Fated- Wolf and the Hare Page 5

  Len scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Like this.”

  In a flash, he was gone. An adorable brown-and-white hare with twitching whiskers replaced him. He lowered himself to the ground and began grazing on the plentiful, lush grass.

  Dax smirked. “Well, that’s convenient.”

  “Wait, you said next time you’ll share,” Sage began, screwing up his face in confusion. “Does that mean you can eat meat, too?”

  Len took a break from grazing to sit up. He wiped a paw over his ear. “Yup. I don’t do it often, since when I lived in the warren, I was usually a hare. But as a man, I can eat meat. I just don’t do it very often.”

  Dax shot Sage a glance. I could tell by his arched brow that he was about to go on one of his scientific scoldings. “You know, it’s not unheard of for natural hares to eat carrion. Nature is strange.”

  “What?” Sage yelled, his jaw dropping.

  Len and I laughed at his overreaction.

  “There’s a lot you have to learn,” Dax mumbled with a sigh. He turned to Len. “Speaking of… Len, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

  Len perked up. “What?”

  Dax chose his words carefully. “About your warren. Are you sure they were hares or just wild rabbits?”

  I saw an uneasy expression cross Len’s face and immediately jumped to his defense. “Leave him alone, Dax. That’s a weird question to ask someone.”

  Hearing the protective edge in my voice, Dax raised a hand in a peace gesture. “All right. I was just wondering.”

  Worried about Len’s reaction, I watched him. He stood still for a moment in thought before returning to grazing. The conversation changed to mindless chatter as Sage piped up, but I made a mental note to apologize to Len privately about Dax’s odd comment. The last thing I wanted was for Len’s feelings to be hurt.

  Why am I this protective over a man I just met?

  7

  Len

  We travelled lazily for the rest of the day. My pain had passed, allowing me to stay in human form and keep up with the brothers. They clearly weren’t in any rush to reach their destination, which was more of a concept than a physical place, so I was able to ward off negative feelings of being a burden.

  But I wasn’t able to ward off other thoughts. Since Dax had questioned me, the idea clung to my mind like a burr. What if I wasn’t a hare like I thought? What if I was a rabbit? It may not have seemed like a big deal to anyone else, but it was my identity. To think my entire life I was one thing then doubt what I was shook me to my core.

  As Dax and Sage took the lead, I noticed Hugo straying behind. He’d send furtive glances in my direction with his brow furrowed in concern. I didn’t want to unload my problems on him, but selfishly, I wanted him to ask if I was all right. Talking to Hugo was easy, like breathing. The last time we’d had a heart-to-heart, I left it feeling warm and pleasant. I wanted that feeling again.

  C’mon, you hard-headed wolf, I thought. Ask me.

  As if on cue, Hugo drifted closer to me. My mouth curved into a shy smile. How was it that he always knew?

  “Hey, Len,” Hugo began, his voice soft so the others wouldn’t hear. “Is everything all right?”

  I thought you’d never ask.

  It was a little dramatic but I let out a sigh for the effect. Mostly I was relieved to have his attention. Was that strange?

  “I’ve been thinking about what Dax said,” I admitted.

  Hugo scowled, shooting his older brother a glare. “He’s overly blunt sometimes. Just ignore him.”

  “No, that’s not it,” I said. I smiled, oddly happy that he was mad on my behalf, which had never happened to me before.

  Before I could gather my thoughts, a distant howl drew my attention. Hugo and I glanced up. In the dim early evening light, a few dark shapes were strewn on the opposite valley. Their pricked ears and bushy tails were visible even from a distance.

  “Hey, it’s wolves!” Sage cried excitedly. He slipped into wolf form and let out a howl in reply. I watched in awe as they exchanged words I couldn’t understand. Wolf speech was one thing, but howls were a language all their own.

  “What are they saying?” I asked Hugo quietly.

  He smiled. “They’re exchanging a greeting. It’s kind of hard to explain. Those are natural wolves, not shifters. They’re essentially warning us this is their territory and that we better keep moving.”

  I fiddled with my hands anxiously. “Will they attack us?”

