Charmed Wolf Read online

  That felt too personal. And like none of her business.

  Pack dealt with, I strode at last toward the tattooed shifter who had ruined my morning. “I need you to deal with a fae invader, then I want you out of here.”

  Ryder grinned as if I’d just congratulated him for a job well done. “By all means, darlin’. Let’s get to work.”

  RUNE GROWLED WHEN I took the first step into the holding cells’ entryway, so Ryder and I ended up conversing halfway in and halfway out. Our voices were pitched just loud enough so Rune could hear us—another growl prompted that volume—but too quiet for my pack mates to pick up on. I felt like I was walking a tightrope while juggling chainsaws in both hands.

  And Ryder must have sensed the danger because, for once, he helped rather than hindered. There were no jokes cracked as I told him my reasoning for suspecting Ash. Then, after a pause to be sure I was finished, he shared information he didn’t have to share.

  Apparently, the rest of the Samhain Shifters had caught the trail of two fae last night, which was why Ryder had returned to deal with my pack solo. “Three came over last Halloween,” he explained. “So if you caught one and Lupe is tailing two, then your pack is out of the woods.”

  I wanted to relax, but I couldn’t. Not when Ash’s slumped form was visible through the tiny holding-cell window. There was no furniture in there, so he leaned against the wall’s bare concrete. He didn’t look like a fae. He looked like a very dejected friend.

  I took a step closer so I didn’t have to crane my neck while peering through the window, and this time Rune didn’t growl. Instead, a shift in air currents prompted me to swivel and watch as he rose and stalked closer. His eyes now bored into mine.

  Bored into mine with wolf rampant behind human pupils. Rune wasn’t right. Not yet. I needed to get him out of here fast.

  And I would. As soon as the issue of Ash was sorted.

  So I asked Ryder the question I didn’t really want an answer to. “What do we do with Ash?”

  Metal rang against metal as Ryder yanked a sword from its scabbard. The same instant, the doorway darkened. Rune’s growl was so low I could barely hear it...and so menacing it froze me in my tracks.

  “Dude, I’m not hurting your lady.” Ryder raised his free hand, fingers spread in the universal gesture of innocence...which would have been more believable if he wasn’t holding three feet of sharpened steel with his other hand.

  Rune didn’t have words at the current moment, so I asked them for him. “What are you doing with the sword then?”

  In response, Ryder rolled his eyes as if the answer was obvious. “Testing the fae with it. You open the door and I’ll run him through.”

  Now I was glad we’d stepped inside after all, even though Rune was nearly vibrating with barely restrained emotion. At least my pack couldn’t see the way I winced when Ryder rolled out his suggestion. When he suggested stabbing Ash.

  Even if that being in the cell was fae, it looked like my friend. I had to ask: “What happens if you stab him and he isn’t fae?”

  Ryder shrugged. “I guess he’d be dead then.”

  “No.”

  The word felt like it had come from me, but it hadn’t. Instead, Rune was the one speaking.

  “Go,” he continued, gaze carefully averted from his friend’s face. I got the impression that if their eyes locked, further violence would be inevitable. The walls closed in as the air around us once again filled with electricity and fur.

  But at least Rune was speaking. And in whole sentences, too, as he continued:

  “Hunt the other fae, then send Athena here when you can spare her. There’s enough metal in the cell to hold Ash until then.”

  I expected Ryder to argue. Dominant wolves don’t like to be bossed around and they liked even less having someone’s sword at their throat.

  But maybe the pair really were friends, because Ryder merely nodded. “Take care of yourself,” he told the air between me and Rune. Then he turned on his heel and stalked off.

  Chapter 29

  The moment Ryder’s scent faded, Rune slumped against the wall. He was barely holding it together. I needed to get him away from our audience so we could put his pieces back together.

  And if I wasn’t much mistaken I was also.... I glanced at my watch. Yep, I was late to my brunch date.

  To that end, I tagged Willa. “I’ll be away for a while. You’re in charge. Red-alert status.”

