A Twist of Luck (Shifter City Fated Mates #2)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

EMME

F inley was a giant in more ways than one: a giant pain in my ass, a giant lumbersnack, and a giant, terrifying bear.

He stood what felt like miles above my wolf form, his fur a deep rich brown, with scatterings of that same golden color that threaded his human hair. He bore no resemblance to any sort of cute fluffy bear. He was exactly how I imagined a crazed murderous monster with a taste for blood would look.

Was it necessary for him to stand seven feet tall and resemble a nightmare creature? One or the other would have been more than enough, but as always with these alphas, they had to be overachievers.

Cora wiggled her small frame, silky strands of fur flying around her gracefully while she got the zoomies out. Warrick remained at her side, his canines on show as he kept an eye on our surroundings.

I’d always thought that Warrick had the most terrifying and vicious wolf form until Hunter’s beast strode in. I’d seen Hunter’s black wolf from a distance, but nothing could have prepared me for him stalking toward me in the dimly lit forest. I had to back up many steps to take in his massive length and breadth, and… he was as alarmingly terrifying as Finley.

No. More terrifying.

Holy fuck. He was huge all over, powerful muscles visible under his short, black coat, and as he locked me in those dark as sin eyes, I wanted to run. I wanted to flee in a way I’d never felt.

This aptly named alpha had always given off hunter and prey vibes, and they’d never been as strong as today, when we both stood as wolves. This was nature at its basest form, and there was no doubt who we bowed to.

Then Slade strolled over, and once again, even in his humanoid form, he held dominion over the beasts. How were these alphas my pack? It was almost impossible to believe, and yet I felt the connection to them deep in my soul. Especially in my wolf form, as I slid my nose along Slade’s boot, huffing in his delicious scent. My beast had always been cautious around the dragon, but less so now that we’d spent time with him.

When Slade crouched down, he met my wolf’s eyes. “Ready to run, Snow?”

A little yip escaped me, and my tail moved like a fucking windmill, round and round. The wolves around me howled, and Finley opened his massive mouth, displaying long and lethal canines as he roared into the world.

Animals had long ago departed our vicinity, so he didn’t scare anything off except a couple of other shifters, who did a double take and sprinted in the opposite direction of our group.

Warrick and Cora took off first, playfully nipping at each other. Or at least one of them was—Warrick tended to be quite serious for the first part of the run. He’d loosen up when his wolf’s initial needs were sated.

Hunter nudged me to move, and I bounded into the forest, enjoying the stretching of my legs and muscles. Hunter remained at my side and slightly ahead, keeping an eye on everything. Finley fell in behind us, his form surprisingly quiet and agile despite the bulk he hauled around. Slade looked like he was taking a casual stroll but somehow stayed on my other side.

The alphas were adept at leading while remaining around me in a protective circle.

At first it annoyed me, my beast fighting the restrictiveness of their formation, until I realized that this was what running with a protective pack felt like. My wolf and I had no experience with packs, but eventually we found our rhythm. Abandoning all human thoughts and worries, I sprinted as fast as I could along the well-worn paths, the scent of nature and other shifters everywhere.

The mocha, vanilla, cherry, and toasted marshmallow were comforting as they blended with my chocolate and honey. The only hovering shadow was our missing cinnamon and caramel.

The thought of Kellan had my wolf throwing her head back and howling mournfully into the crisp air. He would have loved this run with all our pack. Our first real run, and he wasn’t here for it.

With that thought my joy faded, and I found myself slowing.

“Kellan would want you to enjoy yourself,” Slade said into the quiet morning air. “Mourning him before he is dead doesn’t help anyone. Keep living life for him, Snow. Give him what he needs while he fights to stay alive.”

A snarl ripped from me as I spun around, only to find myself pinned by a pair of deep, green eyes. “I know, Emmeline,” he shot back with his own snarl. “I understand that feeling of helplessness and despair tearing through you. It won’t save our pack mate, so you need to rise above it.”

Dammit. I hated when he wouldn’t just let me sink into my feelings, whether they were irrational and frustrating or not. If I had the ability to flip him off, I would have taken the risk. I was almost certain he wouldn’t kill me over a simple middle finger. Almost certain.

Hunter’s growl and bark of command got us all back on track, and we ended up in a section of forest by the stream, similar to where I’d first met Kellan. That was a nice memory, and I wrapped it around myself as I tried not to dwell on our missing alpha. Whether he’d want me to be happy running without him or not… I just wasn’t. It felt as if an essential part of me was missing, like a limb or a quarter of my heart.

