AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Two unfamiliar wolves turned toward me, one with a reddish-brown coat, the other gray and brown. The larger-than-normal wolves stood at chest height on me, which meant they were alphas. My throat closed in fear.
From their positioning, I realized they’d been growling at each other. Just my luck to interrupt their fight before one of them took out the other. Now they both turned toward me, their noses twitching as they sniffed the air.
I pulled out my knife, the one I’d used before to stab an alpha. That hadn’t been enough to kill him, though, so I hoped Flint was nearby to save me once again, because I couldn’t hope to survive against two alpha wolves.
The reddish one circled to my left and chuffed a laugh, as if unimpressed by my knife. The other growled at him, as if warning him away.
Without the stability of a pack, rogue alphas were dangerous and unpredictable enough already. The scent of my oncoming heat made each want to claim me for themselves. With no other options, I stood my ground, knowing that running away would only urge them on.
I’d never been so happy to hear growling come from behind me. A glance over my shoulder revealed all three Howling Echo wolves at my back. Gage bared his fangs and let out a short bark. As though waiting for his signal, Flint and Heath rushed to engage the rogues, the wind buffeting me as the massive wolves tore past me.
To my surprise, the two other alphas took off in a run, and Heath and Flint gave chase. Gage stayed at my side, his fangs still bared. The strangest urge to touch him came over me. He’d sent his packmates to kill the alphas that threatened me. No matter what I’d said to him about the deal, he still protected me anyway.
The sound of paws pounding the stony ground caught my ears, and I turned just in time for the reddish-brown wolf to bowl me over. Gage caught him by the scruff and knocked him off balance, but he recovered. The two alphas circled, and when Gage got close to me, he growled and snapped at me, warning me back.
The red wolf took advantage of his inattention to lunge in, but Gage crouched beneath his snapping jaws, and closed his mouth on the rogue’s foreleg. Bone crunched, followed by the red wolf’s high-pitched yowl of pain.
The rogue alpha fought for his life, but not for long. Gage got the rogue’s throat between his powerful jaws and ended it quickly with a shake of his massive head. The wolf collapsed dead before he hit the ground, his reddish-brown fur now bright with blood.
When Gage shifted back to his two-legged form, blood barely covered his face. He’d made quick work of that rogue alpha, but his sky-blue eyes burned when he his glare fell on me.
“Are you hurt?” his low voice rumbled.
I dusted myself off, shocked that the fight had ended so abruptly. Shaking my head, I stared down at the second dead body I’d seen today. Gage rifled through the fallen wolf’s sling bag, then wiped his face off on the guy’s shirt just as Flint had done earlier.
“We need to keep moving.”
Despite his words, Gage closed the distance between us, his large hand moving to cup my cheek. His striking, sky-blue eyes seemed to pierce into me, seeing everything I’d once hidden from him.
“The witch told you Flint is your mate?” he asked softly.
My breath caught. His nearness to me did strange things to my body, making me want to close the gap between us. He’dkissed me once, and I swore I could feel the sensation tingling on my lips right now.
I shook my head. She hadn’t exactly said that.
“She told me someone cursed me with a fake fated mate bond. And that the true cause of my heat is because my wolf met her mate.”
Gage nodded to himself. “Flint sensed you were in heat before he brought you back to camp.”
His words held a ring of finality, as though he’d come to the same conclusion I had.
But his thumb traced my lower lip, and my whole body lit up with sudden desire. It made no sense. If Flint had triggered my heat, then that meant he was my mate. I shouldn’t feel this strongly about another man, should I?
Somehow, Flint had managed to watch Gage fuck me on the kitchen table without losing his mind… not something an alpha would let another alpha do to his mate. Flint also hadn’t attacked Heath for having sex with me, either.
Nothing made sense. I wished I’d had more time with Brielle… I had so many questions.
All I knew was that, in this moment, I wanted nothing more than for Gage to pick me up and pin me against the massive boulders behind me. To my surprise, my wolf whimpered internally, as if wishing the same.
No one else had ever stood up for me the way these three did. It made sense from Flint, as my mate, but Gage and Heath also protected me. They’d all killed for me.
No one else had ever cared enough to hurt someone because they’d hurt me. Certainly not my old boyfriend and fellow Ironwood packmate, Wilder. He’d never once intervened when our childhood bullies beat me up.
“You protected me again,” I whispered, searching Gage’s face for some sign that this was about more than just the deal.
“Always.” His gaze slid over my lips with such intensity I could almost feel it. “No one will harm you without going through me first.”
Despite my internal conflict, I ached for his kiss, but it never came. When Gage stepped back, every extra millimeter of space between us felt wrong.
