Page 97 of Taming of a Wolf

Arlo exhales, smiling. “Thank Freya. I really didn’t want to have to do anything drastic like we usually do with berserkers. Welcome back, Anders!” Suddenly, he staggers. “Whoa. Feeling a bit dizzy… all of a sudden…” His eyes roll back.

My cry of warning has barely escaped when Gunnar swoops in and catches Arlo in his arms.

“I can take him,” Wulfric says as he approaches Gunnar. “He should lie down inside.”

A rumble like thunder fills the air, and I realize it’s coming from Gunnar as the man huddles over Arlo’s vulnerable body. Like a wolf protecting its prey.

“Gunnar,” Lyall says sharply. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Stay away from my mate,” Gunnar snarls.

Anders tenses beside me. “Mate?The witch is his—”

There’s a low laugh. “My, my. What big, strong arms you have, stud.” Arlo blinks groggily up at Gunnar. “I’m all right.”

All the tension drains from Gunnar’s body, his eyes widening as he seems to come to his senses. “I… what happened?”

No one speaks. I don’t blame them. I don’t know what to say either.

Arlo wets his lips. The two of them are so close together, a hair’s breadth away from kissing. It’s such an intimate moment I feel like I should look away, but I can’t. Anders’s family has more drama than a soap opera, and I’m addicted.

“You said that I was your mate,” Arlo says, eyes wide as he searches Gunnar’s face. “Did you mean that?”

The blood drains from his face, and he lets Arlo fall into the snow. Gunnar stumbles back, his chest rising and falling quickly. He says, “No. I have no mate. Not anymore.”

I can almost feel the devastation on Arlo’s face. It’s the look of a man whose heart has been broken.

Gunnar turns and takes off into the woods, leaving a heavy silence in his wake.

“Here you are, dear!” Helga rushes over with a change of clothes. She frowns at all our shocked faces. “What did I miss?”

“Thank you,” Anders says with a gruff clearing of his throat, accepting the clothes. “I’m going to dress, pet, but wait here for me. I have an evening planned.”

“Really?” I ask distractedly, watching Arlo as he stumbles up with Kieran’s help and quickly shoos him away.

“Aye. Wait for me, pet.” With a kiss to my cheek, Anders walks buck-ass naked to the longhouse. I shamelessly ogle him until he’s out of sight.

Lyall offers a smile. “Thank you for your help. We were worried about him.”

I shrug. “I didn’t do much…”

Wulfric snorts. “You saved him from his berserker rage and looked after him in your time.” My wolf instincts rush to the surface, and I bare my throat to the pack Alpha. He’s notmyAlpha, but he’s pack. I can feel it. Squeezing my shoulder, Wulfric says, “You are welcome among us, always.”

“Thank you.”

Wulfric’s mustache tips when he offers a small but respectful smile. “Now, I’ve got to go find Gunnar and make sure he’s all right.”

“Are you hungry?” Helga asks Arlo. She’s eyeing him with interest behind her friendly smile, like he’s a species of bird she wants to observe.

“Huh?” Arlo looks away from the woods where Gunnar had run off. “Oh. Yes. Thank you.”

“Come in, come in. Have some mead and a meal. You need food to recover your magic, do you not?”

Arlo chuckles. “Well, food can help a little, but it’s the act of lovemaking that replenishes our magic quickly. A shame the man I’d love to have it with just rejected me in front of his whole family,” he adds in a mutter, then goes inside after Helga.

For a few minutes, I linger, watching the northern lights swirl.

An arm encircles me, and Anders rumbles, “Come. We can watch the lights anytime you wish, but I can hear your stomach growling from here. You must eat.”

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