Page 4 of Primal (The Prey Drive #1)

Chapter 3

Rennick

T o put it simply, I’m in a shit mood and picking a fight is starting to sound like a good time.

A solid week of running on little to no sleep, and the constant restlessness radiating from my wolf half has me more on edge than I have been to date. Since the first night seven days ago when my dream shifted and I finally heard my haunting angel speak, every time I close my eyes, I find myself back in that fog reliving the cryptic exchange with her.

And it’s starting to make me feel insane.

The nagging sensation hasn’t let up once and the hollowness that started as a small pit in my chest has grown daily until it now resembles something akin to a crater.

Any kind of distraction I’ve tried has done little to lessen the lingering effects left by the dream. The closest I’ve come to finding any kind of reprieve is running myself to death through the thousands of acres that make up my pack’s land. In my massive wolf form, I run between the trees and over creeks. The only time I stop is to take brief, cooling sips of water from the fresh springs before I’m dashing across the terrain I know like the back of my hand.

That’s exactly what I’ve found myself doing again today when I saw there was a break between meetings in my schedule.

I already know my second and friend, Canaan, is going to be annoyed I’m late for the meeting his mate slyly added to the shared calendar app. Rhosyn, who’s helped me in more ways than I can count during this draining transition phase, rarely makes changes to my schedule without speaking to me first. For this particular meeting, I guess she didn’t think it pertinent to fill me in on the details. Which is something I’ll have to speak to her about sooner rather than later.

The plan wasn’t for my friend’s mate to become my assistant, but after a month of filling in and helping me keep my head above water as I found my footing as this pack’s Alpha, I officially offered her the job. The crafty beta female simply smiled and pulled the employment contract she’d had drawn up weeks prior out of her desk drawer. I about fell to my knees and kissed the backs of her hands in gratitude. I didn’t, of course. Canaan, while typically a laid-back dude, doesn’t fuck around when it comes to his chosen mate.

Something I can respect, not that I know myself what it’s like to be bonded to another.

Yet. I don’t know yet .

The thought of the arrangement I’ve committed myself to has my paws digging deeper into the earth and my muscles straining as I run harder toward my house. The delicious ache of overexertion doesn’t completely quiet the demons I’ve been silently fighting in my head, but it’s just enough that I’m momentarily able to think clearer.

These days, I hardly feel like I have time to catch my breath. It’s all been one thing after another since I found myself donning the title of pack Alpha.

It was never a question of if I would take over the mantle from my father, it was a question of when . The day I was forced to take on this role was years sooner than anyone anticipated, but there wasn’t any other option. Walking away from my pack and allowing it to fall into ruin wasn’t something I could live with.

Just two years shy of thirty, I’m younger than pack Alphas customarily are. While no one was brave enough to question it to my face, I saw the looks of distrust and heard the whispers from my pack and our allies during the first few months of my reign. They didn’t have faith I could keep our pack going strong or that I could keep everyone in it safe. My council, the same men and women who advised my father during his time, were the most open with their uncertainty.

I was eventually able to earn the pack’s tentative trust by just being myself and actively proving to them I am a leader they could count on. The pack council took more convincing, and their support came at an immeasurable cost.

The very notion of completing my end of that bargain has never sat right with me, but the closer we get to the scheduled winter solstice date, the more my wolf balks at the idea. The edgy energy he’s developed since our shared dream changed into something more only makes his refusal fiercer.

He is going off the simple, black-and-white baser instincts that are ingrained in him; he doesn’t understand the human side of things—the political side. As an Alpha, we sometimes have to make sacrifices for the greater good of our pack, even at the detriment of ourselves. This is what I’ve been telling myself ever since the proposed alliance—one that promises greater security for my people—was first presented to me.

I won’t let my pack down and I’ll do what I must to make sure my people are safe. Especially those who are most vulnerable and precious to us. As of last month, another omega from my pack has officially been declared a missing person. Abducted. Taken right from out land. That’s seven in total since I came into power.

