Page 33 of Heartless Wolf (Wolf Moon Rejected #1)
CHAPTER 33 - LIV
Author’s note: this scene features crossover with Son of a Witch from the Her Guardians series. For those who have read this, I’ll keep the repetition to a minimum while expressing the characters’ points of view.
Hackles rose on the back of my neck at the monster standing before me. Towering over us at a good seven feet, he had a foot or more on Dash. Packed to the hilt with muscles—thick cords on his chest, arms, and neck, twitching—hinting at a strength no werewolf, not even Steele possessed. His scent was tipped with something ancient, earthy, and mighty. Three hundred and sixty pounds on him made him easily capable of overpowering Dash or me. Meaty hands carried the strength to rip the head clean off an attacker or crush a skull like it was a watermelon.
This refugee wasn’t like us. He was different, and the air crackled with danger and the fear of wolves facing off with a competitor far stronger and more lethal than anything I had ever encountered.
Dark hair and skin contrasted with stunning green eyes regarding me with the same primal scrutiny I ran over him. Animals sizing each other up. Tattoos leaked from beneath his dark hoodie on his chest and neck. Rolled up sleeves gave me better access to the display on his arms, an indigenous snake winding up his forearm, a goanna crawling up his bicep. Along his neck, I traced what I assumed was the outline of a possum. Refreshing to admire when most guys sported hardcore demons, skulls, and snakes. This ink felt endearing, like it paid homage to something, lowering his dangerous appearance. A story I wanted to know more about.
Dash prickled at the stranger, protectively jostling me behind him in case the male launched at us. Wolf on high alert, he circled the stranger, fangs extended, sniffing him, assessing for threats, glaring at him if he dared breathe or move. The stranger remained calm, his eyes never leaving the potential danger beside him, though his tense posture indicated readiness to defend himself and deft ability to curb a strike.
Looks could be very deceiving though, and my verdict on this wolf was out until I discovered more about him. Why he was here. His connection to Luna and the Guild. I shoved aside the fear trying to rule my wolf and give him the benefit of the doubt before making my final judgment.
Luna and her boyfriend, Blaze, warily stood back, hands on their gin and tonic grenades or daggers strapped to their belts, letting the animals sort it out between us. Unless we wanted burns to our skin and eyes from the alcohol mixture and iron within the weapon, we had to remain civil.
Gaze dropping to me, the male’s eyes softened, twisting with enough pain and longing to shed the rest of my alarm. He lost someone. Very recently. A relative, friend, or mate. The identity of whom I would shortly discover.
Dash’s growl deepened, uneasy around a large and more savage shifter. Screw this macho B.S. aggravating the situation, setting the shifter more on edge than finding himself in a strange place surrounded by foreigners. I patted Dash’s stomach to lower the aggression, and he clasped my hand, scaling it back from a level ten to eight. Progress.
My mate needn’t worry. I did this hundreds of times before and didn’t need him to defend me. Explosions in my gut usually signaled when something wasn’t right about a refugee, and I didn’t get it from this guy, leaving me with no reason besides the size of him shouting at me to turn him away. Two Hester soldiers lingered twenty feet away with guns loaded and ready to deploy if things went awry. Four more lingered by the cabins to prevent an escape. Protocol I set up early on, and so far, nothing went wrong.
“Dammit, Dash, stop being so protective.” I shoved at my growling mate’s arm, but with his wolf’s defensive instinct engaged, he didn’t budge. “This is my pack. Let me handle this.”
A smile captured the harsh, rugged angles of the stranger’s features, catching me off guard. Something told me he didn’t smile often, and the gesture was rarely won. Dash’s reaction amused him, either because I put him in his place, or he knew my mate posed little threat when he could dispose of him with ease. The gun I was packing beneath my jacket said I would do everything in my power to prevent that, and any danger to the ten other shifters residing here.
Luna thrust her hand out in greeting to break up the rumbles directed my way. “Thanks for agreeing to see us, Liv.”
Finally, I gifted her with my gaze. The foreigner had captured all my attention the moment I set eyes on him, my shewolf calculating the danger, and if we should permit this monster inside our perimeter or turn him away.
Auburn hair draped over her shoulders. Hazel, almond-shaped eyes blinked behind green glasses. Casually dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and crimson leather jacket. The black Guild superhero uniform would have been a dead giveaway and frightened the shifters residing here. The weapons she packed on her belt were enough warning to stay away.
