Free Bound to the Tribe (Bound to the Pack, #2) by Sonja Morelle Page B

rest of the evening passed without further incident and, before long, Jen and Kris were crawling into the tent while I found an appropriate tree to sleep under for myself.
    Reflecting back on the night’s events, I felt myself smile at the marvel that was my mate. Walking into the camp, Ian had been an enemy. By nights end she had turned him into our ally.
    By challenging an alpha.

Chapter Nine
    Jen
    W e entered the village shortly after noon, the wooded path suddenly opening up onto a well-tended dirt road. Log cabins dotted the area nearby, trees coming right up to them, apparently left as close to how they found the area as possible.
    As we followed the charming, yet terrifying, Ian further in I was startled when animals began emerging from the tree line to our left and right. I assumed they were our shifter guards but for some reason I wasn’t able to tell just by looking at them. Perhaps I could only tell a shifter when they were in their human form?
    “I didn’t expect there to be farms here,” I commented as I noticed a cabin next to a tilled field in the distance. There were even some penned cows, pigs, chickens, and sheep.
    It was Ian who responded. “We’ve done it for centuries, maybe longer. The old packs are still bitter over it.” He grinned. “Wait till you see your cottage.”
    We continued on through the village, finally passing some of the shifters who called this place their own. Of every age and size they all turned to stare at me, confused. I doubted that many humans had ever come through here. I might be the first.
    Looking at them all I also realized how important Kris’s job had actually been. Clothes ran the gamut from uncured pelts to colonial era and all the way on to a few passably modern outfits. The vast majority would look out of place anywhere in the human world.
    Liam brought his own share of looks as well. Apparently well known and well regarded in his home village, many of his neighbors looked on as he was escorted past, under guard. Whispers followed in our wake.
    The walk took far longer than I had been expecting, the reservation was enormous. And this area was mainly for wolves, the smallest clan that had a member on the elder council.
    After a time we turned from the main road and followed this new street up to a short row of neat cottages. A large building stood nearby, the water wheel on its side turning in the river with quiet splashes.
    One cottage had a shifter at each corner, they were all tending small fires. This had to be where we’d be staying. Guards to watch every exit and fires to light up the night when it came.
    Escape would be impossible.
    I had been in over my head for days now, but reaching this spot brought everything down on me in a very real way. Whatever was going to happen to Liam, to us, was going to happen here.
    I walked even closer to him, drawing strength from his presence, and calmed myself as best I could as we approached the door. All of the new guards came over to us and, as if on cue, the ones that had been escorting us here all split off and headed back into the village proper. They were probably going to get some sleep or go home to their families.
    Ian nodded to the tallest of the four as they approached. “Delivered on time, as requested.”
    “Thanks Ian,” the guard replied, looking us over. “No shackles?”
    “Took them off at the camp.” Ian grinned. “Someone’ll have to go get em if you all want to have them back.”
    The guard just shrugged. “Not my problem, don’t really care.”
    Ian and the guard apparently knew each other very well and as they settled into a quiet conversation I looked around at the other three guards. All were wolf shifters, unsurprisingly, and one was glaring angrily at me for some reason.
    It was the final one that caught my attention, however. In the back of my mind I felt as if I had met him before. Taking in his full appearance it finally clicked.
    “I sold you that shirt, didn’t I?” I