Seeking to Belong: Wolftale Series~Book 1

by M. Ekman

  Without hesitation, her father responded with a resounding, “Yes.”

  “As you have promised to guard us, we promise to guard you. Your life is ours just as ours is yours. You will never be alone, forgotten, or forsaken. Welcome to the Blood Mountain Pack.”

  As the last of Alpha Tyler’s words were spoken, over 100 voices chorused through the pack-link, “Welcome to the Blood Mountain Pack!”

  When various people came to congratulate the older man in joining their ranks, Tyler grabbed Ruth’s hand, and gently pulled her back. She shook her head at the crowd surrounding her father, which mainly consisted of older unmated she-wolves.

  After a few moments Jason walked up to them, “It’s time Alpha.”

  “Blood Mountain Pack,” he said interrupting the revelry, “I know there have been rumors flying around about John Osbolt’s reasoning behind joining the pack and why he showed up in our territory. I would like to put those rumors to rest. John Osbolt came to warn us of a threat. The son of Alpha Brax, Nathan, is on his way here to take over our territory.”

  At his final words many pack members growled threateningly, some who knew Ruth better (like Violet) couldn’t help but shift into their wolf form. Everyone knew who Nathan had been to Ruth, or at least suspected it, and no one blamed her for the impending battle. Instead, everyone was willing to take out the threat to Ruth and their pack. It was difficult for her to hold back her tears. No one had ever defended or shown love for her like this

  Tyler continued, “We will have to up our patrols and begin running pack drills again to make sure all omegas and other non-fighters know where their safe rooms are located. I would like all enforcers to join me for a meeting in the pack conference room and all heads of omega families to stay with Beta Jason out here. We will prove that we are a force to be reckoned with.”

  Howls arose in assent before everyone moved to their designated meeting areas.

  As Tyler moved to enter the pack house, Ruth asked, “Where would I be of most use, Alpha?”

  Ruth hadn’t called him that in a long time. Her use of his title wasn’t meant to put distance between them, but rather to show him the respect he deserved as her leader.

  Smiling, Tyler replied, “You will always be needed where I am needed. Not only are you the highest ranking dominant female, but you are mine, Little Warrior.”

  His wink afterwards caused Ruth to strain to suppress a smile, but Tyler wasn’t finished. Reaching to cradle her face in one hand, he continued, “I will always be alpha, but you are my partner. You do not need to defer to me. You always have an equal say whether that be in our relationship, or matters of this pack. Plus, I’d hate to go back to formality after you’ve finally given me a nickname.”

  This time Ruth couldn’t hide her grin, “Well it took you a long time to be charming enough to deserve one, Ty.”

  Tyler rolled his eyes with a grin as he led them both into the pack conference rooms where all the enforcers were gathered, including Ruth’s father. Everyone was seated around an oblong pine table at the end of which sat two chairs side by side. Without hesitation Tyler headed towards them and seated Ruth beside himself.

  No one said a word about it, though there were some knowing smiles. An hour-long meeting commenced where new patrols were outlined and assigned. In addition, training schedules, headed by Ruth’s father since he had been the head enforcer of his old pack, were revised.

  At around 11 o’clock Ruth nudged Tyler in his mindlink. “It is late, Ty. We can discuss more tomorrow when we have fresh minds.”

  Instead of answering her, Tyler pulled her hand up to his lips and gave it a quick kiss causing Ruth to blush again. “It seems that Ruth keeps better track of time than I do. It is late, so let patrol team Echo do the first watch and we will reconvene tomorrow.”

  “As you say so it shall be, Alpha,” replied the smirking group in unison before they all rose and left the room.

  Ruth picked up a nervous energy from Tyler as he began playing with the hand he had kissed a moment before. Attempting to assuage him she mock whispered, “Is there a reason we also haven’t gone to bed?”

  The usually self-confident Tyler turned slightly pink as he confessed, “Yes, but— I’m not sure if…”

  As he continued to struggle to ask for what he wanted, Ruth broke out into a fit of giggles. When she finally gained control, she stood, “I never thought I would see the day where you are the one who is flustered. Come on Ty, it’s bedtime.”

