Page 27 of Wanted By the Wolves
Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I race behind her. It doesn’t take long to put together leftovers from breakfast. I set them down next to a big bowl of water and hop on the counter.
I clear my throat and open the book. “Chapter One: The Invasion of the Trolls.”
Chapter 15
Dex
For the past week, the little wolf hasn’t left the nest often, and during the night, her nightmares return. She stays close to mine or my brother’s side when she goes out for bathroom breaks or to the greenhouse. Briggs holds camp with her, the two of them cuddled up under her mound of blankets while Gage and I prepare for the coming of winter.
Briggs is guiding her back to herself, helping settle her wolf in a way only my good-natured brother can. Each day I can feel her human side getting stronger, see more of her personality shining through. Even if she’s nervous outside and still sleeping fitfully, she’s eating more and acting playful in the cabin.
I know my brother has doubts about his ability to connect with her, brushing it off as bullshit. He’s wrong. It’s deeper than that. Briggs has a kind of magic about him that draws people in. It’s as though he sees them and lets them be whoever they are. I know because he does it with me, never pushing me to be anything other than who I am.
Our little wolf is benefitting from his easy peace, just as I knew she would. From the way her wolf is responding to the three of us, she may be all our mates, but she needs Briggs right now.
Really, they’re good for each other. Briggs mellows her out with his easiness, and she helps alleviate his pain with her sweet purr. When I peek in on them in the afternoons, I often catch my brother reading one of Gage’s many books to her aloud while she cuddles on his lap. Once, I caught a glimpse of them dancing. She circled around him, shaking her little tail while he laughed and sang along to one of Gage’s records.
The three of us sleep in her nest and have meals together in the morning and evening before I leave them to finish preparations. The snow could come any time now, but this afternoon, I finally finished laying the feral traps. Gage reinforced them with strengthening magic, just in case the ferals breach the wards.
The sullen healer doesn’t join us for dinners even though he cooks. Food’s always out and ready when I return from the chores, but the alpha is never anywhere in sight.
My little wolf won’t have it though. After dinner, she’ll yip at me until I take her to the greenhouse. She stays with Gage until the snarky alpha shuffles in later, the pretty black wolf following him.
I’m sure tonight will be no exception. I carry the tray of our dinner dishes back into the kitchen while Briggs sets up a game of chess in the living room. He speaks softly to her while I do the dishes. The normalcy fills me with something I don’t even know how to name, but I’m greedy for more of it.
The circumstances that brought us here suck, but this is the longest my littermate and I have stayed in one place since we were here that summer. Even with prepping for the storm and a possible attack, I like it—probably too much.
I need to remember this isn’t our pack home. When winter lifts, if Gage doesn’t want us to stay, I guess Briggs and I will need to find somewhere else. My gut tells me he’s pack and we’re her mates, but I can’t force that truth on Gage any more than Ican on her. Only time will tell, I guess. No matter where we end up, I can only hope it’s as quiet as this.
By the time I finish in the kitchen, my little wolf is primly sitting by the door, waiting for my escort.
“All right, let’s go.”
She dances onto the porch, eagerly letting off little growls to get me to hurry. I give her a head pat, amused by how excited she is to visit Gage.I don’t personally see the appeal.
She licks my hand, trotting beside me across the yard of the compound. Inside the greenhouse, she heads straight toward Gage, who is busy tending to his plants. The healer doesn’t even bother to look up.
“The snow will start tonight,” he says.
I nod, feeling that same gut instinct. “Don’t stay long.”
I know she needs this time with him even if I don’t understand it. I want to knock him in the jaw for the way he’s been treating her, but it isn’t my battle.
She licks my hand and curls up with the aloof alpha.
I begrudgingly leave her with him, heading back to Briggs and our nightly game of chess.
The house and small territory are prepared. Now, all we have to do is hunker down and make it through the coming winter storm.
Chapter 16
Gage
The omega huffs at me, prancing impatiently and glancing at the door. I can practically see the woman inside telling me about myself.
As if I don’t already know.
The first storm has arrived, and the snow is already sticking to the ground. It isn’t dangerous yet, but the howling wind outside makes her nervous.
