Page 13 of Primal

But, if I’m being honest, things were already falling apart way before our grand and somewhat dramatic finale. You know, the part where I lost consciousness. Turns out, doing your best impression of a fainting goat is a surefire way to get out of any awkward or intense situation.Use this knowledge responsibly, friends.

I thought my uncharacteristic reaction to Rennick’s scent was intense when I first stepped foot in his house, but the way every atom of my makeup seemed to respond to his towering, dominant presence put my earlier fit to shame. It was by sheer will alone and a couple desperate prayers to the Goddess that I was able to ignore the absolutely unhinged desires of my caged wolf. If that bitch had it her way, I would have marched right over to the too-handsome-for-his-own-good Alpha and rubbed my body all over him until he was thoroughly marked with my scent.

Scent marking? Yeah, that’s a new one for me.

Never, in my nearly twenty-six years of life, have I had that kind of visceral and needy reaction to another person. Especially not to one who owns a penis. Historically, my wolf doesn’t want me within sniffing distance of a male, and yet, she was acting as if her life was going to end if I didn’t do what she was insisting of me. His addictive scent had both of us in a vice-like grip and, of course, I’d accidentally selected the patio chair that was soaked in mint and leather. Stopping myself from burrowing deeper into those cushions was a true testament of my willpower.

I deserve one hell of an award for being able to keep my shit together and my inner turmoil under wraps through almost the entirety of my reintroduction with Rennick Fallamhain. There was a moment there that I truly believed I was going to be able to get through this without giving myself away or making a scene, and then I did something astoundingly stupid.

I touched him.

My palms were pressed to his heaving chest before I comprehended that I’d moved to stand before the unraveling alpha male. His pectoral muscles were hot and strong beneath my fingertips, and my wolf half swaggered about her glass cage, pleased as shit she got her way and my hands were finally on him. If I had been capable of focusing on anything else but him at that moment, I may have scolded her, but as if I were under a spell, I succumbed fully to the allure of Rennick.

In that short moment, my hands on his chest, his baseball-mitt-sized hands wrapped tightly, yet somehow still tenderly, around my wrists, I felt a hundred emotions all at once as my psyche begin to crack. At first, it was nothing but a small trickle dripping through the narrow fissures forming, but the longer I stood there, transfixed, the trickles turned into a flood. The chaos unleashed on my mind and system was thunderous, consuming my every thought.

Until a voice cut through the madness.

“Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate.”

“I—” I choke the singular syllable out but can’t manage to summon anything else. My head snaps up, gaze locking with the woman sitting in the armchair across the room. Dark eyes that appear to hold boundless information and wisdom stare back.

“Gone for almost eight years and you come back with a realbang, don’t you, Noa?” she muses, smoke-lined lips twisting into a smirk. “Can’t say I don’t love to see it. A little excitement keeps things interesting, and I grow easily tired of monotony. Though, I could do without the dreadful screeching coming from that self-important redhead. In the future, if you plan to stir up chaos within our pack, I’d appreciate it if you could do so without the headache-inducing theatrics. The girl’s got a serious set of pipes on her.”

She thinks she has a headache? I’m almost certain an Irish step dancing troupe has been using my skull to rehearse on and, I can’t be sure, but there might be an ice pick embedded in my temple, too. It sure as hell feels that way.

“Chaos?” I repeat, voice still thick. “All I wanted to do was spread my mother’s ashes. I didn’t stir up anything.”

It was Rennick who lost control and made a scene when his wolf nearly shoved through his tanned skin. His human gunmetal gray eyes were swallowed up by the pale bluish silver of his wolf’s. The somewhat ghostly shade was surrounded by a dark limbal ring, which only enhanced the intensity of the predator’s sharp gaze. An innate part of me wanted to look away, to show the Alpha the deference he was owed, but I was transfixed by the animal peering out at me.

