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

it.” His tone made clear that if I succumbed to that desperation, I would have failed at my job.

“So I’m that desperate,” I muttered. “So sue me.”

“Tara?”

For one moment, Rune and I were the only ones present, sheltered by budding hazel. The rest of the pack was close behind, though. They were already within earshot.

So I shook my head and pulled my hand away from the wound on my wrist. Blood oozed out, albeit slowly.

Rune opened his mouth, but I didn’t give him a chance to stop me. Instead, I clenched my own teeth down on the thin scab that had materialized while I pushed my way through the forest. Salty blood shot into my mouth and I spat the red into the clear water. Turning my wrist, patterns of crimson curled into the stream.

“Guardian,” I called, “tonight I swear to choose a Beta. In return, I beg your assistance.”

Nothing. Well, nothing other than pack eyes biting into me. Expecting me to solve this problem the way I had all others in the past.

And I would. There had been two requirements from the Guardian. A Beta and an Heir. “I’ve chosen a Consort,” I continued.

A fish sucked at my toes, and for a split second I heard the Guardian’s voice in my head. “But has your Consort chosen you?”

My brows drew together. This was the Guardian’s reservation? “Yes,” I answered aloud. Then, to Rune, “Tell the Guardian that you have accepted the role of Consort.”

Rune had sent the contract to his lawyer yesterday, but I doubted our fae protector would care about signed paperwork. We’d solidify the legal side after Kale, Ash, and the baby were back among us. For now, Rune’s word and mine had to be enough.

Only, he was shaking his head. “Tara....”

Was he shy? “Tell them,” I prodded, knowing the alpha bite wouldn’t force Rune to answer. Still, it would let him know how serious I was about the question.

Rune’s eyes closed and the scent of persimmon that had carried me through the forest sunk away, fading into the flowing water. His voice was low, but not so low my pack couldn’t hear him.

“I tried to tell you earlier, Tara. My lawyer explained the ramifications of the contract and they’re unacceptable. I won’t give away my rights to a child. No, I won’t be your Consort.”

Chapter 33

I stumbled backwards, his words striking me as hard as a blow. The connection I’d thought was growing between me and Rune had all been an illusion? Or, rather, a trick on Rune’s part to make logistics easier while hunting fae.

“Your offer, although intriguing, is not why I’m here,” he had told me during our first meeting. When had I stopped accepting the obvious and started believing in faery tales?

My mouth opened to spit out something harsh and pithy, but Natalie spoke over me. “Scones!”

Okay, so my friend was having some sort of mental breakdown. And the Guardian had gone silent, her requirements unmet.

So, ignoring Rune and the pang in my throat every time I thought of him, I clambered up out of the creek and took my friend’s hand. “The Guardian isn’t the only solution,” I promised her. “We’ll return your kids to you safely. You have to trust the pack....”

Behind me, the pack in question shuffled from foot to foot. I could feel eyes on my neck, the wound there suggesting connections that were far from the truth now.

I’d fix that confusion soon. But, for once, my bereaved friend needed to come first.

Only, Natalie didn’t seem as broken as she’d been a moment earlier. Instead, the wheels in her head were almost visibly turning. “Lenny is fae. The scones prove it.”

Her words still didn’t make sense, but I trusted Natalie’s analytical brain when her eyes got sharp like that. If she thought Lenny was the key to getting her kids back, we’d hunt down Lenny....

Rune was beside me now, but I turned away from him. Instead, I barked orders at my father’s Beta. “Willa, keep the pack safe until I return.”

Caitlyn, I added silently, you’re back on watch duty.

The teenager replied with silent confirmation, but Willa didn’t obey me. Instead, she stood in my path when I started forward, as immovable as a boulder. Our gazes met, wolf bouncing off wolf.

Her words, when they came, weren’t really a question. “If I may speak with you alone, Alpha.”

In response, Rune growled. Stepped close enough to loom over her.

The air between them sparked electric. Frustration made my voice sharp as I shouldered past Rune and acceded to my pack mate’s wish. “Make it quick.”

Willa didn’t. Instead, she remained silent until all three of us—yes, Rune came too—had stepped far enough away from the pack so we could keep our conversation private. Only then did she hiss out her admonitions. “Our clan is facing the gravest disaster of our history. We need our Alpha here. Humans are a distraction.”

“Some humans,” I corrected, “might be a distraction. But Natalie isn’t. Kale isn’t. Even the baby isn’t.”

I thought Rune’s lips twitched ever so slightly at that last bit, but I must have imagined it. Because his voice was rough when he added his own reservations. “Dealing with fae can be complicated. If Natalie has correctly determined the source of the scent in Kale’s bedroom, we still have the same issues we had with Ash. This Lenny could be a fae glamoured to appear human or a human charmed to obey the fae. Each scenario requires a different approach.”

I only realized Natalie had joined our huddle when a pink pacifier popped up in front of my nose. “Will this help?”

I couldn’t see how. But Rune’s nostrils flared, the scent of persimmon swirling back around us. “You are brilliant.”

“I know,” Natalie confirmed. Then, turning to me, “I’ll explain the rest in the car.”

WILLA OBEYED THE SECOND time I told her to watch the pack. Had to since I pushed an alpha command into the words. After that, Natalie, Rune, and