Page 3 of Claimed

“Hey!” I hiss at him, placing my hands over her ears so she can’t hear him. “She’s perfect! Don’t say that!”

He rolls his eyes at me as he leans back on the couch. “I just meant that she needs some fattening up.”

“Goddess, Bain. Promise you won’t say that to her?” Maddox asks him with exasperation.

He presses his lips together with narrowed eyes before he concedes. “Fine.” But I can see by the glint in his eye that he’s not giving up on this yet.

“I think a few more days and we can leave,” Maddox tells us, changing the subject. “Trevor has already questioned half of Kane’s men.”

“Do you think he can do the job? Run the pack?” I ask. While Cherry had been recovering, Maddox had spoken to several other alphas about who wanted to run it, and Trevor became the obvious favorite.

He nods. “Yes. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He might not have the highest power level, but he’s respected amongst the other alphas and the betas, and he’s quickly becoming a natural leader.”

“Should we start packing up our SUV?” Hunter asks.

“That’s gonna be a tight fit,” I say, realizing that we aren’t coming back here.

“I have a plan,” Gage says, gaining our attention. “Pack everything you want to have at our new home, but don’t need straight away. I’ll arrange a moving company to come and get it once we’re settled out there. I’ve already got a local realtor lined up to put this house on the market as soon as I give the word. Everyone just pack what you need to survive a couple of weeks. We don’t want to overfill the plane.”

“What plane?” Maddox asks before I can.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Gage asks, looking genuinely surprised.

“Tell me what?”

“We’re taking a private jet to South Carolina.”

A burst of laughter escapes me at how casually he says that. “We’re flying there?” I ask around my chuckles.

He shrugs. “The drive would take days. And even if we wanted to be stuffed into a commercial flight, they aren’t going to let her in the cabin,” he says, pointing at the unconscious wolf in my lap.

“It’s a good plan,” Maddox says with a nod. “We’ll get there much faster. Hopefully, we find Starfall Haven quickly, and someone there can help shed some light on what’s going on with Re—Cherry.” He shakes his head. “It’s gonna be hard to get used to saying her name.”

“I’m dying to hear her voice again,” I admit. “She only said three words, and it wasn’t nearly enough.”

“I want to know what she was running from,” Hunter says. I glance at him and see the anger in his eyes. Remembering how we found her has me wanting the same thing.

“I want to know who did that to her,” Bain adds with a snarl. “I want to know who put that fucking muzzle on her, so I can rip their balls off and shove them down their throat.”

“Vicious,” I say with a nod of approval. “I’m in.”

“I want to know everything about her,” Maddox says quietly.

I let that sink in for a minute. Everything we know has been about her character, the way she acts and reacts to the world around her. I know she’s kind and sweet, funny and loving. But how that translates into her human form, I have no idea. And we know nothing of her past, or her hopes and dreams.

How will things change once she’s able to shift and stay in her human form? Will she still like to snuggle on the couch and watch TV with us? Will she still want to play games with Hunter and me? Will she still let Maddox and Bain hand-feed her? Will she still keep Gage company when he stays up late doing research? Will she still let us all in her bed at night?

“You think she won’t want us when she shifts?” Hunter asks in alarm, making me realize I asked that last question through the bond.

“No, I’m just thinking about what Maddox said. I’m wondering how different she’ll be in her human form. I know my wolf wouldn’t enjoy binge-watching TV like I do. How do she and her wolf differ?”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that too much,” Gage says as he glances up from his laptop. “She already displays very humanistic traits in her wolf form. She’ll likely be the same snuggly, sweet girl we’ve come to love.”

I raise my brow at the use of the L word. But I don’t comment on it. How can I? I already feel like I’m in love with her. Maybe it’s because she’s my fated mate. Because it seems insane to be in love with a wolf. But I’ve seen her personality shining through, regardless of what skin she’s wearing. And I already know she’s perfect.

Chapter 2

Cherry