Fated- Wolf and the Hare Read online

  “Come on,” Dax said, his wolf’s voice deeper and thick with an ever-present growl. “I want to investigate that scent.”

  “Huh?” Sage asked. “What scent?”

  I bumped into Sage. Being a wolf always made me feel rowdier than usual. “We smelled some kind of canid. We’re going to see if it’s wolves. Keep up, baby brother.”

  Sage slapped his paw against my shoulder. “I am not a baby.”

  “Only babies say that,” I teased, flicking his snout with my tail as I ran away.

  Dax’s large form ran ahead. I caught up quickly, since my lack of sheer bulk made me nimbler. I shook out my thick gray fur, loving the feeling of the sunshine and caress of wind against my coat. Joy took over and I howled my happiness to the open sky.

  Dax chuckled a wolfy laugh and joined in. His deeper voice joined mine in a haunting chorus that echoed in the valley. A moment later, Sage finally caught up and his voice joined in the symphony.

  We were three brothers against the world, on a journey to find our fated mates and a territory of our own. Nothing would stop us.

  Except maybe the sudden chaos coming from the crest ahead.

  My ears pricked at the sound. Animals, definitely—I didn’t know if they were shifters or not. Prey-like screams and high-pitched yips of excitement. My blood raced and my paws hit the ground harder, running as fast as I could towards the sound.

  Suddenly a strong emotion I’d never felt before strummed through me, like a deep hum in my blood.

  Something was wrong.

  “Hugo?” Dax called. “What’s the hurry?”

  “I have to see,” I replied.

  When I crested the slope ahead, I stopped. A slinky red shape darted across the grass, sticking its noses in subtle holes in the landscape. It took me a moment to realize what I was looking at—it was a fox harassing a rabbit warren.

  I felt something strange in my gut. Usually a rabbit warren was a good thing. It meant an easy dinner, especially with three of us. But for some reason, watching the fox grin and laugh as it harried the rabbits filled me with anger.

  The fox was fast and large. The intelligent way it moved made it clear it wasn’t a regular fox. It was a shifter. Judging from the scent, an alpha male.

  But an alpha male fox was no match for an alpha male wolf. I bared my teeth and ran in.

  “Hugo!” Dax yelled. “What are you doing?”

  “Maybe he’s hungry,” Sage suggested.

  I skidded to a halt. “No!” I snapped. “Don’t eat any of these rabbits.”

  Sage’s flattened his ears. His big eyes went even wider. “Why? Are they shifters?”

  I growled impatiently, though it was aimed more at myself than my brother. “I—I don’t know. I just have a weird feeling.”

  Dax watched me with a curious gaze. “All right. What should we do?”

  I turned my glare back on the fox, who continued hassling the warren.

  “Chase the fox away. It’s a shifter,” I told them.

  Dax and Sage exchanged a glance, probably wondering what the hell had gotten into me. Honestly, I didn’t know either. I’d never felt anything like this before. But the urge to do something was strong and I couldn’t ignore my instinct any longer.

  I dashed towards the fox, who was blissfully unaware of my charge. His snout was stuck in a hole where his joyful cackle echoed. The sound made me shudder. He wasn’t just hunting. He was harassing these rabbits on purpose, and he liked it. My blood boiled.

  I leapt and hit the fox sideways. He yelped as we rolled in a tangle of red and gray limbs. We landed with me on top, my superior weight pinning him down.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I snarled.

  The fox stared up at me with disbelief—then anger. “What the hell, wolf? Get off me!”

  My hackles rose. “Leave those rabbits alone.”

  “I need to eat,” the fox spat. “They’re not even shifters. Why do you care?”

  I didn’t know if they were or not, but in the moment, it didn’t matter. Still, the fox was right—he had to eat, just like every other predator, even if he did play with his food like a villain.

  I couldn’t find the words to reply. “I—”

  The fox kicked me with sharp back claws. It startled me enough to make me move. He slipped away, his body like an oiled pelt. He glared at the holes. All the rabbits had disappeared.

  “Now look what you did,” the fox snapped. “You ruined my meal.”