  “No. Think of it like a family saying this is their house. We’ll be intruding if we don’t move along.”

  I nodded in understanding. My anxiety melted away. If Hugo said we were safe, then it must be true.

  “A family, huh?” I murmured as we kept on walking. The wolves across the valley watched us for a moment then decided we were no longer a threat. They headed in the opposite direction.

  “Hm?”

  I shook my head. “Ah, I was talking to myself.”

  But Hugo kept a curious eye on me, knowing there was more I was keeping locked away. His gentle gaze pried me open like the key to a box.

  “You saying they were a family just made me think,” I admitted. “What was your family like?”

  Hugo smiled. “They were great. We had an omega-father and an alpha-father who raised us. We were sad to split up, but they knew their children were all adults. They understood it was time for us to find our own way. I’m sure they’d love to visit once we settle down.”

  Even though I was happy to hear of Hugo’s past, I couldn’t find it in me to keep up a smile. Hugo’s expression turned to concern.

  “I don’t know my family at all,” I admitted, feeling embarrassed as the words left me. “I don’t know if it’s because it was a big warren, or because sometimes with hares ancestry gets mixed up, but…” I rubbed my arms, suddenly feeling a cold chill. “One time, the Chief said something to me, and I think about it even now.”

  “What?” Hugo growled. If he were a wolf, no doubt his hackles would be bristling.

  “I don’t know if it’s true or not,” I murmured, “but he said that my parents weren’t from the warren. That I was a changeling baby they found at the warren’s doorstop and they adopted me. Someone’s parental instincts kicked in when they found me as a baby, so I was taken care of until adulthood, but…”

  Hugo watched me with eyes shining full of concern.

  “Maybe that’s why I’m not like them,” I said softly. “Why my fur looks different. Why I never acted or thought like the rest of them. Why I never belonged.”

  Hugo put his hands on my arms, making me face him. His expression was soft but fierce, protective yet gentle.

  “You belong here, with us.” He said it with such determination that I had no choice but to believe him. “You’re different, yes, but it’s because you’re special, Len. I sensed it in you the minute I saw you on that hill.”

  My heart sped up, and the ribcage holding it suddenly felt too tight.

  “But then, what am I?” I asked in a small voice.

  “I don’t know,” Hugo admitted. “But I do know you. I know that you’re Len, my friend and packmate.”

  I smiled and let out a short laugh. “You consider me a packmate? I’m not even a wolf.”

  Hugo grinned. “You’re an honorary wolf now.”

  “I see. Then you’ll teach me how to howl?” I teased.

  But Hugo nodded with absolute certainty. “I will.” He winked and gestured in the direction the natural wolves had gone. “But not here, where you’ll probably end up swearing at the neighbors by accident.”

  “I wouldn’t want to offend them.”

  We chuckled as we made our way to Dax and Sage, who were waiting up for us ahead. We made camp an hour later as the sun disappeared fully behind the land, plunging the world into starry darkness. Out here in the wilderness, there was nothing to obscure every bright star and the clean, crisp line of the moon. Staring up at it, I understood why
wolves in particular felt such a connection to it.

  “So, what’s this hypothetical territory of yours look like?” I asked around the fire. “Or will you know it when you see it?”

  Hugo’s eyes twinkled when I said that.

  “Somewhere spacious with plenty of prey and land,” Sage said with a happy sigh.

  “A place that’s safe, with recourses to sustain us,” Dax chimed in.

  When it was Hugo’s turn to speak, he was quiet. The firelight flickered in his eyes, turning them flaming gold.

  “A beautiful place,” Hugo said softly, “in which we can start our own families.”

  I smiled. It may not have sounded realistic, but I didn’t care. I heard the dreamy quality in his voice, the rigid belief in his ideals. Nothing was going to stop him from achieving his goals. I liked that.

  “Yeah, if we can find mates,” Sage said, snorting. “I haven’t seen any other wolf shifters at all.”

  Was it just me, or was Sage wiggling his eyebrows at me when he said that?

