Her Pack

by Candace Wondrak

  Her wolf was excited for the rest of the day, counting down the hours, the minutes, hell, even the seconds until night fell, the diner closed, and they’d meet Roy at his place. Alarick was still at the diner, working the afternoon shift with Violet, but he said he’d bring them some food before their run. Running on an empty stomach was no fun, after all.

  Now a hunt? Sometimes hunger made the hunt more desperate. Sometimes feeling the pangs of starvation truly pushed a wolf to its brink, to its apex.

  Grimm had gone back to work outside, while Farkas chose to keep her company, trying to ask her all about her life before now. Maia gave him random non-answers, some that were quite titillating, she thought, but no matter what she said, he was not satisfied, like he knew she was lying.

  Okay, so maybe she wasn’t part of a traveling circus of shifters, but that story was honestly so much better than the truth—Maia ran away from her old pack, a non-prominent west coast pack who adored the ocean, because she killed their future alpha. That was a much worse story, one that would probably get her exiled from this new pack.

  And that…being thrown out, unwanted other than for her reproductive organs, well…it hurt. Maia didn’t want to know what it felt like. Earlier, she’d just known. Everything suddenly clicked into place when they’d eaten. She liked them, her wolf liked them a hell of a lot more than her wolf had ever liked Zak.

  Her inner beast liked them all, too. She favored none. Maia did not find it too odd, for when it came to shifters, attraction was attraction, and it was more common than not for females to mate with multiple males at once. But she still could hardly believe it. Had she had a run of good luck, for once? Her past, her parents’ pack selling her for protection, being groomed to become the future alpha’s mate, everything had led to this, to this pack and these guys.

  Alarick. Farkas. Grimm. They were all different, yet similar in that they were kind. Yes, Grimm had momentarily reminded her of Zak when he had her against the wall, but unlike Zak, he was able to pull himself off her. And also unlike Zak, her wolf didn’t mind the position. Her wolf had connected with this pack so quickly it was ridiculous and silly, yet here she was, her stomach coiling because she was excited to go on a run with them.

  Going on a run—it felt like years since she’d had the chance to stretch her legs. Truly stretch her legs. To break free of all restraint that her human body put in place and let loose, roaming the countryside and howling to the moon. It was a feeling that could swallow a wolf. Nature was intoxicating.

  Maia sat on the couch, flipping through TV channels as Farkas got them some water. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. It’s what her mother had always said, especially if she were readying herself for a run. There was nothing worse than wanting to run but being unable to because of a lack of energy.

  She thanked him when he returned, sitting beside her. She’d found some rerun of a medical drama she liked, the remote now sitting on the coffee table, right next to her perched feet. “So how come you’re here while Alarick is at the diner?” Maia asked after taking a sip.

  “Alarick owns it more than me,” Farkas said. “Plus, I’d rather be here with you.”

  Sweet, but Maia couldn’t stop herself from questioning, “Are you saying Alarick doesn’t want to be here with me? Should I be insulted?”

  “No, no. Everybody knows, including you, that Alarick wishes he were here, but that doesn’t change the fact that the man has other responsibilities.”

  She flicked her eyes to him, temporarily moving her stare from the television set. “And what about your responsibilities? You are partners in the diner, aren’t you? I feel like you should be there, too.”

  “Right now, my only responsibility is you,” Farkas spoke with a grin that warmed her body. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you want to be alone here with Grimm again.”

  Maia hated that she felt a smile spreading on her face. Farkas’s personality was catching. He seemed to be constantly in a good mood, albeit a super-talkative one, but in spite of how startled she’d been when she first saw him in the alley outside the diner, she felt the complete opposite now. “It’s a good thing you know better,” she whispered.

  “It’s a good thing I do,” he agreed, dimples once again on those damned cheeks.

  Those dimples were…the cause of the sudden twist in her gut, the abrupt warmth that flooded her cheeks. As a redhead, Maia always felt like she was blushing. Constantly blushing or getting pink or showing how embarrassed at something she truly was. When she got angry? Her skin flushed. When she was sad? The same. And forget about tanning. Her skin was always pale, no matter how much time she spent in the sun. She only burned, and when the burn faded, she was back to the color she was before. The curse of red hair and a pale complexion.

