Charmed Wolf by Aimee Easterling (best ereader for pdf TXT) 📕

the complaint aloud when Tank growled: “It’s the best you’re getting.”

“I didn’t mean to suggest....” I started, but Lupe spoke over us both.

“We’ll break up into shifts,” she decided. “Ryder and I will take night watch then we’ll reconvene in the morning. Tank, you and Athena....”

“No,” I interrupted.

“No?” Lupe’s dominance fell over me like a weighted blanket. For a second, I couldn’t even breathe.

But even though the Guardian’s strength wasn’t there to be called upon, I was now an Alpha surrounded by her clan. I could pull from wolves in close proximity, taking just enough from each pack mate so my shoulders were able to straighten back up.

“No,” I repeated. “You’re not patrolling here tonight. As I said, we’re fixing the problem with a force fire. Tomorrow, you may come back and reassess.”

Lupe’s nostrils flared. She didn’t like me and I didn’t like her either. If this turned into a pissing contest, I wasn’t sure who would win.

But, for now, we had a common purpose. Rid the Whelan clan of fae. After a moment, Lupe nodded jerkily.

“Until tomorrow then.”

Chapter 22

It took an hour to get the force fire burning. A pair of thick ropes swiveled the upright tree trunk back and forth, like a giant version of rubbing two sticks together combined with a synchronized tug-of-war. The process was complicated and fiddly...and my pack mates fell upon it with pure joy. Long before the first smoke spiraled upward, laughter and ribbing warmed the clearing. I itched to try my hand.

Instead, I drifted around the periphery, spreading praise lightly. As with baking powder, too much would make the cake bitter. Just the right amount uplifted spirits and caused the entire pack to rise.

I drifted...then, then when the moment felt just right, I thrust the fragment of Faery into the fire. What had been subtly pretty in my hand ignited like a Fourth of July sparkler when it hit the smoldering logs. The combination spat more colors than I’d thought existed, and the pack’s awe at the resulting beauty was nothing compared to my relief that the force fire appeared to work.

Not everyone was enjoying themselves, however. Midway through my second pass, I noted Kale standing alone in the shadows. He was leaning against a tree trunk, trying once again for manly insouciance and failing miserably. I took a step forward to drag him into the revelry and Rune beat me to the punch.

“Stomachache?”

Kale straightened so fast he nearly fell over. “I was trying to look cool. Like your brother.”

It was obvious to me that there was no love lost between Rune and Erskine, but Rune didn’t remark upon that. Instead he suggested, “Perhaps it would be better to look cool like yourself?”

“I can’t.” Kale dragged one hand through his hair, raising spikes up higher. “I don’t have it.”

“Don’t have what?”

“A Y chromosome.”

I sucked in a breath, unable to believe that Kale had just come out to this man he’d known for fewer than twenty-four hours. After all, the kid still didn’t trust his best friends from school with the truth of his identity.

If Rune said the wrong thing, I’d tear his guts out. Tear them out and shove them back down his gullet along with a flaming torch from the bonfire....

“Do you think a Y chromosome is what makes a man?” Rune answered as easily as if Kale hadn’t revealed his deepest secret. “When you apologized to Tara and accepted her apology, that was being a man. Figuring out who you are and how you relate to the people around you is manly behavior. Leaning isn’t on the curriculum.”

The pack was carting glitter out of the storage room now. Clear vials filled with sparkles that turned the clearing into a galaxy of starlight as they met the force-fire’s glow.

Despite the beauty and the importance of the endeavor, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Rune and Kale. Neither was my pack mate, so why did this moment make my chest so joyously tight?

“Now,” Rune continued, “if you also want to look like my playboy brother, this is how you do it. Lean against the tree but keep your chin up. Bend one knee and rest your foot on the trunk behind you. Imagine you’re unbelievably bored.”

“Like this?” Kale’s posture was better but still ungainly. Colt-like.

“Impeccable.”

And the boy’s spine loosened. Suddenly he did look like a playboy, albeit a youthful one.

I swallowed down a mouthful of persimmon and turned back to face my clan.

“CAITLYN,” I CALLED, voice intentionally louder than it needed to be. Because sweetness, unfortunately, wasn’t the role of the Alpha. Doling out punishment was.

Punishment necessary for the good of the pack, even when it was undeserved.

Caitlyn scampered forward with puppy-like enthusiasm. She’d done exactly what I asked of her. She expected praise.

Instead, once she was close enough, I reached out and slapped her across the face.

“Alpha.” Caitlyn’s voice choked. Her neck tilted sideways, offering instant submission. I growled rather than accepting. Waited for every ounce of pleasure to deflate out of her body.

Only once the girl’s honest reaction had proven to the clan that she was no longer in my good graces did I mitigate the sting. Resting one hand on her shoulder, I sent soothing energy toward her at the same time I communicated along the pack bond. “You did well, Caitlyn. But I need you to remain my secret weapon.”

The fact that I could have warned her sat between us. No wonder she peered at me sideways. “I understand, Alpha.”

“Do you?”

Her scent grew determined. “Yes, Alpha. I’ll be like a shiv in an underwire bra.”

“You’re not old enough to need an underwire.” Now I was the one barely managing to keep my face straight.

“I’m old enough to be your shiv though.”

All around us, glitter reflected firelight off cheeks and irises. It seemed impossible to imagine that there was danger within my pack.

But the fae influence had not yet been eradicated. “I need you to watch again tonight,” I told her. “Every