  He trailed after her a bit before wrapping an arm around her waist and dropping his forehead to her shoulder. “Is it completely ridiculous to say that I don’t want to be away from you right now?”

  “Tyler—“

  “I know, I know,” he cut Ruth off with a sigh, “but with the impending attack from Nathan’s pack of miscreants hanging over us, I’m just going to worry about you.”

  Ruth wiggled around until she was facing him with her hands on either side of his face. “Sometimes you talk too much.”

  Tyler quirked an eyebrow as she gave him a swift peck on the lips, “Just because we need to go to sleep doesn’t mean we have to be apart. Though with emotions running as high as they are, it might be better if one of us sleeps in our wolf form.”

  Wonderment crossed his face as Ruth so easily accepted what he needed and didn’t hold any of his previous actions and words against him. “How did I get so lucky?” he murmured.

  She just shook her head as she towed him up the stairs. Once they were outside of her room she gave Tyler another quick kiss, “See you in a second.”

  The alpha had other ideas as he sneakily shifted into his wolf once Ruth’s back was turned, and charged into the room before her. She grumbled, “I thought we were over this not-leaving-Ruth-alone-long-enough-to-pee thing.”

  Instead of responding, Tyler gave a wolfy yip and lifted himself on his back paws to give her a playful lick on the face. “Okay, okay. Just keep your drool to yourself.”

  Tyler yipped again before bounding away as Ruth muttered “goofball” under her breath. He smiled at her, which Ruth acknowledged with an eye roll, “You know that your smile in wolf form is incredibly creepy right?”

  Instead of responding Tyler leaned forward to gently grab Ruth’s shirt in his teeth and pull her towards the bed. Laughing, she retorted with, “Good to know that your pushiness hasn’t lessened.”

  Lying down on her side facing Tyler, Ruth ran a hand across the soft fur that lined his chest and neck. At her touch, he emitted a low grumble and used his front leg to pull her so that her head rested right under his chin.

  “As nice as that is,” he mindlinked, “it is best for my control right now if you don’t do that.” He gave her a lick on the forehead to lighten the mood, “Sleep my sweet little warrior.”

  CHAPTER 30

  As the days passed, Tyler began to receive more and more reports from other packs about rogue attacks from the north. He was bent over his desk reading through the latest report, when he was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Before Tyler could ask who it was, Ruth barged in, skipping around his desk and plopping herself in his lap.

  “I just got done with training and I’m starving. Let’s get something to eat.”

  “And where is your guard?” He asked with an imperious tone.

  Rolling her eyes she huffed, “Yeah, like I need her following me here. She already acts like a hound dog. She almost followed me into the bathroom today, Ty. The bathroom!”

  Tyler let out a deep chuckle. He was grateful that Ruth hadn’t fought with him overly much about needing a guard. Though, he knew it was mostly because the guard he’d selected was Cassie. As much as she complained, Ruth was just as close to Cassie as she was to Violet.

  Ruth had changed so much in the short time she’d been in the pack. She was opening up and being completely herself without any fear of reproof. Her father now being here and telling her the truth about their past had helped even more. Tyler was happy for her, an
d now that he wasn’t keeping distance between them, he had to admit he was happy for himself too. He loved the candid way she had begun to show her affection over the last few days.

  Tyler allowed his wolf eyes to flash at Ruth while uttering in her ear, “I think I’ve already found dessert. I’ll skip dinner.”

  Ruth’s cheeks flamed, but Tyler cut off her embarrassment with a passionate kiss. However, before things could get too heated, he pulled away as he always did. Ruth let out a growl of disappointment.

  “Ruth,” he sighed, “We have to stop. I don’t want to take it too far.”

  She huffed and crossed her arms like a petulant child, “You always say that.”

  Tyler chuckled and bopped Ruth on her nose with his finger, “Perhaps, my pet, that’s because it is true.”

  “Well if you’d just do the bonding ceremony with me already, then it wouldn’t be a problem,” she mumbled clearly not amused by the nickname.

  Tyler froze in shock and Ruth’s eyes widened in horror as she realized what she had just said. Ruth was the first to recover, mostly, “Tyler, I—I didn’t mean. I just…I love you.”