  Sage padded up to us and asked gently, “You’re an alpha, right? Are you hunting for your mate?”

  “What?” the fox asked, bristling. “No.”

  Sage seemed undeterred by his hostility. “What’s your name?”

  The fox swished his tail. “Red. Not that it’s any of your damned business, wolf.”

  “Mr. Red, could you please leave the bunnies alone? My brother says it’s, uh… important,” Sage said brightly.

  If I’d been in human form, I might have blushed in embarrassment. It sounded silly when Sage said it like that, but it was the truth. The feeling was indescribable.

  “If that’s all, we should get moving,” Dax suggested.

  Red rolled his eyes. “You’re just gonna stop me from eating and then leave? Classic wolves. Guess I’ll starve.”

  A flicker of motion caught all our eyes. A white-and-brown blur darted out of one of the holes in the opposite direction of the fox. It streaked across the grass in a hurry. It resembled a rabbit, but was different somehow.

  Red lunged after it. In a flash, I was after him. My body moved on its own, like I was a spectator watching from above. My muscles burned with adrenaline as my legs ran faster than ever.

  A squeal made my heart stop.

  Red had the animal in his jaws.

  “No!” I snarled.

  I caught Red by the throat, exercising the most precise restraint. It would’ve been easy to crush him but I refrained. Still I felt his blood pumping from fear and smelled it on his fur.

  Red let go, and I did the same. The rabbit fell from his mouth. I forgot about Red, turning my attention to the rabbit. Up close, I saw that it clearly didn’t look like the rest. Its fur wasn’t a solid gray-brown, but it had patches of white, making it look distinct. Its body was shaped differently as well, elongated and elegant.

  “Wake up,” I said urgently, nudging its body gently with my snout. “Please.”

  Red stared at me like I was crazy. My brothers probably did, too.

  I didn’t know why I had this urge. My heart thundered, needing this rabbit to be alive.

  Its eyes opened. Relief flooded me.

  “Hello?” I said softly.

  A small voice reached my ears. The rabbit groaned softly in a human voice tinted with animal.

  I knew it! I thought in pure excitement. It’s not just an animal, it’s a shifter!

  “Huh…?” he murmured.

  The rabbit’s brown eyes widened when it saw me, then it promptly passed out again.

  3

  Len

  When I came to, everything was soft and furry. And warm. Way too warm.

  I kicked in annoyance, trying to get whoever was pressed against me to go away. But when I did, I heard an unfamiliar voice say, “Oof.”

  My eyes snapped open.

  A wolf lay curled around me.

  I leapt ten feet in the air—or I would have, if my side didn’t hurt so badly. Instead I hissed in pain and curled up.

  The wolf got to his feet and stared down at me with an expression I couldn’t read. If I were a weaker man, I might’ve dropped a few rabbit pellets in fear.

  Instead, I faced the wolf. My heart skittered and I was terrified but if I was going to die, I’d do so bravely. He’d obviously pinned me so there was no place to run. The only option was to fight. I let out an angry grunt and kicked him right in the nose, making sure to rake my claws down the sensitive pad.

  The wolf yelped.

  A couple of nearby humans le
apt to their feet. In my panic, I hadn’t noticed them until now. They rushed towards the wolf.

  “Hugo, you okay?” asked a tall man with a deep, masculine voice.

  A smaller human with fluffy blond hair and wide eyes touched the wolf’s shoulder. “Did you stick your nose in a thorn?” He noticed me and brightened instantly. “Oh, the bunny’s awake!”

  Irritation stewed inside me. I was not a bunny. I was a wild hare, and I’d make sure these humans knew it. I grunted angrily and thumped my foot hard.

  “Aw, it’s so cute!” the blond human cried. Ignoring the injured wolf, he got to his knees and put his hands out to me.

  My nose twitched, smelling the air as he approached. I paused. A flowery yet unripe scent reached my nose. He wasn’t a human—he was an omega. A shifter. One too young to find a mate, but an omega nonetheless.

  I turned my gaze on the taller human. The thick musk of alpha clung to him. Judging by the flicker of similarity in their features, I figured these two were brothers.

