Her Pack

by Candace Wondrak

  Because she just couldn’t frigging believe it.

  Actually, no. This situation deserved a fuck. She couldn’t fucking believe it.

  Maia leapt over the barbed wire fence that kept the herds from wandering to the roads, the scent growing stronger and stronger, clearer the closer she got. Her stomach twisted, knotting in itself. If she was human right now, she’d be sick. Probably throwing up. She couldn’t take this anxiety, this confusion.

  This was not what she’d anticipated. This was the complete opposite of it. Instead of running towards it, she should be running in the opposite direction. Running head-first into danger was always the worst possible choice—well, other than running into danger without her pack behind her.

  Oh, wait.

  That’s exactly what she was doing.

  She darted over the hills of the plains, the bovine herds near the pond in the center of the property. Her legs took her through a small stream as she ran over another rolling hill. As she crested the hill, she saw him.

  He sat in the dip between the hills, on his haunches. His snout closed. An ashy blonde color that immediately caused Maia’s legs to stiffen. She stumbled to a halt not fifteen feet before him, tripping on herself from the shock. She set her front paw out to stop her body from sliding any closer when metal snapped.

  Maia let out a yelp, glancing at her paw. A bear trap’s metal teeth had sunken into her leg, breaking skin and probably bone. She was about to try to yank herself out, for the pain had instantly made her adrenaline spike, but she stopped her struggling when she saw that she was surrounded by at least half a dozen more traps. How she’d avoided them until now was sheer dumb luck.

  The ashy wolf before her cocked his head, his eyes flashing a malicious sort of expression, ears pointed at her. Maia had his attention fully now. Through her pain, through the agony that shot up her front leg from the trap, she could only stare at one place. His throat.

  It was a mess of flesh. Even in his wolf form, there was no hair there. The skin was too scabby, too scarred. The wound hadn’t fully healed yet. Such as it was; it’d been horrifically deep when she’d made it. How in the world was he alive? Her snout shook, her lungs whimpering. Though she could not say it, she thought it.

  Zak.

  Shifting bones, realigning spine, a snout that faded into a handsome human face. Zak stretched himself out before her, standing tall to her wolf form, his tan body naked, but he was never one to care. His neck was even worse looking in this form than when he wore his wolf. Red and angry, the entire portion of his neck from just below his chin to his collarbone was risen and throbbing. It marred his otherwise perfect appearance, the typical golden boy from California, a wolf through and through.

  Her ex-mate.

  His lips curved into half a smile. “Hello, Maia,” Zak spoke, his voice nearly broken. Low and scratchy, as if it hurt to speak. She hoped any word that came out of his mouth tasted like steel, like razors on his tongue. “Surprised?”

  All she could do was whimper. The pain in her leg was too much. Focusing on shifting seemed impossible. Maia was at his mercy, and after what she did to him, there would be no mercy in his twisted, black heart.

  “Me too,” Zak said, baring his teeth. “They said my heart was so slow, someone stupid might’ve thought I was dead.” At his sides, his fingers clenched into fists. “But you know I could never let you go, Maia. You’re mine. I never should’ve listened to Jackson. I should’ve taken you when I wanted to—”

  His rough, callous words halted the moment the wind blew. His eyes narrowed, a dark fury growing inside them, even worse than before. “What the fuck is that I smell on you?” Zak tilted his head, his expression a snarl. “Don’t tell me you’ve been with other wolves. After all those years you played coy and innocent—” He breathed out a growl. Unlike Grimm’s growls, this one was menacing, and it made her tuck her tail between her legs. “—and you throw yourself like a whore to the first wolves you stumble across?” He started to laugh.

  It was not a sound Maia liked.

  She pulled at her front leg, trying to yank it free, but the metal only gnarled her leg more, new pain coursing through her with each jerk of her body. If she could not get free, it was over. Everything was over.

  “Oh,” he added, “but you’re not claimed, are you? Good. So after I find these wolves, I can drag you back to the pack and claim you in front of everyone the first full moon. I won’t be gentle. You’ve earned that.”

