Wolf Decided by Tessa Cole

KNOX

Audrey snuggled closer to me,held the ice pack against her bruised foot, and passed out ten minutes later. She’d been amazing. A glorious, determined goddess standing up to Cyrus and asking for what she wanted.

I knew she had alpha power enough to tease mine, but I didn’t expect it to be strong enough to fully challenge my brother. She hadn’t backed down or looked away once, and I couldn’t have been more proud of her and more furious that she felt she had to tear past the curse locking her wolf away to ensure she could stay with her mates.

And given the feelings coming from both Bishop and Audrey, they were mates already. They just needed the bond.

Cyrus had seen that truth even while his power had tried to get her to submit. I’d seen it in his eyes. There wasn’t any other reason for Audrey, who’d become far too nervous around him while I was away on a hunt, to defy him. That kind of determination, and that kind of power, only manifested when a mating bond was in danger of being broken, and I’d felt that it hadn’t just been our bond she was fighting for.

Which was good and a relief in a way. She’d just demonstrated that she was an extremely powerful female alpha which meant her heat fever might not just have been because we hadn’t sealed our bond. Powerful females had powerful heats and often instinctively took multiple mates because of that.

Bishop was her second mate, but she’d probably need at least one more.

And somehow, that idea didn’t piss off my wolf. It knew she needed more mates to keep her safe and it was good with anything that protected Audrey.

I shifted into my human form, my wolf having settled enough to allow the change now that Audrey was cuddled against us. I pulled her into my arms and settled against Bishop’s side with Audrey between us, and the agony screaming through my twin bond eased a bit, our souls steadying him, reassuring him that we were doing everything in our power to save him.

This. This was how it was supposed to be.

Bishop had been so sure that we’d share a mate, but I hadn’t believed him. I couldn’t imagine any woman willing to put up with me and all my broken bits.

And yet, here she was, beautiful and kind and smart and perfect.

I’d never felt so comfortable in my human skin before and my wolf had never felt steadier. None of his primal wildness had vanished. In fact, it felt stronger, energized, as if Audrey physically strengthened us, but now all that power was focused on her, protecting her, cherishing her, loving her. Our mate.

She was the one we’d been waiting for our whole life. She was love. She was comfort.

She was home.

And when I found whoever had tried to kill her and poisoned Bishop, I was going to tear him limb from limb. I didn’t care if it was a member of our pack or not. Bishop and Audrey were mine, and I protected what was mine.

Somehow, I managed to doze with her, waking when Deacon stepped onto the semi-private patio outside Audrey’s suite.

“We’re just about ready to go,” he said softly, thankfully not waking Audrey since I could still feel her exhaustion radiating through our bond. “How’s she holding up?”

My wolf grinned at his question. It meant, unlike some members of the pack, he’d accepted her. While I’d been skulking in the shadows at the festival, daring to get as close as possible to keep an eye on her, I’d heard whispers and seen the dark looks thrown at Bishop and Audrey when their backs were turned.

Not everyone was happy she was in the pack. Most didn’t seem to care that she was my mate, but Bishop was another story. She wasn’t good enough for him, wasn’t strong enough.

If only they’d seen her challenge Cyrus. If only I could help her wolf fully wake.

But she was just as broken as I was and a lot more fragile. Whether she wanted to or not, she cared about other people, and that meant it hurt her when they were cruel to her. I didn’t care. If you were an asshole then I ignored you. Hell, if you were a person, I mostly ignored you. But Audrey didn’t want that. She wanted a pack. I think she even needed one to feel fulfilled in her life. She needed to help people.

Bishop was the mate who could give that to her. He could introduce her to the people who could help her satisfy that need.

“She might not look it.” And she might not believe it. “But she’s tough,” I whispered back.

“Oh, I believe it. Did Nova tell the truth?” he asked. “Was she part of that alpha power battle that woke up the entire Residence?”

I stiffened at that. “Who else knows?”

