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Bitten By the Wolf

By: J.L. Wilder

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Brother’s Wolf (Full length)

Bitten By The Wolf

Chapter One

INCE

“I give up,” Dax announced, propping

his elbows against the handlebars of his bike and
reaching around to pull a bottle of water from the
bag he kept tied to the second seat. “I just plain old
give up. We’re never going to find somebody.”

Vince regarded his packmate but said nothing.

Sometimes, when Dax got dramatic like this, it was
best to just let things play themselves out. He had a
feeling that this time would be no different from the
last three times Dax had announced that he was
giving up on their mission.

“How many towns have we hit this week

alone?” Dax asked. “It must have been at least
thirty.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Tommy said. He didn’t

say again, but Vince had a feeling they were both
thinking it.

“I’m making a point,” Dax said. “Have you

ever thought about how different our lives could be
if we moved on from this wild goose chase we’re
on? We could get jobs, for one thing.”

“Jobs,” Tommy scoffed. “Nobody’s going to

hire you, you old drunk.”

That was a little unfair. Dax didn’t drink any

more than the rest of them, and at twenty-seven,

although he was the senior member of their little
group, Vince wouldn’t have exactly called him old
either. Still, he remained quiet. Let it be between
the two of them, he told himself firmly. You don’t
need to have any part in this debate.

The truth was that he couldn’t have taken part

in this debate, even if he’d wanted to, because he
had no idea where he stood on the question they
were discussing.

It was true that they had visited countless towns

up and down the west coast this week alone. It was
true that they had been searching for months now,
and there was no end in sight. And it was true that
it would be nice to have a permanent home.

But on the other hand, it wasn’t as if they were

just screwing around. This was important.

Vince’s thoughts were interrupted by the rumble

of an engine. A moment later Ace came around the
corner and into the motel parking lot. He killed his
engine and swung his leg off his bike, landing
neatly on the gravel parking lot. Completely
ignoring the other three, he made his way toward
the room they had rented for the night.

Vince glanced at Tommy, who rolled his eyes in

exasperation and followed their leader. Vince
shrugged to himself and headed after them.

Ace had been tipped to be the next alpha of the

Eastern Oregon Chapter of the Hell’s Wolves since
they’d been young. As kids, they’d all expected

that he would take the mantle of alpha when he
came of age. But Ace’s eighteenth birthday had
passed and power had remained in the hands of
Griff, their old alpha, who had led the pack since
before Vince could remember.

Griff was old. Everyone knew he wanted to

retire, to pass the torch. But stepping down from an
alpha position wasn’t just a matter of what the
alpha in question wanted. Someone else had to be
ready to step up.

For whatever reason, that hadn’t happened yet.
Oh, Ace might act like he was their leader.

Even now, he was storming around, clearly
expecting that he would be followed. But the others
were just humoring him. Vince felt none of the
deep, visceral compulsion to obey Ace that he felt
when Griff gave an order.

Inside the motel room, Ace was unpacking

supplies from the plastic convenience store bag
he’d brought back from his run. He handed out
peanut butter crackers, fruit cups, and cans of cola.
This would be their dinner tonight, just as it had
been their dinner every night this week. Vince
could practically feel Dax’s dissatisfaction coming
off him in waves. If we did have a permanent
home, he thought, we’d be able to get a good
square meal.

As if on cue, Dax spoke up. “I bet Earl made

something great for dinner tonight,” he said

wistfully. Earl, Griff’s younger brother, was the
sixth and final member of their pack, and the best
cook Vince had ever met. His mouth watered now
at the thought of Earl’s pot roast.

“We’re not going back,” Ace said firmly. “Not

until we find someone.”

“We’ve been through five states,” Dax said.

“Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and now
Wyoming. And not so much as a trace of a female
shifter, much less an omega.”

“We know there are still shifter females

around,” Vince said, in the interest of fairness.
“We’ve met plenty of them over the years.”

“But never an omega,” Dax pressed. “Don’t

you think that’s strange? We’ve never met an
omega. Do we even know that they exist?”

“Of course they exist,” Ace snapped. “Griff

and Earl’s mother was an omega. You know that as
well as I do.”

“Yeah—and that was sixty years ago,” Dax

said. “They might have died out since then.”

“That wouldn’t happen,” Ace scoffed.

“Omegas are an evolutionary goldmine. They breed
the strongest pups, and they can give birth to whole
litters at once.”

“But they don’t always live to breed,” Vince

pointed out. “They attract violence, because so
many people want to claim them.”

“Whose side are you on?” Ace growled.

“Jesus, Ace. I’m not on a side. There are no

sides. We’re just talking.”

“Oh, there are sides, all right,” Tommy said.

“No point pretending otherwise, Vince. Ace’s side
wants to stay on the road and keep looking for an
omega, and Dax’s side wants to go home to Oregon
and get back to regular life.”

“We’re not going back,” Ace said firmly. “Not

until we find someone.”

“For God’s sake,” Dax snapped. “We don’t

even know that claiming an omega will bring on
your alpha abilities. It’s just a guess.”

Vince cringed inwardly. Dax shouldn’t have

taken it there. Ace was deeply sensitive about the
fact that his alpha abilities still hadn’t manifested,
and while Dax was completely right that the search
for an omega was largely about Ace’s hope that
having one present would be the trigger he needed,
it was an unspoken thing among them.

Sure enough, Ace threw his bag on the floor,

stormed into the bathroom, and slammed the door
behind him. A moment later they heard the shower
come on.

Vince turned to Dax. “I don’t know why you

have to provoke him,” he said.

“Me provoke him? He’s the one who’s dragging

us all over creation. Come on, Vince, admit it. You
want to go back too.”

“It would be good for us all if we had an omega

in the pack,” Vince said, dodging the question. “It
wouldn’t just benefit Ace. It would benefit
everybody. And you know that.”

“You’re telling me it’s not messing with you at

all, being back in Wyoming?”

“Whoa,” Tommy said, looking up from the stain

he’d been scraping out of his jeans. “Cheap shot,
Dax.”

“Well, it would be messing with me,” Dax said.

“I’m just saying.”

Vince got to his feet. “I’m going out for a

walk,” he said.

“Good going, asshole,” he heard Tommy mutter

to Dax behind his back as he grabbed a room key
and headed out into the parking lot.

Once outside and under the stars, Vince set off

walking in a random direction. When Ace emerged
from his shower, Vince knew, he would be annoyed
to see that one of his packmates had left without
asking for permission. It would needle him to have
that little reminder of the fact that Vince didn’t
need his permission to do anything. And ordinarily,
Vince tried to avoid doing things that would needle
Ace.

But he couldn’t bring himself to stay in that

room and listen to Dax hint about what had
happened to him in Wyoming.

Vince almost never talked about those days,

before he had joined up with the Hell’s Wolves,
when he had lived with only his brother Rian for
company. Vince and Rian had been deeply bonded,
closer than Vince was to any of his packmates now.

He had never fully recovered from his brother’s

death.

We should have been out running together. The

thought still came to him sometimes, even now,
years later. I shouldn’t have let him go alone. It had
been their custom to go out every night, take on
their wolf forms, and run together under the
moonlight. But one night, Vince hadn’t wanted to
come. He had stayed home instead, drinking beer
and watching the basketball game on TV. Rian had
gone out alone.

He had never come back.
Vince knew that the ranchers who had shot and

killed his brother had been under the impression
that they were killing a wild wolf, but that didn’t
make him hate them any less. And Dax was right—
it was hard to be in Wyoming without remembering
the years he’d lived here and that awful night when
his world had come tumbling down around him.

But he could do it. He didn’t need the rest of

his pack to hold his hand about it.

He would be fine.
He wouldn’t allow the memories of Rian’s

death to drag him down, not when there was

important work to be done. After all, as soon as
they found an omega, they would be able to go
back home to Oregon, back to the cabin where
Griff and Earl were waiting for them. They would
be able to have hot meals again, and spend the
evenings at the local bar where the bartenders were
all young and pretty.

Most importantly—in Vince’s mind, at least—

they would be able to run again.

God, he missed running.
He missed the feeling of being a wolf. How

much more alive and richer the world smelled and
sounded when he was in his animal form. He
missed the way the earth under the pads of his feet
felt like it was trying to tell him something. He
missed the speed he was able to attain when he
pushed himself forward with four legs instead of
two.

Some shifters felt more at home in their human

bodies. But Vince had always felt more at home as
a wolf.

Ever since they’d left Oregon and gone on the

road, there had been no opportunity to run. Their
days had been spent covering the distance between
towns, then venturing to one local hot spot after
another and scenting the air, looking for a smell that
might indicate a shifter clan or a wild omega.
Nights were spent holed up in motels, resting and
waiting for the next day to come.

He longed for his other self. His wilder self. His

wolf.

But if there was one thing he knew; it was that

this part of the country wasn’t safe for wolves. He
would never try to run here. Not after what those
ranchers had done to Rian. He couldn’t take the
risk.

Besides, Ace had forbidden it. And even though

Ace didn’t have the power to forbid Vince from
doing anything, disobeying Ace’s orders so
blatantly would be asking for trouble.

Vince didn’t want any trouble.
He fished in his pocket and found a dollar. It

would be enough to buy a candy bar. He would
split the candy between the whole pack, he
thought, which would put everyone in a better
mood. As bad as their situation was, there was no
point in all of them fighting with each other. That
would only make things worse. It would be much
easier to get up in the morning and get a good start
on the next day’s searching if they ended tonight on
a friendly note.

At least we’re running out of places to look, he

thought. Their pack couldn’t go east of Colorado,
north of Oregon, or south of Utah without crossing
into boundaries that belonged to other packs.
California was also off limits.

If we don’t find somebody here in Wyoming,

we’ll have to go back home and admit it’s a bust.

Chapter Two

Being back on the ranch where she’d

grown up should have been comforting, Amy
thought, but it wasn’t. So far, it had only made her
feel worse.

She had expected the walls of her childhood

bedroom to make her feel safe and taken care of
again, but they had had the opposite effect. She
didn’t belong here anymore. And it didn’t help that
her parents hadn’t bothered to redecorate the place
since she’d been a kid. The walls were the same
pale lavender, and the bed sported the same star-
spangled comforter. Above her collection of white
textured throw pillows were framed posters with
inspirational quotes like the most important thing a
girl wears is her confidence and be the best you
you can be. Fairy lights were strung around the
room in a way that looked careless and haphazard.

In other words, it was a quintessential teen girl’s

bedroom.

And that sucked. Because Amy was not a teen

girl. She was twenty-four years old. She was
married, for God’s sake. This part of her life was
supposed to be over.

Not that she’d been unhappy as a teenager. She

had gotten along well with her parents, and they’d

treated her well. She had always gotten good grades
and had a solid group of friends, and although she
had never had a boyfriend in high school, she
hadn’t especially wanted one either. Her focus had
been on getting into a good college. She would
worry about romance after she had done that.

And she had. She had met Chris in her first

month of school, in her Philosophy 101 class. The
two of them had become study partners, and then
they had become more than that. The summer after
graduation, they had married and moved together
into a little house, which they had furnished with
wicker and secondhand furniture.

There had been struggles. But the struggles had

been romantic. They had spent six months pinching
pennies, eating noodles and fresh vegetables and
little else, so that they could pay for health
insurance. They had saved up dollar by dollar for
the beautiful king size bed they’d eventually moved
into their bedroom. Amy had tended bar and
supported both of them while Chris hunted for a job
in his field—environmental science. The plan had
been for Amy to look for a job as a veterinarian
after Chris had his own job locked up.

But that hadn’t happened.
Instead, the minute he’d landed a job, the

minute the two of them had had reliable health
insurance, Chris had insisted they start trying for a
baby. “Everyone always says if you wait for it to be

a good time, the good time never comes,” he’d said
when Amy had protested that she didn’t have a job
of her own yet. “Besides, if you get pregnant
before you find a job, you can stay at home with
the baby. Then we won’t have to worry about
paying for childcare.”

Amy hadn’t been wild about that proposal. She

could see where this was headed. If she stayed
home during her pregnancy and stayed home with
her newborn, she would end up staying home
throughout the toddler years. She wouldn’t resume
her job search until she sent her kid off to school,
and that would be years from now.

But Amy had been raised to live by one guiding

principle—be nice. Be pleasant, be respectful, be
easy to get along with. People liked you better
when you were nice. It had certainly proven true
throughout her life. She had been nice, and she had
never lacked for friends.

She hadn’t loved Chris’s suggestion. But she did

love Chris.

So, she had agreed.
They had begun trying to get pregnant right

away. The first couple of months passed without
any results, and Amy couldn’t help breathing a sigh
of relief each time her period arrived. It felt like a
stay of execution.

But as more time went by, the baby began to

feel less and less abstract. One day, Chris brought

home a little onesie that said I love Mama on it.
Another time, the two of them stayed up late
discussing possible names. They even agreed on
Nora for a girl.

And Amy still wasn’t pregnant.
When a year had passed with no results, Chris

suggested that they should go to be tested. With a
feeling of foreboding in her stomach, Amy had
agreed.

The test results had betrayed her.
Chris’s results had been perfectly normal, but

her own had revealed a terrible truth—she was
infertile. She would never be able to carry a baby.

Amy had cried all night after learning the truth.

She hadn’t even wanted a baby when they had
started trying, but now it felt like the center of her
world. She had devoted herself utterly to the cause.
And now it was never going to happen.

And Chris wanted a divorce.
And she was back here in the bedroom of her

childhood, staring at these lavender walls and
feeling like she had never left in the first place.

A knock came at the door. Amy glanced at the

clock on her nightstand. It was ten thirty in the
morning, and she had been expecting this particular
visitor for a while. “Come in.”

The door creaked open and her father entered.

A retired professor, he was a slender, kindly man in
wire rimmed glasses. He carried a mug from which

a curl of steam rose. “Brought you a cappuccino,”
he said, setting it on the table beside her clock.

Amy sighed and sat up. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Think you might want to come on a bike ride

with your old dad today?” he asked.

Amy was onto him. He and her mother had

been talking in whispers for the past week about
how they were going to get her out of the house,
and she had absolutely no interest in getting out of
the house. The outside world was overwhelming.
Just the prospect of getting up and making herself
presentable was overwhelming.

“Thanks, Dad,” she said again, knowing that he

was trying his best. “But there’s a Cake Toppers
marathon on today, and I really want to watch it.”

“We can record Cake Toppers,” her father

pointed out. “We’ve got a DVR.”

“I know. I just thought I’d watch it live.”
He sighed. “Ames, you’ve got to get out of the

house. You can’t hide out here forever. I know
Chris did you dirty—”

“It wasn’t his fault,” she said. “He wanted to

have a child.” And I couldn’t give him that.

“Well, be that as it may,” her father said, a bit

gruffly, “where I come from, when you marry a
woman you stick by her, even if that means a
change in your own plans. In sickness and in health,
and all that. Right?”

Amy didn’t answer aloud, but her mind was

screaming in agreement. This was the very thing
she had been thinking since Chris had told her he
wanted a divorce. It wasn’t her fault her body
wasn’t cooperating with their wish to have a child.
She hadn’t done anything wrong! And it wasn’t fair
that Chris could walk away from the situation and
try with someone else, but Amy never could.

I can adopt, she reminded herself. It wasn’t as

if she would never be able to have a family, if she
decided that was still something she wanted to
pursue. But she would have been able to adopt a
child with Chris if he had stuck around. He must
have known that.

It hadn’t been good enough for him.
She hadn’t been good enough for him. There

was no other way of looking at it that Amy could
see.

“What about this afternoon?” her father asked.

“I’m thinking of making a trip to the hardware
store. Maybe you can come along with me? That
wouldn’t be too much, right?”

Amy hesitated. “Would it be a long trip?” she

asked. Her father could get lost in the hardware
store sometimes, choosing between different
lengths of nails, trying to decide whether a given
project required two-by-fours or four-by-fours. The
last thing she wanted was to spend hours lingering
in the wood aisle, leaning on a lumber cart while

her father talked to a store employee and asked for
things to be sawed down.

“Just a short trip,” her father said. “I’m just

getting paint for the living room.” He smirked.
“Your mother’s going to work again.”

Amy’s mother dealt with her anxieties by

redecorating. When Amy had first come home and
announced her separation from her husband, her
mother had retiled the kitchen. Now she was
apparently repainting the living room. Amy’s father
might be willing to position that fact as comedic,
but Amy herself knew that there was nothing funny
about it. Her mother wouldn’t be painting if she
weren’t upset about something.

And it’s probably me, she thought, feeling

exhausted and terrible. These days, it’s always me.

It was so difficult. She knew that her parents

had always been proud of her up until now. She had
always made good grades in school. She had
married a boy from a good family. She had given
them plenty to brag about over the course of her
twenty-four years.

And she knew that they loved her. No matter

what she might be going through now, she knew she
could count on them to always have her back and
to be on her side. She was very lucky in that regard.

“I suppose I could come along for that,” she

told her father, because she didn’t want him to
worry. Because she wanted to be nice. She wanted

to be easy to get along with. And most of all, she
wanted to alleviate the stress her mother was under.
If her parents saw her making progress and getting
out of the house, Amy knew, they would be sure
she was getting better.

Even though, in reality, she didn’t think she was

getting better at all.

To be honest, it was hard to imagine ever

feeling better again.

Her father patted her shoulder gently. “That’s

my girl,” he said. “I knew you could do it. Why
don’t you enjoy that coffee and relax for the rest of
the morning? Do you have a good book to read, or
do you want to borrow something from my
library?”

“I have one.” She pointed to her nightstand.

The book there was a sci-fi classic, one she had
read before, but that was for the best. Amy didn’t
want to find herself accidentally reading a love
story. She didn’t think she could have stood it.

Her father picked up the book and flipped it

over to read the text on the back cover. “Is this one
any good?” he asked. “Should I give it a try?”

She almost felt like crying at how nice he was

being. He didn’t want to read this book, and she
knew he didn’t. He was not a fan of fiction. He
preferred histories and biographies, thick tomes that
he could sit down with for hours in his leather

armchair. She wasn’t blind to how very much he
was reaching out to her right now.

“I’d skip it,” she said, keeping the conversation

light and breezy instead of collapsing into tears.
“It’s really not that great. I’ll tell you how it ends, if
you want.”

He smiled at her, and she felt as if she were

sixteen years old again. “Okay,” he said. “I’m going
to be heading to the hardware store at about three
o’clock.”

“I’ll be ready to go,” she promised, knowing

that she couldn’t back out of it now without making
a scene. She was committed.

“You’re a good girl,” he said, patting her on the

shoulder again.

When he was gone, Amy flopped back down on

her mattress, pondering his words. You’re a good
girl.

She knew she was.
But what if that was all she was?

Chapter Three

INCE

The next day was as worthless as every

day prior had been. Vince, Ace, Dax, and Tommy
explored the town of Centennial so thoroughly that
Vince was sure they had learned every scent in the
place. There was no way they could have
overlooked an omega, or even a shifter of a
different rank. There was nothing here for them. It
was as simple as that.

“Bar tonight,” Ace declared once they had

returned to their motel room. “We need to blow off
some steam.”

Vince couldn’t argue with that. If he couldn’t go

out running—and it was clear that he couldn’t—
hitting a bar was probably the next best option.
They’d have a few drinks and do a bit of people
watching, and maybe there would even be an
opportunity to hook up with a girl. Of course, it
would be a human girl—today’s search had made it
clear that there were no shifters in Centennial—and
humans were never quite as appealing. But that was
okay. They were better than nothing.

“I need to take a shower first,” Tommy

declared, and he disappeared into the bathroom.
Vince didn’t blame him a bit. They were all sweaty
and dusty from the day’s search. But Vince himself

felt no need to take a shower. There was something
pleasant about going to a bar in your worst state, he
thought. It was like a declaration that you didn’t
need to dress up, that there was nobody there you
needed to impress. It was a power move.

Dax shucked off his jacket with the Hell’s

Wolves colors stitched on the back and flopped
down on one of the room’s two beds. He had
claimed a bed for himself when they had moved
into this motel, citing the fact that he was the
oldest. Of course, as the alpha, Ace had laid claim
to the second bed, meaning that Vince and Tommy
were sleeping on the floor. Tommy suspected that
fact mattered more to Dax than it did to him.

“What bar are we going to?” Dax asked now. “I

didn’t see one in town.”

“That’s because you don’t pay attention,” Ace

said. “Honestly, I’m sure we’ll never find an omega
if we’re relying on you to suss her out.”

“We’ll never find one anyway,” Dax said,

“because there isn’t one here.”

Vince closed his eyes, wishing to God that Dax

would stop antagonizing Ace.

But Ace impressed Vince by keeping calm, for

once. “Maybe there is,” he said. “Maybe there
isn’t. All we can say for sure is that we haven’t
found her yet.”

“I don’t know where else you think we’re going

to look,” Dax said.

Ace didn’t rise to the bait. He made his way

over to the duffel bag he carried with him on the
road and pulled out a fresh pair of socks. This,
apparently, was the only concession he was
interested in making toward cleanliness before they
went out. He stripped off the dirty socks he’d worn
that day and replaced them with the clean ones.

Tommy emerged from the shower and donned a

whole new outfit. Vince had to laugh. “You don’t
even look like you belong with us,” he said.

“And why would anybody want to look like

they belonged with you jokers?”

Vince cuffed him on the ear and pulled on the

boots he’d kicked off when they’d come in the
door. “Let’s hit the bricks. I need a drink, and I
need it sooner rather than later.”

“Everyone got money?” Ace asked.
Vince himself had plenty. Griff had given them

all a travel stipend from the pack’s savings when
they’d set out on their little odyssey, and Vince still
had most of his left. He knew they others must too.
Except for gas for their bikes and cheap motel
rooms, they’d hardly paid for anything. Even their
meals had been cheap and of the bare bones
variety.

They made their way outside to the row of

bikes parked in front of the motel and mounted up.
There was no discussion of the order they would
ride in—it was always the same. Ace led the way

with Dax following on his shoulder. Tommy came
third, because he was the youngest and lowest in
rank and needed to be in the middle of the pack.
Vince, as always, brought up the rear.

The bar Ace had chosen wasn’t exactly a dive

—it was sort of artfully dilapidated, clearly taking
pleasure in its own run-down appearance. The floor
was made of warped boards and the decor
consisted of magazine centerfolds torn out and
framed. You could see the frayed edges where the
pages had been ripped from their magazines, but
they had also been mounted behind glass. The
counter was stained and ringed, but it had also been
sealed under a coating of protective wax, making it
clear the whole thing was deliberate.

Dax made his way over to the pool table in the

corner. “Who wants a game?”

“I’ll get the drinks,” Vince said, knowing that if

he ponied up for the first round one of his
packmates would get the next one. They would
break even by the end of the night. They just
needed to make sure they didn’t get carried away
and spend too much money here. They hadn’t been
out to a bar in a while, though, and Vince was
feeling okay about indulging. God knew they’d
earned a break.

As the rest of the pack made their way over to

the pool table, Vince stepped up to the bar. The
bartender was a woman who was probably in her

late thirties, but she looked at least forty-five. Vince
guessed cigarettes were starting to catch up with
her. It was kind of a shame. When she smiled at
him, though, there was kindness in her eyes. “What
can I get you, honey?”

“What’s on tap?” he asked.
“Rudy’s Booty.”
“I beg your pardon?”
She grinned. “Not from around here? It’s the

local microbrew. Stupid name, but it’s not bad.
Want to try it?”

“Sure, I’ll take four.”
She nodded and disappeared. Vince turned

around, leaned his elbows against the bar top, and
surveyed the room.

With the exception of the bartender, there

wasn’t a woman in sight. The place was all men.
Great, he thought. He supposed it was possible a
woman would arrive as the evening went on, but so
far things didn’t look promising.

The bartender returned. “You want to open up a

tab, honey?”

“Cash.” He pushed a few bills across the bar,

more than the drinks cost. She had been kind.

