Page 16 of Never Tamed (Bad Wolves #3)

Noble

W e run as wolves.

The wind whips past my ears. Snow kicks up beneath my paws, the chill burning my lungs with each inhale. But it’s a familiar pain. It’s one I was afraid I might not feel again.

Thankfully, my leg is healed and the shift brought with it a sense of freedom and hope sorely lacking from the last few days.

I push for speed and test myself. The wolf’s strides eat up the ground and my tongue lolls from the side of my mouth.

Torin takes the lead, his dusky golden form weaving through the trees and sunbeams. Mathis runs steady beside him. Then me and Ren with Dax picking up the rear.

He hasn’t had another one of his episodes since yesterday when he returned to our fire sullen and distracted. Something’s changed in him though. Whatever cracked in his head upheaved him and turned him inside out.

Did it give him a stronger purpose?

I glance back at him.

Maybe. It certainly made him more focused.

My claws dig into the snow, propelling me forward, the air cold and invigorating in my lungs.

Those two haven’t said much since last night, Dax and Mathis. Who the hell knows what happened between them; no one says shit to me, and Mathis keeps our bond blunted. It was powerful. I know that much.

Beyond the typical alpha and beta dynamic. They’ve always been more than that, haven’t they? Like real brothers.

I could ask. I want to ask. But I won’t. I’m not sure they’d tell me anyway.

The trek back to the old YMCA camp isn’t exactly quick. We knew it wouldn’t be from our position, but it’s easier than I thought. The snowstorm stopped and the clouds gave way to a constant stream of warm sunlight and a peacefully quiet forest.

This is the kind of winter day you’d see in one of those kitschy landscape calendars. Serene. Beautiful. And we don’t slow until the faint scent of fire and roasting meat filters through the air.

Exhaustion? Fuck it. Sore muscles? Who gives a shit.

Home is waiting.

Everything else falls away as Torin crests the ridge. We pull up beside him in a single line, Ren a white wolf between us, peering down at our camp-turned-refuge.

If someone ever told me I’d want to be here, I’d call them an asshole.

But this is where both our packs had settled after Andras’s attack on Steel Tower. I pause and lift my face to the sky, drawing in a deep breath.

I don’t know what I expected, but nothing’s burning. No one’s fighting or at each other’s throats.

It’s just… life.

The Grey Valley wolves and the Steele Claws are spread across the camp’s center hub around a few roaring fire pits, all working together like they’ve done it for years.

They’ve combined supplies, built up the perimeter.

Someone’s reinforcing a fence while another pair organizes crates of canned food into stock piles.

There's talking, planning, laughing , even.

All without their alphas and betas to direct them.

Children laugh and play along the lakeshore glittering with frost and ice.

Ren shifts back into her human form first and straightens, her shredded clothes slipping over her. “Wow.”

Wow, indeed.

Clearly our packs’ old hatred hasn’t poisoned our people’s drive for survival. They’re working as one, like a single pack. Surprise filters through me and clears away the last cobwebs of old resentment.

We all change except Dax. He trots down the hill ahead of us, cutting a path from the forest to the clearing near the outbuildings.

Once we’re in eyesight, one of our Steele claws, Donovan, spots us and waves us down. “You’re back!” he calls out.

He’s one of our gammas who helped immensely when Andras blew up our building, and he’s been an asset in the adjustment phase.

“So we are…” Torin trails off, cautiously scanning the organized commotion. He must be thinking the same thing I am. “You’ve been busy.”

“We have,” Donovan replies with a smile. He looks out over the camp like he still can’t believe what he’s seeing. “Something changed while you were gone. People started listening—and working—together.”

Torin side-eyes him. “Are you saying we are the problem?”

“Oh, no, Sir. No, I didn’t mean it like that,” he adds, snapping to attention. “We just realized that we may be two broken packs, but we have the numbers to become a strong one, if we work together.”

The words hit me harder than I expect. They’re true .

We are broken. We’ve been fractured by loss, hatred, and fear. But standing here, watching these wolves build a home from nothing feels like maybe the Grey Valley wolves and the Steele Claws can be more.

Even though the camp is buzzing with positive, hopeful energy, Mathis’s attention seems to be somewhere else. His gaze is already scanning the crowd, looking for someone in particular.

“I need to find Owen,” he says suddenly and then turns to Donovan. “Do you know where he is?”

Donovan shakes his head. “He’s not here.”

Mathis stills. “What?”

“Owen left yesterday, Alpha.” A woman from Grey Valley steps forward with a basket of dirty clothes in her arms. “We all told him not to, but he said he couldn’t wait anymore. He said he felt something through their bond.”

Ah, shit. A spike of anxiety spirals down the bond from Mathis.

His jaw locks, his chest rising like it’s braced for a hit. “Alone?”

“Yes.” The woman lowers her voice. “Whatever he felt, it must’ve been bad. No one could stop him.”

When Mathis doesn’t respond, I step in. “And how long ago was that?”

