Her Wolves: A Rejected Mates Romance (Fall Mountain Shifters Book 1)

by G. Bailey

  Ragnar steps forward. “Thanks to Daniel, it prepares us for the attack of Ravensword and a war that will cost a lot of lives. Daniel spared many, and I hope he is listening down on us as I thank him. Thank you for saving our Mai and for warning us.”

  “Thank you, Daniel,” Henderson agrees. Silas and Valentine repeat the sentence. The power in their voices makes me shiver.

  “I wish I could have saved him from this fight, but I couldn’t. Daniel, you will be sorely missed and never forgotten,” I say, ending on a sob.

  Phim surprises me by walking to my other side. “May the forbidden god keep Daniel’s soul soothed and welcome in the afterlife.”

  “Thank you,” I tell her. She nods. Knowing it’s time, I pick up the large fire torch off the ground and walk over to him. I stand silently for a long time before I drop the torch, feeling my heart go with it. The platform lights up quickly, and I step back, leaving us all silent for a long time as we watch. Ragnar gently puts his hand on my back after some time. “Gone, but not forgotten. Our wolves will run together in the afterlife one day.”

  I stare at the fire, feeling empty and broken inside.

  “How many people I care about are going to die before I’m free?”

  No one answers me because the answer is something none of them wants to tell me.

  Death will always chase me. It has done ever since the moon goddess made a mistake.

  “Has there been another attack?” I ask as Trey runs into the attic, with wide eyes and almost looking a bit frightened.

  “I couldn’t find you in your room. You’ve left!” he says, smiling. “And no, there hasn’t been an attack.”

  “You had me worried for a second there,” I reply with a soft smile, going back to folding the shirt in front of me, wanting to be alone. I haven’t really left my room since Daniel died, and I still see him there on my bed. I felt like if I left, then he would really go. Even if I know in my heart and soul that he has.

  This morning, two weeks after his death, I resigned myself to leaving my room for more than bathroom and food trips. I wasn’t shocked to find the attic a mess of clothes like the first time I came up. It’s easy to work and doesn’t let me think too long.

  “Sorry, but I think the world’s ending, because Valentine wants you to cut his hair.”

  I cough out a surprised laugh. The first time I’ve laughed in a while.

  “What?” I ask, wondering if I’m hearing things. The man with long overgrown, never styled hair wants a cut? I thought hell would freeze over before he’d let me near him with a pair of scissors. “Yep.” Trey scratches his head. “Valentine asked me to come and get you so you can come and cut his hair.”

  “He wants me to cut his hair?” I question again to make sure I’m hearing him right.

  He nods one more time with a big grin. “I have never seen him with a haircut. He’s never cut it since I’ve known him. And that’s like, you know, a lot of years.”

  “I wonder what he looks like under the hair,” I chuckle. I glance around the attic, knowing the clothes aren’t going anywhere. “Well, I guess I can come and cut his hair. I’ve done it once or twice in the past.”

  “I’ll go get scissors!” Trey shouts, fist-pumping the air and running to the door. He shouts back as he goes through it. “Valentine’s in his room!”

  I know that this is probably a tactic to get me out of my room, to cheer me up, but I still smile. Out of pure curiosity, I head down the stairs and to Valentine’s room. I knock twice before he calls me to come in.

  I wrap my hand around the handle, heading into his room, and I freeze when I see him sitting naked on the floor in front of the bed. He has on nothing but a little white towel wrapped around his narrow waist, his thick thighs spread out.

  I gulp.

  He looks up at me, his hair dripping wet, and his beard is gone. Instead of a bushy beard that hides his face, there is nothing but smooth skin, showing how utterly gorgeous he is. Everything from his high cheekbones to his structured jaw and his long lips make him utterly stunning. So stunning that I’m completely speechless.

  He turns his head to the side and breathes in a long breath, and his eyes flare at whatever he scents. I know he’s scenting exactly how I’m feeling about him.

  I clear my throat, hoping he doesn’t bring it up. “I’m not great at haircuts, but I can give it a go. The no beard thing suits you.”

