Page 27 of Starting a New Life

Rhett stepped up next to me, staring at me imploringly. He was still in wolf form but shifted, nodding to the heap of wolf and mage.

“Do you really want to lock that guy up in a cell?” he asked, his voice filled with doubt.

We hadn’t used our cells in the packhouse’s basement in years. In fact, I’d only had to use them once since I’d become Alpha. I prided myself on not throwing people into cells. On taking care of my pack. On leading without fear.

But this was different. That guy wasn’t part of our pack. He was an unknown variable. A possible threat I hadn’t known about, even though he obviously wasn’t new to our territory.

No, my wolf supplied immediately, pushing at my chest from within. Take care of him. Ours. Our mage.

But he wasn’t. He was an intruder. One I hadn’t known was here. Where did he come from? How long had he been here?

“Yes,” I ground out between clenched teeth, even as my wolf raged inside me, throwing a fucking tantrum at my unwillingness to give in to his demands. “He’s an intruder.”

Rhett furrowed his brow, his lips a thin line. “He doesn’t feel like one,” he said quietly, staring at the barrier ahead, head tilted thoughtfully.

He was right. Which was a problem in and of itself. He should feel like an intruder. The barrier should have alerted us as soon as he set foot on our pack lands. But the only intruders we’d ever had were those damn fucking wolves.

His presence shouldn’t have been possible.

But he was here, lying on top of the injured wolf, not feeling like an intruder at all.

“No, he doesn’t,” I admitted, equally quiet. The rage was still simmering inside my chest, but the flames were dying fast, leaving more confusion than anything.

Go back, my wolf demanded. Our mage. Take care of him.

Rhett swallowed heavily, his eyes focused on the barrier straight ahead, his throat working, Adam’s apple bobbing as he was searching for words.

I let him take his time and watched as Angelo dragged the dead wolves into our territory.

In the distance, ATVs came rumbling closer.

Our mage, my wolf tried again. Check on him.

I shook my head to get him to shut the fuck up, but he wasn’t budging.

Go.

No.

I pressed a hand to my stomach, unease settling in as my wolf pushed, making me stumble a step forward.

I was the Alpha. I should be helping Angelo with cleanup, but my rage and my wolf’s one-eighty were throwing me off my game.

Finally, Rhett let out a sigh, his hand reaching for my forearm.

“Did you scent the guy? Did you get a whiff of him before he fell unconscious?”

I shook my head. There’d been so many different scents, and I hadn’t really paid attention to the guy. The newcomers, the attackers, the blood, and the burnt smell coming off the gun. Then there was the crackling electricity, the smell of ozone…

Rhett swallowed again, his hand tightening around my forearm, fingers digging into my flesh.

“Well, I did,” he whispered. “And while it’s not exactly the same, he… he kinda smells like Levi.”

His admission hung in the air, mixing with traces of uncertainty and fear.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Rhett said. “But it’s freaking me the fuck out.”