Page 9 of Claimed by the Wolf (Wild Fated Shifters #1)

brYNN

B rax knocks on my bedroom door as I pack, but I’m so lost in thought, I don’t hear him. He opens the door, and I jump.

“Are you okay?” he asks. “I did knock.”

I set the shirt in my hand on the bed and stare at him blankly. “What?” I ask dully.

“I was calling you. I thought maybe you went out.”

Retrieving my garments, I continue packing my bag without answering, but I give him a quick bob of my head, so he knows I’m acknowledging him.

“I’m heading out for guard duty,” Brax informs me.

It’s the third time he told me he’s doing one this evening.

“Okay.”

He doesn’t leave. “I’ll be gone all night.”

“That’s generally how night guard duty works, Brax.”

He ambles into the bedroom and stands in front of me. “What are you going to do tonight?”

I wave at the suitcases. “You’re looking at it.”

“You know, it’s not a sure thing that you’re staying tomorrow.”

“I know!” I snap. “Nothing is a sure thing. My entire life is in limbo right now, isn’t it?”

Brax stares at me, dumbfounded by my outburst, and I bite on my lower lip, turning away. “Sorry… I’m just… It’s fine. I get it.”

“Do you want to come out with us tonight?” he suggests after a moment.

I laugh humorlessly and toss another shirt into the open suitcase. The idea of running through the territory with the pack, with Nox, when I can’t touch him or be with him, is vile. I’d rather spend the night on my own, imagining what might have been.

“No,” I answer simply.

“Are you just going to stay in?”

I grunt and spin around defensively. “What if I go out? Will that be okay with you? Should I check in? Do you want to put a tracker on me?”

My brother holds up his hands. “Whoa, calm down,” he growls. “I’m just asking, Brynn.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do tonight, all right? I told you. I’m packing, and maybe I’ll go say bye to some of my friends. Would that be acceptable?”

He exhales. “It’s not goodbye.”

I groan in exasperation. “I don’t need a damn pep talk. Can you please just… just go with the pack. Go be with your people.”

Slowly, my brother backs out of the room, but his hooded hazel eyes speak volumes about his concern for me. “I’ll check in on you later.”

“Of course you will,” I mutter sarcastically, resuming my task.

He leaves the door partially open, and I slam the lid of the first suitcase closed. His voice carries softly through the thin walls of the house a minute later.

“…tonight, Nox. She’s not in a good place…”

My neck stiffens as I realize he’s on the phone with the Alpha, and I hurry toward the door. Without entering the hall, I strain to listen to his side of the conversation.

“No, nothing like that,” Brax mumbles, clearly trying to keep his voice low, but I enact my lioness hearing for sensitivity. “But she’s struggling. She’s snapping at me…”

Silence falls over the house for a moment.

“Fine,” Brax sighs. “I’m coming, but maybe I could leave early and get back to keep an eye on her… Okay, we’ll see how it goes. See you soon.”

My mouth tucks inward, and I move back to the bed, hauling the full suitcase off onto the floor.

The front door opens and closes, and I inherently feel the emptiness of the house in my brother’s absence. Sadness creeps up on me as I slump onto the mattress and look up at the ceiling.

Maybe Brax will turn my bedroom into a home gym when I leave. Or some kind of kinky sex dungeon for all his conquests.

The stupid thoughts don’t bring a smile to my face.

This is likely going to be my last night here, in my own bed, in Ember Hollow territory. How should I spend it?

My eyes travel toward my cell phone charging on the nightstand, and I realize being alone is a bad idea. All I’ll be doing is thinking about Nox all night. I should call some friends and try to enjoy what’s left of my time here.

The twins message me back in a group chat, urging me to join them at a local bar.

I’m in no mood to drink, but the noise will be a good distraction. Anything to keep my mind off the impending sense of doom and endless ache of desire vying for top place inside me. I just can’t get comfortable in my own flesh.

Me: I’ll be there in half an hour.

Dressing in a jean skirt and a blue tank top, I sweep my golden tresses into a high ponytail and slip into a pair of cowboy boots, making my way out of the house to meet my taxi. The driver’s eyes widen appreciatively as I climb inside the vehicle.

“Out for a fun Friday night?” he asks pleasantly, pulling away from the curb.

I offer him a glum smile. “I hope so.”

“Cheer up. A girl as pretty as you will definitely have a great time. I bet you’ll even meet your future husband tonight!” He winks jokingly in the rearview mirror, and I almost burst into tears.

The twins are already drunk by the time I arrive at the All Hat Saloon. Despite its name, it’s really more of a modern club than it is a tavern, with a live DJ playing modern country and pop songs to a laser-lit dance floor.

