Rescued by the wolves, p.1
Rescued by the Wolves, page 1
© Copyright 2021 by Lilly Wilder All rights reserved.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Rescued By The Wolves
Rejected Mate Reverse Harem Enemies To Lovers Romance
By: Lilly Wilder
Table of Contents
Foreword
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Here’s a FREE Preview to Lilly Wilder’s new release “Her Lion Protectors”
Come Stalk Me!
Foreword
A rejected mate. A life destroyed. A secret to keep at all cost.
My arranged mate rejects me, my father disowns me in shame and fate throws me into the arms of three wolf shifters with a secret of their own.
All I see around me are enemies.
Getting close to them is too dangerous.
Their secret might cost me my life.
Yet, I can’t stay away.
The attraction between us is undeniable.
I can smell their arousal, and they can smell mine.
They can’t become my lovers.
They can’t.
But, I know I’m going to fall… the only question is when.
The wolf monster from the woods is always breathing down our necks, killing both humans and livestock, and the small town is torn with fear.
Who will be their protector?
Who will be mine?
Rescued By The Wolves
Chapter One
Lottie
Once they catch your scent, they learn everything about you. Absolutely everything. They sense your fear, your hunger, your arousal. There is nothing you can hide, least of all your own self.
“Now, where were we?” I hear his voice, and an icy wave of revulsion hits me.
Focus, Lottie. There’s no way you can avoid this, so just play along.
Shivers run down my spine. I still have the aftertaste of his kiss at the root of my tongue. He kisses well, I’ll give him that.
“You smell so good,” he whispers in my neck, as he’s rubbing my hip.
I should feel aroused. The tiny hairs on my neck are standing on end, but it’s not because I’m stimulated. His touch is cold. It feels like he’s putting an ice cube between my burning thighs.
“Just like that, baby,” he mumbles, spreading my legs.
OK. Let’s just get this over with.
I know why I’m doing this. I guess if I just relax a little, I might even enjoy it. I close my eyes, feeling the moist trail of his lips on my neck, my naked collar bone. I shudder when his finger circles the inside of my thigh.
He leans back. The lights of a thousand candles illuminates his face. His darkly handsome face, his tight chiseled chest with cords of muscle which appear so tight as if they’re about to snap. Nude and hairless, his skin glistens with an unearthly glow. He was prepared for this moment, just like I was. As it should be.
He looks down. I’m listening. Waiting. My eyes are closed. He’s digging his nails into my skin, like curved needles. The sensation isn’t entirely unpleasant. Maybe I might even enj –
“What is this?” I hear him ask.
I open my eyes only to see him study me with his luminescent gaze. But there is no affection in there. Only bestial anger.
“This here… You’re impure!” he shouts at me, jumping off the bed, as if he just got burned.
“What are you talking about!?” I growl at him and his weak efforts at trying to make me an unsuitable mate, so his father could refuse the merging of our packs.
“You’ve been marked,” he snarls at me, baring his teeth. “Your skin is darkened there. You know well just like I do that only happens when you’ve been marked.”
“You moron!” I hiss at him, grabbing the nearest animal hide and shielding my naked body from his sight. “It’s just a dark patch of skin. It appeared when I was a little girl, and it just kept getting bigger and more noticeable. I haven’t been with anyone. I would never shame my father like that.”
“Liar!” His face jerks, in an effort to squint at me, but as he does so, his features morph into a completely different face, an ugly face. “Your father tried to sell off damaged goods to us, but I know a tramp when I see one.”
I jump up from the bed, so that we’re now standing on the opposite sides of it. I’m eyeing the whole room for anything I can use as a weapon, in case he tries to attack me. It goes against all the rules, but I can already tell that we’re way past that. He’s staring at me as if he wishes he could put a knife into my throat. But he won’t get the opportunity. I’d be able to take him out easily. I’m almost positive. But how would I explain a dead mate before we even bonded?
“Let’s just talk about this,” I squeeze through clenched teeth. “We want this truce as much as you do. Why would we do anything to jeopardize it?”
I swear under my breath, hoping he won’t hear me. Everyone is waiting for us to come out of the shack. Him with a victorious grin on his face. Me slightly blushed. Only, I don’t blush, but that’s nothing a few pinches on the cheek wouldn’t solve. But this is a problem.
“The bonding is off,” he snarls at me, and I can almost imagine how good it would feel to dig my canines into his muscles. A little hard, but I’d be able to deal with it.
“You can’t decide that,” I remind him. “Only your father can do that.”
“As he will, once I tell him you’re spoiled goods.”
“Bastard!” I hiss.
In a single, powerful leap, he jumps over the bed and grabs me by the elbow. I bend forward, rolling to the side and detaching myself from his grip.
