The She-Wolf Series Book 2

IVAR

I was terrified, was the truth of it. But instead, I replied, “You never asked me to stay.”

She fell silent, maybe reminiscing about that night, or perhaps wishing I had never returned. It was always hard to read her.

I felt her begin to distance herself, and on impulse, I kissed her forehead. She hesitated at the touch, then stood up. Her absence was immediate, like a part of me was missing.

Rankor whimpered in my mind, urging me to pull her back, but I held back.

“I bet you’re tired of being naked,” she said. “I’ll get you some clothes.”

I couldn’t help but smirk.

Or maybe you’re tired of seeing me naked, I thought, keeping it to myself. “Sure,” I agreed.

As I heard her footsteps recede upstairs, I leaned back. The pain in my feet had somewhat subsided before the confrontation with the beta.

Now, it felt like someone was hammering nails into my heels.

The food and water had helped with the dizziness, but a throbbing headache persisted behind my temples. That had been a constant companion for a few months now, unrelated to my current injuries.

When I heard Sam return, I opened my eyes to see her holding a pair of gym shorts and a shirt. I took them from her and attempted to stand.

She quickly turned her back.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” she said hastily before heading to the kitchen.

I chuckled to myself. “You saw me naked earlier,” I reminded her.

“Uh, yeah. I guess so,” she replied, sounding awkward. It was endearing.

The shirt was a bit tight, but overall, the clothes fit well. Initially, I felt a pang of jealousy at the thought of her having another man’s clothes, but I couldn’t detect a distinct scent.

If they did belong to someone else, they hadn’t been worn in a while.

Still, I asked, “Whose clothes are these?”

“Luke’s,” she replied simply.

His scent and hers were so intertwined in the house, I hadn’t immediately recognized it on the clothes—another sign of my weakening abilities.

“Your sixteen-year-old son has clothes that fit me, and you’re worried about him being the alpha?” I asked, incredulous.

“What do you mean?” she asked, reentering the room.

“Sam, very few werewolves could lend me clothes,” I explained, surprised she wasn’t catching on.

“I guess he’s pretty big for his age,” she shrugged. “You saw him this morning when Emerick picked him up for school, right?”

I tried to recall, but I had been so exhausted that I barely remembered seeing Sam’s pup.

My only vivid memory from that interaction was Emerick Stone’s hands on my mate.

“I don’t remember,” I admitted. “My memory is a bit hazy after running for so many days.”

“Right,” she said, sounding suspicious.

“Regardless,” I continued, “it seems the pup should be able to hold his own as alpha, and he will only get stronger.”

She scoffed. “Just because he can physically defend himself does not mean he is ready to lead a pack.”

“I became the alpha of my pack at sixteen,” I pointed out.

“And you were ready for that responsibility?” she questioned.

I hesitated. The truth was, I hadn’t been, but circumstances had left me with little choice.

I had to grow up fast and lead my people with strength because it was necessary.

Sam took my silence as an admission. “Exactly,” she muttered.

“I was completely alone,” I argued. “Luke has two former alphas to guide him, and his mother will be the queen. No one is going to challenge him.”

She sighed. “It’s not about someone challenging him, Ivar. He deserves to live a normal life before he serves as the pack’s leader. He needs time to figure out who he is. Maybe, I dunno, graduate high school? The world has become a lot more complicated since your time as an alpha.”

I couldn’t argue with that. Werewolves and other supernatural creatures were facing new challenges every day.

In my many years, I had watched the world change dramatically, but in the last century we had especially struggled in completely uncharted waters.

Where before we mostly hid our existence from humans out of convenience, now it had become more of a necessity.

I was forced to build strong relationships with world leaders, threaten those who spoke out, even make questionable trades in order to keep our secrets.

A werewolf was undoubtedly stronger than any human, but they vastly outnumbered us. Now, they had weapons that ensured any battle would be bloody for both sides.

“You won’t be able to protect him forever,” I continued my protest, but I could sense I was on the losing side.

“No,” she conceded, shaking her head. “But I can protect him for now.”

I stayed quiet as I had run out of arguments. I admired my mate’s dedication to her son and I understood her wanting to keep him safe.

The problem was her doing so meant she was unavailable to me, and I was suffering physically because of it.

To the point that I had lost control of my wolf for days on end. The entire supernatural world could fall without me at the helm to protect them, and as of yet, there was no replacement.

“You said before you didn’t stay because I didn’t ask you to,” she said, pulling me from my thoughts. “What if I were to ask you now?”

I shook my head. “How would that look? Me bending to a mere alpha? A she-wolf nonetheless?”

“You care more about perception than about having me as your mate?” she asked.

I was taken aback by her question. She sounded genuinely curious rather than accusatory. It made me reflect on my choice of words.

Sam must have taken my silence as an affirmative because she sighed before saying, “Fine. If you won’t go to the pack house for help, then please let me call the doctor here. Above all else, I know she can be trusted. She kept my injuries after I was challenged a secret, and she values her professional discretion.”

I wanted to address our previous discussion, but I could tell Sam didn’t want to argue anymore.

“If it will make you feel better, then call her,” I muttered. “You and I both know there’s nothing she can do to speed up this process.”

Only mating her could. I left that part unsaid.

Mating Samantha was the only thing that would ease the pain I was feeling. The injuries I sustained getting here were only a fraction of the problem.

Fate was pulling us together and resisting our connection was taking a heavy toll on me.

“Do you not suffer from the incomplete mating bond?” I asked her.

“In what way?” she asked as she scrolled through her phone.

“I mean physically,” I clarified. “I get headaches, chest pain, I don’t heal. Does none of that affect you?”

“Yeah, it does,” she admitted, her eyes flicking from her phone screen to meet mine. “That’s the feeling of a shattered heart.”

I just looked at her, unable to find the right words.

“You don’t seem as affected as I am,” I finally managed to say.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she murmured, her fingers scrolling until she found the contact she was searching for.

“I’m struggling to make it through each day. You, on the other hand, seem to be holding up pretty well.”

She let out a sigh, rolling her eyes.

“I’ve told you before, I can’t afford to wallow. I’ve dealt with heart-wrenching grief in the past. It’s painful, but I’ve learned to cope. That’s what I’m doing now.”

“I’ve known loss too,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

Her expression softened.

“I believe you,” she said gently. “But losing a lover is a different kind of pain. Even one you barely knew.”

I grunted in response, choosing not to say anything more.

I couldn’t accept the idea that she was experiencing the same level of pain as I was, yet appeared completely unaffected.

In the background, I heard Sam dialing a number and asking for someone named Dr. Martin.

I leaned back against the couch, not even realizing when my eyes had drifted shut.

I was roused slightly when I felt a blanket being draped over me.

Instinctively, I reached out and caught Sam’s hand as she was about to walk away.

I braced myself for her to pull away.

But instead, she squeezed my hand back and I felt her settle down next to me on the couch.

After a moment, her fingers began to gently run through my hair.

Each touch sent a wave of tingles through me.

I let out a content hum before sleep claimed me once more.