  “Alpha. Do you think leaving now is wise?”

  Ignoring her valid rebuttal, I continued. “Caitlyn will be shadowing you. I’ve decided it’s time she starts training for the job of Heir’s Beta.”

  Which was true...but not the whole truth. Still, it would explain Caitlyn’s presence while I....

  Rune tensed and I spun around in time to catch Willa striding through the doorway. Caitlyn was on her heels, but the teenager settled against the wall as far from us as possible rather than intrude.

  Because there was definitely something to intrude upon. Our gazes clashed then Willa called me on the dodge.

  “Now is not the appropriate moment to think a generation in the future, Alpha. You have yet to choose your own Beta and there is no Heir. Unless....”

  Her gaze had dropped to the reopened wound at my neck. Her nostrils flared and she leaned in closer....

  And Rune growled. Not the ordinary complaint of a human-form shifter. This was all wolf. Dominance and instinct. The same warning that had preceded him pressing his sword into Ryder’s throat.

  I stepped between them, hand drifting behind me to calm Rune. Only, that didn’t make sense. He wasn’t one of my wolves to be boosted by contact with his Alpha. He likely neither wanted nor needed my touch.

  And yet...his fingers clamped down over mine before I could withdraw. They were ice cold but solid as iron. His growl faded behind my back.

  Willa’s eyebrows rose yet further. Before she could speak, I defused whatever misplaced guesses were forming in her mind.

  “You know Butch is my Consort. That’s all that’s going on here.”

  She didn’t believe me. Just like she hadn’t believed me when I was a teenager and snuck out to attend human parties with Natalie. She started to lean in a second time, eyed the darkness behind me, then asked, “Alpha, may I?”

  I turned my cheek, providing bare skin for her to sniff. “Ah,” she murmured after a moment. “Do you want me to prepare the Consort’s quarters then?”

  “Consort’s quarters?”

  “You didn’t think we left the safety of such an important cog in the wheel to chance?” Her voice turned schoolmastery. “During previous generations, the Consort has been relevant for nine months until the birth of the Heir. Of course, in your case....”

  I didn’t let Willa ramble further. “Yes, prepare the Consort’s quarters. I’ll make the announcement to the pack when I return. In the meantime....”

  My exit speech was interrupted by pounding on the inside of the holding cell. Ash had pressed his face up against the window, the better to hear our conversation. But his gaze was fixated not upon our lips but on my neck.

  “Alpha, we need to talk about this.” He must have bellowed at the top of his lungs to send words through the thick walls so clearly. Perhaps that’s why he looked nearly as wild as Rune did. His hair was in disarray, his collar crooked. This wasn’t the gentle Ash who cooked my breakfasts and listened without talking back.

  No, this was someone we’d determined was fae, or at least allied with them. I turned away, but his words froze me in place.

  “Your neck. This isn’t right.”

  For a moment, it felt as if the entire pack was listening. Ever-present bird song faded into silence. The heartbeat of the clan clenched then went still.

  Meanwhile, Rune’s fingers trembled in mine. I needed to get him out of there.

  “Can you handle the pack until I return?” I asked my father’s Beta.

  “Of course,” Willa answered.

 
Without another glance back at the holding cell, Rune and I left.

  I SHOVED RUNE INTO the passenger seat of my minivan—far more utilitarian than his convertible since I was used to hauling around pack mates—and hightailed it out the gate. Only once we were beyond sight of the guardhouse did I pull over to plan my next move.

  One glance at Rune proved he needed another minute before he was ready to talk about it. So I dealt with the other non-pack-mate whose emotions were in jeopardy.

  “Running a little late,” I texted Natalie.

  Her answer came far faster than I’d feared. “Good. So am I. Pick me up.”

  “Of course.”

  That settled, I turned to face Rune. I should have been furious with him for putting the Whelan clan at risk. Or maybe scared of what he’d do next, here in the confined space of the minivan.