  “You’re an idiot,” Dax scolded him gently. “Shifters don’t necessarily have to mate within their animal species. That’s just a stupid tradition some purists hold.”

  “Was it like that in your old pack?” I asked.

  “Not really,” Hugo replied. “It wasn’t really encouraged but not frowned upon either.”

  I’d wondered if they left their pack behind because of some forbidden inter-species romance, but apparently that wasn’t the case. I swallowed a sigh of relief. Did that mean they were all open to it?

  When I caught myself following that train of thought, I paused. Why am I even thinking about this?

  “Anyway, this is our pack now,” Hugo stated. “We make our own rules.”

  “You can say that again, brother,” Dax growled affirmatively.

  “We make our own rules!” Sage cried.

  They grinned along with him, deciding not to tell him it was only a figure of speech.

  “Did you have a mate, Len?” Sage asked me brightly.

  Dax pinched the bridge of his nose while Hugo bit down on a growl, but his question hadn’t offended me. He hadn’t heard my earlier conversation with Hugo, so how was he supposed to know what my past was like?

  I smiled patiently at him. “No, Sage. I’ve never taken a mate.”

  Hugo’s burning eyes were trained on me.

  “Cool,” Sage replied, nodding. “Me neither.”

  “Can’t imagine why,” Dax muttered with a smirk. Sage punched him lightly in the arm.

  “Anyway,” Sage went on. “I don’t see the big deal of setting down right this very second, y’know? You agree, right, Len? I mean, you’re not much older than me, right? I’m twenty-one.”

  “I’m twenty-three,” I said.

  Sage nodded like it meant I was agreeing with him, but I shook my head.

  “I dunno,” I said with a shrug. “Even when I was young, I loved watching over the little ones in the warren. I have a feeling it was why so many of the adults put up with me. There were always kids running around, getting into trouble…” I chuckled. “It was easier to dump them on me. And I was very good at taking care of them.”

  Sage slumped. “Oh.”

  “Just because you’re similar in age doesn’t make you similar in maturity,” Hugo said, grinning.

  “I’m plenty mature,” Sage complained. He crossed his arms. “Just ‘cause I don’t want to get knocked up doesn’t make me immature.”

  “You’re right,” Dax said with a low laugh. “The fact that you’re immature makes you immature.”

  As Dax continued to tease Sage, Hugo turned to me and lowered his voice. There was a hint of excitement in his voice—or maybe it was just my imagination.

  “So you do want children?” he asked.

  I nodded. I didn’t even have to think about it. “And you?”

  “Yes. That’s part of the reason I set out on my own.”

  Silence settled on us. Even though his brothers sat on the other side of the crackling fire, for a moment it felt like Hugo and I were the only two people in the world. The firelight on his face made him even more handsome. I suddenly recalled the warmth of his hand on my knee earlier in the day and craved it would return.

  The longer we locked eyes, the harder it was to pull apart. As selfish as it was, I deeply wished Hugo’s brothers weren’t here right now.

  I wanted Hugo all to myself.

  A hot flash like fire whipped my insides. I stood abruptly with a sharp exhale.

  Hugo blinked in confusion. “Len?”

  “I’m fine,” I lied. “I just need a second. I’m going to take a walk.”

  Hugo watched, clueless and helpless, as I ran over the hill and into the nearby thicket of trees. The cool darkness between the trunks was a pleasant reprieve from the sudden heat burning up my body. It was with horror and dread that I realized what was happening to me.

  “Oh no,” I muttered. “Not now. Please…”

  With a groan, I fell to my knees.

  My heat had begun.

  I hissed a curse through my teeth and let my hand fall between my legs. If I could take care of it quickly, maybe I could return to the wolves and none of them would be the wiser…

  But it was a stupid idea. A heat wasn’t so easily taken care of. Jerking off once or twice might help the way itching helps a mosquito bite. It would feel good for a few minutes before making everything worse.

  “This is so fucking embarrassing,” I said under my breath.

  I restrained myself, forcing my hand away from my cock. I dug my hands into the dirt hard.

