Wolf Betrayed (Talon Pack #4)(5)

“I don’t know what happened exactly, but we’re going to find out,” Gideon continued, giving Charlotte a curious glance. “He saved Ryder and Leah and risked his life to do so. Then he showed up at our borders and saw through the wards.”

“Holy hell,” Brynn whispered. “Ryder told me about the human that saved him, but I didn’t know who it was.”

“He’s also the man who saved you from that bullet, FYI,” Gideon said to Brynn. “But he’s not human anymore.”

“You changed him?” Finn asked.

Gideon shook his head. “No. That’s the thing. He smells of wolf but he isn’t yet. He was dying, and the only way to save him was to bring him into the Pack. He’s not wolf. He’s not human. He’s something…different. The humans made something, Finn, something that could destroy us all if we’re not careful. I don’t know what to do with him.”

Another scream. This one louder.

“He’s in pain,” Charlotte growled. She didn’t know this human, didn’t know if she could trust him. He was a soldier—the enemy.

Gideon nodded. “And there’s nothing we can do to calm him. He’s here because Walker is trying to help, but no matter what we do, nothing seems to work. I’m at my wit’s end here.”

Charlotte was listening, but her legs had started to move without her thinking. She moved toward the source of the screaming and sucked in a breath at the sight of the man on the bed. He was chained at his ankles and wrists, but from the gouges in his arms, she figured the restraints were for his own safety.

Perhaps.

His veins stood out prominently, and he thrashed under the blanket he wore to cover him since he didn’t seem to have a stitch of anything else on. He screamed again before his eyes snapped open and met hers. His nostrils flared, and his body went rod-straight at the sight of her. Gradually, his breathing eased, and the cords on his neck softened.

Her wolf pounced, pushing at her to go closer.

But she couldn’t.

Because she’d heard a word on the wind she shouldn’t have. The one word that could break her.

Mate.

“Charlotte?” Finn asked. “What is it?”

She looked at him, her body swaying. “My wolf…” She pressed her lips together and pushed past him and the others so she could breathe once again.

“Charlotte,” Finn said once again when he came to her side. “He’s your mate, isn’t he? That’s why my wolf told me to bring you. Because he’s here…because you needed to be. It’s fate, isn’t it, Charlotte? It’s a twisted, f*cked up fate.”

“Fate? You think I believe in fate?” Charlotte took a deep breath then gave a dry laugh. “Oh, Finn. How could I believe in fate? What has the moon goddess ever done for me?”

Finn’s eyes widened, and she wanted to let the tears fall. He’d been through his own hell with the bond between wolf and man, and the bond between him and his mate. Yet she couldn’t think about that, not now, not ever. “Charlotte. You can't say that. You don't believe that.”

“I was born to a monster. Chained to a wall for longer than I care to remember. I watched my sister, now mother, die before somehow coming back. I was the one who told them how to kill my brother, Corbin, though they didn't have the chance. I saw more horrors than you could ever dream of before I even met the Redwoods. And you think the moon goddess blessed me? No. I don't think so. I might have had time with a family I don't deserve, but now what does she do? She gives me a mate that sides with the enemy. She gives me the enemy himself.”

Finn reached out, but she took a step back.

“Don't. Don't try to make it better. The moon goddess, in all her wisdom, gave me a human to love, a human to cherish. That…I could do. I would embrace humanity with all my heart, even if they don’t embrace us. But she didn't just give me a human. She gave me a soldier. She gave me a man who wants to kill us. Who wants to hold us captive and dissect us.” And she didn’t let her have the one wolf who should have been hers.

“You don't know that. He's not the leader, Charlotte. He could be different from the others.”

She laughed, but it held no humor. “Even better. He's a pawn with no steel, no strength. He only listens to those that fear us and want to harm us.” She rolled her shoulders and knew she had to be stronger than she was. “I'm done, Finn. I won't mate with him. I won't listen to the moon goddess or my wolf. He's not mine. He'll never be mine.”

“I'm alone.”

Alone.

Again.

She'd grown up alone. It only made sense she'd die that way, too.





Chapter Two


It didn’t seem fair that she should be so far away while he was stuck here, wondering if she were okay. If she were safe. But nothing was ever fair in life, and Bram Devlin had learned that years before. And though he knew deep down that Charlotte could take care of herself and would always be a strong fighter, the dominant wolf inside him needed to make sure she was cared for.

His best friend had told him time and time again that it grated on her when Bram acted overprotectively. He couldn’t help it, though, especially considering the strength of his wolf…and the woman he wanted to protect.