SPENCER
One of them is badly injured.The words pulsed in my mind, and I couldn’t wait to get close enough to link to Finn.
I ran as fast as I could. I kept close to the houses to stay on the right track. The lights from the windows flashed between the trees as I passed them one after another.
There were fewer and fewer houses now, and I knew I was almost there when I heard Finn in my head.
Liam, get him out of here.
Another one down. This thought was Alister’s.
My stomach clenched. What did he mean down? Did he kill someone?
One thing was clear now. James was the injured one, and he needed help. There was no need to let them know I was close. It would only worry Finn. Distract him.
I reached the place that was marked on the map, but it seemed that they lured the pack even further, and I continued running until I heard the roars, and they all came into my view.
First, I found Finn. There were blood spots on his gray fur glowing under the moonlight. Chased by two wolves, he was running right at a tall tree ahead of him. The second he reached it, he dashed up its trunk and flipped backward, landing behind the wolves. The moment his paws touched the ground, he snarled and leaped at them.
Alister was fighting three shifters at once. I’ve never seen his wolf. He had dark fur, and he was huge, bigger than any other wolf around him. His jaw was locked on the neck of the whimpering wolf who he pressed to the ground with his paw when two others jumped at him from behind. Alister stretched up his body, shook it, like a dog shakes off the water, and managed to get rid of one. Then he dropped on all fours, spun his head, and sunk his canines into the second wolf’s side.
I tracked Liam fighting in front of James who, staggering, was trying to get to his feet and failing.
Liam was fighting against two, and to help him protect James, I darted toward him and pounced on one of the wolves.
Spencer? What the hell are you doing here?
I. . . But before I could reply to him, I saw another familiar wolf. Followed by two others, he was racing toward Finn, who didn’t see them coming.
Eric.
I ran, vaulted over one of the wolves cringing from pain on the ground, and landed in front of Eric, cutting his way to Finn.
Hissing, Eric came to a halt. As he looked at me, he took a step back.
SPENCER?I heard a shocked Finn in my head.The next second, he was by my side.
Keeping my eyes on Eric, I linked to Finn, Alister, and Liam.
You all stay where you are. I’ll deal with him.
Snarling, I moved to Eric. When there were only a few feet between us, I stopped.
No one was fighting but stood watching the two of us. Unfortunately, I couldn’t speak to Eric in wolf form.
Spencer, stay away from him.Finn said. He didn’t expect to see you here, and he’s shocked. But it doesn’t mean—
Oh, he isn’t shocked enough. Let me do better.
Spencer, don’t! Predicting my next move, Finn almost yelled in my head.
But I said, Boys, look away, and shifted.
With his black fur glowing under the moonlight, Eric took a step forward. Growling, Finn did the same.
Finn, stop.
You know he’s going to do the same, right? Finn said, sounding pissed off.
Don’t be jealous, love.
“Are those your friends?” I glared into Eric’s glowing blue eyes. “Call them off.”
Finn was right. In a flash, naked Eric stood in front of me, much closer than I expected. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of staring at his body but kept my eyes fixed on his. His gaze, however, slowly moved down my chest.
With my senses, I didn’t need to look down to know that he could barely suppress his lust.
I sneered. “Control yourself. I only turned so I can speak to you.”
Looking smug, he raised his eyes and met my gaze. “They intruded in our pack’s lands.”
“You have done it too. Twice. Showed up on our lands without permission. We didn’t tear you apart, did we?”
“I didn’t start a fight. And look what they’ve done.” His eyes darted from one injured wolf in his pack to another. “Why should I let them go?”
“They were looking for me. I decided to take a run, and they came to make sure I was safe. There was no need to set your dogs on them.”
“So you went for a run? And ended up here?”
“I know.” I scoffed. “My curiosity will get me in real trouble one day.”
Eric’s jaw tightened. “Next time, just let me know. I’ll give you a tour myself.” His expression changed, and he gave me a sly leer. “I could do it right now.”