She nodded thanks and swept his money up into

her apron pocket. Vince picked up the drinks and
headed over to the pool table.

Dax, Tommy, and Ace had been joined by a

group of men who looked like the sort who spent

every night at this bar. They were bearded and
tattooed, with the unlikely combination of biceps
and potbellies that usually comes from working out
and drinking too much beer.

“Two hundred,” one of them said as Vince

walked up.

“Three,” Dax countered.
Tommy grabbed Dax by the shoulder. “Are you

crazy? That’s our hotel money.”

Vince recognized the situation right away. It

was a hustle. He hated it when his packmates did
this, because it wasn’t necessary. Sure, it was good
to know that they could hustle a bunch of barflies if
they had to, but right now they didn’t need the
money. There was no reason to take advantage of
these guys.

Still, he couldn’t very well blow up their game

now, or things would go south fast. He grabbed a
seat nearby and sat back to watch the game.

Dax and the townie agreed on stakes of two-

fifty, and the game began. Dax’s first few shots
were messy and terrible—enough to let the townies
believe they actually had the upper hand—but then
he turned on the heat. The game was over quickly,
and Dax was tucking the bills into his pocket.

The townie frowned. “You played me.”
Tommy hadn’t even bothered to maintain the

worried facade he’d put on before the game once
Dax had started winning. The con was insultingly

obvious. Now the three townies got to their feet
and advanced on Dax.

Ace stepped forward. “No one wants a fight,

gentlemen. He won the game, fair and square.”

“No, he lied,” the townie insisted. “Made us

think he didn’t know his way around a cue.”

“It’s not his fault you got suckered,” Tommy

taunted. Vince closed his eyes briefly.

“Return the money,” said the biggest of the

townies. He was standing behind the man who had
played the game, and he was clearly the muscle of
the group. “Return the cash, and we all walk away
from this.”

“No way,” Dax countered. “I won.”
Vince got to his feet. This was heading quickly

in the direction of a fight, and if there was going to
be violence, he wasn’t going to leave his pack to
face it alone.

Besides, he realized, he had been itching for

confrontation. Maybe they all had. They’d been on
the road too long, away from their home and their
pack alpha and their wolf forms. They were all
feeling uncomfortable, unnatural. Maybe that was
why they had allowed the con to play out in such
an obvious way. Maybe they had wanted to be
confronted by these bruisers.

The fight began in a blink. One of the townies

launched himself over the pool table, hands
outstretched as if to wrap around Dax’s throat.

“Hey!” the bartender shrieked to the sound of

breaking glass. “No fighting!”

Nobody listened. Ace landed a slug on one

man’s ear and sent him sprawling. The third man
grabbed Tommy’s wrists and began to grapple with
him.

Vince threw himself into the fray, his arms

locking around a thick waist, pulling the man from
Dax. It felt so good, so primal and natural, to
engage in something physical like this. It was pure
and unthinking and wonderful. He didn’t even mind
when the man got a punch in on him. He barely felt
the pain. There would be a bruise later, he thought,
but right now there was just the exultant feeling of
using his muscles, bringing every ounce of his
strength to bear on these idiots.

They’re just weak little humans. They’re

nothing.

These were thoughts Vince didn’t have when he

wasn’t fighting. Humans weren’t nothing, they
were simply what they were, just as he was. But in
the heat of the fight, they felt small and
inconsequential, as if they were a collection of
gnats and he was a giant, swatting them away.

The fight was over quickly. The three townies

scrambled to their feet and ran out of the bar,
shouting insults over their shoulders at Vince and
his pack. Vince got to his feet—he had been sent

sprawling by one of the townie’s punches—and
dusted off the knees of his pants.

Everyone else in the bar was staring at them.
The bartender cleared her throat. “Listen,

guys,” she said. “I don’t want to call the cops.” But
I will, her tone said.

“No, it’s all right,” Vince said quickly. “We’re

sorry to have alarmed everyone. We’ll move on.
Thanks for the hospitality.”

Nobody said a word to them as they headed for

the door. Vince hadn’t even had a chance to finish
his Rudy’s Booty, he reflected sadly, and the
bartender had been right about it. It was good.

This sort of thing always happened. It followed

them around. They just couldn’t seem to escape
from their animal natures, no matter how hard they
tried. That was why living in the woods alone was
so vital to their way of life. At least in the woods
they couldn’t draw attention to themselves.

We’ve been stupid about this, Vince thought.
“I’m going for a run,” he told the others.

“Tonight.”

Chapter Four

INCE

He rode back to the motel with the rest

of his pack, mostly because he knew it was
important to get his bike back there. A part of him
was tempted to just leave it at the bar and come
back for it later, but that wasn’t a good idea. It
could be stolen if he did that, and then he would
really be up a creek.

Ace hadn’t spoken to him—or to anyone—

since he’d announced he was going to go running.
As soon as they reached the motel, Ace stormed
into the bathroom and slammed the door behind
him. They heard the shower start to run.

“He’ll be in there for a while,” Dax said, sitting

down on his bed and yanking off his boots. “Might
as well go now, Vince, if you’re going.”

Tommy shook his head. “Don’t,” he said

urgently. “Don’t go, Vince. It’s only going to
provoke him if you do.”

“Going to provoke him?” Dax laughed. “He’s

already provoked, Tom. You saw how he was. He’s
liable to stay in that shower for a week.”

Tommy sighed. “I suppose you’re right. But did

you really have to go against him?” he asked Vince.
“You know it’s just going to make the rest of this
trip hell for all of us.”

“He’ll get over it or he won’t,” Vince said. He

had hardly been able to think since they’d left the
bar. It felt like a live wire was sparking beneath his
skin, and now that he was aware of it, he couldn’t
believe he’d ignored it for so long. “I’ll tell you
what’s crazy, though. What’s crazy is having four
shifters in a shitty motel together and never letting
nay of us run off any of our energy. I’m not
surprised it came to a fight tonight.”

Tommy looked worried. “This is ranger

territory,” he said. “Ace isn’t wrong about that. You
could get hurt.”

Vince leveled a gaze at his packmate. “Do you

really think I don’t know there are rangers in
Wyoming?” he asked quietly.

Tommy had the grace to look ashamed of

himself. “No. Of course I don’t.”

“I’ll be careful,” Vince said. “And I’ll be back

before you know it.” Probably before our would-
be alpha drags his ass out of the shower, he added
internally, but he did not dare say those words
aloud. Even with Ace out of the room, there were
some things Vince just couldn’t say.

“Just hurry back, will you?” Tommy asked him.

“I don’t think I’ll rest easy until we’re all back in
the same room.”

That made sense to Vince. There was a comfort

that came from knowing that your pack was safe
and well protected. He had experienced the anxiety

and uneasiness that came along with a pack
member’s absence too many times, and he felt bad
about the fact that he was about to inflict that
feeling on Dax and Tommy.

But it was the lesser evil. If he tried to stay in

this room right now, he was going to lose it.

“I’ll be back in an hour,” he pledged. “Just a

quick run, I promise. Just need to stretch my legs.”

“Okay,” Dax agreed, picking up the remote and

flipping on the TV. Vince thought he could probably
count on Dax to help keep Tommy calm during the
next hour. Dax was good for things like that.

He turned and left the motel room before the

conversation could go on any longer. Tucking his
room key into his pocket, he set off at a jog towards
the woods behind the motel, on the opposite side of
the parking lot from the street. That ought to be a
good place for a run. It didn’t seem likely that he
would come across anybody over there, no matter
how hard or how far he ran.

He entered the woods and made his way about

thirty yards from the tree line, to the point where he
could no longer see the lights of the motel in the
distance. Once there, he came to a stop, stepped
behind a large oak tree, and began to remove his
clothes.

He had lost enough shirts and pants to careless

shifting over the years. Now that he was an adult,
he was always mindful about it. He was always

careful to strip down before assuming his wolf
form. Clothes made to fit a human body just
couldn’t survive the transition.

When he was naked, he folded his things

carefully into a neat and tiny pile. Two branches
forked away from the oak tree’s massive trunk, and
he carefully tucked his pile of clothes up between
them. His things would stay clean and protected
there. It was unlikely an animal would find them

And now, at long last, he was ready to run.
He closed his eyes and listened to the wind

rustling the leaves. He inhaled and smelled the
familiar scent of earth and night and nature.

And he reached.
The wolf lived somewhere deep within him, and

the longer he went without shifting, the deeper it
seemed to go. It was as if he was out of practice.
When he did this regularly, it was easy to access the
wild part of himself. But he had been living human
for a long time, and even though he had felt close
to snapping in the bar, it was hard to make it
happen.

The scent of the air, he reminded himself.
The earth under your feet.
The sound of a million little living things that

make up this ecosystem.

And then, suddenly and without warning, it was

happening.

The ground rushed up to meet him as his legs

shortened. He pitched forward as his hips canted
and caught himself on hand that were no longer
hands, but paws. His ears and his nose felt as if
they were straining, growing, to take in the scents
and the sounds around him, which had suddenly
become bigger and more alive.

And his thoughts diminished. Focused.
This was one of his favorite things about being

in animal form. Being human was complicated,
emotionally fraught, full of decisions that needed to
be made and conflicting ideas that had to be
balanced. Being a wolf was simple. When he was
hungry, he ate. When he was tired, he slept. And
when his muscles itched to be used, as they did
now, he ran.

He wanted to let out a satisfied howl, but

enough of his human mind remained to understand
that this was a bad idea—this was ranger land, after
all, and the last thing he wanted was to bring them
out with their guns and their shoot first ask
questions later attitudes. So, he kept quiet.

And he ran.
God, but it felt amazing to run.
It felt as if he had been sitting still in a cramped

seat for days, and now, finally, he was being
permitted to get up and walk around. His muscles
rejoiced at the opportunity to move. He pushed off

the ground with his hind legs and sprang forward,
covering huge swaths of land with every bound.

His instincts served him well. The trees seemed

to move out of the way to allow him to pass, and he
never feared that his speed would cause him to run
into one of them. Occasionally he registered the
presence of another animal watching him, but he
always gave them a wide berth. He wasn’t here to
hunt or to fight. This was strictly about the run.

It didn’t even occur to him to wonder how far

he had come for a long time. He lost himself
completely in the run. He even forgot to keep track
of the passage of time. It wasn’t until he saw the
lights on the horizon that it occurred to him that he
must have come farther than he had intended to.

At the sight of those lights, he hung back,

coming to a halt and slinking behind the trees. That
was a private home. Somebody lived up there. And
nobody would be happy to see a wolf on their
property. Vince couldn’t speculate as to what they
would do if they did see him, but he knew enough
to know that staying away was the right decision.
Even a natural wolf would have known that.

The light he had seen was on the porch. Dimly,

he could see a figure sitting there. He thought it was
a woman by the way the garment she was wearing
swirled around her ankles in the light breeze. He
sniffed the air, trying to get a sense of the people

who lived there, but the wind was blowing in the
wrong direction and he couldn’t pick up very much.

Definitely human, though. That much was

obvious. He would have known at once if these
were shifters, and they weren’t. Which meant that
it wasn’t safe for Vince to show himself here.

No problem. He had been away for too long

anyway, he now realized. He had been running for
almost forty-five minutes at top speed, and that
meant he was going to be late getting back to the
motel. Which meant that Ace would probably be
even angrier than he might otherwise have been,
and Dax and Tommy would be worried.

Guilt was too complex an emotion for a wolf.

But he did feel the call to return to his pack, the
urgency of the need to do so. It was time to go
home.

He turned away from the house and made his

way slowly through the woods. He would move
with care until he had reached a point where they
wouldn’t be able to see or hear him anymore. If
they suspected a wolf was out here, he knew, they
might come running. They’d never be able to catch
him, but they might have guns, and bullets were
faster than he was. That thought wasn’t too
complicated for a wolf.

He had just crossed the threshold of where he

thought he could still possibly be heard when it
happened.

The first thing Vince was aware of was the

sound—a snap, louder than any he had ever heard
in his life. It sounded as if the jaws of the very
Earth had closed. He had a moment to wonder
what that sound had been.

Then the pain hit.
It was blinding, unlike anything he had ever felt

before. He lost track of where he was, lost track
even of who he was. It was as if he had been
thrown into a void, and the only thing to orient him
was pain. It became his center, the pull that
replaced gravity. He couldn’t move. It was drawing
him in.

No, that wasn’t right.
He actually couldn’t move.
His forward momentum had been halted as he

had started to break into a run. Now he lay
sprawled on the ground as if he had tripped, but
that wasn’t what had happened. Not exactly.

His brain struggled to catch up.
A part of him yearned for his human self, but he

couldn’t shift. Not now. Not when he didn’t even
know what was going on. He didn’t even know if it
would be possible to shift. The wolf was frantic,
clawing. It wasn’t likely to let Vince—human Vince
—take over.

He looked back, toward the source of the pain,

and immediately wished he hadn’t.

His leg was caught tight in a steel trap, clearly

broken, and though he couldn’t see well enough in
the gathering dark to be sure, he was fairly certain
it was bleeding.

He turned away, unable to face the sight.
The trap must have been laid by the people at

the house he had seen. They must be trying to
defend their property from wild wolves. Ranchers.
He was so stupid. He had insisted on going out
running in Wyoming, and now he was going to meet
the same fate as his brother. They would certainly
find him in the morning, and they would kill him.

There was only one chance.
He would have to hope that his pack could find

him first.

And even though he knew it was a risk, even

though he knew it might bring the humans, he
threw back his head and let out a howl. Calling to
them. Hoping to bring them to his side.

Maybe he would get lucky and the humans

wouldn’t be willing to come looking until the sun
was up.

Maybe.

Chapter Five

Night was, in Amy’s opinion, the only

good time to go out of the house. The darkness that
hung like a cloak over the world made things seem
a little closer, a little more friendly.

Amy had never been afraid of the dark. Not

even as a child. Rather than worry about the things
the dark might have been hiding, she felt as if the
dark was hiding her. She felt shielded. Tonight,
sitting on the porch of her parents’ house and
drinking a cold root beer, she felt as if Chris was a
million miles away. There was nothing he could do
or say to hurt her anymore. Nothing that had
happened between them mattered.

She felt free.
Going to the hardware store with her father

hadn’t helped matters. She knew her parents had
hoped it would be good for her to get out of the
house, but a hardware store just wasn’t a natural
environment for Amy. Rather than feeling as if she
had stepped back into her normal life, she had felt
awkward and out of place. It was the same feeling
that had plagued her since Chris had started divorce
proceedings.

She had been yanked out of the world she had

known and thrown back into the one she’d grown

up in. Except that this world was no longer her
home. She was no longer the girl who had grown up
in this house.

But the porch in the evening—that was an

exception. She could find comfort here. She wasn’t
the little girl who had sat on the porch swing and
tried to see how fast she could make it go, but
maybe she could be the young woman who relaxed
out here with a book and a cold drink after
sundown.

Her parents were in bed. It was easy enough to

pretend that the house and the property were hers,
that this was simply her life. If only I had money,
she thought. If only I could buy a little place of my
own and start fixing it up, start building something
that was just mine. But of course, she had never
gotten a job. Chris had seen to that.

Damn him, she thought with sudden vigor, and

was surprised at herself. That was unlike her.

Then again, who knew what she was like

anymore? She was going to have to come up with
new ways to define who she was now that she was
no longer Chris’ wife.

She was just about to head back inside for the

evening when she heard it—a low, mournful howl
coming from the east side of their property.

Wolf.
Wolves weren’t exactly common in this part of

Wyoming, but they were far from unheard of, and

everyone Amy had known growing up had
considered it common practice to set traps around
their homes. The last thing anyone wanted was a
wolf coming up to the house—even though, in
Amy’s opinion and according to everything she had
read, it was highly unlikely that any wolf would
ever do that. Wolves feared humans just as much as
humans feared them, and they were rightfully
cautious when they discovered a human residence.

But most humans seemed to think of wolves as

more like raccoons—willing to invade anyone’s
property if there was a chance of food in it for
them. So the traps were set. They ringed Amy’s
parents’ house in a wide perimeter, and as a child
she had been taught not to go too far from the
house, lest she accidentally come across one of
them.

The howl came again.
Is a wolf trapped? Amy wondered. The howl

was higher pitched than she would have expected,
as if the creature making the sound was in pain. If it
is trapped, it’s in for a rough night. Dad isn’t going
to go out there in the middle of the night and try to
save it.

Who was she kidding? She loved her father, but

he wouldn’t try to help the wolf at all. When he
went out to the trap, it would be with his rifle.

And maybe that would be necessary. It would

be cruel to send a wolf back into the wild if it was

hurt too badly to fend for itself. But it would be
even crueler to leave it to suffer all night.

Suddenly decided, Amy got to her feet. She

went to the locker on the side of the porch where
her father kept his rifle and took it out carefully,
knowing she would need to be ready to put the wolf
out of its misery if that was necessary. She also
took a big flashlight so she would be able to see
where she was going once she got into the woods.
The traps were a decent way away from the house,
and she would have a bit of a hike ahead of her.

I can’t just leave that wolf, she thought. I can’t

leave it there to suffer all night long. It’s too awful.

She knew that going into the dark woods alone

and approaching a trapped wolf wasn’t exactly the
smartest idea in the world. Her father had done this
dozens of times, and he still refused to do it except
in the light of day. Amy had never done it before.
But she just couldn’t stand the sound of those
howls. She couldn’t leave the wolf all alone.

Make a sound, she thought. Let me know where

you are. Help me find you.

The wolf complied, letting out another gusty

howl, and Amy switched on her flashlight and
began to make her way through the undergrowth.

She knew the wolf would probably fall silent

once it sensed her approach, and she was right.
After that last howl, no more came, she would have
to hope she was going in the right direction, and she

would rely on her other senses. Like—there. There
was a paw print.

This must be the right way.
She broke through the foliage and shone her

light down at the ground, lighting up a frightened
looking wolf with its hind leg caught in one of her
father’s traps.

The wolf looked up at her. Its teeth were bared

and its ears were laid back against its head, and she
could tell it was frightened and in pain. Would it
allow her to get close?

“Okay,” she said aloud, talking more to herself

than to the animal. “I want to help you, but I need
you to hold still and let me. Okay?” She dropped to
her knees.

The wolf snarled.
Amy jerked back. If it turned on her, she knew,

it could kill her. And there wasn’t much on earth
more dangerous than a trapped animal. Sharp teeth,
sharp fangs...she gripped the gun a little more
tightly.

If only the wolf understood what the gun was. If

only she could make it understand that she
wouldn’t hurt it, if it wouldn’t hurt her.

But she would hurt it. She had to examine the

trapped leg in order to decide what to do next, and
that was going to cause the animal pain.

God. She should have waited for her father to

do this.

For a moment she considered turning and going

back up to the house. But she was here now. Might
as well get the job done.

She shone the light down at the wolf’s leg. It

was bleeding copiously, and it was clearly broken.
She thought the animal would probably die if it was
left out here. It wouldn’t be able to hunt or to
defend itself from predators. The kind thing was to
put a bullet in its head right now.

God, she didn’t want to do it.
But she couldn’t let it suffer.
She reached for the spring that would release

the trap. The least she could do was let it out before
she killed it. It wasn’t as if it would be able to run.
And it was a beautiful animal. It deserved the
dignity of dying free of confinement.

She sprung the trap.
As she did, the wolf rounded on her.
Jaws closed around her wrist, sinking deep into

her skin, so deep she thought she could feel the
wolf’s teeth scrape against bone. She screamed as
the pain crashed over her. It’s going to kill me, she
realized, and stars danced before her, obscuring her
vision. I shouldn’t have freed it. I should have shot
it. That’s what Dad would have done. That’s what—

She couldn’t maintain logical thought. The

world seemed to be spinning around her. The pain
in her wrist was everything. She would bleed out,
she thought. She would die here in these woods.

How bad would she look when the wolf was
finished with her? She reached for her gun, hoping
even now to get a shot off, knowing that it wouldn’t
matter. It was too late for her to save herself.

And that wolf isn’t going to survive anyway.
But she couldn’t manage it. The rifle was too

long, too unwieldy. She couldn’t get it between
herself and the wolf, and she was too dizzy from
shock and blood loss to aim. After a moment of
trying, she was forced to give up and to let it drop
to the ground. It felt as if it weighed a hundred
pounds.

She was growing weaker.
Her vision dimmed, especially around the

periphery. She blinked, trying to clear it.

And a thought occurred to her through the fog.
It only bit me once. It hasn’t attacked me again.
Why?
She supposed the wolf was just so distracted by

its own injury that it hadn’t had the presence of
mind to come after her again. That was good.
Maybe she would die unmauled. It would be easier
for her parents to find her if her body wasn’t too
torn up.

I wonder if anyone will tell Chris what

happened to me, she thought.

I wonder if Chris will even care.
I bet he won’t. I bet I’ll turn into a fairy tale he

tells his new wife and his new kids. The girl he

knew who was killed by a wolf. Wolf girl.

And as her vision began to fade for the final

time, she felt a brief stab of pleasure at the thought.
Wolf girl. If there was something to be remembered
as, she thought, that wasn’t so bad. It was better
than pathetic girl divorce at twenty-four, better
than barren girl, better than nice girl who always
says yes and gets walked all over.

Wolf girl.
She blinked, trying to focus.
She couldn’t. The world was slipping away.
And just before she sunk into blackness, she

thought she saw something that didn’t belong in
these woods.

It was a face.
It was the face of a man.
Tall and tan and muscular, dark haired and with

a day’s growth of facial hair, he stood looming over
her, watching her. Was he waiting for something?

He had to be a hallucination, she decided. She

had summoned something beautiful to look at at the
end of her life. A fantasy of a man.

A savior.
The darkness reached up warm, welcoming

fingers, embracing Amy, pulling her away from her
pain and down into the depths.

Chapter Six

INCE

The sight of the human girl collapsed at

his feet was enough to bring Vince up from his
primal, animal mind. It was enough to drag him
back into being human.

Not that the shift didn’t suck. Shifting was

mildly uncomfortable at the best of times—the
awkwardness of bones reforming themselves into a
new shape never quite went away, even with a lot
of experience. It wasn’t painful, exactly, but it was
mildly unpleasant.

But today, now, with his leg broken, it felt like

dragging the wound under a chain link fence. Vince
let out a cry as he made the shift back to his human
self. His leg couldn’t support him. He dropped to
his knees on the ground.

The girl was splayed out before him, her

breathing fast, her eyelids fluttering. Sweat clung to
her pale face.

He had bitten her.
He couldn’t believe he’d done that. He hadn’t

wanted to, hadn’t intended to. It had happened
almost instinctively. In fact, Vince hardly felt as if
he had done it at all. It was as though the wolf
within him had reared up and done the deed. There
had been a flash of fear and anger when the girl had

reached for his injured ankle, but now that he was
human again, he understood that she had been
freeing him from the trap.

She was trying to help me, and I bit her.
Christ. What could he do?
He couldn’t very well take her up to the house

he’d just come running from. Aside from the fact
that there might be more traps in the woods
between here and there, it wouldn’t exactly do for
a naked man to come up to a house carrying an
injured girl. He would be expected to stay and talk
to the police or something, and what kind of
explanation could he possibly give that would
account for her injuries, his own injuries, and his
nudity? There wasn’t one.

He pulled off her boot and saw that she was

wearing knee high socks. That would do. He
removed a sock and wound it carefully around the
bite on her wrist, pulling it tight. Then he removed
the other sock and bound the injury on his own
ankle. It wasn’t much, he thought, but it might be
the best he could do for either of them out here in
the woods.

“Hey,” he said, giving her shoulders a little

shake. “Girl. Stay awake.”

Nothing. No response.
I can’t just leave her here, he thought. He

couldn’t very well take her up to the house, but to
leave her in the woods alone would be to sign her

death warrant. She was unconscious, she was
bleeding, she was possibly going into shock...and
there were wild animals in these woods. Real wild
animals, not shifters out on a lark.

