Wolf Untamed by Alexis Calder

16

I woke to screaming and chaos. Snarls, growls, teeth, and fur. All around me was a battle that I was somehow in the middle of without warning.

A huge gray wolf bounded toward me and I rolled to the side, just as another wolf tackled my attacker.

Heart racing, mind spinning, I crawled away from the mess so I could figure out what was going on. This was not what anyone expected to wake up to. Wolves were attacking each other and honestly, I couldn’t tell which were my friends and which were foe. I had to shift. I should be able to feel my friends better in wolf form. It was the only option.

I called to my inner wolf, begging her to come to me. She rose up, but fell flat. I thought we worked through this. I need you. She didn’t respond. Of course she didn’t, but I didn’t even get an emotional response. This was not the time I needed her to fail me. Come on. I closed my eyes tight and tried to urge her to the forefront. It was futile, she wasn’t responding. Fuck. My eyes snapped open. If my wolf was having performance anxiety, I needed to figure something else out.

The fight seemed to be moving them away from our campsite, pushing into the woods. I wanted to follow, but in human form, I’d be a liability. Shit, who was I kidding, in wolf form I was a liability. Alec was right, I didn’t know how to fight yet.

Frantic, I stood and moved behind a tree, observing the violence. If there was a way to pinpoint which wolves were friends, maybe I could do something to help.

Someone grabbed me and I screamed just as a hand moved to cover my mouth. “Shhh, it’s me.”

I caught Alec’s scent and relaxed a little. He lowered his hand.

“What the fuck is going on?” I hissed.

“They ambushed us. We gotta get out of here.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the fight. “Can you shift?”

My wolf responded to that and I felt her snapping to attention. She clawed at my insides as if she’d been desperate to get out. Oh, so you want to run away. I get it. Pissed that my inner wolf was a coward, I pulled on his hand, stopping in my tracks. “We need to help them.”

“You aren’t ready. You need to shift,” he said as he released my hand. “Now.”

He was in his wolf form quickly and my wolf reacted. The shift was uncomfortable this time, my body breaking and reforming in a stressed hurry. My wolf and I weren’t on the same page and I was resisting her desires. I wanted to fight, and she wanted to flee. I glanced toward the action, wanting nothing more than to charge in and help, but my wolf held her ground, forcing me in place. Why wouldn’t she let me go to them?

I could sense that Alec’s wolf was impatient, he lifted his chin and took a few steps. It seemed like this was my only option. Human me was useless in a wolf fight, and wolf me wanted to run.

I felt like a failure, like I was abandoning my friends but I was new to this and if they had to protect me, they probably couldn’t fight as well. Running might be better for all of us. I hated myself for it, but I needed to get out of here.

Alec’s wolf growled and my wolf responded, instinctively trusting him to lead us away from the fight. I ran ahead, Alec at my heels. Someone had attacked us, that was clear. And my other friends had stayed behind to give me time to escape.

It was either Wolf Creek, or somehow, the shifter king’s guards had heard about me and were making good on their punishment for my father. Either way, I was the cause. I stopped running and turned around. I should go back, I should help. This was my fault, not theirs. If anything happened to them because of me, I’d never forgive myself. My wolf tried to urge me forward, but I resisted. It felt wrong to leave them.

Alec’s wolf was by my side, his teeth bared in a threatening manner. He didn’t want me to stop. He gave a sharp, gruff sound like a command. I whined, lifting my chin in the direction we’d just come. My wolf was pulling me toward Alec, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was abandoning my friends. His wolf nodded the other way, insisting I follow him. I could feel his urgency. It was an almost desperate fear radiating from him. He was worried about me. I could sense how badly he wanted us to flee.

What if the attackers left to chase us? It was possible they’d leave my friends if they didn’t find what they wanted. I had to hope that was the case, and if it was, I had to create more distance between us. We could be leading them away.

Reluctantly, I turned away from the camp, and took a few hesitant steps. I didn’t know where I was or where I should go, and even as a wolf, I wasn’t confident in my sense of direction. Alec bounded in front of me and started moving forward. He must have remembered how often I got lost when I first arrived at his camp. He picked up the pace quickly, and I matched it, following him through the woods.

We’d lost our friends, our supplies, everything. And it was all my fault. If it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. What had I been thinking allowing my friends to risk their lives for me? I should have done this on my own. Or maybe with Alec, since he apparently had a death wish. That was the only reason I could think of that he’d risk getting caught by my pack after everything they’d done to his. He was probably the only other shifter outside Wolf Creek who knew just how brutal they really were.

I wasn’t sure how long we ran, but I was struggling to keep up. Alec’s wolf seemed like he could run forever. My wolf wasn’t used to this. I was struggling to get over the rocks and tree roots. A few times, I got caught in bushes or scratched by branches. My body wasn’t the same size it used to be and when I slipped into taking full control over my wolf self, I made mistakes.

