Her Pack

by Candace Wondrak

  Farkas didn’t want to go to the diner; he wanted to stay here and keep watch, wait until she woke up, but he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. He nodded and started to the hall, passing Grimm, who still stood near the bed.

  This day had turned into something of a memory.

  Chapter Five – Maia

  Zak’s arms were strong, his gaze penetrating. He hung over her, having shifted into his wolf. Maia couldn’t shift, she could only lay there, terrified as he lowered his snout to her face, baring his teeth. Drool flowed from the sharp canines, dropping onto her cheeks. “Zak,” she said, frantic. “You don’t have to do this.” Everything around her was black. There was nothing around them, no sky, no room, not even a ground.

  Nothing to help her.

  Though Zak only had a muzzle, his voice rung out, “Oh, I owe you this, bitch.” And then his teeth closed in on her throat. The very moment she felt his fangs tearing at her skin, she screamed.

  Maia’s eyes flew open, and she instantly sat, feeling her throat. Still in one piece. Inside her chest, her heart beat rapidly, faster than it should’ve. Her breathing was rapid, and she did her best to calm herself down. It was only a dream; Zak wasn’t here, ready to kill her in revenge. Zak was dead. She was…

  She stared down at an unfamiliar bed as she remembered the wolves in the diner, the one who had caught her in the back alley. Shit. They must’ve brought her back to their place. At least, she noted, her clothes were still on, if a bit ruffled.

  It was official. Maia was the worst runaway ever. She’d gone from one cage to another.

  Her eyes were slow to draw around the room, freezing when she saw the man standing in the corner. The one who’d entered through the diner’s front door. The alpha. He practically radiated dominance, his wolf seeking hers to bow into submission. But if she had refused submission to someone she’d known since she was ten, she would never give in to a wolf she’d just met.

  Even if…even if he was an attractive specimen.

  Yellow hair, sun-kissed skin. Eyes the color of the sky on a crisp, clear day. Muscled and strong like every wolf was. He wore a plain shirt, jeans, and boots. The jeans, Maia was slow to admit, fit him well. Very well. They hugged his legs and his midsection in all the right places. Inside her, she felt her wolf whine, wanting to be unleashed, wanting to go to him, to lay down beneath him and…

  Okay, it was clear both she and her inner wolf found him handsome. Moving on.

  The way he stared at her, she tried to convince herself she didn’t like it. Like she was his already, and that was that. Ugh. Wolves.

  He leaned near the window, his arms crossed over his chest. “What’s your name, wolf?”

  “Maia,” she spoke immediately, her inner wolf wanting to respond to his, and she winced. How stupid was she? This was a bad situation, and her wolf thought herself so hilarious, so funny, to completely lose her shit over the first wolf she’d seen since her old pack. “Not Maia,” she hurried said. “I mean…” Well, if she didn’t look like an idiot before, she sure did now.

  Maybe he’d realize what a ball of weird she was and toss her back out. She could dream.

  He studied her intently, and she bristled, angry at both herself and at him. “You’re afraid,” he said.

  That was one word for it.

  “What are you running from?”

  His question stunned her, nearly strange enough Maia felt the sudden urge to tell him the truth. Ridiculous. She didn’t know him, and she didn’t want to. Her wolf would have to go in heat somewhere else.

  “I’m not running from anything,” she was slow to say.

  “That’s not what it looked like at the diner.”

  “You caught me off-guard.”

  His eyebrows rose, an expression that sent her insides for a twist. “You always run from fellow wolves?” His question baited her, and while she did her best to reign in her wolf, she forced out a glare in his direction.

  “You,” Maia said, a deliberate kind of slow, “you wouldn’t understand. You’re a male. An alpha. You can’t—” She stopped when he pushed off the wall and stepped towards her. She did not trust him well enough to let him get closer, and of course she didn’t trust the whining animal inside her.

  Everyone should just stay where they were.