  If they’re shifters, then…

  Hairs on the back of my neck rose as I faced the wolf. Where a massive lump of fur had been a moment ago was now a man with silver-brown hair. Four claw marks streaked across his nose, which was bleeding profusely. He wiped the blood on his arm.

  My long ears fell flat. Oops.

  I braced myself for him to grab me or scold me, but instead the wolf man’s eyes widened with relief.

  “You’re awake,” he said gently. “And obviously feeling good enough to kick me.”

  I examined him. He was average sized, the perfect size in between the two other humans, and he was fit and young. He didn’t have rippling muscles breaking his shirt, but he was definitely no pushover either. There was a wild and free quality to him, just as I expected from a wolf.

  And he smelled really good.

  My nose twitched. Was it really him I was scenting, or just a plump dandelion nearby? There was no way a stinky, mangy dog could smell so appealing.

  “Are you well enough to shift?” the wolf man asked. He apparently didn’t care that I’d kicked him so hard his nose was bleeding.

  I hesitated. I didn’t know any of these people. Hares are timid by nature, avoiding the unknown to keep ourselves safe. If we’re not, we’re an easy meal for one of our many predators. Running fast and kicking only get you so far when you weigh a total of five pounds.

  “Give him some time, Hugo,” the deep-voiced man said.

  Hugo. I glanced at the wolf man with the silver-brown hair. His name is Hugo.

  “I just want to know if he’s okay, Dax,” Hugo argued. Concern knitted his brows.

  “Well, you probably scared the crap out of him earlier!” the blond omega cried. “He’s just a little bunny.”

  I growled and thumped my foot again. It summoned their attention.

  “Sage, I don’t think he likes you calling him a bunny,” Hugo said with a chuckle.

  The omega called Sage blinked. “Er, but… Isn’t he one?”

  That was it. A man could only take so much slander before he snapped.

  The shift took over me. My form slipped away, becoming fluid in the change. My inner hare retreated to the confines of my soul as the man inside revealed himself. The world became a lot smaller and less of a potential threat—but my ears could no longer hear everything, and my long legs in this form could barely keep up with a snail.

  “Phew,” I said, rolling my neck. “Been a while since I did that.”

  Hugo stared at me. The others did too, but there was a fervor in Hugo’s eyes that was unparalleled.

  I glared right back at him. “What?” I snapped.

  Silence fell around the camp as Hugo breathed in to speak. “You’re—”

  “Oh, you’re finally awake!”

  I whipped towards the source of the nasally, annoying voice. My heart twisted angrily. It was the fox from before, sauntering towards us without a care in the world.

  “You!” I yelled.

  “Me?” the fox replied. He wore a shit-eating grin. “Who are you again? The bunny or one of the many wolves? You people all look the same to me.”

  “I’m gonna turn you into a coat,” I yelled.

  The asshole fox wasn’t intimidated. “Whoa! Feisty little bunny, ain’t ya?”

  “Hey, knock it off,” Hugo growled. “He just woke up and he’s confused.”

  My already thin patience snapped. “Okay, does anyone want to explain what the hell’s going on? Who are you people? Why is the fox who just tried to eat me talking to me now? And is anyone going to object if I strangle him? Because I’m two seconds away from doing that.”

  The wolf shifters all laughed. The fox just rolled his eyes at me. His human voice and gestures in his feral form made it clear he was a shifter as well, but I didn’t care. I’d still kick his ass without remorse.

  Hugo crouched near me. His warm brown eyes were calm. It relaxed me enough to settle down. That was a first—who ever heard of a hare relaxing because of a wolf’s gaze? There was something weird about this guy.

  “My name is Hugo. I’m a wolf shifter who left my pack along with my brothers, Dax and Sage.” He gestured to the tall alpha and blond omega behind him. “We’re searching for a territory of our own, along with our fated mates.”

  Even though I wasn’t cold at all, the phrase fated mates made me shudder violently.

  “We were passing through the area when I saw that fox attacking your warren,” Hugo went on. “I don’t know why, but I had the instinct to stop him.”

  I huffed in anger and glared at the fox, who was lurking casually nearby. “Maybe it’s because shifters aren’t supposed to eat other shifters.”

