Page 18 of Wanted By the Wolves
I won’t admit it out loud, but sitting on the buttery leather sofa and getting off my leg improves my mood a hundredfold.
Dex starts a fire and settles in an oversized chair beside the couch. He recounts the last four days with snide interjections from a pacing Gage. I’m still reeling from my littermate’s sudden switch from practically mute to downright chatty, but I try to keep it off my face.
If the look Dex is giving me is any indication, I’m not sure I’m successful.
Gage finally cuts the shit and stops pacing, folding himself onto the floor by the coffee table with a notebook he grabs from the bookcase that runs along the back wall.
“Here is what we’re looking at.” He gives a rundown of the current state of the property. Gage doesn’t explain what happened to the other omegas or why his small permanent crew has disappeared.
I don’t know much about how Gage was chosen for this place, only that it was an off-the-books mission designed by a few of the elders on the Wolf Council when the mating crisis became apparent. Waves of ferals were attacking the villages, and the elders wanted a neutral place to hide away pregnant omegas.
I’m not even sure the former king knew the location. We were only brought on by the Council to secure the property while they finished the build. They required us to take a blood oath to keepits location hidden. Even with the Council destroyed and this place all but abandoned, it’s holding up.
At least the property is. I don’t know about Gage. He’s different. Jaded. Whatever happened here changed the wolf I knew and made him into something sharp and prickly.
After we get the basics, we make a list of necessary preparations for winter before the storm hits. They’re both dicks about my task list, making it clear that I’m expected to recover with the omega. I grumble, but the pain in my leg makes it difficult to argue.
Not that I want to admit it, but they’re probably right. Unfortunately, that’s gonna put me up close and personal with the omega. If my hard-ass brother is soft for her, I don’t know how I’m supposed to manage. Already, I’m drawn to her. But I have to manage. At least one of us needs to keep his head.
“One last thing,” Dex says, eyeing Gage. “I know you can magically force her shift, but don’t. Let her stay a wolf as long as she needs. The only way she’s going to trust us to keep her safe is if we give her space.”
He’s right. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a wolf take over after shit goes down. Sometimes, it’s too much for the human side. It's easier to process all that’s happened as a wolf. We’ve learned not to push. The danger comes when the wolf won’t give control back. It’s a fine line. The longer a shifter stays a wolf, the more likely they are to lose themselves to their animal completely.
That reminder makes me feel like a totally selfish dick. I’m over here worrying about what damage she can do to Dex, but the truth is she’s in a dangerous position.
And what put her here is even more horrific, especially for an omega. They’re soft-natured, more sensitive to the feelings of others and their environments. There’s no telling what kind of damage this situation has done to the omega wolf.
“You won’t find me arguing. I want as little to do with her as possible.” The healer closes his notebook with too much force and retreats. At the front door, he speaks over his shoulder. “There are extra sets of clothes in the washroom. Don’t expect me at dinner.”
The alien who has taken over my brother glares at me. “To bed.”
I curse him out under my breath the entire way down the hall.
Chapter 11
Nova
My wolf has decided this is her new den. She’sfull sendon the omega nesting urges, without a care that this isn’t actually her place.
I should probably be mortified. Omegas are known for being audacious, but my wolf has taken it to new levels.
When she grabs the sweater folded over the back of a leather chair, I give her a mental push. It was bad enough that she stole the quilt from the bed and dragged it to the corner of the room. At least its scent was predominately Dex’s.
After so long of having to watch my every move, it makes sense why my wolf has latched on to him. The big alpha is sweet and makes me feel safe.
But Gage’s sweater? Come on.
The healer called me homicidal. Even if he did save my life, he doesn’t seem particularly happy about it. His scent at breakfast was full of bitterness. I don’t even know him, certainly not enough to trust him.
Or the brothers either. Not even Dex, though it feels as though I can trust him implicitly.
Reason number five thousand why I should make an exit plan instead of building a den.
This isn’t the time to get a crush on my rescuer or make the mistake of being comfortable. Alphas are dangerous. Trusting the first one to be kind to me would be naive.
That doesn’t stop my wolf. She carries on as though she doesn’t feel me tugging for control. Gage’s sweater makes it into the corner, and she uses her snout to nudge it into the pile of bedding she’s already worked over with her paws.
Why does he have to smell so good though?His scent was off at breakfast, but this worn sweater smells like working in a garden with the sunshine on my face. It’s like catnip to my omega.
