Wolf Betrayed (Talon Pack #4)(25)

“Maybe, maybe not,” Walker put in. “With the bonds you put in place, it could be that it’s nothing like what it was when it first started. I’ve been studying what I can because we need to know, but I honestly don’t think anyone would be able to get anything out of what is in Shane’s veins.”

“Then we need to make sure the Pack knows that,” Brie said then held up a hand. “Maybe not right away, but when and if you guys take out this building and destroy the samples, the Pack needs to know we’re thinking of all outcomes.”

Shane admired the strength Brie held in her voice. She was such a small woman among a group of large wolves. She might be a submissive wolf, but she’d mated one hell of a dominant Alpha. Brie Brentwood was a wolf you wanted on your side.

“Then let’s make a plan,” Gideon said next.

And they did, along with the Redwoods, who had been quiet during the initial part but now voiced their opinions and goals. It wouldn’t be easy, Shane knew, and the way they worked as one, as wolves, was unlike anything he’d ever been a part of, but now that he was Pack, he knew he wouldn’t have it any other way. If he could give these people even this much, maybe that would show the others he wasn’t the enemy.

Now he just had to believe it himself.




As the group dispersed, plans in place and a scheme ready to be implemented the next day, Shane left the others to talk Pack business. They were the ruling family and had more responsibilities than he’d thought.

Bram and Charlotte came with him, as well. Since they were Redwoods, it made sense that they wouldn’t be needed for the rest of the meeting. His body relaxed as they walked, just the mere presence of these two helped him in more ways than he ever thought possible.

When they reached a small patch of grass between some large trees, he stopped and turned toward them. He’d been quiet long enough, and now that he’d spoken to the Brentwoods, he needed to get this off his chest, too.

“I can’t take it anymore,” Shane bit out. “Why? Why can you two help me calm down so I can think? Why do the two of you give me so much control over something I’ve never had before? And why…why do I feel such a connection, a pull toward the two of you? I just don’t get it.”

Bram clenched his jaw, but it was Charlotte who spoke, her dark eyes wide, earnest. “You feel this connection because we feel it, too. The three of us…we could be mates.”

Shane took a step back, stunned. “What does that mean?”

“It means we have the potential to be mates. Not just two of us, but all three of us. In a true triad.” She bit her lip, looking sexy as hell. “At least, that’s what I think anyway. I just don’t know, but this isn’t the time to talk about it. Bram and I need to head back to our den, and you need to rest so we can all go and hunt tomorrow. Our Packs’ futures rests on our shoulders, and I know you want to talk more about what could be, what is so confusing, but that has to wait.” She let out a shaky breath. “We need to put our Packs first just this once.”

Shane’s mind whirled. Mates? Triad? The three of them? Holy hell. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. And because he couldn’t formulate words, Charlotte’s need to worry about the Pack first sounded like a hell of a good idea.

Bram was still silent, but there was so much emotion, so much depth in his eyes, that Shane knew he wasn’t just ignoring them. He was reeling, too.

Charlotte threw up her hands and cursed. “I didn’t mean to blurt that out like that. Let’s just save the world first, then we’ll deal with whatever the hell is going on. Okay?”

Shane gave a hollow laugh at that. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “Okay.”

Bram just shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Saving the world it is.”

And that’s when Shane knew nothing would ever be the same, no matter how hard he tried. Because the idea that saving the world right then could be an easier task than whatever would go on between the three of them spoke volumes.

Saving the world, Shane thought. Yeah, they would have to do that first.

Then maybe, just maybe, he could save himself.





Chapter Seven


What had she been thinking? Charlotte hadn’t been thinking, that was for sure. She’d blurted out the words she should have held closer for just a little bit longer, and now she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She hadn’t even talked to Bram about it, and yet had felt the need to tell Shane when neither of them was ready for something like that.

She’d been selfish by putting her own needs, her own wolf, ahead of the major operation that was about to take place. That wasn’t like her in any shape or form. She’d always put her Pack, her family, first. And yet she hadn’t been able to hold back the truth.

If it had been any other person with either Pack, they would have already known why there was that tension between the three of them. Maybe they weren’t a triad, but there was something going on, and if Shane had known what to do with the wolf inside him, he would have caught on. He was going through so much, she knew, and apparently, something deep inside hadn’t wanted her to go through any more. Keeping secrets only hurt people in the end, and yet she’d wanted to hold back just a bit longer.

She didn’t know what she was going to do for herself, let alone how the others would react. She’d already tried mating with someone, already given over to the need that had coursed through her. It hadn’t worked, damn it. She’d failed at a process so inherent to the needs of shifters that her kind went willingly into fate’s hands and trusted the moon goddess ninety percent of the time. Most people didn’t reject their potential mates, as there was a reason the moon goddess put them together. Their human halves fell in love and knew without a doubt that the other person was the other half of their soul.