  Maia bit the inside of her cheek, turning to face the TV. “Stop smiling,” she whispered, unable to take those damned dimples much longer.

  “Why?” Farkas didn’t get it, not at all. He wouldn’t, because he was a man. He couldn’t know how much she wanted to say—right then and there, all because of those dimples—I change my mind, I want to become your mate.

  She would not lose herself to this pack on the first day. Maia at least had to make it to day two, and then all restraint could be thrown out the window, though making it to another sunrise didn’t make her feel any better about it. Honestly, she felt as if it were only a matter of time until she submitted to them.

  And she knew: they would have no hesitation in taking her, claiming her. What pack of all male wolves would? They wouldn’t look a gift horse (or in this case, a magical, rare female shifter) in the mouth.

  Maia was so lost in her own mind that she didn’t realize Farkas had leaned closer, his hazel eyes studying her intently. “Does my smile make you uncomfortable?” he asked, more with a sigh than with actual words. And the smile, those dimples…when she looked at him, he was suddenly too serious and far too close.

  Like, his face was less than a foot from hers.

  As in, his body was angled toward hers and totally leaning closer.

  “I…” Maia tried to have a smart comeback, but her eyes had fallen to Farkas’s mouth, which seemed too close and too, well, enticing. Inside her, her wolf throttled the cage in her mind that kept the animal and human part of her separate. Her wolf wanted out, wanted to be free, wanted to take heed of those enticing lips.

  How badly she wanted to. To toss her arms around him, pull him close, and find out what else those smirking lips of his could do. His tongue sure liked to talk; what else was it capable of? Maia felt herself growing red as she thought about it.

  She should not be thinking of those things. Not now, not while she was trying to keep herself from becoming just a mate to these wolves.

  “You’re looking awfully red,” Farkas murmured, his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her cheek. “Is there something particular on your mind, or is it just my ungodly good looks?”

  Maia pictured running her hands down his chest, tearing off his shirt and ripping the buttons in one, fluid motion. She imagined herself sliding over him, sitting on his lap, pinning him to the couch. Their lips together, their hips moving and grinding and…

  Oh, God. Her wolf needed to keep her heat to herself.

  Not wanting this to escalate further, Maia stood, grabbed her water bottle and headed for the door. “I’m going to check on Grimm.” It was mostly said as an excuse, so she didn’t have to tell him exactly why she was freaking running away like an angsty teenager, but she didn’t really want to check on Grimm. She needed some air.

  She needed some alone time so her wolf could calm the hell down.

  “I see how it is,” Farkas called after her, smiling all the while. Those damned dimples. “I get you all hot and bothered, and you run to Grimm. I wonder how Alarick will fit into this equa—”

  Maia heard not another word from him as she stepped outside and slammed the door behind her. The air outside was hot, and almost instan
tly she missed the cool air conditioning of the house, but she would not go back in until she was sure she could handle it.

  And by handle it, she meant keep it in her pants. Or her dress. Or, well, keep it under her dress, technically.

  Either way, whatever the semantics of it, Maia had to keep it together. Keep it cool. She would not lose herself all because her inner wolf wanted to mate. She would run with them tonight, see how it felt to run as one, as a pack, and then…then she’d figure the rest out later. She hadn’t saved herself from Zak just to give it up to the first pack of misfit wolves she came across.

  But these guys…they weren’t just misfit wolves. They were more. They were—they were—Maia wanted to slap herself. She was growing sappy.

  She leaned her back on the door, gulping down the rest of her water as if it could satisfy the deep thirst she felt. Maia knew she wasn’t thirsty for water; she was thirsty for something only the wolves could give her.

  Damn it. This was not supposed to happen. She wasn’t supposed to fall in with another pack, even if she didn’t particularly enjoy being alone. She went from one pack’s future to another’s. Maia wasn’t going to try to kid herself; she knew that while Alarick had said he’d be happy to have her in the pack, he hoped she would become their mate, too. She was under no illusions about this, neither was her inner wolf.