  Instead, a tendril of persimmon reminded me of the way Rune had teased information out of me the night before. It had been terrifying to bare my deepest worries, but freeing to be fully seen.

  Rune deserved the same opportunity to explain himself. “Do you want to talk about what happened back there?” I murmured.

  My hand, though, was on the door-release handle. After all, decades of experience with dominant wolves suggested the best-case scenario here involved Rune either ignoring me in stony silence or offering an adamant refusal. Worst-case scenario was a shift to fur and rage.

  Instead, he nodded. His dark eyes weren’t fully human but they were getting closer when he admitted: “It would be easier to tell you if you weren’t looking at me while I talk.”

  So I put the car back into gear and I drove. Drove while Rune poured out far more than last night’s admission.

  The tale started a decade ago, when he was a half-fae/half-werewolf raised in his mother’s fully fae court. His wolf side had been a curiosity and a disappointment. Until, one day, he came upon half a dozen fae teasing his little brother.

  “Erskine?”

  “The one and only. A pack of bullies had chased him up a tree then had lit it on fire. He was terrified. Or I thought he was terrified. Later, I learned he was in on the joke.”

  I shivered, then switched on my blinker and turned to take the long way to Natalie’s house. “What happened?”

  “I ripped them to pieces. Used their blood to quench the fire. Tried to help my brother down, but he was scared to get close.”

  “And that’s why you’re here rather than there? I thought you said your mother didn’t send you away?”

  Rune laughed, but it wasn’t a good laugh. “She didn’t. She was amused. After all, Erskine’s tormenters didn’t die—it takes a lot to kill the fae. Instead, my rampage suggested that I had utility. My mother wanted to use me against her enemies. I refused. I left before she could force the issue.”

  From the bend of his neck, Rune clearly carried a tremendous weight of guilt for what he’d done a decade earlier. Personally, I wanted to find his mother and rip out her throat.

  Squashing the impulse, I asked: “And the meditating?”

  “It helps me detach. Prevents me from becoming the monster my mother wanted me to be.”

  My fingers slid across the console to find his waiting. “May I look at you now?”

  His muscles tensed then loosened. “Yes,” he murmured.

  I pulled into the lot of a handy gas station and met his gaze. There was wolf present and human. Fae also. The combination, though, wasn’t monstrous.

  “Her loss,” I told him, “is our gain.”

  Rune was silent for one long moment. Then he offered me reassurance I’d forgotten I needed. “I haven’t relinquished control since then. Not until our bond....” He swallowed, then raised his free hand to feather across the new scab on my throat. “I haven’t cared enough about anyone since I left Faery to let Ryder’s lack of social graces get under my skin.”

  “Until now.”

  “Until now. When he reached for you—” Rune averted his gaze, peering out the window at the grungy grime of the parking lot.

  When Ryder had reached for me...for one split second, I’d been scared of a wolf more dominant than I was. No wonder Rune had snapped into full protective mode.

  Protective mode fueled by an unbearably tenuous connection. Our bond was nothing like the rope-thick tethers that bound me to the rest of my pack. Still, it was precious.

  My fingers rose to touch the scab at my throat. Without turning back to face me, Rune’s fingers covered them up.

  “I won’t force this connection on you.” His voice wasn’t a lupine growl, but it vibrated with emotion anyway. “I can control myself enough to leave you be. Lupe will send someone else to watch Ash until the other fae are dealt with. Tank would be a good choice. I know your introduction to him was less than pleasant, but he’s honorable. I vouch for him. You will be taken care of even if I’m not around.”

  “But what if I don’t want our connection broken?” My own words surprised me. After all, I’d been the one to sever our bond. For the sake of my pack...but did every single thing in my life have to revolve around my pack’s needs?

  Now, Rune’s presence by my side felt unerringly right. His fingers were gentle as they caressed my throat.

  “If you want to keep our bond,” he rumbled, “you will make me unbearably happy. But you have the right to change your mind at any time. If you break the connection a second time, I will accept that. I promise on my true name, I will protect you and yours to my dying breath. This loss of control won’t happen again.”

