Page 29 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

MARLOWE

“Do you mind if I stop by my office?” Nolan asked. “I need to pick up a few things and just check in with my staff real quick.”

“Sure, no problem.”

A wooden, hand painted sign welcomed us to Maiingan Hollow.

Population 12,941. Home of the Warriors.

“Warriors? You mean you aren’t the home of the shifters or the wolves?”

Nolan laughed. “A little too on the nose, don’t you think? Besides, while this community may be for people like us, we still have to interact with the human world. We need to blend in and assimilate if we don’t want to be hunted into extinction.”

“Assuming this is all real, of course.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. “Of course.”

I still wasn’t ready to admit I believed shifters existed and that I was one of them. Despite everything I’d experienced since arriving, my brain didn’t want to release its hold of the world I knew and dive head first into the possibility that there were other species of people. People that, until now, I thought only existed in fairy tales and horror films.

We pulled into a parking lot, and Nolan turned off the engine. “I’ll only be a few minutes. It’s probably for the best if you stay here.”

I knew we were close to Camden’s house, but we’d been in the car for hours and I had been looking forward to getting some fresh air and stretching my legs. “Why, embarrassed to be seen with me?”

Nolan reached over and grabbed my chin, turning my face towards his. “If you were my omega I’d be howling it to the whole Moon-damned town. But seeing as you’re not, and you’re unbonded, it’s really not a good idea to advertise your presence quite yet.”

His brown eyes were pleading, his smiling face now serious and unwavering.

“No one’s told me what ‘unbonded’ means yet,” I replied.

He cocked his head to the side. “Really? Big oversight on the guys’ part. Bonding is the act that connects a shifter to a pack. It’s unbreakable, the sign of ultimate commitment. Alpha packs are wired to desire an omega, and if you don’t have one, one can be forced on you. Imagine some random man burst into your home and forced you to marry him and his friends, and there was no stopping it or ever escaping.”

My heart raced, and a lump formed in my throat. That did sound awful.

“But you guys didn’t do that to me?”

His hand moved to cup my cheek, his thumb gently rubbing circles on my skin. “Shifters are still people, sugar. Some of us may be dirtbags, but that doesn’t apply to everyone. We would only bond with an omega who wanted to be with us.”

The windows began to fog, obscuring us from passersby. Nolan’s bourbon and vanilla scent surrounded me, and I took a deep breath, finding comfort in the smell. “Is it possible for an omega to bond with a pack…” I struggled to find the words.

“Platonically?” Nolan responded.

I nodded.

He sighed, pulling away and back into his seat. “Maybe. But I wouldn’t want that, and I don’t think the guys would either.”

The silence between us was thick and oppressive. “Can’t handle the friend zone, eh?” I joked, my voice cracking.

I liked Nolan. I liked Elias and Archer, too. Hell, even Camden had his moments. They were all so handsome it almost hurt to look at them, and there was no denying the chemistry I felt when we were together. And while I had always been a strong fan of monogamy, part of me felt comfortable with the idea of us all being in a relationship, strangely enough.

But I was engaged to a man I loved, a very human man who I didn’t think would appreciate me coming home with four new boyfriends. Or packmates. Or whatever they’d be called.

“It’s not like that. I’d love to have you as a friend. But when an alpha bonds with an omega, he changes. He no longer desires another female. You’d be sentencing us all to a life of unrequited love.”

That definitely didn’t sound fair.

“But,” he continued, “if you’re really ready to accept this life, I can help you find a pack. Betas form packs too, and while they are also drawn to omegas, the pull isn’t as strong. Especially if you’re in a pack with only females. They could offer you protection from predatory alphas.”

A beta female pack. A sisterhood. That actually didn’t sound too bad. “And they would be fine with me living so far away?”

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