That howl had been the most godforsaken sound I’d ever heard. It sent shockwaves through me, sinking deep into my bones until I was truly rattled. At the sight of the black wolf struggling wildly beneath the claws of an Alpha that stunk of lust, the wild in my soul snapped taut.

No.

My buck bellowed his rage and split my skin in an instant. I rushed the wolves, my hooves thundering over earth and pine needles. I swept the snarling brute off the Omega and tossed him roughly to the ground, my antlers cracking against the side of his muzzle. He stumbled back, his gaze as cold as ice. The look he pinned me with was one of disdain. His lips curled away from yellowed teeth, wrinkling up his muzzle in a fierce expression.

I snorted and swung my head, swiping it from left to right to ward the beast off. His fur stood on end in a spiky ridge down his back, all the way to his flagged tail. The Alpha snapped his jaws and I snorted again in warning. Back off. I stomped the ground with both forelegs, huffing out another breath.

Apparently he didn’t get the memo. With a snarl, the wolf made another lunge for the submissive. I grunted loudly and head-butted him and this time, he got a face-full of sharp antlers. He yelped and slunk back, growling deeply.

For several long minutes, he stared at me with murder in his eyes. I stood my ground and glared right back, daring him to make a move. I might’ve shared a soul with a prey-beast, but I refused to let him harm the frightened wolf now cowering in a thicket of thorns.

Shaking it off, he turned tail and loped off into the woods. Good riddance. If he came sniffing around again, he’d come face to face with the muzzle of my shotgun. I puffed out a breath and with a shiver of magic, I returned to a more human state. I knelt down and carefully pulled at the underbrush, trying to get a better glimpse of the Omega.

“Come here, pup,” I crooned out. The thicket rattled, branches clacking together. He was wounded. I knew that by the way he’d limped away, but up close I could smell the sharp tang of copper. His whine was plaintive. Terrified. “Hey. It’s okay. He’s gone now. He’s not gonna hurt you, not while I’m here. Come out of there and let me take a look.”

I held my breath. Slowly, the black-pelted wolf crawled out of the underbrush. His head and ears drooped low and he scooted along on his belly, whimpering all the while. The smell of blood was rich, but it was the sweet wildberry scent of the Omega’s heat that had my head spinning.

It hit me like a sack of bricks to the gut—I knew this scent. I knew this wolf. Soren Reed was the sexy young man who oftentimes came in and flirted with me at work. Damn it. It was a bad idea to take him home, but he was hurt and it was getting dark. I needed to be able to assess the damage.

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” I promised, offering my hand. His eyes darted up to greet mine, just for a moment, before he glanced away again. He stepped forward and pushed his big head into my chest, his entire body quivering. I ran gentle fingers through his fur. “Shh. I’ve got you, Soren. You’re safe.” At those words, he sighed and leaned into the touch.

“Easy,” I whispered before my arms came around his big body. Gripping him snugly to my chest, I hoisted him up off the ground and started the hike back to my cabin. Soren struggled for a moment, then seemed to realize I was helping him because he lay his slender muzzle across my shoulder and licked at my neck.

Good god above, he smelled good. It’d been too long since I’d been around an Omega in heat. The sweet scent that clung to his fur like a perfume made my cock twitch to life. Dead kittens, I hissed inwardly. Think of dead kittens! The last thing I wanted was for Soren to think I was some sort of perverted old creep who was taking him home to breed him—even if my body liked that idea.

No. Nope. Not a chance in hell. I made that vow years ago. Never again would I take an Omega to my bed. I wouldn’t put myself through that again, no matter how sweet the temptation in my arms was.

I marched up the front steps of the porch and kicked the door open. It swung back against the wall with a loud bang that had the wolf jumping out of his skin. “Shit! Sorry, sorry,” I hushed out when Soren began to struggle. I shut the door with my hip and set him down in the middle of the living room. I flipped on a couple of lamps and Soren’s head dipped low with another whine. I brushed my fingers along his sleek muzzle. “Let me see.”

I bent down and felt him over. Besides a couple of deep gashes in the meaty part of his thigh and four neat puncture wounds at the base of his neck, where that mongrel had pinned him down, Soren seemed okay. I used a warm, damp washrag to wipe away the blood matting in his fur, dabbing gently at the wounds on his leg. His golden eyes were uncertain.

“I can stitch this up, but you’ll have to shift back,” I murmured.

