Wolf Betrayed

by Carrie Ann Ryan

She didn’t want anything to do with Shane, but her wolf calmed him, and the Talons needed her. While she hated to admit it, the idea that someone needed her for something touched a part of Charlotte that she did her best to ignore. Though no one had ever treated her like an outsider because of her birth, she’d always felt like a bit of one anyway. She’d never voiced her concerns, though she had a feeling her parents, and even Bram, had figured it out long ago anyway.

  She didn’t have a title in the Pack, and for many wolves, that wouldn’t matter. Before the humans had found out about the existence of shifters, people in her position would merely find a job within the human realm and call the den home if that fit into their plans. Now, many of those employed outside the dens found themselves jobless and stuck within the wards until her Pack, as well as the other Packs in the country, figured out the next steps. She still trained with her cousins and other wolves because not doing so was a dangerous thing for a wolf, and she would fight alongside many of her fellow wolves during any hand-to-hand combat, but beyond that, she didn’t really have a role. It killed her that she had to sit on her hands and do nothing during many of the altercations. She knew it was her cousin Nick’s role as the new Beta of the Redwood Pack to ensure that she was comfortable and feeling needed, but she didn’t want to bother anyone. And she had always been good at hiding her feelings.

  She’d had to learn early on, after all, since her father was the former Omega of the Pack, and his life dealt in feelings.

  But now, the Talons needed her, and hopefully, that would lead to more responsibilities.

  She said goodbye to her mother and headed to her vehicle so she could drive to the other den. Though there were underground tunnels, she wasn’t a fan of them since she couldn’t feel the breeze on her skin as easily. She’d been trapped in basements and other places when she was younger and didn’t want to relive that feeling if she could help it.

  She’d lived through one nightmare, and now, her entire life was about not wanting to live another.

  As soon as she walked into the infirmary behind Walker, her wolf nudged at her, scenting that spicy, masculine scent. Her mouth watered, and she had to keep from clamping her thighs together as she walked. Her body had only betrayed her like this with one other man, and she’d learned to somewhat curb those instincts around Bram.

  She’d been with other men before Bram, as she was a healthy adult female and a shifter at that. She’d liked the comfort, and had always walked away from her lovers as friends. That was how all wolves worked. Shifters couldn’t form a mating bond without that sense of instinct between them, and unmated pairs couldn’t have children. She’d heard that a few times in the past, a mating bond had appeared much later in pairs whose human halves loved one another with devotion and intensity, but she hadn’t felt that type of connection with any of the men she’d been with.

  Before Bram.

  Though she’d always been best friends with Bram, it hadn’t been until they were older that their wolves had begun to sense there could be more to their relationship than friendship and attraction. She’d never had sex with Bram before that first intense sense of knowing, however, because she hadn’t wanted to ruin what they had. As soon as it became clear to them that they were potential mates, she’d thrown caution to the wind and slept with him.

  It had been both the most intensely erotic and emotionally damaging night of her life.

  Now, this new wolf, this new scent, this man she had thought the enemy, made her body vibrate in the same way it did around Bram…though with its own unique flavor.

  She closed her eyes as she paused in the hallway, doing her best to gain control. She was known for her discipline, and yet right then, it took everything in her power to not run toward the owner of that scent and wrap her body around him.

  They called this the mating heat, and she hated it…even as she craved it.

  “Do you need to go outside?” Walker asked, his voice low enough that no one would be able to hear. Even those shifters near with their keen sense of hearing wouldn’t have been able to decipher the words.

  She shook her head and forced herself to open her eyes. “I can handle it.”

  He gave her a look of pity, and she held back a growl. She didn’t want or need his pity. “You’re helping him be able to control his wolf, and because of that, you are helping someone who can’t help himself. Once he’s healthy, he’s already vowed to give us any information he can on Montag and what kind of poison is running through his veins thanks to the General. He can’t help too much right now though because he’s having trouble staying in control. It’s like this with many wolves when they’re first turned. Becoming one of us without being born into it is violent, and half of the time, leads to death. No form of modern medicine can help that. But Shane’s trying to be what those humans who resent us, who fear us, are not. He already saved Ryder’s life, and Brynn’s, and probably others that we don’t even know about yet. He’s not the enemy you think he is.”

  Charlotte stared at Walker for a moment, trying to decide what to say. He didn’t know her, and she didn’t know him. Not really. Though their families had been working together for thirty years, she hadn’t needed to come to the Talon den often to meet with their Healer. She wasn’t sure she appreciated Walker’s words, though she knew he was just trying to help.

  “I guess I should go see Shane,” she said after a moment. “It’s not like anyone else can help him, right?”

  A curious expression covered Walker’s face, but he didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure what that was about, but she followed him to Shane’s room after he turned away from her.

  She knew it had been a mistake to come there the moment she scented him.

  They hadn’t gone to Shane’s room, after all. Instead, Walker led her two doors down to a gym where Shane was working out, lifting weights, and giving her wolf just one more reason to jump and claw. Only this time, it wasn’t only her wolf swooning. Her human half just about panted for the man.