  Maia whined, baring her teeth, foam coating her rough lips. Closing her eyes, she tried to block out the pain, tried to forget everything around her. Zak, the traps, her shattered bone. If she could shift, maybe she could pry the trap off her, maybe she could…

  “Oh,” Zak mocked hurt, giving her a pouting frown. “Is the little wolf trying to shift? Don’t bother. It took me a week to turn after you did this to me.” He pointed at his throat, in case she’d forgotten dragging her half-turned claws on him. “Pain is a remarkable thing. But you know, Maia, I don’t mind you staying wolf. At least I know that you’re not hiding anything from me. Not like your slut of a human form.”

  That got her to bare her teeth and snap at him. Maia would’ve lunged if she wasn’t trapped. Delirious as she was with pain, she would not let him mock her like this, not when she’d only wanted a life. Had it been so wrong of her to want to choose for herself? Had it been so wrong that she’d wanted to choose Zak, but with each hunt the pack went on, with each date he took her on—only to appease his father—she’d seen bits and pieces of him that made her believe he would make an awful alpha? The cruelty to strangers, the way he mocked everyone who wasn’t a wolf. Hunting animals not to eat, just to kill. Leaving them half-alive, half-dead as the sun rose, waiting around to watch them suffer and breathe their last breath?

  No. Maia had done the right thing.

  But she should’ve done a double tap, a second swipe. Something to ensure that he was dead. Hearing his heart slow clearly hadn’t been enough.

  Maia put all her energy into shifting. It did not want to come, her wolf was too fearful to be locked away, but Maia had to take control. Plus, she had a few choice things to say to this bastard that her wolf wasn’t able to.

  He said the pain wouldn’t let her shift? She’d watch him eat those words. Maia hoped he choked on them.

  It happened slowly, and the pain as she took on her human figure was even worse than it was when she was a wolf, because her bones reformed and reshaped while her right arm was stuck in a bear trap, its metal teeth digging in, clamped down. It brought tears to her eyes, eyes that she slowly rose to Zak. With her free hand, she flicked him off.

  It took him far too long to mutter, “You surprise me.”

  “You should know by now that I am full of surprises.” It hurt to talk, but at least her voice didn’t sound half as bad as his did. His throat sounded like it was tossed into a blender. Maia knew she had no strength, not enough to pry open the trap and free her arm, so she settled for taunting him, “Did daddy approve of this mission?”

  “Daddy,” Zak growled, “said to let you go. He said that you weren’t worth going after, but that’s where we differ. Any shifter female is worth it, so long as she provides future pups to the pack.”

  Right. Because that’s all she was: a breeding machine.

  “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he?” Maia asked, not really caring for the answer. Suddenly, she was so very tired. So tired, she just wanted to sleep and never wake up, as long as it meant she never had to see or dream of Zak’s face again.

  “He’ll know after I bring you back with a few wolf skins,” Zak referred to her new pack.

  Okay, that she couldn’t sit back and let go. He could threaten her, but by God, he would not threaten them.

  “They will destroy you,” she said, believing it wholeheartedly. “They are more wolf than you will ever be.”

  The words must’ve made him furious, for he stormed to her, carefully sidestepping the arra
nged traps, grabbing her by her hair. His fingers curled into a fist in her hair, yanking her head back, jerking her entire body, causing her arm to pull at the metal teeth of the bear trap clamped down on it. The new pain brought fresh tears to her eyes, and any tears that happened to slide down her cheeks were involuntary. Maia would not cry in front of Zak.

  “You better take that back, bitch,” he hissed, baring his teeth.

  “You’re lucky I’m incapacitated right now, bitch,” Maia hissed back, “or else I’d claw your throat out again—and this time I’d finish the job.”

  Zak barked out a growl, jerking her a foot to the side, making her cry out as the bear trap on her arm dragged on the ground. He moved her face inches from another trap, its metal glinting silver in the moonlight, a threat worse than any words he could’ve possibly said in the moment.