  “That’s a stupid rule,” the fox said, examining his claws like we were talking about the weather and not lives.

  The fury in my blood chilled when Hugo looked into my eyes. Something about his energy put me at ease, no matter how much I wanted to turn the fox into mittens.

  “Well, thanks,” I said stiffly. “But I should get back to my warren. They’re probably wondering where I went.”

  Hugo’s face fell. “Oh. Right.”

  Why did he look so disappointed? Was he expecting a medal or something? But even though I felt defensive, I knew he’d saved my life. He deserved my gratitude at the very least.

  “Thanks for saving me,” I added, feeling strangely guilty that I’d upset him for some reason.

  Hugo nodded and stood. He reached a hand down to help me up and I accepted it. But when I tried to stand, a sharp pain flared in my side. I cried out. I would’ve fallen if Hugo wasn’t holding me—he didn’t let me fall.

  “Are you okay?” Hugo asked.

  “Yes,” I lied.

  He grunted. “You’re hurt.”

  “No, I’m not. I—”

  The pain bloomed and it hurt so badly I hissed. Hugo gently lowered me to the ground, where it hurt less to sit down. I put my hand to my side. There was no blood, but the area where the fox had bit me as a hare ached deeply. The fox didn’t appear to have any remorse about it. Asshole.

  “What can I do?” Hugo asked.

  I faced him in confusion. Why did he care so much? He was a wolf and I was a hare. If we were our mute animal cousins, I’d be his dinner. Even as shifters, we were entirely different species.

  “Um… You can walk me back to the warren,” I suggested.

  Hugo nodded. “Okay.”

  As Hugo eased me to my feet, Sage asked, “Hey, bunny. What’s your name?”

  “I’m not a bunny,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “I’m a hare. And it’s Len.”

  Sage tilted his head. “Um… What’s the difference?”

  “Are all wolves as clueless as you?” I shot back.

  “Sage, rabbits and hares are two different species,” Dax said in exasperation.

  “Ignore my brother,” Hugo murmured to me, shooting Sage a look that clearly said please shut up. “He’s practically a baby.”

&nbs
p; “Well, excuse me. I was just wondering,” Sage grumbled.

  I gave Hugo directions to the warren, which wasn’t far. The wolves had chosen the crest of the hill as their temporary campsite and the warren lay just below in the belly of the valley. In hindsight, it wasn’t the best spot for a warren. It was visible from all directions, easy to reach and thus was attacked frequently.

  “Maybe this fox attack will smarten up the Chief,” I mumbled as Hugo helped me down the grassy slope. His strong arm was wrapped around my back and beneath my armpit. He radiated warmth, just like his wolf form earlier. I tried to ignore the pleasant tingling sensation Hugo’s touch brought with it.

  “Does this happen often?” he asked.

  “More often than it should.” I sighed and nodded at the many visible holes, indicating the warren’s exits and entrances. “Look how easy it is to swoop down from any direction.”

  “Why doesn’t the Chief move the warren?”

  “I’ve told him to. He won’t listen. He’s an arrogant old hare who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else.” I stopped, realizing I was oversharing to a stranger. “Sorry. I know you don’t care about my peoples’ personal drama.”

  “No, I do,” Hugo said.

  I blinked. “Why?”

  A soft blush dusted his cheeks. He searched my face as if waiting for something. “It’s hard to explain.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. A big bad wolf blushing? It was oddly endearing.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing. You’re a funny wolf.”

  When we reached the lip of the holes, I crouched down. Hugo helped me so I didn’t exert myself. The warmth of his hand spread over my back like the pleasant feeling of rain.

  “You’re not leaving right now, are you?” Hugo asked.

  The strained anxiety in his voice confused me. It was like he expected me to stay—and the weirdest thing of all was that I wanted to. The feeling was ridiculous. I barely knew Hugo. I shouldn’t have felt a closer connection to him than the people I’d lived with my entire life.

  Still, I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye properly. I held up a finger, indicating I wasn’t done with him just yet.

  “Give me a second,” I told Hugo.