Chapter 8
Jury tensed and waited for Oliver to touch her.
She despised being touched by strangers.
Absolutely, unequivocally hated it. Oddly enough, her wolf didn’t.
In fact, her wolf craved touch, and it was something they’d been trying to deal with.
A compromise hadn’t been found, but her wolf was at least smart enough to realize that most of the touch they’d ever experienced had been in the form of punishment.
In her mind, Jury was protecting not just herself but her wolf.
But her wolf kept whispering, one more try. Dumb animal!
Oliver gently grabbed her wrist and slowly lifted her arm. Beside her, a rolling growl began rumbling from Koe. It had the fine hair on her arms rising. Oliver noticed it too because he shot Koe a side-long glance and inhaled deeply as if trying to calm himself.
Oliver turned Jury’s arm over and leaned forward.
“Too close,” Koe warned on a snarl.
Oliver immediately backed up and lowered Jury’s arm.
“The most damage was done to her back,” Koe explained.
The knowledge had Oliver lowering his head in obvious submission as he stated, “I’ll need to touch her there too.”
“Does it hurt?”
Both Jury and Oliver looked at Koe. He was staring straight at Jury as he demanded a second time, “Does it hurt for you to be touched on your back?”
Jury considered lying but knew Koe and Oliver would scent her deception, so she spoke the truth. “Sometimes,” she muttered with a shrug. The skin is very delicate now. It rips often. Any pressure is…uncomfortable.”
Koe’s gaze slid to Oliver. “No touching.”
Oliver nodded solemnly, then stood to round the table as Koe helped Jury to a sitting position.
When Oliver got to where he could see Jury’s back, he gasped.
The sound had Jury wincing as she lowered her head to hide her shame.
She had a goddamn wolf in her for Christ’s sake!
No one should have been able to abuse her the way she had been.
But when Bragga punished her, he always came with Enforcers. She was always outnumbered.
“There’s no need for embarrassment, Jury.”
Her cheeks reddened at Koe’s admonishment. How would he know? His wolf had likely never been forced to endure abuse. A spike of anger ripped through her, and she sneered, “Are we done yet?”
Koe stayed in front of her, his hands going to her knees where they rested gently, surprising both her and her wolf with comfort. Behind her, Oliver cleared his throat and looked at his Alpha. “This is severe, Koe.”
“No shit!” Koe growled angrily.
“What I mean,” Oliver continued, “is that there’s nothing I can do. There’s no medicine or salve, but…”
“But what?” Koe demanded.
Oliver shrugged. “A mate mark might repair some of the damage. But there’s no guarantee.”
Without waiting for permission, Jury shoved Koe’s hands aside and hopped off the table.
“Like I said. Just scars.” Snatching up her clothes, she quickly started redressing, her back to both Koe and Oliver.
Her leggings were back on, and she was just about to put on her turtle neck when she tensed. The air suddenly felt heavy.
“Koe!” Oliver bellowed, “It doesn’t work like that!”
Jury spun and found Koe towering over her. His incisors were elongated, and his pupils were blown out with his wolf.
With a gasp, Jury backed up and hit the wall. Eyes going to Koe’s mouth, she slowly shook her head. Was he seriously considering marking her? Against her will? Against any logic? That wasn’t how matings worked!
Koe took a step forward, bringing him right to her, their bodies touching as he towered over her.
His lip ticked up, his nostrils flared, and then he stilled.
Fierce expression slipping, he quickly retreated a step.
Turning, he gave Jury his back and lifted both hands to fist his hair with a snarled, “Fuck!”
Jury’s heart was hammering in her chest. She shot Oliver a pleading look. He held up a hand in a placating gesture as his attention went to Koe. “Alpha,” he began, “let me reach out to other packs. We might find something that can help.”
“It’s… It’s just scars,” Jury whispered. “It doesn’t matter.”
Without turning to face her, Koe thundered. “It matters, Jury! You matter!” Head turning to Oliver, Koe commanded, “See to it!” Without another word, Koe balled his hands into fists and stalked from the room, leaving Jury and Oliver staring after him in confusion.
Alone with Oliver, Jury slowly turned to look at him. “What the hell was that?”
Oliver shook his head and turned to face her. “He’s never like that.”
He shot her an accusatory look that had Jury tensing. “I didn’t do anything.”
His own tense shoulders slumping, Oliver’s look turned apologetic. “I know. It’s just… I’ve never seen him like that before. Koe is the definition of control, and to see him lose it so easily is disconcerting.”
“But he didn’t lose it,” Jury countered. “He didn’t mark me.”
“But he wanted to, Jury! Your fear was the only thing that stopped him.”
Quieting, she considered Oliver’s words. “I don’t understand why he’s so freaked out. They’re just scars.”
Oliver shot her a look as he stripped off his exam gloves and tossed them in the trash.
“They’re bad, I know,” she continued, “But they’re just scars.”
Oliver shook his head. “It’s not the scars, it’s what they stand for.”
Frowning, Jury waited for him to explain.
“Koe is an Alpha, and a good one, which is rare. We don’t hurt women here.
Never have. He considers packs that do lesser.
He doesn’t believe they are true wolves because it goes against our nature.
We protect our pack. Period! In Koe’s eyes, packs that don’t protect their own must be diluted, mixed, not true wolves.
Which means in his estimation, you—a coveted she wolf—were kept and tortured by something beneath us.
He’s always despised Bragga and his Biters, and now he has reason.
Now, to our pack, Bragga and his…minions may as well be vamps.
They sure as shit aren’t wolves. And that makes them more than just enemies.
” A slow smile curled the corners of Oliver’s mouth.
“Secretly, we’ve all been sort of waiting for Bragga to fuck up so Koe had an excuse. Now he’s got one.”
“Excuse for what?”
“To eradicate them.”
That statement had hope blossoming in her chest. Narae!
Oliver’s expression turned serious. “What they’ve done to you is a bad look for all wolf shifters.
We can’t have our reputation soiled by such disgusting acts.
Wolf shifters are only now earning the respect we deserve.
Bragga’s depravity is going to fuck that up for all of us.
” He shrugged, “Koe can’t tolerate that.
He won’t. Plus, it doesn’t help that he feels a way about you. ”
Jury’s belly dropped. “Feels a way about me? What does that mean?”
Oliver stopped disinfecting the med bed to look at her.
“You snapped his control just now, Jury. An impossible feat. Something I’ve never seen anyone—man or woman, shifter or human—do to Koe before.
I don’t know if it’s pity or something more, but I sure as shit am going to be telling the pack to give you a wide berth. ”
“Wide berth?” Jury whispered.
Standing to his full height, Oliver motioned toward the room.
“I don’t want to spend the entire summer in here!
Summers in Montana are short enough as it is, and if the males in this pack don’t stay away from you, I’m sure Koe will be sending them my way for medical treatment.
He’s protective and possessive of you. Two things that mean the males here need to stay the fuck away from you. No offense. But you’re off limits now.”
Good, Jury thought. Males giving her a wide berth sounded divine. Especially after how the males in Bragga’s pack hounded and tortured her.
Oliver’s next words had Jury dragging her attention back to him.
“You’d be wise to hear exactly what it is I’m telling you, Jury.
Koe had to restrain himself from marking you today just to see if it’d heal your scars.
So far as I know, he’s never attempted or even had the desire to mark any female.
Be careful,” he implored. “Or you might just find yourself mated to the Alpha.”