Free Wolf’s Glory by Maddy Barone Page B

sick hatred for her. Heather and her brother had made her school years a living hell, always making fun of her for being so tall, and then for being fat. They"d lied about her to get her in trouble with teachers. Heather had laughed louder than anyone when Rob had humiliated her, and she"d seduced the only real boyfriend Glory had ever had in high school. Aaron had been a tall, skinny, and pimply computer geek whom Glory had met in a gaming club. Since he wasn"t good-looking like Rob had been, she"d believed him when he said he liked her. Heather had taken him away not because she liked him, but because she wanted to hurt Glory. The only person Heather cared about was Heather. Even though she hadn"t been injured in the crash, she had declined to go for help. She hadn"t changed a bit.
    Bitch. Of all the people for Glory to have with her in this new world, why Heather?

Chapter Five
    The sun was setting when Shadow came back to camp with a deer over his shoulders.
    His hunt had been successful. He"d spent hours running in wolf form. He loved the feel of freedom and power that came from his wolf. But the run hadn"t given him the usual feeling of joy. Instead he wondered morosely if his wolf would give Glory another reason to reject him?
    There was a tangle of strange scents coming from camp. For a moment his wolf panicked, unable to find Glory"s scent amid all the strange ones. But then he had it, unidentifiable chemical scent and warm sweet woman. Calmer, although not less tense, he greeted Black Horse, one of his younger cousins, and let him take charge of his horse and the meat. He listened to his cousin"s excited explanation of the dozen women from the Times Before who were in the camp. But these strange women were not Shadow"s focus right now. He needed to find his mate.
    He followed Glory"s scent to the cooking area outside his Aunt Emma"s lodge. Glory was standing a little apart from the other strange women, speaking to a painfully thin woman whose bosom was so large it threatened to tip her over. He hardly noticed how conversations died as he cut through the strangers to get to Glory. His mate was too intent on the other woman to notice him, but the strange woman certainly did. Her eyes widened, and her fat lips spread in a smile as he approached.
    Glory was saying, “—you were so broken up about your boyfriend dying that you couldn"t bear to leave him to go find help for the others, and—”
    “Glory.”
    His dark rumble cut through her voice, and she wheeled on him, pale blue eyes wide and then narrowed. “Oh, you"re back.” Her voice was ungracious.
    “I"m back,” he confirmed, eyes caressing her soft cheek and the shell of her ear revealed when she swept her hair behind it. “Darling, we"ll talk now.”
    She held her hand out, palm facing him. “No, thanks. Uh-uh. Just stay away from me.”
    The other woman raised half-moon eyebrows. “Darling?” She had a piercing laugh like a child"s. “That"s so funny, Glori- an a. Does he mean you?”
    Glory transferred her narrow-eyed glare from him to the woman, then she snorted and looked back at him. “You want a woman to jump into bed with? Well, here you go.” She waved her hand at the other woman. “Heather-Desiree, meet Wolf"s Shadow. Wolf"s Shadow, meet Heather-Desiree.”
    She whirled and stomped away, leaving him to stare after her with shock. The other woman took advantage of his state and plastered her bony body up against him. He stared in horror at her hand rubbing over his heart before thrusting her away. “Excuse me, I have to talk to my mate.”
    Glory tried to outwalk him, but he caught her just outside the Grandmother"s lodge. “Glory, wait! I want to talk to you.”
    “Why don"t you go back and chat up Bimbo Barbie? She can give you what you want.”
    He wouldn"t let her shake off his hand. “Glory, no other woman can give me what I want.
    Now, are you going to talk to me?”
    She whirled on him with furious eyes. “Why should I?” she