Chapter 5

I was bored. Heinously, utterly, completely bored. I threw my phone down on the couch next to me in disgust. There were only so many mobile games I could play before I went nuts. 

Moonlight filtered in through the large windows and I turned to them curiously. Other than watching the Alpha turn the day I arrived, I'd never seen any one else in their wolf forms. 

I knew what they said about curiosity. I knew it was a stupid idea, even as I plastered my face to the window. The lawn below me was silvered under the moonlight. 

There were dozens of wolves on the lawn in a variety of grays. Some tussled playfully, some ran in excitement, and even more just lazed around in groups. They didn't look mad to me. 

And I was bored. To death. That's why I found myself creeping out of my room. I edged along the dark hallway. I wanted to see the wolves up close. They looked so fluffy. Was it considered rude to pet them in their animal form? 

I tiptoed down the stairs. No one would be inside right now, too busy enjoying the moon. I knew that Weres could turn at any time. But the full moon was special. It was the only three days during the month that the Weres couldn't control their wolves. 

I was playing a dangerous game as I crossed the hall to the front door. It was so quiet. Even if I hadn't really interacted with the pack, I was used to the general hubbub of the pack house. There was always raucous laughter and joking jibes. 

Part of me wished I could get over my anger at my situation. These Weres were my new family. I didn't want to spend my life hating them. 

I paused at the threshold of the open door. Excited yips and playful growls teased at me. It wasn't a crime to want to know more about my Husband's people. Of course, he wasn't exactly my husband yet. We had made no vows. 

I inched onto the porch, careful to remain quiet. The largest wolf sat in the center of the yard. His muzzle was turned to the sky, his back to me. My Husband. He was glorious, even in this form. 

A low, mournful howl bayed across the clearing. All the wolves stilled. No one moved. 

The hair on the nape of my neck stood on end. Ice skittered down my spine as I edged even further out of the doors. Something dark moved in the woods beyond the clan house. 

Another baying howl split the night, and the wolves on the lawn leapt up. They were all on their feet, scruffs raised. 

I knew I should run back inside. I knew I should get to the safety of my rooms. I knew, and yet I stayed. A sick curiosity rooted me to the spot. My feet firmly stuck even as my mind screamed at me to move. 

A deep growl was the only warning before dark shapes darted out of the woods. They flowed along the lawn, and it took a moment before my eyes adjusted. Wolves! Another pack! 

I couldn't move. 

The Alpha growled out a warning to the intruders, and still they came. There was a scream of challenge, and the two groups of wolves clashed. 

Fangs and fur flew in a frenzy. I tried to track the Alpha, my Husband, but he moved too quickly. He wove among the other pack, claws flashing in the moonlight. 

Blood coated his muzzle, and somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I should be terrified. I should be shitting my britches. I should be doing a lot of things. Instead, I ducked and dodged, matching his movements from the porch as if I were in the fray. He was magnificent! 

They dispatched the wolves furiously. The fight was over nearly as quickly as it started. I skipped forward, my eyes trained on my Husband. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around the Alpha wolf and give his furry head a kiss. 

Which is why I didn't see the straggler. I was so consumed with my Husband that I didn't see the other wolf. The only one that had broken through the ranks. 

It rammed into my side, flinging me across the porch. I managed to turn, landing solidly on my back, the breath knocked from my lungs. 

I gasped, trying to get air back in my body. The wolf was on top of me, snarling in my face. I did the only thing I could think of. I screamed. My shrill yell split the night, but it was too late.

The wolf on top of me locked its jaws around my shoulder. Teeth tore into my flesh and I cried out in pain. I didn't move. I knew if I did I was dead. 

The wolf clenched its bite further. The sickening feel of fangs scraping across my collarbone made me dizzy. My stomach rolled, threatening to douse us both in my half-eaten dinner. 

Fire flooded my body as the wolf drew back. My own blood dripped from its slavering jaw onto my t-shirt. It snarled in my face, coming in for another bite. 

The wolf was a male, I noted as I brought my knee up and into his furry manhood. He grunted in pain, but snaked his head down for another bite. 

I curled my hand, my fist flying up. I punched him square in the nose. Something my father taught me to do if I was ever attacked by the wild dogs that roamed our clan lands. 

The wolf whined, shaking his head. Something leapt from the side, bowling him over and freeing me. I jumped to my feet, head spinning as blood dripped down my arm. 

The Alpha clamped his jaws around the other wolf's throat. A savage twist of his head, and it was done. The wolf was nothing more than a broken carcass on the porch. 

I staggered back to the railing as the Alpha turned to me. His gold eyes were savage, but I had never felt safer. 

'Mine!' The voice thundered in my head as I collapsed. I couldn't think straight. My shoulder was on fire. 

Shitballs. I was bit by a Were. Not the plan I had for my life. 

I shook my head, trying to clear it. "Whose–" My words slurred off as darkness pulled me under.