  An edge of sadness began to creep into Tyler’s eyes, which caused Ruth to hang her head. He reached a callused hand to her cheek and tilted her face up to look at him.

  He was cut off by a warning howl released by one of the pack enforcers. Both Tyler and Ruth shot out of the desk chair and raced to the pack house’s front door.

  As they shifted into their wolves, Tyler mindlinked the pack, “All omegas and non-warriors are to report to the safe rooms immediately. Team Lambda you are on guard duty—protect the non-combatants with your life. All other teams, outside with me.”

  Tyler didn’t bother trying to talk Ruth out of coming with him this time. He knew she needed to fight, and to face her past. As they made their way to the pack boundaries, Tyler was disheartened to see a massive group of at least 200 rogues. How Nathan had collected so many in such a short span of time was a mystery.

  A wolf in dull, rust colored fur made his way forward. He was rather large, though not as big as Tyler. Feeling a nudge in the mindlink, Tyler heard Ruth growl out, “Nathan.”

  It seemed that knowing he was coming after them and seeing him in the flesh were two different things for Ruth. But after the initial shock wore off, Tyler was proud to see a fierceness light her gaze. Taking his eyes off Ruth, Tyler growled low as he faced the intruder. Blood Mountain pack enforcers fanned out behind him and Ruth, giving the same warning growls.

  Ruth mindlinked Tyler, “I’m going to shift into human form.”

  It made sense since they couldn’t communicate with non-pack members via mindlink. Tyler didn’t like it, but he didn’t want to hold Ruth back either, so he nodded. Within seconds, Ruth stood in all her human glory glaring at the rogues with daggers in her eyes.

  “Nathan, what do you think are you doing?”

  He also shifted, though not as seamlessly as she had, which made Tyler secretly proud. The speed of your shift was directly correlated to your wolf’s strength. Ruth had told Tyler that she felt everyday like her wolf was getting stronger, though he had no idea why.

  The rogue responded, “You would be surprised to find how easy it is to convince people to join my cause. Apparently, a chance to kill the son of Alpha Stone is just too good to pass up.”

  Ruth’s glare didn’t lessen, if anything her anger rose higher, “Why would you want to kill Tyler?”

  Eyes flashing dangerously with madness Nathan grit out, “He took my mate from me.”

  “What?” Ruth exclaimed simultaneously as a fierce roar ripped from Tyler’s throat. “You’re crazy. You rejected me, remember? I had to leave my pack because of you!”

  Nathan was clearly hungry for any kind of power, even the power that came at the expense of innocents. It took everything Tyler had not to charge at the idiot and end him, but he didn’t want to be the one to start the battle. His pack had been through enough fighting in his lifetime and Tyler still wanted peace for them. With some difficulty, he was able to change into a man and stand beside Ruth.

  “I think you’ll find that I didn’t take Ruth. It was you who lost her,” Tyler deeply intoned.

  Nathan was shaking with the need to change, “She should never have left. The mutt knew better.”

  At the derogatory name, calling a shifter a mutt was the lowest form of insult, the pack enforcers began barking and growling so loudly that no other sound could be heard. It was only Tyler’s alpha powers that kept his wolves from attacking right then and there. Shock registered on Nathan’s face as he saw the reaction, which caused a smug look to cross Ruth’s face.

  “Things are different now, Nathan. I’m not as alone as I once was. You thought that you could have it all because I was some little nobody. I have a whole pack behind me now. One that would die for me as I would die for them.”

  Seemingly without any conscious decision on their part, the pack moved closer to Alpha Female in silent support. It took an enormous amount of effort for Tyler not to pull Ruth towards him in a passionate embrace. There was nothing hotter than seeing your mate put down a mutt like Nathan.

  Tyler’s thoughts were interrupted as Nathan let out a crazed laugh. “You will never be more than a nobody, Ruth. No matter how many alpha’s you sleep with.”

  In a blink, Tyler was in wolf form making a lunge toward the stupid wolf that dared to say such things about his little warrior. However, he was pulled up short by a yank on his tail. Tyler whipped around to see that Ruth was the one holding him back. It was a rare dominant female that had the strength to take on an enraged alpha.

