Charmed Wolf

feared. “Good. So am I. Pick me up.”
“Of course.”
That settled, I turned to face Rune. I should have been furious with him for putting the Whelan clan at risk. Or maybe scared of what he’d do next, here in the confined space of the minivan.
Instead, a tendril of persimmon reminded me of the way Rune had teased information out of me the night before. It had been terrifying to bare my deepest worries, but freeing to be fully seen.
Rune deserved the same opportunity to explain himself. “Do you want to talk about what happened back there?” I murmured.
My hand, though, was on the door-release handle. After all, decades of experience with dominant wolves suggested the best-case scenario here involved Rune either ignoring me in stony silence or offering an adamant refusal. Worst-case scenario was a shift to fur and rage.
Instead, he nodded. His dark eyes weren’t fully human but they were getting closer when he admitted: “It would be easier to tell you if you weren’t looking at me while I talk.”
So I put the car back into gear and I drove. Drove while Rune poured out far more than last night’s admission.
The tale started a decade ago, when he was a half-fae/half-werewolf raised in his mother’s fully fae court. His wolf side had been a curiosity and a disappointment. Until, one day, he came upon half a dozen fae teasing his little brother.
“Erskine?”
“The one and only. A pack of bullies had chased him up a tree then had lit it on fire. He was terrified. Or I thought he was terrified. Later, I learned he was in on the joke.”
I shivered, then switched on my blinker and turned to take the long way to Natalie’s house. “What happened?”
“I ripped them to pieces. Used their blood to quench the fire. Tried to help my brother down, but he was scared to get close.”
“And that’s why you’re here rather than there? I thought you said your mother didn’t send you away?”
Rune laughed, but it wasn’t a good laugh. “She didn’t. She was amused. After all, Erskine’s tormenters didn’t die—it takes a lot to kill the fae. Instead, my rampage suggested that I had utility. My mother wanted to use me against her enemies. I refused. I left before she could force the issue.”
From the bend of his neck, Rune clearly carried a tremendous weight of guilt for what he’d done a decade earlier. Personally, I wanted to find his mother and rip out her throat.
Squashing the impulse, I asked: “And the meditating?”
“It helps me detach. Prevents me from becoming the monster my mother wanted me to be.”
My fingers slid across the console to find his waiting. “May I look at you now?”
His muscles tensed then loosened. “Yes,” he murmured.
I pulled into the lot of a handy gas station and met his gaze. There was wolf present and human. Fae also. The combination, though, wasn’t monstrous.
“Her loss,” I told him, “is our gain.”
Rune was silent for one long moment. Then he offered me reassurance I’d forgotten I needed. “I haven’t relinquished control since then. Not until our bond....” He swallowed, then raised his free hand to feather across the new scab on my throat. “I haven’t cared enough about anyone since I left Faery to let Ryder’s lack of social graces get under my skin.”
“Until now.”
“Until now. When he reached for you—” Rune averted his gaze, peering out the window at the grungy grime of the parking lot.
When Ryder had reached for me...for one split second, I’d been scared of a wolf more dominant than I was. No wonder Rune had snapped into full protective mode.
Protective mode fueled by an unbearably tenuous connection. Our bond was nothing like the rope-thick tethers that bound me to the rest of my pack. Still, it was precious.
My fingers rose to touch the scab at my throat. Without turning back to face me, Rune’s fingers covered them up.
“I won’t force this connection on you.” His voice wasn’t a lupine growl, but it vibrated with emotion anyway. “I can control myself enough to leave you be. Lupe will send someone else to watch Ash until the other fae are dealt with. Tank would be a good choice. I know your introduction to him was less than pleasant, but he’s honorable. I vouch for him. You will be taken care of even if I’m not around.”
“But what if I don’t want our connection broken?” My own words surprised me. After all, I’d been the one to sever our bond. For the sake of my pack...but did every single thing in my life have to revolve around my pack’s needs?
Now, Rune’s presence by my side felt unerringly right. His fingers were gentle as they caressed my throat.
“If you want to keep our bond,” he rumbled, “you will make me unbearably happy. But you have the right to change your mind at any time. If you break the connection a second time, I will accept that. I promise on my true name, I will protect you and yours to my dying breath. This loss of control won’t happen again.”
I wanted to stay right where I was, with this man who smelled like persimmon, forever. But duty called.
“Noted,” I said, pulling back into traffic. “For now, I was hoping you’d babysit.”

Chapter 30
Rune’s eyebrows shot up. “You trust me around children? After what you saw today?”
“I do.” My answer wasn’t precisely rational, but it was truthful. An Alpha learned to go by her gut, and mine said Rune wouldn’t harm a hair on a child’s head.
Plus, he’d just sworn on his true name to protect me and mine. Kale and, yes, even the baby were very much mine.
I didn’t have time to elaborate, however, because we’d arrived at our destination. Natalie’s house sat in front of us. Meanwhile, the car I’d completely forgotten to deal with yesterday was parked right alongside the curb.
I frowned. Old Nellie should have still been stranded in the alley where I’d met Ryder