“Thanks, but it’s late. I better take my men home.”
“Your men? Spencer, I know they’re keeping you against your will,” he muttered angrily. “I can’t let you go. Under my protection, no one will dare to touch you.” He grabbed my arm. “You belong with me.”
Finn, Alister, and Liam snarled all at once.
I glanced sideways at the approaching Finn. Calm down you all. I can handle him.
“No one can keep me against my will. Remember that.” I jerked my arm out of Eric’s grip. “But I might take you up on your offer if you behave like a man with honor.”
I knew this would get his attention.
His eyes glowed. “I’ll wait.” He nodded, then turned his gaze at Finn. “But if she doesn’t show up, I’ll come after you.”
I raised my hand, stopping Finn the second he took a step.
“Enough,” I glared at Eric. And without looking back at Finn, I said, “Let’s go,” and shifted.
In wolf form, my head was level with Eric’s. I looked him in the eyes, and I could tell he was confused. I knew he still wanted to stop me, but he didn’t dare risk losing my respect.
I turned away and approached James, who lay on the ground covered in blood.
Can you walk?
He moaned, and panting, pulled himself to his feet. Yeah, I’ll manage. And as I took off, my wolves followed.
* * *
Finn didn’t speak a word or look at me on our way to the cars, and I could sense his fury.
We always had extra clothes with us. He shifted to his human form first, and as he put his pants on, he opened the trunk, pulled out my shorts and a t-shirt, and put them on the back seat. I shifted and slid into the car.
“I know you’re angry,” I said, putting my clothes on. “But it had to be done.”
“Okay, I get it,” he barked, finally looking at me. “You took the blame, made it look real, and it worked. But,” his gray eyes shone in the darkness, “what did you mean by saying you’ll take him up on his offer?”
He was too worked up, and it was a bad time to share the idea that came to me right before I spoke those words. I wasn’t even sure if the idea was good. Being the main character in this play that suddenly flashed in my mind, I needed some time to decide if I was ready to follow the script. That would be an extreme, desperate move, and I still hoped that the others might find a better solution to our problem, come up with a new plan.
“Those words didn’t mean anything.” I got out of the car. “I just needed him to focus on me, that’s all.”
“That’s all?” Finn shouted. The others were dressed now too. Alister and Liam, who were helping James to get in the car, turned to look at us as Finn went on. “Spencer, we were trying to hide you from him all this time, and here you are, offering yourself as bait. Are you out of your mind? And what were you doing here?”
“Finn,” Alister approached us. “Calm down.”
“Yeah, man,” Liam drew closer too. “She saved our asses.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw, and Finn turned his eyes up to the dark sky.
“Listen.” I put my one hand on his arms tightly folded over his chest, and with the other one wiped the blood around the cut on his cheekbone. “We searched Aaron’s house and found out that the relics were in a safe again. Then two men showed up, and I heard them say that one of you was injured. I knew you were stalling to give us more time, and I had no way to let you know we were done and that you could leave. Of course, I ran. I couldn’t let you all get ki—”
“We kicked their asses, alright,” Finn glared at me.
I sighed as I glanced at Liam’s shirt soaking with blood from his wounds. “I know you did.”
Finn dropped his hands, got in the car, and shut the door.
“Spencer, where’s Clare?” Alister asked.
“I told her to wait next to the bridge.”
“Liam, let’s go get her.”
“No,” I shook my head. “Finn and I can pick her up. Let James have your back seat to himself. He needs to rest.”
* * *
FINN
My blood was boiling, and afraid to say something I would regret later, I didn’t look or speak to her the whole way.
Eric was an alpha’s son, and I knew that she came up with the best explanation to justify our actions in his eyes. I was sure he didn’t believe her a hundred percent, but he was too busy trying to impress her to get to the bottom of her story at that moment, and it gave us a chance to leave before he called reinforcement.
But I hated the way he looked at her. And as if it wasn’t enough that they were standing naked in front of each other, he dared to touch her.