  He’d taken off his shirt, leaving it on one of the benches along the back of the room, and wore sweats that hung low on his hips. So low, she could see the indentations on his back where two tiny dimples marked where his butt started—a very, very firm butt. When he turned, she sucked in a breath. He was cut, built, and every other word you could use to describe a muscled male who looked more like an Adonis than the man she’d seen writhing in pain on his bed just a couple of days ago. He had washboard abs and chiseled pecs that begged for her hands to grab, for her fingers to dig in. And, holy mother of the goddess, he had those deep v-lines that led right to his…

  She jerked her head up to his face, heat rising to her cheeks. She was well aware any wolf with a halfway decent sense of smell would be able to detect her arousal—hell, even the humans would at this point—but Walker had the grace not to mention it.

  Shane, however…he knew.

  His nostrils flared, and his bright eyes narrowed. His throat worked as he swallowed before he slowly lowered the weight in his hand to the floor. His shoulders stretched wonderfully at that, and she let out a little breathy moan.

  Charlotte cursed herself for the sound, but Walker didn’t say anything, and Shane hadn’t seemed to notice. No, she wasn’t sure he could notice since he was currently eye fucking her the way she’d just ogled him.

  This was going to be a long day.

  Beside them, Walker cleared his throat. “I have another patient that came in earlier I should check on. You two should be fine here, but you both know where Shane’s room is if you want to change places.” He looked at Shane, getting the other man’s attention, and Charlotte quickly wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. “I know you were in here working out because you have too much energy, but you might come down off that high pretty quickly with her here. Don’t hurt yourself. I’m not in the mood to Heal you.” Walker winked as he said it, and any other time, Charlotte might have liked to get to know Walker more, but right then, she could only thi
nk of Shane.

  Shirtless and sweaty Shane.

  The Shane she wanted to lick and taste. Bite. To sink her teeth into until her wolf was finally satisfied, and the woman within her could feast, as well.

  Walker left with a stern look at Shane, and Charlotte sucked in a breath, knowing it was a mistake as soon as she did it. He was just so potent. That sweaty and spicy scent coated her tongue and seeped into her pores. Her wolf wanted to roll around it in, and the rest of her wanted to lick it up. Her nipples pebbled against her bra, and she swallowed hard, fighting for her control once again.

  “You’re here,” he said roughly, his voice almost a growl.

  “I am.” He looked tired, she thought. Now that she could breathe through the lust and think through the recriminations she’d had when she first saw him, she truly got a look at the man who had turned her world over. He hadn’t asked to become what he was, that much she knew to be true. Those she trusted believed Shane’s story about the injection and the fact that he’d run away. She couldn’t help but believe, as no one would ever put their body through what he’d been through on purpose. Though, he wasn’t truly a wolf…not yet, and perhaps not ever. What must it be like to travel along two worlds, one foot in each without a path to move into the one they truly wanted? Of course, Charlotte had lived that before, only on a much different scale. The fact that she and Shane seemed to have something in common, if only somewhat tangible, pulled at her wolf.

  Once again, Charlotte was confused…and scared.

  “You ran away last time,” Shane said, and Charlotte let out a growl.

  She might have run, but she didn’t need this stranger pointing it out.

  He held up both hands. “Sorry. I just know what the others told me. I remember your scent, though.” His nostrils flared again, and his eyes darkened.

  This time, Charlotte did indeed press her legs together because her clit throbbed unrepentantly.

  “It was a shock seeing you.” She didn’t tell him why, and wasn’t sure if she could. Not yet anyway.

  “You tame the beast inside of me,” he said softly. “I don’t know what to do with that.”

  “Why do you call him ‘the beast?’” she asked curiously. “He’s your wolf.”

  He shook his head. “I haven’t shifted yet. And whatever they added to me is different. How do I know it’s a wolf and not whatever they made me?”

  Her heart hurt for him, for everything he was going through, and yet she wasn’t sure she could help. Yes, she calmed his wolf, his so-called beast, but what more could she do when she didn’t even know herself.

  “You became Pack, there is more wolf to you than you know,” she said softly.

  Shane’s eyes flared in gratitude, but he still sighed. “Gideon tells me humans are added, and that in your Pack, there is not only a partial demon, someone that was bitten by one, but one is also the daughter of a demon. What if I’m more like them than wolf?”

  Charlotte shook her head. Her family had been through literal hell thanks to the Centrals, and because of that, some of them carried wounds that had healed…differently than others.

  “If you are more like my uncle and aunt, then you are well on your way to being one of the strongest people I know. Their circumstances didn’t define them. It could have, but it didn’t.”

  She ignored the telling voice within her head that spoke of her own circumstances and what they said about her. This was not about her past, but rather Shane’s future.

  “I don’t know if you’ll be able to shift, or if something else will have to happen, but the Talons brought you in, and they aren’t going to leave you behind.” She met his gaze. “Wolves don’t do that.”

  “Thank you for that,” he said after a long moment. “Do you know what you’re supposed to be doing here? Just standing around so I can breathe, or do you have other things you should be doing.” He ran a hand over his shoulder and Charlotte’s mouth went dry.