I cannot allow this number to climb and with what I’ve been promised from this arrangement, our people will be more fortified than ever. Not only can I not bear to have another innocent disappear beneath my nose, but the pack’s fragile trust in me can’t take it either. And this is why I’ll make this sacrifice for them. Not matter the personal cost.

Claws digging into the damp dirt, I skid to a stop beside the pile of clothes I’d left sitting on a flat boulder. The familiar burn and twist of my muscles and bones snapping and reforming is a sensation I savor until I’m once again standing on two feet. My wolf, who is usually more relaxed after intense exercise, is more present and alert than ever. He paces, pushing at the seams of my control. Since the beginning, my relationship with my animal has always been solid. He is always willing to give up control and allow the human side to be in the driver’s seat, but right now, he’s fighting me. He's picked up on something I’m not sensing and he’s clawing at me to let him to search it out.

Redressing in the charcoal wool trousers and the black button-up—clothes I’d only donned this morning because of the council meeting I have to attend shortly after Rhosyn’s stealthy addition—I focus on my surroundings. I’m met with the scent of snow still resting on the pines, damp earth, and the familiarity of my pack. From my house looming far above me on the hill, comes the hum of people speaking, and around me, the light breeze makes the dry leaves rustle and the tree branches creak. Aside from the young pups who are clearly playing hooky from school and are goofing off in the trees a few hundred meters away, nothing seems amiss.

The entire walk up the long, weaving gravel and dirt path, my animal half battles against me, insisting there’s something here I need to pay attention to. We’ve always seen eye to eye on most matters and are historically in sync with each other’s emotions and needs, but right now, I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s set him off.

With a powerful show of dominance, I shove my wolf down and strengthen my resolve as I reach the base of the wooden stairs that lead up to my deck.

I’d already picked up on both Canaan’s and Talis’s distinct voices and scents about sixty yards back, but as I climb, it becomes obvious they’re not alone.

I’m already questioning why Talis is here and who she’s speaking to when a new scent, subtle yet intoxicating, slams into me. It’s faint, criminally so, but that doesn’t stop me from filling my lungs with it like it’s the last breath I’ll ever take.

My beast chuffs, a sound that can only be described as his haughty version of ”I told you so”.

Like a predator locking onto its prey, I surge up the stairs with newfound urgency, my instincts driving me forward. I reach the top just in time to hear a female voice ask,”You’re going to bond with Merritt?”

Hearing my father’s name spoken aloud summons the familiar inkiness of guilt slithering between my ribs. It doesn’t matter if I know in my heart I did the right thing. At this rate, I’m not sure if my reaction to his name will ever ease. Part of me believes I deserve to feel this way after what I did.

“Merritt?” both Canaan and Talis repeat, sounding equal parts repulsed and dismayed by the stranger’s question.

That sweet voice hesitates for a second, giving me time to step fully onto the deck and take in the scene before me. Talis, with her penny-like hair, has waves of contempt radiating from her as she stares down the newcomer standing in my second’s sizable shadow. It almost appears as if Canaan is safeguarding the pocket-sized woman with the way he positions himself at her side and glares back at the fiery beta female.

“He’s the Alpha, isn’t he?”

I subtly suck in another lungful of the sugary air and there’s no denying it. The scent belongs to her, the stranger with the cascading layers of long espresso-colored hair that is styled in a way that seems both wild and intentional. Wispy bangs fall on her forehead and frame a delicate heart-shaped face, a face that is snapping in my direction when I intrude on their tense conversation.

“Merritt is dead. I’m the Alpha of this pack now.”

Her pink, pouty lips part in a silent gasp, the faint indent on her lower lip making it clear she’s been biting at it, something I silently wonder if she’s aware she’s doing it.

With her attention now locked on me, I’m unable to stop myself from further taking the little stranger in.

Despite the oversized dark sunglasses concealing her fine-boned features, an accessory choice that frustrates both me and my wolf, I can still make out the refined elegance of her face. If I didn’t know any better, I would assume she’s an omega with her petite build, but nothing in her sweet scent conveys she’s a shifter herself. That doesn’t mean she hasn’t been spending time around one, though. Beneath the allure of her own fragrance lingers the distinct aroma of a female shifter. It’s blended with something else. Something familiar, but I can’t quite seem to place it.

