Elder Wolf (Wilde Brothers Ranch Book 1; Tate Rock Shifters)

by Scarlett Grove

  “I’m ready,” she said. “I’m ready to be what I am meant to be. No more allowing anyone else to define who I am.” As she said the words, she felt the young wolf inside her growing closer and surer.

  She could feel her coming toward her, deep in the recesses of her mind. Just a little bit closer. And she could reach out and grab on to the feeling. Just a bit closer…

  With her newfound will and self-knowledge, Cheyenne reached out and grabbed the thread that connected her to her own inner wolf. She held tight to that thread and pulled it closer until it was right there beside her, as close as her own flesh and as familiar as her own name. She pulled the thread until something snapped inside her. The thread pulled taut. She gasped. Her body began to quiver in the cold night air.

  Her body broke apart. The pain was excruciating, nearly unbearable. But she held on, remembering Austin’s words. It would hurt this once. But never again.

  Before her mind could fully rationalize what was happening, her body reshaped and reformed, twisting and contorting. She fell on four massive paws onto the cool damp soil of the forest floor. She looked around her and found Austin beside her in his own wolf form.

  They regarded each other, their noses touching, tasting each other’s scents. She had known his wolf form before, known it since childhood. But now she was also in her own true form, the being she had always been meant to be. She would never forget who she was again.

  They circled each other, sniffing and nipping at the taste of their scents on the wind that rushed through the forest and shimmered in the spring leaves. A rush of aliveness shot through her. She was finally home, finally whole.

  She lifted her mouth and howled into the wind. This was her life, her moment, her truth. This was her soul, burning to be free. Austin raised his voice and joined her in the echoing howl of two wolves, alive in the deep wood. She caught the scent of prey on the wind and bolted, running into the night. The forest creatures scattered before her, knowing that a true predator had entered the wood.

  She smelled the scent of a deer. The scent of her prey’s body filled her nostrils with an unquenchable desire for blood. Austin picked up the scent. Through their mate bond, she knew that he would hunt beside her and help her fulfil the deep, feral need rising in her blood.

  They followed the scent deeper into the forest. Her paws felt lithe and capable, her body agile and athletic. The reality of her human life seemed a million miles away now. She was no longer the woman who took commands and accepted being last. She was an alpha wolf now. She could feel it in her blood. She was the match of her mate. Nothing more and nothing less. She could never be and would never be overlooked again. She would never be second fiddle or second place.

  Her brothers would never dare to presume to tell her what to do with her life. She was the alpha wolf of the Wilde pack. She would be seen, and she would be heard, and no one and nothing would ever hold her back again.

  She panted in the night, coming closer to the scent of her prey. She could sense its fear and hear its heart beating. It would not escape. She would have her first kill. Together, she and her mate would devour its flesh and blood and bone, making her stronger and faster and more capable than the human self could have imagined.

  They were closer now. She could hear its hooves beat on the forest floor. It bolted before them, trying to escape.

  She shot after it, picking up speed. The pure joy of her predatory spirit leapt up inside her, and she lunged at the fleeing prey. She gripped its neck with her sharp teeth, cutting off its breath in one sharp bite.

  Austin was right there beside her. He bit its flank, and together they pulled the buck down to the forest floor. The deer’s heart stopped beating. She panted over her kill and reached down to rip open its stomach. Finding its still-warm heart, she devoured the lifeblood of her prey. It filled her with its strength. Under the bright light of the moon, Austin Wilde and Cheyenne Wilde consumed their kill.

  Chapter 16

  After the shift, Cheyenne and Austin went back to the cabin and stood under the hot stream of the shower until there was no hot water left. By the time they collapsed into bed, Cheyenne felt as if she was living in a completely different reality than the one that she had left behind. She’d never been happier or more fulfilled as she fell asleep in Austin’s arms.

  When she woke the next morning, she still felt the buzz from the night before. But she also knew something was coming. Her brothers had promised to put a stop to their love, and she knew enough about them to know they wouldn’t back down.

  “We need to prepare,” she said as she pulled on her pants. “They’ll be coming.

  “And we’ll be ready,” Austin said.

  Reading each other perfectly, Cheyenne and Austin dressed and made their way out to the truck. They drove wordlessly back to the ranch, knowing that they could not take lightly what was coming.

  When they arrived, the Wilde brothers were out in the fields, tending to the animals. Cheyenne took in the scent of the air as the brothers moved toward them. She could sense their fear and anticipation. And even as a fledgling wolf, she could also sense her own power in relation to them. It wasn’t that the Wilde brothers were weak. It was simply that she was strong.

  “You’ve mated,” said Heath.

  “Congratulations to both of you,” said Gunner.

  “We need to prepare,” Cheyenne told them. “My brothers will be coming. They hate shifters, and they will want to take revenge.”

  “Let them come,” said Austin. “They will regret ever messing with the Wildes.”

  The brothers all followed Austin and Cheyenne back to the main house, where they began to devise a battle plan.

  “Do you think your brothers will bring weapons?” Heath asked.

