No need to let my benefactor see my weakness, though. So I looked directly toward the source of the scent, staring at my own reflection in the blackened glass. And after several seconds, the door in question creaked open to join its neighbor.
"Get in," Wilder commanded.
The limousine's back seat was large and open, but the other alpha filled the entire space through force of personality alone. I felt as if I was being invited into a hungry lion's den empty-handed.
In other words, I was dinner.
But there was no alternative. Shooting Chase a quick glance to quell his complaint at being left behind, I stepped forward and obeyed.
* * *
I'D HALF EXPECTED Chief Wilder to bring up my debt as soon as the door snicked shut behind me, but instead he feigned cordiality. "Wolf Young," the other alpha greeted me, shaking my hand as if we were business associates on our way out to dinner.
I played along, squashing my urge to shift to lupine form and challenge him there and then. With tact I didn't usually possess, I even refrained from taunting my opponent with the not-so-affectionate nickname we used behind his back—Crazy Wilder. Instead, I offered a sop to the older shifter's ego, addressing him as his own underlings would have. "Chief," I answered.
My companion smiled, a wolfish grin that meant he knew very well who had the upper hand. But he continued to play human. "Do you like sushi?"
Which is how we ended up seated on the back patio of a Japanese restaurant, our lupine metabolisms preventing us from shivering in the cold that had sent all other patrons scurrying for cover. We chatted like humans until the food came, then Wilder surprised me by manipulating his chopsticks like a pro.
In contrast, I surprised neither of us by simply picking up the tasty morsels and drenching them in wasabi sauce before gulping the rolls down like the wolf I was. Why pretend to be human when my animal nature was my greatest strength?
So, wolf-like, I waited Wilder out until he was sated from raw fish and sticky rice, his erratic lupine half soothed within his human skin. Then, resting his lips on two steepled fingers, my opponent considered me across the small table.
"You've grown up."
"It was either that or die young," I responded, trying to quash the thrill of pleasure that ran through my chest at the words. As absurd as it sounded, Wilder had become a bit of a father figure to me, and even this hint of approval warmed me in ways it shouldn't have.
Something I hoped Crazy Wilder never found out, since he held all the cards and considered me an underling to be manipulated just like every other shifter who had the misfortune of coming beneath his sway.
The fact was, I'd realized long ago that was what my debt was all about. Sniffing through the other clans' territories at All-Pack, I soon discovered that I'd fallen into one of Wilder's favorite traps. Find a young alpha still growing into his paws, help him out of a tight spot, then hold that favor over his head for years to come. It was no wonder half of our region's shifters fawned at the grizzled alpha's feet while the other half considered him with a mixture of dread and grudging respect.
I refused to do either. Instead, I allowed my eyes to lock with those of my companion, and I enjoyed the lupine power that surged beneath my human skin in response to our silent contest of wills.
Neither of us blinked, but Wilder spoke first. "The time has come to pay your debt."
And tell me something I don't know, I thought, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Chapter 3
"MY HOLD OVER clan Wilder is waning," the grizzled alpha said after a short pause, shocking me to my core. I'd considered the Chief an unchangeable part of the regional landscape, like a craggy mountain I'd always considered climbing but didn't really want to cross. I couldn't imagine the terrain without his huge shadow depressing the other inhabitants.
I forced my open mouth to snap shut, although I continued staring at the older shifter. By human standards he might be close to retirement age, but wolves don't relinquish power easily. So there had to be something more at play than met the eye.
And there it was, deep within his lupine soul. A spark of madness forming and growing. I'd glimpsed the same flaw nearly six years earlier when Chief Wilder had walked away from me laughing after refusing to support my bid for territorial rights. But now the illness had spread much further, and I could tell my opponent's humanity was beginning to slip through his iron fist.
I angled myself unconsciously to place my body between the other shifter and the human server who had come outside with the check. "I'll take it," I said curtly, slapping a credit card onto the plastic platter and sending the youngster scurrying back to the safety and warmth of the nearby building. I didn't bother to pretend manners when I called after him. "Don't bother us again."
My attention never left the wolf before me, though. No, if Wilder was going to spring at the human, I'd catch the first anticipatory bunching of his muscles and would get there first.
Only when the door had thudded shut did I raise one eyebrow in response to Wilder's statement. It wasn't as if I was a healer...not that I thought the other alpha's ailment could be reversed. No, he was drifting closer to the edge every day, and I suspected that he'd long ago passed the point of no return.
"My pack needs a strong alpha," the other pack leader continued, his words a harsh growl. But despite his rough tone, his gaze no longer met mine. Instead, it had settled upon a trio of pigeons picking up scraps on the sidewalk, and I almost expected my companion to shift into lupine form and pounce on the savory morsels.
I didn't particularly blame him—those fat city birds were delicious. But I found myself in the unusual position of being the werewolf required to bring humanity to the proceedings.
"Not a good idea," I murmured, letting my benefactor take my words however he liked. A firm rebuke, I knew, would send his clothes flying into fragments of shredded fabric faster than I could blink an eye. Hopefully this more subtle form of warning would do the trick.