Blaze, one of her four boyfriends, stood close to her, with crystal-blue eyes, sandy hair, a model’s physique and tall, lean muscle like a swimmer. He rolled colored balls of flames over his knuckles in a way that screamed calming to him yet coming off as a caution to stay in line to us. I sure as shit didn’t want to learn how much heat those flames packed or what else they did to gantii like me.
“Good to see you, Luna.” I took her hand for a second before Dash dragged me back. His wolf wanted me close to defend me, and I appreciated the gesture, but wouldn’t let it get in my way.
My mate jerked his head in the stranger’s direction. “What’s his story? He doesn’t smell like us.”
Stiff, cerulean eyes pivoted to Dash. “Address me if you want to know, not Luna. I don’t bite unless provoked.” The shifter flashed his teeth to piss off my mate, and rightly so, for speaking to Luna like he didn’t exist.
Breaking up the macho display of testosterone, I got in with, “Dash, I’ve got this.”
Father threw around orders all the time for my sanctuary, and I wasn’t about to let my mate do the same. My sanctuary, my rules. My damn decision. This was the one place I could control, and I’d be damned if I let Dash or Father smother it with their dominance.
The stranger smirked at my show of authority, rubbing at his goanna sleeve tattoo. “You remind me of my mate. Fiery and protective.” The stranger’s deep, gritty voice reminded me of watching one too many Vin Diesel flicks.
Mate! I knew it. Girl intuition. I smiled, filled with greater curiosity at her mention.
Wait a second. How the hell did a gantii like him enter the Guild? Gantii like us were forbidden from residing on Earth, let alone being a member of the “prestigious Guild.” At least, that was the information passed on to the werewolves. Was his mate gantii too? Did the Guardians find out about his true nature? Was that why Luna hid him?
“I’m Liv. This is my mate, Dash,” I said. “This is my sanctuary. Who are you and why are you here?”
The massive werewolf clasped his hands behind his back like a soldier, and Dash’s posture tightened, recognizing the male’s move suggested military training, adding yet another advantage over us. To my surprise, he kept himself in line and let me run the show, and my shewolf yawned her thanks.
“Thanks for permitting me to meet with you. I’m Raze. Half-breed.” A deep silver flickered in his eyes, darker than any color belonging to a werewolf. “Lycan on my father’s side.” Torment bit into his words and it dawned on me that was who he lost.
Lycan? Fuck. No wonder, by the size and smell of him.
“Raze?” Luna set a childlike hand on his ridiculously buffed bicep.
The stranger buried his emotions, his voice escaping as a harsh croak. “My father’s people crossed over the Veil into my mother’s tribal land over three hundred moons ago.”
That made him around the age of twenty-six. A Lycan in his prime. Of mating age.
“They fell in love, but his pack and her tribe forbid them from staying together. The rest is history.” My heart broke at the bitterness in his voice and the tragic love story.
Dash rubbed at his smooth jaw. “Pureblood.”
“Half-blood,” Raze corrected.
“Purer than us,” Dash grunted.
Stronger animals were always regarded as a threat to weaker ones, and why our wolves reacted the way they did to the stranger.
Raze raised two palms. “I mean your family no harm. I just need somewhere to stay for a few weeks until I reunite with my pack.”
Curious about where he came from and wanting to get a better measure of him, I asked, “Where are your pack?”
Luna’s pinched gaze shot to him, warning him to be careful with his words, raising my suspicions.
The stranger stiffened as if he didn’t want to answer but gave in to honesty. “They’re in Broken Hill, at a Guild of Guardians facility.”
By facility, he meant prison. Guardians were criminal Guild mages or witches forced to hunt illicit gantii to pay off a prison sentence. Well-trained warriors, fit, regimented, trained in weaponry and weren’t afraid to use their magick to destroy us. I swallowed hard at the superhero before me, wondering if he inherited magick from his mother, and what kind.
“What were you in the Guardians for?” A question I needed answered if Guild hunters unveiled my little haven by searching for him.
Dash’s tight hands found my shoulders and applied a light massage. Reward for asking good questions by the way his wolf nudged our bond with admiration.
The Guardian warrior’s gaze dropped to my shoulders, a flicker of longing revealed for the mate he left behind.
Raze cleared his throat and shifted his stance wide. “My team and I were sentenced to twenty-five years in the Guardians for a crime we didn’t commit.” The last part came out a resentful growl. “I recently came across evidence that will prove our innocence and free us. I need a base to operate from while I locate the evidence and take it to the Guardian authorities to clear my pack and mate of wrongdoing.”
“How long?” Dash’s question spelled that he wanted Raze gone as soon as possible. I gave him a pat for effort. While he brought it down a notch, the Alpha in him struggled to lower it entirely.
