Free Wild Love (Wilding Pack Wolves 2) - New Adult Paranormal Romance by Alisa Woods Page B

a breath, opened his eyes, and turned to his brother. “It’s not like I’m mate material, Daniel.”
    His face grew instantly serious. “You’re talking about Afghanistan.”
    Noah sighed. Fifteen minutes stuck in a van with his brother, and already they were on the worst possible topic. “Yes, because of what happened in Afghanistan. And the cages.”
    Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “The experiments affected you.” He was guessing, but it wasn’t a wild leap.
    “Let’s just say, I’m not the wolf you grew up with.”
    “Noah.” For once, his brother seemed genuinely distressed. Which was somehow worse than all the condescension and arrogance. Because he had to believe there was something really, seriously wrong with his brother to turn this kind of soft.
    The temptation to tell Daniel about their grandfather, the white wolf of disgrace, was overwhelming… it would knock him back on his arrogant ass to know he was descended from a lying, cheating male witch. But Noah couldn’t bring himself to do it.
    Some secrets really should stay buried.
    “Look, I’m fine, honest,” Noah said. “You remember when Owen was afraid to shift after he’d been in the cages for a year? Because he didn’t know what kind of beast he would be?”
    Daniel nodded. That story had made the rounds through Riverwise after Owen finally shifted and was revealed to be a white wolf with freakishly large, razor-sharp claws.
    “Well, it’s something like that—monster claws, a different kind of wolf than I used to be—but I can control it. My new wolf form came out when I was in Afghanistan, freaked the hell out of me, and I came home. But I’m fine now—I’ve got it under control.” Not the entire truth, but maybe enough to keep Daniel off his back about it.
    His brother nodded. “That’s why you think you’re…” He grimaced.
    “A freak? Yes. Just say it, Daniel.”
    “That’s not what I meant!” His brother’s face darkened. “I was going to say that’s why you think you’re not mate material.”
    “That too.” Noah scowled at him.
    “But that’s not necessarily true—”
    “Come on, bro! Don’t patronize me. We both know there aren’t enough female wolves to go around, not by a long shot, and there aren’t going to be any lining up to mate with someone who’s a genetic freak.” Not to mention that he wasn’t fully a wolf… even if there were a female shifter interested in him, he’d have to tell her the truth. It was only fair. And no reasonable girl would want to risk having half-witch pups. Hell, any girl who did, he probably wouldn’t want, just because that would be crazy.
    “Don’t give up on this!” Daniel looked distraught. “Owen found a mate—”
    “That was luck, man, and you know it.”
    “It could happen for you. Don’t throw away—”
    “Okay, look.” Noah got in his brother’s face. “I’m making my own path here, Daniel. And you do not get a vote on what it’s going to be.”
    Daniel pressed his lips into a tight line, but Noah really didn’t give a fuck at this point what his brother thought of him. And if Noah wanted to be with a human, not just for a night, but maybe for longer—
    His phone buzzed.
    It was the WildLove chatroom app. Room 19, Emily’s message said.
    Fuck waiting around for fifteen minutes. “We’re in Room 19,” Noah said to his brother. “Time for me to go.”
    Daniel held up his hands to stop him. “I thought you were waiting.”
    “I’ll take the scenic route.” Noah pushed past him, threw open the door of the van, and hopped out. Then he slammed the door in Daniel’s face for good measure.  His car was on the far side of the van, and by the time he reached it, the boiling anger inside him was surging up his wolf. He breathed through his teeth, willing his wolf to stay calm, promising him that they were going to see Emily in just a few short minutes.
    It worked. He wasn’t even halfway around the scenic route to the motel before he was