He had to do something. He had to think of

something, some way to get her back to where
someone could help her.

But it was hard to think at all with the blinding

pain in his ankle. Before too long, he knew, he was
going to have to get out of here. He’d been kicking
up a hell of a ruckus when his leg was trapped,
hoping that his pack would come and find him—but
that had been a long shot, and he knew he couldn’t
count on the idea that they were on their way. He
was going to have to start making his way back
toward the motel.

They would probably have noticed by now that

he’d been gone for too long. At least, he hoped so.
But would they come after him?

He thought that Dax and Tommy would

probably want to. But Ace might tell them no. Ace
might assume that Vince had decided to go rogue,
to run away and live on his own. It was an
uncommon move for a shifter, but certainly not
unheard of. And if Ace told the others not to go
looking for Vince? Would they listen? Or would
they defy him?

Vince had to admit that he didn’t know.
Not knowing that was hard.

We’re fractured, he thought. Our pack is

broken, and it’s because we don’t have an alpha in
our generation. All we have is the assumption that
we all made long ago that Ace is in charge.

What if we were wrong?
What if the reason he hasn’t been able to come

to power is that he was never meant to be our
alpha? What if omegas have nothing to do with it
at all?

That was a strange thought, and kind of a

frightening one. Could they really have been
barking up the wrong tree all this time? Had it all
been a waste? Had it all been for nothing?

He shook his head to clear it. Maybe the girl

wasn’t the only one at risk of going into shock here.
He was thinking crazy things. He had to settle
down, had to focus on the problem that was facing
him.

How was he going to help her?
He couldn’t leave her to die in the woods. He

couldn’t.

Was there even a chance she might survive if he

left now? I did bind up her wrist, he told himself.
That ought to stop the blood flow, right?

He couldn’t be sure. He couldn’t be sure that

what he’d done was enough.

Then, off in the distance, he heard voices.
“There was howling,” someone said. A man’s

voice. “I thought a wolf was trapped, but I figured

I’d wait until morning to go find out. Don’t want to
go into these woods at night.”

“Yeah, but Molly says she was on the porch.

Says she never came inside.” A hesitation. “Amy
wouldn’t go after a wild wolf, would she?”

“Hell, I don’t know. Girl’s got more compassion

than sense sometimes. If she thought it was
suffering, I don’t know what she might have done.
And my gun was missing.”

“Jesus,” the second man said.
They were coming closer, moving toward Vince

and the girl. Off in the distance he could see the
beam of a flashlight. Good. They’ll find her. She’ll
be all right.

And on the heels of that thought—I need to get

out of here. Right now.

Because if they found her, and they found a

strange man with her—a strange naked man—one
of the voices had mentioned not having his gun, but
Vince was willing to bet his friend was armed, if
they were coming out here in search of this girl. If
they knew there was a possibility they might
encounter wolves.

It was time to go.
But going was hard. He couldn’t put any weight

on his right leg, which made walking impossible. He
dragged himself away from the girl and into a copse
of bushes, curled up, and focused on his primal self.

Three working legs would be a hell of a lot better
than one.

But the wolf wouldn’t come.
Maybe it was the pain, or maybe it was the fact

that he’d been doing so much thinking, so much
analyzing of his situation since he’d shifted back.
Whatever the case, he couldn’t seem to access his
animal self.

“Come on,” he groaned under his breath.

“Where are you when I need you?”

Nowhere to be found, apparently. He strained,

but the wolf refused to emerge.

Trying hard not to panic, which he knew would

only make matters worse, Vince inhaled. He
smelled the scent of blood, ripe and tangy and
bitter. Blood meant fight. It meant defend, whether
defending himself or the pack. It meant that teeth
and claws were needed.

And finally, finally, the teeth and claws

emerged.

As two men burst into the clearing just a few

yards away and discovered an unconscious girl with
a bloody bite mark on her wrist, an injured wolf
limped quietly out of the bushes, body slung low to
the ground, making his way slowly away from the
ranch house in the distance and back to the motel
room where his pack members were waiting.

IT WAS TOMMY WHO FOUND him. He came
crashing through the trees when Vince was about a
mile away from the motel.

“Jesus Christ,” he whistled. “What happened to

you?”

Vince, still in wolf form, didn’t even bother

trying to shift back to answer. He wanted nothing
more right now than a painkiller and a few hours’
sleep. He allowed himself to collapse on the ground
at Tommy’s feet.

“Stay there,” Tommy instructed. “I’m going to

get the others.”

Vince dropped in and out of a doze waiting for

his friend to return. The next time he was fully
conscious, he was human again—he must have
shifted in his sleep—and his ankle was complaining
angrily. After a moment, he realized he was cradled
between Ace and Dax, a blanket spread over his
body.

“Put me down,” he grumbled. “I can walk.”
“The hell you can,” Ace said. “Tommy, get the

door, will you?”

Tommy jogged ahead. Vince squinted his eyes.

The lights overhead were too close and too bright
to be stars. They were the light posts in the parking
lot of the motel.

He had made it back.
Ace and Dax laid him on a bed and set about

examining his leg. “That’s definitely broken,” Dax

said. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Trap.”
“That’s why we don’t run in rancher territory,”

Ace admonished.

“Yeah, I think he learned the lesson, Ace,” Dax

said. “He probably doesn’t need an I told you so
right now.”

Vince closed his eyes. “What time is it?”
“A little past two.”
“In the morning?” Obviously. It was dark

outside. But he felt so disoriented by the events of
the past few hours that he still felt the need to ask.

“Here,” Dax said, pressing a few white pills into

his hand. “These’ll take the edge off.”

Vince swallowed the pills and tried to relax as

Tommy unwound the bandage from his leg. It was
painful at first, but the drugs kicked in quickly, and
before long he was staring at patterns in the ceiling
and smiling vaguely, only half listening to Tommy’s
words.

“Well, you got lucky,” his friend said. “It looks

like a pretty clean break. All the way through, of
course, but if we can set it well it should heal easily
enough. And you’ll heal quickly, of course.” That
was true of all shifters. Dax liked to joke that it was
a superpower, but it wasn’t, Vince thought, not
really. It was just an evolutionary advantage, like
the fact that they had split natures in the first place,
or the way omega shifters could breed whole litters

instead of single births. With good care, his leg
would probably be healed up in about a week.

It would be an annoying week in the meantime,

though. He wouldn’t be able to ride his bike, not if
he wanted to heal properly. He wouldn’t really be
able to even get up and walk around. He would be
stuck here in this tiny room with this TV that only
got a couple of channels.

Infuriating.
“All right,” Tommy said, stepping back. “I think

that’s the best I can do. Does it hurt?”

“Not right now,” Vince said, but even he could

hear how much he was slurring.

“He probably doesn’t even know which way is

up right now, with the drugs you gave him,” Dax
said, laughing.

Ace’s face came into view. He wasn’t smiling.

“I don’t mean to kick you while you’re down,
Vince, but I hope this means you’ll listen to me the
next time I give an order. There was a reason I
didn’t want you three going off alone here. We
were lucky not to lose you.”

Maybe Ace was right. It was true that Vince

could have died tonight. He had gotten lucky.

“You know, I’ve been wondering about that,”

Dax said suddenly. “How did you get back? If you
got your leg stuck in a trap, I mean? You can’t
expect us to believe that the humans who set it just
let you go?”

“Actually, they did,” Vince said.
Ace’s frown deepened. “Why would anyone do

that? Trap a wolf and then just let it go?”

He couldn’t answer. He couldn’t even think.

The pain started to creep back in around the edges,
and Vince didn’t want to feel it. He closed his eyes
and let his exhaustion and the drugs sweep him
away.

Chapter Seven

She blinked. The familiar details of her

room came into focus. She was in her room,
surrounded by those lavender walls, her plush
comforter tucked under her chin. Beside her, her
mother sat in a chair.

She was knitting. Amy hadn’t seen her mother

knit since before she’d left for college.

“What—” Her voice was gravel. She cleared

her throat and tried again. “What are you making?”

Her mother looked up. “Amy, you’re awake!

How do you feel, baby?”

“I—what happened?” She tried to remember,

but something seemed to be standing in the way.

“You’ve been ill, honey,” her mother said.

“You’ve had a fever for about thirty-six hours.
Scared the hell out of your father and I. But you’re
going to be fine. What on earth were you doing out
in the woods by yourself, Amy, you know better
than that.”

“The woods?” It was coming back to her now.

The smell of blood. The call of a wounded wolf.
And the face of a handsome stranger—no, that
would have been part of the delirium. She shook
her head to clear it.

“Your father and Collin Musgrove found you

out by one of the traps,” her mother said. “It
looked as if you freed an animal and it bit you!”

Her mother’s gaze flickered downward, and

Amy followed. Her wrist was wrapped in a thick
layer of gauze and rested on a throw pillow.

Seeing her injury brought the memories rushing

back. Her ill-advised journey into the woods alone,
with nothing but a flashlight and a rifle she didn’t
really know how to use. Seeing the wolf in the trap,
its eyes wild with fear and pain. Her determination
to set it free—her certainty that it would kill her,
that she wouldn’t be able to get away—

“What about the wolf?” she asked.
“The wolf?”
“The wolf that was in the trap,” Amy

explained. “It did bite me—it turned on me when I
set it free.”

“You shouldn’t have done that, Amy. How

many times has your father told you not to go near
a trapped animal?” her mother asked. “And to do it
at night, when you couldn’t even see where you
were going!”

“I had a flashlight.” She shook her head. They

were getting off track. “The wolf didn’t hurt Dad or
Mr. Musgrove, did it?”

“No,” her mother assured her. “It was gone by

the time they arrived. And I can hardly blame the
creature. It got lucky. I’m sure your father would

have put a bullet in its head if it had still been there
when he arrived.”

Amy frowned. “Its leg was broken,” she said. “I

was going to kill it. It’s just going to die out there
anyway, and I wanted to make it quick and
painless.”

Her mother nodded. “I’m sure it dragged itself

off somewhere to hide and die quietly. That’s what
animals do when they sense their number’s up, you
know.”

“So nobody else saw the wolf?”
“No, it was just you out there. Your father

carried you back. Mr. Musgrove brought the gun
and the flashlight you took out with you.”

“I’m sorry. I know I’m not supposed to take

Dad’s gun out.”

“Oh, honey, that’s the least of what you’re not

supposed to do.” Her mother shook her head. “I’ve
never known you to break the rules like this. But I
suppose you were feeling a little cooped up in the
house. You haven’t gotten out enough lately.
Maybe that’s why you’re making some
questionable decisions.”

“Maybe,” Amy admitted.
“Well, never mind,” her mother said gently.

“The important thing is that you’re all right. And
your arm is healing up nicely.”

“My arm?”

Her mother reached over and began to unwind

the bandages. Amy watched with interest. Her wrist
didn’t hurt anymore, but she was amazed when the
gauze was finally pulled away and the bite mark
was revealed. “Whoa.”

“You’ll always have a scar there, I’m afraid,”

her mother said gently. “But you know, it’s all right.
There are wonderful scar concealing products on
the market these days. My friend Inez uses one on
her chin, on a scar she’s had since childhood. I’ll
ask her for the name.”

Amy nodded, happy as always to go along with

her mother’s suggestion, but deep down she felt as
if she didn’t need Inez’s scar concealer. She was a
little bit in awe of her scar. It’s impressive, she
thought. It looks like I’ve been through something
big.

I have been through something big.
And although it always gave her a pang to think

his name, this time she felt nothing but pure pride
when she thought, Chris would never believe that I
went into the woods and freed a wolf from a trap.

Chris had always seen her as someone who

needed help, someone who couldn’t get things
done. He probably expected me to fall apart after
the divorce.

For the first time, Amy felt as though falling

apart might be something she wasn’t going to do.

SHE TOOK HER TIME GETTING up and ready
for the day, but by noon she felt ready to go
downstairs and join her parents for lunch. She
dressed in a fitted tank top and a pair of black
leather shorts she hadn’t worn since college, feeling
a little daring. If Chris could see me now—

Her parents looked up when she walked in.

“You’re up,” her father said, sounding pleased. “I
was just about to make your favorite. Grilled
cheese with provolone. You want one? And maybe
a tomato soup for dipping?”

“Can we put ham on the grilled cheese?” Amy

asked.

Her father frowned. “You’ve never eaten it that

way before.”

“I know,” Amy conceded. “But it sounds really

good, doesn’t it?”

“She’s probably craving meat,” her mother said.

“She lost a lot of blood, after all. She needs iron.”

“Okay,” Amy’s father said. “Grilled cheese

with ham it is.” He got up and went to the stove.

“Where are you off to?” her mother asked.
“Off to?”
“You’re actually dressed,” her mother said.

“Not in your sweatpants like you have been for the
last several days. Are you going out to meet a
friend?”

She sounded so hopeful that Amy couldn’t bear

to disappoint her. “Maybe I’ll see if Veronica wants
to go get a drink.”

“Veronica!” Her father sounded pleased. He

flipped the sandwich and Amy heard it sizzle in the
pan. “How is good old Veronica?”

“I haven’t talked to her since I’ve been home,”

Amy admitted. Veronica had been her best friend
throughout her school years, and she had stayed in
the area when Amy had moved away to be with
Chris. She had reached out a couple of times since
Amy had been home, but Amy hadn’t returned her
calls. She had been too ashamed to talk to anybody.
She hadn’t wanted to face her old friend and admit
that her life had fallen apart.

Now, though, she felt different. She had a story

to tell that wasn’t simply Chris left me because I
couldn’t give him a baby. She had gone into the
woods at night and come face to face with a wolf.
She had the scar to prove it.

Honestly, it almost felt as if her blood was

pumping faster than usual.

Her father placed the grilled cheese sandwich

on the table and Amy tore into it ravenously. Her
mother chuckled. “Looks like somebody’s hungry.”

“I feel like I haven’t eaten in a week.”
“Well, you burned off a lot of calories with that

fever,” her mother said.

Amy got to her feet as she polished off her

sandwich. She strode over to the fridge, pulled out
a beer, flicked off the cap with her thumb, and took
a long drink.

When she looked up, her parents were staring

at her. “What?”

“Are you having a beer in the middle of the

day?” her father asked.

“Is it a big deal?” It occurred to her suddenly

that she had never done that before. Her parents
didn’t usually drink alcohol before dinner. It was a
kind of unspoken house rule. But she had found
herself craving the taste. Maybe that has something
to do with my fever breaking too, she thought,
although she couldn’t think what nutrient she
would possibly be getting from beer. Weird.

And for that matter, how had she managed to

flick the cap off with her thumb like that? This
wasn’t even a twist off. She should have needed a
bottle opener. It must just be because I’ve spent the
past few days resting, she thought, looking down at
her hand, her eyes wandering to the bite shaped
scar on her wrist. I guess my muscles were just
eager to be used or something like that.

She made her way back up to her room, beer

still in hand. Her cell phone was on her childhood
desk, plugged into its charger. Amy hadn’t touched
it in days, but now she picked it up and scrolled

through her list of contacts until she found
Veronica’s name.

Her old friend answered on the first ring.

“Amy! You’re alive!”

“Of course I’m alive,” Amy laughed.
“Your mom said you’d been attacked by a

wolf!”

“Don’t tell me she put it on social media.” Amy

was a little disappointed.

Veronica read her voice. “Don’t worry. She

didn’t really include any details, she just asked us
to all pray for you. So I still need the whole story.
When are we meeting up?”

“Are you up for drinks tonight?”
“Are you up for drinks tonight?” Veronica

countered. “You never want to go out to bars.”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m kind of feeling it

tonight.”

“Better seize my moment then, I guess,”

Veronica said, laughing. “There’s a really cute little
place in town. What time should I pick you up?”

“Say nine-o’clock?”
“Perfect, Veronica said. “Wear something

slutty, if you even have such a thing.”

This was an old joke between the two of them.

Amy’s line was supposed to come next—wear a
bra, if you own one. It was how they teased each
other. But Amy regarded her closet, lost in thought.

Suppose she did wear something a little more

revealing tonight?

She jumped up from her bed and made her way

over to her closet. Most of the clothes here were
relics from high school, but Amy had maintained
her figure and knew that she would be able to fit
into most of them. Her chest and her butt were both
a little bigger now than they had been when she
was eighteen, though. What impact would that
have?

She pulled out a black dress she had worn to a

few parties immediately following graduation and
pulled it over her head. It sheathed her more tightly
than she remembered, and when she stepped in
front of the full-length mirror, she saw that the skirt
only came down to mid-thigh. It had hung lower
when she was younger.

As for the neckline—well, she couldn’t allow

her parents to see that. They would be appalled that
she was leaving the house in such a revealing outfit.

And yet, she found, she wanted to. People

would look at her in this dress, and for the first time
in her life, Amy really wanted to be looked at.

Could her encounter with the wolf be

responsible for this strange new feeling? Was it
possible for one incident to entirely change the way
a person saw herself and the way she wanted the
rest of the world to see her?

Chapter Eight

Veronica arrived at nine o’clock

precisely.

She had held up her end of the bargain by

wearing what Amy supposed was probably the
most revealing assortment of clothes she owned—a
tiny red skirt that looked as if it was made of plastic
and a white lacy crop top. She wore huge acrylic
hoops in her ears and her blonde hair hung down to
the middle of her bare back.

She blew in like a hurricane and wrapped Amy

up in an embrace. “It’s so good to see you!” she
enthused, then held her at arm’s length. “What are
you wearing?”

“Do you like it?” Amy ran her hands self-

consciously over the dress. It was so much less than
she ordinarily would have worn, but there was
something about it that made her blood feel alive
and full of sparks.

“Oh, I like it fine,” Veronica said. “But you

already knew I was going to like it, Ames. That’s
not really the question. The question is, what are
you doing in it? Is that really what you’re wearing
to the bar?”

“Is something wrong with it?” Amy frowned.

She had no experience with this sort of thing. Her

usual bar-going outfit would have consisted of jeans
and a cotton tank top.

“It’s just not very you,” Veronica said.
“Well, I don’t know,” Amy said. “Maybe it’s

me now.”

“Chris leaving really did a number on you,

huh?” Veronica marveled.

Amy didn’t answer. The truth was, she didn’t

feel like this had anything to do with Chris. Of
course, it made sense that it would. A girl gets
dumped by her husband and decides to go a little
crazy—there was a tale as old as time if ever there
was one. And certainly, that was a narrative
Veronica could understand. So, she didn’t disagree.

But the truth was that she had hardly thought

about Chris all day. She hadn’t wondered what he
would think if he could see her in this dress that
barely contained her figure. She hadn’t thought
about how he might feel about the attention she
would probably get tonight at the bar. It was as if
all thoughts of Chris had been completely driven
from her mind.

And that was a welcome relief.
“All right,” Veronica said, shrugging. “Let’s go

if we’re going.”

They left the house quietly, careful not to draw

the attention of Amy’s parents, who were sitting on
the couch and watching TV. Amy knew her mother
and father were glad she was going out today, but

they would have mixed feelings about the outfit she
had chosen. The last thing she wanted was an
argument on her way out the door.

VERONICA’S BAR OF CHOICE turned out to be
a bit of a dive. Amy supposed she had imagined
someplace nice, someplace with soft jazz music and
plush, comfortable chairs littered around a lounge.
Wasn’t that the kind of bar people went to in their
twenties? That was what the bar she’d worked at
during her time with Chris had been like. It had
been a classy place.

Well, good, she thought. I don’t want to be at a

place like that. I don’t want to run into people who
might know my parents or people who might talk to
me like I’m a smart, nice girl.

She wanted to make bad decisions, she realized.
That was a little bit frightening. Maybe this was

about Chris. Maybe she shouldn’t have come out
tonight.

But it was too late now. She was here. And she

didn’t want to go back. She wanted to have fun for
once in her life.

She grabbed an open booth, and Veronica took

the seat across from her. “Let’s get some shots,”
she suggested.

Veronica raised her eyebrows. “Shots? I was

thinking maybe a beer or something.”

“Come on,” Amy said. “I haven’t had fun in

years, Ronnie. Do some shots with me.”

“This is peer pressure, you know,” Veronica

scolded.

“You’re twenty-four. You know your own

mind.”

Veronica groaned. “Fine. You know, I can’t

believe this. You’re supposed to be the good girl.
You’re supposed to talk me out of crazy ideas.
What’s going to happen to us if we’ve both got our
feet on the gas? Answer me that.”

Amy grinned. She felt wild and wicked. “Don’t

you sort of want to find out?”

“You know I sort of do.” Veronica shook her

head. “I’ll go get the first round. Stay here and try
not to get into any trouble.”

Trouble. Even the word felt delicious.

Decadent. Do I want to get into trouble? Amy
asked herself.

Veronica was right. This was all so unlike her.
She was good. She followed rules and did as she

was told. Amy was usually the last person you’d
expect to find in the same sentence as trouble.

But tonight, she was out in a black dress that

was so little it shouldn’t even fit her anymore. And
she was single, for the first time in years.

Maybe the rules weren’t what she’d always

thought them to be. Maybe she could live a little
more dangerously, have a little more fun.

She sat back in her booth and glanced around

the bar. There wasn’t much of a crowd today, but
there were a few well-muscled looking men of
about her own age clustered around the pool table.
Maybe it would be fun to go over there and do a bit
of flirting.

After all, flirting is perfectly harmless.
Veronica came back to the table clutching four

shot glasses. “Cinnamon whiskey,” she announced.

“Perfect.” Amy grabbed one and tossed it back.

“I’m going to go talk to those guys. Want to
come?”

Veronica did a shot of her own. “Let’s finish

these first, yeah? If we leave them untended, we’re
not going to be able to drink them.”

“Right. Smart.” Amy knocked back her second

shot and stood up. “Okay, let’s go.”

She made her way over to the pool table

without looking back to see if Veronica was
following her. “Hi,” she said.

The men looked up from their game. She

allowed them a moment to take her in. I look good,
she realized. They’re at a loss. It felt awesome. She
felt powerful.

Finally, one of them spoke. “Hey.”
“Who’s winning?”
“Game’s over,” he said. “I just won.”
“Congratulations. Can I buy you a drink?”

She peeled him away from his friends and led

him over to the bar, mindful of the fact that her
skirt was riding higher on the backs of her thighs,
clinging to her butt. She was slightly embarrassed,
but more than that, it felt as though she were
tumbling downhill. She was powerless to stop. And
that was good, because this was exhilarating. She
didn’t want it to stop.

“A gin and tonic,” the man said when they’d

reached the bar.

“Two, please.” Amy had no plan. She had lost

track of Veronica entirely. She supposed her friend
was probably still over by the pool table, waiting
for the two of them to return, maybe flirting with
some of the other men over there.

“What’s your name?” the man beside her

asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said. She didn’t want to

give her name. She didn’t want to know his. She
wanted no illusion that whatever this was might
turn into a relationship. The last thing in the world
she wanted was to wake up tomorrow morning
wishing he would call her. We’re just having fun.
Nothing permanent. Nothing lasting.

“Okay,” the man agreed easily. “It doesn’t

matter, then.”

The drinks arrived. They sipped them slowly.

Every now and then, she looked up and met his

eyes. They were deep, soulful, captivating. Every
inch of her body felt alive.

She ached to touch him.
It was crazy. She knew she couldn’t just put her

hands on a random man in a bar. And yet she was
filled with an almost unquenchable thirst. It
bordered on painful, her desire for him.

She had never felt like this before.
She had never even been intimate with a man

other than Chris. And now here was this stranger
looking at her like she was a candy bar and the
dress she’d squeezed herself into was the wrapper.

A wrapper he was longing to open.
Do it, she thought, feeling dizzy and wanton,

knowing that if he reached for her right here and
now, in full view of the bar’s patrons, she would let
him do whatever he wanted.

He was in total control of her.
Did he know it? He certainly seemed to be

looking at her as if he could sense that he had the
power to do whatever came to his mind. And
suddenly he drained his glass, reached out, and
rested a hand on her shoulder.