Wilder's cold, dark eyes latched onto my face once again, and I had to force myself not to growl. There was no point in responding to his challenge, not here in a human city where neither one of us could risk being seen in lupine form.
"My debt," I nudged.
"It's barely a favor. More like an honor," Wilder answered.
His humanity had returned in its entirety, and I almost thought I'd misjudged the sudden bout of wolfishness. Perhaps I was only reading my own bloodling nature into the other shifter's actions? "Mmm?" I hummed, trying to hurry this meeting along to its conclusion. The day's cold seemed to be seeping into my bones and now I was the one who had a sudden urge to turn wolf and run after small prey.
"You'll come back to Haven with me and be my second," Wilder said, the words a statement rather than a question. "And, when I'm gone, you will lead the pack."
I cocked my head, assessing whether Crazy Wilder was really offering a stranger leadership of a clan that had been in his family for generations. I couldn't tell whether the other alpha's weakness had made him so desperate that he was willing to go to extremes for the sake of his relatives' survival...or whether he was simply playing a game of cat-and-mouse with me once again.
It didn't matter. I couldn't accede to his request either way. Because I knew what the other alpha would say in response to the obvious roadblock. Still, I couldn't resist asking: "And my pack?"
Wilder brushed off the beings who completed my soul like the specks of dirt he considered them to be. "Half-breeds and dykes and useless submissives? They're not worth your time."
I fought back a snarl, then opened my mouth to refuse. But before I could speak, the scent of the oathbreaker blossomed in my memory, the oily aroma that would soon be mine if I failed to live up to the promise I'd made eight years prior. What good would I do for my pack if I was saddled with a scent that made every nearby alpha wrinkle up his nose in disgust?
So I did the only thing I could think of. I played for time. "I'll get back to you
on that," I said, rising to my feet and letting my white cloth napkin flutter from lap to ground. The motion scared the pigeons, which fluttered into flight behind us, their avian aroma suddenly stronger in the air.
Wilder was out of his chair and three steps closer to the sidewalk before he could stop himself. Then he paused and turned to face me once again, wolf rampant behind his eyes. "Don't wait too long," he demanded.
He was loping toward his waiting car before I could make my feet move toward the restaurant. I needed to collect my credit card and beg the use of their telephone, and it wouldn't hurt to warm my toes amid the rich scents of fish and rice for a few minutes either.
But once inside, I had to stop and wait out the shudders still wracking my body. Wilder was nuts and I still owed him a personal debt.
Yep, there was absolutely no way this would end well.
Chapter 4
CHASE CAUGHT UP to me in the park. I'd taken the precaution of hiding behind a bush as I disrobed and turned wolf, but I hadn't been able to resist running through the trees as I waited for my friend's arrival. The crunch of fallen leaves beneath my paws calmed me, their woodsy aroma clearing my head from the foul remembrance of the oathbreaker's scent and the bone-chilling glimpse of Chief Wilder's soul. By the time my milk brother arrived, I finally felt human...or, rather, wolf.
But I still wasn't ready to swap fur for feet quite yet. Luckily, Chase had come prepared with leash and velcro collar, the latter rigged to split open at a quick tug if I needed to be set free. "Home?" my best friend asked as I shouldered the illusion of being a well-behaved mongrel while he gathered my clothing to stuff into a backpack at his feet.
I shook my head. I didn't want to return to the problem of the stranger invading my turf, not when I still needed to figure out what could be done about Chief Wilder. Instead, I led my friend deeper into the heart of the city, where shops lined both sides of the main road and humans walked with faces turned away from the chilling wind.
The late autumn cold no longer bothered me, though. Instead, it soothed my pack mentality to walk through the frozen city streets alongside someone I could trust implicitly, my shorter lupine legs easily matching Chase's stride for stride. Meanwhile, I could smell subtle changes in my friend's personal aroma that proved he was enjoying the outing as much as I was. So I let my feet go where they would, relaxing into the hunt.
Only when she came into view through the plate-glass window did I realize that I'd been following a scent trail this entire time. A familiar odor long-forgotten and not really believed in even now. The seductive aroma of Chief Wilder's younger daughter.
You're jumping at shadows, I told myself, forcing human words into my lupine brain to center myself enough that I didn't immediately break through the transparent barrier and rush to the pack princess's side. Because that was my immediate urge. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.
Instead of obeying my lupine inclination, I let the jolt of rationality brought forth by two-legger language force me to question my own nose. What were the chances I'd see Terra Wilder again now, eight years after pushing her out of my mind for good? And minutes after leaving the side of her father?
If it is Terra, that means the wily old wolf is even more manipulative than I've given him credit for. And it also means that this trap will be harder than ever to wiggle out of.
But did I really want to strive toward freedom? No, if the pack princess curled up with a book on the other side of the shop window was the trap, I'd pull the trigger myself.
So I nosed Chase's hand and led my milk brother into the store.
* * *
WITHOUT MY FRIEND’S humanity, we never would have gotten her to sit with us and sip hot cocoa. Because I was so deeply immersed in the wolf I could barely hear the two-legger's words.