It's the brown sugar and spiced fig that both my wolf and I are fixated on. He’s urging me forward, to stick my nose right to her throat so I can breathe it in straight from the source. I force myself to remain rooted in place because with the way my wolf’s been behaving as of late, I wouldn’t put it past him to choose this moment to finally eviscerate my dwindling control.

“Rennick…” She says my name with a hint of familiarity that makes my chest tighten in places I didn’t know it could. What the fuck is going on? “I didn’t know…” Pausing to clear her throat, she looks nervously over her shoulder at Canaan, an innocent action that has my wolf baring his teeth. No! Keep your eyes on me. “I didn’t know you were the pack Alpha now.”

“Why would you?” Talis snaps, sharp features pulling as she deepens her scowl. “You’re not a member of this pack anymore.”

The petite woman’s jaw tics and her hands ball into fists at her sides. “Yes, I’m very aware of this, Talis, but thank you so very much for the reminder.”

Member of this pack… This has my spine snapping straight and my intense interest in this situation taking on a suspicious edge.

Advancing another step toward the trio with a series of questions on the tip of my tongue, the beta female who’s become my unwanted shadow these past months cuts my train of thought off.

“I find it’s good to be reminded of one’s place,” Talis snips, chin tilting up. “Just so there isn’t any room for confusion.”

“Talis!” The bark comes from somewhere deep in my chest, my wolf’s dominance flaring. “That’s enough.”

She is at least smart enough to fold into herself and tilt her head to the side, baring her throat to me in a show of submission. Canaan, a strong alpha male himself, also takes a step back, his gaze dropping to my feet. The mystery girl flinches and her chin dips to her chest, making the layered pieces of dark hair conceal more of her face from me. It’s not a customary show of deference, but it’s enough to appease my beastly side.

Behind her, Canaan shifts restlessly and his lips press into a tight line. Between the two of them, it’s his mate who’s been most vocal about her dislike for Talis McNamara, but I know my second’s filter on the matter is about to break. He’s forced himself to hold his tongue far too long.

“Forgive me, Alpha,” the redhead whispers, her placating tone grating on my nerves.

Even if she didn’t have her Alpha father’s authority to back her, she would continue to carry this unwarranted air of superiority. Whether Cathal is present or not to back her, Talis will always believe she is owned more leniency and respect than she’s earned. A character trait I find incredibly fucking aggravating.

I keep my eyes narrowed at her, my alpha aura pulsing, until she shrinks further into herself. Once my wolf is satisfied enough with her display of surrender, I turn my focus back to the person still beckoning me to her with nothing more than her scent and presence.

I don’t understand this.

“Not a member of this pack anymore ,” I repeat Talis’s cold words. “Explain.”

Unlike me, my second shows no signs of confusion, making it clear I’m the only one left in the dark about this woman, and I really don’t fucking like that they know more about her than I do.

Her head apprehensively lifts. That puffy lip is back between her straight white teeth as she stares me. From my place across the deck, I can pick up on the bitter scent of anxiety. Why is she so nervous?

“I can’t decide if I’m happy or upset that I’m so easily forgotten.” Her quiet musing seems to be mainly for herself. Rocking back on her heels, she exhales softly before saying, “I’m Noa Alderwood. I was— My mother and I were members of the Fallamhain Pack many years ago.”

Noa Alderwood.

The name brings forward memories I had no idea were locked away somewhere deep in my mind. I can’t recall the last time I thought about the Alderwoods. Thalassa—this is her mother’s name, I remember that now, too—was the pack’s healer for over two decades until… Oh, shit.

The way Thalassa left this pack battles to the forefront of my resurfacing memories, making my wolf’s aggravation multiply tenfold. In his defense, my human side also isn’t thrilled.

Molars grinding and muscles taut with newfound fury, I manage to grit out, “ Alderwood? ”