His Wolf's Choice

by Mary Goldberger

  Garin shook his head giving her a lopsided grin. “No, there isn’t.”

  He was about to explain when Trevor walked over with a scowl on his face.

  “Garin, can we talk outside?” He requested although the tone dared Garin to refuse it. “Daya, we’ll be back in a few.”

  Trevor gave her a smile which she returned although it was small her face pale.

  Garin brushed a kiss over her lips before following Trevor out of the room and to the front door.

  Stepping out onto the porch, Garin remarked indifferently. “I didn’t see Whitney at the meeting.”

  Trevor barked out a laugh. “Do you care?” He challenged with a raised eyebrow.

  “No,” Garin denied without hesitation with a quick grin. “But until I talk with her, Daya’s worry and fear won’t disappear.”

  Trevor sighed running a hand through his hair. “True.” He stopped briefly glancing at Garin. “Just one question, Garin. Do you want to be released from my pack?”

  The question threw Garin whose eyes widened just for a second before narrowing and his wolf was speechless.

  “I think that answers your question, Alpha Trevor.” Another voice intervened getting their attention.

  Garin’s brows shot up although there was no surprise on his face. “I thought I caught a glimpse of you, Sir.”

  The newcomer chuckled at Garin’s polite address studying him intently before nodding his head walking over to join them. “I’m glad to see you doing so well, Fighter wolf Garin.”

  He was older than Trevor and Garin, and Garin could see that he was showing his age nodding his head in agreement at the other man’s comment even as words left his own mouth.

  “I’m guessing this isn’t just a visit to see Alpha Ralph’s mate.”

  Garin shot Trevor a quick glance catching the twist of his Alpha’s lips before he gave a quick nod of his head in confirmation to Garin’s unasked question.

  “No,” their companion confirmed vocally. “I’m on an errand for my Alpha.” He gave a quick grin, though, that showed he shouldn’t be underestimated. “He was confident that my errand wouldn’t go exactly as planned.”

  It took Garin a few seconds before suddenly his wolf growled and understanding flowed through him. “Whitney,” he snarled with a shake of his head.

  “She used the pack link to ask for permission to come back,” the man confirmed hesitantly briefly, “with her mate.”

  Garin slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans blue eyes steady and direct. “Do I need to give you my answer about my own plans?”

  The man chuckled a twinkle in his dark gaze. “No, even if I hadn’t heard your words, your actions spoke more than enough.”

  Trevor asked, though, out of curiosity. “Doesn’t Whitney know that when Garin left, he respectfully asked to be released from the pack?” Before either of the other men could say something, Trevor shook his head a frown coming to his face. “But I’m guessing she didn’t if she was able to connect your Alpha.”

  “No, she didn’t.” A scowl drifted across the man’s face. “She just left, but the Alpha had a feeling she did it so…”

  “Backup plan.” This was muttered from both Garin and Trevor, and Garin lifted his head meeting his former pack member’s eyes. “Tell your Alpha that I wish him the best, but I’ve made my decision.”

  “He was already sure of your decision,” the man replied with another chuckle putting a hand on Garin’s shoulder. “And he said to tell you to take care of yourself.”

  Garin nodded his head feeling Trevor relax next to him, and they heard the door opened turning their heads to see Whitney stepping out of the door dressed for travel.

  “I’m ready to go,” she declared. “Can you get someone to get my bags?”

  She strolled over to them giving the man a charming smile before dismissing him turning to Garin.

  “Garin, I haven’t had a chance to talk with you,” she said softly reaching to put her hands on his chest. “I was hoping we could earlier, but your door was locked when I went to see you.”

  Garin found himself almost sighing in relief. Thank you, Alec, Garin called out through the pack link.

  No problem, Alec answered laughter flowing through the link.

  “Garin.” Whitney’s sharp voice echoed loudly around the porch, and Garin couldn’t help wincing not that she noticed.

