“Yeah, what pack even lets their omega go like that? Lone wolves aren’t omega. That’s just stupid.”
“Omegas can’t take care of themselves.”
“They aren’t strong at all.”
“They’re smart, though,” the scarred one said. He raised up his hands and cracked his knuckles threateningly. “I bet this guy is some sort of schemer. He’s up to no good or somethin’.”
“I bet he did something to his old pack. They kicked him out, I bet.”
“No!” Jack protested, horrified. He waved his hands, abruptly aware of the IV needle embedded beneath his skin, tugging at him. “No, I swear! I’ve never hurt anyone.”
“I bet you really did try to attack that kid.”
“No!”
“I don’t trust him, guys.”
“Me neither,” said the green-eyed alpha. He stepped forward, menacingly close. Jack trembled and grabbed at the IV. Ignoring the wrench of pain, he tore out the needle. Blood beaded on the back of his hand as the irritated skin simultaneously started to bruise. He held himself very still, but he tightened all his muscles, bracing himself to make a run for it when the moment came. “Maybe we oughta teach him a lesson. Let him know what happens to pack deserters. Tristan’s mate or not, he’s gotta face consequences for harming people, right?”
Their eyes full of sick glee and their lips twisted into angry grimaces that begged for a warped vision of justice, the three alphas closed in.
Jack held himself as tight as a bow string drawn to its breaking point, waiting until one of the alphas held out their hand to grab at him. Then, he lunged forward, and bit down on the man’s hand, right between his thumb and forefinger.
Shrieking in pain, the alpha tried to snatch his hand away, but Jack bit down harder and harder. He didn’t have the bite strength of his wolf form to rely on, but he could feel his teeth sinking into flesh and taste the heat of blood oozing on his tongue.
From nowhere, a hand grabbed the back of his neck and wrenched him around. Agony lanced down his back as his wounded skin was pulled around, stitches straining and tearing beneath the bandages. Then, he crashed onto the floor and it felt like his entire body was a fire. Burning alive, it was all Jack could do to try to get up on his hands and knees.
More hands grabbed at him from behind, pulling at his scruff like he was a pup. The instinct to go limp was overpowering, but he kicked out and bit, thrusting out his arms to claw at the men pressing down on him. Desperation gave him strength, maybe even making him stronger than he ever had been, even while healthy, but it wasn’t nearly enough to combat the force being pressed against him from behind. Someone grabbed his legs, pulling him back into their grasp.
Thrusting out his arms, Jack grasped at the frame of the doorway, but it was a useless endeavor and he couldn’t hold on.
Just then, a howl erupted outside the window. Glass shattered as yet a fourth alpha thundered into the room, sending shards all over Jack and the others. Jack cried out, terrified, knowing that he was going to die.
Then, someone shouted, “Tristan! Hey, hold on!” And then the speaker went abruptly silent, and the quiet was disturbed only by an enormous thump as someone went limp.
The grip on his legs released, Jack shoved himself around while lying on the floor so that he could see what was going on.
He gasped, gulping with fright. An enormous white wolf stood there at the other side of the room. His fur was thick and bristling with anger, tail lashing; shards of glass protruded from his shoulders and back, and more littered the floor beneath him. Also beneath him was the alpha with green eyes, his neck torn open. Blood clotted the fur between the white wolf’s toes.
The other two shapeshifters were still human, but now they seemed small and diminished with terror. Shaking, they held up their hands and had their eyes shut tightly.
“You...you killed him.”
The wolf snarled wordlessly, bringing its head up and laying its ears flat against its skull. Saliva dripped from its snarling jaws.
In all his days, Jack had never seen an angrier animal.
Then, the wolf took a step forward and Jack saw its eyes. They were blazing blue, darkened beyond their true color with an uncontrollable fury. Those eyes held murder deep within them.
“Tristan!” Jack said now, relieved beyond words. His mate had come to rescue him!