Cora and Warrick, who’d diverted from the main path at some point, burst into the clearing, and I wasn’t surprised by Warrick playfully nudging his mate. He rolled her over onto her back to nuzzle against her throat.

Hunter did the same to me, his massive head firm against my side until I went down, and he licked along the edge of my jaw. His rough tongue felt good, and I yelped lightheartedly, trying to bowl him over too. With his boulder-like density, I had no hope.

He didn’t budge even when I ran full force into his side, bruising only myself and my ego.

I swear he laughed a little, his lips lifting as his chest rumbled.

Warrick and Cora headed for the stream, and I watched them, happy to see how strongly their bond shone. To the point I almost caught a glimpse of what appeared to be tangible connections as they lapped up water and splashed in the shallows.

My observations were interrupted by Slade gracefully sliding to the ground, his long legs sprawled out in front of him as he leaned back against a nearby tree in the shade. As promised, he’d had absolutely no issue keeping up with us, and through a few of the denser paths, the branches appeared to all but shift out of his way as he moved. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Slade commanded nature, and nature obeyed.

When Hunter finally allowed me to regain my footing, I padded toward the stream to find Finley, in his bear form, perched in the middle. His huge paws plunged into the current, and for all his terrifying grizzly form, he looked cute as he swiped through the water, like he was trying to catch a?—

He stabbed a dark pink fish with his eight-inch claws and lifted it to his mouth, tearing the head right off it. Well… that was one way to fish.

My wolf was thirsty, so we moved downstream and lapped at the frosty water, enjoying the fresh taste of the stream. Hunter remained close by, ever vigilant as he observed the clearing, scented the air, and kept a general eye on our surroundings.

It reminded me of a story Ophelia Locker, a lady I worked with in Vegas two years ago, told me. She said whenever she went out at night with her husband, she switched her brain off. I never truly understood what she meant at the time, but she explained that when she was alone she always kept a close eye on her surroundings, calculated the risk of every path she took, and always held her keys or mace in hand to use as a weapon.

Human women didn’t have the luxury of just strolling around at night without fear, but when she was with her big, burly, tatted husband, he was the protector, and she just got to… exist.

At the time, I’d internally laughed at the thought of ever trusting a male shifter enough to switch off my own protective instincts. But with Hunter and this pack… I mean, I didn’t just stop overseeing my own safety, but I shared it, which allowed moments of enjoying my run without fear.

For the first time in my life there was a pack at my back, and considering how hard I’d fought against this fate, and how wrong I’d been about it, I was starting to wonder if I’d been wrong about more than just that.

Could these alphas truly turn on me one day and become a threat?

They were nothing like the Rogers pack, and therefore… maybe… they could handle the power.

It was a terrifying, alluring thought.

When I’d drank my fill, and was sated and relaxed, I padded back toward Slade. My wolf understood not to touch him as she lay down, leaving a few inches between his legs and our body. Hunter settled in on my other side, and he had no qualms about space, pressing into my side, the heat of his energy countering the chill of the air.

Even at a distance Slade gave off just as much heat, and I was relaxed and drowsy, resting my head on my paws as I drifted off into a snooze. In my half-asleep state, a solid but gentle weight pressed to the base of my skull, and my wolf internally preened at Slade touching us. The pressure against my head was soothing, regulating my beast.

Finley’s scent drifted closer, and while he didn’t touch me, his presence helped me drift off to sleep. Sleep away my pain and worry, and fears over Kellan.

Sleep away the concern that my presence in these alphas’ lives was going to get one of them killed.

Finley blamed me for Kellan, and deep inside I agreed with him. I kept that pain and anger tucked away with the memories of finding my mom hanging like a husk in the street.

She’d never been a good mother, and I wasn’t sure she deserved a different ending to the one she got, but we continued to share the same fate. Even if mine already felt different with this pack of alphas who brought me moments of peace and protection.

Her pack had never done that for her. Not even once, despite her dependency on them. It was always her sacrificing everything, and them taking and taking.

They’d been assholes in the truest sense, and when they’d stood there and laughed as I tried to cut her down from her place of death, I’d known I had to run.

From them, and all the alphas I believed were the same.

I’d been successful for a while too, until fate chose a different path for me.

Did that mean my fate no longer aligned with Mom’s?

Would I get a different ending?