“Touch me again and you will lose an arm!” I warn him.
I don’t even care that I’m completely naked in front of him. I’m too consumed by rage. If he tells my father I’ve been tainted, then both his father and my father will withdraw the bonding. Our two packs will remain at war.
I know there is no reasoning with this idiot. It’s an old superstition that all female shifters’ skin darkens in patches once they bond with someone. With some, it’s barely visible and is only seen in places hidden by clothes. To others, it doesn’t even happen. Mine is different from the ones I’ve seen on other female shifters. It’s a smaller patch, only visible if you focus your eyes on it. The strangest thing is that it appeared out of nowhere one day and it never went away.
I allow him to drag me out, as I grip the hide over my skin. The bonfire is flickering in the middle of a clearing. Everyone has withdrawn, apart from the two men I could never mistake for anyone else other than Kano, my father, and Wolfgang, the chieftain of our rival pack. Their eyes jump from me to the man whose grip is still firm on my arm.
“What is the meaning of this!?” My father stands up first. Wolfgang immediately does the same, demanding answers.
“She is tainted,” Zayn’s voice echoes all around me.
Their firelit faces distort in shock.
“That can’t be,” I hear my father respond.
“Her skin has been marked,” Zayn shakes his head. “I will not take her, Father.”
“Wolfgang…” my father’s silver teeth bare in the moonlight. “My daughter is pure. I vouch for it with my life.”
Wolfgang doesn’t seem to know who to believe. Then, he turns to his son. “Are you certain?”
Zayn nods, with a look of disgust on his face. It takes all my conscious effort not to punch his teeth in, just like my father taught me. But I know that would only make this situation more difficult. My fingers curl into fists, but they remain by the sides of my body, under control.
“Wolfgang…” my father’s voice trails off.
“You know the rules, Kano. If she is impure, then she cannot bond with my son.”
“She’s not. She can’t be.”
“Father – “ I try to say, but Wolfgang interrupts me.
“You haven’t been given permission to speak,” he roars. “Where is it?”
My eyes widen in shock. My father’s jaw drops.
“Show me,” Wolfgang demands.
I take a step back, forcing Zayn to let go of me.
“I will do no such thing!” I spit.
It’s my privacy, and I’ll be damned if I’ll be forced to spread my legs for everyone to check whether I’m untouched or not.
“Lottie…” I hear my father’s voice, and I can’t believe that he is even considering asking me to do this. “Let him see.”
“You can’t mean that, Father,” I shake my head at him, taking another step back.
Even if I do show them, what does it prove?
“I am not a freakshow for anyone’s amusement,” I bare my teeth, gripping at the hide covering my body.
“If you do not do as you are told, then you leave us with only one choice,” Wolfgang announces almost victoriously.
I know very well what that is. Instant banishment.
“Father?” I turn to the man who has held me when I fell, who has wiped away my tears, who has taught me to respect myself above anyone else.
He turns his gaze away from mine. The fire flickers around us, crackling. Moonlight seeps from the heavens above. Stars look like tears on a darkened face.
My mouth has gone dry. I clench my teeth. My fingers curl again.
“Lottie, you know the rules,” Wolfgang announces, lifting his finger and pointing to the woods, which seems to be swallowed by darkness. “You are banished. You are never to return. Ever.”
I cradle myself with my arms. The need to cry is overpowering, and yet, no tears will come. I turn around and start running. Rocks cut into my bare feet. Branches are tearing at my flesh, pulling at my hair, but I keep running because there is only one thing to do. Now, there is nobody left. Only me.
I don’t know how long it’s been since I started running, when I finally sit down under a big tree, clothed in moonlight. My body is grateful for the chance to rest, but I can’t sleep. My eyes are wide open, but I can’t see anything. I wrap my arms around my naked, bruised and bloodied body. I’ve lost my wrap somewhere along the way. It was only slowing me down. Only now do I feel the chilly breeze.
Suddenly, a growl is heard behind me. I swallow heavily, trying not to move, not to make a single sound. Another thunderous growl is heard, closer this time. I consider running, but I’m too tired. Whatever it is, maybe I’ll have enough strength left to shift and fight. I look up at the moon. A bright shimmer of silver palpitating in the night sky.
Then, I smell it. Sweaty. Musty. A mixture of excrement and saliva, dried blood and rotting meat. It makes me gag. My tired eyes dare not turn around. All I see is grey and black. A snarl explodes right behind my left ear. The stench is unbearable. A branch breaks somewhere in front of me. I’m surrounded.
“Now!” Someone shouts and I jump to my feet, only to see two men wrestle with a grizzly bear.
Within seconds, the bear is on the ground. I don’t need daylight to know that the liquid oozing from the slit in his neck is blood. The two guys are breathing heavily. One of them is holding a long knife, stained with blood. He wipes his forehead.