The woman, who I’m starting to believe is the pack’s current healer based on her overly strong homeopathic scent and hippie-esque attire that seems to be synonymous with healers, raises a pencil-thin brow. “You don’t think publicly claiming the Alpha ofthis pack as your mate might ruffle a few feathers? Especially the feathers belonging to that squawking parrot he’s betrothed to?”

Something inside of my chest squeezes. Talis McNamara is promised to Rennick. I can’t wrap my head around how this could have happened.

Ignoring the tightness in my rib cage at the unwanted reminder of this impending union, I frown at the woman. “I didn’t claim anyone as my anything.”

She huffs, sounding utterly unimpressed with me. “The entire pack council was there to witness it, and Yrsa, a friend of mine who’s a member, said you peered up at the Alpha’s face, looking like a lovesick puppy, and very clearly said,‘Mate’.”

“It’s true,” Rhosyn murmurs softly, stepping back into the room, the metal and glass French doors clicking closed behind her. I think we’re in a den. The lack of personal items and slightly stale air leads me to believe it’s a space that’s rarely used, which seems like a shame given how inviting the room is. The far wall lined with fully stocked bookcases and the granite fireplace with its crackling fire would have me frequently curling up with a good book if I lived here. “Cane and I heard you say it, too. Along with Talis and her father, Cathal. Nick and my mate are trying to smooth things over right now, but it’s safe to say the McNamaras are pissed. In your defense, that isn’t an entirely unheard of emotion for those two hotheads.”

Against my will or understanding, my muscles tighten at the mention of the Canadian-based pack Alpha. Shoving the reaction down, I stare with unconcealed bewilderment at Canaan’s mate.

“This is ridiculous!” I cry, making the piercing ache in my skull flare. “It was your Alpha who started to lose his shit, and I don’t even know why. All I did was promise never to come back here—which, by the way, is a promise I intend to keep now more than ever—because I know exactly how this packfeels about latent wolves. I was already pushing my luck just by showing up here today, so I thought making it clear to Rennick I’d leave as soon as possible would help my case and put him at ease. Clearly, that backfired because his wolf tried to take control instead.” The deep, guttural growl from his animal half replays in my mind, summoning a fresh wave of goosebumps to dance down my spine. That sound awakened a deep, dormant part of me I had never felt before. “I don’t know what happened. Maybe I panicked or just wanted to help, but I reached out for him. I put my hands on his chest and that’s when I heard…”Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate.I trail off, realizing how insane I already sound and knowing it will only make things worse if I admit the truth: that I heard a voice that wasn’t my own inside my head. A voice that sounded a hell of a lot likehis. “Touching your Alpha was a mistake and wildly out of line. I know that now. Trust me, lesson learned.”

“Latent?”

Out of all the things for Rhosyn to fixate on from my ramblings, she chooses this? I think there are bigger issues at hand right now, like the fact they’re accusing me of claiming their Alpha as my mate, but what do I know?

“It’s not like my status as a shifter is a secret,” I grumble, arms folding across my chest, the move unapologetically defensive. It doesn’t matter how many years pass or how well I’ve come to terms with it, my lack of ability to fully bond with my wolf will always be a sore spot. “I lived here for most of my life. Fresh gossip moves faster than wildfire within the pack.” I nod toward the dark-haired woman, whose name is still a mystery to me. “If my guess is right, you’re the pack’s healer, which makes you my mother’s replacement. I’m sure you were given all the dirty details.”

She examines me, head cocked ever so slightly. “You’re correct. I’m the healer now, and knowledge is power, dear girl,so of course I know the truth of what happened all those years ago.” Beneath her long, obnoxiously patterned skirt, she crosses her legs. “But can you say the same, Noa?”

Well, that’s annoyingly vague.

“I don’t understand?—”

My question is cut off by Rhosyn, because apparently this girl really can’t let the whole latent thing go.

“Noa!” Her tone has taken on an impatient inflection at this point. “What do you mean you were exiled because you are latent?”

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