  “I wouldn’t put it past them,” she said. “They’re full of uncontrolled hatred for things they simply don’t understand. Their ignorance makes them dangerous.”

  “But you’re their sister,” objected Dylan.

  “As much as I’d like to believe it makes a difference, I don’t think it does.”

  The brothers bristled with anger at the ignorance and stupidity, but Cheyenne knew that not everyone was as lucky as the Wildes. The kind of love and loyalty their family shared and the bonds of pack and blood were rare in the human world. So many were easily swayed by whatever ideology of the moment divided them. Shifters remained loyal to their blood.

  In her old life, it would have made Cheyenne sad. But she was no longer that woman. She was a shifter and an alpha. That much she was sure of, and she didn’t need anyone else to tell her what she was.

  The brothers returned to their individual homes to prepare their weapons and sharpen their claws. Cheyenne checked her phone, thinking her brothers might give her clues as to when they would arrive. She found more threats, which didn’t surprise her in the least. Weak men used threats the strong would never stoop to. It was just a product of who these men were. And she thanked the gods for the strength she had somehow maintained. She knew she got it from her mother.

  The day turned into night as the Wildes waited for the inevitable. She and Austin slept in his big bed in the main house, a rifle at the ready.

  There was a crash and a bang downstairs. Austin shot to his feet, and Cheyenne quickly texted her new brothers-in-law.

  “This is it. They’re here.”

  Chapter 17

  It was pitch dark when Austin shot from his bed. He grabbed his rifle, and he and Cheyenne stepped down the stairs to confront the men who’d broken into his house. He raised his gun as the lights in his house blinked out.

  “Let our sister go and nobody gets hurt,” an angry voice barked. “We have you surrounded.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you idiots,” Cheyenne called out in the darkness.

  “We’re prepared to take out every last one of you Wilde wolves to get our sister away from you.”

  “Don’t you think that’s her decision?” Austin said, cocking his rif
le.

  “I told you idiots, I’m not going anywhere with you!”

  “I’m within my rights to use whatever force is necessary against intruders.” He could see in the dark with his shifter senses. The men were in infrared gear, circling him and Cheyenne.

  Cheyenne dropped into wolf form as Austin’s brothers charged through the back door. Some were shifted, while others were holding weapons. Cheyenne’s brothers yelped and ran to the door. Whatever tactical gear they’d thought would save them didn’t give them the courage to stand against Austin’s brothers or their own sister. They ran out into the early-morning air. Austin could see them more clearly now. He stepped down the stairs holding his rifle as his mate growled and barked. His brothers surrounded the intruders.

  “You’d better get the hell off my ranch,” Austin snapped, pointing his rifle at the brothers. “I never want to see you anywhere around here again.”

  “You turned our sister into one of you!” Randy screamed. “Cheyenne, how could you?”

  “You monsters destroyed her!” yelled Bart.

  “Cheyenne asked to be turned. And I personally think that the wolf suits her quite nicely.”

  “This isn’t the last you’ll hear of us,” the Baileys shouted. “You’ll pay. You’re no longer our sister, Cheyenne. You’ve betrayed us! You betrayed our mother and all humans. You’re dead to us. Do you hear me? You’re dead.”

  The Bailey boys turned tail and ran away, charging down the road and out of sight.

  Chapter 18

  Cheyenne shifted and watched her brothers quickly running away from her new family. She wasn’t sure whether she was happy or devastated. But she also knew that it wasn’t over. They wouldn’t relent until she had either returned home with them or died.

  And neither was going to happen anytime soon. She’d finally found her life, her home, and her happiness, and she wouldn’t let the cowardice and hatred of her brothers destroy that. But she also couldn’t help but feel sad that her own flesh and blood couldn’t support her and didn’t want her to be happy.

  She walked back to Austin, and he covered her in a robe. It was strange how the cool morning air didn’t affect her like it would have just twenty-four hours before. But she was growing accustomed to her new life and her new world.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

  The Wilde brothers gathered around. They all seemed so sad for her, so full of sympathy. She was their new alpha. She didn’t want their sympathy. She needed their strength and loyalty. But she had to admit to herself that being attacked by her own brothers was not her first choice of events to start her new life.

  “I wish things could have been different,” she said. “But I accept how they are.”

  “You’re a strong and brave woman, Cheyenne,” Austin said, leading her back to the house.

  The brothers joined them. Austin went to the kitchen to fix breakfast while Cheyenne changed upstairs. They all met back in the dining room a short time later. Austin set the table, and they all sat around it, dishing up plates of eggs, bacon, and toast.

  “We’re going to have to decide what to do about what happened today,” Austin said.

  “They won’t give up their revenge. They haven’t done it in twenty-five years, so I don’t suspect they’ll do it now.”

  “But you’re their sister,” Cash said.

  “It doesn’t make any difference. I wish it did.”

  “I can’t imagine how you must feel right now, knowing that your brothers care more about their hatred of shifters than they do about you,” Dylan said, his eyes intense and full of emotion.

  “It’s not easy,” she said.

  “Is there anything we can do to help?” Heath asked.

