Wolf Claim (Wolves of Willow Bend Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

maybe I should say make no further mistakes. If I decide to ask Gillian and she consents to going, I will make sure she is protected. Not for lack of trust in Brett, but because she is mine .”
    His temper stymied, Owen blew out a breath between clenched teeth. “Mason…”
    With all the speed of a freight train and the grace of pure predator, Mason struck him. Owen had only a split second to react to the fist coming at his face. He took the hit because he deserved it. Right eye twitching, he staggered back a step. The hot burn of copper filled his mouth and pain radiated along his jaw.
    His fingers curled into his palms, fists tightening, but he kept his hands down and forced them to relax. Mason had given him a hell of a lot of leeway and while his Alpha couldn’t back down from the perceived challenge, Owen could.
    “Alpha.” He paused to spit the blood from his mouth. “I misspoke earlier.”
    “I’ll say you did.” While his tone remained steely, the rancor in his voice diminished. “For fuck’s sake, Owen. I get that others here are still learning to trust me, but I thought you did.”
    “I do,” he said, and he cut a glance upward. “Gillian is different. She’s so much softer and more vulnerable than even some of our young.”
    “She’s a healer, man. She’s going to walk through fire to help people. That’s not weakness, that’s a strength neither of us possess.” The admission shocked Owen. “Didn’t you see what happened with Alexis? There were days we nearly lost her during the pregnancy. It fucking killed me to see her put herself through that hell, but do you know why she survived?”
    “Pack bonds.” Owen had felt the pull the day Melissa was born. Every single member of the pack felt it.
    “No.” Mason shook his head. “That was after Melissa was born, when she tried to die on me again.” No amount of steel or fury could disguise the ragged note of pain in his voice. “That wasn’t the only time her pregnancy and the need to shift nearly killed her. If it hadn’t been for Gillian and Emma on multiple occasions, we would have lost Alexis. They saw her through the worst, individually and together. Gillian took that pain, she held Alexis together, sometimes I think with her will alone. She isn’t weak, Owen.”
    Her weakness or lack thereof wasn’t what concerned him, but rather her open, giving heart. The heart that would give until it stopped beating, if left unchecked. To send her to strangers, to ask her to give and give of herself? It flew in the face of everything he believed.
    “Keep this shit up and I’ll send Dylan with her.” The verbal blow struck as solidly as his fist. “While I do that, I’ll send you to the Yukon to make nice with them.” Two for two.  
    Eating his pride left a sour taste in his mouth, but Owen inclined his head. “I’m an idiot.”
    “Yes,” Mason agreed. “Yes, you are, but you’re my idiot.” He clasped Owen’s shoulder on the last. “Can you trust me? In truth? I will never abandon a member of my pack. I will never discard one nor turn away when they need me most.”
    “I do trust you, Mason.” He meant it. “And I know you wouldn’t do those things.” Shame tasted worse as an adult than it ever had as a teen.
    “We all get a little stupid when it comes to protecting our women.”
    “She’s not mine.” Not that she hadn’t tempted him beyond measure over the years. Still did, but she was too young. Too delicate. Too— Not for me. She deserves better. She wasn’t for Dylan either, a fact he would make very clear to the other Hunter when he got his hands on him.
    “Uh huh.” Mason grunted and squeezed his shoulder. “We’re done with this fight, we’re good you and I. Challenge me again, and I will kill you. Am I clear?”
    A second chance after such a gaffe was gift. “Crystal. May I say one last word on the subject?”
    Mason rolled his head from side to side, the vertebrae cracking audibly and the stiffness in