It was a challenge to find a balance between my wolf self and my human self. I wasn’t trusting enough to let her take the lead for long, but I wasn’t great at navigating life as a wolf. We’d run together so beautifully on my first shift, but under pressure, we weren’t finding our stride. There had to be a better way to work together but I had a feeling the key was going to be practice. I wasn’t sure I had time for that. I had to figure this out quickly.

Finally, Alec’s wolf stopped and turned to face me before sitting back on his rear legs. He was panting and I was glad to know I wasn’t the only one who was exhausted.

My body shuddered and my muscles felt like they were stretching and bending in ways they shouldn’t. I’d never started a shift without another wolf going first, but I think my wolf was too tired to stay in this form. A few more uncomfortable twists and a couple of snapping bones later, I was sitting naked in the dirt. Everything hurt.

It took all my willpower to stay seated. All I wanted to do was curl up and lay on the earth.

Then I saw Alec naked and the exhaustion was replaced by my sex drive. My heart raced and warmth spread to my core. Oh, fuck, not this again. In this moment, there had never been a more desirable male in my presence.

I knew Alec was hot. I’d been attracted to him since we first met, but he was off limits. There was too much history and too much at risk if I jumped on top of him.

But those muscles, those gorgeous eyes, his full lips.

Send help.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said, ignoring my inner-slut who was currently telling me to jump him. “What happened back there?”

“I don’t know. Malcom woke me, then he shifted.”

“You think it was Wolf Creek?” I asked.

“Probably,” he said. “I doubt the king’s guard is even looking for you yet. You’re not a direct threat.”

“Then why are we going through all this to break my dad’s claim?” I asked.

“Because once you become an alpha, you’re inner circle to the king. He’ll have no choice but to make an example of you,” he said.

“Why did you have to go hunting down my father in the first place? He never even knew I was born. What were the chances we’d shift at the same time and he’d even know what he was feeling was a connection to me?” I asked.

“I didn’t know you when I first found him. I hunted down information about your mom and found out she’d had a child that could, in theory, be his. I wish I could take it back. I was chasing the toxin recipe and I thought if I gave him information, he might help me,” he confessed.

“Did he?” I asked.

“No, he didn’t know anything about the toxin,” Alec admitted.

“So it was all for nothing,” I mumbled.

“I’m sorry. After we met, I went back to see him and asked if there was a way to keep you safe. He offered some blood. Said he needed to atone or something,” he said.

“I just wish his atonement wasn’t because my life was at risk,” I said, bitterly.

“I’m sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused you,” Alec said.

I looked up at him, our eyes meeting. He seemed sincere. Alec had a way of getting to me when nobody else could. Dammit. I wanted to stay mad at him. I wasn’t ready to work through my feelings with him. Not with everything else I was dealing with.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Exile,” he said.

“Where?” I asked.

“Chicago,” he said.

“What’s so bad about Chicago?” I asked. “Can’t he just leave?”

“I forget how much they didn’t teach you,” he said.

“Well, tell me now,” I replied.

“Chicago is vampire territory. Your uncle, the king, worked a deal with the vampire king. Your dad steps a toe out of line, the vamps get to take him down.”

“Fuck,” I said.

“Yeah,” Alec agreed.

“Now what? Do we try to find the others?” I asked.

“No, we keep going,” he said. “That was always the plan. If we were attacked, they were to provide the distraction.”

I jumped to my feet. “When were you going to tell me this? I didn’t sign up for my friends to be sacrificial lambs.”

Alec stood. “We knew you’d react like this.”

My breath hitched. He towered over me and my chest filled with flutters. I couldn’t help but let my eyes trail down his chest to his hips. I let out a little gasp when I noticed his cock was fully erect. He was just as turned on post-shift as I was.

“Lola?” Alec’s tone was playful.

Busted. I looked up at him, grateful that the silvery glow of the moon probably didn’t show how red my face was. “I’m mad at you.”

“What’s new?” he teased.

“Why can’t you just be honest with me?” I asked.

“Because things are complicated with you,” he said.

“No, they’re not,” I insisted.

“You want honesty?” There was a touch of a growl to his tone.

My toes curled and a shiver ran down my spine. Every second I stood there facing him was a second closer to my willpower breaking down.

“All I can think about when I’m around you is that night in the tent and how I fucked up the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said. “I think about how stupid I was to turn you over to Wolf Creek. I wish I’d killed your mate that night and made all of the shifters who hurt you pay.”

How was I supposed to react to that? It wasn’t fair. He was saying all the right things. Shit, I’d want to ride his cock without him saying a word. Post shift sex drive was no joke.

