by J. L. Wilder
Yes, wolves were the enemies of bears. It was common for them to fight one another. But bears weren’t likely to eat wolves. It was much more common for them to compete over the same food source than it was for them to engage in meaningless battle. What was going on here?
He approached the downed wolf slowly.
It was still alive. It panted shallowly, and Xavier saw that a lot of blood had been lost. The bears had slashed it across its back. It was amazing that it hadn’t died while he and Louis had been working on their grave. It definitely wasn’t long for this world.
The wolf opened one eye. It seemed to catch sight of Xavier, and it whined a little at the sight of him.
That whine was so weak.
Why did he feel as if the wolf was asking him for something?
Louis returned, his arms full of flowers. He dropped them into the grave and frowned. “What is that?” he asked, crossing to where Xavier squatted.
“A wolf,” Xavier said. He hesitated, then reached out and laid a hand on the wolf’s shoulder. It closed its eyes. “I think it’s dying.”
“That’s not a wolf,” Louis said suddenly. “Can’t you smell it? That’s a shifter. It’s an omega.”
Xavier felt bowled over.
Of course it was a shifter. How could he have failed to notice that? He must have just been so distracted by everything they had just been through that he had neglected to pay any attention to what was right in front of him.
The wolf shifter’s eyes drifted closed again.
“Finish burying the bears,” Xavier said to Louis.
“What are you going to do?” Louis asked.
“I’m going to get this omega out of here,” Xavier said. “I’m going to take her back to the cave.”
Louis frowned. “Are you sure you want to do that? We don’t know who this is or what she wants.”
“Right now I’m guessing the only thing she wants is to stay away from any more bear attacks,” Xavier said. “And if she’s a wolf shifter, that means she’s on our side. Wolves protect each other. We’ll help heal her up and send her on her way when she’s ready.”
“If the bears have claimed her, they’re going to come after her,” Louis pointed out. “It might not be safe to keep her around.”
“I’m not turning a wolf omega over to a bunch of bears,” Xavier said. “Would you really be able to let them take her?”
“No,” Louis admitted. “All right, fine. But you’ll have to carry her back to the cave, and you should go right now. It’s possible they’re out looking for her.”
Xavier nodded and lifted the wolf into his arms, wishing she was in human form. He was sure she would be lighter that way, and easier to hold. Still, while she was a wolf, it was easier to position her so that he didn’t put any pressure on her injuries. “Finish that burial quickly and hurry back to the cave,” he said. “We need to stick together.”
Louis was already piling dirt into the pit. “I’ll be right behind you,” he said.
Xavier set off at a jog, glad that they hadn’t come too far from their makeshift home. It only took about ten minutes to make it back, even with a wounded wolf in his arms. He brought her all the way to the back of the cave and laid her carefully on a pile of river reeds that he had made for himself to sleep on.
“I need you to shift back,” he murmured. “I can’t get a good look at this wound while you’re in wolf form.”
Her trauma was probably going to prevent her from doing that, though. As long as she felt unsafe, as long as she thought she was at risk, she would remain in her strongest possible form.
He needed to do something to demonstrate to her that she was going to be all right.
He tugged on a pair of shorts. Then he fished out a t-shirt and went to the pot of water that he and Louis had brought back earlier in the day. He dampened the t-shirt and began to use it to clean the blood from around the scratches on her back.
As he worked, he rested a hand on the back of her neck. You’re all right, he thought, though he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. You’re safe here. Shift back. Let me see you.
He was distracted by Louis’ return. His friend came running back into the cave. He dressed quickly and dropped to his knees on the other side of the omega.
“Is it all taken care of?” Xavier asked.
“Yes,” Louis said. “They’re buried. And the smell is very faint. I doubt the other bears will find them. More likely, they’ll just believe they ran away.”
“I hope so,” Xavier said doubtfully. “Seems like that would be a stretch. And what about the girl? Do you think the others know about her?”
“I don’t know,” Louis said. “Maybe she’ll be able to give us some answers when she wakes up.”
XAVIER WAS AWAKENED by a rustling noise in the middle of the night.
He was on his feet instantly, alert for bears. If they had followed any of the scents from the site of the attack, it was possible they might have found their way back to the cave.
But there were no bears. Instead, there was a young woman at the back of the cave. She was completely naked, huddled into a ball, and she looked pale and terrified.
“You shouldn’t be up,” Xavier said, hurrying over. “When did you shift back? Let me look at your injuries.”
“Stay away!” Her voice was cracked and frightened.
He came to a halt several feet away from her. “I’m not going to do anything,” he said quietly. “I’m not going to hurt you. But you need that wound cleaned up. Afterward, I’ll give you something to wear. Okay?”
“You attacked me,” she whispered. She was shaking all over.
“What?” Xavier frowned. “No, I didn’t.”
“You attacked us when we were picking herbs—”
Oh. He understood suddenly. “Did the bears attack you? Is that how you got hurt?”
“You mean you’re not...?”