The wolf’s ears flagged. He closed his eyes on a whine, but a moment later I felt the familiar tickle of shifter magic against my skin and then the young man was sitting on the floor. He hissed, his face screwed up in a grimace as he tried to roll his pants leg up. “Ow.”

“Gonna have to take them off.” I was torn between wanting to see the man half-naked and wanting to retreat to the bathroom and climb into an ice cold shower. Jesus Christ.

“Crap…” He groaned, a pained sound, and popped the button on his tight-fitting jeans. He carefully shoved them off his hips and I helped tug them down. His face flushed bright pink and he refused to meet my gaze. I quickly grabbed a pillow off the couch so he could cover himself up. “Sorry. This isn’t exactly…” His words turned to a mumble that I didn’t quite catch. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It isn’t your fault that wolf was a psycho,” I replied with a grunt. “Stay here.” Like he was really gonna go somewhere. Idiot. I stood and moved towards the bathroom, where I kept a small first-aid kit. Snatching it from the back of the cabinets, I joined Soren in the living room once more. “Now let me see.”

Soren winced and stretched his leg out. I blotted away the blood that was trickling down his knee to form rivulets of red across pale, smooth skin. Focus. “Gonna sting a bit,” I told him right before pouring peroxide over the gashes. He yelped, covering his mouth with both hands. I grimaced and watched the liquid bubble out any dirt and saliva still in the wound. “Easy. I know it hurts. Just relax. Lay down.”

He did. He stretched out on his side, his leg sprawled across my lap, and he buried his face in the throw pillow. I dried the wound with some gauze, then readied a needle. “Breathe in,” I instructed and when he did, I pierced the skin. He whimpered softly, but stayed very still in my grip. I stitched the wounds shut, one by one, and wrapped them with fabric bandages.

I brushed his nut-brown curls out of the way and did the same with the wounds at the back of his neck. I slicked them with antibiotic ointment and taped gauze pads over the top. When my hands smoothed down his back, his body gave a little shiver beneath my touch. Want surged through me anew. I stuffed it back down.

“There we go. You’ll be good as new in no time.”

“Thank you. I… I don’t know how to repay you. You saved me.” Soren pinched his eyes closed and wrapped both arms around himself. In that moment, he looked so young and frightened. It stabbed me through the heart.

“Don’t worry about it.” I offered a smile, though it fled as quickly as it came when I thought of that brute of an Alpha straddling Soren, pinning him to the ground. He’d reeked of lust. Had I not stepped in—no. I didn’t want to think about that. “The wolf that attacked you. Do you know him?”

His forehead scrunched up, but he nodded his head. “It was my uncle.”

My stomach soured. His uncle? His uncle was going to rape him? “What the fuck…” The words spilled out before I could take them back. Shame colored Soren’s cheeks in blotchy red. “Shit. I’m sorry. That’s…” I waved a hand helplessly. “It’s wrong.”

He snorted low. “Tell me about it. It’s nothing new. We got away from him the first time, but… Shit.” He grabbed two handfuls of his thick brown hair and squeezed, yanking at it. A whine eked from his throat. “He won’t stop. I don’t have anywhere else to run. God, and my car… Huxley’s gonna flip his shit. Shit!”

“Hey…” I brushed my hand over his shoulder, which drooped beneath my touch. “Breathe. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but it’s gonna be okay. Do you need a ride home?”

His face pinched. “N-No! I… I’m not ready to face the music yet.” His amber eyes searched my face, suddenly imploring. “Could I stay here tonight? I just… I need time to come to terms with everything and I don’t think I can handle Huxley’s anger tonight.” Everything about him seemed to deflate and I was left cursing myself.

I knew it wasn’t a good idea. Hell, it wouldn’t be a good idea even if Soren wasn’t this close to coming into heat. Truth was, I’d been drawn to the young Omega for months now. There was just something about the wolf’s sweet smile and his awkward attempts at flirting that calmed the wildness in my soul.

I knew better, and yet I found myself agreeing. “All I can offer you’s the couch,” I admitted.

But the smile that brightened his face made my heart thunk in my chest. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. Thank you, Hunter. I really don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and shrugged it off. “Just keep your chin up. That’s all I want from you.” That, and a handful of dirty little things that I had absolutely no business desiring. “Here, let me help you up, and then I’ll reheat some leftovers. You gotta be hungry.”

Soren’s cheeks tinted pink. “I am, but I don’t want to impose.”

“I hate leftovers. You’ll be doing me a favor.”

“In that case, bon appetit?” He giggled and my heart did a somersault.

Fucked. Utterly fucked.