“Smells like shit,” he says.
Another one pops up from behind me, and instinctively, I take a step back, pressing my left hand to my exposed breasts, and my right hand between my thighs. The bear’s smell is even more sickening now, making me wretch.
“You OK?” the guy with the knife asks.
I choose not to reply, keeping my gaze fixated on them.
“Here,” the one next to him says, taking off his hide and handing it to me.
I hesitate, then I accept it.
“Who are you guys?” I ask.
“We should ask you the same thing,” the guy with the knife replies. “Maybe we could ask you that somewhere warmer and nicer, like our place.”
“No way,” I shake my head, surprised that they’d even offer that. They have no idea who I am. For all they know, I could be a maniac, aiming to slit their throats while they’re sleeping. And, just as easily, they could be the same thing. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You’d rather run through the woods naked like a hippie?” the guy with the knife chuckles. “Not that it sounds like a bad idea, though.”
“No, I’d rather be alone than surrounded by assholes,” I snarl.
“In the woods with rabid animals?”
I glance at the bear. I knew there was something wrong with it, even before it approached. The smell was sickening. It’s not only the smell of a corpse. It hasn’t been dead long enough for that. It’s more, deeper, wedged in its blood, marrow and bone.
“I can take care of myself just fine,” I reply baring my teeth.
“Yeah, we saw,” the guy with the knife replies, with a dismissive half-shrug. “Listen, if we wanted you dead, we would have just let the bear do the dirty work. If you want to be left alone, fine. I’m not really itching to help someone who doesn’t even wanna be helped.”
He turns around first, and the other two follow him. I hesitate for a moment. That smartass is right. Why save me from certain death only to kill me? I grip at the hide covering my nakedness. I’m shaking, and it’s not the cold. Deep down, I know I can’t stay here. Without even thinking, I follow them into the darkness.
After all, not like things could get any worse.
Chapter Two
Lottie
Still clutching at the hide that provided little warmth but is enough to shelter my nakedness, I walk through the well-trodden path in the darkness, despite the roots and stones which poke at my naked feet. I expect the guys to say something, anything really, even if it is to one another, but all I can hear is silence and the occasional hoot of an owl. After what seems to be hours of walking, they finally stop before a small shack at the very foot of the mountain.
The shack is very cleverly built, using the rocky formations of the mountain as parts of the walls, and adding a wooden structure to the sides of it. Over it, thick branches with lush greenery are placed, so that unless one approached the shack very closely, one couldn’t even tell it was there.
I could feel the first rays of the morning sun on my face, a sensation which makes me regret my decision. Maybe I should have stayed behind and continued down my own path away from these men whom I know nothing about. Now, the three of them stand before me, eyeing me scrutinously, as if only now in the daylight trying to get a better look at me.
The one who held the knife now has empty hands. He opens the door first, entering without a word. The second guy follows, and only the third one remains behind. He gestures at me with his hands.
“You coming in?” he wonders.
Behind me, the sounds of awakening birds fill the air. Behind me, there is freedom. There are different choices. There are paths I could take which could take me far away from this place. But the question is evident: do I want to stay far away from this place?
My heart urges me not to run away. I belong here, even if I was deemed unsatisfactory to be a mate. The sting of that accusation still aches. I doubt I will ever be able to forget the look on my father’s face. Quickly, I avert my gaze so that the guy in front of me doesn’t see the stray tear which slides down my left cheek.
“What is your name?” he suddenly asks.
Only now do I realize that I’ve spent several hours in their company, and they’ve even saved my life, but I have no idea who they are or where they came from. I don’t even know their names.
“Lottie,” I say. I’ve already decided that I won’t ask for their names. If they want to share them with me, fine. If not, that is fine, too.
“I’m Axel,” he immediately replies. “The other two are Sterling and Morgan.”
Despite all my conscious effort not to, I feel a little better. It’s amazing what the knowledge of a single name can do for your state of mind. I know that a name is in fact nothing, just a jumbled-up consequence of letters, but it provides some semblance of order in my chaotic world. Silently, I appreciate the unconventional introduction, but I don’t say it out loud.
“You must be exhausted,” he continues. “We’ve got clothes you can use, food and a warm bed, but it’s all inside. You are of course welcome to take your chances with the woods outside. I know the guys seem a bit rough around the edges, but they are not bad guys.”
“I didn’t say they were,” I reply, noticing that I didn’t group them together in my statement. I’ve already pegged him as the nicest of the three.
“It’s safe to say we didn’t start off on the right foot,” he smiles.
“Any situation where someone might end up dying is not really considered a start on the right foot,” I agree, trying to contain my smile.