Sienna waves me toward their table, and Sierra scoots over to let me in the booth, grabbing for the vodka bottle chilling at the center of the table. Sandwiched between the purple-haired menaces, I get an earful from the second I plop down.

“Girl. I hear you’re leaving us for Willow Grove!

” Sierra yells over the music, sloshing the liquid into a glass for me.

She slaps the drink in my hand, her violet eyes gleaming with mischief and malice.

I smile weakly and accept the drink, as her sister gives me a half-hug, their identical faces peering at me speculatively.

“Yep. Possibly as early as tomorrow.”

“Aren’t you nervous as hell?” Sienna presses.

“Emeric is hot, though!” Sierra counters, nudging me. “You could do worse.”

I take a long sip of my drink, relishing the taste of the alcohol as it burns down my throat.

“I kept trying to get our cousin to set me up with him,” Sierra says. “But he’s useless.”

“So useless,” Sienna parrots, her voice growing shriller as she gets drunker.

“But you didn’t want to go, did you?” Sierra pinches my cheeks, her plum fingernails scraping at my skin.

They are obnoxious. I don’t know how I’ve been friends with them for so long.

“Nox is such an ass for doing this to you,” Sierra complains. “I mean, I thought he loved your brother like a brother.”

I bristle. “He’s not an ass!” I snap before I can stop myself. The sisters stare at me, blinking, and I quickly add, “He’s just doing what’s best for the pack.”

I shift my eyes down and pick up my vodka again, slugging it back, downing the rest of the glass.

Sierra titters. “Sure,” she drawls sarcastically. “You seem totally fine with it.”

She pulls the bottle from the bucket and refills my glass again as I tense.

“He doesn’t have a choice,” I mumble, taking another sip.

“Sure he does,” Sienna barks, sitting back to fold her arms over her chest. “He could find a female who actually wants to mate with him. Or he could just tell Emeric to stay in his lane instead of selling out the females of our pack.”

Her sister nods vehemently. “Uh-huh,” she agrees. “He’s just taking the easy way out if you ask me.”

Defensiveness for Nox shoots through me. “Arranged unions are really common. Lots of couples we know are in arranged matings. Besides, you don’t know what it’s like to be the Alpha,” I insist. “Or to be on the brink of war.”

The twins gawk at me.

“Are you okay?” Sierra asks me, concern coloring her eyes. “The Brynn we know wouldn’t just roll over and accept being sold off like this.”

Anger replaces my defensiveness because I know they’re right in some ways. But I also know they don’t understand. Again, I bring the glass to my lips, but the liquor isn’t having the heady effect I’d hoped for.

“This will strengthen our pack. The alternative is civil unrest. Is that what you want? I don’t want to walk down the street and never know if a fight is going to break out. This way, we won’t need to worry about territory lines and jurisdictions.”

The sisters shrug in unison and sit back, looking around awkwardly as if they want to change the subject. I don’t want to be there anymore.

“I think I’m going home,” I tell them, slapping Sienna’s leg gently to move her out of the booth.

“Oh, Brynn, don’t leave,” she begs. “We might not see you again.”

“I should get back and pack. I’ll text you later.”

I reach into my crossbody purse to pull out money for my drinks, but the twins wave it away.

“We didn’t mean to upset you,” Sierra tells me as I turn away. “But you have to admit that this isn’t what you want.”

I don’t respond, and I can’t get out of the place fast enough.

In the humid spring air, I gulp in deep breaths.

Nox’s pull inside me is driving me crazy beneath the mild intoxication of the vodka.

Then it hits me.

I’m all alone.

Brax and Nox have the pack here at Ember Hollow. And when I get to Willow Grove, they will all have each other, too.

But who will I have?

Tears of frustration and loneliness spring to my eyes as I walk, forsaking the taxi service. I want to clear my head, if I can.

Inside my purse, my phone vibrates, but I ignore it. I don’t want to talk to the twins or my brother. I don’t want to talk to anyone who will remind me just how desolate my life truly is and always has been.

My fated mate is giving me to another Alpha, and my brother is helping him. My friends think I’m weak and giving in to the patriarchy.

And maybe I am.

The city’s darkness seems twice as black in my thoughts, even as several cars honk at me, men catcalling me out of the windows.

“Hey, honey! Wanna go to a party?”

But all I hear, all I see, is Nox, summoning me and rejecting me, over and over. I’m never going to make it through the party tomorrow without breaking down.

I gasp as my house appears at the end of the street, the sight of it shocking me. If I’m already on my street, it means I’ve been walking for more than an hour.

I’ve been so lost in thought, I didn’t even realize how long I’d been traveling.