Wolf Betrayed (Talon Pack #4)(14)

She’d lived through one nightmare, and now, her entire life was about not wanting to live another.




As soon as she walked into the infirmary behind Walker, her wolf nudged at her, scenting that spicy, masculine scent. Her mouth watered, and she had to keep from clamping her thighs together as she walked. Her body had only betrayed her like this with one other man, and she’d learned to somewhat curb those instincts around Bram.

She’d been with other men before Bram, as she was a healthy adult female and a shifter at that. She’d liked the comfort, and had always walked away from her lovers as friends. That was how all wolves worked. Shifters couldn’t form a mating bond without that sense of instinct between them, and unmated pairs couldn’t have children. She’d heard that a few times in the past, a mating bond had appeared much later in pairs whose human halves loved one another with devotion and intensity, but she hadn’t felt that type of connection with any of the men she’d been with.

Before Bram.

Though she’d always been best friends with Bram, it hadn’t been until they were older that their wolves had begun to sense there could be more to their relationship than friendship and attraction. She’d never had sex with Bram before that first intense sense of knowing, however, because she hadn’t wanted to ruin what they had. As soon as it became clear to them that they were potential mates, she’d thrown caution to the wind and slept with him.

It had been both the most intensely erotic and emotionally damaging night of her life.

Now, this new wolf, this new scent, this man she had thought the enemy, made her body vibrate in the same way it did around Bram…though with its own unique flavor.

She closed her eyes as she paused in the hallway, doing her best to gain control. She was known for her discipline, and yet right then, it took everything in her power to not run toward the owner of that scent and wrap her body around him.

They called this the mating heat, and she hated it…even as she craved it.

“Do you need to go outside?” Walker asked, his voice low enough that no one would be able to hear. Even those shifters near with their keen sense of hearing wouldn’t have been able to decipher the words.

She shook her head and forced herself to open her eyes. “I can handle it.”

He gave her a look of pity, and she held back a growl. She didn’t want or need his pity. “You’re helping him be able to control his wolf, and because of that, you are helping someone who can’t help himself. Once he’s healthy, he’s already vowed to give us any information he can on Montag and what kind of poison is running through his veins thanks to the General. He can’t help too much right now though because he’s having trouble staying in control. It’s like this with many wolves when they’re first turned. Becoming one of us without being born into it is violent, and half of the time, leads to death. No form of modern medicine can help that. But Shane’s trying to be what those humans who resent us, who fear us, are not. He already saved Ryder’s life, and Brynn’s, and probably others that we don’t even know about yet. He’s not the enemy you think he is.”

Charlotte stared at Walker for a moment, trying to decide what to say. He didn’t know her, and she didn’t know him. Not really. Though their families had been working together for thirty years, she hadn’t needed to come to the Talon den often to meet with their Healer. She wasn’t sure she appreciated Walker’s words, though she knew he was just trying to help.

“I guess I should go see Shane,” she said after a moment. “It’s not like anyone else can help him, right?”

A curious expression covered Walker’s face, but he didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure what that was about, but she followed him to Shane’s room after he turned away from her.

She knew it had been a mistake to come there the moment she scented him.

They hadn’t gone to Shane’s room, after all. Instead, Walker led her two doors down to a gym where Shane was working out, lifting weights, and giving her wolf just one more reason to jump and claw. Only this time, it wasn’t only her wolf swooning. Her human half just about panted for the man.

He’d taken off his shirt, leaving it on one of the benches along the back of the room, and wore sweats that hung low on his hips. So low, she could see the indentations on his back where two tiny dimples marked where his butt started—a very, very firm butt. When he turned, she sucked in a breath. He was cut, built, and every other word you could use to describe a muscled male who looked more like an Adonis than the man she’d seen writhing in pain on his bed just a couple of days ago. He had washboard abs and chiseled pecs that begged for her hands to grab, for her fingers to dig in. And, holy mother of the goddess, he had those deep v-lines that led right to his…

She jerked her head up to his face, heat rising to her cheeks. She was well aware any wolf with a halfway decent sense of smell would be able to detect her arousal—hell, even the humans would at this point—but Walker had the grace not to mention it.

Shane, however…he knew.

His nostrils flared, and his bright eyes narrowed. His throat worked as he swallowed before he slowly lowered the weight in his hand to the floor. His shoulders stretched wonderfully at that, and she let out a little breathy moan.

Charlotte cursed herself for the sound, but Walker didn’t say anything, and Shane hadn’t seemed to notice. No, she wasn’t sure he could notice since he was currently eye f*cking her the way she’d just ogled him.