Chapter 68

[ 1,075 words ]

The danger

68: 68.

The danger Theo

The forest feels different when you’re exchanging familiar pines for the unknown cedar, hemlock, and spruce of the mountain regions.

The sizable group of lives I’m responsible for does nothing to reduce the tightening of my senses or the vigilance of my wolf.

Every snapped twig, every shift in the wind, every ripple in the river beside us presses against my eardrums sharper, louder.

I look over my charges, doing a silent head count.

The third I’ve done since we crossed the border of the pack lands.

The juveniles have, surprisingly, been behaving themselves.

The wolves can feel the danger, my wolf says.

They are helping to keep them calm.

Thank the gods for small mercies.

I move at the front edge of our cluster, keeping pace with Marcus while scanning the tree line.

The group stretches behind us in a loose formation with the enforcers along the edges and behind.

My wolf is restless.

We’re too exposed.

“Nothing we can do about it.

We just need to keep moving.

It’s far more dangerous to take breaks, and I want to get us across the canyon before we break for the night.

And if we’re attacked?

We can head for the grass field.

In our wolf form, we should be able to camouflage and make our way out of immediate danger.

“I can hear you planning extra escape routes,” Marcus mutters beside me.

“Someone has to be prepared,” I shoot back.

He huffs, but there’s no real bite to it.

Behind us, Kiara’s voice cuts through the tension like a blade.

“You know,” she says casually, “you could just ask her out and end everyone’s suffering.”

I don’t have to turn to know who she’s talking to.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sebastian replies flatly.

I snort.

“Are we talking about Quinley?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder.

Kiara grins, eyes sparkling despite everything.

“The very one.”

Sebastian’s expression doesn’t change, but his shoulders go a fraction tighter.

“Whatever this is, you can drop it. There’s no point.”

I raise a brow.

“Becuase your going to finally choose whether you’re going to leave her alone or make your move?”

He hesitates for half a second—just enough to surprise me—then exhales sharply.

“Because I’m smart enough to know a bad idea when I see it. I won’t lie, I want to fuck her,” he says bluntly.

“But I doubt Kade would take kindly to me playing with his cousin without any real commitment.”

A few heads turn at that, followed by a few chuckles.

Sex isn’t a taboo topic for shifters.

In fact, sexual touch is just as much a need as social touch, especially when our wolves reach maturity.

My wolf lets out a low, amused rumble.

Honest male.

“He’s not wrong,” Kiara says thoughtfully.

“Kade will wear your balls if you go fixing to put that community dick anywhere near her.”

“Hey,” Sebastian protested half heartedly.

He’s never made it a point to hide his active libido.

I tilt my head, considering.

Kade and Quin grew up together and were more like siblings than cousins.

He was also overprotective of her and did his best to keep her away from anyone he thought wouldn’t be good for her.

This included the males who were more interested in a quick fling then ones looking to take a female seriously.

“You’ve got a point,” I admit.

“Kade would lose his mind.”

“Exactly,” Sebastian says.

“But,” I continue, “Quinley’s a grown woman. As long as you lay it all out there, it’s her choice. Submissives like to have fun too.”

Kiara nods enthusiastically.

“Thank you. Finally, someone with sense.”

Sebastian looks unconvinced.

“That doesn’t make it a good idea. Sure, submissives like to have fun, but they’re more delicate than dominants, and I don’t have the emotional capacity to be so attentive to a female like that.”

Kiara rolls her eyes.

“Oh, please. Watching you fight your attraction to her is getting vicariously frustrating. And how would you know what Quin needs? She’s her own person, not just a submissive.”

That earns a few quiet grunts of support from the group.

Sebastian’s jaw tightens.

“Unlike you, I don’t have any problem with self-control,” he says.

“I don’t need to approach everyone I’m attracted to.”

I hum a noncommittal sound at his bullshit.

“But there’s a difference between thinking someone’s attractive and being obsessed with them for two years,” Marcus interjects.

“I’m not obsessed.”

A snort comes from somewhere behind us.

We all turn.

One of the juveniles, Kenny, freezes under Sebastian’s stare.

“Got something to say?” Sebastian asks.

“Yes, you are,” the kid mutters.

“Into Quin, I mean. Everyone can tell. It’s getting kind of pathetic. You’d be punching way above your weight class with her anyway, so I can get why you’re scared to say anything.”

Kiara whistles ironically.

“Well, shit,” Marcus laughs.

“Tell him like it is, why don’t you?”

Sebastian shoots him a look that could cut steel.

The kid immediately looks down, but I can still hear the silent laughter in his scent.

My wolf huffs.

That pup will be a handful.

I glance at Sebastian again, studying him.

He’s not completely wrong for feeling reserved.

Shifters don’t handle relationships the same way humans do.

There’s always the possibility—no, the certainty—that a true mate could appear at any time.

And when that happens, everything else burns away.

Whoever is there will step aside because the pull of a true mate is too strong.

Imprinting is the only exception, but that requires both wolves to choose each other over whatever fate might have planned.

It requires them to reject that bond and replace it with the other.

If they choose imprinting, they won’t even feel their true mates if they happen to ever meet them.

But that circumstance is rare.

Dangerous, even.

Most don’t risk it.

Sebastian, on the other hand, is a different case completely.

He keeps people at arm’s length.

Always has.

He sleeps around and has flings, sure, but nothing lasting.

Nothing real.

He’s never with the same female twice and has flings only with two of the females of our pack, preferring to meet up with females of other packs so they don’t have to cross paths afterward.

And yet he watches Quinley.

Protects her.

Fights for her safety like she’s worth the effort.

He may not want it to be that way, but he does care.

“Just think about it,” Kiara says, softer now.

“That’s all I’m saying.”

Sebastian doesn’t respond.

We fall back into a tense silence, the rhythm of our movement taking over again.

The river curves sharply ahead, narrowing.

The trees begin to thin, opening into a canyon, splitting deep into the earth.

“We’re about halfway there,” Marcus says quietly.

“Let’s get across the canyon, and then we can search for a place to camp for the night. I don’t want to travel at night with the juveniles,” I order.

The enforcers shift immediately, tightening the formation.

Juveniles are pushed toward the center, submissives flanking them, protected on all sides.

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