“Foundling wolves?”
“Wolves without a pack. Many come to us as adults, running away from a bad alpha or, in most cases, running from hunters or decimated packs.”
“They all wind up here?”
Mac rolled his broad shoulders in a casual shrug. “Or other packs.”
“Other packs? Do you mean they’re others? How many?” Until today, Noah could barely imagine one, let alone more.
“For security, the number and locations of other packs are a closely guarded secret. While we trust our people, what you don’t know can’t be tortured out of you.”
Tortured? “By hunters.” Noah let every bit of bitterness show in his words.
“By hunters.” Mac leaned back farther, plunking his two enormous booted feet on the desk.
“Why do they hate us so much?”
“Because we’re different, we’re not like them. This goes for humans, too, not just us. Politics, religion, even sports teams divide them.”
“They don’t kill people for those.”
One of Mac’s eyebrows lifted. “Actually, they do. They kill us because they can, with no legal consequences, which brings me back to you taking out five hunters. What, about ten years ago? Were you still a teenager?”
“I was twenty, I think. They scared me. My wolf took over.”
“Ah. Right. You weren’t raised with a pack and weren’t taught social niceties. The difference between you and those who get killed is most of them don’t fight back against a larger number, knowing they can’t win. You didn’t know. We have five dead hunters as proof. One hell of a wolf you got there.”
Was Mac proud or upset? “I didn’t mean to. I wanted to get away.”
“I know. You taught the hunters caution. They’d gotten arrogant. You took them down a notch.”
“They didn’t seem very impressive. How do they take out whole packs?” Noah couldn’t imagine the five he’d met taking out the trash, let alone a pack.
“The element of surprise, or they poison ‘em. Shoot them while they’re unconscious.” Mac’s scowl relaxed into a grin. “You scored one for our team. Don’t be surprised to find you’ve got a following here.”
“A following?” No. Noah wanted to keep his head down, avoid notice, try to fit in.
“Yes. You’ve become a legend. You’ve lived out in the world without a pack for over a decade. No one knew that could even be done. You proved us wrong. We, including myself, were always taught a wolf couldn’t survive without a pack. The other foundling wolves had only been on their own for a few months.”
“I had Paul growing up. He said I probably came from a pack.”
Mac nodded. “Still, we’ve never considered two wolves a pack before. You’re unique, Noah.”
Noah squirmed under Mac’s intense scrutiny. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Oh, definitely not. Here’s the thing. You aligned with a human. After all you’ve been through, you’ve managed to get past prejudices. So has he.”
“He’s my… he’s my friend.” And more. So much more.
Mac barked out a laugh. “Is that what you’re going with?” He tapped the side of his nose. “I can smell you all over each other. He’s more than a friend.”
Noah stiffened his shoulders. Was Mac a homophobe, a human hater? Noah called to his wolf, growling low in this throat. “You’d better not hurt him.”Or me eitherremained unsaid.
“And destroy one of the few successful human-wolf couples I’ve ever met? Never! I must say, he’s got to be one helluva human if you trust him.”
An image came to mind of Noah, shot, alone, and afraid on the banks of a stream. Rescued by a man who likely scared most people on sight. “I do. With my life. I’ve trusted him with my life.”
“I believe you have. So, Mr. Slater isn’t a problem. What to do with him is another issue. Tell me, were you truly looking for a pack when we found you?”