It was electric. She tingled. She looked up at

him.

“Thought I might go out back and get some

air,” he said, his voice casual. “Could you go for a
bit of fresh air too?”

Wordlessly, helplessly, she nodded.

“Come on then.” He drained his glass, stood up,

and held out a hand.

Everything seemed to balance on the razor’s

edge of that moment.

Amy couldn’t tear her eyes from his, but she

felt as though she could feel Veronica watching her.
She felt her friend’s shock coming across the room
in waves.

She didn’t care.
This was trouble, she knew, and now that she

was standing with her toes in the shark infested
waters, Amy realized that this kind of trouble was
the entire reason she’d put on this little black dress
and come out tonight. It had never been about
getting looked at at all.

She had wanted to be touched.
She had wanted this.
She took his hand and allowed him to lead her

out the door of the bar and into a little side alley
between the bar and the neighboring sandwich
shop, which had closed hours ago.

There were no windows here. There were no

people here. And yet, she knew, anyone could walk
by and see them at any moment. It was impossibly
risky.

It was delicious.
He didn’t speak. He peeled the straps of her

dress from her shoulders and rolled the top down,
exposing her breasts. Her nipples pebbled in the

cool night air and she gasped and arched her back,
pressing into him. She felt hardly human. She
should be shocked by what was happening. She
should be ashamed.

She shouldn’t be desperate for more.
The man paused for only a moment to weigh

her breasts in his hands. He hummed happily as he
circled his thumbs slowly over her nipples. Then he
wrapped one arm around her waist, lowered the
other hand to her skirt, pushed it up, and gripped
the waistband of her panties.

And yanked.
She let out a surprised cry as the fabric tore

away in his hands and the night air kissed her
between her legs. She was already wet. She was
shaking.

“Tell me to stop,” he murmured, pressing his

lips to her ear. His voice was a growl.

Amy shook her head.
“Tell me to stop now,” he insisted.
“I don’t want you to stop,” she breathed.
With a sound that was almost animal in nature,

he spun her around, slapped the palms of her hands
against the brick of the building, grabbed her hips,
and canted them up to meet him. She heard the zip
of his fly and the rustle of fabric as his pants
dropped.

She felt him press against her, his cock huge

and hard between her legs, sliding back and forth,

so powerful that she imagined she could lift her feet
and sit astride it like this, as if it was a horse.

Then he drew back and found his way inside

her.

They bucked together, no longer thinking, just

desperate for each other, just moving. As her
orgasm dropped over her, she had time to think that
she had never come like this before, just from this.
This was what she had been missing all this time.

He let out a groan as he came and pressed his

lips hard against her shoulder.

Then he stepped back.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “That was

amazing.”

And as he disappeared down the alley into the

night, leaving her in disarray, she noticed that he
was limping.

Chapter Nine

INCE

“You just disappeared,” Ace complained

as he barged into the motel room. “Did it not occur
to you that we might be wondering where you
went?”

“You knew where I went,” Vince said absently.

He wasn’t paying much attention to the other
members of his pack right now. His attention was
still taken up by the girl at the bar.

He had recognized her. He had known her face.
She had been the same girl he’d seen in the

woods the other night. The same girl who had freed
him from the trap he’d been caught in.

If he hadn’t recognized her by her face, he

would have been certain by the scar on her wrist.
The bite mark he had left on her. It was healed now,
thank goodness, and he knew she would be all
right. But it had been shocking, for a few minutes,
to see that scar and have to confront how badly
injured she had actually been. She would definitely
have that scar forever.

And yet she had wanted him tonight in the bar.
Don’t be stupid, he told himself. She had no

idea who you are. She couldn’t possibly have
connected you with the wolf that bit her. But he
wasn’t sure if that was actually true. He had shifted

before she had passed out, and he thought she had
seen him in human form. It wasn’t impossible that
she might have remembered him.

He had found her so appealing. And that was

strange. Vince had never been that attracted to a
human before. Sex with humans was nice, but it
was never irresistible.

But this girl—he’d felt as though, if he didn’t

get his hands on her, and quickly, he might explode.
He had been out of his mind with lust. He wasn’t
used to that feeling. Even on the rare occasions
he’d mated with fellow shifters, things had never
been that intense. Was it just the fact that he had
known who she was? Had their shared history been
enough to elevate his physical reaction?

If only I’d been able to tell her who I was. But

of course, there was no way to do that. You
couldn’t exactly tell a human girl that you were the
wolf she’d freed from a trap in the woods the other
night. That was pure insanity.

“He was just getting some action,” Dax said. He

lay sprawled on the bed, which he had taken over
again as of last night, claiming that Vince had
recovered well enough to go back to sleeping on
the floor. “You saw him leave with the girl. We all
did.”

“Okay,” Ace allowed. “But we all thought he’d

come back, too. And then the girl came back
without him.”

“Yeah, looking like she’d been mauled by a

tiger,” Dax chortled. “What did you do to her,
Vince?”

Vince frowned. “Did she look hurt?”
“She looked like she was sleepwalking,”

Tommy said. “She looked like she was in shock.
But she was smiling. I think she had a good time.
Anyway, her friend hustled her out of the bar pretty
quick after that.”

“Right, she was there with a friend,” Vince

remembered.

“Did you two talk at all?” Ace asked. “Did she

find out any information about us?”

“Information?” Dax sputtered. “What, you

think she’s some kind of spy?”

“She could be a spy,” Ace said. “We don’t

know anything about her. She might be affiliated
with another pack.”

“She was a human,” Vince said.
“Are you sure?”
“The girl she came to the bar with was

definitely a human,” Dax agreed. “I don’t mind
telling you I was sniffing around while Vince was
outside, trying to see what all the fuss was about,
and she was about as basic as they come.”

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter,” Vince told them.

“I didn’t tell her anything. We didn’t even
exchange first names, for God’s sake. She knows

nothing about me. It was just random sex outside
the bar.”

“Pimp,” Dax said approvingly.
“Not really like you,” Tommy chimed in. “Is

everything okay?”

“Oh, let the man have his fun,” Dax said.

“We’ve been on the road for ages, and the most
exciting thing that’s happened to him is getting his
leg stuck in a trap. So he wanted to get a little
action. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

“That’s right,” Vince said. “It wasn’t a big

deal.”

But he felt the lie in the words. It had been a

big deal. He had never experienced anything like
what he’d felt tonight with the girl at the bar, and
he wondered if he would ever find anything like it
again.

It had only been a couple of days since he’d

sustained his injury, and he was healing incredibly
quickly. He knew that Ace would want them to
move on. They had done all they could in this part
of Wyoming.

But suddenly Vince realized he wasn’t ready to

leave.

He wanted to see the girl again.
I should have tried harder to get her name, he

thought. I should have asked for a phone number. I
should have done something other than just walk
away and leave her in that alley to go home and

forget all about me. But I was so overwhelmed. I
wasn’t thinking.

That was the best sex I’ve ever had.
And there was more to it. She had saved his

life. He had been in his wolf form, and virtually any
other human would have run from him or shot him.
They would have been afraid of him. But she had
empathized with him. She had risked her own life to
save his.

There was something very special about that

girl.

He lay down in his pile of blankets on the floor

and pulled the top one over his head, blocking out
the light and the sight of the rest of his pack. He
didn’t want to talk to them anymore tonight. He
wanted to spend the rest of the evening reliving
what had happened with the girl at the bar. He
wanted to think about returning there the next night
and possibly finding her again.

I can ask the bartender, he thought. A small

down like this, everyone probably knows everyone.
Maybe I can get a lead on where she lives or how I
can contact her.

With that hope in his mind, he drifted off to

sleep.

HE WOKE TO A ROOM FULL of action.

Overhead, Tommy, Dax, and Ace were already

up and moving. Beds were being stripped. Items
were being stuffed into duffel bags. Dax had one
boot on and the other one off. Tommy’s shirt hung
open, unbuttoned. Ace was adjusting his belt.

“What’s going on?” Vince jumped to his feet,

then winced as he tried to put weight on his bad leg.
He had been healing well, but it still hurt to give the
leg his full weight, and he’d been favoring it
slightly. He sat down on the bed.

“Get dressed,” Ace said shortly. “We’re

leaving.”

“Leaving? Now?”
“We’ve got a lead on a possible omega in the

eastern part of the state,” Ace said. “We’ve got to
hit the road quickly, though. Rumor has it she
belongs to a pack that moves her around a lot. We
need to get on the road immediately if we don’t
want our information to go out of date. Get
dressed.”

Vince blinked. He had been counting on having

the chance to return to the bar tonight, to search for
the girl he’d met the night before. He wasn’t ready
to leave her behind. “I’m not supposed to be riding
yet,” he said feebly.

“You’re fine to ride,” Ace said. “You’ve been

walking all over the place. Besides, we all know
you only want to stay here for that girl.”

“She’s nothing. A booty call.”

“Yeah, but you haven’t had a booty call in

years,” Dax pointed out. “I get it, man. Of course
you don’t want to leave.” He turned to Ace.
“Maybe we can leave him here and circle back. Let
him have some fun.”

“The pack doesn’t split up,” Ace said firmly.
Tommy grabbed his other boot. “Vince, can you

help me check something on my bike?”

“Something wrong with your bike?” Vince

followed Tommy out of the motel room and down
to the parking lot, distracted. “What’s the
problem?”

“Nothing,” Tommy said. “I’ve been thinking.

About Ace.”

Oh. God. Talking about their alpha behind his

back was a risky proposition. “What about him?”
Vince said carefully.

Tommy drew a breath. “I’ve been thinking he

might not be the alpha.”

He watched Vince, clearly nervous.
Vince sighed. “To tell you the truth, Tommy,

I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

“Shouldn’t his abilities have manifested by

now? Omega or no omega?”

“I have no idea. I just...I can’t see us ever

following him, can you?”

“No,” Tommy said. “Even if he does find an

omega. I worry she won’t submit to him.”

“But what are you getting at?”

“I just think, I don’t know...” Tommy raked a

hand through his hair. “I think you’d better not get
too attached to any townies. We don’t know who
the alpha is, and whoever it is shouldn’t be having
affairs with human girls, you know?”

It took Vince a moment to understand. When he

did, he burst out laughing. “You think I’m the
alpha?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s me!” Tommy’s face

flushed. “Look, I don’t know, all right? And that’s
my point. We don’t know. None of us knows.”

“Tommy, c’mon.”
“You come on. Listen, I know you had fun with

that girl last night, and that’s cool, and I’m glad, but
I just don’t want you to forget that we’re on a
mission. Or why we’re on a mission. This isn’t just
about Ace. This is about what our pack needs. We
need to have an alpha in our generation, or we’re
going to fall apart. It’s already starting. Dax
suggesting that we leave you behind. That’s messed
up and you know it.”

He had a point. “Okay, but what do you want

me to do? I can’t just walk in there and challenge
Ace for alpha seniority.”

“Of course not. I’m just saying stick with us.

Keep an open mind about it. And don’t let a pretty
face distract you from what we’re trying to do here.
She’s still just a human, you know? Even if it was
really good.”

Vince smiled ruefully. “I don’t know how you

know so much about everything, Tommy.”

“It’s because I’m the only one of us who

actually listens instead of trying to run my mouth
all the time,” Tommy said with a grin.

“Well, that’s a fair point. I’m guessing there

wasn’t anything actually wrong with your bike, by
the way?”

“Just an excuse to get you out from under

Ace’s thumb.” Tommy grinned.

“You’re very clever. What are you going to tell

him when we go back in?”

“Nothing,” Tommy said. “I bet you a million

dollars he won’t even ask. It’s Ace. When has he
ever asked about something that didn’t directly
relate to him?”

“Fair enough.”
They went back into the motel room. Ace and

Dax had finished packing. Vince grabbed a duffel
bag, slung it over his shoulder, and followed the
others back out to the bikes, Tommy’s words
replaying themselves in his mind.

Chapter Ten

INCE

At first, Vince allowed himself to believe

that when he and the others had finished searching
the available territory for possible omegas, they
might return to the little town in Wyoming with the
bar and the girl. He allowed himself to think there
might a chance of seeing her again.

But he was deluding himself, of course. No one

had any intention of going back the way they had
come.

Ace, when it became clear that there was no

omega to be found, wanted nothing more than to go
home immediately. “This whole thing was a waste
of time,” he complained. “We should have been
working with Griff to figure out the transition.
Maybe he’s just having trouble letting go of his
power. I bet that’s what the problem is. If he
relaxes and lets me take over the way he should,
we’ll be just fine.”

Dax rolled his eyes at Vince behind Ace’s back.

Vince knew that Dax had wanted to abandon the
search for an omega and go back home almost from
the very beginning, so he wasn’t going to object to
doing it now. But it was clear that Ace was
pretending the change of plans had been his idea

rather than what it was—a failure to achieve what
they’d set out to do.

Tommy had been watching Vince carefully over

the past three days, as if he expected Vince to make
a run for it. Yeah, right, Vince thought somewhat
sourly. Even if he had wanted to—and he didn’t,
not really—he couldn’t run away from his pack. He
had been a member of the Hell’s Wolves all his life.
It was the only thing he knew how to be.

Besides, Tommy was right. So a pretty girl had

turned his head. He couldn’t allow that to keep him
from doing what was necessary for his family. It
was a big problem that his generation didn’t have
an alpha yet. If there had been an alpha, that
person would have brought Dax to heel. He would
have told Vince what to do about the fact that he
couldn’t stop thinking about the girl in Wyoming.

But they had no one. And they were starting to

fall apart.

Pulling up in the driveway of their cabin was a

welcome relief after all the time they had spent on
the road. Vince had almost forgotten how much it
relaxed him to be at home, how much easier
everything was when he was in his safe space. He
was looking forward to a cold beer and a hot meal,
and to catching up with Griff and Earl after all the
time they had spent on the road.

The older men were waiting on the porch. Griff

was smoking a cigar and relaxing in his rocking

chair, and Earl was leaning on his elbows on the
porch railing. They both stood upright as the
motorcycles drove up the driveway and parked.
Earl lifted a hand in greeting, and Griff made his
way down the porch steps and out into the yard to
greet the four younger members of his pack.

“Welcome home.” He slapped Ace congenially

on the shoulder, then reached past him to shake
Vince’s hand. “Heard there were a few mishaps
along the way.”

“We didn’t find any omegas,” Dax said. Was it

Vince’s imagination, or was there a hint of
satisfaction in Dax’s voice? “None in the whole
territory. Are we even sure omegas still exist?”

“Let’s not worry about that now,” Griff said, his

voice soothing, and Vince immediately felt a sense
of calm move through him. He had forgotten how
good it could feel to have an alpha in charge, to
have someone whose authority he could just submit
to. What Griff had said hadn’t even been an order,
and yet Vince was comforted by knowing exactly
what he needed to do. “Come inside,” Griff
continued. “Earl made steak and eggs. You’ll love
it. And I’m sure you’re all hungry.”

“I am,” Dax agreed, heading up the porch steps

and into the house ahead of the others.

Maybe Dax is the true alpha, Vince thought. He

did seem to take the lead more often than any of
the rest of them. Ace was given the lead plenty of

times, but he never actually seemed to take it. Dax,
by contrast, was assertive and opinionated. He
didn’t wait to see what the others were doing,
whether they were following him or whether they
thought he was making the right decision about
things. He simply moved.

Vince followed Dax into the house. As soon as

he was inside, the scent of steak and eggs hit him.
He stood in the kitchen doorway and inhaled,
enjoying the rich scent of food that hadn’t come
from the shelf at a gas station or convenience store.
God, it had been so long since he’d had a proper
meal.

“Sit down, sit down,” Earl said, moving to the

stove and pulling down a stack of plates. “You’ve
had a long trip. I’ll get the food.” He set out the
plates and began to load them up with massive piles
of hot, steaming food.

For a while nobody spoke, and the only sounds

were those of forks scraping against plates as they
all ate. Vince felt he could have finished three times
as much as the amount he’d been given. It wasn’t
that he was hungry—the dinner was very filling,
and his serving was more than satisfactory—but he
had just missed having real food so much that he
didn’t want to stop eating.

“Is there more?” Dax asked when his own plate

was cleared.

Tommy kicked him under the table. “Don’t be a

pig.”

Earl laughed. “There’s more, but don’t you

want to save room for dessert? Strawberry
shortcake.”

Strawberry shortcake. The closest thing to

dessert they’d had while they’d been on the road
had been the occasional candy bar, and even that
was a rare treat—Ace hadn’t approved of spending
money on candy, even though he’d never
complained about grabbing a beer, making it a
weird double standard. Vince got to his feet and
headed to the fridge, thinking he’d get a beer now.

“Hey, sit down,” Griff said. “You’re injured.”
“Injured?” The incident with the trap flashed in

Vince’s mind. His leg was almost entirely recovered
now—it still hurt a bit when he walked on it, but he
had stopped favoring it. “How did you know about
that?”

“Are you kidding?” Griff said. “Tommy called

us the night it happened.”

A cloud passed over Ace’s face.
He didn’t say anything, and he composed

himself quickly. Nobody else said anything about it.
Vince thought that maybe he was the only one who
had seen it. But it had definitely been there.

Ace had been angry.
Why?

Did it bother him that much to think of Tommy

calling home when Vince was hurt?

Of course it does, Vince thought. Tommy

reported back because he wanted the comfort of
talking to his alpha. His real alpha. He was
worried about me, and he wanted somebody to tell
him what to do. He wanted authority and
confidence and power.

And Ace has never given him that.
Tommy had been right. And so had Vince.

There was no way Ace could be their alpha. If he
had been, he would have risen to the occasion that
night. They had been alone in the world. There had
been no other alpha for miles, no one to compete
with Ace for power. And they had needed someone
to step up.

Why hadn’t anyone stepped up?
It was worrying.
He was still standing, and the others were still

watching him, so he shook his head. “I’m all right
now,” he said. “Healed up just fine. Besides, I’m
only getting a beer. Anybody else want one?”

Hands around the table went up. Vince went to

the refrigerator and pulled out an armload of
bottles.

“I’d like to take a look at it tonight,” Griff said,

his voice making it clear that this was only
nominally a request and that it would become an
order if Vince put up an argument about it. “I need

to make sure it’s healed up properly and that we
don’t need to do any re-breaking of the bone.”

“That’s definitely not necessary,” Vince said,

thinking that he’d rather have a slightly twisted leg
for the rest of his life than go through something
like that. “No re-breaking please.”

“I mean, it’s probably fine, given that you’ve

been walking around on it,” Griff said. “But we
should still check. Just to be sure. Are you having
any pain?”

“No,” Vince lied. It was only a little lie, he

justified to himself. The pain had been considerably
less as the days had gone on. He was sure it was
nothing to worry about.

“He’s not in pain,” Dax teased. “He’s heartsick,

that’s all.”

“Shut up, Dax,” Vince growled. The last thing

he wanted was to talk about the girl in Wyoming.

Earl raised his eyebrows. “Met someone on the

road, eh?”

“Not really,” Vince said. “Just a human girl.

Nobody special.” It ate at him to refer to her in
those terms. There had been something special
about the girl, and it felt like doing her a disservice
every time he said otherwise. But he didn’t want
the others to get the true measure of how much he
cared about her and how much she still lived inside
his head.

The truth was that he had been unable to think

of anything else since they had left Wyoming. The
long hours spent on his motorcycle driving back
here had given him nothing but time to let his mind
wander directly to her. It was infuriating. Usually,
long bike rides were one of his favorite things.
Usually they helped him to clear his head, to focus
on problems that needed solving or simply to enjoy
the world around him.

But he couldn’t do any of that now. All he

could do was think about her.

When dinner was over, he fetched another beer

out of the fridge and made his way out onto the
porch, glad that, for the first time in weeks, he
would be able to seize some time alone. It was
unlikely that any of the others would come out
here. Earl would be cleaning up the dinner dishes,
and Dax and Ace were likely to park themselves in
front of the TV and argue over which show they
should get caught up on. Tommy, he thought, would
most likely be found either helping with the dishes
or relaxing in his bedroom, making the most of his
own opportunity for personal space.

But he had misestimated. Griff was already out

on the porch, drinking a beer of his own and
finishing the cigar he’d started earlier.

“Come sit,” the alpha said.
That was an order. Vince joined him.
“So,” Griff said expectantly. “A girl?”

“She wasn’t anything,” Vince said again.

“Really. Just a human I met at a bar. I’ll never see
her again.”

“Then why are you still thinking about her?”

Griff asked.

“I’m not.”
“Don’t lie to me, Vince.” It was gentle, but it

was still an order. “Dax said what he said for a
reason.”

Vince sighed. “Okay. She’s been on my mind a

bit. But I know that it can’t ever be anything, Griff.
She’s a human, and I’m a shifter...it wouldn’t work
out.”

“Some shifters do mate with humans, you

know. It’s happened before.”

“You’re not telling me that because you think I

should do it, though.”

“No, I’m not,” Griff agreed. “The four of you

are in a mess, Vince. You have no alpha. Until you
solve that problem, you have no future.
Unfortunately, it’s not a good time for any of you to
run off in search of love. No matter how much you
liked her. So put her out of your mind.”

Vince nodded and took a long swallow of his

beer.

Put her out of your mind.
That had been an order from his alpha.
He would definitely be able to do it now, right?

Chapter Eleven

2 Months Later

“Amy! I’m going on my break!”

Amy raised a hand to her coworker, Brian,

indicating that she had heard his call and would
cover his tables for the next fifteen minutes until he
returned. Working as a server was not her favorite
thing she’d ever done.

For one think, there was the issue of the

customers. When she had been bartending, she had
had to deal with raucous barflies from time to time,
but at least they were generally in a good mood. If
they had ever veered too far into drunkenness or
violence, she had had bouncers on hand to eject
them from the building.

The customers at the restaurant were different.
And this was a nice place, Amy thought with

some bitterness. People should be happy to be here,
shouldn’t they? They should be enjoying their night
out. They shouldn’t be wasting their time whining
about every little thing that went wrong with their
meal.

She approached one of her four top tables,

glasses of soda and water balanced carefully on a
tray, and began to set them down. “Your drinks,”
she said, forcing a pleasant tone into her voice. If

you couldn’t keep things cheery, she knew, you
didn’t belong in the service industry.

“We ordered these almost twenty minutes ago,”

one of the women snapped. “What’s taking you so
long?”

They had not, in fact, ordered the drinks twenty

minutes ago. They had ordered about five minutes
ago. Even that was longer than it usually took Amy
to deliver drinks, though. She had had to stop and
clean up a spill at another table. “I’m sorry for your
wait,” she said, not bothering to make excuses.
These women didn’t really want to hear about her
life. She knew enough to know that.

“Well, I think our dinners should be comped,”

another woman said archly. “We come here all the
time, you know. We’re regulars.” As if that made
them royalty.

“I’m very sorry, but I can’t comp the meals,”

Amy said. “I’m happy to comp this round of drinks
for you, though.” Of course she wasn’t happy to do
it at all. It drove her crazy when people got
whatever they wanted just by complaining.

Funny, she thought. A few months ago all I

would have cared about was making these women
happy. I wouldn’t have even been thinking about
the ways in which they were making me angry, or
whether they deserved free drinks.

It was as if her whole perspective on the world

had changed.

She made her way back to the POS machine

and pulled up their ticket, absently keying in the
commands that would give them the drinks for free.
As she did so, she slipped her cell phone out of her
pocket and fired off a text.

Work is driving me crazy.
The phone buzzed with a response before she

even had a chance to return it to her pocket. It was
as if Veronica had been waiting to hear from her.
Any word from any animal hospitals yet?

Nothing. I shouldn’t have even bothered

applying.

Of course you should! You’ll be a great vet!
She wasn’t qualified to be a vet yet, though.

First there would be years of work as a technician.
But at least she would be working with animals
instead of people. Animals were simple. They made
sense. They had basic needs and desires that Amy
could understand and meet.