“No one. Nova only told me. Everyone thinks it was you losing your shit over Bishop.”

“So they know he’s poisoned?” Fuck. Were they going to blame Audrey for that? I didn’t understand how people reacted, but I knew people would look for someone to blame and at the moment Audrey was an easy target. She looked like prey in a whole town of predators.

“They knew there was trouble.” Deacon’s expression turned grim, something that looked so out of place on him it made me sit up, worry rushing through me.

Audrey groaned in her sleep, and I brushed my hand over her head, hoping to soothe her back to sleep. If the pack was blaming Audrey, I didn’t want her to hear this conversation. She was already shaken up by the attack and by standing up to Cyrus… something that shouldn’t have terrified her but did.

“Tell me,” I growled. “Who do I need to protect my mate from?”

“Whoa.” He raised his hands and crouched beside me. “Now’s not the time to wolf out.”

My wolf took over and deepened our growl. “Tell. Me. Why is Audrey afraid of Cyrus? Why did she feel she had to fight him to stay by my and Bishop’s side?”

“Cyrus isn’t who she has to worry about.” Deacon sighed and rolled his eyes, his expression turning wry. “You know how he gets when he isn’t in control of the situation.”

I narrowed my eyes. I knew all too well that Cyrus would do anything, say anything to protect his pack, and I’d seen him growl at Audrey for the entire walk to the death god’s temple. He’d been freaking out over the fact that she had no wilderness skills and that if we got separated, she’d die.

“What did he do?” My fury as well as my wolf’s was starting to boil over, and Audrey, while still asleep, somehow knowing I was upset, rolled over and wrapped her arms around me.

My wolf huffed, the warmth of our connection and her love calming some of our anger. We couldn’t go on a rampage, no matter how much we wanted to beat the shit out of Cyrus. That would leave Audrey unprotected.

“She really is something, isn’t she?” Deacon sighed.

“Don’t change the topic.”

“Wasn’t trying,” he said. “Just amazed by your mate. Not even Bishop can calm you like that. She pulled you out of a near-feral state, you know.”

“I remember.”

“That scared the shit out of Cyrus.” Deacon ran a hand over his face making me wonder if he’d gotten any sleep. Yesterday had been the first day of the festival, the day when everyone danced until dawn. “I told him not to, but he lost his temper and yelled at her. I was already taking you up to the sacred grove so I don’t know what he said to her, but she turned into a complete mouse, afraid of everyone and everything.”

My wolf started growling again, and Audrey nuzzled closer, drawing in a deep breath of my scent, settling him again.

“Nova and I helped Bishop reassure her that she was safe, and I think she was starting to regain her confidence, at least with a few of us, but Finn and Velora are particularly suspicious of her and I suspect they’ve been spreading rumors.” He sighed. “The fact that she was with Bishop when he was attacked—”

“When she was attacked,” I corrected.

His eyes widened in shock. “She was the target? Fuck. Of course she was. No one has tried to hurt any of you in your life. Audrey is the only thing that’s changed.”

“I have to keep her safe,” I told him. “I won’t hesitate to protect her, but that could be bad for her.” I could be thrown out of the pack.

If enough people told Cyrus I was dangerous, he’d have no choice but to throw me out or face who-knew-how-many challenges to his leadership. And that would mean Audrey would be packless with me.

Of course, I wonder what people would say if Bishop left the pack as well. Would they change their minds?

“Just point me in the right direction,” Deacon said, his wolf rising to the surface and his enormous alpha power slipping out of his control for a second. “They’d never question my judgment when it comes to protecting the pack. And she is pack.”

He stood, a wildness in his eyes I’d never seen before. He was always joking, always laughing, but when it came to Audrey, he was dead serious. My shy, gentle mate had won over a man who kept everyone at arm’s length with a well-placed quip.

“The cart at the north gate is waiting for us. Cyrus sent our packs and supplies ahead so we just need to get there.” His gaze dipped to Audrey. “Do you want to wake her, carry her, or have me carry her?”