Buried and Shadowed (Branded Packs #3)(8)

She tasted the lie, but she let it go. Oh, he might have tripped, but that wasn’t the extent of it. She knew being the Foreseer meant that each vision took a little more out of the person. She wasn’t sure how he handled seeing parts of the future, never knowing if what he saw would come to pass. Yet he did his best, even if he cut himself off from everyone. She rarely saw him within the den center surrounded by people. It was always only in times like these while they passed one another. Always being near, but never too close.

Only now, she had her hands on him. She was pretty close, all right.

“Everything okay?” Theo asked as he came close. She could feel the heat of him behind her, but unlike with Oliver, her wolf didn’t press her. If anything, her wolf went toward Oliver even more.

Oliver looked over her at Theo and frowned. He pulled away from her and sighed. “I’m fine now. Thank you.”

Theo pulled her toward him then, and she wanted to claw at him, but that wasn’t in her wolf’s nature. When Oliver didn’t reach for her, she let Theo pull her away fully. Damn her wolf. Damn it all.

Of course, as soon as she thought that, another scent came upon them and she wanted to curse. A wolf.

Gibson looked like he’d been through hell. Dark circles under his eyes made his skin stand out in stark contrast to the dark of his hair. He looked like he’d lost weight in the day she hadn’t seen him.

He glanced between the three of them—Oliver, her, and Theo, and frowned just as Oliver had. When his gaze settled on the territorial way Theo held her, she tried to pull away, but Theo was too strong.

Gibson went up to Oliver’s side and looked at the other man intensely. “Let’s get you home, big guy.”

“You’re not looking so strong yourself right now, wolf,” Oliver grumbled.

“Then it’ll take both of us,” Gibson said simply. He turned to Mandy. “I’ve got this. You should go with Theo. Don’t want a dominant wolf all riled up.”

She blinked at him, annoyed and hurt. He was the Omega now. How could he not feel what she felt? How could he not know that she didn’t want Theo, that she wanted the men before her? Of course, she knew that he couldn’t pull the different emotions between so many people apart yet, but that didn’t matter.

Her wolf wanted him, wanted Oliver, and yet they pushed her toward Theo.

She watched the men walk away without another word, her heart breaking. She needed to tell them, needed to show them who she was and find the courage. Because this was killing her.

Theo hugged her close, and she finally pulled away. It was easier when there weren’t others around; when he wasn’t holding as tightly because his wolf didn’t have to fight for dominance.

“What was that?” he asked, genuine confusion on his face.

“I’m not your mate, Theo,” she blurted. His eyes widened. “Stop treating me like I can’t be next to other men.”

“But…I thought…” Theo’s voice trailed off, and she wanted to kick herself for being so direct.

“Go to the den center,” she said after a moment. “I need a minute to myself.”

Theo studied her face. “I’ll walk you back.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head.

“It’s not safe alone right now,” he said, his voice stern.

“Theo…”

“Not now, Mandy.” He sighed. “Not now.”

Mandy sighed herself, and in awkward silence, walked beside Theo as they went back to her place. She’d changed things, perhaps broken who she and Theo were together, but she wasn’t sure she’d have done it another way.

Her wolf didn’t want Theo the way his wolf wanted her. It wasn’t fair to either of them, and yet she was afraid she’d wrecked the one friendship that had kept her sane within these den walls.

When Theo left her alone at her place, she shut the door behind him and sank to the floor. She’d never liked when she couldn’t find the courage to do what she had to do in order to survive and breathe. She’d gone to Oliver’s side when she might not have before, and that was at least a step in the right direction.

As for hurting Theo’s feelings, she would mend that because that was who she was. But she would make sure he knew what she needed in order to be her.

She just hoped she hadn’t damaged what they had irrevocably already.

As for Gibson and Oliver, perhaps it was time for her to show them what being a submissive wolf meant in the grand scheme of things.

She wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t walk away. But that meant she had to go about things a little differently than she would if she were a dominant wolf. She wouldn’t barge in and demand for them to tell her everything, to show her what she needed.

But she’d find a way to make something happen.

Because her Pack was in a state of change, and Mandy was about to change right along with it.





Chapter 3


Death clawed at him, digging its talons into his back and soul. Oliver tried to fight off the dark caped soldier of fate but knew that if he didn’t find a way out of the depths of his own subconscious, he would lose.

Oliver shook himself within the dream that was no dream but found himself trapped. He sighed and took a look around at his surroundings, knowing this could be important once he woke up.