People were crazy.
The dinner order came up for one of Brian’s

tables, and Amy loaded it onto her serving platter
and ferried it over to the family that was waiting for
it. As she did, she heard snorts from across the
restaurant. She tried her best to keep herself from
looking, but eventually she couldn’t help it—she
looked up.

The women who had been angry about their

sodas were staring at her with ugly looks on their

faces. “I don’t know why that table gets their food
before we do,” one of them said loudly.

That’s not even my fault! Amy thought.

Everyone got their food when the kitchen put it up.
Still, she could see her tip dwindling away to
nothing.

Bitches, she thought angrily. Tables as difficult

as you to deal with should have to tip me more
than anybody else, not less.

But two months ago, this experience would

have caused a spiral of self-doubt. Amy would have
been left wondering if she was really a terrible
server, if her boss hated her, if she was going to be
fired. She would have felt helpless and terrible
about the job she had been hired to do, and it would
have been that much harder to drag herself in the
next day.

Now things were different. Now Amy didn’t

feel a shred of self-doubt.

She just felt righteously angry.

SHE ARRIVED HOME AT nine o’clock on the
dot, exhausted from the hard day’s work.

The other servers on her shift had been

planning a trip out to the bar across the parking lot
from their restaurant, and Amy had badly wanted
to join them. But she couldn’t. She knew that. Not
with things the way they were.

At least she had a proper home to come back

to. She had moved into this apartment six weeks
ago, thankful to be leaving her parents’ house
behind. She had known she would miss them—she
did miss them—but it was also good to have a
space of her own again. A place where no one was
surprised when she let the dishes pile up or threw
her dirty work clothes on the floor.

These were little rebellions. But even little

rebellions had a way of satisfying the urge that had
grown within her.

Being nice, being good, had never gotten her

anywhere. She had ended up married to a man who
had cut and run at the first sign of trouble. The
world wasn’t nice, so why should she be nice?

She ran her fingers over the tough skin that had

developed on her wrist where she’d been scarred
by the bite of the wolf. That was what being nice
got you. Bitten. She had been nice to that wolf,
trying to free him from his trap, and he had turned
on her.

Yet she didn’t regret that, she found. There was

a chance that the wolf was still alive. It hadn’t been
nearby when her father had found her in the woods,
so maybe it had lived. If it had, Amy would
consider it worth the effort she had been to in
saving it.

Besides, her scar was cool looking.

You could see the circle its teeth had made

around her wrist. It was impossible to hide. Her
boss at work had insisted that she wear long sleeves
or wrist guards, the way her coworkers with tattoos
had to, but everyone she worked with had seen the
marks.

Amy thought they were impressed.
They should be impressed. I was bitten by a

wolf and I lived to tell the tale.

A year ago, she would have regarded her own

story as a cautionary tale, a warning about what
happened to girls who disobeyed their fathers and
went into the woods alone at night. Now, though, it
was proof of her own strength. It was a
demonstration of what she was capable of.

She went to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of

sparkling raspberry water, and twisted off the cap.

Then she went into the nursery.
At least, what would be the nursery.
Right now it was just an empty, unused room

full of boxes she hadn’t got around to unpacking
yet. But eventually she would have to paint it a soft
color and fill it with baby things.

Amy couldn’t believe she was pregnant.
It seemed like she must be dreaming it. All that

time she and Chris had tried to conceive, and
nothing had happened. He had left her over it. And
now...now she hooked up with a stranger one time,
in an alley, no less, and she’d gotten knocked up.

She actually hadn’t believe it at first. She’d

made her doctor repeat the test three different
times. When it kept coming back positive, she had
asked him if there was any way it could be a
mistake.

Misunderstanding, he’d handed her a pamphlet

about alternate options for dealing with surprise
pregnancies.

But Amy had thrown that pamphlet away as

soon as she’d gotten home. This baby was her
miracle, maybe the only one she’d ever get. Of
course she was going to keep it.

The only furniture in the room so far was an

inexpensive rocking chair she’d gotten secondhand.
Amy placed her sparkling water on top of a stack of
boxes and settled herself in the chair. Propping her
sore feet up on another box, she closed her eyes
and imagined her future.

She imagined sitting in this room with her baby

cradled in her arms, sleeping against her chest. She
imagined low lights dancing on the ceiling—maybe
some kind of projector that played constellations
for him to look up at when sleep wouldn’t come.
She imagined drifting off to the sounds of classical
music—of course she would always play classical
music for him, to help his brain develop.

She imagined transitioning from baby supplies

to toddler toys. Sitting on a foam mat with her child
and putting together a simple puzzle. Cuddling in

this rocking chair and reading books together.
Helping him to sound out the words as he got older.

She rested a hand on her stomach, thinking

about it.

She didn’t think anybody else could see the

little swell there yet, but Amy knew her own body,
and she could feel it. Things were changing.
Something was growing. It was miraculous. It
reminded her every day that there had been no
mistake, that the doctor’s diagnosis of her
pregnancy had been real. She really was going to be
a mother.

And Chris could have had this with me, she

thought.

But could he have? Could she ever have

become pregnant with Chris? They had tried so
hard, after all, and nothing had ever come of it. She
had even been told that she couldn’t get pregnant
by her doctor at the time.

We should have gotten a second opinion.
Of course they should have. But it had felt so

true. It had tallied so neatly with everything they
had experienced over the last year. It explained
why they hadn’t been able to get pregnant, didn’t
it?

What had changed?
Could it be that the tests had been wrong? That

didn’t seem likely.

Could it be that the problem had been with

Chris, and not with Amy? But his test had revealed
no issue.

Maybe I just needed a different man. A man

who could give me something with a little more
strength and power in it than what Chris had to
offer. Maybe that man at the bar could do what he
never could.

Amy wished she had gotten his name.
Of course, it was liberating not to have to worry

about what anybody else thought as she set forth on
this new adventure. It was good that she didn’t
have to waste time wondering if there would be a
custody battle, or if he would pressure her to
terminate her pregnancy.

But at the same time, she would have liked her

child to have a chance to get to know his father.

I’ll just have to be as good as two parents, she

thought firmly. I can do that. I can be all the parent
this baby needs.

Chapter Twelve

INCE

Everything should have gone back to

normal after their failed search for an omega. But
somehow, it didn’t.

Vince took to spending his nights out on the

porch, beer in hand, staring up at the stars and
wondering what the future held for his pack. Things
had been so much easier when he had be young. He
had followed Griff’s orders unquestioningly.
Blindly. He had never been required to think about
what was best to do.

But things had begun to feel different lately.
He supposed it was because Griff’s term as

alpha should have ended. Griff had been expecting
to step down, to hand the reins to Ace. And he
hadn’t been able to do it.

Whatever the reason, it was clear to Vince that

Griff’s orders were becoming softer, somehow.
More flexible. Less firm. Just tonight after dinner,
Griff had casually ordered Vince and Dax to box up
the leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. It was a
thoughtless order, one that had been given a
thousand times, one that Griff had probably only
phrased as a command out of habit rather than a
desire to enforce his will.

Maybe that was why Vince hadn’t felt

compelled to obey.

He had obeyed. The idea of going against

Griff’s orders, even when they were so casual, was
too frightening to contemplate. Going against Ace
was one thing, but to defy Griff would be drawing a
line Vince wouldn’t be able to come back from.

Griff was his alpha. Vince didn’t want that to

change.

So he had taken the food to the kitchen

alongside Dax, and he had wrapped it in wax paper
and boxed it up and put it in the refrigerator for
tomorrow.

But the whole time he had been doing so, he

had been aware of the fact that there was nothing
compelling him to obey.

It was strange. It was like finding out that

gravity didn’t exist and that he was only standing
on the surface of the earth because he wanted to.
That he could fly away if the urge to do so struck
him.

It made him feel as though he might fall.
The screen door slammed shut behind him.

Vince didn’t turn around. He didn’t much want to
talk to whoever it was right now.

“You bailed out of there,” Tommy said.
Now Vince did glance back. Tommy was

holding a beer of his own. He came to the railing

where Vince was standing and leaned against it,
facing the house, his back to the yard.

“Just wanted some space, I guess,” Vince said.
“You want me to go?”
“No. You can stay.”
Tommy nodded and took a swig of his beer.

“You’ve been in your head lately,” he said. “Ever
since we got back from our trip, really.”

“That was months ago.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve been trying to decide

whether or not to say something about it.”

“And you decided you would?”
“I wasn’t going to,” Tommy said. “But I don’t

know. You seem unhappy.”

“Isn’t everybody unhappy?”
“You mean, like, existentially?”
“No. I mean everybody here in our house.

Everybody in our pack.” Vince pushed off from the
railing and made his way over to one of the seats on
the far end of the porch. Tommy followed. “Look
at Ace lately. He’s been storming around like he’s
looking for someone to punch the daylights out of.”

“He knows something’s wrong,” Tommy said

sagely. “He thought he was going to be the new
alpha, but with every day that goes by—”

“It gets a little more obvious that that’s not

going to happen,” Vince said. “Yeah. That’s what
I’m talking about.”

“Why did we think it was going to be him in the

first place?” Tommy asked.

“I mean, you were just a little kid when it

happened,” Vince said. “But so was I, really. Dax
probably remembers better than any of us. From
what I can remember, it was just that he started
bossing everyone around. And, you know, Dax was
the oldest, so when Ace started taking the
leadership role, everyone just figured it was
because he was going to be the alpha.”

“What if he wasn’t, though?” Tommy said.

“What if he was just bossy?”

“Well, that’s how it’s starting to look, yeah.”
“So then who’s our real alpha? Dax?”
“Maybe.”
Tommy sighed. “Griff and Earl aren’t happy

either. I thought it would be better, being back here
with them, but...it isn’t, is it?”

“Griff is tired of being alpha,” Vince said. “And

can you blame him? It’s gone on longer than it
should have.”

“Is it a tiring thing, do you think?”
“Being responsible for everyone else’s well

being?” Vince asked. “Yeah, I’d say it is. What do
you suppose was behind the fact that we all wanted
to get back here while we were on the road? It
wasn’t just Earl’s cooking attracting us to the idea
of coming home. Life is better when you’ve got
your alpha making decisions for you. When you

don’t have to worry that you might be choosing
wrong all the time.”

“Maybe that’s why Dax won’t step up as

alpha,” Tommy suggested. “Maybe he doesn’t want
that responsibility.”

“Yeah. Probably.”
“But You don’t think Griff wants it either?”
“I think Griff wants to be finished, that’s all.

Haven’t you noticed that his commands are feeling
weaker lately? Half the time I don’t feel compelled
to obey him at all.” He paused. “Why are you
looking at me like that?”

“I haven’t noticed anything like that,” Tommy

said. “The orders have felt the same as always to
me.”

“Maybe you haven’t been thinking about it,”

Vince suggested. “Maybe you haven’t stopped to
think about whether you want to obey, whether you
really have to obey.”

“Why would I stop to think about that?”

Tommy asked. “I might as well stop to think about
whether I want the sun to rise in the east. What I
think about it has nothing to do with what’s going
to happen.”

“But everyone thinks about it,” Vince

protested.

Tommy’s eyes were wide.
“Doesn’t everyone think about it?” Vince

asked.

“You’re the alpha,” Tommy said softly.
“Don’t be crazy. Of course I’m not.”
“You are. It all makes sense now.”
“It doesn’t make any sense at all,” Vince said

irritably. “If I was the alpha, why would I want
Griff to have authority over me? If I was the alpha,
I would want to take charge.”

“I don’t know,” Tommy said. “Maybe you only

think that because you’ve seen Ace wanting to take
charge for so long, and you just think that’s the way
alphas are now. But look at Griff. He’s our leader
because he feels a sense of responsibility for us and
he wants to make sure we’re okay, not because he
enjoys bossing us around. And you feel those ways,
don’t you?”

Vince didn’t say anything. Tommy’s words were

hitting a little too close to home for comfort. He
couldn’t be an alpha, could he?

Or could he?
Didn’t it make sense, in a way? He had been

the only member of their pack to openly defy Ace.
And now even Griff’s commands weren’t landing
the way they ought to have. More and more, day by
day, Vince felt disconnected from the rest of his
pack. He felt independent, cut off. He longed to be
pulled back in, to be part of something communal.

But maybe he couldn’t have that sort of

community anymore.

Maybe he was the alpha.

The alpha could never really belong.
“I don’t want this,” Vince said, his voice quiet.
“Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t,” Tommy agreed.

“But I’d much rather follow you than Ace, Vince.
And I know Dax would too. And that makes you
more qualified than just about anyone.”

“I thought it would be Dax.”
“Dax is too headstrong. Too impulsive. I don’t

know why we ever thought it was him, really. It
doesn’t make sense. He’d be a terrible leader.”

“Christ, though,” Vince said. “Alpha.” He

should have felt more shock at the realization, he
thought, but somehow it just seemed to make sense.
It fit in so well with everything else that had
happened to him in the last few months.

“What are you going to do?” Tommy asked.

“Are you going to tell Griff? And the others?”

“Eventually,” Vince said. “Not yet.”
“What, then?”
The idea had come to Vince in a heartbeat, and

he had made his decision so quickly that it felt as if
he had known all along what he was going to do.

“I’m leaving,” he said. “I’m going out on a

ride.”

“Like, to the city?”
“No. I’m going out looking for—” he paused.

Did he dare tell Tommy the truth? “For an omega,”
he said.

“An omega?” Tommy blinked, looking

confused. “We looked for an omega already. We
didn’t find one. We looked in our whole territory.”

“I know that,” Vince said.
“You’re not thinking of going into someone

else’s territory, are you?” Tommy said, anxiety
creeping through into his voice. “Because I can’t
let you do that. You can’t go into someone else’s
territory and make a move on their omega by
yourself. You’ll get yourself killed if you try.
There’ll be a battle. You have to take us with you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Vince said. “I’m not

going into anyone else’s territory. I’m not suicidal.”

“Then what? How are you going to find an

omega when we already searched and came up
empty? Do you think we maybe just missed
something?”

“What I think,” Vince said, “is that maybe I

wasn’t searching as throughly as I could have.
Maybe I shortchanged the search effort when I
thought it was Ace we were doing it for.”

“You wouldn’t have done that,” Tommy said.

“If there’s any one of us I’d say would give it his all
regardless, it’d be you. Maybe Dax was half-assing,
but you wouldn’t do that.”

“Maybe I would,” Vince retorted.
“So what, you’re just going to go through the

whole thing again? Months on the road searching

for something that might not even exist? But this
time you’re going to go alone?”

“Not months,” Vince said. “I just...there’s a

stone I don’t want to leave unturned, that’s all.
There’s a place I want to check before I call it quits
on the whole idea.”

Tommy cocked his head to one side and studied

Vince.

“Bullshit,” he said.
Vince was stunned. Tommy was usually so

easygoing, so agreeable. “What?”

“You’re not looking for an omega at all, are

you?” Tommy asked. “I know what you’re doing.
You’re going back to Wyoming.”

“Tommy—”
“Don’t ‘Tommy’ me. You’re going back to

her.”

Vince sighed. He should have known he

wouldn’t be able to lie to a member of his back. It
was embarrassing how easily Tommy had figured
out the truth. “I just can’t stop thinking about her,”
he said quietly.

“She’s not even a shifter, man.”
“I know.”
“You were sure about that, right? She was

definitely just a human girl? There’s no way you
could have made a mistake?”

“Definitely,” Vince said. “You have no idea

how much I wish I was wrong. Life would be a hell

of a lot easier if she were a shifter.”

Tommy hesitated.
“You don’t absolutely have to be with a shifter,

you know,” he said.

“I do,” Vince countered. “Eventually I need to

be with someone I can mate with. Someone I can
grow the pack with. Ideally an omega, of course,
but if that doesn’t work out then at the very least a
shifter woman.”

“Some shifters end up with humans,” Tommy

countered.

“Not alphas.” The word felt strange in Vince’s

mouth. He had never used it in connection to
himself like this. But he supposed he would have to
get used to it. Alpha, he thought again, trying to
adjust to the knowledge in his head.

It was definitely true. The only thing he

couldn’t understand was how it had taken him so
long to see it.

“You can’t let them know, Tommy,” he said.
“Let them know what?” Tommy looked

startled.

“Let them know I’m the alpha. Or where I

went.”

“What the hell am I supposed to say?”
“Leave out the alpha part entirely,” Vince said.

“Tell them I went for a ride and I’ll be back in a
few days. Tell them I needed some time to myself.”

It wouldn’t be the first time one of the Hell’s
Wolves had taken off for a few days.

It would just be the first time someone had done

it without Griff’s permission.

Tommy blinked as he took in Vince’s

instructions.

“That was an order,” he said. “You just gave me

an order, Vince.”

And in that moment, Vince knew, Griff’s power

over Tommy had broken.

He would have to come back to the pack

quickly and take up his new position as alpha. If he
failed to do so, there was no telling what kind of
mess he would be walking into when he returned.

He would just have to hope Tommy could keep

a lid on things for a couple of days.

Chapter Thirteen

Coming home from the restaurant was

growing more and more exhausting. Amy felt as if
she couldn’t keep up. The extra demands that this
pregnancy placed on her body were a lot to cope
with.

Although, to be honest, she had been surprised

by how robust and healthy she actually felt. It
wasn’t as though she felt sick. In fact, everything
seemed to be running more smoothly for her. Most
mornings she woke up feeling as if she could have
run a half-marathon. She felt strong and powerful.

That was the pregnancy at work, she supposed.

Her pregnancy book had warned her that she would
start to feel a lot of pride and satisfaction in the
capability of her body, and that was exactly what
was happening.

But it didn’t keep her from being exhausted by

the end of each day.

The journey home felt like sleepwalking

through a fog. She had developed a habit of
stopping halfway—even though it was only a few
blocks’ journey—to get a snack at the convenience
store as a way of perking herself up a bit and
ensuring she didn’t zone out too much during the

home stretch. But even inside the convenience
store, it was easy to lose track of her surroundings.

Perhaps that was why she didn’t notice the man

in the leather jacket until she was on her way out
the door.

He hadn’t bought anything—his hands were

empty, and as she thought about it, she realized he
had been browsing the greeting card rack since she
had entered the store. Now he turned and followed
her out as she left, hands shoved deep in his
pockets.

She had a split second to make a decision—turn

and go back into the store, where the eye of the
clerk would be on them, or keep walking?

She was just so tired.
Surely she was overreacting. This man was

probably just on his own way home.

Still, she walked a little faster as she turned the

corner onto her own street, and she slipped her
hand into the pocket of her jacket, curling her
fingers around her keys. Part of her mind was
thinking about how quickly she might be able to
whip them out and unlock the door to her home,
but the other part of her was thinking about
jamming the sharp end into the man’s eye.

So violent. She shuddered. She had known for

years that it was wise to carry your keys in your
hand if you were walking alone at night, but she
had never actually visualized using them against an

attacker the way she was now. It had always felt
like one of those things that was better not to think
about.

Not now.
Right now the thought almost gave her

pleasure.

I won’t let him get his hands on me, she thought

firmly. He doesn’t get to scare me just because he’s
a big man in a leather jacket and I’m a woman. I’m
not afraid of him.

But she was afraid of him. She couldn’t

suppress the little trickles of fear that had begun to
seep through her as she’d realized that he was
following her.

Because this wasn’t just about her, was it?
She had a baby to think of. Whatever happened

to her also happened to her baby. She couldn’t let
herself be attacked when it might mean that harm
would come to her baby.

She darted up the stairs to her front door,

unlocked it, and slammed it closed behind her,
throwing the deadbolt. For a moment she struggled
to catch her breath, feeling as though she might be
sick. Then she forced herself to walk to the window
and look out.

He was standing out there on the sidewalk,

looking up at the door she’d gone into.

He knew where she lived. And he was taking

note of it.

Amy felt chilled. Should she call the police?

Should she let them know a strange man was
lurking outside her house? She didn’t see how she
would ever get to sleep tonight, knowing he was out
there. Maybe they could send someone over to
scare him off. She looked out again—

He was gone.
He must have decided to move on.
What could she tell the cops, then? That a man

had looked at her house, and that it had scared her?

There had been something off about him. She

was sure of it. Something not quite right, not to be
trusted. But she couldn’t possibly have explained
the way he made her feel to anybody else. And
now that he was gone, there was nothing anyone
could do for her anyway besides listen to the story.

I’m being silly, she told herself firmly. Besides,

the door is locked. He can’t get in. I’m perfectly
safe here. This is a very secure place.

Still, she had trouble relaxing. Her exhaustion

had been scared right out of her, and it was hours
before she finally managed to get to sleep that
night.

AMY THOUGHT SHE WOULDN’T be able to put
the creepy incident out of her mind. But things at
work the next day were chaotically busy, and she
found herself racing to get food to one table after

another. The work was enough to distract her from
her anxieties.

That was, until she went out to greet a new

table and saw the man in the leather jacket sitting
there waiting for her.

She froze where she stood. How did he find

me? But that was a foolish question. This was a
small town. She couldn’t have been that hard to
find.

She glanced around, looking for Brian, hoping

to ask him to switch tables with her. The last thing
she wanted was a confrontation with this man while
he was surrounded by three of his friends, all of
whom were just as big and burly as he was. But
Brian was occupied by what appeared to be a ten
year old’s birthday party, and Amy could tell he
was just barely keeping things together as it was.

I’m just going to have to handle it myself, she

thought, squaring her shoulders. At least they were
in the restaurant. There was very little he could do
to her here.

She approached the table, careful to come up

on the opposite side of it from the man who had
followed her home so that he wouldn’t be able to
put his hands on her. “What can I get you all
today?” she asked, completely abandoning her
usual pleasant demeanor.

None of them answered her.

Instead, the man nearest her looked her up and

down. And then—did he smell her? He definitely
inhaled deeply. Amy tried to remember whether she
had put on something scented today, but she didn’t
think so. Not much point, when you were going to
come home smelling like fried food anyway.

“This is the one?” he asked.
The man from the night before nodded once.
“Nah, you’re imagining things,” the sniffer said.

“She’s as ordinary as they come.”

“I’m telling you, she’s not.” The man in the

leather jacket turned to Amy. “You’re not, are
you?”

“I beg your pardon?”
“Who are your parents?”
“Sir, if you’re not going to order—”
“No, I see what you mean, John,” a third man

spoke up. “There’s definitely something about her.”

“She’s not one of us,” the man beside Amy

insisted. “We’d know it if she was.”

Amy was completely spooked. “I’ll get you

some drinks,” she said, and beat a quick retreat
back toward the kitchen.

Brian was at the POS machine, entering an

order. “Switch tables with me,” she begged. “I’ll
take the birthday party.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” He shook his head.

“They’re monsters, Amy. You don’t want anything
to do with that scene.”

“Take the four guys by the window off my

hands,” she begged. “They’re creeps, Brian. One of
them was smelling me, and they keep talking about
me like I’m not there and asking me totally bizarre
questions like who my parents are.”

Brian frowned. “That’s messed up. Do you

want me to have them thrown out?”

“No.” Amy hadn’t forgotten that at least one of

these men knew where she lived. The last thing she
wanted was to provoke them. “Just take over their
table? And make sure you don’t tell them anything
about me.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Brian said. “Take ten and

go calm down, okay? I can keep the birthday kids.”

Amy nodded gratefully and went back into the

break room.

What was going on? When the man in the

leather jacket had followed her home last night, she
had taken him for a run of the mill creep. But this
wasn’t how regular predators behaved, was it?
They didn’t bring a bunch of their friends to your
place of work during the light of day and talk about
you like you were someone they knew.

And the way they had talked about her—that

had been really weird. She would have expected
them to make inappropriate comments about her
body or say suggestive things about things they
might like to order that weren’t on the menu—that
had happened to her before. But they hadn’t done

that. If it hadn’t been so deeply weird, she would
hardly have found the conversation inappropriate at
all.