  Finishing her water, she sighed, sitting on the few steps that led up to the door. Though the sun was in its descent in the sky, there was still a ridiculous amount of heat pressing down upon her. It was one thing this town had plenty of: sheer, heavy heat. At least on the beach, there was a salty breeze that broke up the heat, and of course the water.

  If there was one thing Maia missed about her old pack, it was the ocean-side view.

  But, literally, that was it. Not the wolves, not her would-be mate. Even if Zak wasn’t dead, she wouldn’t miss him. He was an ass in the worst of ways. Nothing redeeming about him at all.

  Maia squeezed the water bottle in her hand, watching as the plastic gave way to her palm and fingers easily. She hated the sound that plastic made when it was squashed, and it grated on her ears. It served its purpose, though: getting her mind off her wolf’s horniness by distracting her.

  Although, damn it, it didn’t work for long, because somebody had to poke their blasted head out of the garage to check on her. And, no, it wasn’t Farkas. It was Grimm, his face dirty with some kind of grease, his hair slicked back with sweat—which should’ve been a turn off, but there was something so manly and extra about a wolf like that getting to work.

  Ugh. Maia apparently could not keep it together.

  Something must’ve been visibly wrong in her expression, because Grimm measuredly made his way over to her. His dark eyes examined her, his thick hands wiping some dirt off on a rag he held onto. His clothes were mostly dirty, but not a speck of that dirt took away from his attractiveness.

  “You okay?” he asked, stunning her by breaking the silence first. Maia had heard enough about him from Farkas to know that was unusual for Grimm. Maybe he was still trying to make up for what he’d done in the hall.

  Maia tried to smile, to shrug it all off, but it felt fake so she stopped. “I’ll be fine. It’s just…it’s a lot to get used to, all at once. I didn’t think I’d run across another pack, especially so soon.”

  “Fresh on the run.” Grimm spoke it more as a statement rather than a question, but she found herself nodding along as if to answer him. When she said nothing else, he gestured for her to follow him. He wandered back into the garage through its lifted door, disappearing into the shadows.

  Maia was a deadly kind of curious, and before she knew it, she was on her feet and trailing after him within a moment. What she saw when she rounded the corner into the garage, she wasn’t expecting. Though, she supposed Grimm had already done more than enough yard work for the day, so a motorcycle seemed a fitting way to end it.

  Even if, right now, it looked more like a thousand different pieces parts rather than a running Harley.

  “I take it apart when I get anxious,” Grimm said, standing behind her. He held his arms crossed, which only served to further bulge his already-bulging biceps.

  Maia didn’t know what to say. For one, this was Grimm’s special thing, and two, he just admitted to her that he got anxious. Big, strong, insanely manly Grimm got anxious. It nearly blew her freaking mind.

  “How often do you do it?” she asked quietly, fearing that if she spoke any louder this moment, whatever it was, would disappear.

  Grimm shifted his weight, his mouth thinning as he thought. “Often.”

  Shaking her head slightly, she said, “It’s crazy to me that you get anxious. You’re…” She trailed off, not knowing where she was going with that, although it looked like he did.

  “I know.”

  Was he anxious because of her? Because of what happened, or what he wanted to happen? Maia desperately wanted to know, but it wasn’t like she could ask him. If she did, she risked him shutting down, as the quiet ones were apt to do.

  “It’ll be okay, Grimm,” she said, even though, deep down, she wasn’t sure if she could claim it. Would it be okay? Sure, Grimm and the others would be fine, regardless of what happened to her. But Maia? If her past caught up to her, she’d be the very opposite of fine.

  She’d be up shit creek without a paddle.

  “It’ll be okay,” she said again, this time, mostly to herself.

  Grimm only looked at her, as if he knew she was lying.

  Chapter Seventeen – Maia

  Roy was…not what Maia was expecting. With a name like Roy, well, she might’ve had some prejudices going into this, but when Alarick and him got talking, she could tell that he meant no ill-will toward him, to the pack. He was a kind human, one who stumbled upon their shifter status accidentally a few years back, one who’d snatched up the acres near his house the moment they went up for sale, all for the local wolves.

