you? That’s not your usual black-tie outfit.”
“Nope.”
Maggie rose to examine Erik more closely. The past couple of days he’d been by her side all day long,
taking her on tours, buying her trinkets at the souvenir shops. Guarding her when too many wolves
crowded around. Then he would kiss her good night outside her hotel room and leave her. Leave her aching
and wanting, and she was so ready to rip the clothes right off his gladiator-sized body here and now to sate
the urges pulsing through her.
This mate thing was getting seriously out of control.
He winked. “I thought Maggie and I would skip the formal dinner. You two go as the representatives
from Granite Lake.”
Relief flooded her, the tension headache at the back of her neck slipping away in one smooth stroke.
“You mean it?”
He gestured to the basket he’d dropped on the coffee table. “I raided the kitchen. Private picnic for
two sound good?”
She threw herself into his arms and buried her face in his neck. She breathed in deeply, his scent
filling her head and calming her nerves.
“Thank you,” she whispered. He’d known. He’d understood she still couldn’t do the whole room full
of strange wolves.
Someone cleared their throat and she realized she was not only clinging to Erik, she’d wrapped her
legs around his waist and they were rather intimately pressed together. Not that she was embarrassed—wolves were pretty upfront about sex—but if she didn’t move soon, they’d be putting on a show, and she
really wanted to be alone with him.
Erik lowered her carefully, brushing his knuckles against her cheek before taking her by the hand.
“Boys, I expect you to be on your best behaviour. I don’t want to be called back to Diamond Tooth Gertie’s
and find out you’ve been fighting.”
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Wolf Games
Jared winked. “Tonight, I’m a lover, not a fighter.” He turned to TJ. “Did you see the chick on the
Norwegian Team? Arwhoo. I claim dibs on that one.”
Maggie held on tightly to Erik as he whisked her out of the room and down the ornately decorated
hallway. “Are we going to get in trouble for not attending?”
He shook his head. “It’s an optional event. The guys will have a good time, there will be a lot of sex
happening in the corners of the room, and one team will get thrown out for trying to start a rumble. The
usual when you get a big gathering of wolves together.”
Oh Lord, now she was even happier she didn’t have to attend.
They walked quietly down the historic wooden boardwalk, Maggie pulling in long slow breaths of the
fresh air. Above them the sky remained daylight bright.
Erik noticed her gazing upward. “We’ve traveled far enough north sunset won’t happen until just after
midnight.”
She nodded. “I’ve missed this part of the North. Before we moved away from Whitehorse I used to
love staying up late and going for runs…”
Her throat choked tight and he squeezed her fingers. He led her into the trees and up a narrow path.
By the time they broke out above the city, she could breathe again. She stood looking down at the narrow
streets nestled against the Yukon River, the hills on the other side still showing their scars from the years of
dredge mining. The massive machines had followed the hand miners, scooping up layers of rock and soil to
shift out every bit of gold, leaving chunks of broken rubble in their wake.
That was her.
Scarred. Beaten, and pulled apart until there was nothing left of value. At least, that’s what she’d felt
like before meeting Erik. She sighed. If only it was as easy as bulldozing the rocks aside and planting
flowers to cover the scars on her heart.
Erik wrapped his arms around her from the back, pulling her against his warm body. “We need to deal
with this tonight. I’m pretty sure the next challenge is going to involve us having to shift. We need to talk.”
Anger flared. “This is about me being able to shift? For the Games?” She would have torn herself
from his grasp, but suddenly iron bands held her in place.
“Don’t. I know you’re scared, but don’t deliberately try to turn this into a fight to avoid talking to me.
I’ve given you time and space. I just want what’s best for you and I don’t give a shit if you ever change into
a wolf.”
He spun her around and clasped her chin, his dark eyes searching hers intently. “I refuse to stand by
and let you face tomorrow unprepared. If I’m right, there will be dozens of wolves surrounding you. I
won’t allow you to walk into that kind of a situation without me trying to take away a little of your fears.
You’ve asked me to wait before joining with you and even though it’s been hell, I’ve waited. But don’t ask
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Vivian Arend
me to not be your mate, not protect you when I can. Because I won’t do it. My wolf won’t let me and
neither will my human morals.”
She stared at him, her limbs trembling as she realized for the first time she was with someone stronger
than her who she could really trust. The ache in her soul urged her on.
“You won’t tell Missy?”
He jerked back in surprise. “Doesn’t she know?”
She shook her head. “She knows parts, but…” Shame covered her. Her own sister had suffered
because of Maggie’s weakness.
He spread out the blanket he’d brought, sat and pulled her into his lap. Resting her head against his
chest, not looking into his eyes, made it easier to speak. She thought for a moment, then simply told her
story.
“I don’t know why we moved away from Whitehorse. Mom and Dad died before I got a real answer
out of them, but Missy and I always suspected it had something to do with our new Alpha in Whistler. He
found out something he held over Dad’s head to make him move. Once we were in the pack at Whistler,
there was no escape for any of us.”
She swallowed hard. “The summer I was seventeen, Missy turned twenty-one. Our Alpha wanted her
to marry his brother. He was trying to gain control of her Omega skills, but we didn’t know it at the time.
Missy only knew Jeff wasn’t her mate and she refused. So they…” She shivered and burrowed deeper into
his arms as if his presence could protect her from the memories.
“They came after you?”
She nodded. “I ran. I hid as a human and when they found me, I shifted and ran again. There were six
or seven of them and every time I shifted there was someone in that form to torment me. They hit me.” Her
voice broke. “They hurt me.”
His body tightened under her, indignation and anger pouring off him and forming a protective wall
around them. Nothing could touch her right now. He stroked her hair silently for a moment, his heart
pounding under her ear.
