Charmed Wolf

Chapter 3-2

A TRUE NAME MEANT.... “You can’t be fae,” I countered. “You have a wolf inside you.”

His lips pursed, somehow managing to remain beautiful in the process. This time his eyes were the ones averted. “Half fae. Half wolf,” he murmured, as if he didn’t want to share the information. “Now will you listen?”

A true name wasn’t given lightly. With that knowledge, I could do more than freeze his muscles. I could force him to obey.

I cleared my throat. “May I test it?”

His muscles tensed but he nodded. “Of course.”

“Rune Pelletier”—I whispered the words, not wanting them overheard—“leave me.”

It was the obvious use of his true name. The one thing he clearly didn’t want to do.

But he rose to his feet. Half-bowed. Turned toward the exit.

If Rune was pretending, he was doing a fine job of it. His scent had dropped from dominant to disappointed. Plus, an Alpha learned when it was worth going out on a rickety but useful limb.

That, I told myself, not Rune’s beauty, was why I let him off the hook. “I release you.”

The traditional words were almost musical. Not as melodic as Rune’s had been, but still redolent with something more than humanity.

Rune turned, one eyebrow raised. “You realize your inability to move will fade within minutes if you send me out of here.”

I nodded. “If what you have to say is important enough to trade a true name for, I’ll listen.”

He half-bowed again. Then he subsided into his seat.

I expected him to release me from his compulsion now that I’d agreed to stay, but he didn’t. Maybe he didn’t trust me not to run, or maybe he was too intent upon his own goals. Either way, he leaned in until my wolf whimpered then backed up a millimeter. Finally, he breathed out a story about beings I’d seldom heard mentioned outside my pack.

“Last October, fae came through a node two hundred miles from here.” His voice was as seductive as the trail of a buck scented when my stomach was empty. “Many of them crossed over, but only three made it past our swords. Three is a powerful number for fae. If all three survive until next Samhain, the devastation could be....” He closed his eyes, his voice trailing off.

I c****d my head, detecting something personal in his reaction. But the momentary lapse disappeared so quickly I almost thought I’d imagined it. Rune’s voice hardened as he returned to the point.

“I’m one of the Samhain Shifters tasked with finding those fae and expelling them back to Faery before they can wreak further havoc. We suspect one has settled within your territory.”

I’d been nodding along until the final sentence, but now I cut him off. “Not possible.”

“No?” He raised one perfectly formed eyebrow.

I didn’t answer the unasked question. The Whelan Bargain wasn’t spoken of outside our pack. Instead, I just nodded. “Thanks for checking, but we’re good.”

It was a dismissal, but Butch ignored it. “You don’t understand. You may think hungry fae are just stories, but they’re not. I’ve seen what they can do. How they invade, feed on pack bonds, break strong clans apart like kindling.”

He leaned in closer, and this time my body didn’t respond to his proximity either with fear or attraction. He cared about this story, but it was irrelevant to me. Still, I gave him the same courtesy he’d provided and heard him out.

“I formally request the opportunity to walk through your territory seeking fae, Tara,” Rune continued. “It won’t take long. A few hours. If there’s an issue, I’ll inform you. As I said, I will take every precaution to prevent harm to your pack.”

“Are you finished?”

He nodded once, a slow dip of his chin.

“Then it’s your turn to listen to me now.” I enunciated slowly to make sure he got the message. “There are no fae here.”

None but the one my grandfather had made a deal with. The Guardian, who slept...mostly.

Rune didn’t lean in closer, yet his persimmon scent consumed me. “You sound certain, but you had no idea I bore fae blood until I revealed that fact.”

Even when I’d used his true name, Rune hadn’t released me from his alpha compulsion. But now his agitation did what the true name hadn’t. Tingles of feelings shot back into my fingertips. My hands continued their earlier aborted trajectory before I could freeze them into stillness.

Fork crossed over knife atop my plate. And Megan must have been hovering right behind me, waiting for the signal.

Because something cold and gloppy poured over my back, my front, my head. I was drenched in milkshake, rich and sweet and full of chocolate. Curls flattened, clinging to my jawline. I swiped one hand across my face to clear it of the dripping mess.

I hadn’t heard him move, but Rune was standing by the time I pried my eyes back open. The kindness was gone from his face now. Instead his features had frozen into a mask, pure beauty so perfect it was horrible.

This time, he didn’t use my name. Just my title. “There was no need for evasive action, Alpha. I get the picture. I’ll take that as a no.”