Chapter 7
Rhett
Angie spluttered beneath me. I was aware of her fear, the scent of it coating my tongue, but I couldn’t make sense of it.
Well, I could make sense of it just fine. There was a wolf sitting on her. What woman wouldn’t be panicking?
My wolf didn’t get the memo, his tongue lolling playfully as he crushed her into the snow.
With a squeal, Angie shoved him, gaining enough space to return to her feet.
My wolf yipped his excitement, jumping onto his hind legs and pinning her to the tree. His nose found my temporary mark on her neck, sniffing excessively until he was satisfied that she smelled like him.
He was furious when I first stepped into the night, urging me to go back inside and tear Dustin to ribbons. The wolf didn’t care if we were brothers.
A brother didn’t threaten to steal a fated mate.
That was why I ran, carrying Angie with me because my problem would multiply tenfold if I left her behind—with Dustin.
The choice was to run as fast and far as I could, or risk killing my brother.
Or mark Angie.
I came too close, only controlling myself as I remembered those painful early memories.
I wouldn’t mark her without permission. Never.
And Dustin wouldn’t either. The asshole just didn’t know when to quit.
They didn’t believe Angie was my mate. I was too happy to let her sit at a table of unmated males.
If only they knew. I barely spoke a word at dinner, afraid my voice would come out garbled by the growl I was suppressing. Every bite of food was a rock in my stomach, my knuckles white as I forced myself to keep my touch light, intermittently brushing my hand over Angie’s.
She thought I was trying to appease my mom. The reality was that I was trying to appease her. To ease her into this life—the pack dynamic, shifting—and let her see what I had to offer before I tried to drag her to the nearest bedroom and coat her in my scent for the next two weeks.
That plan went out the window the moment I brought her out here.
Except I didn’t bring her out here. She brought me out here. Angie knew what I needed. I was two seconds from shifting in the kitchen and mauling my brother, and she didn’t hesitate to intercept me.
Even now, as she huddled against the tree, waiting to see what I would do next, she was oddly calm, making my wolf settle too. I could hear her heart beating rapidly, but her breathing was becoming even, her eyes lighting up as she realized I wasn’t going to hurt her.
Of course, I wasn’t going to hurt her.
I just wanted to taste her. She smelled incredible.
In this form, her scent was an explosion of delicious notes, and I wanted to memorize all of them.
“Hi,” Angie whispered shakily. “You’re a really big fella.”
My snout was traveling over her rapidly, sucking in the air around her. I paused at her greeting, shoving my face in hers and wetting her cheek with my nose. She shrieked, wiping her face with her sleeve.
“Don’t do that. I’m already c-cold.”
Shit. What was I thinking? She was standing out here with no shoes, her thin shirt doing nothing to hold in heat.
Grudgingly, my wolf acknowledged her discomfort, dropping back onto all fours and giving in when I demanded a shift.
He receded, but I could still feel him at the surface of my skin, humming with contentment.
Angie blinked at me, her eyes roaming over me. She caught herself, jerking her head away, but not before she got a good look at everything.
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to take the clothes from her shaking hands and shove them back on. She was standing on my shirt, so I left it there to keep her feet dry.
“Holy shit,” she said. “You really are a shifter.”
I snorted. “You didn’t believe me before.”
“I just couldn’t picture it. I’ve never seen anyone—holy shit.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again, taking her hands in mine because I felt like my heart would stop beating if I wasn’t touching her.
“It’s cool.” She swallowed. “It didn’t seem like you were doing that for sh-show.”
I needed to get her back inside, but I couldn’t make my feet move. Not yet.
I sat on the ground, resting my back against the tree. Angie didn’t protest when I tugged her down into my lap, laying my shirt over her feet like a blanket.
“My parents were fated mates,” I admitted softly. “My birth parents.”
She angled her head to watch me, her cheek brushing my chest.
The rest came out in a rushed breath. "My dad was human.
My mom was an alpha female. In the pack I came from, that kind of mating was forbidden.