“Did they rape you?” He spoke softly, gently.
“I don’t know!” She squirmed her way back to stare at him. “It sounds so stupid, but I really don’t
remember. I can feel them grabbing me—my human body—and throwing me on the floor. I shifted, and
then there were wolves on top of me, trying to mount me. I shifted back and they tore my skin.” She lifted
her blouse and twisted to show him the scars along her lower back and her hips. “I shifted so many times in
a short period of time I passed out, exhausted from the effort. The next thing I remember is being at home
in bed, and Missy telling me she was engaged to Jeff. Dad had made promises to the Alpha and she was
furious. I never said a word, but I know it was my fault she ended up in that marriage. Dad sold her off to
save me.”
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Wolf Games
She thought she’d already wept all the tears possible over this. Thought the well had run dry and she
had nothing left but a cold stone for a heart. But in Erik’s arms, his scent surrounding her, she found
sorrows she’d never realized she still clung to. Great racking sobs shook her until she was gasping for air.
Erik rocked her, cradled her, his presence embracing her even closer than his arms. He poured love
over her, acceptance. His anger simmering underneath didn’t frighten her. It reassured her she would never,
ever have to face a situation like that again.
When she could speak there was a quiver in her voice. “I left right afterward and never went back. I
worked summers and attended UBC and I never shifted into a wolf. Missy and I kept in touch via email and
phone, especially after Mom and Dad died in a car accident, but I refused to physically go back to Whistler.
Every now and then I’d see pack members hanging around outside my classes, like they were keeping track
of me.” She shuddered. “Once, they tried to get into the apartment I shared with Pam, but I told her they
were cousins I didn’t want to see, and somehow she got rid of them.”
“I knew I liked her for a reason.”
She snorted, and wiped at her teary eyes. “Yeah, well, she thinks you’re a little freaky. You know,
she’s about the best friend I’ve ever had. Brave and loyal, and fearless and fun, all at the same time. So
often I wanted to tell her about being a wolf but I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk her leaving me.”
Erik handed her a hanky and she wiped her face clean. She settled back into his arms, his comfort
healing her pain. They sat together for a long time, Erik rubbing her back and whispering foreign phrases to
her. She had no idea what he was saying, but the words soothed her, eased the ragged edges around her
heart.
“I can see why being around wolves frightens you. Not only was your Alpha a rotten bastard, the
whole pack was diseased.”
Maggie ran a hand up his forearm to caress his biceps. Touching him made her feel so much better.
“I’m surprised you’re not offering to go rip out their throats.”
“Oh, I’m thinking about it. But your brother-in-law, Tad, already killed the Alpha who instigated the
whole thing. What I plan in retaliation for the others’ sins you don’t have to know about.”
She sat up quickly. “You’re not going after them.”
“They hurt you, you’re my mate. There will be an accounting.”
“I didn’t tell you this so you’d go off half-cocked killing people.”
Erik raised a brow. “Killing them. Okay, I had other things in mind, but now you mention it—”
“Stop it. It happened a long time ago. It’s been seven years.”
“Yet you’re still hurting. Sounds like I have cause to give them pain.”
She opened her mouth to speak and then froze. Oh damn it.
Damn, damn, damn.
He was right.
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Vivian Arend
Maggie scrambled out of his lap and stared down at his dark eyes in horror. A light bulb went on in
her head and she could clearly see herself in the room again, the wolves still attacking her. It was like she’d
locked the door and never let them go.
She paced toward the nearby trees, grappling with the revelation. She’d suffered years of mental pain
and confusion. Loneliness like only a pack animal separated from family could experience. Even the
physical weakness caused by locking her wolf away—none of it had been necessary.
She turned to face him. Her gentle giant, staring back with love in his eyes, concern and anger warring
in his heart. He’d seen clearly so many times in the past days exactly what she needed. Was it the mate
connection that made him able to cut down the walls and help her break free?
Suddenly she knew part of what she needed.
Him.
Two steps forward returned her to where he sat. “This isn’t about them, it’s me.” He moved to speak
and she held up her hand. “No, wait and listen. It’s true, I’m still in pain. I deliberately didn’t see any
wolves for years. I didn’t visit with my sister in person, and I haven’t been able to shift to my wolf in
forever. They stole a part of me away and I let them. Ah shit, I let them.”
“Maggie…no, don’t blame yourself. They were the ones who were wrong. You did nothing to deserve
this.”
She shook her head. “Don’t you see? That’s what I’m saying, I felt like I
did
deserve it. It was my
fault Missy was trapped, so I let my wolf become trapped as well in punishment. Oh hell, I’ve been so
stupid.”
Erik closed his eyes and she felt the rush of his power flow over her. She gasped at the depth of it, the
richness of the sensation soaking into her very pores. When he opened his eyes he held out his hand and she
grabbed it like a lifeline. “Maggie, I don’t know what to say. My brilliant plan to show you my wolf and try
to ease your fears seems trite and childish as a solution.
“I feel the strength inside you. Your wolf is powerful and she wants to help you through this. Your
heart is so strong, but you’ve been using your strength to carry a burden that wasn’t yours. I meant what I
said about not caring if you shift. Only I’d hate to see her trapped forever when together you can be happy
again. Truly happy.”
“So if tomorrow is a wolf-only challenge, what would you do?”
He shrugged. “As far as I’m concerned we can go home. This is a game, what you’re talking about is
real life.”
Maggie shook her head. “No! If we go home that’s another thing they’ve stolen from me. From the
boys, and the pack. No more. I’ve had enough of them taking my life away. I want to compete and I want
to get my life back on track.” Tears filled her eyes again. She dropped to her knees at his feet and clasped
his big hands in hers. “Help me.”