Page 69 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

They shrank into their shoulders and averted their eyes but remained silent. “Speak,” he commanded.

“Nolan!” I yelled before they could respond. “I don’t want to do this.”

His growl sent another wave of dominance through the small store, shaking the bottles. “They hurt you, Marlowe. I can’t allow that to happen.”

“Thisis hurting me,” I whimpered. “You’re making this worse.”

He released a deep breath, but pointed at the two females. “If either of you so much as look at my omega again, I will…”

“Nolan!”

He roared in frustration and pulled me back outside. “You have to let me protect you!”

Nolan was enraged, his reaction more than I could handle. “This isn’t protectingme,” I replied. “You’re just protecting your ego!”

The look in his eyes was murderous, and for the first time, one of my alphas was actually scaring me. My heart raced, and I backed up slowly, a sad, submissive whine escaping my throat.

The sound brought him back to his senses and he shook his head in disbelief, the rage in his face melting into regret. “Sugar, I’m so sorry if I scared you… Please don’t look at me like that.”

Oh god, what had I gotten myself into? I’d just signed myself up for a lifetime with four males I barely knew. I felt protected when they killed those alphas who’d kidnapped me, but would they really kill two females just for being catty? Catty but, also,probably, justified?

“Can I please just wait in the car while you finish shopping?” I cried.

He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around me. “I would never hurt you. You’re my everything.”

“Please…”

Nolan placed his forehead against mine and put his hands on my cheeks. “Tell me you know I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I know,” I lied. Because how could I? I worked in women’s advocacy; I’d helped dozens of domestic violence survivors escape their abusers. I knew the warning signs, the patterns, the progression. Alphas were walking bags of aggression and testosterone – violence was in their nature. Could being their bonded omega really spare or protect me? And what about the other females in this town?

Nolan sighed, finally giving me his keys. “I’ll be done soon.” With a kiss on the cheek, he walked back into the store and I found his car in the parking lot, letting myself into the passenger seat.

I curled up into a ball and finally released the sobs that had been building inside me. I was now 0-2 on having a normal interaction in this town. Could I really make a life here? With this pack? In a weird, horny, traumatized state, I’d bound myself to near strangers. Strangers who could kill grown males with their bare hands.

Strangers who’d made it clear they weren’t ever letting me go.

A knock at the window brought me out of my misery, and I screamed.

“Marlowe, it’s just me. Are you okay?”

I wiped the fog off the glass and saw Elias, near desperate with worry. “I felt your pain through the bond. What happened?”

I wiped my cheeks and opened the door. “First of all, you need to stop sneaking up on me when I’m in a parked car. Second, it’s nothing. We can talk about it later. How did you get here?”

“Drove. And it’s not nothing, Nolan seems upset, too. Did you guys fight about something? I know he can be a pedantic asshole sometimes.”

I closed my eyes, replaying our argument in my head. “Kind of.”

He growled, breathing deeply through his nose. “Well, the pack will deal with him later. You’re coming with me. You don’t need to be here anymore.”

“But what about—”

“I’ll text him, don’t worry. Come on.”

I left the keys in the cup holder and followed Elias to his car. “I don’t want to say it’s perfect timing, but I actually finished making something for you that might make you feel better.”

“What is it?” I sniffed.

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