  I can wait it out… I can…

  A twig snapped behind me and my hare soul leapt, alerting me to the sound. I whirled instantly, breathing hard. I looked pathetic, on hands and knees in the dirt, but I didn’t care.

  “Who’s there?” I called.

  A familiar face emerged from the trees. Despite the lack of fire, flames continued to burn in Hugo’s amber eyes.

  8

  Hugo

  As Len suddenly stood and ran, the alluring scent he’d given off the entire time I’d known him intensified. It was a shock to my senses, like being plunged in icy water. I sat there stunned for a moment while I tried to register exactly what was happening.

  I turned to Dax, seeking confirmation. My older brother, who was usually unflappable, sat with his eyes wide. There was a glassy sheen to them he normally lacked, and I knew he had scented it too.

  “Is it…?” I asked quietly.

  Dax nodded in a stiff motion.

  “Huh?” Sage asked cluelessly, stretching closer to the fire. “What’re you guys talking about?”

  We both ignored him. I wasn’t doing it to be unkind, but because I literally couldn’t think of anything except Len.

  Dax nodded silently towards the thicket of trees. Whatever was going on between me and Len, Dax recognized it. Even if he noticed the alluring scent too, he wouldn’t act on it.

  Which was a good thing, because the idea of Dax moving in on Len filled me with furious jealousy.

  “I’ll go check on him,” I said curtly, standing up.

  Dax remained seated while Sage shot me a confused look.

  “What’s up with him?” Sage asked.

  I didn’t hear the rest of their conversation because I’d already shifted to run up the hill after Len. My heart beat so thickly that blood pounded in my ears like a rushing waterfall. Every nerve in my body was on fire and my skull felt full of cotton. My mouth watered as I chased Len’s scent. It hung like a ribbon in the air, bright and intoxicating to my nose.

  When I hit the treeline, I shifted back and approached him slowly. He was curled up on the ground in an obvious state of suffering. Even in my buzzed mindset, I felt sympathy for him. Going through a heat was something I would never experience, but I knew it was difficult.

  “Who’s there?”

  Len’s voice was tight and fearful. I didn’t want to frighten
him so I kept my head low and walked slowly.

  “It’s me,” I said. My words came out hoarse, lust dripping off them. I mentally scolded myself—I needed to pull it together for Len’s sake.

  “Oh.”

  Len didn’t move from his spot on the ground. His wide brown eyes were glued to me, never straying. I held my place, not daring to come any closer without his permission. We teetered on the edge of an unspoken cliff, and both of us knew it.

  I already knew the answer but asked anyway. “Are you…?”

  Len’s reply was breathless. “Yes.” He finally broke eye contact to stare at the ground. His brows furrowed and he ground his teeth. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry?” I asked, genuinely puzzled. “Why?”

  Len wrapped his arms tightly around his chest, making himself small. He seemed mad at himself for some reason. “If I was like the rest of my warren, I wouldn’t be having my heat right now, but my schedule is stupid. I can’t even do this right.”

  I barely understood what he was talking about and I didn’t care. All that mattered was that he was here, and fuck, he smelled amazing. My mouth watered but I dug my heels into the earth. No matter how badly I wanted him, the choice was his.

  “There’s nothing wrong with you, Len,” I growled.

  “I’m being a burden. Exactly the one thing I didn’t want to be,” he muttered.

  “Enough.”

  Without meaning to, my wolf had slipped into my voice. The force of my command made him glance up.

  “I never want to hear you speak badly about yourself again,” I went on. “Is that clear?”

  He chuffed a laugh. “Is that an order, alpha?”

  I ignored the sensual tingle that word sent down my spine. “Yes.”

  With every passing second in his presence, my arousal built. Saliva pooled in my mouth and I swallowed it thickly. He was every amazing scent in the world all at once. No—he was better. He was the most incredible thing I’d ever scented and I craved him.

  This is about Len, not you, I told myself. I pinched my nose to cut off the scent of him.

  “Sorry,” Len murmured again. “I’ll leave. I can… I can stay in this forest until my heat passes. If it’s that bad, you wolves should go ahead without me. I’ll catch up later.”