Page 80 of Contested Crown

By the time we found a patch of empty ground, there was at least one person following behind us, his thin arms riddled with scars but no fresh wounds.

“What are you doing here?” he asked roughly. “We don’t want any trouble. No cops. You hear? No cops.”

“We don’t want any trouble either,” I said. “We just need a change of clothes.”

He glared at me, pulling back his teeth, revealing sharp canines. “Then go to Walmart.”

“How about this? If someone here can bring us clothes that fit, we’ll pay money, and we’ll leave.” I held his eyes.

I could smell the werewolf on him, and I was hyperaware of the tattoos that swirled on my skin. More than that, I spoke with an echo ofalphain my voice.

He might be claiming he was alpha of all these lost people, but what I wasburnedin my blood, and my relief was so strong that I let it through, my eyes sharpening and shifting, the growl in my throat low and deep enough that someone a tent over scurried back inside, zipping it up behind them.

“You can’t—you can’t just come in here—you can’t just come in here and say it’s yours. This ismyterritory.” He started to shift, dropping to his knees like it was painful. The last word I heard was a growled “Mine.”

I didn’t wait, yanking off my shirt and loosening the top button of my jeans. Then I shifted, faster than I ever had, Cade’s magic acting almost like lubricant, smoothing the way until I was a wolf.

Everything smoothed, my eyes sharper, seeing every threat. My nose scented the air. I knew one thing: this other wolf was a threat.

His fur was patchy, pale skin visible along his legs. He tried to leap at me, but I was faster. I growled, grabbing hold of his throat with my mouth and bearing him down to the ground, my teeth digging in.

He was threatening my pack. Mymate. I would tear his throat out.

Everything smelled sharp and vibrant, the scents wafting up into my nose. I knew everything. Everyone who was here.

The wolf under me struggled, whining, the tone desperate and submissive. He went limp, tilting his head to give me better access to his throat.

I released him. Growling sharply, I nudged him with my nose.

Something. I neededsomethingfrom him, but the human emotion, the human words escaped me. All I knew now was the protective instinct, the fact that we were in enemy territory, and he had attacked first.

His wolf smelled wrong. Too sweet, like something foreign coming from his skin, his breath. I sneezed, violently shaking my head, trying to dislodge it from my nostrils.

Wiping at my muzzle with my paw, I growled again. We needed something. I couldn’t remember what it was.

My mate was beside me, and he reached out, burying his fingers in my fur, tracing an invisible line. He was speaking, but I didn’t understand any of it, too focused on the alpha that was still showing me his belly, whining unhappily.

There was movement, and Cade’s fingers slid out of my fur as I lunged, growling at the person approaching.

They spoke. I didn’t understand; I couldn’t understand. They were a threat, but then Cade was there, his fingers on my shoulder, digging tight in my fur, holding me back.

No one should hold me back.Iwas the alpha.Iwas the most powerful one. I should have turned and attacked him, but instead, I relaxed.

My mate trusted the person. I would trust the person.

They dropped a box, backing away. Slowly, their words began to make sense, as though I was hearing them from underwater.

“… thrift store… Here… please…”

Cade’s fingers tightened, and I smelled fear, everything in me reacting again. This person was making my mate afraid. I growled, ready to pounce, but he gripped tighter.

“Miles. Come back to me, please.” The fear in his voice brought me up short. He was afraid ofme.

Shuddering, I came back to myself, slowly dragging the human pieces closer, pulling them to me until I could breathe. I wasn’t a wolf. I was a person. I was a person named Miles Castillo.

With that knowledge, something in my head clicked, and I blinked, seeing clearly for the first time since I had shifted.

Swallowing, I pulled on the human part of myself. It came back, and when I shifted this time, I found myself naked, hyperaware of my skin, needing pressure, needing something to take away the sting of the air, the way thoughts suddenly invaded my head.