Or not, because Tristan completely ignored him and instead took another threatening step towards the two remaining men. Jack felt the anger burning in his chest, so hot that it was like the pain all throughout his body. It hurt.
Tristan might have come to his rescue, but he was too far gone to stop at killing simply one of them. They were all going to die, even though they were surrendering.
“Wait!” Jack said, struggling to push himself to his feet. He didn’t quite make it, however. Staggering, he collapsed back again. “Tristan, don’t! Don’t kill them! They’re surrendering!”
The wolf looked in his direction and snarled. His meaning was clear.
Jack swallowed hard, pinned by those dark eyes. “You already killed one of them, and you saved me. Thank you, but that’s enough.”
The hate inside his chest intensified. It seemed that for a moment he could almost feel Tristan’s thoughts, speaking to him; it felt like there was something to prove here. But what? He couldn’t really understand the reasoning behind the emotions they were sharing.
“I’m safe,” he tried again. “You saved me.”
Tristan glanced in his direction again. His gaze seemed to cloud over for a moment.
Then, where the white wolf had stood, now there was a powerful naked man with vengeance in his eyes. It looked disturbingly similar to the sort of justice that Jack had seen in the eyes of his attackers, and for some reason it saddened him.
‘What,” Tristan snarled, “were you three idiots doing here?”
The two alphas didn’t even try to speak. Their dead companion, presumably the one who had led them on and encouraged this to happen, was lying dead at their feet in a puddle of congealing blood. Trickles of scarlet ran down Tristan’s body, mingling.
“You went behind my back. You disobeyed me. You betrayed me.”
Jack understood then, with a sudden flash of clarity. What there was to prove was Tristan’s own strength—so he thought, anyway.
“We didn’t—”
“Shut up! You did! I claimed Jack as my mate, and you come in here to torture him when I’m gone. I don’t care if you think you had a good reason for it, you take that issue up with me or my council.”
“You don’t have a council.”
“Then you take it up with me.”
The alphas both flinched at the severity in their leader’s voice.
Tristan balled his hands into fists, his voice going deathly quiet and calm. “I brought him into the pack for the good of us all. I did it because there’s a chance it can help protect us. You three sought to put at an end to that, so I am putting an end to my protection of you. You’re banished. Both of you. I’m kicking you out.”
“No!” the alphas moaned.
“Get out of my pack. You can forget about taking anything you own. My parents gave you the ability to have possessions, and so have I, and now I’m taking it all away from you. Get. Out.”
Jack grabbed at the doorknob and finally managed to lever himself up to his feet using it, dragging himself out of the way as the two shell-shocked alphas took themselves away.
Then, it was just the two of them, staring at each other desperately.
Jack couldn’t help the fact that he was staring at Tristan’s member. It was dangling down between his legs, slightly swollen probably from his blood pumping rapidly. Slowly, he managed to work his gaze upwards until he was looking at the other man’s face.
“I’m sorry,” was all he could think of to say.
Something of the haziness seemed to fade away from the alpha’s gaze. He turned his head slightly. “Why are you sorry? You aren’t
the one who tried to kill you.”
Jack started to smile, but then he realized that this wasn’t exactly the sort of time where it was appropriate to smile, and Tristan wasn’t joking. “I’m the person who’s been causing all this discord and stuff with your pack.”
Tristan suddenly focused a whole lot, his gaze becoming a glare. “That’s right. This is your fault. You had better be aware of that.”
“What, you don’t think I am?” Jack bristled. “All I wanted was some independence! I was tired of being shot down and crushed by everyone that I came across!” All of his aggravation seemed to spill out all at once. “Do this, do that, or you can’t do this or that! Just because I’m an omega! Just because I was born the way I am. That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair!” Tristan shot back. “At least you have your parents still!”
“It’s not like I’m the one who killed yours!” Jack shouted. His pain all seemed so far away in that moment. “I’m sorry about what happened, but it’s not my fault.”