  “So, you sense I’m an alpha?” His words were loaded, and his tone, it made goosebumps rise on her arms. He now stood beside the bed, gazing down at her with eyes too clear, too intense, and too frigging blue.

  Maia hugged her arms around her stomach, doing her best to appear unperturbed and unbothered by his sudden closeness. “I…” She couldn’t think of what to say without basically admitting her wolf sensed his, which was exactly what the bastard wanted to hear. She would not give in to him.

  She shouldn’t even be having this debate in her mind. What she should do was run for the door and try to escape. Just because she wasn’t tied up and already bred by him didn’t mean it wasn’t in the future cards.

  When she said nothing more, the alpha stunned her by lowering to his knees. Now he no longer stood over her, over the bed, but knelt just below her level, as if he were trying to put her at ease.

  He had another thing coming. Maia wasn’t going to fall for any of it.

  “I don’t know what you went through to get here,” he said. “I don’t know what your experiences with other wolves were, but any alpha worth his teeth can separate the wolf from the man. And though I know there’s a wolf inside of you, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you, right now all I see is a runaway.”

  Maia’s breathing hitched. That was…strangely the nicest thing any male wolf had said to her in, God, maybe forever. But then he ruined it by saying the next bit.

  “What other self-respecting wolf would feast on prairie dogs?”

  She was instantly insulted. “I’ll have you know that prairie dogs…taste just like chicken.” No, they didn’t, and she was ashamed at herself for even knowing what the cute little animals tasted like.

  The man smiled, dimples beneath his stubble. “That’s just something people say when their food is bland and tasteless.”

  Maia frowned. “I happen to like chicken.” She caught herself, “Not as a wolf, but as me. With some Cajun—”

  “Oh, now I know you’re not from around here. Nobody in this town knows what that word even means.” He grinned as he talked, and the smile reached his eyes, crinkling the corners somewhat. Though he was downright scary at the diner, here he didn’t seem too bad.

  He seemed nice. A nice wolf was not something Maia anticipated.

  “So, Maia, will you tell me the truth about why you’re hiding in the fields outside of town? If you tell me, maybe I can help you.”

  Her gaze fell to the edge of the bed. The bed, the entire room actually, carried his scent. It wasn’t a bad one. “It’s not your problem to solve. It’s mine,” she whispered. Although, if they hadn’t found her by now, maybe she was safe.

  That was probably wishful thinking, which Maia was not the type to do.

  “I’m offering to help you,” he said.

  “Yes, but what’s the catch? The price?” Maia shook her head, inching away from him, towards the opposite side of the bed. “I will not submit, if you’re thinking about getting a mate for your troubles.”

  A rumble escaped his chest, a very wolfish sound, one that made her spine tingle. “You are a difficult one, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve been known to cause some trouble.”

  “Careful, Maia, because some of us like trouble.” He stood, making his way to the door. “My name is Alarick,” he said, glancing back at her. “Feel free to come out when you’re done pouting and ready to have an adult conversation.” He slammed the door behind him, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

  Ass.

  Maia wanted to scream, to run away. She glanced at the curtain, but she did not get up and move to the window, which she most definitely could’ve hopped out of.
They had her scent now; they’d be able to track her all over town if she ran. No, she was stuck here, with them, until she convinced them she didn’t need help, that she was fine on her own. Just a little jumpy. Being jumpy wasn’t a crime. And as a female wolf, could they blame her?

  Oh, God.

  What was she to do?

  Chapter Six – Alarick

  There was definitely something going on with her, Alarick knew. The way she tensed when he neared her, any unmated female should long to be with another wolf, let alone an alpha. There had to be something she was running from, something in her past that she wasn’t yet comfortable sharing.

  If she was to stay with them, if she were to become theirs—which his wolf would very much like, for the beast had practically fought him for control in his room—she would have to trust them. Trust was not something easily earned, Alarick knew.

  Maia.

  A unique name for a beautiful, unique wolf.