  Night had fallen, the moon rising high in the sky. It wasn’t full yet, still a few days before it would grow and become a full circle in the darkness of the sky. Maia had practically leaned out of the truck’s window for the whole ride over, gazing steadily at the blackness above. The stars were different out here; the sky more vibrant, each little dot brighter. She’d never noticed before, because usually at night, she kept to her wolf form. She’d never seen such a pretty night sky.

  “You know,” Roy said, studying Maia past the pack, “I never would’ve guessed you were one, too. You look nothing like these idiots.” Though he called them idiots, he smiled, and Alarick grinned back, though he tried to mock injury. “I mean, I suppose you are a bit more muscular than the women I’ve known in my life, but nowhere near as intimidating.”

  Maia met his stare. Roy was a mostly unassuming human, fifty-something with pure grey hair, and long hair, too. He wore it in a low ponytail behind him, and when she’d nearly run into him earlier, he’d had it up in a net so it was hard to see. His skin was riddled with sunspots, wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, no doubt from the smoking he did—and he did a lot, because even if she wasn’t a wolf, she’d be able to smell the stench on him.

  “Keep insulting me,” Maia spoke, unable to hold back, “and you won’t say the same after I turn—”

  Alarick placed a hand on her shoulder, cooling her down. “He meant no disrespect, pup.”

  Pup? Okay, now Maia fumed. A growl left her chest, causing Roy to chuckle and say, “You got a wild one with her, that’s for sure.” Roy’s house was mostly a shack, a twenty-minute drive out of town. It sat half a mile off the main road, surrounded by nothing but rolling hills and plains. The man lived alone, no wife or children to speak of. It seemed he had only his house, his land, and his job at the diner.

  When Maia only glared at him, yanking herself out of his grip, Alarick smiled and quickly said, “Kidding, kidding. You’re no pup.”

  Beside him, Farkas whispered “Clearly” as his eyes roamed over her
.

  Oh, God. These wolves were asking for it, weren’t they? Maia felt annoyed, but the strange thing was, it wasn’t a real annoyance. It was almost like she felt included by being teased. Like she was one of them, already a part of their pack. Not that she would admit it aloud. To do so would make these wolves way too happy, and she wanted them to suffer a bit, first.

  “Put your words where your snout is,” Maia said. “We came here to run, didn’t we? Let’s run.”

  Chuckling, Roy muttered, “That’s my cue to head in. Have fun, but not too much fun. I don’t want to be cleaning up any carcasses come the morn.” The man reached into his shirt’s front pocket, retrieved a single cigarette, and worked to light it as he disappeared into his house. Even after the door had closed and the human was nowhere in sight, Maia could smell the lingering scent of smoke.

  She turned to the three men staring at her, moving her hands on her hips. Maia was itching to shift, but she would not be the first to do it. No, she wanted to watch them shift first. “Well?” she asked, lifting her eyebrows. The temperature of the air had cooled significantly the moment the sun no longer graced the sky, a gentle breeze whipping through her long hair. “I’m not getting naked first.”

  Farkas was, not surprisingly, the one who took action. He said, “I don’t need you to say another word. I don’t mind being first.” With a wink, he worked to unbutton his shirt. It came off within the minute, revealing a chiseled, muscular torso. As he worked to undo his pants and slip off his shoes, Alarick started to do the same.

  “Can’t let the beta have all the glory,” Alarick said, shooting Farkas a smirk, to which Farkas forced out a frown. He then looked at Grimm. “Come on, you heard the lady. Tonight—and tonight only—we follow her lead.” The words made her insides twist, but in a good way.

  An alpha giving her the lead? Jackson (and by extension, Zak) would never have done it.

  Grimm complied without a word, and Maia watched as the three men stripped before her. Once they were free of all clothes, standing less than ten feet from her, unabashedly nude, she felt her inner wolf rattle its cage. The beast wanted out, wanted the three wolves before her, and really, she couldn’t blame it.