Lone Wolf (The Wulf Pack Book 1)

“Are you fu*king kidding me!” Fury growled as a coffee mug shattered, into a million pieces, above the fireplace.

Everyone’s eyes were on him as a dark growl rumbled through the room, his head bowed and swinging, looking for a target to take his anger out on.

Hunter tilted his head with curiosity at his brother’s reaction to the news. He had not expected Fury, the calmest of them, to react like this at Rage’s choice. Yes, it had been a shock, but did it really matter?

“Calm down Fury,” their uncle said calmly. He was reclined in his chair, seemingly completely at ease with a raging wolf in the room.

“He can’t just do this!” Fury growled, ignoring his stern uncle and the looks from the other men around him.

“It was his choice,” another man chimed in, with his black hair and gold eyes he could have passed as a sixth brother.

“He CHOSE when he took her virginity!” eyes grew wide at his words. This was new information, something that made things a bit more complicated.

In the modern world some choose to not care about their virginity and give it away freely. But in their traditions, the first male a female sleeps with, the one to take her virginity, is her mate. After that, any male she lay with is deemed a second choice. Many males will view a she-wolf who have lost her virginity as damaged goods, though in cases such as raped or the death of a mate, this is often overlooked.

With a deep sigh, Hunter dropped his head into his hands, elbows propped on the desk. How could Rage be so careless? He should have known better than to mate with her if he wasn’t going to take her as his mate.

“What are you going to do about this?” Fury turned his snarl on him, but Hunter didn’t look up. There wasn’t much he could do, taking the virginity of a female was not against the law, just frowned upon. He really hated the mistakes his brother was making and leaving him to clean up.

“There are only two things that can be done,” the soft voice that spoke, carried with it a calming affect to the room. Jason sat across from his brother-in-law, both elders looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement, “the marking can be postponed to see if Rage changes his mind,”

“Or she can take the pack mark, and we hope that either Rage takes her as his mate later, or she finds an understanding mate in the future,” Hunter nodded his head in understanding, his uncles had a point.

“So nothing is going to be done about what he did?” Fury growled, eyes wide and wild as he looked upon the older men.

“Don’t you dare snap at me, boy,” Daryl sat forward for the first time since he took his seat in the high back chair near the fireplace. His gold eyes spoke of warning as his nephew growled in anger.

“Uncle,” Fury gritted his teeth as he met the eyes of a younger version of his father, he tried to reign in his anger, “he should be punished...”

“It is not illegal,” the laid back man cut in, his brown eyes soft even as his voice was stern, “he made a stupid choice, but it is not illegal and may I presume that it was consensual?”

Fury’s teeth ground together as he looked upon his uncles. He nodded the answer and watched as the two men looked at each other for a moment. The two had always had a strange relationship, being able to communicate with each other without uttering a word.

Jason turned to the desk, where Hunter was quietly observing them.

“So, what are you going to do, Alpha?” His eyes widened at the title, it was strange having his uncle call him that.

“Well, for now,” he looked at Fury, his brother’s eyes nearly begging for him to do something more than he’s options, “I am going to postpone the marking until Wrath returns from his mission,”

“That could be a year or more,” Fury gasped. He was starting to believe that both of them were crazy. How could both Rage and Hunter be so stupid?

Without waiting for a response, he stormed out of the office. He couldn’t do this, couldn’t listen to his family say they couldn’t do anything. The next time he sees Rage, he is going to beat the shit out of him.

With a growl he flung the double doors to the library open. This is where he came to think. No one came here.

He stopped as a book fell onto the floor.

Willow was seated in one of the armchairs in the center of the large, two story room. Shadow perched on her shoulder, and empty hands as the book she was reading lay on the floor.

“I’m sorry,” he managed as he cleared his throat, he didn’t want to scare her.

“Is everything okay?” she asked sweetly, her voice laced with worry.

He only shook his head as he moved forward and picked up the book she had dropped onto the floor. With a glance at the cover, he held it out for her to take.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, taking the book from him and setting it into her lap. She watched him as he shook his head and took the seat across from her. He leaned back, the plush seat absorbing his large frame, resting his head on the back and closing his eyes.

She stared at him, taking in his features. She noticed that he had his mother’s nose and lips and the longest and darkest eyelashes she had ever seen. If she looked close she could see the small scar along his cheekbone, the slight indentation making it clear it was from a claw.

She wondered what had him so angry. She knew that he and his brother’s were capable of anger beyond measure, but she had never seen anything like that from him. From Rage, yes, from Hunter, yes, from Wrath, yes, but not from him. Yet the growl he made when he entered the doors, spoke of the kind of aggression he was capable of.

Pulling her attention away from the male in front of her to the book she clutched in her lap: Beauty and the Beast. She smiled at the story. It was her third time reading it since she found the book, and she longed for the beast that held her heart, to be like this, to change into a kind and loving prince. She knew better though, he would always be a beast, it was what he was, who he was, and nothing, not even her, could change that.