  “I wish there was. But I don’t think anything is going to change my brothers’ minds or the way they see things. I may just never be able to see them again.”

  “You are our new alpha, along with our brother, and you have our loyalty to the end,” Shane said.

  “I know I do,” Cheyenne said.

  Her gratitude and love for her mate’s family was more than anything she ever could have imagined. She hadn’t expected to feel so much or to be so moved by this moment.

  “What do you think their next move will be?” Austin asked, popping a piece of bacon into his mouth.

  “They may attack again,” she said. “Or they may just come after me.”

  “They won’t touch you,” Austin growled.

  “I may be a fledgling wolf, my love, but you know I can take care of myself.”

  “I do know it. But that’s not the point. I’ll destroy anyone who tries to hurt you.”

  “And I’ll do the same for you.”

  “Maybe there is something else you can do. Maybe if you reached out to them and tried to explain?” Dylan said.

  The other brothers snickered at him, but Cheyenne thought maybe there was something in it. He had a point. It was at least worth a try. She didn’t want to believe that her relationship with her brothers was destroyed forever. It was just too much to bear.

  Even with her new shifter vitality and coming into her own strength as an alpha, she still wanted a relationship with her family. It was only natural. She didn’t think that would ever go away, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted it to. Who would she be if she no longer cared about her family? She’d never agreed with their stance on shifters, but she had always loved them despite their ignorance. Maybe if she could convince them that it was wrong to hate so much, she could help rid the world of hatred, one person at a time.

  “I’m going to reach out to my brother Randy,” she said, picking up her phone.

  “Are you sure you want to do that?” Austin touched her hand.

  “I have to at least try. If I don’t, I’ll never know for sure, and it will always haunt me. Maybe there’s a way that they can be redeemed. But I need to know that you’re going to back me up.”

  “I back you up in anything,” he said.

  After breakfast, Cheyenne walked outside into the cool spring air. She sat on a bench by the barn and listened to the sounds of lambs baying in the pasture. She pulled out her cellphone and brought up her brother Randy’s contact information. She took a deep breath and let it out.

  “Here goes nothing,” she said.

  “Randy,” she texted, “I’m reaching out to you because I don’t want to leave things as they were when you left here this morning. Despite our differences, you are still my brother. We are family, and we should stick together. I wish nothing but the best for you. And I hope for your continued health and happiness. I just wish that you wanted the same for me.

  “I wanted to meet with you and the others before you leave Fate Rock. Perhaps there is some way that we could come to a resolution. I can’t let this go without at least trying. I don’t want to believe that all hope for our family is lost.

  “Sincerely, your sister and alpha wolf, Cheyenne Wilde.”

  Cheyenne sat and waited, staring at her cell phone in anticipation. She had hoped he would reply right away, but she waited for what felt like an eternity. He never replied. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she wiped it away. Maybe her relationship with her family was finally over. This was just too much to recover from. And they would never forgive her, and they would never see each other again.

  But she knew where her loyalties lay, and that wouldn’t change.

  Finally, as she was heading back toward the house, she felt her cell phone ping in her pocket. She picked it up and found that Randy had returned her message.

  “We’re willing to meet with you over lunch today. Meet us at the Fate Rock Diner at noon. And we’ll talk this over.”

  A rush of relief washed over her. But she wasn’t sure whether she should be excited or worried. What if they were simply setting a trap to hurt her? No matter what their intentions, however, she had to see this through. There was no other choice. She had to come to terms with her
brothers now or never.

  She went back to the house and told Austin what had happened.

  “I don’t trust it.”

  “Neither do I. But I can’t not go. No matter what they do or what their reaction is, I have to try to get through to them. How would you feel if your brothers hated what you were? And you had one chance to convince them that you weren’t the enemy?”

  “You have a point. But I want to go with you.”

  “I don’t think that is the best idea. I need to see them on my own. They won’t talk to me if you’re there.”

  “But what if they try something? What if they try to hurt you?”

  “They won’t try to hurt me in a public place. They might be hateful and stupid, but they aren’t that stupid.”

  “Very well. But I want to know the second you feel at all threatened. I will be there immediately.”

  “I will be okay, Austin. I can feel the strength of my wolf in my veins. And I can sense the relative strength of others. We both know that I’m an alpha and that I can hold my own.”

  “That may be the case. But I am still your mate, and I still want to protect you. No matter what. You have to allow me that.”

  “Of course.” She knew that she would feel the same way if he were threatened.

  “Why don’t you wait at the edge of town while I meet with them at the diner. I’ll send you a text if I think it’s going to go sideways.”

  “Deal.”

  Cheyenne prepared for the day, her heart beating a million miles a minute in her chest. She dressed in a warm, practical outfit just in case she had to run or fight. The idea that she might have to fight her own family cut deep. But it was simply a fact she had to accept, or it would destroy her.

  She drove into town with Austin right behind her. He stopped at the edge of town, and she parked in front of the diner. She saw Randy’s truck and let out a long, exhausted sigh. She didn’t know what was in store, but she knew that this couldn’t be avoided.