  I wanted to stay right where I was, with this man who smelled like persimmon, forever. But duty called.

  “Noted,” I said, pulling back into traffic. “For now, I was hoping you’d babysit.”

  Chapter 30

  Rune’s eyebrows shot up. “You trust me around children? After what you saw today?”

  “I do.” My answer wasn’t precisely rational, but it was truthful. An Alpha learned to go by her gut, and mine said Rune wouldn’t harm a hair on a child’s head.

  Plus, he’d just sworn on his true name to protect me and mine. Kale and, yes, even the baby were very much mine.

  I didn’t have time to elaborate, however, because we’d arrived at our destination. Natalie’s house sat in front of us. Meanwhile, the car I’d completely forgotten to deal with yesterday was parked right alongside the curb.

  I frowned. Old Nellie should have still been stranded in the alley where I’d met Ryder and Lupe. I certainly hadn’t mentioned the issue to any of my pack mates. And, in the midst of everything, I’d forgotten to have it towed.

  It was almost as if Rune read my mind since he answered the question before I asked it. “Ryder fixed the car.” My disbelief must have been obvious because he added, “He’s a good guy. Just a bit rough around the edges.”

  “Rough around the edges?” That was the understatement of the century. Still, I let the issue drop and unbuckled my seat belt...just in time to have the door flung opened without my help.

  Natalie poked her head inside, ignoring me and considering Rune. “Still here?”

  “Still here,” he agreed easily. Despite her confrontational tone, there was no wolf about Rune now. He was back in complete control.

  Natalie’s eyes narrowed. “And you’re coming to brunch with us?”

  “No.” Rune slipped out his door, leaving a curl of persimmon behind him. As I sniffed, he skirted the front of the van, his walk sufficiently slow but too graceful to appear fully human. No wonder Natalie watched him with her head cocked. I couldn’t quite tell what she thought about this rarity—a male in my life who wasn’t pack.

  Given the fact that Natalie had been known to wolf whistle at passing construction workers, I decided to change the subject before she did something that would mortify all of us. “Butch is here to watch the kids,” I explained.

  Not that Rune seemed prone to mortification. “May I?” he asked, having achieved his destination. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, actually, unt
il I craned my head for a closer look.

  During previous brunch dates, Kale had been roped into babysitting his little sister. But apparently I wasn’t the only one feeling odd about leaving the children unattended, because Natalie currently had the infant bound in a sling across her chest.

  And Rune was asking to hold said infant.

  I expected Natalie to deny him, and not politely either. After all, their introduction had been less than favorable. I tensed, preparing to protect...both of them from each other?

  But Natalie passed the baby over to Rune without mentioning last night’s leap across the fire. She raised one eyebrow at me, though. I’d be answering questions shortly.

  For the moment, however, we both watched Rune collect the infant as easily as if the bundle wasn’t a deluge of vomit just waiting to happen. The kid babbled something entirely incomprehensible. Rune nodded and murmured, “Excellent point.”

  Then Kale was there at his elbow. “Wanna see my room?”

  That wasn’t usual. Kale didn’t like to share his personal space. Except, it appeared, with this man who’d taught him how to lean against a tree.

  Rune half bowed by way of answer. The baby squealed as he dipped her. “I’d be honored,” he agreed.

  The passenger door slammed shut and Natalie grinned at me. “Let’s get out of here before anybody changes their minds.”

  I CLUED NATALIE IN on the hard stuff during the short ride to Fluff Enough Bakery. Her terse responses to my recitation proved that she’d just been putting on a good face in front of Rune. I wasn’t forgiven yet.

  And why should I expect to be? Natalie was a prime grudge bearer, and she had every reason to be pissed with me. We were halfway to town when I slammed on the brakes.

  “We’ve stopped in the middle of the road,” Natalie pointed out, as if I hadn’t noticed.