Page 15 of Claimed by the Wolf (Wild Fated Shifters #1)

NOX

F uriously, I throw open the bunkroom door, where several pack members napped after the guard duty.

“Get the hell up,” I rage, kicking over the garbage can to force them out of their respective beds.

Yelping and ready for battle, they half-morph into their respective animal forms, except Connor and Ryland, who remain lazily in bed, blinking at me.

“What’s up?” Connor asks.

Brax relaxes as he realizes the matter isn’t life or death, and he settles back against his mattress. I’m fuming, but that’s par for the course this past week. I haven’t been able to relax since Brynn left the territory.

“This place is a fucking mess!” I snap. “How many times do I have to tell you this isn’t a fucking fraternity house. Get up and clean it—top to bottom. I want every crevice cleaned, every shelf scrubbed.”

They stare at me with the same baleful looks I’ve been getting all week, their bitterness mounting every day. It’s evident in everything they do, their lateness, their half-assed watches, and now, the filth lying around the packhouse.

“We just got in from guard duty,” Ryland complains, throwing his sheet aside to stand. He stifles a yawn.

“You should have thought about that before you let it get this bad in the first place,” I bark back. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing around here lately, but it stops. Today.”

“I’m not doing it,” Connor counters, turning around on his bed.

“Get up,” I intone again. “Now.”

Grumbling, the rest of the pack reluctantly shuffles off to do what they’re told, but Connor doesn’t move.

“Connor…”

“I’ll clean after I’ve slept,” he mumbles into the pillow. “You can’t expect us to clean after working all night. You’re not my father.”

He doesn’t get a chance to finish his protest. I have him by the scruff of the neck, flying out of bed and into the air. He lands with a thud against the far wall, gasping and panting.

He shifts, ready to battle me, his eyes flashing. I morph into my wolf body too, falling back onto my charcoal haunches. I’m in no mood to play today.

Connor comes for me, but he doesn’t get very far.

Brax pounces between us in his panther form, saving Connor’s life.

Snarling, I lunge for Connor again, and my subordinate backs away, teeth bared, but I read the fear in his eyes. He knows he went too far this time. His attitude has reached its summit after an entire week, and this is the end.

He’s done.

The commotion causes the rest of the pack to gather in the bunkroom, and three of my enforcers jump on Connor to subdue him. Connor shifts back to his human form.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Ryland cries, aghast as he looks nervously toward me. “Are you fucking crazy?”

Chest heaving, Connor spits at me, but he throws off his comrades and rushes for the door. I’m half-tempted to go after him, just to make an example out of him.

“Nox…” Brax looks at me as if he can read my thoughts.

I glance back at him, back in his human body, and reluctantly do the same.

“Get back to cleaning,” I order them. “I want this place spotless before anyone leaves for the day.”

No one argues, and there’s not a hint of grumbling as they leave the bunkroom to clean the rest of the packhouse.

Only Brax and I remain.

“You, too,” I snap at my best friend.

“Don’t talk to me that way,” he retorts. “I’m not your enemy.”

I snort and roll my eyes, flopping onto one of the unmade beds. “They’re out of control lately.”

“They don’t trust you,” Brax tells me bluntly. “I don’t blame them, either.”

The response makes me bristle. “I’ve never given them a reason not to trust me! I’ve done everything for the pack! I even gave away my fucking mate!”

He joins me on the mattress, perching on the far side of the bed. “You know why,” he counters. “You kept what was happening between you and Brynn from them, from me.”

The edge in his voice bothers me. He’s still not over it either.

“You don’t trust me?” I ask him, the question haunting me.

He doesn’t answer immediately, and my gut knots.

“I know you think you were doing what you thought was best,” he finally responds after a long moment. “But you should have told us, especially me. We’re your pack. We always have your back. That’s what we’re here for.”

“I’m the Alpha. It’s my job to protect everyone, to handle the problems.”

“With our support.”

