wolf.
Felix whines again and starts getting restless as the scent of roasted human flesh taunts his hunger. In the time it takes me to carry Felix over to what remains of the cabin’s threshold, Nolan is long gone, likely using his super speed to get to his car. I walk barefoot over to Callie’s car, hoping that I won’t have to hotwire it. I’m relieved when I peer through the window to find the key in the ignition. While trying to hold Felix with one arm, too afraid he’ll run right for the dead bodies if I let him go, I try the door handle, and thankfully, it opens.
After clicking the button to unlock all the doors, I carefully place Felix in the back seat, giving him a comforting patwhen he looks up at me with worried eyes. “It’s okay. I’m going to be right up front. I’m taking you home.”
He curls up and settles across the entire back seat, his big wolf head resting against the driver’s side headrest. The adrenaline seeps out of my body, and exhaustion begins to take over as I close the door and make my way to the driver’s side. Felix growls when the seat is pushed back as far as it’ll go, offended that his pillow would dare to move, but then he returns to resting his head on it.
When I settle into the seat, I reach back to give Felix a scritch behind his ear. He nuzzles my neck with his wet, brown nose, and then he licks the side of my face. My eyes burn with building tears as I release a choked laugh. Even as a wolf, he’s trying to comfort me.
The seat belt is uncomfortable over my naked body when I click it into place, but I can’t ask Felix to run to pack land when he’s in this state. Hoping the local police have better things to do than pull me over for indecent exposure, I start the car and make my careful, winding trek back down the muddy dirt road toward Twin Cedar Pass.
“It’s going to be okay,” I insist within the quiet darkness, unsure if I’m trying to comfort Felix or convince myself.
Chapter 20
Connor
When I reach the main entrance for pack land, unease settles in my stomach. The gate is open, and there is no one guarding it. With only the car’s headlights to guide me down the pitch-black road, the sky blotted out by the thick canopy of trees, I make my way to the center of our land and Felix’s new home.
I try to comfort myself with the reminder that becoming a wolf shifter was originally Felix’s idea. I was the one who refused, because I didn’t want him to be burdened with the reality of being a turned wolf, having to deal with the pain and trauma of the transition, the fight to regain a sense of self when the influence of the world is so strong, the politics of living within a pack when he isn’t natural born, and the loss of freedom by forever being shackled to a pack. He will be forced to let go of the life he built as a human, because it will take time before he has enough control to even be around humans.
Guilt eats away at me. Felix was in no position to choose, but it’s on my shoulders that he was forced on this path. In return, I’ve also sealed my own fate. I promised that he’d never have to answer to another alpha. Therefore, I have to keep mypower and position. For better or worse, the pack is mine for the rest of my life.
My thoughts dissipate, and my unease grows. When I pull up in front of the alpha house, I notice the massive crowd around the challenge ring. By the sheer size of the crowd, it looks like every member of both packs stand as witnesses.
Sam is the only one who stands apart, backlit by a large bonfire as she aggressively texts on her phone. She looks up when I pull to a stop and marches over to me with an expression that implies a furious desire to throw something at my head.
“I’ve been texting and calling you!” she shouts as I step out of the car. “Why today, of all damn days, did you ignore your phone?”
I motion toward my nakedness and then Callie’s car. “Don’t have it on me.” My attention turns toward the crowd. “I didn’t approve a challenge. Who’s in the ring?”
“That’s why I was calling,” she answers, some of her anger giving way to sympathy.
The tonal shift causes my heart to pound loudly in my ears, the rush of blood pulsing through my body. “Who?”
Sam’s brows drop low, and her lips pull into a sad line. “Bayne and your mother.”
It feels like I’m suddenly in a free fall, even though I can still feel the paved road beneath my feet. Felix whines in the back seat, reminding me that I need to help him before I can put a stop to the fight. I may have a difficult relationship with her, but I still love her, and I don’t want her to die.
My half-brother, Bayne, has been plotting something for a while, never satisfied with the fact that I became alpha over him. He also never steps into the challenge ring unless he knows he’sgoing to win. I always had too much to manage to look into what he was up to, and I always assumed when the time came, he’d attack me directly in some way. I should have known better.
I open the door to the back seat, and Felix gingerly gets out, his body still sore from the transition. He huddles next to my legs, shivering with fear of the unknown. I give his head a reassuring pat, even as my mind is filled with the desperate need for action.
Sam’s eyes open so wide that her blue irises are surrounded in white. “Who the hell is that?” What the fuck happened for you to turn someone?”
“Don’t have time to explain.” Kneeling down to look directly into Felix’s eyes, I explain, “This is Sam. She is my second, and she is safe. She’ll get you food and a place to rest.”
“Con, I don’t think you should be alone out here,” Sam stresses, eyeing the mixed crowd surrounding the fight.
I’m unsure if her comment is in regard to protecting me from possible harm or to keep me levelheaded enough that I don’t make things worse. It’s ironic, considering I often have to hold her back. Doesn’t matter either way. She’s the only one I’d trust with Felix.
Standing up, I level her with one of my authoritative stares that I rarely use—one that says my orders are final. “Take him to my old room. Make sure the blanket on the bed is one that has my scent. Feed him until he falls asleep.” I drop a heavy hand onto her shoulder. “Stay with him and protect him as if he’s me.”
