Beckett

I sensed the moment Devany returned to consciousness, even before the rhythm in her breathing changed. It was as if light returned to the darkness. Leaning over the bed, I waited for her to open her eyes and wondered what the hell was wrong with me.

At least now I understood part of why I'd been so drawn to her. I wasn't one of the elitist assholes who thought humans should be kept in cages and used as slaves, but I also rarely wanted to fuck them. It made a lot more sense that the little lavender haired bartender was a wolf. But it also made things far more complicated.

The bedroom door opened. Jack and his father, General Lawson, stepped inside, followed by my stepmother, Leann. All the uncouth words that I had been about to say fizzled on the tip of my tongue, but from Jack's fidgeting and downcast eyes, my face did enough talking for me.

"Why is he not locked up?" I demanded. His father was the only reason I hadn't killed him tonight. "General's son or not, he committed a crime."

Lawson huffed and grabbed Jack by the scruff of his neck. It reminded me of the way she-wolves grabbed their pups. Jack was no pup, though. He was a loose cannon. Next time he would go too far, and I wouldn't be there to stop him.

I touched Devany's face. Thank god, I'd been there tonight.

"My son will face his punishment in due course, but he shared some interesting information with us about the girl. Information you left out."

Of course he did. My molars clenched together, and I struggled to hold my wolf at bay. It wasn't like I'd planned on keeping the truth about Devany a secret forever, but I'd hoped she would have time to heal first.

"It's true then?" Leann asked, licking her overfilled lips and eying Devany with a hint of distaste. "She's a wolf."

"Her blood doesn't lie. Blood I would like to point out that was only spilled because Jack tried to kill her."

Jack whimpered. "It's not my fault. Her arrogance angered my wolf, and I had to show her where she ranked. It makes sense now that we know she's a wolf."

A bitter laugh escaped me. "You're full of shit, Jack. Everyone here knows the only way to identify wolves who have never shifted is by blood. Until their wolf emerges, they have no scent."

"Maybe I'm special."

"Shut up, son," Lawson said. "You're lucky the Alpha didn't kill you."

Leann sniffed and waved at the bed. "I'll send someone to clean her up when she wakes."

"No."

"Beckett." I might be the Alpha of the Black Fang pack, the largest pack in the country, but she still spoke to me like I was a seven-year-old boy caught in the snack pantry before dinner. "This is how things are done."

"It's barbaric and outdated."

"It's necessary. She's packless–"

"We don't know that."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "We do. There is not a single pack on this continent that would allow her to go through puberty without initiating the change. If she doesn't have a pack, then she's a rogue, and rogues are killed."

I growled. "If she doesn't have a wolf, then she's not a rogue. Only transitioned wolves go mad when they go rogue."

Lawson and Leann shared an uneasy look. The General cleared his throat and added, "You know why she's got to go through the auction if she doesn't shift. And none of that matters. It's the Council's law."

The fucking Council. Seething, I inched closer to Devany. Her heartbeat was racing now. Soon she would open her eyes.

"Leave us. I want to explain everything to her, and once she's decided, I'll send for you."

"Beckett–"

"Out!"

The hinges of the bedroom door squealed as they filed out, but Jack lingered in the doorway. I raised my head and caught him staring at Devany with a feral hunger. Red flooded my vision.

He tore his eyes away and pinned them on me. "Sorry. I was just imagining a few things. Her carrying my pup. And, of course, getting it in her stomach."

"You motherfu–"

I lunged at him, and he snatched the door shut before my fist could come down on his worthless face. Through the door, I could hear his rapid retreat. We both knew I'd allowed him to escape, but next time he wouldn't be so lucky.

"B-beckett?"

Devany pushed herself up on the bed, her arms shaking as she watched me with groggy eyes. Bruises covered her jaw and cheek, and red puffy skin surrounded the gash on her forehead. I settled in the chair beside the bed and eased her back onto her pillow.

"Hey. How do you feel?"

"Like some asshole threw me into my truck."

"Least we know your memory wasn't affected," I joked, though I wondered if it would be easier if she couldn't remember what happened.

"Or my hearing. Was that Jack that I heard in the room? Why isn't he in jail, and why am I not in the hospital?"

Anger laced her words, but if she was upset now, it was only the beginning. When I explained to her that her entire future was just knocked off course, she was going to be furious. A part of me grew excited at the prospect of seeing her get worked up–my wolf liked that she was strong and unyielding. I liked it, too.

"About that..." I scratched my cheek. "This is going to be a weird question, but where are you from?"

Gray eyes cut me deep. "You just answered a question with a question. Nice try."

"Devany, I'm being serious."

"I'm being serious, too."

She sat up and threw the covers aside, swaying only slightly as she put her feet on the floor. A human could never recover as fast as she had from such a beating, but her wolf heritage was speeding things along. Not nearly as quickly as it could if she ever shifted, but at her age, that wasn't going to happen.

I grabbed her thighs to pin her in place, but touching her was an epic mistake. Just like in the bar, desire overwhelmed me, and my wolf howled. If she wasn't trying to peel my fingers from her legs, she would see that my eyes were glowing from the effort of restraining the beast within.

"What is this? Did you kidnap me? Is this something you two do? Jack plays the villain while you play the hero?" She sounded panicked now.

"Devany." I infused my voice with the power of an Alpha and watched as she crumbled under my will. "Where are you from?"

"I don't know."

Compelled to speak, she did so grudgingly, earning even more respect from me and my wolf. If she had shifted, she would have ranked very high in the pack.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"They abandoned me as a baby on the steps of a church. The family who adopted me was killed in a car accident when I was four, and I ended up in the foster system."

Shit. Any hope I had that she might have been born into a pack faded away. Sometimes, Rogues had pups before we caught them, and the lucky children were abandoned. The unlucky were forced to drift from place to place with their parents until one or both of them went mad.

Devany tilted her head. "Do you know something about my parents?"

"Nothing specific, but I think they were like me."

"Like you?"

I nodded, subconsciously kneading the soft flesh of her inner thigh. The scent of her arousal reached me, and I groaned, focusing on her injured face to keep myself from dragging her tiny shorts down her long legs and fucking her senseless.

"A wolf."

Devany blinked. Then laughed. "You're serious? Oh, my god. You're actually serious? Sorry to disappoint you, but I've never stripped naked on the full moon and sprouted a tail."

Why did she have to mention getting naked? I banished the image and persisted. "That's because you've never shifted. It takes pack intervention to shift, and you never had a pack."

"Wow. How long was I out? Long enough for you to come up with some kind of bullshit."

"Fine. I'll show you."

"By all means," she said. Then gestured wildly at me as I stepped to the center of the room and tugged my shirt over my head. "Wait, a second. Is wolf some sort of euphemism?"

Pausing with the wad of fabric in my hands, I arched a brow. "No. Why?"

"Then why are you getting naked?"

"This is my favorite shirt," I explained. A vintage t-shirt my mother bought my father at the first concert they went to together. The jeans I would leave on for her comfort, but this shirt was sacred.

"Are you ready?" My skin tingled in anticipation.

"Go ahead." She was still laughing, thinking this was all a joke.

I nodded and unleashed my wolf. Skin shredded and bones snapped as he emerged. Her eyes followed me as I fell to all fours, and when I raised my long silver snout in a howl, she took one deep breath and fainted.