“She’s gone, isn’t she?” I stand. “I don’t know what else you want from me. There’s a pact, an alliance. They’ll have their ceremony next week. I single-handedly restored order between our packs.”

At the greatest possible cost to me and to Brynn. Ungrateful pricks. I don’t say that aloud.

“They’re still worried Emeric will find out you two are mated. Someone could slip up anytime and tell him.”

I whip my head toward him and glower. “Why are you talking like that? It’s been a week. Your sister hasn’t said she’s having problems there, has she?”

Brax studies me pensively. “No. Haven’t you been talking to her?”

I look away again and pace the room. “No. I think it’s better if we just keep away from each other. I think over time, things will get easier.”

The truth is, Brynn has texted me several times, but I can’t bring myself to answer any of the messages. Since consummating our bond, the agony of being away from her has been insurmountable, and I’m terrified of what any contact might do to me.

“Really?” Brax sounds skeptical. “You haven’t talked to her at all?”

“I just said no, didn’t I? Are you calling me a liar?”

Brax holds up his hands. “Whoa, no. I’m just surprised.” He pauses. “But I still think you need to break the bond.”

I don’t ask him why.

He’s right, of course. There will be a time when Brynn and I will share the same space again.

It’s unavoidable with her as the new Luna and Emeric as the Alpha.

If we are ever together, our attraction will be evident to everyone.

Moreover, I’m not sure I can live like this for the rest of my life, the longing for her physical torture.

“I know.”

Brax’s brow furrows, surprised I’m not arguing with him.

“What? You think I need to fight all your ideas?” I ask dryly.

“No. Just most of them,” he quips. “What’s your plan then?”

“I’m going to speak with an elder tomorrow about it.”

“Someone from our pack?”

“No. She’s an outsider. I’m not worried about her leaking this to Emeric.”

His shoulders drop as he visibly relaxes. “Okay, good.” Brax stands, too, and heads toward the door. “I’m sure the pack will fall into line once the bond is broken, Nox. That’s hanging over all our heads. I don’t need to tell you what’ll happen if Emeric finds out Brynn’s really your mate.”

“No, you don’t.” I wish he’d stop talking about his sister. She’s already constantly on my mind.

“Let me know how it goes.”

I don’t respond, because I can’t make any promises.

The truth is, as logical as it is to break our mate bond, the idea of losing these intense feelings for Brynn scares me more.

But I will always do what’s best for the pack. That’s just what an Alpha does.

Circe barely lifts her head from the pillow, a young female in a nurse’s uniform hovering nearby. Warily, I remain in the doorway, eying the scene with a fusion of annoyance and pity.

Why had she agreed to see me if she was on death’s door?

“Come in, boy. Stop standing there like a creep.” Her whip-sharp tone startles me, and I venture across the threshold as her nurse places a cool compress on her forehead.

“Stop fussing, Nadia. I’m not that far gone!

I can still see you moving around like a headless chicken. You’re making me nauseous.”

She slaps at the young female, and Nadia backs away from the bed as I approach, peering down at the elder’s gaunt face. She looks up at me, her moss-green irises focused and curious.

I reconcile the voice on the phone with the female before me.

“I don’t know you,” she declares.

Never mind.

Disappointment swells inside me. “I spoke with you on the phone, Circe?—”

“I know that, boy,” she interjects, blowing a raspberry. “I mean, I haven’t met you before.”

I exhale, relieved. She isn’t losing her mind, after all. “Right. You haven’t.”

“Then why are you bothering an old lady on her deathbed?” she demands. “Nadia, get the boy a chair and something to drink. You’re a terrible hostess.”

The live-in nurse, or at least I assume that is what she is, rushes out of the shadows, but I wave her away. “Would you mind giving us a minute?” I ask. “I’m good. I don’t need anything.”

“Don’t ask her, ask me,” Circe snaps. “I’m the one in charge here. For all I know, you could have been sent here to kill me.”

I can’t help but smirk at her authoritative tone, despite her frailty. “Do you fend off a lot of potential assassins, Circe?”

