Lone Wolf's Captive (novella) by Sherilee Gray Read Free Book Online Page A

him, had never once turned her back on him. He’d felt the bond between them the moment he’d laid eyes on her. They’d been too young to recognise what that connection meant at the time. She’d become his best friend—his only friend.
    He’d been the lowest of the low. An omega with no family, forced to share quarters with older boys who wanted to prove their dominance. He’d been an easy target, beaten daily to reinforce his insignificance in their pack. He’d never wanted her to see him on his back, bearing his throat in submission, but she had and she’d loved him anyway.
    She’d also been there when he’d grown stronger and turned the tables on his tormentors. She’d cleaned the blood from his body, had kissed every cut, every bruise. Laney had been proud of him and he’d felt ten foot taller because of it. They’d been each other’s first kiss and the night before he’d been thrown out, they’d become lovers. At the time, he didn’t want to rush her. He had decided to let her get used to the physical side of their relationship before he made her his mate in truth.
    “I’m sorry,” he croaked, because what else could he say? He had done this to them, had torn them apart. Instead of fighting for her—like she had for him—he’d shamed her and shamed himself.
    She was silent for so long, he thought he might actually throw up. He couldn’t lose her again, but he couldn’t keep her locked up either.
    Then a tentative hand threaded through the hair at his nape and he raised his eyes to meet hers. There was no sign of scorn or disgust in them.
    “You can’t leave me again, okay?” His gut clenched. Fuck, she was killing him. Tears started to run freely down her smooth, golden skin and he reached up to brush them away. The bitter smell of fear had disappeared, giving him a measure of hope. Laney’s heart shone through her eyes, her emotions stripped bare for him—so full of warmth and pain that he nearly came undone.
    “Never.” The word growled out, a vow he would never break. Never again.
    And then she wrapped her arms around him, her face buried in the crook of his neck, her warm tears soaking his skin.
    He held her tight and let her process everything he’d just told her.
    ***
    A heavy weight rested on her hip, warmth at her back. Delaney snuggled deeper into the covers and started dozing off again. But a sharp snort broke passed her sleepy brain and her eyes flew open.
    Fletch.
    She was in Fletch’s bed.
    Every nerve in her body fired to life and she became acutely aware of every point their bodies touched. She glanced over her shoulder and her tummy did a somersault. He was barely covered, the sheets tangled low around his hips, revealing the thick bands of his cut abs. An arm rested above his head and he’d thrown one heavy thigh over her, as if even in sleep he was determined to keep her from leaving. She snorted. The guy had always been a messy sleeper.
    The last thing she remembered was Fletch holding her on the living room floor. He must have carried her to bed.
    God, she’d slept like the dead. She hadn’t slept that heavily, in…well, five years.
    She eased around, so her front pressed into his side, and her belly did another somersault. Jesus, he was beautiful. She took her time, studying his features. That face had haunted her dreams for the last five years. Fundamentally, he looked the same, but the profession he’d taken up had left its mark on her once gentle wolf. He looked hard, marked by the path he’d chosen, a path of crime and violence. Her wolf didn’t have the disposition for that type of life. She couldn’t imagine him doing any of the things she guessed that line of work entailed.
    He was still so young, yet faint lines creased the corners of his eyes and mouth. More whiskers had sprung up overnight, darkening his jaw. He was no longer the sweet boy she had loved with all her heart. No, he was a man, an alpha without a pack of his own to lead.
    Had her father