Page 50 of Reformed Wolf

As Vesta dozed on my shoulder, I signaled to Shan that the pack should go for their customary run through the forest. Vesta would not be doing her usual blessing tonight; she simply didn’t have it in her. She’d always been old, but this was the first time she’d actually seemed like it.

Out of respect for our shaman, my packmates stripped their clothes off quietly, took their fur, and padded almost silently into the trees. I would stay here, watching over Vesta and the kids.

Dylan, however, came to sit beside me, carrying Wynn so that Brody and Shan could run.

“You can go for the run,” I whispered, trying not to wake the elder at my side. “I can take Wynn, I don’t mind.”

“I’d rather stay here with you,” he said, just as softly. “Will you keep me warm?”

“Always.” I wrapped my arm around him and drew him closer.

Movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention. Even before I turned to look, I knew who it was by scent alone. Jude was standing off by himself at the far edge of the clearing, beside his tent. He yanked off his shirt and tossed it down, staring at the ground at his feet. He looked… broken.

“Is he okay?” Dylan asked. “Should we… invite him over?” I understood his hesitation. Jude was a hard man to truly get to know. Even when he was outwardly smiling, he kept his walls up high. These last couple weeks had been worse than usual. He was pulling away from the pack, spending more time as his wolf. I’d seen his envious looks when he watched Shan with Brody, me with Dylan. He was lonely.

Jude dropped to all fours, his dark fur like liquid shadows, and trotted into the trees away from where the others had gone. Dylan made a move to call out to him, but I stopped him with a hand on his thigh. “Let him go,” I said softly, watching him slip away into the woods, alone.

Dylan was particularly aware of loneliness, and I knew he was remembering what he’d felt like before we met. “I hope he finds what he’s looking for,” he said sadly.

“Me too…” I looked down at Pax as he sighed in his sleep, mirrored by Vesta. Maybe they knew what future Jude had in store. Whatever it was, I hoped it would bring him peace. He deserved it more than most—certainly more than I did.

I pulled Dylan in for a slow kiss, as best as I could being unable to move from my spot, then I looked up into the starry sky above and dreamed of all the winters (as well as springs, summers, and best of all, falls) to come. I might not have been able to see the future, but I just knew the years ahead would be filled with love.

The story continues with Jude's story in Rejected Wolf

No matter how deep you bury your past, the truth will always be unearthed… especially if fate has anything to say about it.

Alpha wolf shifter Jude wants nothing more than a family of his own. He’s watched his friends pair off with their fated mates. They have it all—love, babies, and the whole stupid happily ever after. But when will it be his turn? It’s not fair! It’s probably karma for all the mistakes he’s made. If he hadn’t kept his past a secret this whole time, maybe then he would finally deserve peace. At first, all of it was too fresh, too painful to revisit, except it never seemed like the right time to bring it up. But now, years have passed, and it just feels awkward to say anything after all this time, so he just keeps it to himself where it festers and rots inside him. Yep, must be karma. Because when he finally catches a whiff of the one fated to be his… it certainly feels like punishment. Because his mate is the one thing he can’t possibly forgive. He’s human.

When human omega Morgan sees a wolf turn into a man (before promptly growling in a totally grumpy alpha way and disappearing into the woods), he doesn’t question it for a second, because deep inside he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt—that wolfman belong to him. “He’s mine,” he tells his therapist, before being handed a prescription for antipsychotics. “He’s mine,” he tells the bartender pouring him his third drink. “He’s mine,” he tells the total stranger sitting next to him, just because he looks mildly interested and seems to be listening. Now, if only he could find his wolf again so he could say it again for him.