  He smiles, and it’s a devilish smile.

  “I’d like that. Come and sit behind me,” he instructs. My legs wobble as I walk over and sit on the bed behind him as he leans forward. Valentine wraps his hands around my ankles, parting my legs and leaning back. The demanding and possessive move sends shivers through me. As he settles back, his large shoulders press against the inside of my thighs, so close to my centre.

  And it’s all I can think of as my mouth goes dry.

  Valentine tilts his head back, his eyes finding mine. I can feel the tension building in the air as we look at each other, right until Trey comes running into the room, banishing all my thoughts, and he hands me a pair of scissors. Trey sits down on the sofa as I divide Val’s soft, soaking wet hair with the comb I find on the bed. Valentine almost seems to sink back into my touch, and I try not to react to how much I enjoy touching him. Running my hands through his hair, brushing my thighs against his shoulders. I’ve never been this close to him.

  I didn’t know a haircut could be so sexual. But god, it is.

  I get to work on his hair, but he stays very still the whole time. Trey watches me, likely wondering if I’m going to make a big mess out of Valentine’s hair and also curious what he will look like with it gone.

  I think I’m sculpting the hair of a god—in theory, he looks like a god—and revealing more of him is nothing short of dangerous.

  “Can you do my hair next time?” Trey asks when I’m nearly done with Val’s hair.

  “Who says I’m sharing her, kid?” Valentine comments, a wave of possessiveness grumbling out of his voice.

  I have to blink a few times to get myself to focus on finishing his hair as Trey laughs and rushes to the door.

  “I’m going to tell them!” Trey announces when he is out of Valentine’s reach.

  “Get back here, kid!” Valentine shouts, making me laugh. “Snitch,” he grumbles when it’s clear he isn’t coming back. I place my hand on his shoulder for a second, and he makes a low grumble in his chest, nearly making me cut his hair in a very wonky way.

  “How are you?” Valentine asks. “I’ve heard talking about it makes it better.”

  “I can’t be sad forever,” I answer.

  “For what it is worth, he seemed like a good man from your stories. He wouldn’t want you sad,” he replies.

  “I know that, but sometimes it’s easier just to hide in a bed and pretend the world outside isn’t happening.”

  “I know what that’s like, but trust me, it happens anyway, and it’s just worse the longer you spend in that bed. Sometimes it’s better to get up, take a shower and just get on with the day,” he states. I glance around the room for the first time since coming in here, noticing how there isn’t a single bottle in sight and it’s even cleaner than it was before. In fact, Valentine doesn’t smell of whiskey anymore...no, he smells like the forest, earthy and damp.

  Addictive.

  “Since when did you become so wise on self-help?” I question.

  “Since I’m learning to be better for someone important,” he responds, making my heart flutter.

  “There you go,” I say, brushing off strands of hair from his large shoulders. He stands up, holding a tight grip on the towel, but still making me come face to face with his narrow waist and stomach. I try not to count the lines on his flat and toned stomach. Not all eight of them. Not think about how much I want to kiss each one and see where that V line disappears to.

  These alphas are too tempting. They tempt my heart, soul and body by just breathing.

  “Holy fuck, h
e really did it!” Henderson claps, walking into the room, followed by Ragnar.

  Ragnar just laughs. Silas comes into the room last, followed by Trey.

  All of them look shell-shocked. “Good to see your face again, brother.”

  “Don’t thank me, thank beautiful over here.” He points a thumb at me.

  “Can we thank you with dinner and a movie?” Ragnar asks.

  I glance at Silas, who stares me down. “I will start cooking.”

  “I didn’t say yes!” I shout at his back as he walks away.

  “Your eyes did,” he shouts back. Cocky alpha.

  “What do you say?” Henderson gently asks.

  I stand up, brushing hair off my legs. “Dinner sounds good.”

  It’s time to leave my room. Daniel will never be forgotten, but Valentine is right...he wouldn’t want me to cry over him forever. I need to enjoy the life I have...with my alphas for as long as I have them.

