I couldn’t breathe. My pulse was speeding out of control, a runaway train veering off the tracks, and all I could do was sit there and wait for this massive fucking hellbeast to rip my face off. The wolf was huge, built like a tank. He was even bigger than Bones, and that was saying something, because Bones was a monster.

Maybe it was better this way. If he killed me, it would save Bones the hassle and I’d finally be free…

The wolf stepped closer, his paws squishing through the cold, wet muck that was currently soaking through my thin jeans. He bumped his muzzle against my leg. I choked on my cry and closed my eyes, and then he whined. It was a pitiful sound coming from such an Alpha—and he was most definitely an Alpha. It was enough to make me peek down at him.

His triangular ears pricked forwards and he wagged his tail again. I swallowed the lump in my throat and slowly reached a hand out, and his cold nose smeared across my dirty palm. He blurred with the tears that welled up and streaked down my cheeks and I hung my head.

To my surprise, his warm tongue lapped at the salt on my skin, licking away the teardrops as they fell. He gave another low whine and nudged my jaw with his blunt muzzle, whuffing hot breath into my ear. I shivered. He smelled warm and rich, like a campfire on a warm summer night. He smelled safe, oddly enough.

I blinked at him, suddenly exhausted. I was so tired of running. “What do you want from me?”

His skin twitched. His jaws parted on a squeak and then his wolf receded, leaving behind a man in his wake…and damn if he wasn’t gorgeous. Broad shouldered and as stocky as his wolf, with thick arms lined with sinewy muscle. And his face… My fox perked up, but I stuffed him back down when I saw the almost haunted look in his espresso-dark eyes.

He looked like he’d just come face to face with a ghost, and my heartbeat stuttered when he spoke my name. “Chance?” His voice was rough, gravelly and uneven. He searched my face, his thick fingers touching gently along the gingery stubble on my jaw. I quickly looked away, because I knew who he was, then.

Huxley Reed. My brother’s widower. God, why did that realization hurt so badly? Knowing that Charlie had scored someone like this, and I’d spent the last five years of my life tossed around like a rag doll, beaten and used as a werewolf’s cum-dump. A sour taste coated my tongue.

“Yeah,” I muttered. I didn’t look at him.

“This isn’t the way I’d hoped to finally meet you.” His voice was quiet. My chest suddenly felt too tight, because I knew what he must see. A bedraggled stray, with matted fur and scars lining his skin. A greasy waif of a man who couldn’t get his shit together—a far cry from his smart-aleck, capable brother.

I hunched my shoulders without a word. Everything inside of me ached. “I… I should go. I only came to say goodbye.” If it wasn’t for me, Charlie would still be alive. If it wasn’t for my stupidity, this wolf would still have his mate and they’d live happily ever after. I swallowed around the knot growing fast in my throat and went to push past him. “I’m sorry.”

“No.” Huxley growled and the wild in me froze with the command lacing that single word. “No,” he said, softer now. “Chance. You look about dead on your feet. When’s the last time you slept? Properly—in a bed, with pillows and blankets? Hmm?”

Honestly? It’d been months. What I wouldn’t have given for a hot shower, a clean toothbrush and a week straight of uninterrupted sleep. I didn’t answer him and he made the softest of sounds in the back of his throat.

“You don’t have a safe place to stay, do you?” Why did he sound so sad? I was no one to him, and I sure as hell wasn’t my brother, no matter how identical we were. I bristled, but his fingers were a gentle caress at my cheek and everything inside of me yearned for the safety of an Alpha. For the protection of anyone but Bones…

Guilt stabbed me straight through the heart and I jerked out of his touch. No. I couldn’t stay. If Bones found me—when Bones finally managed to hunt me down—he’d target anyone standing between him and his whore of an Omega. I pinched my eyes shut.

“Chance.”

“No. Okay? I don’t. I’m dead broke and I’m starving and I’m fucking exhausted, but what does it matter?” The words burst from my lips like a flock of doves, floating away on ivory wings. I shuddered and ducked my head, wrapping both arms around myself. “I don’t want your pity.”

“Then I won’t give it to you,” the wolf said simply. “But let me help you. Come home with me. Spend a couple of nights, at least. Fill your belly with a warm meal or two. My brother knows all of Charlie’s favorites, you know.” There was a touch of sadness to those words, but his smile was resolute. “Please. Let me take care of you, if only temporarily. It’s what he would want.”

I hated that he was right. Staring at Charlie’s gravestone, I’d been filled with a hollow ache, knowing my brother would never laugh again. Now tears burned hot and heavy behind my lashes, try as I might to hold them back, but my tired soul had other ideas. A cry slipped free and I found myself reaching for my brother’s mate, seeking out the comfort that I didn’t deserve.

Huxley’s strong arms embraced me, holding me to his chest, and I sobbed. His breath was warm, fluttering through my hair and I started to struggle. Shame burned hot, because I probably smelled like wet dog and B.O., but he held tight.

“Shh. I’ve got you, Chance,” he whispered, sounding almost as broken as I felt in that moment, and the world came crashing down around me.