“No, that wasn’t, but this is. Packs are supposed to depend on each other. That’s how it works. Things like this happen when wolves are alone.”
Jack turned his head away miserably. He couldn’t sustain his anger for very long in this condition. It took too much effort. “I just feel awful. I always wanted to help, but no one would ever let me. And now all people are doing is taking care of me. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
Suddenly, before he even knew what was happening, Tristan had lunged at him. Jack gasped and tried to back away, but he already had his back against the wall and there was nowhere for him to go.
That hardly mattered, because it turned out that that was exactly where the alpha wanted him.
Jack felt the other man’s body surround his, pressing him back roughly against the wall so that he couldn’t escape. His breath rasped in his lungs. He felt like he was choking, suffocating in scent. He couldn’t look away, and all he could see was blue as Tristan leaned down over him. Warmth pressed against his aching body, but now it was like his hurts were all leeching away.
Then, their lips touched.
Burning heat practically scorched Jack’s lips as their mouths pressed together awkwardly, the wolves in their souls bouncing around and quivering with joy at being united at last. Everything in him urged for him to transform, to stand at his alpha’s side, tails entwined, hearts beating as one. They would howl, just like his soul was howling right now, one deep and the other melodious and high, and they would run wherever they wished to run because when two wolves were mates, their combined strength would keep them going forever.
His soul felt like he was running through mountain grasses, the slope downward so that his legs picked up speed, his paws rushing to keep from tumbling. They were a blur. He was a blur, racing so fast and warmly that he could swear he was flying.
Then, their lips parted and he plummeted back to earth on a pile of jagged stones, because wolves can’t fly no matter how they wished. Plus, this particular wolf just so happened to be very injured.
Still, Jack was breathless, staring into Tristan’s eyes as the other man kept his face only an inch away. He felt like he had run a thousand miles and could go easily one thousand more—if he was given another kiss.
“What...what was that?” Jack struggled to speak through tingling lips. His stomach felt overheated from his mental run. He could feel his dick hardening, the shaft stiff; judging from the heat pressing against his leg, Tristan had a similar reaction.
“Is that enough to get you to be quiet and stop complaining?” Tristan said huskily. His face was very closed-off, keeping his thoughts private.
“I...” Jack literally had nothing to say. What was there to say?
“That’s what I thought.”
The pack leader straightened up and made a point of combing his fingers through his hair, straightening it from its messy state of beautiful imperfection. “Where did Agatha go?”
Just then, a voice called out from the entrance of the cabin, “I’m here! I came as quickly as I could! I...”
Agatha pulled up short. She stood in the doorway of the bedroom, looking puzzled as she took in the sight of Tristan and Jack all smooshed up together against the wall. Then she seemed to notice the chill coursing through the room from the smashed window, and finally the dead body on the other side of the room.
Her mouth worked for a moment before she finally managed to speak, “I’m not sure I want to know anymore, but does this have anything at all to do with Bryce and James running away from camp like the devil is after them?”
Tristan straightened up and pushed away from the wall. As he did so, a fresh trickle of blood ran down his side from where a shard of glass was embedded in his shoulder. “That’s a distinct possibility,” he admitted. “I banished them. They were attacking Jack.”
“I could have handled them even if you hadn’t interrupted!” Jack insisted, knowing exactly how much of a lie that statement was and wishing it wasn’t.
Both Agatha and Tristan gave him skeptical looks, although the doctor seemed a bit more understanding of the entire situation than the pack leader was.
“And where were you?” Tristan said darkly. “Do I have to banish you too for leaving your post?”
Jack opened his mouth to protest, but to his amazement he saw that Agatha looked almost completely unfazed by the threat. I wish that I could be like that and not care what he thought.
“I am a doctor, not a babysitter. My responsibility is not just to one, it is to all. I had to leave for a second to check on Jericka. She’s pregnant.”
