Page 80 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

Grace’s high-pitched panting broke through the air. “And what about that one?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Her temperament is wanting. I was actually thinking about draining her.”

A smirk grew on his face. “I love a good draining. Why not bring her too, and we’ll make a feast out of her with the rest of the Elders?”

I smiled, relief relaxing my tense muscles. Tonight had gone even better than I had hoped. The promise of warriors would be upheld, and I had found a new home for Jen and a solution for Grace. “So be it.”

36

MARLOWE

Just as Cam and I finished showering, Nolan yelled that dinner was ready. The delicious aroma of cheese and a rich Bolognese sauce had already reached my nest, and my mouth was watering as I raced down the stairs.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Nolan’s face – his eyes were black, and his lip was cut.

“Cam!” I cried, turning around in anger. “What did you do?”

He looked indignant, holding up his hands. “Hey, I didn’t do it! I’m perfect, remember?”

“It was me.”

I whipped around at the sound of Archer’s voice, finding him not looking quite as contrite as I would have liked while he set plates around the kitchen island. Elias had his back towards me, opening the wine, and Nolan was finishing mixing the salad.

Like nothing had happened.

“Seriously? And you all are fine with this?” I asked.

Cam put his hand on my shoulder and sighed. “We’re alphas, babe. We try to use words, we really do, but at the end of the day, we’re still not human. Our tempers run hot, and we sometimes resort to fists to settle differences between us.”

I shoved him off, losing my appetite. “Yeah, and does that include betas? Females? Omegas? If I piss you off, are you going to punch me, too?”

“Never,” Nolan replied emphatically, coming to my side. “Marlowe, we wouldneverhurt you.Iwould never hurt you.”

It was easy to say that now when our emotions had cooled, but outside the liquor store, I had seen a look in Nolan’s eyes that shook me to my core. Even if he did think he was incapable of ever laying a hand on me physical, emotionally I was still suffering from his actions. “But you did. That’s what I was trying to tell you. Do you want to know what those women said?”

Their expectant eyes all fell on me.

“They called me a whore.”

Snarls erupted from the pack. “Enough!” I yelled. They quieted at my command, hands balled into fists at their sides.

Proving my point, I sadly realized. “Since omegas disappeared, shifters have adopted more human practices like monogamy, right?”

Archer nodded. “That is correct.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay, so put yourselves in a beta female’s shoes, then. The resurgence of omegas would be a threat to their dating pool, their relationships, even their safety. They called me a whore because I’m bonded to four alphas, one of whom dropped his beta girlfriend like a sack of potatoes after just a whiff of me.”

“Hey,” Cam retorted. “She wasn’t my girlfriend, we’d only been on a few dates.”

I gave him a pointed look. “What if she had been, though? Or what if you two had been married, and then you met me? Let’s say the rest of the pack was single and bonded to me. Would you be able to resist me? Would I be able to resist you? Could you handle just sitting out of my heat?”

I watched as my words hit them, as the realization sunk in. Cam rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, shit…”

“Yeah, exactly. I’m an unwitting Jolene in a town full of Dollys. So Nolan, when you stormed into that liquor store, guns blazing, all you did was justify their fears. That even the affable, friendly mayor could become so obsessed over an omega he’d threaten to kill two females just for being a little bitchy. I was upset because I could understand where they were coming from, and because I had foolishly thought that once I was bonded, I could live here and be treated like a normal person.”

“You can, and you will be,” Nolan responded. “It’ll take some getting used to, for all of us, the town included. But you’ll find your stride. You’ll make friends…”

“Friends?” I scoffed. “How can I have any friends if they’re worried their partners are going to fall in lust with me the moment I walk by them?”

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