  The man had more muscles than even Bram, and she hadn’t thought that possible. Between the two of them, her knees would just go completely weak, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to make it out alive.

  “I don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing,” she answered with a shrug. “They want you healthy, and it looks like I’m the only person that can help you.”

  He studied her face. “They haven’t told you yet,” he said slowly.

  She froze. “What haven’t they told me?” she asked, her wolf going on alert. Was there something else going on she didn’t know about?

  Shane took a step forward, and she instinctively took a step back. The hurt on his face was too much for her to bear, and she took a deep breath before moving toward him again. Hesitantly, she put her hand on his forearm. Her wolf bucked, and she swore she could feel something within him do the same. Shane froze, as did she, and they both blinked at one another. His arm was so warm, so…strong beneath her palm. All she had to do was squeeze gently and dig her fingers and nails a bit and she’d have a good hold on him. From there, she could go on her tiptoes and take his mouth.

  Only she didn’t want his mouth, didn’t want him.

  She wanted Bram, and she couldn’t have him. She’d been forsaken by the moon goddess, and because of that, she had a feeling if she were to try to be with Shane, no bond would form there either. It had almost killed her once to go through that, and she couldn’t do it again. Since Bram was the purest and most loyal wolf she knew, the fault had to lie with her and the blood that ran through her veins.

  She didn’t want this man, this human, who wasn’t quite human any longer. Her wolf might feel the need for him now, but that would pass. Instead of succumbing to her hormones, she’d back away and do her duty before locking herself away once more. It was the only way she could stay sane.

  It had been working for the past few years, and damn it, it would just have to keep working.

  “What haven’t they told me?” she asked again.

  Shane was the one to pull away this time, and though she immediately felt the loss, she was grateful.

  “You’re not the only one who can calm the beast inside me.”

  How could that be possible? She wasn’t sure that Shane knew about mating and how everything that came with that worked, and because of that fact, she didn’t mention it just then. She didn’t have the words or the energy to venture down that path. But if someone else could calm him, maybe it wasn’t mating heat and wolf actions that were at play here. Maybe it was something else.

  Or maybe…maybe Shane had a second potential mate within his reach.

  “Who…” She cleared her throat. “Who else?”

  “Me.”

  She whirled at the sound of Bram’s voice, her claws sliding from her fingertips, and her wolf slamming forward. She’d been so caught up in Shane, she hadn’t known Bram was so close. Her wolf clawed at her, and her body shook, even as she forced her claws to retract. Bram could calm Shane? How was that possible?

  Bram met her gaze but didn’t say anything. There were so many words left unsaid between them, so many promises that would never be kept if they continued on as they were.

  “Bram.” Her voice was a whisper, yet in the quiet gym with only the sound of their breathing and heartbeats to take up the space, it sounded like a scream.

  “I didn’t quite believe it myself,” Bram said after a moment. He looked over Charlotte’s shoulder then. “It’s good to see you out of bed.” He raked his gaze along Shane much as she had before, and Charlotte had a sinking feeling things weren’t as they seemed.

  “It’s good to be out of bed,” Shane answered. “I take it you two know each other.”

  Charlotte turned so she faced the two of them. They made a triangle, three points, three connections, three souls who she feared would never be the same after this moment.

  “We do,” she said, her voice annoyingly shaky.

  “We’re both Redwoods,” Bram said after a moment. “That much you already knew. The two
of us have been friends since we were children.”

  Shane frowned between them, seeming to sense the unspoken history and tension. “And yet you didn’t mention to her that you’ve come to see me a couple of times to help me heal?”

  Charlotte turned to Bram, glaring. “You have?”

  Bram shrugged, but she could see the anger in his eyes. “You didn’t seem like you were coming back, and he needed help.”

  “You could have told me,” Charlotte snapped. “You know what this means, and yet—” She cut herself off, aware Shane was watching them with avid interest. “You know what, I’m going to go. I need to think about what all of this means, and I can’t do that here.”

  She stormed away but stopped at the door, looking over her shoulder as she spoke, “I’m glad you’re out of bed, Shane. I’m sorry… I’m just sorry.”

  She left Bram and Shane to speak to each other in the gym, unsure what to think. One part of her hoped Bram would explain everything so she wouldn’t have to, but, of course, that made a coward out of her.

  She just hadn’t been prepared for the magnitude of what she’d just seen and felt. She’d figured Shane was her potential mate and knew Bram was as well despite the fact that they couldn’t bond.

  But if Bram and Shane were also potential mates… Did that mean the three of them were a different kind of potential when all together? She’d known of some triads, but only knew one personally. Her aunt and uncles were a rare triad in that they held the trinity bond, a bond that had its own sense of magic and wonder and strength.

  Charlotte wasn’t sure there could be two trinity bonds in existence, and while people lived in triads, she didn’t know if those were bonded matings. She’d never asked, and now she felt all the fool for not doing so.

  Could Shane and Bram not only be her mates but be mates with each other? If that were the case, could they become a true triad? Even if that were true, she was still broken. Her birth father’s sins had marked her as someone who couldn’t find the happiness she craved, of that much she was sure.