What do they want with me? she wondered,

taking a seat at the break room table and drinking
from her water bottle. She was shaking with
nervous energy and she struggled to bring her body
under control, to calm herself down. Why are they
following me?

It didn’t matter, she reminded herself firmly.

She was safe as long as she was here at the
restaurant. And tonight...

Could she really go back to her home, the place

where they’d followed her? Could she stand to be
alone tonight, knowing they were out there?

I don’t have work tomorrow, she thought. I

don’t have to stay here. Maybe this would be a
good opportunity to go back to her parents’ house.
She hadn’t seen them since she’d moved out. She
had hoped to stay away longer, to establish herself
in her new life and then invite them to come out
and see her. But maybe this would be the perfect
opportunity to go back.

She wouldn’t have to tell them she had been

scared away from her home. She could just say she
had felt like seeing them.

Of course, there was the fact that they didn’t

know she was pregnant.

That would be an awkward conversation.

But it was a conversation that had to take place

sometime. Tonight was as good a time for it as any.

Feeling a bit more steady now that she had a

plan, Amy drained her water bottle and got to her
feet, ready to complete the workday. Those men—
whoever they were—were not going to scare her
off of her job.

Chapter Fourteen

INCE

There were shifters in town.

Vince smelled them from the moment he rode

in. There were shifters here in this little nothing
Wyoming town, and there hadn’t been shifters here
before. What was that about?

Could they have been following us?
No. That didn’t make sense. Vince and his pack

had been here months ago. Nobody would still be in
this town if they were on the Hell’s Wolves’ trail,
unless they were the worst trackers in the world—
in which case they wouldn’t have made it this far to
begin with.

Maybe they were hunting omegas, as Vince and

his pack had been when they were here.

Well, best of luck to them if they are, Vince

thought, feeling a little sour grapes about the
situation. There aren’t any omegas here. There
aren’t any omegas maybe anywhere.

He didn’t really want to return to the same

motel he’d stayed in when he’d been here with his
pack, but he couldn’t afford anything else. At least
it wasn’t the same room. And at least he wasn’t
sharing the space with three other men this time.
He wouldn’t be crammed into the space between
Dax’s bed and the window, trying to get

comfortable on the floor. He would be able to sleep
on a relatively soft mattress.

But he wasn’t going to sleep. He was going to

go looking for the girl.

The question was, how was he going to find

her?

He remembered her scent. He thought that if he

got close enough, he would probably be able to
track her pretty easily. But with the stench of
fellow shifters clogging up the air, he was going to
have to get a lot closer than he would have
originally thought. That was annoying.

He dumped his duffel bag on the bed and

decided to try the bar where he’d met her. Maybe it
was one of her favorite places. Maybe she’d be
there tonight. It was worth a shot.

Will she even want to see me, though? he

thought as he threw a leg over his motorcycle.

He shook his head. Of course she’d want to see

him. After the sex they’d had? He had no doubt it
had been as earth-shattering for her as it had for
him. Of course she was going to want another go-
round.

By the time he reached the bar, he had

convinced himself that she would be there, ordering
drinks or maybe sitting with that friend she’d been
with last time. But the place was empty except for
a couple of gray bearded barflies sucking on bottles

of lite beer. No women at all, and especially not
her.

Damn it. What was he going to do now?
The idea came to him. I’m going to have to go

to her house. It’s the only chance.

Of course, her house was surrounded, literally,

by steel traps. It was the place he’d gotten injured
last time. And this time, his pack wasn’t even in the
same state. He would be very lucky to survive if he
stepped in a trap this time.

So he would be careful. He could manage that.
He parked his bike about a mile from where he

knew the house to be, giving thanks for his good
sense of direction, and grabbed a couple of sticks
from the ground. He used these to probe the earth
as he went, testing for traps, stepping only when he
knew it was safe to do so.

It was slow going, naturally, and there was one

bad moment when a trap did spring and snapped his
stick right in two. Vince was left staring at it and
shaking with the realization that that could very
well have been his leg. That it had been his leg just
a few months ago.

And then, suddenly, he had made it to the

clearing, and no more woods stood between him
and the bright ranch house.

He stood at the tree line for a while, just

watching, wondering what he should do. Should he
just march up to the door and ring the bell? That

seemed risky. What if someone other than her
answered? She had been found in the woods by two
men. One of them might live here. They both lived,
at the very least, nearby.

And even if she did answer the door, what

then? How could he explain what he was doing
here? She wouldn’t associate the man she’d met at
the bar with the wolf she’d saved in the forest. How
could he explain how he’d found her house? They
hadn’t even exchanged names. She would be well
within her rights to be completely freaked out by
his sudden appearance at her door.

What was he going to do?
Before he could come up with the answer, the

door to the house banged open and a figure came
running out, down the porch steps and into the
yard.

It was her.
He knew her immediately. He knew the scent of

her, like peaches and freshly mown grass. He knew
the shape of her. He knew her soft hair, her gentle
features—although they weren’t gentle now. They
were twisted into a grimace, and he realized she
was trying not to cry.

He stepped forward, out of the trees and into

the yard.

She screeched to a halt, staring at him as if she

had seen a ghost.

He held up both hands, hoping to convey that

he meant her no harm. “Hey,” he said quietly. “It’s
been a while, huh? Are you okay?”

“What are you doing here?” Her voice was

shaking so badly that Vince was afraid she would
start crying at any moment. He didn’t know what
he would do if she did. They had hardly had a
conversation before. He wouldn’t know the first
thing about how to comfort her.

“I came to see you,” he said.
“How did you find me?”
“It’s a long story...maybe we could talk about

it?” He gestured toward the house.

“I’m not inviting you inside,” she said. Her

hands came to rest protectively against her
stomach, as if she were guarding herself against
something. “I don’t know what you want from me,
but you’re not going to get it.”

“Hang on.” Vince frowned. “Who says I want

anything? I just wanted to see you again.”

“Right.”
“Look, I liked you, okay? And I just thought—I

mean, didn’t you have a good time that night at the
bar?”

“It was a one time thing,” she said. “Besides,

you never showed up there again. Maybe if you
had—”

“I had to leave town!” he protested. “You’re

the one who didn’t want any exchange of names. I

thought you didn’t want to know who I was. I
thought you didn’t want me to be able to contact
you again.”

She looked confused. “I didn’t.”
“So why are you mad at me for not being

around after that night?”

“I’m not, I just...” she sighed and pushed a hand

through her hair. “Why are you here now? What do
you want from me after all this time?”

“Can we just start over?” Vince hadn’t known

what to expect, but he had hoped for a warmer
reception than this. Now he had to accept that
maybe he hadn’t left her with the pleasant
memories he’d thought he had. Maybe she hadn’t
been pining for him the way he had for her.

“Start over how?” she asked.
He held out a hand. “I’m Vince.”
She hesitated, then returned his handshake.

“Amy.”

He smiled. They were making progress. “It’s

real nice to meet you officially.”

“Wish I could say the same.”
“Okay. You’re not happy to see me. I get that.”

He dropped her hand. “But do you think I could
take you out for a drink or something?”

“I don’t drink.”
“You did before.”
“Well, I don’t now, all right?”
“Okay, okay. Dinner, then?”

She eyed him hesitantly. “Coffee,” she said.

“And only because I need to get out of the house
for a few hours.”

“Okay. Coffee.” That was definitely a start.

“What’s the best way to get back to the road
without going through the woods?”

Her eyes went wide. “You came through the

woods?”

“Well, I didn’t know how to get to the house

—”

“There’s a trail! My God, you could have been

seriously injured doing that. There are animal traps
all over these woods.”

“Guess I got lucky, then,” he said.
“Lucky, hell. Those things will break your leg.

Or, I don’t know, maybe not your leg.” She looked
down at his ankle. “You look pretty big boned.”

“Still wouldn’t want to step in a trap, though.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
“Lead the way.”
Amy led him around to the front of the house.

Sure enough, there was a beaten dirt path that led
through the trees, straight up to the road. Vince
shook his head. “I can’t believe I didn’t know this
was here. I could have saved myself a lot of
trouble.”

“At least you didn’t get hurt.” She had stopped

by his bike. “Is this yours?”

“Yeah. Are you okay with bikes?”

“It’s cool.” She stroked the leather seat

admiringly. “But...are you a pretty good driver?”

“I’m good, don’t worry.”
She was holding her stomach again. “Just

promise nothing bad’s going to happen to us.”

“Of course it won’t,” he promised. “I’ve been

riding since I was fifteen years old, and I’ve never
had the slightest problem. Everything’s going to be
fine.”

She nodded. “Okay,” she agreed, and got on the

bike.

VINCE FOUND A COFFEE bar on the edge of
town and they went inside. He ordered a
cappuccino, and Amy got a green tea.

“Just tea?” he asked her. “You don’t want

anything else?”

“No, tea’s fine.” She sipped it and closed her

eyes, clearly enjoying it. “Why did you leave
town?”

So they were diving right in. Vince put his

cappuccino down on the table. “I’m not actually
from here,” he said. “I live in Oregon, with my
family. When I met you, we were passing through.
Then we had to go back home.”

“So what are you doing here now?” Amy asked.

“You didn’t come all the way back from Oregon
just to find me.”

“Actually, I kind of did.”
She blinked. “That’s weird, Vince. Why would

you do that?”

“Because—” He sighed. There was so much to

explain to her, and it was all so complicated. Where
could he even begin? “I’m going through some stuff
at home,” he eventually said.

“You’re going through some stuff.”
“Yeah.”
“So you decided to hunt down a booty call a

few states over and see if seconds were on the
table? Which they’re not, by the way.”

“I just wanted to see you again,” he said

helplessly. “I couldn’t get you off my mind, Amy. I
didn’t even know your name, but I couldn’t stop
thinking about you. Be honest. You didn’t feel like
there was...I don’t know...something about us?”

She was looking at him suspiciously now.

“What kind of thing?”

“Some kind of connection. Something more

than the norm? I feel like there’s something
between us that we should be exploring. Maybe
that’s crazy. In fact, I know it’s crazy.” He thought
of his newly discovered alpha status and what his
pack mates would say if they knew he was chasing
a human woman like this. “But, Amy, I can’t help
it.”

He reached across the table and took her hand.

He expected her to pull away from him, but she

didn’t. Instead she sighed, turned her hand over in
his, and squeezed.

“Shit,” she said quietly. “I really didn’t want to

do this.”

“What is it? Do what?”
She sighed. “Vince, I’m pregnant.”

Chapter Fifteen

She waited on tenterhooks for his

response. Would he be angry with her? Would he
try to take her child away from her? She wouldn’t
allow that to happen. She would find a way of
stopping him.

But to her surprise and immense relief, his face

lit up. “You’re pregnant?” he asked. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” she said weakly.
“And I assume—I mean, you’re telling me this

because—”

“It’s yours.”
“Jesus,” he said. “Wow. Fuck. Jesus.”
“I know, right? I wasn’t exactly expecting it

either.”

“But don’t you see?” he asked. “This means I

was right.”

“Right about what?”
“There was something between us.”
“Oh, there is no way you were just psychically

aware that I was pregnant, and that’s what brought
you back from Oregon.”

She expected him to defend himself, to say that

of course he hadn’t thought any such thing, but to
her surprise, he looked at her very seriously. “We
need to talk,” he said.

“Yeah, I’d say so.”
“No, I mean...more than you know. I’m

not...exactly what you think I am.”

She felt chilled. “What does that mean? What’s

with men showing up and saying weird things to me
lately? I swear, it’s like something out of a movie.”

“Hang on.” He held up a hand. “What men are

showing up and saying weird things to you?”

“There are a bunch of them. They’re like a little

pack, I don’t know. They started coming in to the
restaurant where I work, and one of them followed
me home one night, and they were talking about
whether I was one of their kind—God only knows
what that means. It was creepy. That’s actually why
I’m staying with my parents for the weekend. I was
hoping they would leave town.”

Vince shook his head. He looked disturbed.

“They’re not going to leave town,” he said quietly.

“How do you know? What are you talking

about?”

“Because you’re the reason they’re here in the

first place. Or, not you, I guess, but the baby. Shit.
Shit.”

“The baby?” Terror shot through her. “What do

you mean, the baby? What do those men want with
my baby? How do they even know I’m having a
baby?”

“They can smell it.”

“They can smell it?” She felt on the verge of a

panic attack.

Vince’s hands came to rest on her shoulders.

“Breathe, okay? I got you. We’re fine right now.
We’ll figure this out together.”

“But who are they? What do they want with my

baby?”

“It’s because of me,” he said. “They want it

because it’s my baby.”

“They’re with you?”
“No, I don’t know them. But they’re...like me.”
“Tell me what you’re talking about,” she said.

“Tell me now, or I’m leaving and going to the
police.”

In answer, he slid one hand down her arm to her

wrist and ran his thumb along her scar. “Do you
remember the night you got this?” he asked her.

She frowned, shocked out of her panic by the

fact that he was making reference to that night.
“Yes,” she said. “I was attacked by a wolf.”

“A wolf who had gotten his leg caught in a

trap.”

“Yes. How did you know about that?”
In answer, he bent down and rolled up the cuff

of his pants.

At first she didn’t understand what she was

seeing. The light was too low. Then he stuck his
bared leg out from under the table.

And she saw it. A ringed scar.

“What happened to you?” she asked.
“It’s going to be hard for you to believe.”
“Tell me anyway.”
He nodded, his hand still clutching hers. “I was

there that night,” he said.

“In the woods? Did you find me? Did you help

my father bring back?” She gasped. “Wait. Did the
wolf bite you too?”

“No, Amy,” he said quietly. “I was that wolf.”
She didn’t understand.
But he kept going. “I was the wolf. My family

—all of us—we’re shifters. We transform at will,
from human to wolf. And the men who have been
bothering you since you got pregnant—I feel sure
they’re shifters too. They’re not sure what they’ve
found, but they know there’s something different
about you. We can smell it on each other. And even
though you aren’t a shifter, your baby...probably
is.”

“Wait a minute,” she said, feeling faint. “You’re

lying to me. Why would you make up something
like this?”

In answer, he took her hand and pulled her to

her feet.

She was too shocked to resist. She was too

shocked even to pull away as he led her into the
woods behind the coffee shop. Part of her brain
was screaming at her—he’s crazy! He’s one of
them! Don’t go off alone with him!

But there was something about him that she

trusted, despite everything. She was terrified, but
she was curious too, and she had to know.

He stood her beside a tree. “Stand right there,”

he said, “and watch.”

She watched.
He stripped away his clothes and piled them

neatly on the forest floor. She had forgotten the
beauty of his body, and it was hard not to be
mesmerized by the broad planes of his chest and
the tight muscle of his abdomen and thighs. She felt
her breathing pick up slightly.

And then—
He seemed to be shrinking and growing at the

same time. Her eyes couldn't make sense of what
was happening. Strong legs shortened. His posture
changed. His face—

A wolf stood before her.
And she wasn’t afraid at all.
The wolf padded slowly over to her and rubbed

its face against the scar on her wrist, then gave it
one gentle lick. Then it stepped back away from her
again.

“You’re really Vince,” she whispered. Her hand

went to her stomach. If he had been telling the truth
about that, he had been telling the truth about
everything.

What did that mean for her baby?

A moment later he had resumed his human

form. He stood before her, fully naked and reached
a hand out to her.

“The baby,” she said. “Will the baby be all

right?”

“The baby is going to be fine,” he said. “We

shifters have babies all the time. They’re perfectly
healthy. Look at me.”

There was plenty she could have said to that.

She didn’t know anything about him, after all. How
could she hold him up as a specimen of good
health? How could she assume anything about her
child based on the man before her?

But he was big and strong. She traced the line

of his bicep.

He inhaled.
“I think I can smell something,” she said.
He shook his head. “Humans can’t smell it.”
“You don’t know what we can smell,” she

pointed out. “You only know what you can smell.”
It was nothing like she’d ever smelled on any other
man. A sort of woodsy, wild, spicy scent. Without
thinking, she leaned into the tender spot along the
side of his neck and sniffed.

“Amy,” he whispered.
“Maybe it’s not off the table.”
What had prompted her to say that? She knew

immediately that she meant it. Her body craved his,
hungered for his. But what had changed her mind?

It didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to make her

say it twice. His hands slipped beneath the hem of
her shirt and lifted it over her head. She unbuttoned
her pants, shoved them down, and kicked them
away.

He lifted her off the ground, into his arms. His

skin felt so hot against hers. “I can’t believe you
came back for me,” she whispered.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about you,” he

murmured against her jawline. He lifted her hips
and slid inside her.

Their first time together had been so raw, so

animal. This was completely different. It was as if
he wanted to reassure her that despite what she had
just seen, he was a human man and not a beast. He
held her, arms wrapped tightly around her back,
and pressed his forehead to hers as he fucked her
slowly.

The intensity of it built as gradually as a

growing fire. At first, Amy couldn’t believe it was
happening. The wind brushed against the tops of
her breasts and shoulders. Words evaded her. Her
thoughts felt like a river of pleasure, rushing
downstream, getting closer and closer to a
waterfall.

“Amy,” he whispered. “Fuck. Amy. You’re

amazing.”

She could have gone on forever, she thought.

She could have lost herself in this. She could have

lived in his arms for the rest of her life and been
perfectly content.

She wasn’t even thinking about her orgasm—

just the pleasure of being with him was enough, and
she coasted deliriously and happily on that for
several long minutes. But then he slipped a hand
between their bodies, leaning her back against his
other arm.

She had only a moment to marvel at his strength

before his nimble fingers found their way
downward.

“Oh—” she moaned, arching her back, trusting

him to hold her so that she could grind herself into
his fingers, increasing the contact.

He removed his hand.
She looked up at him, betrayed.
He had two fingers in his mouth, sucking, a

wicked grin on his face.

Amy thought she might die of pleasure or

anticipation. Maybe both.

His fingers descended again, stroking, working

her, moving expertly. Amy’s legs shook with
pleasure, and she locked her ankles tightly behind
Vince’s back to keep herself from falling.

“Oh fuck,” Vince hissed, his thrusts growing

harder, the movements of his fingers growing more
vigorous. “Oh fuck, Amy, fuck, fuck—”

Amy’s entire body shuddered as she came. It

felt as if she had been given an electric shock and

couldn’t control her muscles. At the same time,
Vince let out a cry that reminded her of the howl
she’d heard that night in the woods. The night she
had freed the wolf.

“DID YOU KNOW IT WAS me?” she asked.

They had crawled back into their clothes and

were lying on the ground, entwined in each other.
Vince was playing idly with a few strands of Amy’s
hair as she cuddled into his chest.

“Did I know what was you?” he asked.
“At the bar, when you saw me there,” she said.

“Did you know I was the same girl from the
woods?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I knew it was you.”
“And you fucked me anyway? Or...because of

that?”

“Neither, really,” he said. “I went with you at

the bar because I wanted you, and I could see that
you wanted me.” He trailed his fingers over her
scar. “I do feel bad about this, though.”

“Don’t lose any sleep. I’m all right, and it’s

kind of cool looking.”

He laughed. “You think your wolf bite scar is

cool?”

“Don’t you think so?”
“I don’t know, I’ve got a dozen of them.” He

pulled his shirt collar aside and showed her a mark

on his shoulder. “That’s from Dax.”

“What’s a Dax?”
“You mean who is Dax. He’s a member of my

pack. We were just play fighting, but he gets toothy
sometimes.”

“He could have hurt you!”
“Nah, Dax would never. Besides, wolves heal

fast.” He grinned. “You can look forward to that
with the baby, probably.”

“How fast?”
“Well, I didn’t have a broken leg from an

animal trap the night you met me at the bar, did I?”

She gasped. “You were limping!”
“Yeah, exactly. I was still off my game, but I

was healing.”

“Wow...”
“Amy, listen,” he said, and the tone of his voice

had changed. He was serious now. “I need you to
show me the other shifters. The men who were
following you.”

She swallowed. She had been afraid it would

come to that. “There are at least four of them,
Vince, and only one of you.”

“I know. But they’re not going to leave you

alone. I need to make it clear that someone has a
claim on you.”

“A claim?”
“It’s just wolf talk. Don’t worry. It doesn’t

mean anything as far as you and I are concerned.

But it will mean something to them. It’ll make them
go away if I can convince them you’re mine.”

Amy nodded, understanding.
And feeling slightly afraid.
Vince had thought she was offended at the idea

that he might have a claim on her. But she hadn’t
been offended at all.

She had been intrigued.

Chapter Sixteen

INCE

“There,” she said. “Those are them.”

Vince was sitting at the bar in the restaurant

where Amy worked. She was busy waiting tables,
but she had swung by a couple of times to talk to
him. He had hardly been able to keep his hands off
her, even though he had known it wasn’t
appropriate to touch her in the workplace. She
seemed to exude heat.

If he hadn’t known better, he would have been

sure he had found his omega.

But she couldn’t be. She hadn’t even known

about the shifter world. If she’d been any sort of
shifter, she would have experienced a shift by this
point in her life. It was inevitable, if you had any
emotions at all, and she definitely did.

Besides, he would have been able to smell wolf

on her if there had been any, and there just wasn’t.
Or rather, there was the slight scent of the baby she
was carrying, but that just smelled like Vince
himself. It certainly didn’t smell like omega. He
didn’t know exactly what omega smelled like, but
he’d had it described to him before. Intoxicating.
Powerful. Absorbing.

Amy definitely had all of those effects on him.

They just weren’t scent-based.

Unlike the men who had just entered the

restaurant and taken seats at one of the tables.
They definitely had a scent. They were a pack,
although not one Vince could remember having
come across before.

And they had their eyes on Amy.
He didn’t like it. It made his hackles go up. How

dare they look at her, he thought, even though the
thought didn’t quite make sense. Don’t they know
she belongs to me?

Of course they didn’t.
Because they had never met him before. They

had never even seen him before. They couldn’t
possibly know anything about him.

Also, because Amy didn’t belong to him.
She didn’t belong to him, but he wanted her to.
He wanted to have the right to march over to

those men and tell them to keep their roving eyes to
themselves. Of course, Amy had told him he could
do it, so in that sense he did have the right. But he
would be lying when he staked his claim.

He wanted his claim to be real.
That was a hell of a thing to realize, and this

was a hell of a time to realize it. But there was
nothing he could do about it right now. He got to his
feet and crossed the room to the men.

“Excuse me,” he said.
One of them looked up at him. This was the

alpha. The command positively radiated off of him.

He was a powerful alpha, and it occurred to Vince
to wonder if he would be able to lead his own pack
with that kind of strength.

A problem for another day. The man was

watching him. Waiting.

“That girl you’re looking at,” he said.
“What about her?” the alpha asked.
“She’s claimed.”
“Yeah? By who?”
“By me. Who do you think?”
The alpha leered. “I don’t see a bite mark. I

don’t think you claimed her.”

But that wasn’t right, Vince realized suddenly.

Joyfully. There was a bite mark. Maybe he hadn’t
claimed her during sex, as was standard, and maybe
he had never intended it to be a claim...but there
was a mark, wasn’t there? There was something he
could show.

“It’s on her wrist,” he said. “If you ask her,

she’ll show it to you.”

“So what if it is there?” another man asked.

“Means nothing.”

“Shut up,” the alpha growled. He looked as

though he was thinking. “What pack are you with?”
he asked Vince.

“Hell’s Wolves. Oregon.”
“Right.” The alpha nodded. “I’m John Harren.

Claw Rakers. Your alpha, Griff, helped us out of a
jam a few years back.”

“That right?” Maybe this was going to be easier

than Vince had thought.

“Yeah,” Harren said. “We’ll stand down. Sorry

to cross into your territory.”

“Not at all.” Vince bobbed his head. “I

appreciate it.”

And in that moment, he believed the problem

was solved.

BACK AT THE MOTEL, he nipped playfully at her
neck as he undressed her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, batting him

away halfheartedly, arching her body toward him
even as she did so. “Don’t we have things to do?
Plans to make? Shouldn’t we be talking about the
future?”