“You made a choice,” I said, trying to turn things around. I had to remain in control. I couldn’t have sex with Alec, could I?

“I’m willing to keep working on making it up to until you forgive me,” he said.

“I don’t know if that’s possible,” I admitted. He sent me back to the one place he knew I’d be harmed. It wasn’t right.

He took a step closer to me and I froze in place. I wanted him, but I wasn’t ready to let him off the hook for what he did to me. As if sensing my hesitation, he took a step back. “We should see if we can find somewhere to sleep.”

“Like a tree?” I asked. “Cause there’s pretty much nothing around here.”

“There’s some caves nearby, we’ll try those,” he said.

I tensed. “Not a cave. Please. Anywhere else but that.”

“We need some cover,” he said.

“Last time I went in a cave, I nearly died,” I reminded him.

“If it’s too much, we won’t go inside,” he said.

I didn’t like the idea of any cave, but I nodded. It would provide more cover than the elements. We were naked and had no fire or supplies. Maybe I could make it work for one night.

The cold night air on my bare skin was painful. Goosebumps spread on my arms and legs. I covered my chest with my arms, trying to maintain some warmth. Every so often, I stepped on something sharp and hissed in pain. What I wouldn’t give to come across some human campers we could borrow clothes and shoes from. Okay, steal them, but it was an emergency, maybe they’d give them to us. Unfortunately, there was no sign of life. We were isolated here.

We didn’t speak as we walked, but I was grateful for the silence. When we were talking, I was closer than I wanted to admit to giving in to him and I wasn’t ready to forgive him. I needed more time to work through everything. There was too much between Tyler and Wolf Creek and my father to add other complications.

My mind wandered and I thought about Sheila, Kyle, and Malcom. Were they safe? Were they hurt? Did they have to walk through the woods naked? Visions of my friends suddenly turned into thoughts of Tyler. I shook my head at the unwelcome intrusion.

I squeezed my eyes closed, and forced the pictures of him away. That stupid mating bond was messing with me. I focused on other things. The wind blowing through the trees, the sound of my feet walking over the dirt, the feel of my hair whipping around my face. Anything and everything to get him off my mind. The harder I tried to make it stop, the more I tried to think of other things, of anything, the more intense my thoughts about Tyler got.

Unbidden, the memory of the kiss in front of the caves crashed into my mind I recalled the way my body responded to him. I should have felt the urge to throw up, but it wasn’t there, instead there was a sense of longing. I was losing control of my own emotions. Pushing the thoughts away, the memory of the dream came rushing in. It had felt so real. His skin, his hot breath, my beating heart … holy shit, he bit me.

I never let myself think too hard about the dream, but in my dream, he’d completed the bond. And I’d let him.

My chest tightened as terror gripped me. Was I losing myself to the bond? What would happen when I saw him again?

“There they are,” Alec said.

His words broke my dark thoughts and my vision seemed to re-focus on the world around me. Ahead, I saw the opening for a cave. Though, it was almost too shallow to be called a cave. A stone archway extended from a rock, providing a covered space only about ten feet deep. Unlike the cave I’d been trapped in, it didn’t extend into deeper tunnels or connect to other caves. Most importantly, there was no rock to roll in front of it.

“I’ll make sure it’s not occupied,” Alec said. “Wait here.”

“Gladly,” I said.

A moment later, he emerged. “It’s not too deep and it doesn’t look like anything has made it into a home. It’s not much, but at least we’ll have some protection from the elements. Think you’ll be okay to come in?”

“Yeah, thanks,” I said. “Tomorrow, we need to find some clothes.”

“Agree.” He walked in and I might have checked out out his bare ass as he ducked down a little to dip into the entrance.

Damn, he was sexy. And he knew it.

I moved toward the cave, trying to push the naughty thoughts of Alec away. They were quickly replaced by images of Tyler.

Was this how it was going to be? Post shift, I was doomed to have sexy thoughts about my mate? I tensed. What if I had another one of those dreams? What if it pushed me closer to completing the bond with Tyler? There had to be something I could do to stop this.

Fighting the urges post-shift had caused the dream, and seemed to make the bond deeper. I wasn’t going to chance that happening anymore. Sex was part of life. Especially for a shifter. I was tired of fighting it. We were freezing, alone, and naked in a cave. For all we knew, we’d be hunted down by my old pack tonight. Life was too short to turn down all the things that made it worth living.

Alec sat on the dirt and looked up at me. “It’s not the Four Seasons, but it’ll do.”

I marched over to him and dropped to my knees. Things were complicated with Alec, but he wasn’t Tyler. Before I could change my mind, I reached for the back of his head and pulled him into a kiss.