Feral (Wolf Ranch 3)

Damn, it was strange to have a female in the house. And a human, no less.

Because of Marina, Colton was a changed man—relaxed and happier than I’d ever seen him. I found them both in the kitchen. Colton sat at the table drinking coffee and eating a delectable-looking Danish and Marina was pulling a cookie sheet of croissants out of the oven. They both looked up at me as I stalked in and poured myself a cup of coffee.

“Late night?” Colton asked carefully. It was hard for any pack member to ignore his alpha’s mood, and my frustration still simmered.

I just spat it out—no sense in trying to keep it in. “Natalie’s still seeing Markle. She went over there yesterday with a bottle of wine.”

“Oh,” Marina said, eyes wide. She grabbed a plate, piled three different pastries on it and shoved it my way, as if sugar and carbs could make me feel better. “How do you know?”

“I was at her place when she came back, wine bottle in hand.”

Marina tipped her head. She was a tiny thing, a disposition as sweet as her baked goods. Completely opposite from Natalie in every way.

“Empty wine bottle?”

I frowned. “No, unopened.”

“So she didn’t share a bottle of wine with him?”

I rubbed my unshaven face. Fuck, I really was going feral. “Well, no. She said she’d brought it over as a neighborly gesture, but he hadn’t invited her in.”

“So he didn’t invite her in or accept the wine?” Marina clarified. She picked up the spatula and moved the cooling croissants to a platter. “I don’t think that qualifies as seeing the guy. It sounds like, well, a neighborly gesture, like she said. If he didn’t take it, he wasn’t all that neighborly.”

“You’re saying what, exactly?”

“That he’s as much of a jerk as we thought.”

I looked to Colton. “If Marina took a bottle of wine to Markle as a neighborly gesture, would you lose your shit?”

He wiped his fingers with a napkin. “Markle’s a dick. I don’t want Marina anywhere near the guy.”

“Exactly,” I agreed.

“Natalie owns the house next door to him. They’re going to be neighbors for a long time. She knows he put his cattle on her land without asking. She knows he’s a dick. Maybe she’s trying to smooth things over.”

“You don’t think she’s trying to get in his bed?” I asked. The question made me sound vulnerable and weak. Natalie was my weakness.

Colton held up a hand. “I don’t want to know the details of your sex life, but if you’re a selfish lover and don’t get her off, then I don’t blame her for seeking orgasms elsewhere.”

My wolf growled while Marina chided her mate. “Leave him alone. You Wolf boys would never leave a woman unsatisfied.”

Colton grinned, stalked Marina around the counter until he got her in his arms and nuzzled her neck. She giggled.

I ignored them as I thought. Now that I told the story out loud and Marina repeated it back through her human female lens, and Colton made me feel like an ass, it didn’t sound as bad as I’d taken it. Maybe this was one of those moments when I couldn’t discern between my wolf instincts to claim and possess Natalie, to mark her forever with my scent so no other male ever touched her and what was normal human dating behavior.

Had I not pleased her sexually? I remembered what she looked, felt, smelled and even tasted like when she came. I hadn’t skimped on the number of times I got her off. I was a generous, attentive lover.

But had I fucked up by acting too possessive? She didn’t know she was my mate. She only knew we had chemistry and killer sex.

“Tell me you didn’t go rip Markle’s throat out,” Colton said, his arms still around Marina.

“Oh, I wanted to, but I held back. Shifted and ran instead. I may have acted like a jackass with Natalie, though.” I scratched the back of my neck, suddenly feeling less like an alpha and more like that jackass.

“Uh oh,” Marina murmured.

I stared at the untouched plate of pastries without appetite. “It’s probably for the best.”

“What? That she hates you? Why’s that?” Colton demanded.

“You know why. I’ve got Nathan Brown stirring up the goddamn pack so his kin can absorb us into theirs. I’m supposed to meet some pack princess from Canada in a couple weeks, and I don’t really see how Natalie can actually be my mate.”

Colton narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re telling me you’re not sure she’s yours? You didn’t know the moment you scented her?”

I ground my molars. “I knew,” I growled, narrowing my eyes at him.

He stroked Marina’s hair as he leaned against the counter. “Uh huh. So what part don’t you believe?”

I sat back in my chair, overloaded with this untenable fucking situation. “Alphas mate alphas. It’s the natural law. It just doesn’t make sense that—” I cut off my words before I said something to offend Marina or Colton.