Fierce (Wolf Ranch 5)

One second, I was ready to punch Rob in the jaw, the next I was running toward him on four paws.

My vision sharpened, my hearing honed. I smelled. Holy fuck, did I scent. The lemony tang of floor cleaner. The scent of the dogs. Rob’s deodorant or soap. And Charlie. I smelled her on the air.

I knew her cinnamon scent, but this was more. Heightened. I launched myself at Rob but he knocked me away. “Sit down.” I’d never felt alpha command before. Not really. Not like I did right then. It reverberated into every cell, as if his voice could control every organ in my body. I instantly skidded around and sat down on my haunches and breathed deep. As a fucking wolf.

I’d shifted. Holy fuck. And I scented Charlie.

My mate.

I glanced up at Rob. Yeah, up because I was only a few feet tall.

“I thought so,” he said, the corner of his mouth tipped up.

I growled.

He grinned, then squatted down in front of me.

“Charlie’s your mate, huh?”

I lifted my nose to the sky and howled.

He laughed. The fucker laughed. “Before you bite my throat out, let’s get you to shift back. Then we’ll figure out what’s going on with her. How to get her back.”

I stilled, realized I had no fucking idea how to shift back. I’d never been in wolf form before. I’d seen others do it hundreds… thousands of times. But me?

Fuck, I was a wolf! And Charlie—my… human mate… had brought it out. With a little help from Rob and his intentional word jabs.

“Stay calm. It’s fine.”

I snapped at him again. I was thirty-three years old, and I’d never done this before. Hell, I felt like Charlie, a virgin in my own right.

Rob narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath. “Shift,” he said, his voice booming, the deep alpha tone rippling through me. I wanted to roll over and show him my belly. Lift my neck, showing him I meant no disrespect. But my wolf obeyed instinctively, and somehow, I shifted back. I had no control in the action, which was probably a good thing.

I was on the floor, fucking naked, my clothes in torn tatters around me. I ran my hand over my face, looked at Rob. “I fucking hate you.”

He stood, grinned again as he grabbed a throw blanket from the back of a couch and tossed it at me. “Yeah, well, being alpha’s a bitch. Now let’s figure out what to do about your mate.”

24

CHARLIE

The stuffed wolf Levi won for me at the county fair rode shotgun with me the whole way back to Colorado. I’d even buckled the stupid thing in like it was real.

I was losing my mind.

By the time I got back, I’d driven through the night, fueled by strong truck stop coffee and my gnawing anxiety. Ten hours was a long time when there was nothing to do but stay on the highway and make sure no animals ran under my tires. The techno beat of my workout playlist had helped keep me awake, but it didn’t stop my mind from wandering.

Every mile I drove the ache in my chest grew stronger.

Leaving Levi felt like the biggest mistake of my life.

I’d really love to explore the possibility of something more. We’d been in the most glorious spot, looking back the most romantic, too. He’d looked into my eyes and suggested I move with Pops to Montana. To be with him.

And yeah, that was crazy considering we’d only known each other for a week, but it also felt so right. I cared about Levi. I cared about more than just his prowess in bed. He was honest and good. Courageous and strong. He’d taken a job as sheriff because he believed in justice.

And Wolf Ranch? I loved it there. The place… called to me, just like Levi did. It was the land, the laid back friendliness of everyone. The family feeling.

Levi hadn’t wanted me to move there because he felt the ranch needed a vet. No, he’d wanted me. Accepted that I came with an ailing grandfather. He wanted me as part of the family.

Hell, a family with him, however that was shaped.

It felt like I’d just run away from my future. A future I hadn’t known I’d wanted, but now that I shut the door on it felt more tragic than anything I’d been through. Well, other than having Dax call from inside my house. But that wasn’t tragic, that was terror-inducing.

But I had to remember that even if Dax hadn’t called, even if I hadn’t had to leave and drive through the night, my past would’ve caught up to me.

I was glad I wasn’t going to be around when Levi found out who I really was. The mess I’d gotten myself into. I was a coward and couldn’t imagine seeing his face. I remembered how he’d been with that teenager at the fair. He’d been young and stupid. I wasn’t young, but I was feeling pretty stupid. If he’d wanted that kid to spend the night in jail to learn his lesson, I could only imagine what he’d want as a consequence for someone like me. It wasn’t going to be handcuffs in his bed.