Page 7 of Wulf’s Pack

Chapter

Three

M y wolf surges forward, trying to make me hop over the counter for the second time today. “Mate!” he shouts in my mind, pushing me forward, straining to get closer to the goddess on the other side of the bar.

Mate. I have a mate. A true mate. That’s not supposed to be possible.

Skylar meets my eyes, and we stare at one another. My panic is mirrored on her face.

Fear and disbelief pool in my gut. My wolf’s not just interested, he’s nearly feral with need.

It feels like a betrayal. He’s never reacted to a female like this.

Not once. He turns his nose up at them all.

I thought we were on the same page, happy with our single status, but he’d claim this woman right here and now if I didn’t have iron-clad control.

I grip the bar with both hands to keep from reaching out to her. The need to touch her is crippling. My body is shaking. My heart is physically aching with longing.

“Wulf,” Charlie murmurs, blinking at me in shock. “This is incredible.”

Rook, Enzo, and Oliver shoot me bewildered looks. Rook frowns, turning his gaze from Skylar to me and then to Charlie. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I growl.

I glare at Charlie. This is impossible. It’s preposterous. I’m an eternal bachelor. I don’t want a mate. I don’t need one. This can’t be right. But Charlie is about to spill the beans, and I can’t have that. “Charlie,” I warn.

He shakes his head, not about to let me deny it. “The connection just snapped into place the second her wolf was free. It was instant. I’ve never felt anything like it. And it’s so strong. So pure. I just…” He shakes his head as if to clear it and smiles at me. “Congratulations.”

I don’t want any congratulations. I don’t want to believe this.

My wolf balks at my denial. Mine! Mate!

Rook looks between Charlie and me, and whatever panic he sees in my expression makes the pieces fall into place for him.

His eyes widen to baseballs, and his mouth drops open.

He gapes at me, then turns his attention to Skylar.

She looks as shocked as I feel, but there’s something in her expression that scares me.

Hope. She’s looking at me with hope. She’s trying to hide it, but I can feel it through the bond that connects us on a soul-deep level.

The only way to describe what comes over me next is terror.

I’m genuinely terrified. My wolf is happy.

Joyous, even. He’s claimed Skylar as his.

I’ve never been out of sync with my beast before, but I can’t accept what just happened.

I shake my head, desperate to deny everything I’m feeling.

“No,” I murmur. “This can’t be happening.

It’s not even supposed to be possible. How can I have a mate? ”

“Mate?” Oliver blurts.

Rook blinks at me. “Are you saying she’s your true mate?”

“She is,” Charlie confirms when I say nothing. “I can feel their connection. Their wolves…it’s like they’ve always known each other.”

I frantically shake my head again. “No…I…it can’t be. This has to be a mistake.”

I ignore Skylar’s brief look of hurt, but I can feel her disappointment. Guilt swamps me. I choke it back and give Skylar a pleading look. “Honey, you don’t want me. I’m too…I can’t…”

Rook grabs me by the collar of my shirt and tugs me away from the bar. He shouts down to my other bartender, telling him I’m taking a break and to call Terrance up to his suite. I follow without a fight. I’m too shocked, and I don’t need the entire city hearing this.

In the back of the club, there’s a set of stairs that lead up to a row of small private rooms. One of them is Terrance’s. It also doubles as a panic room and is completely soundproof. That’s probably why Rook drags us up here—for some much-needed privacy.

The room is laid out like a studio apartment with a bathroom and a small kitchenette. A huge mahogany desk sits proudly in the middle of the room, and a couch rests along the back wall.

Charlie guides Skylar into the room and leads her to the sofa.

Oliver and Enzo take seats at the small round table in the kitchenette, and Charlie rolls the desk chair out to sit with them.

Rook, still holding me by the back of my shirt collar, pushes me down on the other end of the couch, then backs up to lean against the desk.

Silence stretches out, building more and more tension the longer it lasts. Everyone is staring at me. I tug at my collar. I still feel like I can’t breathe.

“Wulf.” Rook pins me with a serious but understanding gaze. He’s stronger than I am and older, but he rarely ever asserts his dominance over me. Right now, he’s in big brother mode. “I get that this is a shock, but fated mates are a gift. If Skylar truly is your soulmate, you can’t deny her.”

I glance Skylar’s way before closing my eyes and shaking my head. “They’re supposed to be a myth.”

“Lore always comes from somewhere.”

I open my eyes again and meet my brother’s steady gaze, desperately seeking some kind of solution. “I don’t know how to be a mate.”

