Moon Dancer - Hidden Wolf 1

Grayson

My eyes snap open and I sit up abruptly. I quickly take in my surroundings and a rush of fear runs through me. I grab at my necklace, clutching the moonstone shard. Where the fuck was I?

Just as my chest starts to constrict and my lungs force out all of my air, I breathe in the scent of the room. Or more accurately, the blankets piled on top of me. My heart rate slows, the fear dimming down a bit as I take in the scents of all four of my mates.

Okay. Okay.

I look around the room, noting that I was alone.

Blankets had been piled on top of me, and I clutched one with my shaking fingers, bringing it up to my chin to try and comfort me more. I hated following my instincts to freeze and hide, but I had no idea where I was right now, or what was waiting for me outside of this room. If burrowing in a pile of blankets was my only protection right now, I would take it.

The scent of the blanket reached my nose and I greedily breathed in the stormy scent of Ryker. Dark gray clouds filled with freezing rain. Tingles rushed down my spine, soothing the fear as they went.

I looked down at the pile and took time breathing in each of my mate's scents, letting them waft around me.

Smoky notes of campfire from Ares.

Smooth and grounding sandalwood and sage from Jagger.

The frosty notes of pine trees from Finn.

I sat up straighter as my head cleared enough for me to make sense of what was happening.

Holy fucking hell.

Was I in their house? Shit. Shit.

I bolted out of the bed, the blankets falling to the floor around me. Immediately, I was hit with light headedness and fell onto my knees. I resisted the urge pick the blankets back up and nestle under them.

Slower this time, I eased myself back to my feet.

Tucking my hair behind my ear, I listened for any sign of the pack in the house.

I had to get out. Larkin could not know that I was here. The Society couldn't know-

Voices muffled by the walls met my heightened hearing and I silently moved toward the door. Easing it open, I quietly crept down the hall on my bare feet.

I kept close to the wall to help steady me.

The house was made out of wood, but had a modern style. Sleek metal light fixtures were on the wall, the natural grain moving in a pattern of lines and swirls. The pack was still a few rooms over, what seemed like on the other side of the house.

As the hallway ended, the room opened up before me, the ceiling stretched up along with huge floor-to-ceiling windows.

I padded into the middle of what I guessed was the den and had to tilt my chin up to see the ceiling.

The windows that made up one wall faced the forest, tall lush green trees towering beside the house, stretching up as high as the glass. It was a stunning view. Usually, I was not a fan of windows and open spaces. But there was something comforting about being encased by the trees. Or maybe it was my mate's heavily concentrated scents around me.

I followed the now clearer voices, heading down another hallway.

"She needs to stay here." Jagger's voice. I stop in my tracks and press myself against a wall, trying to keep my presence hidden. "We need to keep her safe and away from the witch-wolf."

My stomach drops.

"She won't want to stay." That was Finn.

"It won't be her choice." Ares growls and my shoulders slightly curl in on me. "We put her under our protection."

"We make her our prisoner, you mean." And that was Ryker.

"If that's what it takes." Jagger speaks again.

My lips part in shock, the sinking feeling in my stomach worsening. I bring a hand up to my throat and press my fingers into the flesh there.

I trusted him. Why was he talking like that?

"Jagger." Ryker says scaldingly.

"We will let her make decisions about what happens to her here, and not take that away. But she stays in these walls. Where we can keep her the safest."

I shake my head even though no one can see me. My body sways and I have to place both hands flat against the wall to keep me upright.

"What about her mate?" Ares says in a rough voice. My heart stopped.

Oh goddess. Jagger had told them everything, hadn't he?

"What about him?" Ryker growled.

"He won't want her with us." Jagger said.

Ares scoffed. "Whoever this mutt is, he is doing a shit job at protecting his mate."

I squeezed my eyes shut, my emotions spiraling inside of me.

"He's a worthless piece of shit." Jagger spits.

Without thinking about what I was doing, I step around the corner and find myself in a fully decked out kitchen, the pack standing in the middle of it.

Their heads whip to me as I stop in the doorway. "You're wrong." I say, voice rough and quiet.

My hand came back to my throat, and I try to rub the roughness in my voice away.

Finn steps toward me, caution in his eyes. "Grayson, you should be resting-"

"You're wrong." I say again, my voice still raw. "My mate. He-" I swallow and shake my head. "He-" I rub my hand up and down my throat, trying to soothe myself. I was shaking and probably swaying on my feet. "No. He is not. Not worthless." My hand shoots out to clutch the door frame as my head sways.

"Grayson-" Ryker starts but I look away from him with a look of aversion. I see him flinch out of the corner of my eye. He still thought that I liked getting-

My head sways again and I move both hands to the door frame.

I could barely think.

"My mates are not worthless." I say in a slurred voice. "They're fucking idiots though."

"Grayson, let us help you." Finn was in front of me, kneeling down on the ground with those blue eyes looking up at me.

"Idiot." I say as I look into his eyes.

They were two pools of swirling blue, eating away at me. I swayed and Finn scooped me up, holding me bridal style.

My head lolled to the side and I got an upside down view of my three other mates. I scowled in their direction and gestured to them as I said, "Idiots. All idiots."