5

Bursting out in humorless laughter, Jack ran his fingers through his hair. “Zeke Stark is your alpha. Why am I not surprised?”

By the way Lucas’s, Bodey’s, and Miles’s noses wrinkled, it was clear the four of them felt the same way about Zeke as he did about them. But now I understood why Zeke didn’t like them. All four of them were more powerful than he was.

There was no point in denying it. “Zeke is my alpha.”

Miles crossed his arms and rubbed the scruff on his face. “Bodey, I get this sucks, and I hate having to remind you, but it’s the rule. We can head back with her and tell him what we saw.”

Growling, Bodey glared at him and said, “You’re right.” His jaw twitched. “It’s just that none of this should’ve happened. Wolves shouldn’t hurt one another, especially not their own pack members.”

I sucked in a breath. “You guys don’t treat your weak shifters this way?”

“King Richard was a big advocate for mutual respect and caring for one another, even across territory lines.” Lucas’s lips pressed into a firm line. “Since we haven’t had a king in seventeen years, things have gotten far more lax than they should have, but that will change when Prince Samuel takes the throne in a couple of weeks.”

We’d heard about the future King Samuel from Zeke. He was turning eighteen in two weeks and would finally be old enough to ascend to the throne. Zeke had informed us that pack tensions would worsen once that happened, but I wondered if that was because he’d once again have to answer to someone. I cherished the fact it would be someone so much younger.

“The reason the adviser roles were created was that the original pack had grown too large for one person to manage across five states,” Lucas continued. “Our job is to ensure we function as one pack, the way it originally was, with everyone’s best interests at heart.”

This was new information to me, but it didn’t matter. I had to get back to Zeke. “Thank you for helping me, but—”

“Here, Callie.” Brows furrowed, Bodey held out his shirt. “Go put this on.”

I cringed. I’d forgotten I was nearly shirtless, even though it was why I’d been clutching my chest. I didn’t want to obey him, but the last thing I wanted to do was stumble back to my pack this torn up and broken. Accepting the shirt was more for me than about him.

Before I could reach out to take it, he’d placed it in my hands gently, so I didn’t have to extend my arm and injure myself again.

My vision blurred at his kindness.

He took a hesitant step back. “I know it’ll hurt to put that on. I’m willing to help if you want.”

“No!” I exclaimed.

Jack snickered and muttered, “Bodey’s stealing my lines.”

Lucas thumped the back of Jack’s head. “Shut up, man. Not helping.”

Face flaming, I cleared my throat. I didn’t want to come off like a jackass. “I meant I’d rather do it on my own, but thank you for offering.”

“Of course.” He gestured toward where the four of them had shifted back into human form. “There’s a concealed spot over there if that works for you.”

“I’ll be just a minute.” I shuffled in that direction, needing a moment to myself to process everything—the attack, the four alpha advisers, their kindness, and Zeke searching for me. My head spun, and I wasn’t sure if it was from confusion, blood loss, pain, or a combination of all three. I didn’t know how to stop them from going back with me. It would only piss Zeke off more, but what could I do? If I ran, these four would catch me, and even if I got away, they knew where Zeke lived. They would show up anyway.

With shallow breaths, I ducked behind a gigantic larch and groaned as I lifted my arms to remove my shirt. Fire sliced through me, and nausea churned in my stomach. I dropped my hands to my sides, trying to think of an easier way to get out of the pathetic excuse for a shirt. The best option I had was to rip the rest of it off.

“You know he won’t be thrilled when we go back with her,” Lucas said, and I realized I could hear them from their spot on the embankment. “He won’t like that we interfered.”

“We can’t let her go alone. From that text, it’s clear there’s no telling what she’ll be walking into,” Bodey replied. “Zeke is an ass.”

“Hell yeah, he is,” Jack added bitterly. “If he were on fire, I’d find some gasoline to finish the bastard off.”

Laughter bubbled out of me before I could clamp it down. Most of the pack revered Zeke, especially the wolves he favored. Zeke had a way of luring people in when he wanted to, but he’d never even attempted to use that charm on me. From as far back as I could remember, my mere presence had incited vicious stares and words.

“It sounds like I’m not alone in that sentiment.” Jack chuckled. “I like her more already.”

My knees weakened, and I almost fell down. I wasn’t used to anyone being nice to me, but he’d actually complimented me.

Me.

The weakest wolf most shifters had ever seen.

I released the shredded fabric of my shirt, watching the pieces float down and settle on the leaf-covered ground. I didn’t have many things I valued, and that shirt had been one. Just another thing my pack had taken away from me.

I unfolded the white shirt, and delicious scents of cinnamon and sandalwood swirled around me, smelling just like Bodey. It was one of the best things I’d ever smelled, and the scent seemed vaguely familiar. I lifted the shirt to my nose and took a deep whiff as if I were some sort of perv. Lovely.

“Jack, for the love of gods, keep your mouth shut,” Bodey grumbled, and someone’s shoes scuffed against the rocks.

Ribs screaming, I tried not to groan as I lifted my arms to put the shirt over my head. A whimper escaped.