FUCK. I had to rip him to pieces for grabbing her like that. But I was so afraid to put her in danger by attacking him that I had to swallow my pride and watch him drool over her. We all, except Spencer, had marks on our arms, and if they’d taken even one of us, they would’ve known we were the outcasts. It would’ve compromised Spencer, and I couldn’t let that happen.
I felt Spencer’s eyes on me. I clenched my teeth to stop the word sorry from coming out of my mouth. Maybe by not attacking Eric, I did what was right under the circumstances, but I didn’t want her to think I was okay with what happened.
************************
SPENCER
On the way to the hotel, Mom insisted on getting us some Chinese takeout.
“This would be like a little snack to you, and you all need proper food after such an intense night,” she said. “But you can’t go out with blood dripping from your wounds. We should take care of it first.”
By the time we arrived, the cut on Finn’s cheek was healed. Alister had a few scratches that were all gone too. Liam’s injuries were getting much better, but James’s wounds were deep and would take more time to completely close.
Supporting him from both sides, Finn and Liam helped James get to his bed. To make him comfortable, Liam pushed the pillow under his back as he leaned against the headboard.
Mom walked into the room holding bandages. “Let me see.” She helped James take off his blood-soaked t-shirt and patched two long cuts across his stomach, and one on his side.
“Here.” I handed him the food and put a bottle of cold soda on the nightstand.
“Thanks.” He moaned from the pain as he tried to pull himself higher.
“James, I’m so sorry.” No matter what they all said about the fight, that it wasn’t just for me but for all of us, I still felt guilty for everything they had to go through from the moment I showed up in their lives.
“It’s nothing,” he smiled. “I have a couple of broken ribs. They’ll heal by morning just like all the other wounds, don’t worry.”
“He got into the fight first, and was jumped by many at once,” said Liam, looking at me and then at Mom. “They came on us from all sides, surrounded us pretty quickly, and it’s good Alister showed up, or we would all look like him.” He nodded toward James. “Maybe worse.” He grabbed his box with food from the table and dropped into the chair.
“Alister, are you sure no one recognized you?” asked Finn.
“I’m sure. I didn’t see a single familiar werewolf. And to be honest, I’m not surprised. The old ones wouldn’t get involved in a fight with a few rogue wolves.”
“Listen.” I crossed to the desk and leaned against it. “Alister, I’m sorry,” I looked from one to another, “and you guys, for calling you my men out there, and acting like some alpha. I only did it to show him that you weren’t keeping me against my will, to let him know that I wasn’t just some voiceless . . .” I cleared my throat, “stripper.”
Liam smirked. “You are.”
Finn glared at him. “Excuse me?”
“Chill man. I mean the alpha. And she has the right to speak for us.”
“No, I’m not,” I glanced back at Liam a little startled.
“Spencer, don’t you see the changes you brought into our lives?” Alister said with a kind smile. “This was the first time we ever opposed them. We fought as a pack, and it happened only thanks to you. You brought us together, gave us hope, and tonight, you acted like a leader. You should be proud of yourself.”
“We were outnumbered. And I only did what I did to get you all out of there.”
“Exactly. You saw the threat, and at once, you came up with a solution to save—yes you can say it—your men.”
“You’re the oldest, and it should be you who—”
“No, it shouldn’t. It has nothing to do with age. I’m not the one who gave us a reason to come together and trust each other. And don’t forget—it’s your destiny to be an alpha.”
I glanced at Mom, who jerked her shoulder with a smile.
“Well, we’ll see what happens,” I shrugged. “Let’s hope one day that destiny thing will sink in. Right now, we all need to rest to recharge our brains so we can find a way out of this mess.”
I glanced at Finn. But he didn’t look back.
He said, “I’ll go wash up,” and marched out of the room.
He was still angry, which proved that what he said to me before we all got in the cars wasn’t everything he wanted to say.
Today's events made him doubt my feelings for him. It hurt me, and I hoped it wasn’t because he didn’t trust me. I blamed his wolf’s protective nature. The longer he would stew in his anger, the deeper it will root. I couldn’t stand him not looking at me, and I wouldn’t let this barrier between us I created grow into a wall.
