Savage (Wolf Ranch 4)

She came back and sat down beside Boyd, leaning against him. He settled his arm around her shoulder, so her head was tucked into him.

“The Shifter Council is sort of the regulating organization for shifters. Like the Supreme Court. Issues go before them, and they make rulings which enforcers carry out. Their identities—the enforcers—are kept secret because they’re essentially executioners. They put down shifters who’ve gone rogue. Usually it’s over killing a human. Sometimes it’s because they’ve gone feral—like in the case of moon madness. But an enforcer’s job would be to track and kill.”

Again, I tried to reconcile the notion of Clint as a killer with the man I’d thought I’d known. Fresh tears tracked down my cheeks. “But Clint…” I shook my head. “He doesn’t seem like” —I had to swallow hard over the tight band constricting my throat— “a killer.”

Boyd scrubbed a hand over his face. “I didn’t know either. I swear. Clint’s the most level-headed, kindest one of all of us. Which is probably why he was asked to serve. Why he’s quiet. He would’ve served at Rob’s behest.” Boyd flicked a glance at me. “Rob’s our alpha,” he said, as if that explained everything. “The one who leads all the wolves in this area. The pack.”

I shook my head to ward off all this information. This whole world I hadn’t known existed until tonight. I tucked the blanket around me which prompted Audrey to get up and make my tea.

“Clint kills people for a living?” My teeth chattered from the shock. Audrey returned and pressed a mug in my hands.

“I know it sounds terrible,” Boyd admitted. “Human laws wouldn’t work on shifters. You couldn’t keep us in prisons because we’d just break out. We’d have to run, especially with the moon. And once a shifter’s had the taste of human blood, he has to be put down. It’ll turn him feral, for sure. They lose their human half and become all beast. They’re a danger to humans and shifters alike.”

I forced myself to sip the tea which was tangy and hot. It slid down nicely and settled, warming me from the inside out. The lemon cut the bad taste in my mouth, and my stomach didn’t mind it, especially empty.

“H-he didn’t tell me.” Except I remembered what he’d said right before the front door had been kicked in.

The guys on the ranch—Boyd and Colton and Rob. Me and my family… we’re, ah, different.

He’d been about to tell me they were wolves. Would he have told me he was an enforcer, too?

I swallowed. “So, everyone on the ranch, you’re all wolves?”

Boyd nodded then glanced down at Audrey. The look he gave her made my heart hurt. It was so full of love, of something I’d thought I’d had with Clint. “All the males. Audrey and Marina aren’t. Willow is.”

For some reason, I remembered the pretty juice girl from the grocery store. “And Clint’s cousin, Shelby? His whole family. Janet and Tom. God, Rand, too. Even Nash? Everyone was in on it?”

Boyd sighed. “No one’s in on anything. Yes, it was kept from you but not because of anything other than you’re human. Clint was going to tell you, I’m sure of it.”

I pursed my lips then took another sip of tea.

“Tell them the science behind it,” Audrey told Boyd.

He smiled at her. “The part you like, Doctor.” He turned his attention back to me. “We’re a species, so being a shifter’s hereditary. Your baby and Audrey’s will carry the genes. Whether they’ll have enough of them to actually shift or not will be unknown until adolescence.”

I placed my hand on my belly. Anger shot through me. Clint had given me a werewolf baby?

But no, he hadn’t meant to get me pregnant at all. That had been an accident.

The place he’d bitten me suddenly tingled, and I touched it.

Boyd nodded at my movement, like he knew what I was touching. “Clint marked you. Bit you, right?”

I nodded then blushed, remembering when exactly.

“It’s what male wolves do when they’ve found their true mate. We embed our scent into their skin to keep other males away.”

“What?” I set the mug of tea on the end table and stood up. “This is… this is just crazy. He had no right to do that.”

Boyd shook his head. “He probably couldn’t help himself, Becky,” he said gently. “It’s instinct. When a shifter finds his one true mate, the biology is overwhelming. We can’t hold back. With you being pregnant, his need to protect you would be off the charts.” He glanced at his own wife—mate—with soft eyes, as if he spoke from experience.

“Wolves mate for life, honey,” Audrey said, also standing and hovering nearby. “Clint knew the minute he saw you—he belonged to you.”

I shook my head. “No, he didn’t. We had a quickie at Cody’s. We parted ways. For four months.”