“We’re wolves,” he said. “Like you. I’d prove it, but...maybe it’s best I keep my clothes on right now, you know?” She was scared enough without him stripping down in front of her. “But you should be able to smell what I am,” he added. “Go ahead. Sniff the air.”
She hesitated and then did so. “It smells right,” she admitted. “But I—I can’t be sure—”
He picked up the medical supplies. “Will you let me treat your back?” he asked. “Those cuts are pretty bad. I did the best I could earlier, but you were in wolf form, and that limits what can be done.”
She hesitated, then nodded.
Xavier came over and knelt beside her. “I’m going to put disinfectant on these,” he said. “They’re pretty deep, so it might hurt, but it’s necessary. You don’t want to get sick.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said.
He dabbed the disinfectant cream carefully over her cuts. She whined a little as he did so, sounding vaguely like the wolf she had been when he’d brought her back, but she didn’t pull away or tell him to stop.
He took out the gauze and wound it carefully around her torso. The scratches were high enough that he had to cover her breasts, and he was careful not to let his hands get too close to her body as he worked. She was scared and injured, and he didn’t want to make that worse by taking liberties.
When he was finished, he handed her the smallest shirt he owned and a pair of boxers. “You can wear these,” he said.
She pulled them on carefully. “I have to get back to camp,” she said.
“You’re not in any condition to travel,” Xavier countered. “Besides, there are more bears out there. We killed the two who attacked you—”
“I can’t believe you killed them.”
“They almost killed you,” Xavier pointed out.
“I know,” the omega said.
“We did what we had to do.”
“Well, I have to get back to my camp,” she said. She got to her feet, but her knees buckled under her, and her eyes drifted closed.
Xavier sprang
forward and caught her before she hit the ground, laying her back on the reeds.
Her eyes fluttered open. “What happened?”
“You passed out,” he said. “You’re not going anywhere. You’ve lost too much blood. You need to stay here and recover, at least for a while.”
He anticipated an argument, but she just nodded, accepting, he supposed, that she wasn’t capable of moving for the time being.
“I’ll get you something to eat,” he said.
“Wait,” she said.
“What?”
“I don’t know you,” she said. “I have no idea who you are. You say you’re a wolf, and I guess you saved me from those bears, but...why would you help me?”
“Because wolves help each other,” he said. “There’s no other way to survive.”
“But what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” she asked. “Why are you in this cave?”
“I live here,” he said.
“In a cave?”
“Yes.”
She gasped. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”
“One of whom?”
“The wild ones. The feral alphas.”
He had never thought of himself in exactly those terms. “I guess I am,” he said. “I live wild if that’s what you mean.”
“With no pack at all?”
“Just my friend Louis over there.”
As if on cue, Louis snored and rolled over.
The omega pulled away from him a little. Her eyes were fearful. “They told us about you,” she whispered. “That you would try to hurt us.”
“Do I look like I’m trying to hurt you?” he asked. “I just cleaned your wound.”
“But you won’t let me go—”
“Go if you want to,” he said. “I’m just saying, you’re not going to make it very far. And you are going to be intercepted by more of those bears. So you can take your chances with them, or you can take your chances with me. I know which one I’d pick.”
He sat down on the cave floor, his back to the wall, several feet of space in between the two of them.
She hesitated. “What’s your name?” she asked.
“What?”
“If I’m going to stay here with you, I want to know your name. It’s only fair.”
He shrugged. “Xavier,” he said. “I’m Xavier.”
She nodded. “Thanks for helping me.”
“So, you’ve decided to trust me?”
“Not entirely.”
“Do you trust me enough to tell me your name?”
“I’m Zoe,” she said.
“Zoe.” Pretty name.
Her eyes closed again, and Xavier fell quiet, knowing she needed her sleep if she was going to recover. He would get her something to eat when she woke up. For now, she could rest.
Chapter Eight
ZOE
When Zoe awoke next, she felt dizzy and chilled.
Xavier was sitting beside her, but he didn’t seem to have noticed that she was awake. She reached out and put a hand on his ankle.
He started and looked down at her. “You’re up,” he said. “How are you feeling?”
“Not great.”
He nodded. “You’ve had a fever,” he said, his expression absent. He rested his palm clinically against her forehead. “It looks like you might have picked up an infection after all.”
Of course I did, she thought. She was lying in a dirty cave, after all. How could she possibly have avoided infection? The healthiest person in the world would have caught something in here.
“I’m cold,” she mumbled.
“Louis went to steal some blankets,” Xavier said. “But the nearest town is a few hours away. He might not be back for a while. I wish I could suggest that you shift to keep warm, because your wolf body is obviously better for that, but you really shouldn’t be out of human form until your wounds have healed, unfortunately.”
Zoe couldn’t think of anything she wanted less than to shift right now. Taking wolf form was something that had become more natural for her over the years, but it was still a little uncomfortable. It was like dressing in formalwear—she could understand the reasons for doing it, and she was glad she knew how, but it was never going to be as comfortable as just being herself.