  Whitney glanced down to his hand and then downed to the porch a slight flicker of a frown across her features. “Where is you bag, Garin? I’m sure that we can leave without long-drawn out goodbyes.”

  “I don’t have it,” Garin spoke bluntly catching Whitney’s scowl at his words. “I haven’t packed yet.”

  “I told Dena to have someone pack your clothes for today.” Whitney spoke sharply missing Garin’s lifted brow or how other two stared at her with narrowed eyes.

  “You told Alpha Female Dena to have my bag packed,” Garin repeated, and Whitney had the grace to flush hearing it.

  “Well, I asked,” she backtracked her frown deepening on her face. “But your other things at Alpha Trevor’s pack house.” She shook her head at her own words and gave him a smile caressing his chest. “Before we leave, you should talk to one of his pack members about having them shipped to you.”

  Garin reached up and removed her hand from his chest even as he shot the single question at her even as her words made his wolf snarl.

  “Why?”

  Chapter 24

  Inside the house, Alec walked over to Leonardo who kept looking out the window a slight frown on his face.

  “Alpha,” Alec greeted getting his attention noticing the frown. “Is that…?”

  “Whitney called them,” Leonardo retorted with a shake of his head.

  Alec was quiet glancing across the room at Brianna who sensing his gaze lifted her head, and met his eyes, a smile coming to her face although it changed to confusion. Then Alec started to smile.

  “I think we should go out and see her off.” Alec suggested slowly with a glint in his eyes. “It is only respectful to see a former Alpha Female off.”

  Leonardo started to laugh catching Alec’s meaning. “As Alpha, I should see her off properly.”

  Alec glanced over at Brianna again who had returned to her conversation with Kelsey and Daya although he could sense her bewilderment at his earlier reaction.

  Alpha Leonardo and I are going outside to say goodbye to Whitney, Alec told her catching how she stiffened at his words.

  Her companions caught the action, too, and Alec could hear them asking her what was wrong. His mate hesitated briefly before telling them what Alec said, and Alec caught how Daya went pale at Brianna’s words.

  Maybe we all should give her our goodbyes. Alec suggested with a hint of humor. Especially Daya. She needs to see this through.

  Brianna winced at his words and her eyes flashed at him, but he merely winked and left the room.

  Alec and Leonardo stepped outside just as Garin asked his question which echoed around the porch. Alec chuckled quietly catching the smile that drifted across Leonardo’s face out of the corner of his eye.

  Whitney seemed speechless, and then she recovered stepping closer to Garin just as the others joined them on the porch.

  Alec glanced over at Daya seeing her pale face and the anguish in her brown eyes, but he couldn’t say anything turning his attention back to his friend and the woman with him.

  This was Garin’s show and he was the one who had to make the final decision.

  Garin sensed the others coming out of the house, but it was Daya that his wolf focused on.

  She is in pain, his wolf alerted him with a low growl. But she is dealing with it.

  Garin gritted his teeth at the news because he didn’t want her dealing with it. He wanted her to be right there next to him telling Whitney to back off.

  Whitney is our mate, his wolf reminded him although his tone was indifferent.

  Ex-mate, Garin stressed without a se
cond thought, and he heard his wolf purr with delight at his words.

  Garin was distracted when a loud gasped filled the air getting his attention understanding his wolf’s reaction. His eyes immediately was drawn to the woman whose gasp echoed around the porch seeing the dazed look on Daya’s face.

  Reading the look on her face, a slow wicked smile settled on his face.

  “Garin.” Whitney’s petulant voice didn’t dim the smile, but after winking at Daya, he gave Whitney his full attention.

  “Yes,” he replied in a voice filled impatience lifting one eyebrow to her.

  Whitney frowned up at him uncertainty on her face. “We should get going, Garin. We can send for the rest of your things later.”

  She latched onto his arm turning to the man who Trevor and Garin had been talking with before she came out.

  Before she could say a word, Garin was disengaging himself from her hand nodding to him.

  “I hope you have a good journey back,” Garin gave his goodbyes with those words. “Tell the Alpha I said hello.”