I could sense her caution, though. I could taste her fear, which layered a bitter coffee undertone beneath her tantalizing chocolate aroma. And I could see the urge to flee in the set of her slender shoulders.
Who was I kidding? She wasn't just cautious; she was terrified. The pack princess ran from me at first sight, springing for freedom until I commanded her to halt. The bark came unbidden from my lupine throat and it was entirely the wrong thing to do. But how could I prevent my reaction when I felt our souls twining together from a distance?
She was my mate. She couldn't leave without a word.
The Terra I had spied on from a distance at nineteen had been beautiful but unformed. She'd hidden behind long, dark tresses and had jolted at the cues that told her a predator lurked nearby. It had been so clear that the teenaged version of Terra wasn't ready for me that I'd left her alone in the human world, thinking I was relinquishing my dream for both of our sakes.
Whatever the identity of this current female, whether Terra or another pack princess that looked so much like her, the woman was still hiding from her wolf...and from my own. But when Chase shot me a warning glance and then pressed my leash into the woman's tense fingers, she accepted the danger along with the responsibility. And when I slipped my chin onto her knee as she shivered atop a cold metal seat outside a cafe, she buried her fingers into my fur and stroked gently.
Perhaps she only wanted to warm frozen digits. But I didn't care. My heat was hers for as long as she wanted it. My heart too. I closed my eyes in pure bliss.
Can I trust you? I wanted to ask. But my lupine lips couldn't form the words. And I wouldn't risk breaking the spell by reminding her that she was petting an alpha werewolf. So, instead, I worried the repercussions of her presence like I'd gnaw on a meatless deer bone.
It had been half a decade since I'd trusted myself to open up to an eligible female shifter and I wasn't entirely certain now was the time to change my tune. Sure, I'd caught Tia's pursed lips and wrinkled brow from time to time over the years as she stressed about my inability to find a mate. But how could I offer up my soul to another female after Alexis had so easily suckered me in with her parasitic gaze and then ground my heart to smithereens beneath her heel?
Which isn't to say that I'd been living like a monk for the last six years. There were always females at All-Pack curious about the bloodling alpha, willing to sneak away from relatives and to pull me into the woods for a midnight tryst. I hadn't been in love with them, but I'd been willing to play along.
After all, I had something to prove. I didn't want to believe I was the sort of male who would selfishly leave a female unfulfilled in the throes of his own passion. Never mind that was exactly what had happened with Alexis.
I told myself I hadn't been entirely in my right mind at the time. It was an excuse, but one I was willing to take.
So I practiced until I was perfect. And then I started gently guiding interested females toward males more amenable to their advances. I'd turned to stone, strong for my pack but uninterested in romantic entanglements.
Until I saw this unnamed pack princess and smelled her alluring scent halfway across the city. Now I snuck out my tongue to steal a taste of her bare skin as her hand neared my mouth, and I was unbelievably pleased when she didn't jerk away at the contact.
The female tasted like paper and printer's ink, the scent of the book still clinging to her fingers. And after stroking my fur, she also tasted like me.
"...We'll head back your way soon." I could hear Chase saying as he opened the cafe's door, juggling two cups and a cell phone. "See you."
My friend's spine was more rigid than it had been when he'd walked inside. Something had gone wrong back at home, but I couldn't quite make myself care. I wanted to spend more time here with this pack princess who had stolen my heart.
I needed to know her name.
Chapter 5
"THERE ARE DOZENS of Terras out there," Chase countered as he piloted our car away from the city. We'd learned the pack princess's first name, but not her last. Instead, she retreated as soon as Chase asked about her clan, and this time my bark of command hadn't done the trick at stilling her steps.
The
fact that the female had been able to slip out from under my alpha compulsion so easily made her even more enticing, if that was physically possible. In fact, I was now reduced to clutching the oh-shit handle to prevent myself from yanking open the door of the moving vehicle and taking off after her.
"She's Chief Wilder's daughter," I decided. "She has to be."
"Or your second cousin. Or the daughter of the Price heir. You know 'Terra' is as common a name for us as Elizabeth is for humans."
Chase glanced at me before turning his attention back to the road. I could tell my best friend wanted to ask why I was so certain this elusive pack princess was the daughter of the man who held my debt. And why I wanted that to be the case when the relationship seemed like an extra layer of convoluted trouble waiting to blow up in my face. Wouldn't it be better if the female was someone I could woo and win without all the baggage that her heritage would inevitably entail?
Unfortunately, I had no answers for my beta. So I simply shrugged and turned the conversation back to the reason we were rushing home so precipitately. "Who called?"
"Oscar," Chase responded, allowing me to guide our words away from the tantalizing image of Terra Wilder curled up in a nest of upholstered chair and carefully chosen books.
Or fondling my ears and forgetting for one split second that I was predator and she was prey.
Too bad I couldn't guide my thoughts as easily as I could guide my milk brother.
But as Chase explained what had happened at home, my attention finally latched onto the human words. And when we pulled up in front of our pack home, I leapt out of the car before it rolled to a complete stop.
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