  “Make me angry one more time,” he warned, “and I will bring you back to the pack alive, but barely. I will make you so disfigured, so ugly that no one will want you. No other wolf will want to mate with you.”

  Maia studied the trap. Her heart was already leaping out of her chest because of the pain. What was a little more? Shifter healing was a bit better than a human’s. Her arm would be fine in a few weeks. Her face could eventually recover, even if it was scarred. “Pretty faces aren’t everything,” she whispered.

  If that wasn’t obvious enough.

  “Plus,” she said, “seems a little stupid, considering the risk. Wasting a precious female wolf, all because of your ego?” Maia tried to laugh, but it came out weak. How much more of this could she handle before she passed out? From the pain, from the shock, from whatever. Passing out in front of Zak while they were both naked seemed like one of the worst possible things to do.

  Her mind did grow woozy, though. She might not have a choice.

  God, she wondered, hating herself, why didn’t she go inside and warn the pack instead of running off by herself? Hadn’t she joined them? Wasn’t she one of them? A packmate should never go off alone. Maia hated herself. It was wolf 101.

  This might be the worst mistake she’d ever made, because there was no coming back from it. Zak had her in his clutches, and he was not about to let her go again.

  Chapter Thirty – Grimm

  Something was wrong. It didn’t take an instinctual animal to figure it out. Whatever was freaking Maia out, surely they could all discuss it together. She didn’t need to be alone, didn’t need to hide whatever it was she felt. Grimm knew things were changing for her at a pace she hadn’t expected, so it was only natural for her to feel confused and a little hesitant.

  Even if, half an hour before, she’d been anything but.

  Grimm had decided. He’d bring Maia in and ask her what was wrong.

  He got to his feet, moving to the front door. After twisting the knob, he pulled it open to see her clothes laying torn, her water bottle resting on the bottom step. Maia was nowhere in sight. She’d shifted and run without a sound. She was better than he thought she was.

  “Rick,” he called to his alpha, and Alarick was by his side instantly.

  Alarick pushed past him, sniffing the night air. “She wouldn’t have run. Not without reason. If it’s her ex…” His blue eyes reflected the moonlight as they turned back to Grimm. “Take the truck, pick up Farkas. I’m going after her. Meet me there.” After throwing a quick look around to make sure no one was on the street or glancing out of their window, he shifted into a powerful golden wolf, taking off at a brisk run.

  Grimm flew into the kitchen, grabbed the truck keys, and was in the garage within a minute, opening the door with a fist to the button on the wall. He hopped inside the vehicle, starting it. Tension and anxiety bit at his every nerve as he drove to the diner. All the while he wondered what could’ve made her run off.

  Her ex? If he was familiar to her, she would’ve been able to pick up his scent easily. Grimm and his pack were at a disadvantage because they’d never met him before, but they knew Maia. It was her scent they’d follow.

  The diner’s lights were off when he pulled up, but the front door wasn’t locked. Grimm had the truck parked in multiple parking spots, but it was late, he didn’t care, and Maia was missing. He stormed into the diner, his footsteps loud.

  “Uh, we’re closed,” Violet called from the back counter, poking her head up. She was busy counting the money in the cash register. “Oh, it’s just you. What’s wrong now? You Wolf brothers always have some shit going on, don’t you? Did your new girlfriend run away?”

  Farkas appeared from the back area, instantly growing tense at Grimm’s appearance. “What’s wrong? Is it Maia?”

  At the counter, Violet rolled her eyes.

  “She’s gone. We think her ex is here,” Grimm said just as he saw Roy pop his head through the window to the kitchen. “Come on. Alarick’s already tailing her.” Roy disappeared out of his line of sight, while Violet looked even more confused.

  “What the hell is going on? You can’t chase her if she left town,” she said.

  “She wouldn’t leave town,” Farkas said, moving to Grimm.

  “What are you…” Violet stumbled on her words as Roy emerged from the kitchen holding a twelve-gauge shotgun. “Oh my God, Roy, where did you get that?” Her voice broke on the last word, complete and utter shock written across her every feature. It wasn’t often Violet was rendered speechless.

