He’s wearing suit pants and nothing else.
I follow my nose and find his shirt, jacket, and shoes, piled haphazardly on the beach only a few feet away. He wasn’t wearing those when he pulled me from the water, which means he stripped them off before diving in.
“You got this, V?” the blue-eyed one asks, his attire of jeans and a bare chest similar to what I grew up seeing in the village.
“Yeah, I got this, T.” That addictive purr underlines his words, making me shiver again.
The one called T nods, causing his blond hair to fall into his face. He pushes it back with an errant hand before looking at Caius. “Let’s go break some hearts.”
“And maybe some jaws,” Caius says.
V glances at me, his expression suddenly tired. “Yeah, I think that’s a given.”
5
TIERAN
The female’s scent slithers around me, perfuming the air and filling my lungs with each breath.
There’s something intoxicatingly sweet about it.
Something I want to taste.
“She tried to kill Jack,” Caius says conversationally as we walk in the general direction of the main docks. It’s the location where the guards should have taken the girl. But instead they went to the opposite side of the island where they couldn’t anchor their boat.
Cowards, I think. “They were going to throw her cage in the water and let her drown. I think her assassination attempt is warranted.”
“He was technically helping her by letting her out of the cage and removing the muzzle.”
“Because he wanted to fuck her,” I return.
Caius’s silvery eyes gleam knowingly as he looks at me. “And you don’t?”
I grunt. “Entirely not the point. I didn’t try to drown her.”
“Fair,” he replies. “Well, it’s a good thing you anticipated their usual fuckery. She would have drowned if Volt hadn’t pulled her out.”
I grunt again, this time in agreement. Volt and I were disembarking the yacht when we saw the speed boat heading in the wrong direction around the island. The idiot guards didn’t even see us, too caught up in their own fuckery to notice.
Or maybe they just didn’t care.
Carnage Island is seen from the outside as an overgrown dystopian nightmare.
It’s the front we provide to scare them off.
And it works.
But in this case, it almost cost an innocent wolf her life.
“I fucking hate the archaic methods some of these packs follow,” I mutter. “She couldn’t swim because no one has taught her how to be a goddamn wolf.”
It infuriates me.
Black Mountain Pack is all about embracing our animal at a young age. Sure, we have our hierarchical nuances with Alpha, Beta, and Omega dynamics, but we never suppress our wolves. It’s forbidden to even try.
“She would have died,” I continue, my fists clenching with the urge to hit something.
“Do you think she can swim in human form?” he asks.
I shrug. “With the Nantahala Pack in charge of her upbringing? Who the fuck even knows. I’ll be surprised if she can even read.”
Caius sighs, dragging his fingers through his thick brown hair. It’s longer than usual, the ends touching his ears and falling into his face when he releases the strands. “I can’t believe she’s part Nantahala Wolf. She looks all Carnage to me.”
He’s not wrong. That white fur is flawless on her. “She doesn’t smell like a Carnage Wolf.”
Well, that’s not fully true.
She does smell like a Carnage Wolf to an extent. But there’s something underlying her fragrance that’s distinctly other and it’s throwing off my wolf’s ability to understand her.
“Hmm,” Caius hums as we reach the crest of the hill that leads down to the main docks. “They’re not going to be pleased by this development.”
“They’ll live,” I reply, leading the way.
It’s become a tradition to play a game with the female newcomers. But as there are only three on the island, I think the males will give us a little flexibility for this round.
Particularly as she’s in no condition to indulge us right now.
Her wolf is in control, not the human inside. Consent is a touchy subject among our kind. Alphas tend to take what they want to an extent. We’re stronger and faster. But our women are always willing.
And while her animal may want to play, the human inside is clearly hurting. I could see it in her eyes, the struggle deep within.
“We’ll have to help her shift later,” I tell Caius as we near the docks. “I suspect her mate never released her from his hold.”
“An odd thing to do since he clearly rejected her.”
“It’s a power trip. He’s not relinquished his control because he wants her to suffer.” Which means her former intended is an absolute ass. Not surprising given his ties to the Santeetlah Pack. “Or it’s a result of her not knowing how to manage her wolf.”
Equally as likely given her upbringing.
“Or the wolf is protecting her,” Caius says, echoing my earlier comment.
I nod. “We won’t know until we spend more time with her.”
“Something that will obviously be a hardship for all of us,” my best friend drawls. “That scent alone is going to drive me wild in the best way.”
He’s not wrong. That delicious aroma clings to my skin even now, causing my wolf to want to run back to the den to greet her. To welcome her home.
An insane urge.
But my animal has always guided my actions.
I won’t fault him for declaring his desire without even knowing the female’s name. He has the ability not to overthink things. If he wants something, he states it flatly.
And right now, he wants her.
Not long term. Just a taste.
Something I may indulge him in, assuming I can pull the female back into human form.
However, there are more pressing issues to address first, such as the cluster of male wolves waiting on the docks. They’re all standing around, grinning in anticipation, their eyes gleaming with intrigue.
Most of them are Alphas.
Some are Betas.