  “Will do.” The man grinned giving Garin a sharp nod of his head.

  “Garin, what…?” There a shrillness to Whitney’s voice when she called his name this time along with confusion and a hint of anger. “You’re coming with me back to our pack.”

  Garin shook his head sliding his hands into the back pockets of his jeans while he stared at the woman in front of him absently noting that she didn’t stir anything in him. “No I’m not,” he replied his grin widening at his own thoughts. “When I left, I asked for permission to break my connection to the pack and although the Alpha didn’t want to see me go, he understood my reasons and gave his blessing.”

  Whitney’s mouth dropped open and her face went a sickly shade of white. “I’m sure, if you asked to rejoin, the Alpha will accept it without reservation,” she uttered in a shocked voice.

  “He probably would,” Garin agreed after a brief second of thought, “but I don’t want to return. I’m happy in my current pack and I don’t have any plans of leaving them.”

  Whitney scowled eyes shifting to the people standing on the porch avoiding Trevor’s eyes settling on Daya whose dazed look had disappeared from her brown eyes. Now, they shimmered with so many emotions and focused on Garin.

  “Garin,” Whitney turned to him giving a soft sigh. “If you want to stay with them, then I understand.”

  Turning to the man, she smiled regretfully. “I’m sorry that you had to drive all this way, but we are staying with Garin’s current pack.”

  There was silence at her words until Garin said softly, but his meaning was more than clear. “I suggest you go, Whitney.”

  Whitney turned to him with a soft smile. “As your mate, Garin, I should stay with you.”

  “As my mate,” Garin repeated in a quiet voice shifting his eyes to meet her eyes. “You were my mate, Whitney, even after you rejected me. Yet, the second you cajoled another into accepting you as his mate, then you severed any bond between us.”

  The smile slipped from Whitney’s face and her face filled with confusion. “But we are mates. Nothing has changed.”

  Garin shook his head eyes shifting to Daya who was still staring at him before she suddenly started to smile beginning to walk over to him.

  “Everything has changed,” Garin replied in a low voice eyes on Daya. “It changed the moment my wolf recognized another and chose that one for his mate.”

  Daya was by his side now and Garin reached out wrapping his arms around her slim waist pulling her tight against him.

  He shifted his gaze to Whitney whose eyes widened with disbelief feeling Daya’s breath against his neck.

  “You rejected me, Whitney, because I wasn’t good enough for you.” Garin didn’t bother watching his words staring at her with narrowed eyes. “You had what you wanted, but then you started getting the feeling that Ralph wasn’t as into you as you wanted, probably even knew the reason he marked you as his mate.” Garin shrugged his shoulders just speaking off the top of his head and yet he became alert when Whitney suddenly stumbled back. “You orchestrated the whole thing, didn’t you?”

  Garin’s soft whisper made Whitney flinch before she started shaking her head. “Garin, why are you doing this? I love you, I’m your mate…”

  “You used me.”

  Daya felt the tension enter Garin even as the words left his mouth and her heart twisted with the pain, she felt going through him.

  Turning her attention to Whitney, she uttered with certainty. “You were going to use him to go back to your old pack. Once there, you would’ve rejected him again.” Daya shook her head bewilderment crossing her face. “But why?”

  “Our Beta lost his mate a year ago,” the man revealed stepping forward giving Whitney a brief glance before turning to meet Daya’s eyes. “When Whitney contacted the Alpha, he was surprised until his Beta informed him that Whitney had been sending him emails for almost six months now.”

  There was complete silence at this information before Trevor spoke his tone hard. “Since you never broke your bond with the pack, you didn’t need Garin to ensure your return.”

  “But you did need him as a cover if you wanted to seduce the Beta once you returned,” Alec added joining them with Brianna and the others. “What were you going to do, Whitney? Once back at the pack, you would tell Garin that you weren’t quite ready to fully initiate the marking since you just broke one and you had genuinely cared about Ralph although he had used you to find his true mate.”