  How badly Alarick wanted to run with her, to see her in her wolf form, to be with her as she shifted. Tasting the wind on their backs, knowing no authority except nature’s. It would be something else.

  Grimm was in the hall; he’d probably listened to their entire conversation. Before he could do anything, Alarick gestured to the front living room, and Grimm followed him, padding loudly on his bare feet. The man still only wore jeans, though at least he’d zipped and buttoned them.

  They were a family, a pack, and they shared everything, it was true, but not like that. At least, not for Alarick. Alarick’s wolf felt the need solely for a female.

  “Her name is—”

  “Maia,” Grimm said, pursing his lips.

  Alarick didn’t even know why he bothered, for he’d heard everything anyway. “I don’t want to overwhelm her. I will not let us become one of those packs who keep their females tied up and tucked away. I want her to choose us. I don’t want to force her. There’s something she’s not saying, and I can only assume that with some time, she’ll open up.”

  “And if she wants to leave?” It was the longest sentence Grimm had said in a while. Truthfully, there were some days when the man said absolutely nothing. He was the type of man, the kind of wolf, who could say more with one expression than another man could say with an entire speech.

  “If she wants to leave, then…” Alarick didn’t want to say let her, but he didn’t know what else there was, besides not letting her and allowing her to go if she chose it. Really, he hoped that she’d choose to stay on her own, but it was a nearly impossible hope, wasn’t it?

  Luckily, he didn’t need to finish; Grimm knew what he meant, and he nodded.

  Alarick’s phone buzzed in his back pocket, and he instantly reached for it, checking the number before answering. “Farkas, I’m assuming this is you calling from the diner. What’s wrong?”

  It hadn’t even been two hours and Farkas was already calling him for some emergency. The man could hardly be left alone in the diner. He just didn’t handle it well.

  Once Farkas had explained the situation, Alarick sighed. “There should be a box of unused ketchup in the storage room. Well, did you check? Because I’m sure they’re there.” He chuckled as Farkas answered him. “You are completely useless, you know that? Why did I make you assistant manager again? Remind me.”

  “Because,” Farkas barked on the other line, “I gave you some money. A lot of money, actually. This shithole is part mine.”

  Alarick hated it when Farkas called the diner a shithole. Cursing under his breath, he muttered, “I’ll be right there. You better hope you find that box before I do.” His thumb hit the end call button, and he slid the phone back into his jeans. He locked gazes with Grimm. “You’ll be fine here, with her? I don’t see her causing too much trouble—at least nothing you couldn’t handle.”

  Grimm was the most capable out of all of them. The largest, the strongest. If he ever sought to challenge Alarick, even though their pack was only the three of them, he would surely win.

  The other wolf nodded once. It was all he would do.

  Alarick shook his head as he exited the kitchen to the garage and climbed into his truck. That wolf, Maia, was not what he was expecting. And though it would’ve been true, he never actually expected to stumble across an unclaimed female. Daydreams were daydreams, mostly useless when it came down to reality, but…he still wouldn’t have pictured her quite like this. She was more beautiful than he thought a female wolf could be. She was also as fiery as her red hair would suggest.

  Things would not be easy with her, provided she didn’t try to hightail it, but Alarick was more than fine with that. He wasn’t the biggest fan of easy, anyway. Often, it was the more difficult road which led to the greatest and most rewarding ending.

  The only problem would be keeping his wolf reigned in.

  Chapter Seven – Grimm

  The female in Alarick’s room called out to Grimm’s wolf harder than he’d like to admit. He’d trained himself, these last few years, to ignore his inner wolf. When Alarick and Farkas went running, which they didn’t do very often, he always turned them down, saying he’d rather stay in. Keeping the wolf at bay, blending into human society and not growling whenever he was angry, it was all much simpler and easier to do when the wolf was locked up, in the farthest reaches of his consciousness and his mind.

