Wolf Betrayed (Talon Pack #4)(21)

It seemed the moon goddess and fate had once more thrown a wrench into their plans…if they had any additional plans at all.

Walker slid a hand over his head. “I’ll try to get him a place to stay.” He looked over at Shane. “You shouldn’t have to be stuck with me day in and day out.”

Shane frowned. “I’d like a…home. I haven’t had one since I was a teenager.” He shrugged. “Barracks don’t really count, you know?” He looked over at Bram and Charlotte. “Are you two ever going to tell me why you calm me? Or why you’re helping me so much? Or is this just going to be another secret?” He paused. “Why do I feel this…connection between the three of us? Is it just my wolf?” He gave a hollow laugh. “So many questions, and yet I don’t think I’m going to get any answers today.”

Bram shook his head. “Heal first. Answers later.”

Shane let out a growl but didn’t say anything. Bram wasn’t sure he had the answers anyway. Things were getting more and more complicated, and that was just things with the three of them. Soon, they’d have to deal with the rest of the world.

And Bram was afraid that was where things would truly go to hell.





PARKER


Parker inhaled the crisp mountain air that had been part of him for so long. He was home. Finally. He’d been away from the Redwoods for years, at first laying the groundwork for peace within the multiple Packs around the country, then forced to put the plans into action once the Unveiling hit.

He hadn’t been fully successful, but he knew there was a chance the wolves could come together as one against the humans if that ever came to fruition. The problem with how things were now, however, was that though the Redwoods and Talons were on the same page, none of the other Packs were. They were either in hiding or wanting to go about things differently.

It was Parker’s job to find middle ground. It wasn’t easy, and he was freaking exhausted. But now he was home for a little while, and he could see his family. He’d missed new matings, birthdays, and devastating loss.

He was home.

He just hoped he could do some good with the time he’d spent outside the den walls.

Exhaustion crept into his bones, and he really needed a nap—a nap that lasted forty hours. He’d met with every single Alpha in the US and in Europe. He hadn’t been able to meet with any of the others, as they were even more shrouded in secrecy than the wolves here. He didn’t know if he’d done any good, but no matter what, he knew something would have to happen soon. The tension within each Pack was at an all-time high, and he could even feel it within the bonds to his own Pack.

He sighed then. It had been so long since he’d truly felt the bonds to his own. They’d always been there, sure, but coming home made them flair once more, pulsating between him and his Alpha, his family, and those with special connections to the moon goddess.

As a child, he hadn’t had that, and he hadn’t known what he’d been missing. His Uncle Logan and mother had escaped the Talon Pack back in the days of the old Alpha’s reign because of Parker’s birth. He was the birth son of a traitor, adopted son of a Redwood, with the heart and soul of a true leader. Without his father, North, he wasn’t sure he’d have become the man he was today.

“Parker!”

He turned at the sound of Charlotte’s shout, a grin forming on his face even through his exhaustion. Charlotte was his favorite cousin, though he was sure never to tell the others that. They were similar in age, and had come to the Pack later on in life, adopted in when their childhoods were torn apart. Their adoptive fathers were brothers, twins in fact, and that had always made them close.

He’d been gone so long, though, that he’d missed what had put the new shadows in her eyes. He would have thought by now she’d be mated to Bram, perhaps thinking of having a child of her own, but that wasn’t the case. Instead of asking, he pushed those thoughts away and opened his arms for her.

She threw herself into his hold and tightened her grip. “I didn’t know you were coming home! You didn’t say anything the last time we talked.”

He kissed her temple and hugged her close, needing her wolf more than he thought possible. She was family, home. He hadn’t known how much he needed her and the rest of them to center him.

He was getting older, his wolf a little wilder. What he truly needed was a mate and to start the next journey of his life. But with the government sanctions for wolves on the horizon, and this other player, General Montag, in the wind, he was afraid his time wouldn’t be coming for far too long.

And Parker wasn’t sure his wolf had that time to give.

When he pulled away and cupped her face, he frowned. “What happened, Charlotte?”

She looked at him, and his brave and strong Charlotte, the same girl who hadn’t cried when her world had fallen apart and she’d had to pick herself up out of the ashes, burst into tears.

“Oh, baby,” he soothed as he held her close once more. “Tell me everything.”

“It’s all wrong, Park. Everything.” Her words were sobs, and he knew it was killing her to break down like this.

“Tell me.”

And when she did, he knew there was a reason he’d come back. His family needed him. The world had changed once before, and here it was, shifting on its axis again. His wolf might desperately need a mate, but before he could worry about himself, he needed to ensure that his family was safe.