His sympathetic smile makes my stomach roll. “You start by taking her home. Feed her, and let her get a good night’s sleep. She just went through a healing. She needs the rest. You can work the details out tomorrow. We’ll all help you.”

The world spins. I grab my head as if that will make it stop. “Take her home? Like she’s just mine now? Is she supposed to just…move in and accept that we’re in some kind of relationship? We’re strangers!”

I glance at Skylar. She’s staring into her lap, face bright red.

I’m an ass. I’ve rejected her and made her feel like shit. I’m already only thinking of myself. I can’t do this!

“She is yours now,” Rook says. “And you’re hers. You don’t have to fall in love overnight. You guys can build your relationship slowly. But you belong together. The moon goddess doesn’t get things wrong.”

Mate! My wolf howls at me. He’s angry with me for trying to deny it.

He wants me to go to her. He wants to hold her.

Touch her. Kiss her. He wants to make a physical connection.

He wants us to shift so he can meet her wolf.

He wants to run with her. He’s throwing these desires at me as if they’re weapons and he can force me to submit to them.

Stop! I tell him.

Mate!

Terrance bursts through the door. “What’s going on now? I had to ask Cecile to help cover the bar.”

I have no idea how to explain it, so I let the guys do it for me.

“Wulf has just met his true mate,” Charlie says. “He’s a little overwhelmed.”

Terrance’s brows climb his forehead. “True mate?”

“Fated,” Rook explains. “Soulmates chosen by the moon goddess.”

Terrance’s mouth falls open. He quickly shuts it and furrows his brows. “I didn’t know that was a thing.”

I still can’t speak. Rook shrugs. “All wolves grow up hearing the stories, but we thought that’s all they were—stories.” He gestures between Skylar and me. “Clearly there’s more truth to the myth than we thought.”

Terrance crosses his arms over his chest and gives me his sternest stare. “You’re sure?”

All I can do is gulp. My wolf won’t let me deny it again.

Terrance must see the truth in my face. He nods once, then purses his lips in thought. His eyes comb over me before moving to Skylar. She’s shaking in her seat. Her emotions are a jumbled mess. Terrance’s face softens. “What’s your name?” he asks gruffly.

Skylar looks up. She swallows hard, but forces herself to answer. “Skylar.”

“Wulf is your mate?”

She nods, flicking a worried glance my way, as if she expects me to be angry with her for admitting it. I’m such an asshole.

Terrance watches me a minute longer. His heavy, judgmental gaze makes the floor suddenly look very interesting. After another endless moment, he says, “Welcome to the clan, Skylar.”

My head snaps up.

“Clan?” Skylar asks, confused.

Terrance nods to both her and me. “Wulf has no pack.”

Skylar startles at this. “You’re a lone wolf?” she asks me.

Her disbelief is cute. It helps with the panic. I chuckle and give her a chagrined smile. “No desire to lead, but too dominant not to be alpha, and a healthy fear of she-wolves.”

Rook and Charlie both snort. “He’s terrified of them,” Charlie says.

Rook laughs. “Runs from them like a scared little pussycat.”

I roll my eyes, even though it’s true. The teasing is a nice break in tension. “I’m part of a clan.”

Rook gestures to the men around the room. “We all are.” He shucks his thumb Terrance’s direction. “Even this big, grumpy troll here.”

Skylar blinks at us, her eyes bouncing between the six of us. “You’re all part of the same clan? But you’re different species.”

We all laugh. We’ve gotten this response before. “We’re unique,” Charlie says with a wide grin and a wink.

I rub the back of my neck, suddenly self-conscious of her reaction.

My wolf is worried she doesn’t like it, or won’t accept it.

I don’t want to care so much what this woman thinks, but I’m too connected to my wolf.

His feelings are influencing me too much.

“We’re a small group of misfit underworlders that have chosen to be family,” I say.

Everyone sobers, picking up on my distress. “Won’t find a happier, more loyal clan in the whole country,” Rook says.

“It’s actually quite beautiful,” Charlie adds. “You’re going to love it.”

Skylar’s face softens, and she murmurs “family,” as if testing the idea out.

Her tiny smile says everything my wolf needs to know.

He eases up, reverting to a state of contentment that has me both annoyed and envious.

How can he be so calm? He’s the one who’s made us run from every she-wolf we’ve ever met. Now I know why.

“We’ll have a family meeting tomorrow,” Terrance says. “You can meet everyone else then. For now, go with Wulf and get settled. Do you have a place already? Do we need to move your things?”