Callan lets his arms fall by his side. “I saw your shack. It’s been destroyed.”
“I know,” I whisper.
Footsteps storm through the house, heading for the front door. Instinctively, my arms squeeze tighter on my chest, and I back away from Callan. Callan may have worked things out with his brothers, but now I’m causing a fight between him and Axel.
“You’re trespassing,” Axel roars as the screen door swings open, banging against the wall. “You have two minutes to get your mangy ass off my property before the whole pack arrives and tears every organ from your ugly corpse.” His hair’s all wet like he just got out of the shower, and he’s shirtless like Callan.
His muscles are taught, water droplets clinging to his shoulders, and I can’t help but gulp when I gaze at his beautiful form, his smooth golden skin and the small tattoos on his shoulders and forearm. But then I turn to Callan, his own muscles bunched with rippling power, his skin inked and scarred in a dozen places. He’s just… More. Bigger, wilder, stronger; with more tattoos, more scars, more hair, more beard. And there’s three of him and only one of Axel.
“Oh, yeah?” Callan asks, puffing his chest up even bigger. “You think I’m scared of the kind of dumbass who would sever a True Mate bond with this sweet little lady?”
Axel’s eyes narrow, and for the first time, I feel the edge of his dominance shimmering in the air between us like heat rising off the still pools of water on the most scorching summer days. The intensity of it makes me shiver and gasp, even though I can feel that it’s only beginning.
“Get off my property, mutt,” he says to Callan. “She’s mine.”
He steps forward, resting a gentle hand on the back of my neck, and a wave of soothing comfort washes over me. I stare up at him, my mouth dropping open. He has some kind of… Magic. That’s the only way to describe how he can calm me with a single touch of his hand, how I can know instantly that he means me no harm. My wolf settles inside me, content.
But it’s not right. He hurt us. I’m not safe here, and his magic only makes me more sure of it. I duck away from him, and before he can touch me again, Callan is up in his face.
“Sorry, dude. You gave up your rights to her. She belongs with us now.” Callan circles Axel like he’s getting ready to attack.
Axel doesn’t back down. Instead, he circles to face Callan as the bigger man moves around him. “Abunch of outlaw punks?” Axel asks, spitting the words at his enemy with a scoff. “No way does she belong with the likes of you.”
“You had your chance with her,” Callan retorts with a shrug. “Not our fault you threw her out. She was a lone, banished wolf when we found her. She wasn’t on pack land. By every werewolf law, she’s fair game. And what tasty game she is…”
“You motherfucking mongrel,” Axel snarls, leaping for Callan.
I jump forward before he can hit my savior. I wedge myself between them, slamming my palms on their chests as hard as I can. Startled, they each take a step back and stare at me.
“Please stop!” I yell, stomping my foot. “I’m tired of all you males making decisions for me.”
They both blink at me, and then they both start talking at once. I hold up a hand and bark at them to listen to what I have to say for once.
First, I turn to Axel. “You willfully severed our bond,” I remind him. “You told me I had to leave the pack. Callan and his brothers found me in the swamp, ready to die. They saved me.”
Axel’s Adam’s apple-Callan explained that one to me-bobs up and down as he digests my words.
“Like I said,” Callan starts, but I send him a glare that silences him. “They took care of me,” I say, turning back to Axel. “Not you. You rejected me, and not just me, but my wolf. You didn’t want me as a mate, the other half of your soul. You can’t just tell me to come back like it didn’t happen. It happened. Our bond is gone.” I point to the dull scar on my arm, the one that no longer glows with the power of the moon and our bond. “No matter how sorry you are, it will never return.”
I swipe angrily at a tear, and Axel reaches for me. “Luna, I…”
I bat his hand away. “Whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it. I’m no longer a part of your pack. That was your decision.”
I turn to Callan and offer a tearful smile. “But if you’ll have me, I’m a part of yours. That’s my decision.”
A victorious grin spreads across his face, and he grabs me up in a crushing hug that knocks all the breath out of me. He smashes his mouth down on mine and then pulls back, grinning. “Hell fuckin’ yeah,” he says. “There’s not a single wolf in the world we’d rather have.”
I smile up at him, my belly and chest filling with pride. No one forced me to join their pack or forced me to leave. Axel may not have used his wolf dominance on me, but these men never made me join them to begin with, and they never cast me out. Callan and Ethan welcomed me from the start. Warrick may have grudgingly taken me in, and he’s grumpy and stubborn, but like the others, he let me be exactly who I am. He never once tried to make me something else, even when he used his dominance to keep peace. And most of all, he never hurt me.
Callan sets me back on my feet and swaggers toward his bike, his huge paw engulfing my small hand, his enormous frame dwarfing mine. I feel light and free, like I might burst into laughter at any moment. I don’t have to be told where to sit this time. I climb on the Queen seat behind
Callan, and spare one last glance in Axel’s direction before we take off, spitting gravel.
He’s already gone.
The smile slips from my face, just a little, and a twist of pain burrows into my heart. I wonder if the rejection ever stops hurting.