“Weeks. Maybe months. I don’t know.” Raze scraped the back of his thick neck. “I won’t risk the safety of your pack to protect my ass. I understand if you don’t want to hide me, given the danger from the Guild.”
“It’s not that.” I inched closer and patted his arm to show him I was an ally. “Budget-wise, we’re struggling to accommodate everyone as it is.” My heart tripped, testing my negotiating skills.
Previously, I’d accepted every shifter into the sanctuary at the pack’s expense. Refugees were expected to contribute, farm, hunt, cook, and clean to pay their way. Going in hard might put me at odds with Luna and the Guild, but fuck it, it was worth a try to get Father off my back. Payment for favors earned me more autonomy and freedom to do things my way.
At coming to this decision, a weight lifted from my shoulders, and I rolled them, enjoying the feeling. Rules caged me my whole life, yet these past few days, I broke free and became a new person. Freer, assertive, fiercer, unpredictable. And I had one man to thank for it.
“I thought you might say that.” Luna freed something from a compartment inside her leather jacket and stretched it out to me. My eyes widened at the dagger hilt dazzling with encrusted rubies. “Consider this a down payment.”
Fuck. I heard whispers of the Guild’s wealth. Collections of ancient treasures and weapons. Gold bullion and silver coins in vaults. Vast estates and investments in real estate. Seeing it firsthand was something else.
“Down payment?” I stumbled over the word. She had more? I stroked the sides of my legs to stop myself from swiping my fingers through my hair.
Luna wrapped my fingers over the hilt, and I tested the weight in my palm. Two pounds in weight easy. Damn. Dark red rubies hypnotized me. This must be worth a fortune. The sale of it enough to keep the sanctuary running for a year and with some spare cash to procure Gable’s service to set up new wards around mine and Dash’s pack’s territories. I sent up a prayer of thanks to the Lunar goddess. Sometimes solutions came when you least expected them, and I crushed the dagger to my belly.
“Fuck, Liv, I don’t like this.” Dash swiped at his jaw with a pinched hand.
I didn’t either. The whole scenario gambled with the survival of our packs. Setting the obvious dangers aside, I put the rest into perspective. Unless we went to war, we had to fulfill the Malice marriage contract. Like hell I’d allow Father to exchange Heather for my happiness. Where there was a will there was a way. I twisted the dagger in my hands, examining it. Proceeds from this baby might buy our way out of the Malice contract for good, but it didn’t ensure the safety of Dash’s pack for taking me.
Another scenario crossed my mind. A way to defeat the Malices. Inviting this half Lycan warrior into a fight he didn’t belong, but one that might be our salvation. Selfish of me when it might get him killed and he already lost his father and mate. Hell, I was getting desperate. I’d ask him, but it wouldn’t make it a condition of his stay.
“There’s another matter too,” I started, twisting my hands, Raze’s keen eyes going to the motion. “I was promised to another pack, but fate intervened, and Lunar matched me to Dash. Which means we might have to sell my sister to meet the contract.”
Raze growled. “That is not the Lycan way.”
I stroked his arm. “It’s become ours. We adopted it from the humans.”
“Why do you tell me this?”
“I will die before I let my sister be traded to a sadistic Alpha.” Raze’s brown eyes switched to pure silver at the determination in my voice. “Breaking our contract risks war. I can’t ensure your safety if this happens.”
I didn’t even have to ask when Raze got in with, “You can count on me to defend and fight for your pack if that is what you ask of me.”
Thank the Lunar goddess .
I swiped at a happy tear tracking down my cheek. This stranger owed me nothing when his stay was paid for. I stretched up to hug him, earning an uneasy and jealous growl from Dash.
Sparks surged in my body, shooting through me, feeding my authority and autonomy by the second. Father’s decisions stripped my power, and for the first time in my life, I felt empowered, unstoppable, and at peace. Invisible shackles snapped from my wrists and broke away.
I had one man to thank for freeing me and helping me regain my inner strength. Dash. My gorgeous, powerful, fierce, rebellious mate showed me the independence and freedom in making my own choices. Gratitude drummed in my ribcage, a beat determined never to let the decisions of others rule my life. Screw the consequences. I’d run away with Dash to form a new pack if I had to. The weight of caring was no longer my burden.
I let Raze go, patting his arm enthusiastically. “Thank you.”
Luna released a long, relieved breath. “Thanks, Liv. Truly.”
I hugged my hips with my palms. “Welcome to the sanctuary. Let me show you to your room.”