  Even Farkas was frozen in shock. “Tell me you didn’t have that hiding in the kitchen. What if you fired it?”

  Roy yanked out his hair net, scoffing, “What if I fired it…Farkas, do you know how much kickback there is on one of these? You don’t fire a weapon like this unless you mean to kill. Now let’s go wolf hunting.”

  Grimm sent Farkas a glare. Had he told Roy that her ex was a wolf, or did Roy figure it out on his own?

  “Wolf?” Violet echoed. “What the hell are you guys—”

  “Violet,” Farkas cut in, “I will explain everything later, I promise. Can you finish up closing duties for tonight?”

  Grimm, Farkas and Roy were out of the door before Violet could say her feeble “Sure.”

  Roy went for his own truck, a rusted, beat-up Ford from the nineties. He slapped the hood before hopping in. “Let’s get going!” He kept his shotgun snug across his chest as he revved his engine.

  Grimm looked at Farkas, and Farkas understood. “I’ll sniff her out, you follow.” Mostly hidden from sight, not that there was much to hide from at this time of night, for the other boutiques along Main Street closed at eight or nine, he shifted into his brown beast, darting off.

  Grimm snatched Farkas’s clothes, throwing them in the truck as he shifted gears and followed, Roy right behind him. Grimm wasn’t a fast runner; he’d do much better following along in the truck than he would taking to the streets himself. Out of all of them, Alarick was the fastest. Farkas was wily, but he would push himself tonight, because Maia was at stake.

  How badly Grimm hoped she wasn’t already taken. Why the hell would she have thought it was okay to go running off on her own? She was a packmate, their future mate. They were in this, in everything, together. She should’ve known better.

  What a stupid, foolish woman.

  Farkas led them through town, away from the residential district, along one of the only main roads that connected their little town to the rest of the world, nothing but miles and miles of farmland and acres of animals between. Farkas suddenly veered off the road, hopping over a metal wire fence and straight into the hilly plains of some farm.

  Old Mason’s property, Grimm recognized it. This was where Farkas and Alarick had been called out to, before they’d discovered Maia.

  Grimm pulled the truck off the road, parking it on the dirt between the road and the fence. Roy was behind him, shouting, “Go on! I’ll catch up!”

  Like Grimm would’ve waited for him anyway.

  He tore off his shirt, taking off into a run as he shifted into his wolf form. He barely was able to clear the fen
ce—it would’ve been something much easier to do while still human—but he wasn’t thinking. All Grimm could focus on was the fact that Maia was missing and her ex might be here. Those two things alone were frantic enough to dominate his mind and push away all other thoughts.

  With his nose in the air, he followed the scent. Grimm would not let anything or anyone hurt Maia. Not while he breathed.

  Chapter Thirty-One – Alarick

  Alarick could not believe Maia had been so stupid. She was a brash woman, he knew that much, but he never thought she’d be this idiotic. This was a fool’s move, pure and simple. To go running off at the very sign of trouble.

  It had to be her ex. Had to be. Alarick would not let himself think the worst of her, not after everything they’d done, not after she’d agreed to become their mate during the next full moon. Just the thought of her deciding to leave after all of that made him feel…

  Well, sad.

  No.

  He wouldn’t think that way. He trusted every wolf in his pack, and that included Maia. Maia was one of them, just as Farkas and Grimm were. They were one, together, one pack that would handle whatever was thrown at them. Whether it was Maia’s ex, the whirlwind that was Violet, or the snarky customers that often came to the diner after church on Sunday mornings. Everything they would do together. Packs stuck close. Alarick would not think bad of Maia, even if she’d acted stupidly.

  His legs drew him through town, taking him out of the city and into the plains around it. It was a boring landscape made mostly of rolling hills. A few farms, but mostly herding animals. Maia’s scent led him to Mason’s lands, and it was then that he smelled another wolf. He hadn’t noticed it before because it was new, and newer wolves were hard to distinguish from the rest of the world’s scents. It took time, it took adjustment.

  But, damn it, another wolf was there. With Maia. And Alarick was not there with her.