Page 17 of Dual Nature

Before I knew what was happening, I had my face in a pillow that had a sharp tang of sea salt followed by undertones of citrus. I could feel the pull from my omega senses, telling me this wolf needed me. He was in so much emotional pain. Instinctually, I knew that I would be able to soothe him and ease this pain of his if I could spend some time with him. Keeping the pillow in my lap, I grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it on over my t-shirt, loving the fact that I was surrounded by the warm scent of chocolate and hazelnuts. I took a deeper sniff and caught the hint of coffee somewhere in the mix, leading me to pounce on the remaining items and burrow through them to find out if there was more of that somewhere in here. Sure enough, I found a shirt to curl up with, letting the coffee and cinnamon envelop me as I lay in a pile of comforting scents.

I didn’t know how I knew this, but there was no question—these were my pack, my wolves.

eleven

It’d been hours since our alphas left with the odd order to clear out the spare room for a woman they were picking up in New York, of all places. As far as we knew, there hadn’t been any talks with the packs there to allow a potential mate to visit with us. In fact, I didn’t know that I’d ever seen our alphas actively interested in finding a mate at all… but I couldn’t think of another reason this would need to happen so quietly—and quickly. It had taken everything in me not to challenge Lane, but I knew that if I did, I would lose, just like I had every time I tried. Even if I was on the cusp of being too dominant for a typical beta, I wasn’t quite up to snuff as an alpha. But there was an instinct inside me; I just felt like I was meant for more than what I was doing now, but I couldn’t quite figure it out, so I kept trying.

“Twin, did you bring those towels I asked for?” Noah asked, popping his head out of the bathroom.

“Yeah, I got ‘em right here,” I mumbled, handing them over. “How can you calmly do all this without knowing why?”

Noah scowled at me before he grabbed the towels out of my hands. “Twin, you know the answer to that. Just because you refuse to see that being an alpha isn’t all it’s cracked up to be doesn’t mean I have to. Besides two other people, Elias, you, and me are in charge of this pack. We have all the power we need to do what is best for the pack, but the perk is that we aren’t held responsible in the eyes of the Senate.”

“I know all that,” I growled, sitting down on the twin bed we’d pulled out of storage. “You know that I respect Colt and Lane, but I just know that I need something more, and becoming an alpha would do that. Or at least I think so. What else is there?”

“So you want to prove you’re an alpha and work alongside them?” Noah asked, leaning against the bathroom door.

Just when I was going to answer, we both heard tires on the gravel driveway. In seconds, we were downstairs and out the front door, meeting them as they made it to the front of the house. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and my wolf paced under my skin, telling me there was something in the car that was putting him on edge.

Colt pulled up right in front of the house instead of parking in the garage off to the side, and when Lane opened the passenger door, I caught a scent that set my blood on fire. Next thing I knew, I’d ripped off the back hatch with a snarl, then frozen when I saw what had set me off. Curled up in a ball on a pile of pillows and blankets, clutching my shirt to her chest, was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

Her slight body screamed how delicate she was, and she carried a spicy, warm scent that I wanted to bury my nose in, making sure it was imprinted on my brain. I’d reached out to brush a strand of hair off of her face when a body suddenly tackled me, slamming me to the ground before tossing me far enough from the SUV that I skidded into a tree. Rolling, I shot up and shifted, my clothes shredding and bursting into the air as I charged at Zander, my teeth bared.

Just as I was about to launch myself at the man, the woman burst out of the back of the car, spreading her arms wide to protect him. My body locked up in an effort to stop my action, causing me to trip over my own feet until I skidded to a halt only inches from her.

“Stop this,” she ordered, and despite the slight quiver in her soft voice, she held her ground.

Zander wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up and away from me. “What the fuck were you thinking, Mason? You could have scared her by acting like a damn beast.”

A deep growl rumbled in my chest, warning him I didn’t appreciate him speaking to me like that. Even if he lived on pack lands, he wasn’t my alpha. He had no right to scold me like a pup.

“Zander, please put me down,” she asked, placing a hand on his chest. The contact caused him to look down at her with one of the softest expressions I’d ever seen.

Who is this woman?

Once she was back on her own two feet, she slowly walked over to me. I could see the wariness in her vibrant blue eyes, and my wolf didn’t like that at all. She should never be scared of us—it was our job to protect her. Instinctively, I knew that I’d just discovered my purpose. Here I was, just bitching and moaning about my life, not meaning anything, then minutes later, she appeared before me. Looking at her, I knew that nothing could have filled the void like she just did with a glance.

When she reached me, I lowered my head and relaxed my ears, reaching toward her, needing to be closer to her. Her hand came out, and she ran her fingers through the fur on my neck, causing me to lean into her touch. No self-respecting werewolf would allow themselves to be pet, but damn, I didn’t think they knew what it felt like. My wolf wanted to roll on his back and show her his belly for extra scratches. That’s it. This woman, whoever she is, isn’t allowed to leave—ever. I took a few steps forward and sat my ass right on her feet to keep her right where she was, taking advantage of the position by leaning against her. She let out a soft chuckle that had me perking up and giving her a wolfish grin, slowly wagging my tail.

“Holy shit, she just turned my brother into a lap dog! Who are you? More than that, what are you?” Noah asked, cocking his head to the side, watching us from where he stood with the alphas.

I could see it in his face that he was drawn to her as well, but as always, he had much better control over his actions. I was the explosive twin who acted first and thought about it after… maybe.

“I’m Finley, the newest member of your pack, and I’m an omega,” she shared, turning her attention to my brother.

I heard my twin gasp, but I was distracted by the fact that she’d stopped petting me. I butted my head against her stomach, letting out a short, sad whine. Giving me a half smile, she started combing her fingers through my fur again. Who knew being petted was such an amazing feeling?

“Needy bastard,” Colt grumbled, glaring at me, to which I let out a yip of agreement.

When I felt her freeze, I snapped to alert, taking in our surroundings and trying to see what had made her nervous. There was no way in hell I was going to let anything harm this woman while I was around. Then I heard the sound of someone walking through the woods off to the left side of the house. Lifting my nose, I scented the wind, letting out a snort. I knew who it was. There wasn’t any threat to Finley, so I was content to stay where I was. It seemed that she had other ideas, though, once she saw the person exit the woods and start toward us. To my surprise, Finley shoved me off her feet and took off like a streak toward the newcomer.

“Finley, wait!” Lane called after her, but I didn’t think she heard him. When she finally reached Elias, she threw her arms wide and launched herself at him, but what shocked us all was the fact that he caught her and allowed her to wrap herself around him.

Elias had become like a brother to me, but that cold bastard hated to be touched. Generally, werewolves were big fans of physical touch, but not Elias—he rarely let anyone get that close. I knew he had a dark past that he hadn’t really told anyone about, so it was understandable even though I didn’t know the details. Needless to say, seeing him with Finley wrapped around him like an anaconda was something I never expected to see. She was burying her nose into the crook of his neck as he looked at us with wide, startled eyes, but he made no movements to dislodge her hold.

“Um… Do we help him, or just let her do what she’s gonna do?” Lane asked, nudging Colt with his elbow.

Colt actually looked relieved, and even Zander didn’t seem at all bothered by what was going on.