“Two days?” Donovon says. “Maybe?”

Double shit. Ren’s concern grows and Mathis’s feelings cut off abruptly.

Torin holds out a hand. “Hey, no.”

Mathis turns away from us. He may not want anyone to see him unraveling, but the bond tells the truth. He’s fracturing like glass.

Ren steps closer to him. “We’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

His eyes are empty when they fall to her. Then, with one heavy, solemn nod, he turns and walks away.

The message is clear. We watch him go and no one steps out of line to stop him.

Torin grunts. “No one say a fucking word to me until I take a long hot shower.”

Then he heads off toward the bath house. Dax disappears in the opposite direction, slipping into the trees before any of us can ask where he’s going. Typical .

But I can’t blame him. We’re all running on fumes.

Ren turns to me, her expression still wary after everything. Her cheeks are red, wind-bitten, her lips chapped. Gods, she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And that’s not just the mate bond talking.

“You okay, baby?” I ask.

She nods, but it’s the kind of gesture that says no , not really .

I offer her my hand and she takes it. “Let’s go home.”

Exhaustion thrums through me on our trek to the small cabin. It feels like a lifetime ago that we last stepped inside it. Like we are a different version of ourselves now than we were then.

How the hell can things change so quickly?

Ren doesn’t let go of my hand until we’re inside. She looks up at me, her eyes dark in the soft light bleeding through the cracked window. With the heat on and the soft beds, I’m ready to drop.

Until she licks her lips.

“I’m scared, Noble,” she says softly. “It feels like we are hanging by a thread, and Andras knows.”

I cup her jaw. “The five of us, maybe. But you saw the packs out there. They came together when we were gone and went from two weak parts to one strong whole. I think that’s what we need to do, too.

I think it’s our only chance at beating the Blood Moons.

Even you, with your new Moonstone powers—whatever they’ll end up being. ”

“You’re right. I thought hell must’ve frozen over when we saw everyone working together and not at each other’s throats.” She swallows over a laugh.

“I never thought I’d see the day when it was possible. But here we are, all working together, and it’s because we have one factor bringing us together.” I close the space between us. “You.”

She’s amazing, this pure and loving creature who sees the best in everything. She’s also not afraid to tear the world apart for the people she loves.

Ren is perfect. And she’s mine.

I kiss her, softly at first, just to feel her. To remind myself of the little skip my heart does and how the bond zips and buzzes through me whenever we touch. It’s invigorating. It recharges me, gives me strength.

She kisses me back hard and digs her nails into my chest to anchor herself. Lust pulses and desire hardens my cock.

I need this. I need her.

I guide her back toward the giant bed and shed what’s left of our clothes piece by piece between kisses. Her body fits against mine like it always has, like it was meant to. But tonight there’s something different.

Maybe it’s because we’ve gone through so much since the last time we’ve been together like this. We’ve had our brushes with death and it makes a man appreciate what he’s got when it’s right in front of him.

But this isn’t heat for the sake of heat, or sex to just scratch an itch.

This is more.

Ren falls back and pulls me down with her as her thighs part to cradle my hips.

I take my time, pressing kisses along her jaw, her throat, the curve of her shoulder. She trembles beneath me. It’s not fear. It’s the weight of everything finally slipping off her. Her body’s processing the trauma and the rage and the adrenaline.

“I’ve got you,” I whisper, forehead pressed to hers.

“I know,” she breathes.

I kiss a path down her body and stop to suckle her breasts. Ren clutches at me, arching to push those exquisite tits into my face. I want more. I need to fill my mouth with her, to have my tongue in her pussy with her writhing underneath me.

All to myself.

I slide down and her lips are swollen, pink, perfect. Desire drips down her inner thighs. I move my fingers, parting her, my thumb working her clit. She’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.

Her moans light me on fire. I’m too hungry to wait. I dive in, moving my fingers aside to shove my tongue inside her.

Ren moans and pushes herself closer to my mouth as I slide two fingers back inside her, moving up to work her clit with my teeth. I flick the bud with my tongue before suckling until she moans. Whimpers.

She shakes the longer I taste and small panting noises push out as her hips jerk.

I can’t get enough of her. She spasms, her moan turning into a little scream she tries to muffle but fails, and it turns me on even more. My cock is hard enough to hurt. My fingers dig into her thighs to keep her in place.

And when she comes hard, her thighs clench around my head, squeezing. Her fingers tangle in my hair and I drink in her orgasm. Her taste, her scent. Her softness.

It’s all mine.

She’s still making those sweet, dazed sounds when I rise, my cock straining between us, hard and aching. I work the shaft in my hand until she bats her eyes open to look at me.

An electrifying bolt races down my spine.

Fuck me. I can’t wait to sink my aching erection into that sweet, delicious, soft cunt of hers. Especially with it still pulsating with the waves of her orgasm.

“What do you want, Ren?” I ask her.

She’s dazed, high on me, and I absolutely love it. “You. Always you, Noble.”