  “Don’t move,” a man darkly warns me, standing close to my back. My plate slips from my hand into the sink, and I want to kick myself for not hearing anyone come in. I stay very still when I feel something sharp press into my back and a hand brush my hair over my shoulder. I glance around the empty kitchen, wishing I had woken Ragnar up before coming down for a drink of water in the middle of the night. I shouldn’t be alone.

  And whoever this is should never have gotten in the house without being sensed. His voice is familiar…but I can’t place it.

  “Who are you?” I breathlessly ask as he pushes his large hand into the middle of my back and shoves me forward. A deep part of me knows this wolf isn’t from our pack, he doesn’t scent right, and that means only one person could have sent him here.

  “Keep walking, Mairin,” he warns me when I try to stop. I glance behind me, frowning at a man in a golden cloak that hides his face.

  I imagine Silas whispering in my ear, telling me to do something, anything. To fight. I can’t let whoever this is take me back to Ravensword. I won’t go back there. Quickly, I swing myself around and punch my fist hard into the man’s face, hearing a crack. I swing my leg around, hitting the middle of his stomach, and he jolts forward, pulling out a long sword. We circle each other as he pulls his cloak down, and I recognise him right away.

  “Beta Valeriu?” I whisper in shock. The alpha must be getting desperate if he is sending a beta here. He grins, even with blood dripping down his cheek.

  “Tell your alphas to let me fight you alone, or are you a coward?” he sneers. Ragnar jumps over the top of stairs, landing behind Valeriu and wrapping his hands around Valeriu’s neck.

  “Mai is the bravest wolf you will ever meet, fucker,” Ragnar shouts, and with incredible strength, he picks Valeriu up by his neck as he struggles to get his hands off his neck. Ragnar’s eyes are glowing red, a scary red. Silas, Henderson and Valentine come into the room. They instantly stand in front of me, blocking me from any harm.

  Henderson looks back at me. “You okay? He didn’t hurt you?”

  “No,” I reply. “Silas’s training kicked in before he could.”

  Silas looks back with a proud grin. “For that, I might reconsider training again.”

  Valeriu goes crashing into the kitchen wall, making the wall shake and plaster drop off around us. I sneak around Valentine, who wraps his arm around my waist, holding me close to him.

  Valeriu pulls himself up the wall, wiping blood off his chin. “The alpha should have killed you himself when he took your innocence all those years ago. That was fun to watch. You screamed and screamed. Just like you will when—”

  He never finishes his sentence as Ragnar snaps his neck, and his body slumps down the wall.

  I feel like I can’t breathe as all of them turn to me, and I pull away from Valentine.

  “What the fuck did the Ravensword alpha do to you?”

  I look down. “When we were sixteen, he pretended to be my friend and...well, it was a game. He forced himself on me. I never thought I’d ever recover from that day. The shame of it.”

  Ragnar walks right up to me and cups my face. I look directly into his eyes. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. He does. And I am going to rip him to pieces for this. I swear to you.”

  “You don’t think I’m broken?” I ask, my voice cracking.

  “None of us do,” he vows, his words echoed by the others. He wipes away the tears falling down my cheeks as my heart pounds in my chest. I glance back to Valentine, Silas and Henderson circled around us.

  “He told me I was nothing... They all did,” I admit. “And I believed it. The pack believed him when he told them all I seduced him and didn’t like what happened. That it was my fault.”

  “It wasn’t,” Silas firmly states.

  “And we are going to tell you every single day how beautiful, amazing and strong you are until you believe that,” Ragnar says, letting me go and stepping back so all four of them make a half-circle around me. I’ve never felt safer or more wanted.

  Less broken.

  “That’s the thing... You have already been doing that,” I say with a small smile. “And now you know my secrets; I hope you trust me with some of yours.”

