Buried and Shadowed (Branded Packs #3)(7)

Mandy shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I might go to the den center to help out there and grab a bite to eat.”

Ariel frowned. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out alone right now. We don’t know who attacked Gibson yet.”

Mandy sighed. She shouldn’t be surprised that Ariel was being overprotective, but she was.

“She won’t be alone,” her best friend and sometimes pain in the butt, Theo, said as he walked out of the trees, Holden by his side.

“You really think I’m going to let my mate walk around alone right now?” Holden asked. He brought Ariel close and kissed her hard.

Mandy blushed and did her best not to stare, but she couldn’t help it. What would it be like to have someone hold her like that? To know that, no matter what, they were hers?

Theo wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she stiffened. She tried to hide it, but he saw it. He sighed but didn’t remove his arm. “We were heading over to see if you guys were hungry. Good timing.” He sounded casual, but she knew he was anything but.

He wanted her as his mate, but her wolf didn’t want the same thing.

It was something they’d had to deal with since she’d come of age, and yet she knew that if she didn’t do something about it, her wolf might just give up on whom they truly wanted and give in to Theo.

And that would break her, just a little.

Not that Theo wasn’t an amazing wolf who cared for her, but he was her best friend. Not her mate. And the fact that he knew that broke him, too.

It just wasn’t fair that the two she wanted didn’t seem to see her. They weren’t for her at all.

And this was why she didn’t mate.

“I’m actually going to see my mate home,” Holden said, his hand firmly on Ariel’s butt. It was a wonder he let his mate out of bed.

“We’ll go get food, then,” Theo said. “See you.”

Mandy sighed as she waved goodbye to the others. “You could have asked, you know.”

Theo looked down at her, a frown on his face as well as a general look of confusion. “What do you mean?”

She held back another sigh. He just didn’t get it. He was just so dominant and pushy, even when he didn’t think he was being pushy. He never meant anything bad by it, but he also couldn’t help it. If they were truly mates, his wolf wouldn’t automatically push her into a little box of helplessness, but he didn’t see it that way.

And that’s why they would never mate, even if her wolf tried to give in eventually.

Mandy wanted better for herself.

Even if it broke her best friend’s heart.

“Let’s just head that way,” she said, ignoring his question. He wouldn’t understand anyway. He was only a year older than her, and because of the way his wolf was ranked, he wasn’t as in control as the other males in the den. Meaning, he honestly couldn’t help himself when he did his caveman routine.

That didn’t mean she was going stand for it every day. It just took her a little while to gain the confidence to speak her mind.

He put his arm around her shoulders once more and they made their way to the den center. Because of the way the SAU had grouped them, shifters were forced to live relatively close to one another. But instead of infighting and daily challenges that would end in pain and death, they’d created a den they could live in for the time being. Within the den center, there were large meeting places for various groups of shifters, plus food storage and other places that allowed them to survive the long winter months.

And since some of the maternals loved to cook for large groups of people, there were a couple of café-like places were everyone could grab a bite to eat without having to cook themselves. It worked for Mandy since she tended to burn things if she tried too hard.

They were almost to the building when the familiar scent of bear and man hit her nose. Her wolf brushed at her, trying to get a look at the man they wanted. Theo’s arm tightened around her shoulders, and she knew his wolf had caught her reaction. Damn shifters and their heightened senses.

Oliver came out of a group of trees, alone, his head down as he walked back toward his home. She wanted to go to him, to be near him, if only for a moment, but Oliver didn’t even look at her, and Theo’s arm felt like a band around her, keeping her close.

Then as if in sweet mercy, Oliver looked up at her. He finally looked.

She met his gaze, the blue of his eyes stark in their need and pain—in their knowing. Mandy inhaled, the intensity of his being almost too much for her, though her wolf wanted to get closer, to see him, to be with him.

Theo began to pull her away before she could even say a word, when Oliver staggered. Without a second thought, she pulled from her best friend and ran to the bear’s side.

She pressed her body to his, keeping him upright. “Oliver? Do you need to sit down?”

He looked down at her, confused, and put his hand on her shoulder. This time, she didn’t want to pull away like she had with Theo. Instead, her wolf slid up close to the surface, needing his touch, craving it.

They stood there, one of her hands on his chest, the other on his back, and he leaned on her. She didn’t even come up to his shoulders, and yet she knew she was helping at least a little.

“Thank you,” Oliver said softly, his voice a deep rasp. “I tripped.”