AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER4
Brie ran her hands through her hair and tried to calm herself down. Her wolf pushed at her, and she pushed back, knowing that if she didn’t start taking deeper breaths, she was going to shift and scare anyone who happened to walk by. Sure, she was in her home, and her roommate, Finn, wasn’t even there, but people would be able to feel the pull of her wolf when she shifted.
It wasn’t like people, including her, didn’t shift all the time within the den, but her wolf was so on edge that it would be like sending out a beacon of distress. And since she was a submissive, all the other more dominant wolves would rush to her because theyneededto make sure she was okay.
She didn’t have a problem normally controlling her wolf. In fact, since she didn’t have the extra aggression that some wolves possessed considering their dominant wolves, she had more control than most. Shifting for her—while painful like the others—was also a soothing release where she and her wolf would become one, and she could relax once she was in wolf form.
Now, though, she needed to shift because her wolf wanted to run out of the den and find their mate.
That wasn’t going to happen.
Gideon hadn’t evencalledor asked how she was doing. He wasn’t her mate. He was just another wolf in her life. Goddess, he wasn’t eveninher life. He was just…there.
For freak’s sake. She was acting like a middle school kid who’d found out at recess a boy liked her. Instead, she was a thirty-something virgin who had finally come face to face with her mate and walked away before he could do it first.
She could still feel the heat of his hands on her arms, the firm hardness of his chest against her body as he caught her. Her face heated when she rememberedwhyhe’d held her. Ofcourseshe’d tripped like an idiot and had to have the big, bad Alpha hold her and save her from the evil floor.
She was surprised she hadn’t swooned and clutched her pearls at the sight of him.
Goddess, she didn’t like herself right then.
She might not be a fighter, but she wasn’t some weak-spined young pup who’d never seen a man before. The only reason she was a virgin was because she was seventeen when she spotted Gideon for the first time, and her wolf had decided that was it. There would be no one else for her. Since then, she’d pushed other men away because she didn’t feel what she should with them. She’d dated, and even gotten far with a couple of wolves and a male witch who lived in the den, but when the time came to get physical, she hadn’t been able to. It had nothing to do with the men and everything to do with who they weren’t.
That didn’t bode well for the rest of her life considering how her wolf was acting right now.
She had a feeling her family had figured something was off with her, too. Sure, her dad was pleased with the fact that she’d never gotten serious with another wolf. Pleased because he’d never had to beat up a poor young pup for being near his precious, perfect daughter—his words, not hers. But even he’d remarked on her lack of a boyfriend recently. He loved her enough to let her go—only there was nowhere for her to go in the first place. Her mother was worried, as were her two younger sisters who were dating wolves and growing up.
Brie, it seemed, would be left behind because her wolf had already chosen, and while submissive, it was too strong for Brie to overrule.
The future seemed bleak at best, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to listen to her wolf anymore. It might be best for her to gain the power she hadn’t thought she had and find a wolf to be with. Even if she never mated, she could at least have fun. Her cousins were all growing up and enjoying life. Why couldn’t she?
It wasn’t like she had nothing in life. She had a home she loved and shared with Finn. It wasn’t big, but it was just enough for the two of them. Eventually, when Finn mated, he’d move into a bigger place so he could raise a family. Then she’d be alone in the small place. It seemed like a bleak future, but she’d make the best of it. Maybe one day her wolf would let her mate someone else. It wasn’t unheard of to find another potential mate…only extremely rare. And with the den on alert because of the humans, it was getting harder and harder to find others that could be just right for them.
She’d had her chance and fate had blown it.
Her wolf nudged at her again, and she cursed. “Stop it,” she growled. “Just stop it. He’s not ours. He will never be ours. He’s a freaking Alpha, and mooning about it will just make things worse. I am not some bright-eyed little girl who can’t live without a man. I am a member of the Redwood Pack. I’m stronger than this.”
“Damn it. It’s true then.”
She sucked in a breath then turned to see Finn and Quinn, a member of the Pack and the Alpha’s enforcer, standing in the doorway.
Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked them back. She hadn’t heard either of them come in the house, hadn’t scented them. Damn it. She’d been so focused on herself and her wolf that she’d let her guard down.
Now theyknew.
“What are you talking about?” she snapped, trying to put as much force as she could into it.
Quinn sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Brie,” he whispered. The big man with dark hair and chocolate brown eyes sighed, yet looked genuinely worried for her. Why would he feel like that? He’d mated her cousin Gina so he was now family and acted like a big brother, but he’d never looked at her likethat.
She frowned. “What? What do you have to be sorry about? What’s going on?”
Finn held out his hand and took hers. She pulled back, worried. His eyes glowed gold for a moment before going back to their normal Jamenson jade. A lock of dark brown hair fell over his face, and he brushed it out of the way, the tension in his shoulders visible.
He leveled her a look then ran his hands over his jeans. “Brie, you’re going to have to sit down, okay? We need to be fast and form a plan before the parents find out.”
Now she was really confused. What on earth was he talking about? It had sounded like they knew something about what had happened, yet she was sure she was missing something important. Why were they hiding everything from their parents? And why the hell was Quinn here? Nothing made any sense.
“Tell me what’s going on, Finn. You’re starting to scare me.”