  “We have wanted to tell you for a while,” Henderson starts. Just as he is about to say something else, the world explodes. I scream as I go flying into the air, brick smacking into my body until one sizeable chunk hits me on the head and everything goes black for a second. I open my eyes, coughing at the dust around me and heaving from pain. My ribs scream in pain as I sit up, finding the world spinning in a dusty dark haze. I touch my head, seeing hot blood coating my fingers as my ears ring. Bricks keep falling around me, and I feel confused. What just happened?

  “Mai!” I hear Phim shout. I turn in the direction of her voice, walking on shaky steps over bricks and rock even as it keeps falling. Bright light shines down suddenly through the dust, and I look up to see the top of the mountain is gone, letting bright light beam down on what is left of the house.

  A hand wraps around my wrist, and I turn to see Phim, seeing her talking, but my ringing ears make it impossible to hear what she is saying as she pulls me with her. I stumble over rocks and onto grass outside, and I see we aren’t alone as my hearing finally comes back.

  “I found her. You could have killed her!” Phim shouts at a man. The man is tall with long white hair, glowing green eyes and a beautiful face. He pushes Phim out of the way and walks to me, stopping so close to me.

  “Phim...what is going on? Who is this?” I demand, and I turn to look back at the house. “The alphas. You have to help them! Trey is in there!”

  Two hands land on my shoulders, and I scream as the touch feels like ice. I shoot my eyes back to the man as I try to fight his hands off me, but I’m too weak or he is too strong. “Who are you?”

  “The more important question is who are you, Mairin Fall?” he replies with an accent I’ve never heard. “Are you a lost wolf? A childhood friend of four of the most important alphas in the world? Or are you the soul of a goddess?”

  “What are you going on about?” I demand, feeling myself getting weaker. He is doing something to me. I can barely lift my arms now to fight him, and my legs feel heavy. I still manage to scream. “Tell me!”

  Phim walks to the man’s side and looks me dead in the eye. “The alphas have been lying to you. You grew up with them because you’re bonded. They are the four parts of Hades’ soul, and you are Persephone’s soul reborn to a half-wolf, half-angel hybrid. They aren’t from this tiny bit of the world, and neither are you. They know it, and now, so do you. The reason you are so close to them is that your souls are bonded and have been for thousands of years.”

  I laugh, shaking my head. “You’re insane. Insane! That can’t be true. They would have told me! I would know if I were a goddess and was living with Hades!”

  “She is not lying to you. I know this because I am your father,” the man holding me states, and I look back at him as slowly golden bat-like wings stre
tch out at his back, appearing from nowhere. I jolt, realising the book I read on angels is real.

  And Henderson wrote it. So many other little things seem to slot into place until the final one does. Valentine said I looked like the woman they lost...but he lied.

  I am the woman they lost, and they lied to me. So is this man right? Are they really Hades? The forbidden god? Is that how they saved me?

  “We are going home, Mairin. You belong to us and not them,” the man claiming to be my father states as my legs give in and I collapse into his arms without a choice in the matter. “Seraphim, take my hand, daughter.”

  “Daughter?” I ask in a haze. Seraphim leans over me, and for the first time, I realise her eyes are the same shade as mine as they start to glow. “I don’t want to go with you. Le-t m-e…”

  “Hello, sister.”

  Read your next copy by clicking here…

  Sorry to leave you there. My bad. Cliffhangers can be a real…B. Some books pour out of my soul, and Her Wolves was one of them. Her Wolves demanded to be written around lockdown, two kids, three dogs and moving house. I have to thank my hubby for his dedication to stopping the kids coming into my office every few minutes.

  I’ve spent so many late nights writing away on Mairin’s story, and I can’t wait to share more of her with my readers. Wolf shifters have a special place in my heart, and this book is no different. Let me know if you liked this book with a quick review. I adore reading them.

  Thank you to everyone who helped, edited, poured me coffee or inspired this book in my mind.

  This is a trilogy and book two, Her Defenders, is on pre-order already. You can click here for the link.

  Thank you so much for reading my story!! Lots of love, G. xoxo

  Her Guardians Series

  Her Fate Series