Embracing the Wolf

“Huh?” I’d been staring into his eyes, engrossed in every single word that fell from his lips. Adam motioned with his eyes, and I finally looked down, and my lungs ceased to work. Sitting in a black velvet box sat a sparkly diamond ring.

“I have you as my mate and my chante,” Adam said, taking the ring and lifting my left hand. “Say you’ll be my wife, too.”

I was having a mini panic attack. It was rare for wolves to get married. Most believed taking one as a mate was good enough. Our beliefs in our animals were stronger than human traditions. Adam was giving himself entirely to me. In every possible way, he would own me, and I would own him. I never believed in marriage, not because I didn’t have a healthy example; I did. My parents were very happy and had been married for twenty-five years before they died. I’d just seen too many marriages fail. So why, when I looked at Adam, did I want to say yes?

“Anna?”

I met Adam’s eyes again and smiled. “Your parents are going to be pissed.”

Chapter Fifteen

The full moon was tonight, and we were all antsy. I’d slipped away from the house and found myself at the lake I’d shared with Sawyer. I kicked off my shoes and walked through the shallow water, twirling the huge diamond on my left hand. I still hadn’t talked to Elle, and it hurt. I wanted to run to her after I said yes to Adam, but after our fight, I didn’t think she’d be receptive to my excitement. As far as I knew, Adam’s parents hadn’t heard about our engagement. I could already hear Maggie’s next speech. I was trying my hardest not to let her voice penetrate my head. I knew the complications and danger regarding my bond with Adam, but I also knew we would both be miserable without each other.

I turned my hand over and examined the Chante mark. My entire palm was a raised scar. A design that looked like a four-leaf clover took up most of the space while an infinity symbol ran horizontally across it. A circle encompassed the mark.

A branch snapped just behind me. I whirled around, a growl vibrating up my throat. Since Adam pledging himself to me, my insecurities about fighting had faded away. The power running through me was strong and left me hyperaware of everything around me.

“Sorry,” Chelsea said, holding her hands up in surrender. “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

Just behind her, Sage, Elle, Rachel, and Chloe stepped through the trees. Now that I was paying attention, I could hear more people coming. I guess I wasn’t hyperaware when lost in my own thoughts. I’d have to learn to juggle the two things.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re all itchy,” Rachel said, coming toward me. “Sage suggested we go for a swim, said it helps calm her down during the full moon.”

This would be Chelsea’s first full moon. I remembered how anxious I’d been during mine—feeling my wolf pushing forward, but not breaking free. It was uncomfortable at first and sensual. The brush of our beast beneath our skin amped up our already sensitive sex drives.

“How are you doing?”

Chelsea hugged her arms to her chest and then let them fall to her sides, only to cross them again. Yeah, she was anxious and revved up. Her curly brown hair blew back with the breeze.

“I’m trying to get used to it, ya know? I mean, up until two weeks ago, I didn’t even know stuff like this really existed, and now I’m living it.”

I nodded. “I felt the same way when it happened to me. I even refused to believe they were werewolves, even when Joe stripped in front of me and transformed. I was convinced it was some sort of parlor trick.”

Chelsea smiled at me. “How long did it take for you to come to terms with it?”

I snorted. “I think I’m still coming to terms with it, but I accepted it after about two months. It’s scary, I know, but it’s also pretty damn cool. The Everwood pack is great, and we’re lucky to be part of their pack. Some of the other packs aren’t as laid back.”

“Turning me into the live-in maid doesn’t seem that laid back to me.”

I laughed because I’d felt the same way when I was the live-in maid. Everyone pulled his or her weight in the pack. It just happened that newbies pulled a little more.

“I wholeheartedly agree with you on that one. It sucks, but you have Elle and me to help you out whenever you need it.”

Chelsea’s smile disappeared. “I could never ask one of my alphas for help. This thing inside of me quivers anytime we’re around one of you, like its scared or something.”

I frowned, remembering how I felt being around Adam and Eve. Our wolves respected their alphas, and now I was one. It was bizarre.

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “I don’t want you to be afraid of either one of us.”

“Chelsea, you wanna help me with this stuff?”

We both turned to see Elle carrying a big cooler with a radio balanced on top. Our eyes met, and she looked away. The little shun hit me in the gut. Elle was the first wolf to befriend me when I came to the mountain. I hated that I had snapped at her.

“You stay here,” I told Chelsea. “I’ll help her.”

Walking over to Elle, I grabbed the radio right before it fell off the cooler. “Hey, sorry about last night. I was a little moody.”

“A little? You were on the verge of paranoia.”

I gave her a small smile. “Yeah, sorry. Grace under fire, I am not.”