Tristan looked pleased for a moment. “New blood.”
“Yes, it’s great news. However, we need our leader in order to keep that new blood alive when it comes, so perhaps you would like to not go jumping through anymore windows?”
Tristan just shrugged. “There wasn’t time to go through the front door.”
Agatha just sighed and went to fetch her tools. Jack shook his head with bemusement but stayed quiet, sitting back down on the bed while Agatha calmly sent for someone to remove the alpha’s dead body. The glass was swept up, and the doctor proceeded to remove all the stuck bits and pieces from Tristan’s skin. After deciding that he didn’t need stitches, she sent him on his way with a fierce scolding that included the words “council” and “fix the damn window.”
It was getting hard to focus. Jack blinked rapidly, weary and pained now that the events of the moment were over with.
Agatha gently held his arm and led him back over to the bed, helping him to sit down.
“Well?” she said cheerfully, examining his stitches beneath his borrowed clothes. “I told you that you would walk when you felt ready, didn’t I?”
Jack stared at her. “How can you be so flippant about something like this?”
Agatha ran one finger along the laceration over his side. “Well, you stretched these very nicely but luckily, you didn’t break any of them.”
“Agatha! Someone died!”
“Yes, and that is a high price to pay,” the doctor commented, gently turning Jack with her hands to get a look at his other wounds. “However, those alphas were grown men who probably would have accidentally killed you. Tristan had a choice to make, and he responded with his heart.”
“I don’t want to be in his heart,” Jack growled. He couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss, and he was very glad Agatha wasn’t mentioning it; she probably thought it meant that she was right or something.
Agatha sighed and shook her head. “Dear, you don’t really have a choice. And you should be glad that he chose you. You are becoming more a part of our pack than ever.”
“Why should I be glad for something I didn’t want?”
“I’m not sure,” the doctor admitted. “But I do know that everything happens for a reason.”
Jack went quiet until Agatha had finished with her examination. As she was helping him to lie back down, he resisted. “Do
n’t put that IV back in me. I’ll just rip it out again.”
Agatha laughed, although the sound was more of the sort that signaled she was giving up rather than expressing amusement. “It’s important that you get the proper amounts of the things you need. If you promise to be more cooperative, I won’t stick you with another needle the whole time that you’re here.”
“I’ll be the most cooperative patient in the world!”
Chapter 9
“But why can’t I go outside?”
Tristan paused outside the door of his house, ears perking up as he heard Jack’s voice rise in a high-pitched whine of frustration. Ever since their kiss two days ago, he had done his best to continue avoiding the omega; that really wasn’t a very difficult thing to do, especially since he had been sleeping outside ever since bringing the omega home with him.
At first, the other members of the pack had been wondering why Jack wasn’t moved from the house to the clinic once he was stable. Tristan blew it off as Agatha insisting on not moving her patient until he was recovered. Now that everyone knew he’d taken the omega as a mate, however, it made no sense to make Jack leave when they were technically bonded.
That was...a dilemma. Of sorts. Tristan was not very attached to his cabin as a rule, but it was his home. It was his den, his nest. It belonged to him, and the wolf in his soul pined after a solid place to sleep that he could return to again and again. Roaming was fine, but home was home.
But how could he come home when the unwanted burden was there sleeping in his bed?
“I told you,” Agatha replied, with fading patience. “You aren’t quite strong enough for that, yet. Just do a few more laps around the bedroom and the restlessness will go away.”
“No, it won’t! I can still smell the outside!”
“If Tristan hadn’t broken his window, that wouldn’t be a problem.”
The conversation devolved into muted grumbling and sluggish footsteps that went in pitiful circles.
And now Tristan felt bad. He was conflicted as hell, but he felt awful. He had no idea how he was going to live his life like this, bound to Jack, expected to always be by his side. However, Agatha was right, wasn’t she? There was more than just his life at stake here.
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