  She loosened her grip on Tyler, but didn’t let go as she trailed her hand up until it rested on his head. Forgetting everyone else at her feather light touch, Tyler sat on his haunches waiting.

  Slowly, Ruth lowered her forehead to his as she murmured, “Nothing Nathan says could ever matter to me. He’s an ignorant power-hungry dictator who would do anything to crush those in his path. I meant what I said earlier. I love you.”

  Tyler saw Ruth's eyes flash the electric ice blue of her wolf even though there was no anger in her words. Ruth was claiming him as a woman and as a wolf. In response, he knew his eye’s flashed amber.

  “Ruth—” was all he could get out before a vicious snarl sounded behind them.

  In a flash the open space between both groups was suddenly filled with fighting wolves. Nathan, enraged at her words, had tried to attack the couple. Cassie jumped in to defend them, and from there all hell broke loose. Tyler mumbled in exasperation at being cut off again as Ruth shifted so they both could join the fray.

  Each of Alpha Tyler’s fighters attacked with the strength of ten, but it was not enough and they all knew it. There were barely fifty combatants against Nathan’s army, but they all fought on anyway.

  Just as Tyler was coming to the aid of a fallen enforcer he heard a group of howls behind him and turned to see Ruth’s father leading a group of nearly twice the size of Nathan’s to the battlefield. The older wolf leapt over the two of them and attacked a rogue that was charging during the momentary distraction.

  “Thank you for finding them,” Tyler bowed his head.

  Ruth mindlinked them both, “Father, when did you leave? Where were you? What is going on?”

  “Last night Alpha Tyler asked me to go on a mission to recruit as many friends as I could. Honestly, not many answered the call, but I managed to whittle out a few favors.”

  “Oh,” Tyler didn’t hear the rest of her response as he became distracted by three of the rogues. Luckily for him and his pack, Nathan’s men had obliviously never trained together. They had no idea how to work as a unit.

  The first wolf charged him with foam dripping from his jaws. Despite his outward appearance the wolf was uncoordinated and sloppy, as he was unable to keep up with Tyler’s quick maneuvering. Tyler slid out of the wolf’s path before darting forward to clamp his mighty jaws on a foreleg. With a
loud crunch the limb broke, and Tyler left the incapacitated rogue behind to face his other two opponents.

  However, before he could attack his mind filled with panic that wasn’t his. Suddenly, Ruth slid underneath his stomach and popped out behind him. Tyler turned to see Nathan was mid-jump, attempting to land on his back. Ruth wrapped her sharp canines around the traitor’s tail and pulled him abruptly to the ground.

  Before Tyler could come to her aid she had let go of the dazed wolf’s tail and went for the neck. Nathan clawed at her mercilessly, but Ruth only held on tighter until she managed to slice through his trachea, ceasing all movement from him.

  “Tyler,” Ruth called out through the mindlink before collapsing from blood loss.

  The alpha emitted a roar of rage and his power boomed out over the field. The weakest of the warriors fell to the ground unable to move under Tyler’s oppressive power. Ruth’s father appeared to materialize out of thin air next to the distraught alpha. He bowed his head, seeking permission to finish what Ruth had started, which Tyler gave with a shallow nod. John Osbolt went over to the gasping Nathan who was now in human form trying to staunch the flow of blood. Without hesitation Ruth’s father dealt Nathan a killing blow, nearly slicing his neck in two.

  Ignoring everyone else Tyler went to Ruth. “Why did you do that? I had things covered,” he mindlinked his little warrior as he nudged her nose with his.

  “I would do anything for you. Do you doubt my love even now?’

  “I never doubted you, but you have to see that I don’t deserve it.”

  She gave him a look that in any other situation would have made him laugh. In a commanding tone she ordered, “Tyler, mark me.”

  He let out a low howl of frustration, “You know I can’t.”

  “Well, you never know until you try. I want my last memory in this world to be you making me yours whether it works or not. Prove to me that my love isn’t an unrequited one.”

  Tyler let out a gusty breath, then he moved his large wolf head over to her shoulder and quickly bit down trying to harm her as little as possible.