Elle’s eyes widened, and she set the cooler down, reaching for my left arm. She brought my hand up and examined my new ring.

“Holy shit, he proposed?”

I nodded, a wide smile stretching my lips. “Last night.”

Chloe came up beside us, her eyes glaring at my new, sparkly accessory. My smile grew bigger while my inner voice said, Take that, bitch.

“Has Maggie or Donald seen this?” Chloe asked.

“Not yet, but I’m sure you’ll scurry off and tell them the good news.”

Chloe growled, her anxious wolf coming to the surface. Elle gasped, stepping in front of me. As her alpha female it was her job to protect me, but after getting a dose of Adam’s power, I was capable of ripping her head off.

I stepped around Elle and allowed my own wolf to surface. A menacing snarl ripped from my lips as I stared the jealous Chloe in the eye. It was a challenge. Whoever looked away first bowed down to the other. There was no way in hell I was backing down from this tramp.

“You have something to say to me, Chloe?”

“You bitch,” Chloe snapped. “You don’t deserve an alpha, let alone an olde blood. I was the next in line.”

That brought me up short. There was a line of mates for Adam?

“Looks like you’ll have to keep waiting.”

“What’s going on?” Adam’s voice boomed through the space. Everyone fell silent as he approached us.

“You’re marrying this mutt?” Chloe spit out. “You’re going to taint the Everwood bloodline with this whore.”

All I saw was red. My vision blurred as rage consumed not only me, but my wolf, too. My fist was sailing through the air before I realized I even lifted my arm. My knuckles connected with Chloe’s nose, a sickening crack sounding. She screeched, her hands coming up to cradle her bleeding nose.

“You bitch.” She charged me, but Adam’s arms banded around her waist. He threw her off, and she landed on her ass five feet in front of me.

“You are a guest on my mountain, Chloe,” Adam growled. “And you come here and insult my choices and mate? I want you gone by sundown. Tell my parents their plan backfired.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Chloe said incredulously. “You’re really going to pick her over me, a pureblood wolf from a respectable clan? You’ve lost your fucking mind.”

One of the scariest growls I’ve ever heard traveled out of Adam’s lips. Chloe had the decency to flinch and lower her eyes.

“Say one more thing … I dare you,” Adam challenged.

Chloe shook her head with a snort, turning and running through the forest. Adam turned to face the group. His hands fisted at his side, and his chest puffed up from anger.

“If there are any other mother fuckers who have a problem with Anna, I’ll give you two choices: leave my mountain, or step up and get your ass beat. Anyone?”

Heads shook all around, people amped up from the fight and the coming full moon. A lot of orange and yellow eyes stared back at us. It was eerily beautiful.

“Good,” Adam said. “Let’s have some fun.”

* * * *

“I thought you said Chloe batted for your team?” I asked Elle. “I’ve never heard of a gay person having bad gay-dar.”

Elle splashed water in my face. “I have excellent gay-dar, thank you very much. A blind person couldn’t miss the way she eye-fucked me the night she arrived.” Elle flipped onto her back and floated. “I think she’s bi, though, and I’m sure Adam’s parents used their powers of persuasion to coerce her into going after Adam. The Everwoods are nothing if not persistent.”

I thought about that for a moment. Adam knew what his parents were up to if his words to Chloe had any truth in them. I guess it wasn’t a secret; I mean, Maggie did dote on Chloe while looking down her nose at me. It didn’t matter that she was a vile woman. Maggie only cared about the blood running through her veins. I was done listening to any plea Maggie threw my way. I would not allow her to make me feel bad about Adam’s and my relationship. Her desperate attempts to get me to run had more to do with getting me out of the picture than it did with the safety of her son. I still had my doubts and still entertained the idea of how much safer Adam would be if I weren’t here to distract him, but I couldn’t fathom leaving him either. Then the vision of his dying body popped into my head, and leaving didn’t seem so bad if it meant he would be safe.

It was a vicious game of tug-of-war inside my head, one that would only produce losers. If I left, we would be miserable, and if I stayed, I was a liability to his life. If worse came to worse, and another attack happened, Adam would put himself in the line of fire to save me, just like he had at the ceremony. I knew when the shit hit the fan Adam’s mind would be focused on my wellbeing alone. In that state of mind he couldn’t look after and direct the pack like he’s supposed to. And I knew he knew this too, because when the pack was planning to take down Eve and Anthony’s secret bunker, he’d forced me to go to California with Elle. He knew if I stayed, he couldn’t do his job, not with a clear head anyway, and having cloudy judgment in the face of danger is a one-way ticket to the grave.