I pursed my lips, looked at the others, then said, “Excuse me, but I need to fix this,” and went after Finn.
During this few-second walk from one room to another, I managed to work out some anger of my own. Not bothering to knock, I burst into the room and following the sound of running water, went to the bathroom.
Standing shirtless with his back to me, Finn was unbuckling his belt.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I shouted. “What is this? Is this your way of saying thank you for fixing the crappy situation we all ended up in? For making sure no one gets killed? Is it? I embarrassed myself by showing up naked in front of our friends and somehow, you’re the bloody victim? Answer me!”
“Our friends?” He spun around. “Who cares that our friends saw you naked.”
“Oh, I see. It’s because of him. You can’t get over the fact that he did. For the love of God, he’s just some guy who—”
“He’s not just a guy,” Finn bellowed. “You are his mate.”
“I don’t care,” I shouted back. “I love you. You hear me? You. Not him.”
His lips sunk onto mine. His hands were around my back, and he lifted me. Tightly pressing me against him, he turned me around. Then he slowly slid me down his body and put me in the bathtub under the running water.
His fingers quickly unbuttoned my shorts, and as he dropped them down, he kissed his way from down there up to my breasts. My knees weakened from the pleasure. He pulled off my water-soaked top, then dropped his pants and stepped into the tub.
“Tell me you’re mine,” he whispered, out of breath, as his fingers slipped between my thighs.
“I’m yours.” I sucked in some air as his finger reached its target. “Remember that.” I breathed out. “No matter what I did or will have to do, I’m yours,” I murmured and slipped my tongue between his parted lips. “Now.” Following my hand, my eyes moved down his front and stopped on the spots of blood on his thigh. “Let me help you wash that off.”
* * *
ERIC
My father was surprised when I called him and said that I let the intruders, and most importantly Spencer, go. He wanted me to stop by, but I wasn’t sure what to say. I needed some time to sort out my thoughts.
I told my father that I first needed to take shower, and I drove to my cabin.
It was her, my mate, standing naked in front of me, and it blurred my mind. Her words “control yourself” paralyzed me, like she had some power over me.
And Spencer was controlling herself all right considering the fact that more than a dozen men were staring at her. She spoke with such confidence as if she knew I would obey. No woman would ever dare play me like that.
That was fucking hot.
I wanted her with me now more than ever, so what made me step back and watch her walk away?
She’s mine. I almost had her. I can’t believe I just let her go.
We could’ve ripped those wolves apart. But I knew that letting them go was the right thing to do. Spencer wasn’t like the others. She was special. She couldn't be taken by force.
I was so thrilled to see her. But her behavior, and the fact that those man-wolves obeyed her was unusual in our, or any other pack. And that was another thing that put me in a stupor.
I put some fresh clothes on and headed to my parent's house, hoping my father would have some answers.
My father was having whiskey in the backyard. As I sat down across from him, he poured a glass for me too, and put it on the table.
He listened without interrupting as I told him everything that happened.
“Father, she called them her men. I thought that was impossible.”
“You’re right.” My father’s face darkened. “There are no female alphas. And if they were a pack, we would know about them.” He paused, heaved a sigh, then said, “Eric, you should’ve kept her. She’s your mate. You shouldn’t have left her with some rogue wolves who make her think that she has alpha powers.”
But I didn’t think they were just a bunch of rogue wolves.They cared about each other too much, and I was sure Spencer could link to their minds.
So who the hell are they? That was the question that bothered me the most.
My father wouldn’t like it if told him I didn’t want to take Spencer by force. He would see it as a weakness.
I took a sip of whiskey, then said, “Don’t worry, Father. After what happened tonight, she’ll come to me herself.”
“How can you be sure?”
I knew she would. I could hear her heartbeat when she said she’ll take me up on my offer.
“Oh, I’m sure. Give it a few days.”