“Oh, there will be plenty of time to talk.” He

got her out of her shirt and eased her down onto the
bed. “Do you know how hard it was watching you
at work all day? Not being able to grab you, and
kiss you, and—” He lowered himself between his
legs and ground his hips into her, and she gasped
and wrapped her legs around his back, pulling him
down.”

“I could just not go to work anymore,” she

suggested, rocking against him. “We could just stay
here and do this all the time. You’re independently
wealthy, right?”

He laughed. “I’m going to fuck you senseless, is

what I am.”

“Do it, then, and stop talking.”
He flipped her over so she was flat on her

stomach and eased himself inside her, covering her,
pinning her down. He thought this would render her
helpless, but after a moment, he felt her begin
squeezing around him, milking him.

“Fuck,” he groaned. “You’re going to kill me.”
He sat back on his heels, reaching around her

torso to pull her upright so her back rested flush
against his chest. His left hand came to rest on her
right breast, and he cupped it gently, then squeezed,
reveling at the fullness. She moaned happily and
leaned her head back to rest on his shoulder,
spreading her knees as wide as she could.

Vince knew an invitation when he saw one.
He trailed his right hand across her collarbone

and gripped her left breast briefly, then flicked her
nipple, causing her to clench even harder around
him. His head swam, and for a brief moment he was
in danger of coming right then and there, but he
took a deep breath and managed to hold off. He
was going to make this last.

“I want to claim you,” he whispered huskily in

her ear.

He expected her to ask what it meant, maybe

even to stop their love making and insist on a
conversation about it, but she didn’t. “Do whatever

you want to me,” she moaned. “Do anything you
want to me, Vince.”

Fuck. Fucking hell. This woman would be the

death of him.

“Tell me when you’re going to come,” he said

softly.

She nodded, her breath coming in little gasps.
He dragged his fingers between her breasts,

along her sternum, then lower, across the flat plane
of her stomach.

She whimpered.
Lower, to the crease of her hip.
She whined.
Lower still. Between her legs now, where she

was hot and wet and Vince could actually feel her
throbbing with desire and need.

She sobbed at the first touch of his fingers and

rocked her hips so hard she almost came off his
cock. He seated himself more firmly and pressed
the palm of his hand into her so that she wouldn’t
need to move in order to receive maximum
stimulation.

“I want you to do it,” he said. He heard how

husky his own voice sounded and couldn’t quite
believe it. Sex had never been like this. So amazing.
So otherworldly. “I want you to use me. Take what
you need.”

“Vince—”
“Are you afraid?”

She couldn’t speak. She nodded.
“Do it,” he said. “I’m ordering you to do it.”
She wasn’t a member of his pack. He didn’t

have the authority to give her an order at all. But it
was his first time flexing as an alpha, and fuck, it
felt amazing. He felt himself grow harder just at the
prospect that he was telling this beautiful girl what
to do, and that he was using his authority to make
her pleasure herself.

He held his hand still against her. She whined

again, and he could feel how much she wanted it.
She ached for it. But she didn’t quite dare.

“You’re so hot,” he said. “Baby, I feel how hot

you are. You need it. You need the relief, don’t
you?”

“Yes,” she sobbed. “I need it. I need it.”
“It’s right here. I’m right here. I’m not going

anywhere. Fuck me. I want you to.”

And at last, with a sigh that turned into a groan

of pleasure, she began to rock.

Forward, into the rough pressure of his hand.
Backward, onto the thick length of his cock.
Forward.
Backward.
Then faster.
Vince could hardly contain himself. He felt as if

he were seeing stars. He was going to come at any
moment. But he couldn’t He needed to hold out.

More than anything, he wanted to wait for her. He
wanted this to be perfect.

“I’m going to claim you,” he moaned, giving

her one last chance to object, or to ask questions if
she had them. But she only nodded vigorously.

And then her hips snapped forward into his

hand and she cried out, “I’m coming!”

He leaned forward, thrusting deep into her, and

sank his teeth into the tender skin of her neck.

The bite seemed to drive her orgasm higher. She

screamed and her entire body shook, practically
convulsing in his arms, and then she collapsed
forward, exhausted.

VINCE’S OWN ORGASM swept through him like
a tidal wave and he let out a groan that was more
animal than human before collapsing on top of her.

“Wow,” she whispered. “Fuck. Vince. Wow.”
“Was that okay?” he asked.
“Was it okay? I’ve never had anything like that

in my life. God. Are you always that amazing?”

“I’m better with you,” he said quietly. “Does

your neck hurt?”

“A little.”
“Are you okay with it?”
“You claimed me.”
“Yes.”
“What does it mean?”

“You didn’t want to know beforehand?”
“I can probably guess, to be honest with you.”
“It means you’re mine,” he said. “My mate. It

means no other shifters are allowed to touch you.”

“Mmm. Well, I’m definitely fine with that.”

“VINCE. Vince.”

He smelled it as soon as he snapped awake.

Other shifters. They had the place surrounded. No
matter which way he turned, the scent was invading
his space.

Amy was trembling. “They’re outside,” she

whispered. “They’re hiding, but I saw one of them.
They’re going to come in.”

Vince blinked, trying to clear his head. John

Harren had said they would let Vince and Amy go.

He must have lied.
He must have seen that he could overpower

them and decided to do it.

He hadn’t even begun to think about the idea of

taking Amy back to Oregon yet. But now his hand
was being forced. He couldn’t leave her here, in
this kind of danger.

And if he was honest with himself, he was glad.

He wanted to bring her with him. He wanted them
to raise their child together. He wanted her for his
mate.

There was still the fact that she was not an

omega—not even a shifter. And he was an alpha.

But it didn’t matter. Not when she was being

hunted. He had claimed her, and that made her his.
He would do whatever he had to do to make sure
she was safe.

“Follow me,” he said quietly, slinging his duffel

bag over his shoulder and leading her out the door
and down to the motorcycle.

Chapter Seventeen

Disappearing into the night should have

been more difficult than it was, but by the time they
had coasted out of the motel driveway and reached
the highway, it occurred to Amy that Vince had
probably done this sort of thing before.

She was definitely going to have to call her

parents eventually, not to mention her boss at the
restaurant, and explain her disappearance. But for
now, she clung to Vince’s waist, the night air
seeming to part around them to permit them
through. To swallow them whole.

They crossed the state line into Idaho, and

Vince stopped so that they could have a restroom
break. “I think we lost them,” he said.

“What were they going to do?”
“Can’t say for sure, but probably capture you

for breeding,” he said.

“I thought I was claimed. I though nobody else

could touch me.”

“I mean, they can,” he said. “It’s not

impossible. Most shifters wouldn’t go near a
woman who’d been claimed by someone else,
because they would understand that she could
never belong to them. But there are some who
don’t care. There are some who will take women

prisoner, cage them up, use them however they
want.”

“Shit.” Amy shivered.
“Yeah,” Vince agreed. “So you’re just going to

have to come back to Oregon with me for good,
okay? You’ll be safe there. You and the baby both.”

“But what about the people you live with?”
“What about them?”
“They’re shifters too, aren’t they?” she asked.

“How do you know they’ll respect your claim?”

“It’s different,” Vince said. “They’re like my

family. I’ve been with them all my life. They’re not
just some random creeps who caught your scent
while they were passing through town. They’re like
my brothers. I know them. I trust them.”

Amy trusted Vince, but she wasn’t so sure that

trust transferred to his so called brothers. She
hadn’t had much experience with shifters, but so
far she thought she disliked more of them than she
liked.

But at the same time...her child was going to be

one. And wouldn’t it be best for him—or her—to
grow up around other shifters? Amy herself would
never be able to explain the intricacies of shifting.
She wouldn’t know what to do if her little baby
grew fur and fangs one afternoon. She would need
other shifters around to help her deal with that kind
of situation.

And going to Oregon meant staying with Vince.

Raising the baby together. Maybe even getting
married. She would have everything she had lost
with Chris, but it would be better, because it would
be with Vince. Strong, powerful, sexy Vince, who
had taken her in hand the other night and given her
an orgasm the likes of which she had never
imagined.

She felt herself begin to tingle just at the

thought of it.

THEY CROSSED INTO OREGON the next
morning, and by afternoon they had reached
Vince’s house.

“That other pack won’t follow us here,” Vince

said as they cruised slowly up the dirt path that led
from the highway through the woods. “Their alpha
knew who my alpha was. I don’t think he was
involved in trying to take you during the night. I’m
guessing he’ll give the others a piece of his mind
and they won’t be able to pursue us any farther.
That’ll be the end of it.

He sounded very confident, but Amy wasn’t

sure. “Alpha? What does that mean?”

“It means he’s the leader,” Vince said. “I’m

sorry. I forget how much you don’t know.”

“I feel stupid,” she admitted. “It’s like there

was this whole other world right in front of me the

whole time and I never saw it. How many shifters
are there?”

“Oh, not that many,” Vince said. “You probably

never met another one before me, I’d bet. My pack
was in Wyoming in the first place hunting for
omegas, and we never caught the scent of any other
shifters in your area.”

“And an omega would be?”
“It’s...” he hesitated. “It’s a powerful kind of

woman. The mate every alpha dreams of, according
to shifter tradition. She’s supposed to be revered
above the others, practically the goddess of the
pack, incredibly fertile, able to bear an entire litter
of pups instead of a single baby at a time.”

“Wow,” Amy said softly, but her insides felt like

they were twisting. Chris had left her because she
wasn’t fertile enough. Now she had managed to
conceive, but was it possible the same thing might
happen again? It sounded like Vince was saying that
shifters like him preferred women who were so
fertile that they carried a whole bunch of babies at
once, and Amy had been lucky to conceive one.

She didn’t think she could bear it if he left her

the way Chris had.

Maybe he heard something in her tone, because

he spoke quickly, as if to reassure her. “We looked
all over for an omega, and we didn’t find one,” he
said. “They’re exceptionally rare. My pack mate,

Ace, was really into the idea. But I don’t think it’s
that important.”

“You don’t?”
“None of us can help what we were born to

be,” he said enigmatically, and cut the engine as a
sturdy looking cabin came into view.

The door opened and a young man came out.

His eyes narrowed slightly. Then he turned and
went back inside.

“Uh-oh,” Vince sighed.
“What is it?” Amy asked.
“It looks like Dax isn’t very happy to see us.”

Vince parked the bike and helped Amy off of it.
“It’s okay. We’ll just have to explain a few things to
them. It’ll be fine once they understand what
you’re doing here, why I brought you back.”

Amy nodded hesitantly and allowed Vince to

lead her up the porch steps and into the house.

They entered into a kitchen that was packed

with men. Three stood leaning against the counter,
and two—the two oldest—were seated at the table.
“You’re back,” one of them said to Vince, not
looking up.

“Yes,” Vince said.
“And you didn’t ask permission to leave.”
“I didn’t.”
“Explain yourself.”
Vince took a deep breath. “I don’t have to,” he

said quietly.

Amy thought this was unnecessarily rude, but

the older man seemed to infer some different
meaning. His head snapped up and he met Vince’s
gaze for the first time since they had entered the
kitchen.

“You don’t?” he asked.
Vince shook his head.
“When did you find out?” the man at the table

asked.

That question didn’t seem to fit anything that

had happened so far, but Amy sensed that this was
a moment she shouldn’t interrupt to ask for an
explanation.

The rest of the kitchen was quiet. It seemed as

though everyone gathered there, apart from Amy,
knew what was going on. Reactions varied. Some
of the men were smiling, but one was frowning, and
one looked downright furious.

“I figured it out right before I left,” Vince said.

“The night I left, actually. I was on the porch with
Tommy and we were talking, and...well, a lot of
things started to fall into place.”

“You knew?” the man at the table asked,

looking around.

A younger man—this must be Tommy, Amy

surmised—nodded. “I suspected, but then he gave
me a command and I knew for sure.”

“The command was for him not to tell any of

you what was going on,” Vince said quickly. “So

don’t be angry with him about that. That’s on me.”

“Right,” said the man at the table. “Well, I

can’t say I’m not surprised, Vince, but you’ll make
a good alpha. I’m sure of that.”

“Wait a minute.” Amy’s stomach dropped.

“You’re an alpha? You didn’t tell me.” Hadn’t he
said that alphas belonged with omegas? He had
gone on to say that he didn’t think it was that
important—but was that just his way of being kind
to her? What if he thought he had no choice but to
be with her now that he’d gotten her pregnant with
a baby that would cause her to be hunted by other
shifters?

She didn’t want a man who would stay with her

out of obligation. She had never wanted that.

“Ah,” the man at the table said. “Perhaps

introductions are in order.”

“Right,” Vince agreed. “This is Amy. Some of

you have already met her—”

“We didn’t meet her,” one of the younger men

said. “We just saw her before you dragged her into
an alley.”

“I didn’t drag her anywhere,” Vince said.
“If anything, I dragged him,” Amy said,

surprising herself with her own willingness to speak
up about that night. She had felt so wild, so out of
character...

But that feeling had never really gone away.

She kept expecting her calm, appeasing self to

return, and it never had. So maybe this was her
now. Maybe she was the girl who dragged random
bikers into alleys and got pregnant with their
babies.

Their wolf babies.
Yeah, that wasn’t going to stop being weird any

time soon.

“Amy, this is Griff,” Vince said, indicating the

man he’d been speaking to at the table. “He’s my
alpha. Well, he was. I guess now...” He trailed off,
looking uncertain.

“Now I get a well deserved retirement,” Griff

said, smiling. “Pleased to meet you, Amy. This is
my brother, Earl.”

Earl reached out and shook Amy’s hand, his

expression solemn.

“And these three,” Vince said, gesturing, “are

Tommy, Dax, and Ace.”

Tommy stepped forward and shook Amy’s hand

as well. “Are you going to be staying with us?” he
asked her.

Unsure of what to say, Amy looked up at Vince.
“Yes,” Vince said firmly. “She’s here for the

long run. I’ll be building an extra wing onto the
house eventually, but for now we’ll figure
something out with the bedrooms we already
have.”

“If Dax moves in with me and Ace, you and

Amy can have our room to yourselves,” Tommy

suggested.

“Hang on a minute,” Ace said. “We’re not even

going to talk about this? We’re just bringing a new
member into the pack with no conversation?”

Vince wrapped an arm around Amy. It felt as if

he was trying to comfort her, but she wondered if
there might be more to it than that. Maybe he was
also trying to keep her safe. The look on Ace’s face
wasn’t menacing, exactly, but it definitely wasn’t
welcoming.

And Dax, who hadn’t moved from where he

stood by the refrigerator, looked downright furious.

Ace turned to Griff, who was still seated. “He

comes back after being MIA for days,” he said,
“and he just declares himself the alpha? And we’re
all going to go along with it, no questions asked?”

“You know he’s the alpha,” Tommy said. “He

wouldn’t be able to declare it if it wasn’t true.”

“I don’t know anything,” Ace countered. “I

know he says it’s true. I know Tommy says it’s
true.”

“You saw him shrug off my order, Ace,” Griff

said. “Have you ever been able to do that?”

Ace didn’t answer.
“I know this changes things for you,” Griff said.

“All your life, you’ve thought you were going to be
the new alpha. You’ve planned for it. I understand
that.”

“I don’t give a damn about being the fucking

alpha,” Ace said.

Amy suspected that wasn’t strictly true. Ace

looked outraged, as if something valuable had been
taken away from him without warning. Based on
what Vince had told her about the alpha position,
about how it conferred status on the person who
held it, she thought she could understand. If he’d
been planning on leading this pack, and now that
wasn’t going to happen...well, of course he was
angry.”

But he didn’t need to take it out on her.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s the alpha or not,” she

said.

“Of course it matters,” Ace snapped. “What the

hell would you know about it? You’re just a human.
You’re nothing.”

The words stung, but Amy steeled herself

against them. “I may be a human,” she said, “but
I’m the human who’s having his baby. That’s why
he brought me back. That’s why he’s keeping me
here. So there’s nothing to talk about.”

Vince gave her a little squeeze. “Exactly,” he

said. “The alpha thing...we can discuss that, Ace.
I’m not expecting you to jump on board. It’s weird
for me too. But the Amy thing is not up for debate.
She’s one of us now.”

Amy held her breath, waiting.
Ace turned and walked out of the room.

Dax stood like a statue by the refrigerator,

mutiny written across his face.

Chapter Eighteen

INCE

“This is ridiculous,” Vince snapped.

“You didn’t even want to search for an omega,
Dax. You were tired of the hunt. You were ready to
move on. Why are you upset about it now?”

“It was a joke before,” Dax said. His eyes were

narrowed. It was frightening. Vince had never seen
him look like this before, as if he was on the verge
of snapping. Dax had always been the carefree one,
the joker of their little pack within the pack. Dax
had been the one who could make anyone laugh.

Now he looked as though he might never laugh

again in his life.

Tommy reentered the kitchen. “I took the tray

up to Amy, but she’s already asleep,” he reported.
“You guys must have had a long ride—whoa.
What’s going on here?”

“I think we should take this outside,” Vince

said. He didn’t want it to come to a fight, but right
now, it looked as though that might happen.

Ace rolled his eyes. “You speak in suggestions,

and you think you’re fit to be our alpha? I was
better suited to the role than you were. At least I
knew how to be authoritative.”

“Give him a break,” Tommy said. “It’s new to

him. Not like you. You grew up thinking you were

in charge of us.”

“And what do you mean, it was a joke before?”

Vince asked. “What part of it was a joke?”

“We were just ragging on Ace,” Dax said. “It

wasn’t important to find him an omega. He wasn’t
even really an alpha. The whole thing was just a
waste of time.”

“Excuse me?” Ace’s eyes narrowed.
“Oh, give it a rest, Ace,” Dax scoffed. “You’re

not the alpha. It doesn’t matter what I say to you
now, and we both know it. So we can finally stop
pretending I’m afraid of you. I never was, and now
I don’t have to act like it. It’ll save us some time.”

Tommy grabbed Ace’s arm and pulled him back

into his chair as he tried to stand up. “No fighting in
here,” he said. “Earl will kill us if we mess up the
kitchen.”

“Outside,” Vince said. “Now.”
He did his best to make it a command, but he

wasn’t sure he’d done it right. How did you give an
order? Was it just about the way you phrased
things, or was there more to it than that?

Whatever the case, the three of them got to

their feet and followed him out the front door and
into the yard. Vince didn’t know if they’d done that
because they’d been ordered to or because they
had wanted to, but it didn’t matter. It had gotten
them outside, and for now that would be enough.

“All right,” he said, once he had all of them out

in the yard. “What’s this all about, Dax? You
weren’t serious about the search before?”

“I didn’t think Ace was the alpha,” Dax said.

“And neither did Tommy.”

“That didn’t mean I wasn’t looking for an

omega, though,” Tommy protested.

“Then you were wasting your time,” Dax said.

“What did you think was going to happen if we
found one? Did you think she would just fall into
Ace’s arms? Don’t be ridiculous. He didn’t have
the authority to claim an omega. He wouldn’t have
been able to do it.”

“So then we would have gotten an answer on

the whole alpha thing a little bit sooner,” Vince
said. “What would have been the harm?”

“I’ll tell you what it would have been,” Dax

said.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Ace snapped

suddenly.

Vince turned to look at him. Ace was shaking

with anger, his features set.

“What’s going on?” Tommy asked.”
“He thinks I would have taken an omega by

force,” Ace said, his words ground out through
gritted teeth. “That’s what he isn’t saying.”

“I don’t have a problem saying it,” Dax said. “I

told you, man, I’m not afraid of you. We’re past
that point.”

Ace ignored this. “He thinks that when she

didn’t submit to me, I would have claimed her by
force and dragged her back here and made her
mate with me and carry my litter. That’s what he’s
saying. He thinks I was so fucking determined to
hang on to my rank as alpha that I would have done
that.”

“Well, would you?” Dax asked him coolly.
Ace let out a roar of outrage and launched

himself across the yard at Dax. Tommy tried to
catch him by the arm and pull him back, but Ace’s
fury was too great to be contained and Tommy was
tossed aside.

Dax responded with astonishing speed, shifting

and meeting Ace’s attack in wolf form. The two
collided and fell to the ground, one biting and
slashing, the other pummeling with fists.

“Stop them!” Tommy yelled.
I don’t know how!
But Vince was the alpha. He was the only one

who had a chance.

He shifted, pulling the wolf up from the core of

himself. The shift came more easily than it ever had
before, as if the alpha within him knew the role it
had to play and embraced it. Diving at his pack
mates, he locked his teeth around Dax’s neck and
threw him to the ground, giving Ace a moment to
back away.

He thought Ace would seize the opportunity to

retreat to the house. But immediately he realized
that he should have known better.

Retreating wasn’t Ace’s style. It never had

been.

This was the man who had clung to the idea of

being alpha even after it had become abundantly
clear that the role wasn’t in his future. This was the
man who had insisted on scouring the entire
western part of the country looking for omegas that
could not be found. This was the man who had
refused to stand down in the kitchen, even when it
had become apparent that Vince had the rightful
claim to the alpha role.

He would never give in. Not while there was

fight left in him. Not even if he was clearly in the
wrong.

A split second later, there were three wolves in

the yard. They were tangled together, fur flying,
jaws snapping, claws raking at each other.

Vince had been in plenty of brawls with his

pack mates, but it had never been like this before.
There was too much rage here. They were out of
control. He knew them well enough to know that
they didn’t truly want to harm each other—but the
wolves would defend themselves, and they would
use violence. They had no sense of restraint.

Someone could easily get killed here today.

Someone’s claws sank into his thigh. He howled

with pain and rage and shook himself free of the
scrum, but was immediately pulled back in by teeth
around his throat. He managed to cuff the aggressor
hard enough to free himself again, but things were
escalating fast now. He was losing his handle on the
situation.

One of his pack mates—God, he couldn’t even

tell who it was right now—let out a howl that was
more pain than rage. Vince’s gut clenched. He had
to stop them or they were going to hurt each other.

There was only one way.
It was dangerous. It might end up getting him

killed. But if someone was going to die here today,
it ought to be Vince. I’m their alpha, he told
himself firmly. It’s my job to control them. Things
would never have gotten this bad between us if I
had taken the pack in hand sooner. I didn’t know
myself—what I was, what I needed to be—and
because of it, our family is falling apart.

It was up to him to save them. He was the only

one who could do it.

He found his human nature and pulled it

forward, forcing logic and reason to return,
knowing that once he had made himself vulnerable
in this way, he would have only a few moments to
take action. A human in the midst of two wolves—
two angry, fighting wolves, no less—didn’t stand a
chance. Not for long.

So as soon as he felt his fangs give way to teeth

in his mouth, as soon as he felt his tongue grow
short and agile again, he shouted, “Stop!”

He threw everything he had into the word.

Every ounce of intent and purpose he could muster.
He thought of two great hands, pushing the wolves
on either side of him apart, pushing them down to
the earth. Forcing them to submit.

He made it an order.
And he felt the weight of it leave him, as if a

wind were blowing through him, moving with
power and purpose, moving from his own center
and toward each of his pack mates. Forcing them to
obey. Forcing them to comply.

He was their alpha.
I’ll never use this power when I don’t have to,

he thought, marveling at its strength. I’ll never use
it to control any member of my family, to force
anyone to do something they don’t want to do,
unless it’s something I’m sure is for the greater
good. Something like this. Stopping a fight.

He could think of no better way to exercise the

power he wielded as alpha.

The two wolves crouched low on the ground to

either side of him. One of them—Dax, Vince
thought—was still snarling. That was fine. Let him
snarl all he wanted, as long as he didn’t move. As
long as he didn’t take steps to harm Vince or Ace.

The fight was over.

“Tommy,” Vince said, surprised at how calm his

voice sounded. “Go inside and get fresh sets of
clothes for all three of us. Quickly.”

This was an order too, and Tommy turned

immediately and ran for the house. Vince had no
doubt that he would be back in a hurry. Being alpha
meant not having to doubt anyone, ever.

