Page 24 of Wulf’s Pack

“I didn’t realize you were in hiding,” Gorgeous says. He turns his piercing dragon eyes on me with a sternness rarely seen from the laid-back shifter. “Did you know she was running from someone?”

I gulp. Guilt and self-loathing are threatening to consume me. “I knew she escaped, but I never considered they’d come after her. I didn’t think?—”

“You have to do better, Wulf,” Gorgeous says gravely, pushing the knife in further. “You’re a mate now. You have to start thinking like one. You’ve got a very special woman to protect.”

I want to be sick. How could I have failed her so badly already? “I know.” I rake my hands through my hair and curse again. “I just don’t even know where to start. So much is happening. Everything’s changed. I’m not prepared.”

Gorgeous places a hand on my shoulder. His grip is gentle, but his voice is still stern. “You need to find a way. She’s counting on you.”

They all are.

The world starts to close in on me as the weight of responsibility crushes me.

Get it together, Wulf! You can’t fall apart!

I take a deep breath and try to compartmentalize. First things first, I have two new pack members who could use a healer, and I have to get that damn collar off my mate.

“I’ll call in a clean-up crew to clear this trash out of here,” Gorgeous says, looking at the dead bodies on the floor. “And I need statements from those of you involved.”

I give small nods to Carl and the lioness. Then I grimace. “I’m sorry,” I tell the cougar. “I don’t even know your name.” I scrub my hands over my face, rubbing my eyes. I’ve got to be the worst alpha on the planet.

The lioness smirks and holds out a hand to me. “Bree Sutton. It’s nice to meet you, Alpha.”

I shake her hand, and beside me, Gorgeous chokes. “Alpha?” His gaze bounces back and forth between us. His brows are so high up his forehead it looks painful.

I sigh. “Yes.”

“The bear too,” Bree says, nodding toward Carl.

Gorgeous’s mouth falls open. Guess he missed that part. His stunned gaze turns back to me. “Lucy, you’ve got some splainin’ to do.”

I rub my temples. “It’s a long story, but we’ve got more important things to focus on right now. I need Enzo and Oliver again.”

Nick folds his arms and eyes me up and down. “Seems to me you need the whole clan.”

My shoulders slump. “They aren’t my clan anymore.”

Nick narrows his eyes and doesn’t let up on his serious attitude. “You think they’ll abandon you just because you’ve claimed a couple of shifters as pack?”

No. I know they won’t. “It’s seven shifters.

And it’s more complicated than that, and you know it.

I’m Wulf Winters. Notorious lone wolf and member of the most famous underworld clan in the world.

Or I was. And now I’ve started my own pack.

Everyone will be watching my every move.

I can’t run to my old clan for help at the first sign of trouble.

I’ll be seen as weak. Every ambitious alpha in the country will come to challenge me for my omega.

I have to do this on my own. I have to prove to the world that I deserve to be alpha of a pack, and that I can and will protect my mate. ”

Gorgeous chews on this, but it’s Terrance who speaks. “Seeking advice and calling on allies when outnumbered is not the sign of a weak leader.”

For a split second, I perk up, but Gorgeous shakes his head, squashing my hope.

“No. He’s right,” he tells Terrance. “This is a shifter issue. Wulf has claimed a mate, and not just any mate, but an omega. He needs to prove he’s worthy and capable of protecting such a claim on his own, or he’ll never have peace.

He’ll be challenged over and over again.

He can’t just protect his pack; he has to earn respect.

He won’t do that by depending on the strength of your clan. ”

Terrance glares at Gorgeous. “We’re family. We won’t stand by and let him fight alone.”

Nick Gorgeous is probably one of the only underworlders in Detroit willing to go head-to-head with an angry troll. He doesn’t even flinch. “You have to this time. Until he proves himself. After that, you can help all you want. But have faith. Wulf is strong. He’s smart. He can do this.”

Terrance grinds his jaw and continues to glare at the dragon. Gorgeous stands there, cool as a cucumber, letting Terrance work through his anger until he relents. Eventually, the troll accepts the truth and thrusts a frustrated finger my direction. “Do not get yourself killed.”

He’s barking at me, but it’s because he cares. His concern is touching. I give him a smile that I don’t feel. “I won’t. You’d miss me too much.”

He doesn’t appreciate my attempt at humor. He glares at me so hard that I’d be terrified if he hadn’t been my best friend for the last fifty years. I grasp his arm and wipe the smile from my face. “I know, brother. I’ll be careful.”

“Be smart,” he counters, and I nod.

We share another long moment, silently conveying all the feelings we’re too proud to say out loud. It’s comforting. Even if he can’t help me get out of the mess I’ve found myself in, I know he’s behind me. I know they all will be.

While Gorgeous gets my pack’s statements, Enzo and Oliver show up. Enzo heals what’s left of our wounds, and Oliver takes care of Skylar’s collar. “Déjà vu, huh?” he says when he removes the damn thing.

I relax once it’s off, and I can feel Skylar’s wolf again. I pull her into my arms, needing her close. She must sense how anxious I am, or she’s just as unsettled as me, because she wraps her arms around my waist and nuzzles her face into my chest.

“Why did they put another collar on you this time?” Oliver asks, holding out the choker.

Skylar steps out of my arms and shakes her head, refusing to take the necklace from Oliver. I can’t blame her for not wanting to touch it. Oliver hands it to me instead. It’s nothing more than a useless ribbon now that the magic is gone, but I still rip it to shreds.

“You weren’t hurt,” Oliver says. “He didn’t need to prevent you from healing.”

I growl at the thought, and Skylar sighs.

“It’s so they can control me. I can’t use my gifts when my wolf is suppressed.

If I could drown them in my omega pheromones, they’d be too lethargic to keep me contained.

I can’t fight them, but I can incapacitate them and run.

Victor learned very quickly he couldn’t beat me the way he wanted to unless my wolf was suppressed, and after several escape attempts, he found a solution. ”

“But he had you using your powers. He trained you.”

“I was locked in a cell any time the collar was off, and I had a shock collar. If I used my power against him, or didn’t do as he asked, I was electrocuted.

He may have been lethargic, but I could never put him all the way to sleep.

It doesn’t take much thought or energy to press a button.

I used to fight it at first, but once he turned the setting up so high it stopped my heart.

They brought me back and beat me so badly it took more than six weeks to heal.

After that, I fell in line. I didn’t see any way out, and obeying meant less pain. ”

White-hot rage surges through me. Skylar takes my hand and calms me just enough that I can think. “I am going to kill that son of a bitch,” I growl.

“I’m going to help you,” Carl says darkly.

I look at him and then at Bree. Their grim faces say everything I need to know. They’re with me.