  If he said he’d thought there was a possibility of a female in their pack’s horizon, Grimm would’ve laughed at himself and pushed down the thought. Just hoping for a chance at a female wolf was a waste of time, because they were always claimed, and unless one wanted to fight an entire pack’s worth of wolves—and a normal-sized pack ranged anywhere from a dozen to fifty—they were impossible to steal.

  And regardless. Could one really steal another wolf?

  Wolves were ruthless. It was why Grimm did not feel too close to other wolves. At least, other than Alarick and Farkas. Stuck in old tradition, traditions that were buried in sexism and ageism and any other kind of ism one could imagine, packs were frozen in the past. It was no wonder why their kind was dying out.

  And, no, they were not dying out because of the lack of females.

  Grimm knew shifters of all breeds were dying out because they hadn’t evolved with the times. The human world, the human society had made great strides in the last few decades, and their swift advancement wasn’t over yet. Technology touched everything these days. Before leaving their old pack, Grimm hadn’t even known what a cell phone was, or what Google was. He felt like an idiot admitting it now, not that he would ever say it aloud. No one, especially not the female, would know how he only learned how to Google things when he was twenty years old.

  Embarrassing. Embarrassing in every way.

  After Alarick left, Grimm glanced back, down the hall where the bedrooms and bathroom were. The bedroom door was still closed, and he figured it would remain closed for a while, provided she didn’t run.

  She wouldn’t.

  She couldn’t.

  But…Grimm knew, she could, and even though his wolf wanted to get to know hers very intimately, he simply walked down the hall, grabbed a shirt and some shoes, and decided to do some yard work to busy himself. Plus, that way, at least he’d hear her if she tried to run through the window.

  As he pulled his shirt down, he paused outside her door. Even through the wood, he could smell her. He’d practically leapt from the shower when he’d gotten his first whiff as Rick and Farkas had brought her in. His inner wolf had been too curious, too strong to do much else, and he’d been too shocked.

  A female wolf. He still couldn’t believe it. Was this some dream he was caught in? Had he died and never woke up this morning? Grimm thought it seemed a plausible solution, given how rare female wolf shifters were.

  He set his hand on the door, not on the handle, for he didn’t want to go in; just on the door. Grimm felt the muscles in his jaw tighten; he had to start moving, start working, otherwise he’d go crazy, and a crazy wolf was ten times wor
se than a sane one.

  Grimm left the house, moving in the garage. There were always leaves here and there, weeds to pick in the flowerbeds. Stray sticks that had somehow gotten in the yard even though they’d cut down the trees three years ago. He could clean the outside windows, power wash the siding, repaint the short fence that lined the entire yard. Always something to do.

  Things were easier for him when he kept his body busy. While his body worked, his mind drifted off, and Grimm thought of nothing at all. The harder he worked, the faster time would go on. It made sense. Even if he wasn’t working on a car, he was always working, whether Alarick and Farkas knew it or not.

  And usually they didn’t. They always made comments about how he got to stay home and lounge around all day. The fools. They didn’t realize that a house needed upkeep. The lawn mowed, the trash taken out. Did the damned idiots think there was a little fairy who fluttered around, doing it all with a smile on her face?

  No. It was Grimm, doing it all with a pensive scowl.

  He decided to go around with the wheelbarrow and pick up sticks. What a fun job.

  As he worked in the yard, Grimm heard not a peep coming from Alarick’s room. No window sliding open sneakily, and nothing to give reason to make him think she would try to run. Then again, he didn’t really know her. He’d only seen her when she was unconscious, and it wasn’t something he could base anything off of.

  The time crawled by slowly. The sun had gotten so hot before noon he had to take off his shirt and use it to wipe off the sweat that gathered on his face as he’d gone around the yard. Alarick still wasn’t back, whatever mess Farkas had made at the diner clearly was worse than some missing ketchup bottles, but it didn’t bother Grimm to be alone. Out of the three of them, he was the one who could survive on his own, who didn’t need a pack.