Miles exhaled. “We need to take her back.”

“Yeah, she needs to clean those wounds and rest,” Lucas repeated as if no one had heard him before. “I’m surprised she wasn’t harmed worse.”

Shirt on, I stumbled from behind the tree. The garment’s hem hit my knees, and it looked as if I were wearing a large dress. “She’s right here and heard everything.”

“Sorry if we were rude.” Miles cringed. “That wasn’t our intention.”

“Look, I appreciate everything you four have done and are trying to do. Really. But I can go back on my own.” I didn’t want to cause more problems between Zeke and the other four royal alpha advisers, especially with the pending coronation. They were about to spend a lot of time together.

Bodey karate-chopped the air. “Absolutely not. We’re going with you. We need to tell our side of the story.”

I hadn’t considered that point. Charles wouldn’t have only made me out to be the bad guy; he’d have vilified them as well, probably not realizing who they were. I sighed in defeat.

Jack cackled. “Do you know how many women would love to have just one of us escort them anywhere for any reason? You’re getting all four of us. It’s like a buy-one-get-one-free deal times two!”

I arched a brow. All four of them were hot, especially Bodey, but the last thing I needed was a distraction. I had one goal, get my own place away from the pack. “You aren’t lacking confidence.”

“I am a superstrong alpha.” Jack patted his chest.

“Man, stop talking,” Bodey rasped, smacking Jack in the back of the head.

That had happened twice in the past ten minutes. I had no doubt it wasn’t an anomaly.

Lucas rubbed a hand down his face. “Let’s just go.”

Now that I could get behind. Instead of waiting for one of them to take the lead, I headed back in the direction we’d come from. My misery had eased slightly, indicating my shifter healing was kicking in. I needed to get home and clean the wounds just to be sanitary. Shifters rarely got infections, but given how weak my supernatural side was, I wouldn’t risk it.

The four of them trailed behind me, having no problem with me taking the lead. Zeke—and even Theo—wouldn’t have tolerated it, proving how different these four were from my pack.

My phone dinged again, and I winced as I pulled it out.

Theo: Callie? Are you okay? I’m getting worried. Charles said something about rogue wolves attacking them and you running off?

Me: Sorry. I’m okay. I’m heading home now.

After I hit send, I kept my phone in my hand. It put too much strain on my injuries to reach back and put the phone into my pocket again.

Guilt weighed on me. I should’ve warned Theo that Bodey, Jack, Lucas, and Miles were heading home with me, but I didn’t want to give Zeke time to prepare. For once, I would have the upper hand against him.

Bodey caught up to me, his irises back to the gorgeous color I seemed to get caught up in. “Hey, everything will be fine.” He smiled reassuringly. “We’ll make sure of it. The five wolves who attacked you will get into trouble.”

I smiled sadly and kissed my fingertips before holding them up to the moon. “You can’t say that. It’s a promise on behalf of someone else.”

His breath caught, and something shimmered in his eyes. “Why did you do that?”

“Tell you not to make a promise you can’t keep? Because Zeke isn’t like you and your friends.”

He clutched my elbow, stopping us. “No—you kissed your fingers and held them up to the moon. Why?”

“Oh.” I shrugged. I’d done it on instinct. “It’s something I occasionally do when someone has misguided good intentions. I’m asking the moon to bless them for trying.” I wrinkled my nose and hung my head, not wanting to see his reaction. It sounded silly, but it was something I’d always done, though no one had noticed before.

“I once knew someone who did that for the same reason.” His eyes narrowed. He scanned my face as if searching for some sort of answer.

I fidgeted under the intense perusal.

“Is something wrong?” Lucas asked, his voice tense. “Is there a threat?”

Bodey blinked, and whatever had come over him vanished. “Nope. I just got distracted.”

“By Callie’s face?” Jack asked with approval. “I could easily be, too. It’s by far the prettiest I’ve ever seen.”

I lowered my head, using my blonde hair as a barrier between Bodey and me. A shiver ran through me—not because Jack was acting like a creeper but because I wasn’t used to compliments.

A low growl sounded from Bodey. “She’s off-limits, Jack.”

My heart skipped a beat, which was foolish. It wasn’t as if Bodey was interested in me. He was clearly a nice guy…a good alpha.

I picked up my pace, despite my ribs protesting. I needed to get the confrontation with Zeke over with so I could go to bed and rest. And get some space.

Bodey caught up with me again, but he didn’t speak. He occasionally glanced at me, his face strained like he couldn’t figure me out.

Five miles later, we broke through the last of the woods that made up Hells Canyon and stepped onto the private land of our pack. Zeke’s main pack consisted of two hundred shifters, but he oversaw all the packs in the entire state, so over five thousand shifters in total.

The back of the one-story brick house I called home came into view, and I hurried. All the lights were on, despite it being close to two in the morning, but that wasn’t what gave me heartburn. That was due to the man waiting in my backyard with Theo.

My parents weren’t outside, which wasn’t surprising. The alpha would want to speak to me alone.