She huddled into a ball, trying to keep herself warm.
Xavier sighed. “Here,” he said. “Let me help you.” He took her by the shoulders and pulled her gently upright.
The world swam around her and she whimpered a little in protest.
“It’s okay,” he said. He pulled her to rest so her back was against his chest and locked his arms around her. “There,” he said. “A little warmer, right?”
It was. His body heat felt amazing, and despite herself, she turned in his arms and rested her cheek against his chest. “Thanks,” she mumbled.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“You don’t seem wild,” she said. “Not like they told us.”
“Who told you?” he asked.
“My professor,” she said. “When he brought us camping out here, he warned us that there were feral alpha bears in the area, and he explained that feral alphas were dangerous and might be deadly. You don’t seem deadly.”
“I killed those bears,” he pointed out.
“That’s different,” Zoe said. “They were attacking me. It’s not like you just killed them because you’re wild and you couldn’t help yourself.”
“That’s what your professor told you feral alphas do?” Xavier said. “Even pure wild wolves don’t act like that. We’re pack animals. We don’t kill each other unless we absolutely have to.”
Zoe nodded. “I don’t know,” she said. “He just made you sound like—like monsters.”
“So, you’re in these woods on a class trip?” Xavier said. He spoke the words as if referring to something incredible, something mythical. As if she had said she’d arrived here on the back of a Pegasus or something.
“I’m from Omega University,” Zoe explained. “We do a camping trip every year. You must know that if you live around here.”
“I’m new to this area,” Xavier said. “I just came down from up north.”
“From the feral alpha borderlands, you mean,” Zoe said.
“The what?”
“The land up by the Arctic Circle where all the feral alphas live.”
“I guess so,” Xavier said. “I didn’t know there was a name for it.”
“Is it true that it’s a bloodbath up there? That everyone is savage, and they kill each other all the time?”
“Of course not,” Xavier said, scowling. “Whoever this professor of yours is, he doesn’t understand much about the nature of wolves.”
“I know alphas can’t work together,” Zoe said. “The fact that we’re pack animals doesn’t change that.”
“Of course, alphas can work together,” Xavier said.
“But how?” Zoe asked. “If they both want to be the leader, doesn’t that create conflict?”
“So what?” Xavier asked. “Do you kill everyone you have an argument with, just because you’re in conflict?”
“No,” Zoe admitted.
“Of course not,” Xavier said. “And neither do we. Most of the time, alphas just try to stay out of each other’s way. I never met another wolf alpha while I was living up north. I stayed off of their territory, and they stayed off of mine.”
“Then why did you come south?” Zoe asked.
“The bears,” Xavier said. “The bears showed up on my territory up north. I wanted to stay and fight them, but it would have been the wrong choice. There were too many. So Louis and I came in search of a new home.”
He sighed. “And everything would be perfect if the damn bears hadn’t followed us here.”
“Wait a minute.” Zoe struggled to sit up in his arms. “They followed you?”
“Well, maybe not us exactly,” Xavier said. “They came south at the same time as we did, but it doesn’t seem as if they
know we’re here. They haven’t attacked our cave.”
“Maybe they’re doing what you mentioned,” Zoe said. “Avoiding other alphas.”
Xavier shook his head. “I was talking about wolf alphas when I said that,” he told her. “Between bears and wolves, there will be fighting more often than not. Louis and I would have attacked them if we thought we could win. We didn’t hesitate to take out the two who attacked you. Wolves and bears are natural enemies of one another.”
“I wonder what those bears wanted with me?” Zoe said. “We were just collecting herbs when they attacked our group.”
“You’re omegas,” Xavier said. “I suppose they probably wanted to claim you and mate with you.”
Zoe closed her eyes and shuddered, sickened by the idea of being used that way by a bear.
Xavier’s arms tightened around her. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “You’re safe here.”
“Are you really going to let me go when I want to leave?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said.
“You don’t want to claim me and mate with me?”
He was silent for several moments.
“I’m not like that,” he said. “I wouldn’t force anyone to do anything.”
She nodded. She couldn’t have said why, but even though she barely knew him, she believed he was telling the truth.
She allowed her eyes to close and drifted away, feeling the slow rise and fall of his chest beneath her.
WHEN ZOE NEXT OPENED her eyes, she was wrapped in a warm blanket.
She was still in Xavier’s arms, but they had gone slack around her, and she heard the sound of snoring coming from behind her. She looked up. Sure enough, he was asleep.
“He’s been out for a while,” a voice said.
Zoe looked over and saw that his friend was tending a fire in the mouth of the cave. “Louis, right?”
“That’s right,” he said. He got to his feet, a flat rock in his hands, and knelt beside her. She saw that several strips of meat had been laid out on the rock. “Could you eat?” Louis asked. “You need to get your energy back up.”
He was right. She felt as if she had just run a marathon. Cautiously, she picked up one of the meat strips and bit off the end.