  “Play the part of the rejected mate who was used and discarded,” Brianna continued shaking her head. “You could play it just right knowing Garin would understand, and being wary himself, probably wouldn’t push the issue.”

  “Yet, you needed a reason to get to Garin before Ralph finally found her.” Kelsey stepped forward adding her own opinion. “So, you hired someone to threaten you not knowing the person you hired was closer to the truth about Ralph’s mate then even you knew.”

  “Ralph did what he had to protect you, and once he asked help from another Alpha, it made it so much easier for you. All you had to do was tell him how you heard about a pack who offered protection,” Jaime took over from Kelsey. “Request help from our pack and then mention casually about Garin probably nothing that would alert Ralph, but with a few tears, he will try to appease you.”

  “Since he was already feeling guilty about using you to find his mate,” Garin finished eyes on Whitney with no emotion. “Your plan would’ve worked, too, if I hadn’t met Daya a few weeks before Alpha Leonardo called Trevor requesting our aid.”

  Whitney allowed tears to feel her eyes. “Garin, how could you think that about me? I…”

  “We know that you were the one behind Ralph’s mate disappearing,” Trevor uttered, and Whitney scrambled back shaking her head.

  “We don’t choose our mates,” Garin said slowly. “We are given the ones who will support and calm us when we need them. We are given the ones who love us no matter our strengths or failings.”

  Whitney’s face became a mask of anger. “I was supposed to be the support for a fighter wolf? Some low mutt who will only be nothing more than a servant to a pack. I deserved better than that, and I reached for it.”

  Her scornful words echoed around the porch and Daya turned to Garin reaching up a hand to his face which made him turn to her blue eyes shadowed with pain.

  “You are no servant,” Daya told him quietly. “You serve your pack, and your Alpha, with pride. As my uncle once told me, without fighter wolves, his pack would never survive. They are the backbones of the pack; they support and protect it through all situations.”

  Daya let her words drop off, but her brown eyes pleaded with him to listen to her words, to believe in her.

  Garin found himself drowning in those pleads and he lowered his forehead to hers letting out a slow sigh. “Thank you,” he whispered feeling himself calm down while his wolf gave another low purr before relaxing within hi
m.

  “You were right, Whitney,” Leonardo remarked walking toward them eyes narrowed, but his voice was conversationally. “But I think you misunderstood something.”

  “What was that?” She sneered at him before remembering who he was going still and staring at him.

  “It was the other way around,” Leonardo revealed ignoring her words while a gleeful grin slipped across his face. “Garin deserved better, and if he had met Daya then, you wouldn’t had to worry about being the mate of a fighter wolf.”

  At his words, everyone turned to Leonardo but it was Ralph who explained the questions on their faces.

  “Leonardo and I realized it a few weeks ago.”

  “What?” Whitney smirked letting her eyes drift to Daya and Garin. “That the human is Garin’s second mate…”

  “No,” Ralph shook his head a mocking smile on his face. “No, Whitney, Daya isn’t Garin’s second mate. You are.”

  Whitney’s face immediately went flush at his words. “What in the hell are you talking about? I was Garin’s first mate…”

  “You were in the same pack as Garin,” Leonardo talked over her as if she hadn’t even spoken. “It was easier for Garin’s wolf to recognize you because of it.”

  “But…” Whitney’s words dropped off before she came back with a snarl. “I’m a she-wolf. There is no way in hell that a human would be a first mate to a male wolf.”

  “Garin, when you first met Daya, what was your first sensation of her?” Leonardo asked without moving his eyes from Whitney.

  “Strawberries and mint,” Garin answered smiling down at Daya seeing her brown eyes brighten in surprise. “My wolf caught it first and then I did. It was intoxicating even though it startled me, but I found myself immediately seeking out the smell without a second thought.”

  “What about Whitney?”

  Garin frowned. “I don’t remember any smell associated with her. I just remember looking at her and being attracted to her.”