She quirks a grin at me. “Not as many as I did in my youth,” she retorts slyly. “Off you go, Nadia. Give the Alpha and me a minute.”

I catch the gleam in her wise eyes.

She does know who I am. I didn’t tell her I was an Alpha when we spoke on the phone. I made the right choice coming to her, for more reasons than one.

Nadia shuffles out of the room, and I perch on the chair next to Circe’s bed, leaning over to examine her translucent skin. I wonder what’s wrong with her, but I don’t ask. It’s not my place, and I’m not here for that.

“So?” She presses. “Why would you want to break your mate bond?”

“I never said it was for me!”

She cackles, rolling her eyes. “Boy, I have limited resources. Let’s not waste them with lies, shall we?”

Her straightforward nature amuses me, but I had always known I would need to come clean about my bond with Brynn for this to work.

“We can’t be together,” I tell her simply. “She’s… she’s mated to another, already.”

Circe grimaces and signals toward the side table. Raising her hand, she snaps her fingers, and I realize she’s asking for water. I turn to get her a cup and place the straw in her mouth, allowing her to drink as I wait for her to respond.

“Well, she’s not mated to another if she’s mated to you,” she corrects me.

“You’re being pedantic,” I complain. “She’s promised to another.”

“That’s different.”

I arch an exasperated eyebrow. “It’s still a pact.”

“So?” Circe ultimately sputters, finishing. “Go claim what’s yours. You are an Alpha, aren’t you?”

“How did you know that?” I demand, sitting back to place the cup on the table.

She grins mischievously at me. “I was once very invested in a powerful pack myself,” she informs me. “I know an Alpha when I see one.”

I don’t tell her I already know her history with Willow Grove, too, that she and her daughter had chosen to leave their pack after generations of loyalty following Emeric’s ascension.

I don’t understand why they chose to live out here in the middle of nowhere instead of joining another pack, but again, I don’t ask.

I don’t care enough to know the history.

“She’s promised to another Alpha, and the pact happened before our fated mate bond formed. The fate of our packs depends on this union.”

Pensively, Circe studies me. “Do you want to be with her? It sounds like you’re making excuses to me.”

I frown at the accusation. “I just explained?—”

“No, you just made excuses,” she counters. “Which pack is she promised to? Who did you give her to?”

I bristle, wishing I hadn’t come. She’s not going to help, only judge my actions as Alpha.

“Never mind,” I growl, standing.

“All right. Bye-bye now,” she caws. “Nadia!”

I spin my head back toward her, and she closes her eyes as Nadia reappears.

“Yes, Miss Circe?”

“Show Alpha Nox out.”

“Willow Grove,” I mutter, against my better judgment.

Circe’s eyes fly open, and she peers at me with interest. “Alpha Emeric?”

I bob my head. The old female turns back to Nadia and waves her off again. “Go away.”

Nadia scurries off again, leaving us alone, and I sit back down. The expression on her face perplexes me.

“There are only two ways to break a mate bond,” she explains, sitting up with surprising agility. It’s like my words pumped life back into her soul. “First, you can die.”

I scowl, folding my arms over my chest to glare at her. “Very amusing.”

Circe shrugs. “I’m telling you the truth. Can you guess the second way?”

I balk as I realize what she’s about to say.

“And if you don’t die, well, then the bond will have to die with her.”

My eyes narrow in annoyance. “You’re toying with me,” I growl, standing again. “Why did you bother wasting my time if you couldn’t help?”

She exhales heavily. “Do you know how astronomical the chances of one finding their true mates are?” she asks. “It’s extremely rare. And you’re not willing to fight for yours?”

Furiously, I spin around to leave.

“He doesn’t want to mate with her either, does he?”

I stop in my tracks and look back at Circe. “How did you know that?”

She smiles enigmatically. “Call it an old female’s intuition. Maybe you should use that to your advantage and get your mate back instead of looking for ways to sever unbreakable bonds.”

Humiliation and anger burn through me as I leave the little cabin.

There has to be another way.

Death is not the only option.