Wild

Chapter 5

AN: the wolf above is my inspiration for Val's wolf.
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"Wait, this isn't right!" Tara spoke out. Brave, stupid Tara. I gave her a look that hopefully said, Please, shut up.

"Do you want to take her place, Miss Smith?" asked Merrick.

Tara bowed her head, "No." Tears ran down her face. A breath of relief escaped me, even though deep down a small part of me was disappointed that she submitted so easily.   

"Dad," pled Scott. "Please..."

"You challenging me, too, son?"
Scott hesitated, glancing at me. He couldn't possibly sit by and let this happen... could he? I'd learned he was capable of a lot of things lately. Panic hit me like a Mack truck and I was suddenly not below begging.

"Scott..." His name was my only plea and there was a desperation to it that made my voice sound unfamiliar to me. Scott was my only hope. Ironically enough, his mating meant he could challenge his father.

But Scott simply shook his head, lowering his gaze.

That son of a bitch.

I felt something like acid course through my veins. Did he ever love me at all? I looked around frantically for a way to escape this. Tara's face was filled with horror. T.J. had tears in his eyes. Scott was still staring at the ground. No one said anything. What the Alpha says, goes, after all.

"Don't look so defeated, Ms. Carlisle. I do have an alternative option for you." If I were in wolf-form right now, my ears would have perked up. Merrick was going to show me mercy? "Sell me your half of Shiloh's land."

And there's the catch. No, there would be no mercy today.

Unlike my Grandpa Shiloh, I'm not an endless well of strength and courage, but I somehow muster up what's left of my courage to reply the only way I can.

"I'd rather die."

A muscle twitches in Merrick's forehead as the only tell that I got under his skin and I can't help but feel like I won a small victory. "I see. Well, Zeke, secure her. Make sure she doesn't go anywhere until the fight." Zeke, Merrick's right-hand, comes up to grab my arm.

"Don't touch me!" I yanked back, canines extending. The wolf inside me was rising to the surface again. But instead of the instinct of Fight, the instinct of Flight was taking over. I was just about to give in to the wolf again when a low voice spoke.

"Wait." Luke pushes his way through the gathered wolves.

Oh, no.

People stepped away from him like he had rabies. Their faces laden with disdain. Despite fearing for my life, I still find myself annoyed with their reactions to him. I'm not Luke's biggest fan, but he doesn't deserve all the hate just because he's, well, a little more... how do I put it? Wild than the rest of us.

Merrick grabbed his arm to keep him from approaching me. If I didn't know better, I would have thought Luke's gaze literally burned the Alpha's hand from how quickly Merrick released him.

Luke's voice is barely human when he speaks. "I'd like to have a moment with her."

"Luke, for once, I'm actually wishing you cancelled our meeting like you usually do." Everyone was quiet as they watched the two males stare each other down. "You've got 2 minutes," Merrick finally caved.

Luke placed a hand on my shoulder and guide me away from the others until we were a few yards away. I couldn't explain why but having Luke witness all of this made me feel so full of shame; it was like having my grandfather here to witness my lapse in control.

The pack likely could still hear us, but Luke tried to keep it quiet anyway. Speaking gruffly, he said, "Wipe your tears, Valerie." Was I crying? I didn't know I was crying. Oh my God, this is humiliating. I wiped my face. "Listen carefully and answer carefully. Do you want to live?"

"Are you serious? Of course I do!" I miserably shook my head and rubbed my eyes, fighting more tears. "Oh, God... I don't want to die, Luke. Not by Merrick. Grandpa would be so—"

"Don't go there," he snapped. "I can help you. But I need you to trust me."

I looked at him in desperation, "How can you help me?" There was no way he was going to challenge Merrick for Alpha without a mate. He gestured towards the pack not far from us. Whatever he had planned he wasn't going to tell me with them listening in.

"Do you trust me?"
I furrowed my brows. "That's aoaded question."

"Do you trust me?" He repeated, his eyes bored into mine with familiar intensity and I fought the urge to look away. "I need you to trust me if I'm going to help you."

"Yes," I lie. "I trust you"

"So I have your full consent? To do what I have to do?"

My pulse races. His words are confusing and frightening but my desire to not die is greater than whatever Luke has planned.
"Yes, Luke."

"Good." And just like that he was only a breath away from me. I can see the scars on his face in great detail at this proximity, but I can't take my eyes off his own. He puts a hand on my shoulder and it feels like I'm going to go into cardiac arrest.
    "What are you doing?" I wasn't used to being this close to him. I hadn't been this close to him since my grandfather made me spar with him as a wolf when I was a kid. I felt like that thirteen year old girl again—his alluring smell causing me all sorts of involuntary feelings.

The glint in his eye suddenly made me doubt my decision to trust him. I try to back away, but he grips me with even greater force, roughly pulling me against him. Before I can protest, he lowers his head and sinks his extended canines deep into my neck without so much as a pause.

******
Hot damn.

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(Also, you've probably noticed that I flop between verb tenses. When I'm drafting I don't worry about tense because I want to get it all down without worrying too much about grammatical details. It slows me down. Although I do some minor editing before posting, this is still a rough draft. Eventually, I'll go back through the story and fix the inconsistencies.)