This is why I’m the alpha, he thought. This is

why it’s me and not Ace. Ace loves giving orders.
He’d do it all the time. He’d get carried away with
the power. But me...I feel strange and
uncomfortable, and that means I’ll keep myself
under control. I’ll be the kind of alpha who doesn’t
abuse what I’ve been given.

In other words, he would be like Griff.
He couldn’t imagine a better role model.
“You two,” he said to the wolves on the ground.

“Resume your human forms.”

He knew they wouldn’t want to, so it was

satisfying to see how quickly they did it. By the
time Tommy returned from the house, they were on
their feet again.

Tommy passed around the clothes and everyone

dressed in silence.

“Does anyone doubt that I am what I say I

am?” Vince asked quietly.

“No.” It was Ace who said it, and Ace was the

one he had needed to hear it from. Vince breathed a
sigh of relief. “You’re the alpha. Wouldn’t have

been my first choice—hell, you wouldn’t have been
my second choice. But you’re it. So I guess we’re
meant to follow you now.” He crossed the clearing
and held out a hand for Vince to shake.

Vince glanced over at Dax. “How about you?”
“I still think our alpha should be with an

omega,” Dax said. “She’s not even a shifter, Vince.
She’s not one of us. Not our kind.”

“Okay,” Vince said. “But something happened

between Amy and me, Dax. Something happened
when I bit her. We don’t understand it. But the two
of us are bonded to each other now. Besides, she
may not be a shifter, but she’s carrying my baby,
and she belongs in our world.”

Dax didn’t look happy, but he inclined his head.

“I suppose I’ll get used to that.”

“Without trying to kill someone every five

minutes?”

“Oh, what do you take me for?” A grin cracked

through Dax’s frown, and Vince knew then that
things were going to be all right between them.

Chapter Nineteen

By the time Amy had reached her eighth

month of pregnancy, the addition to the house had
been completed. Her new bedroom was an airy,
open space, with big picture windows on three of
the walls that allowed her to look out into the yard
and the woods beyond. Today she lay on her side,
in one of the few positions that afforded her any
comfort, watching Dax and Tommy play fighting in
the yard.

Vince came into the bedroom and sat down at

the foot of the bed. “Vitamins,” he said, handing
her a little cup with a collection of pills in it. “Got
to make sure those babies are healthy.”

Amy rested a hand on her bare stomach, feeling

the gentle movement within her. “I can’t believe
there are so many of them. Are you sure it’s eight?”

“Yes,” Vince said. “We had the ultrasound, and

you saw them all, just like I did. Remember?”

“I know,” Amy admitted. “It’s just...so strange.

Eight babies. You wouldn’t think I’d have been
able to carry them this long, would you?”

“Earl has a theory about that.” Vince stripped

out of his clothes and lay down behind her,
spooning up against her and pulling the bedsheets
up to cover them. “He says something must have

happened the night we met. The night I first bit
you. Something was transferred. Some power, some
fertility.”

“Do you think so?”
“You mentioned that you were infertile before

me.”

“I thought that might have been a mistake.”
“I don’t think it was,” Vince said. “I think my

bite changed you.”

“You mean...I am a shifter now?”
“No,” he said. “We’d know if you were. But for

better or worse, you’re part of our world, Amy.
You’re human, but you’re also omega.”

“How can that be?” Her mind whirled. “There’s

no such thing as a human omega.”

“There are legends,” Vince said. “Stories of

human women who carried litters, as omegas do.
We always thought they were myths, ways for
shifters to justify impregnating human women. I’ve
never met a real human omega, and I never thought
I would. But now...” He trailed his fingers along the
swell of her stomach, then over the rise of her hip.
“I think you’re that rare creature, Amy. You’re a
human omega. These babies will be the new pack,
the new generation of Hell’s Wolves, and one of
them will be the alpha after me.”

“Then we will have a new alpha,” she

whispered, cradling her belly carefully. “It won’t
matter that I’m not an omega.”

He kissed her shoulder. “You are an omega,

Amy. You have been all this time.”

“You wanted me before you knew that about

me, though.”

He nodded, pressing his lips against her neck

now. His hand skated across her thigh and up
between her legs to cup her sex. “I’ve always
wanted you,” he murmured. “Since the day we met.
Always.” He kissed his mark on her neck. “That’s
why I claimed you. I wanted you to be mine. I
wanted you to belong to me, only me, not anyone
else.”

“I’m yours.” She canted her hips back slightly,

allowing him to fuck his way into her. It was
difficult, with her body so big and swollen, to have
sex, but it felt wonderful. It was as if every inch of
her skin was on fire every time he touched her.

He rocked his hips slowly but firmly, giving her

steady, hard thrusts that she felt deep inside. She
leaned back against him, resting on his shoulder,
reveling in the feeling of belonging to him and the
knowledge that her body knew what to do.

He brought his free arm around beneath her

head and down over her shoulder to cup one of her
breasts. They had begun to ache with new weight
lately, and now Vince gave a little squeeze,
relieving one of some of its milk. Amy sighed
happily as he gently stroked her nipple, removing a
tiny white droplet and bringing it to her lips for her

to suck away. He moved to the other breast and
repeated the process, fucking her harder as he did.

“I could do this all day,” he groaned, “except

that I don’t think I could possibly last. You do me
in, baby.”

She couldn’t speak. A haze of arousal

surrounded her. She rocked slowly on his hand,
taking her pleasure the way he had taught her so
long ago, unhurried, relaxed. He wouldn’t leave her
wanting. He would always take care of her. He
would stay with her just like this until she came,
and she knew it.

She trusted him completely.
His fingers stroked in time with his cock,

driving her wild, making her legs shake
uncontrollably. She cried out, sounds she’d never
known she was capable of, and she saw stars as her
orgasm washed over her.

Afterward, they lay together in the stillness of

their bedroom, gazing out the window at the
grounds.

“No one can see in, right?” Amy asked, after a

time.

“No, it’s one way glass,” he reassured her,

kissing her gently. “You’re worried Dax was
watching, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”
“You’d know if he had been, believe me. Dax is

about as subtle as a freight train. He’d have been

up against the window panting if he’d seen us.”

Amy laughed. “Is it weird that the idea kind of

turns me on?” she asked.

“What? The idea of Dax watching us have

sex?” He wrinkled his nose. “A little.”

“I don’t mean Dax specifically,” she said. “Just

the thought of being watched. It’s exciting, isn’t
it?”

He laughed. “Is that why you wanted to get it

on in an alley behind a bar? Because of the risk of
getting caught?”

“A little bit, yeah.”
“And here I thought you just found me

irresistible.”

“I do.” She kissed him deeply, passionately, and

felt him stir to life below the waist again. “Was that
not obvious?”

“I was starting to get the idea,” he said, smiling.
“It’s strange,” she said, “because I was never

the kind of person to do things like that before. I
never would have had sex with a stranger at a bar. I
definitely never would have had any sort of kink. I
was as vanilla as they came. Chris even said so
once, and let me tell you, he wasn’t exactly Rocky
Road himself.”

“Chris sounds like a real silent film festival of a

guy,” Vince said.

Amy burst out laughing. “That’s exactly right,

somehow. I couldn’t have described him any

better.”

“Well,” Vince said, “maybe more of your

nature changed after the bite than we initially
guessed. You became an omega, but maybe your
character also changed. You became more bold.
More sexually aggressive. More kinky, to use your
word.” He gave her a roguish wink.

She laughed. “That feels true,” she admitted. “I

definitely never would have run away with some
guy I’d met one time before, even if I was carrying
his baby.”

“Babies. Plural.”
“Yeah. Eight babies.” She shook her head,

marveling at the things her body had the capacity to
do. She had been sad when she had learned she
would never be able to conceive, would never carry
a child. But this was beyond her wildest dreams.
And it never would have happened if it hadn’t been
for Vince. He had given it to her.

He had given her everything.
But it hadn’t begun with him, had it?
It had begun with her. That night in the yard,

hearing the cry of the wolf. Taking her father’s
flashlight and going off into the woods by herself.
Finding him caught in a trap.

Freeing him.
Risking everything for him.
Where she was right now—who she was right

now—wasn’t just a gift that had been unwittingly

bestowed on her by an animal acting reflexively to
protect itself. It had happened because of her own
choices. She had brought herself here, as much as
anybody else had brought her.

And she could take pride in that fact.
She rolled slowly onto her back, shifting her

weight carefully, bracing her stomach with one
hand. It was difficult to move too quickly, and Griff
had advised her against it, warning that if the babies
were jostled too much they might accidentally
injure each other. Vince helped to ease her back
onto the pillows that were propped against the
headboard.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Only always.”
“I’ll go get something.”
He pulled a robe around his naked body and left

for the kitchen. Amy gazed out the window at Dax
and Tommy, who had now been joined by Ace.

The fight seemed to have ended. They were

standing around now, drinking beers and laughing
together. They could have been any group of men,
Amy thought. If she hadn’t known what they were,
she would never have guessed there was wolf blood
in their veins.

It just goes to show that there’s always more to

people than you think there is.

That was a lesson she wished she had learned a

little bit sooner about herself. She could have saved

herself a lot of heartache if she had realized that
there was nothing wrong with her when Chris left.
She had always been good enough. She would
always have found a way to become a mother, with
or without a mate. She would have adopted. She
would have done something.

But this—
This was more than anyone could have hoped

for.

This was a dream come true.
I’m an omega. I’m a real omega. Human, yes,

but still omega. Able to carry a litter for the pack.
Able to produce an alpha for the next generation.
Capable of belonging, in a way she had been
unsure she ever would.

Dax and Ace would accept her now. All their

reservations would be pushed aside. She was
everything they could have hoped for.

But more than that, she was everything she

could have hoped for.

Someday I’ll call Mom and Dad and have them

come out and visit, she decided. I’ll have to
pretend most of the babies are someone else’s, of
course. I’ll only be able to claim one as my own.
And the guys will have to act human for a
weekend. But they’ll do it for me. It was a heady
sort of knowledge. She felt powerful. She could ask
for things. She could expect things of people.

She had never done that before. Not with Chris.

Not with anyone. But with Vince—Vince, who was
a powerful alpha in his own right, who should have
made her feel less powerful, not more—Amy had
discovered her strength.

He came back into the room carrying a bowl of

chicken soup and a grilled cheese sandwich on a
tray. “Lunch is served.”

“Look at them out there,” Amy said as he

resumed his seat beside her on the bed. “It’s like
they don’t have a care in the world. Will our
children be that happy?”

He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her

close, so that her head was resting on his shoulder.
“Yes,” he said. “We’ll make sure they are. All the
days of their lives.”

Chapter Twenty

INCE

The babies were born on a Tuesday

night, in the middle of a thunderstorm. It meant
they would would be wild in nature, Earl declared,
and that their impact on the world would be a fierce
one.

There were eight of them, as predicted. Four

boys and four girls, an even split. Once they were
cleaned up and placed in the bassinets the Hell’s
Wolves had prepared for them, Vince stood
surrounded by his children, turning in a slow circle
and looking from one to the next. Admiring what he
had done. What he had created.

“I’ve got to hand it to you,” Dax said. “You

were right about all of it.”

“Shh,” Vince said, not taking his eyes off the

waving hand of one of his sons. “Amy’s sleeping.”

“Out like a light,” Dax confirmed. “I don’t

think she’d wake up if we drove a train through
here. Can I help you with the babies?”

“We should try feeding them,” Vince said.

“There are bottles of milk in the fridge.” Because
Amy’s milk. had come in early, They had been able
to prepare for this moment. He was extremely
thankful for that now.

Dax disappeared and returned a moment later

with eight bottles in his arms. He set them down
carefully on the dresser. “So we just feed them one
by one?” he asked.

“Hey, I’ve done this the same number of times

as you,” Vince pointed out.

“Yeah,” Dax agreed. “But you’ve known what

you were doing from the beginning, haven’t you?
Mating with Amy, even though she was human.
Bringing her here. Taking me on when I suggested
that she should be sent away. All of it.”

Vince shook his head. “The truth is, I just got

lucky,” he admitted. “I didn’t plan any of it. I didn’t
know what I was doing at all. I never dreamed I’d
be the alpha.”

“Neither did I,” Dax laughed. “I thought if it

wasn’t Ace it was probably me.”

“So did I!”
“But I didn’t want it,” Dax said. “Oh, maybe I

thought I did. I thought it would be fun to be in
charge of things. Everyone thinks that a little bit,
don’t they?”

“I never did.”
“But I wouldn’t have wanted the responsibility

of leading us. I like leaving things up to other
people. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be my fault if
things went wrong.”

“I can understand that,” Vince said fervently.

“You’re the opposite, though,” Dax pointed out.

“You never dreamed of rising to power, the way
Ace and I did, but now that you have it, you’re
doing a good job with it.”

“Am I? You think so?”
“I mean, hell,” Dax laughed. “When we

couldn’t find an omega, you went and made one for
us.”

Vince smiled and picked up one of the babies.

“I wonder who the next alpha’s going to be,” he
said, grabbing a bottle from the dresser.

Dax shook his head. “Don’t start. We just got

this generation sorted out. Whoever’s next will
figure it out in their own time, but we don’t have to
worry about that for a while.”

They stood in silence for a while, each of them

feeding a baby, occasionally settling the child back
down in his or her bassinet and moving on to the
next one. Vince thought that Amy would probably
be relieved to wake up and find this first parenting
chore accomplished. He worried, just slightly, that
she would be sad she had missed it, but there would
be hundreds of feedings over these first few
months. And with eight babies, he knew she would
never be short of an opportunity.

“So how is Amy?” Dax asked.
“Oh, worn out,” Vince said. The birth had been

hard. Not as hard as it would have been for a
woman who wasn’t an omega, he was sure, but

considerably harder than it would have been for a
shifter who had been born for such things. She was
capable of giving birth to a big litter, but that didn’t
mean it came naturally.

“I’ll bet,” Dax said. “She was in labor for what,

ten hours?”

“Eleven.”
“I bet she sleeps until tomorrow.”
“Maybe. I kind of hope so. She deserves it,

after that.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t want her here at first,” Dax

said quietly.

“You didn’t know,” Vince pointed out. “None

of us did. You had no idea she was an omega. I
didn’t even know something like that was
possible.”

“Yeah,” Dax agreed. “But I shouldn’t have let

that get in the way. She was carrying your child
regardless, and it was pretty clear how you felt
about her.”

“You were thinking of what was best for the

pack,” Vince said. “I get it. Honestly, I appreciate
it. It’s good to know that you’re not just going to
defer to whatever I say because I’m the alpha. I
need pack mates who aren’t afraid to question me,
because I don’t always know what I’m doing.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Dax said,

smirking. “Between me and Ace, you’ll always

have someone around who’s willing to call you out
if we think you’re making stupid decisions.”

“Thanks, Dax,” Vince said. “I mean that.”
“Don’t get all sappy.” Dax put down the baby

he was holding. “I know you’re a new father, but I
don’t want to start hugging and braiding each
other’s hair here.”

“All right, okay.” Vince settled his baby back

into the bassinet. “Let’s go get some beers and the
rest of the guys, then, and we’ll go out on the porch
and drink a toast to our growing family. How does
that sound?”

“Pretty perfect,” Dax said. “I was right about

you, Vince. You are the perfect alpha for the Hell’s
Wolves.”

“I seem to remember you saying you didn’t

think I would be the one to take power.”

“Oh my God, okay, so I was right and I was

wrong. How about ruling with a little
benevolence?” Dax cuffed Vince’s shoulder.
“Come on. Let’s go and get those beers before one
of these babies wakes up and starts hollering for
you. Now that you’re a father of eight, it’s going to
be hard for you to sneak in any free time for
yourself.”

Vince knew Dax was right. But as he looked

around at his sleeping family, he found that he
didn’t mind a bit.

THAT EVENING, HE CRAWLED into bed beside
Amy and wrapped his arms tenderly around her,
kissing her shoulder, her neck, the line of her jaw.

Her eyes blinked open. “Hey,” she said sleepily.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“How are the babies?”
“Perfect. They’re perfect. Tommy’s sitting up

with them right now. We’re going to take shifts, so
they’re never alone and so you and I can actually
get some sleep.”

“I’m going to bake the guys a cake,” she

murmured. “In about ten years when I have free
time again.”

“They’re happy to do it,” Vince said. “I know

they come across as a bunch of tough guys, but
they’re softies at heart. You should have seen
Tommy when he sat down in there. It’s maybe the
happiest I’ve ever seen him.”

“I’m really in the family now, huh?” she said.
“Amy.” Vince smoothed a lock of her hair.

“You’ve been a part of this family since the day
you came back to Oregon with me. I know it took
some of the others a while to get used to it. But I’m
the alpha here. I all the shots. I say what this family
is and isn’t. And what it is is a group of people
brought together—glued together—by love.”

“Yeah?”

“And I love you.” He heard the husk in his

voice and felt embarrassed. He wasn’t used to
communicating such intense emotions. But then,
before Amy, he had never felt such intense
emotions. The biggest thing he had ever felt before
he had known her had been anger, which seemed to
sweep through him sometimes with such power and
intensity that Vince had often thought the wolf
came to the surface specifically to cope with it.

But the intensity of his love for Amy, and for

his newborn babies, dwarfed anything he had ever
felt. It was too big to be contained within his body.
It seemed to fill up the room, to fill up the whole
house. He could feel it wrapping around Amy as
she lay in his arms, shielding her from harm. He
could feel it in the nursery where the babies lay
sleeping, touching each one of them, getting to
know them. Anticipating the lives they would have
as they grew up, as he watched them become
distinct and wonderful little people.

It wasn’t human, his love for his family, and it

wasn’t wolf either. Instead, somehow, it was the
best parts of both.

It was logical, sensible, well reasoned. They

were his family. He loved them and wanted to
protect them, and he was able to think about how
he would do that. He was able to plan for their
futures and ponder all the things he would give to
them as mate, father, and alpha.

But it was also primal. Animal. It came from a

place deep within him that didn’t demand to be
understood or even to make sense. And it
fundamentally changed who he was as a person. He
was no longer just an angry shifter trying to break
free of the rules of a dysfunctional pack.

He was a family man.
He was an alpha.
Amy hummed a little, slipping back toward

sleep, and Vince let her go. She had had such a
tiring day. He couldn’t believe how proud he was of
her. No human woman could have done what she
had done—carried eight healthy babies to term,
delivered them successfully, and gone on to recover
so well from it. He was overwhelmed with pride.

She’s my omega, he thought. She’s the one I

found. Something about me brought out something
in her that didn’t exist before we met.

Maybe it had just been the bite. Maybe the

same thing would have happened to any woman
who had been bitten by a shifter.

But Vince didn’t think so. Because surely bites

must be more common than human omegas.
Shifters claimed by biting, after all, which meant
that most shifters who claimed human women
would issue a bite at some point.

Maybe it was because he was an alpha.
Or maybe it was because the bite had been

given in wolf form. It hadn’t been deliberate, the

way a claiming bite was. It hadn’t even been
planned. He had been frantic, in pain, afraid, and
she had been afraid too. He knew that. But for
whatever reason, the two of them had reached out
to each other that night in the woods.

Even before we met in the bar. Even before she

became pregnant. Even then, some part of me
recognized something.

Maybe.
Maybe it had all been chance.
He would never know. Not with complete

confidence.

And at the end of the day, it didn’t really

matter.

He had her here. His omega, after all this time,

after all the searching and the acceptance that an
omega could never be found. Here she was, in his
arms, in his home. The mother of his children.

She stirred slightly, eyelids fluttering, and Vince

realized that she was dreaming. He kissed her neck
again, gently, careful not to wake her, and
wondered what visions were playing out behind her
eyelids. Something nice, he hoped. Something
about the children she had just brought into the
world.

“We’ll raise them together,” he whispered

softly in her ear. “I’ll teach them everything about
my world, and you’ll teach them everything about
yours. We’ll watch them grow up. You and me.”

Then, snuggling closer to Amy and wrapping his

arms more tightly around her, Vince closed his eyes
and allowed himself to sink into dreams alongside
her.

More Books by J.L. Wilder

ell’s Bears MC Complete Series
Box Set

Take a ride on the back of a Hell's

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Book 1: Omega’s Bears
I’m an omega. I’m all alone. And

the wolves are coming for me.

All my life, I’ve felt I should be

stronger. All my life, I’ve felt I should
be powerful. But all my life, I’ve been
nothing. The only thing I had was my
clan. But the wolves took them from
me. Every single one of my family is
gone.

The wolves want me for

crossbreeding, and I have to run. The
only bears who might protect me are
dangerous, lawless, and wild. But still I

ride on. Straight into the den of the
Hell's Bears MC.

Book 2: The White Omega
I've never left my home. I'm a

prisoner in my own pack. All because
I'm an omega...

All my life I've been told I need to

stay inside, stay protected. As an omega
polar bear, i'm an object of lust to
shifter men, and the outside world is not
safe.

When my pack's alpha claims he has

imprinted on me, I know it’s a lie. I
know the outside world is the only one I
can trust. Even if I get kidnapped, and
delivered to the doorstep of the
infamous Hell's Bears MC.

I am to be their new omega, their

breeder. What terrifies me most, is
which Hell's Bear will imprint on me,
and claim me for life....

Book 3: The Hidden Omega

There's something wrong with me.

Sometimes I'm not even sure I'm human.

I was raised by humans, and all my

life I thought I was a monster.

Turns out I'm something more

valuable—an omega bear shifter.

After being kidnapped for a

prostitution ring, I'm rescued by the
Hell's Bears MC.

There is Clay who imprints on me,

Mike who comforts me, and Bruno the
alpha.

Sometimes it seems like Bruno

wants nothing to do with me...

Do they really want me to be a

member of their pack,

or do they just want to use me for

breeding?

This box set contains three full

length romances and is 18+ only!

Hell’s Wolves MC-The Omega

Games

An omega held against her will.
To protect her, he must win the

omega games—or watch her be bred
by another.

Wyatt
All my life I’d been a lone wolf.
Drinking, hiding my inner beast.
Then I became second to the Alpha

of the Hell’s Wolves MC.

That’s when she came into my life—

the omega.

Now my sole purpose is to protect

this sexy little wolf.

Even if it violates my alpha’s

orders.

Izzy
Those bastards think they can treat

me like a breeding bag.

When the wolf moon comes and I’m

in heat,

They’ll hold the omega games—

with me as the prize.

What they don’t know is I’ll decide

who gets my body, and my heart.

For me, there is only one.
And I need him so bad it hurts.

Hell’s Wolves MC-The Omega

Purebred

No one ever taught me what to do

if I was kidnapped. What did they
expect? I am a rare Omega purebred
—the last of my line.

Hazel
As an Omega purebred of the

wealthiest shifter family on the east
coast, I was given three rules:

1. Stay in the house.
2. Always travel in groups.
3. Don’t go out at night.
Well, I didn’t listen to those rules,

and now I’m the world’s most wanted
omega. I've been kidnapped for
breeding. Who can protect me now?

Emmett

I’m president of the Hell’s Wolves

MC, the Itinerant Chapter. I travel from
place to place doing difficult and
dangerous jobs. I have no women and
no children, and I like it that way.

I just landed the best paying job of

my life, rescue a kidnapped Omega. A
lot of what they say about Omegas is
myth, but there is one thing about them
that is true—they are nearly impossible
to resist. And a rare omega purebred is
no exception. Good thing I care more
about money, than mating with an
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About The Author

.L. Wilder likes wild things! Her
alpha shifters are gruff and tough,

with a pinch of tenderness. Curl up with
these bad boy book boyfriends, and they
will have you howling at the moon!

When not writing shifter smut, J.L.

spends as much time as possible
exploring the outdoors. She loves
getting into trouble with Ace, her
Siberian Husky.

You can grab a free shifter romance

and join her email here:

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/mvci9dryz6

Document Outline

Bitten By The Wolf
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
More Books by J.L. Wilder
About The Author

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