My mom would make strong alpha offspring if she mated with another wolf shifter.
She cared more about the mate bond than birthing heirs for a stronger pack, so she ran away.
“That was before shifters came out to the world. It was before packs like this existed. She could run from her alpha, but she would never truly escape him. He could find her through the pack bonds, and he never stopped searching for her.”
Female shifters weren’t safe in most Wildling packs. They were only valuable for growing the ranks.
I clenched my jaw, fighting back the emotions threatening to consume me. “When her alpha found us, he challenged my dad.”
“Challenged him?”
“For my mom. It’s like a duel. Two males fighting to the death to become alpha, or to take a mate. It’s barbaric, and most packs don’t allow challenges anymore.”
“But your dad was human.”
“Yes,” was all I could say. “He was human.”
"Our alpha brought us back to his pack. When my mom refused to become his mate, he threatened to kill me. I was only three. A shifter can mark a mate without their consent, but a bond doesn’t always form in that kind of mating.
My mom was so sick from the absence of the mate bond, she couldn’t get pregnant again.
“She didn’t eat, didn’t sleep. Eventually, she stopped shifting. When the previous alpha from this pack came to meet with ours, offering to help them integrate into the human world, my mom approached them. She begged them to take me with them.”
My voice shook. Angie twisted in my lap, wrapping me in a fierce hug.
“I never saw her again.”
“Is she still in your old pack?”
“I felt her die a week after I arrived in Alaska. Family has bonds—not like mates, but similar—and when my mom knew I was safe…she gave up.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve never told anyone besides Cindy. Even my brothers don’t know.”
Angie pulled back, her eyes rounded in horror. “So, when Dustin pretended to mark me…”
“Exactly,” I growled. “I saw red.”
“But you know he wouldn’t actually do that.”
“Of course not.” I cupped her face, running my thumbs over her rosy cheeks. They were cold to the touch. “My wolf doesn’t know it, though. To him, any male is a threat to—" I snapped the words off with my teeth.
Was now the time to tell her?
What if it was too soon? What if she saw me get triggered into a frantic shift and thought I was dangerous?
“To any female under his protection.”
“That must be s-so hard,” she said through chattering teeth. “Is he always on edge around your brothers?”
“No, not always.”
We sat in silence. It hurt to divulge my past, but now that it was out there, I felt better. If Angie could handle this part of me, she could handle the rest.
And I was going to tell her. Soon.
Not now, while she was shivering violently. I needed to get her back to the house.
I stood, tucking my arms under her knees and carefully carrying her back through the trees.
“Wait, your shirt!”
“I’ll get it later. I’m pretty sure your toes are turning blue.”
Yellow light splashed across the snow as we neared the house, making it glitter and dance. I set Angie on her feet by the sliding door, and she hefted it open.
All three of my brothers were in the kitchen. They appeared to be arguing, freezing with their hands midair.
“I was just telling Tyler we should go looking for you guys—A" Dustin was cut off by an angry finger stabbing into his chest.
Angie poked him again and said, “You owe Rhett an apology.”
“Please don’t touch him.” My voice came out rougher than I meant it to.
Angie backpedaled until her shoulders bumped my chest. Dustin blinked, taken aback by the firm tone. We all were.
“Apologize.” She said it slowly this time, like my brother was too stupid to understand the simple word.
“Fine. Yes. I’m sorry, man. I was just playing.”
“I know,” I told him. “I’ll kill you if you do it again.” I was going to let him decide how serious he thought I was.
“Anyway,” Ross drawled, completely uninterested in the drama, “who wants to go to the cantina?”
“You’re not old enough,” Tyler and I said at the same time.
“Relax, Dad.” Dustin made a placating gesture at both of us. “He can go as long as he isn’t drinking.”
“Aw, c’mon. I can have one beer.”
Tyler shook his head. “It’s the real stuff, not human beer.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m staying here,” Tyler told us.
“What’s the cantina?” Angie asked, and I could tell by her curious expression that I was in trouble.