CHAPTER 8

HAZEL

The two of them frantically stand at the same time. The one called Thea grins, but it's not a friendly sort of smile, more of a challenging one as he looked at the male behind me. “I suggest you move quickly, S.” 

“I always do, Thea,” the Alpha drawls, his chest vibrating my back and making my wolf sigh in response. She really likes his rumbling Hum. It's almost like a purr. “Do you want to run with me, sweetling?” He asks softly. “Or would you prefer I carry you?” 

‘What in the fucking world is happening right now?’ I wonder, a bit dazed by this unexpected treatment I was receiving. This wasn't what I had initially thought would be happening when I got to the shadow moon pack. 

All three males are staring at my wolf expectantly—which I had anticipated when hearing I would be sent to the brute wolves, except it isn't this kind of expectant glimmer I worried about seeing in their wild eyes. 

Instead, this Alphas appeared intelligent.

'Not Feral or Brute.'

Caring.

'Not savage.'

Patient.

'Not demanding.' 

I swallowed hard, uncertain of what I wanted to do. It's up to my wolf, but she's not moving. She just seems to want to curl into the Alpha behind me and bathe in that rumbling purr emanating from his chest. 

“Carrying it is,” he says then, moving to stand. 

My wolf perks up, irritated by the loss of his warmth. 

But that rumbling sound from his chest pulls her into a placative state as she shuffles over to lean against his legs. 

He’s wearing suit pants and nothing else. 

I follow my nose and find his shirt, jacket, and shoes, piled haphazardly on the bench only a few feet away. He wasn't wearing those when he pulled me from the water, which means he stripped them off before diving in to save me. 

“You have got this, S?” The blue eyed one asks, his attire of jeans and a bare chest similar to what I grew up seeing in the village. 

“Yeah, I got this, T.” That addictive purr underlined his words, making me shiver again.

The one called T nods, causing his hair to fall into his face. He pushes it back with an errant hand before looking at Thea. 

“Let's go break some hearts.”

“And maybe some jaws too,” Thea says. 

S glances at me, his expression suddenly tired. “Yeah, I think that's a given, and we better not slack off.”

•

•

•

THADDEUS

The female’s scent slithers around me, perfuming the air and filling my lungs with each breath. 

There is something intoxicatingly sweet about it. 

Something I want to lick and taste. 

“You saw that, didn't you? She tried to kill Tino,” Thea says conversationally as we walk in the general direction of the main docks. It's the location where the guards should have taken the girl. But instead they went to the opposite side of the island where they couldn't anchor their boat. 

‘ Fucking cowards’ I think. “They were going to throw her cage in the water and let her drown. I think her assassination attempt is warranted.”

“He was technically helping her by letting her out of the cage and removing the muzzle off her face.” Thea spat out.

“Because he wanted to fuck her,” I return. 

Thea’s eyes gleam unknowingly as he looks at me. “And you don't?”

I grunt. “Entirely not the point. I didn't try to drown her, right?” 

“Fair,” he replies. “Well, it's a good thing you anticipated their usual fuvkery. She would have drowned if Sparrow hadn't pulled her out of that water.” 

I grunt again, this time in agreement. Sparrow and I were disembarking to the yacht when we saw the speed boat heading in the wrong direction around the island. The foolish guards didn't even see us, too caught up in their own fuvkery to notice.

Or maybe they just didn't care.

Shadow moon pack is seen from the outside as an overgrown dystopian nightmare.

It's the initial front we provide to scare them off. 

And it works. 

But in this case, it almost cost an innocent wolf her life. 

“I fucking hate the archaic methods some of these packs follow,” I mutter. “She couldn't swim because no one has taught her how to be a goddamn wolf.”

It infuriates me.

Shadow moon pack is all about embracing our animal at a young age. Sure, we have our hierarchical nuances with Alpha, Beta, and Omega dynamics, but we never suppress our wolves. It's forbidden to even try. 

“She would have died,” I continued, my fist clenching with the urge to hit something, just anything. 

“Do you think she can swim in human form?” He asks.

I shrug. “With the Silver moon pack in charge of her upbringing? Who the fuck even knows. I will be surprised if she can even read.”

Thea sighs, dragging his fingers through his thick hair. It's grown longer than usual, the ends touching his ears and falling into his face when he releases the strands. “I still can't believe she's part of the Silver moon pack. She looks all Brute to me.”

He’s not wrong. That black fur is flawless on her. “She doesn't smell like a Brute wolf.”

Well, that's not fully true. 

She does smell like a Brute wolf to an extent. But there's something underlying about her fragrance that's distinctly other and it's throwing off my wolf’s ability to understand her. 

“Hmm,” Thea hums as we reach the crest of the hill that leads down to the main docks. “They are not going to be pleased by this new development.” 

“They will live,” I reply leading the way. 

It's become a tradition to play a game with the female newcomers. But as there are only three on the island, I think the males will give us a little flexibility for this round. 

Particularly because she's in no condition to indulge us right now. 

Her wolf is in control, not the human inside. Consent is a touchy subject among our kind. Alphas tend to take what they want to an extent. We’re stronger and faster. But our women are always willing. 

And while her animal may want to play, the human inside is clearly hurting terribly. I could see it in her eyes, the struggle deep within. 

“We would have to help her shift later,” I tell Thea as we near the docks. “I suspect her mate never released her from his hold.” 

“An odd thing to do since he clearly rejected her.” 

“It's a power trip. He is not relinquished his control because he wants her to suffer.” Which means her former intended is an absolute ass. Not surprising given his ties to the Crimson Dawn pack. “Or it's a result of her knowing how to manage her wolf.”

Equally as likely given her upbringing.

“Or the wolf is protecting her,” Thea says, echoing my earlier comment. 

I nod. “We won't know untill we spend more time with her.”

“Something that will obviously be a hardship for all of us,” my best friend drawls.

“That scent alone is going to drive me wild in the best way.” 

He’s not wrong. The delicious aroma clings to my skin even now, causing my wolf to want to run back to the den to greet her. To welcome her home. 

An Insane urge.

But my animal has always guided my actions.

I won't fault him for declaring his desire without even knowing the female’s name. He has the ability not to overthink things. If he wants something, he states it flatly.

And right now, he wants her.

Not long term, he just wants a taste. 

Something I may indulge him in, assuming I can pull the female back into human form but before any of that can happen, a more pressing matter demands my attention.

A cluster of male wolves, their eyes gleaming wit

h a feral intensity, stood on the docks. They were waiting for me, their grins widening as I approached.

I could feel their anticipation radiating off them, a tangible energy that pulsed through the air. As I drew closer, their howls echoed across the water, a chilling sound that would send a shiver down anyone spine.