Vivian Arend - Wolf Games

“Nope.”

Maggie rose to examine Erik more closely. The past couple of days he’d been by her side all day long, taking her on tours, buying her trinkets at the souvenir shops. Guarding her when too many wolves crowded around. Then he would kiss her good night outside her hotel room and leave her. Leave her aching and wanting, and she was so ready to rip the clothes right off his gladiator-sized body here and now to sate the urges pulsing through her.

This mate thing was getting seriously out of control.

He winked. “I thought Maggie and I would skip the formal dinner. You two go as the representatives from Granite Lake.”

Relief flooded her, the tension headache at the back of her neck slipping away in one smooth stroke. “You mean it?”

He gestured to the basket he’d dropped on the coffee table. “I raided the kitchen. Private picnic for two sound good?”

She threw herself into his arms and buried her face in his neck. She breathed in deeply, his scent filling her head and calming her nerves.

“Thank you,” she whispered. He’d known. He’d understood she still couldn’t do the whole room full of strange wolves.

Someone cleared their throat and she realized she was not only clinging to Erik, she’d wrapped her legs around his waist and they were rather intimately pressed together. Not that she was embarrassed— wolves were pretty upfront about sex—but if she didn’t move soon, they’d be putting on a show, and she really wanted to be alone with him.

Erik lowered her carefully, brushing his knuckles against her cheek before taking her by the hand. “Boys, I expect you to be on your best behaviour. I don’t want to be called back to Diamond Tooth Gertie’s and find out you’ve been fighting.”

Jared winked. “Tonight, I’m a lover, not a fighter.” He turned to TJ. “Did you see the chick on the Norwegian Team? Arwhoo. I claim dibs on that one.”

Maggie held on tightly to Erik as he whisked her out of the room and down the ornately decorated hallway. “Are we going to get in trouble for not attending?”

He shook his head. “It’s an optional event. The guys will have a good time, there will be a lot of sex happening in the corners of the room, and one team will get thrown out for trying to start a rumble. The usual when you get a big gathering of wolves together.”

Oh Lord, now she was even happier she didn’t have to attend.

They walked quietly down the historic wooden boardwalk, Maggie pulling in long slow breaths of the fresh air. Above them the sky remained daylight bright.

Erik noticed her gazing upward. “We’ve traveled far enough north sunset won’t happen until just after midnight.”

She nodded. “I’ve missed this part of the North. Before we moved away from Whitehorse I used to love staying up late and going for runs…”

Her throat choked tight and he squeezed her fingers. He led her into the trees and up a narrow path. By the time they broke out above the city, she could breathe again. She stood looking down at the narrow streets nestled against the Yukon River, the hills on the other side still showing their scars from the years of dredge mining. The massive machines had followed the hand miners, scooping up layers of rock and soil to shift out every bit of gold, leaving chunks of broken rubble in their wake.

That was her.

Scarred. Beaten, and pulled apart until there was nothing left of value. At least, that’s what she’d felt like before meeting Erik. She sighed. If only it was as easy as bulldozing the rocks aside and planting flowers to cover the scars on her heart.

Erik wrapped his arms around her from the back, pulling her against his warm body. “We need to deal with this tonight. I’m pretty sure the next challenge is going to involve us having to shift. We need to talk.”

Anger flared. “This is about me being able to shift? For the Games?” She would have torn herself from his grasp, but suddenly iron bands held her in place.

“Don’t. I know you’re scared, but don’t deliberately try to turn this into a fight to avoid talking to me. I’ve given you time and space. I just want what’s best for you and I don’t give a shit if you ever change into a wolf.”

He spun her around and clasped her chin, his dark eyes searching hers intently. “I refuse to stand by and let you face tomorrow unprepared. If I’m right, there will be dozens of wolves surrounding you. I won’t allow you to walk into that kind of a situation without me trying to take away a little of your fears. You’ve asked me to wait before joining with you and even though it’s been hell, I’ve waited. But don’t ask me to not be your mate, not protect you when I can. Because I won’t do it. My wolf won’t let me and neither will my human morals.”

She stared at him, her limbs trembling as she realized for the first time she was with someone stronger than her who she could really trust. The ache in her soul urged her on.

“You won’t tell Missy?”

He jerked back in surprise. “Doesn’t she know?”

She shook her head. “She knows parts, but…” Shame covered her. Her own sister had suffered because of Maggie’s weakness.

He spread out the blanket he’d brought, sat and pulled her into his lap. Resting her head against his chest, not looking into his eyes, made it easier to speak. She thought for a moment, then simply told her story.

“I don’t know why we moved away from Whitehorse. Mom and Dad died before I got a real answer out of them, but Missy and I always suspected it had something to do with our new Alpha in Whistler. He found out something he held over Dad’s head to make him move. Once we were in the pack at Whistler, there was no escape for any of us.”

She swallowed hard. “The summer I was seventeen, Missy turned twenty-one. Our Alpha wanted her to marry his brother. He was trying to gain control of her Omega skills, but we didn’t know it at the time. Missy only knew Jeff wasn’t her mate and she refused. So they…” She shivered and burrowed deeper into his arms as if his presence could protect her from the memories.

“They came after you?”

She nodded. “I ran. I hid as a human and when they found me, I shifted and ran again. There were six or seven of them and every time I shifted there was someone in that form to torment me. They hit me.” Her voice broke. “They hurt me.”

His body tightened under her, indignation and anger pouring off him and forming a protective wall around them. Nothing could touch her right now. He stroked her hair silently for a moment, his heart pounding under her ear.

“Did they rape you?” He spoke softly, gently.

“I don’t know!” She squirmed her way back to stare at him. “It sounds so stupid, but I really don’t remember. I can feel them grabbing me—my human body—and throwing me on the floor. I shifted, and then there were wolves on top of me, trying to mount me. I shifted back and they tore my skin.” She lifted her blouse and twisted to show him the scars along her lower back and her hips. “I shifted so many times in a short period of time I passed out, exhausted from the effort. The next thing I remember is being at home in bed, and Missy telling me she was engaged to Jeff. Dad had made promises to the Alpha and she was furious. I never said a word, but I know it was my fault she ended up in that marriage. Dad sold her off to save me.”

She thought she’d already wept all the tears possible over this. Thought the well had run dry and she had nothing left but a cold stone for a heart. But in Erik’s arms, his scent surrounding her, she found sorrows she’d never realized she still clung to. Great racking sobs shook her until she was gasping for air.

Erik rocked her, cradled her, his presence embracing her even closer than his arms. He poured love over her, acceptance. His anger simmering underneath didn’t frighten her. It reassured her she would never, ever have to face a situation like that again.