In Deep Shift: A Wolf Rampant spinoff serial (Bloodling Serial Book 2) Read Free

it out with another alpha-leaning werewolf , I thought wistfully. Not that I particularly wanted to get to know any of those girls better. But I was used to every shifter in my vicinity backing down from the slightest sign of my displeasure. So the guard's piercing eyes made my blood pump and my muscles tense in preparation for a spring to his throat.
    Still, my eye—as much as my lupine nature would allow—was on the ball. Objective one: ensure that my pack mates could hold their own amid the other nine clans assembled for All-Pack. Objective two: find some really smelly shit to rub my brother's nose into.
    I meant the second objective figuratively. Well, mostly....
    That thought made me laugh, and my returning good humor gave me the reminder I needed to let the passing guard win his staring contest. Shrugging, I glanced up at Chase at last, whose human fingers were holding my lupine ruff in a death grip. Calm down, buddy. I'm not going to do anything stupid , I told him, the unspoken words carried loud and clear by the jaunty tilt of my head and the sparkle in my eyes.
    At home, my milk brother would have swatted my nose in retaliation for giving him such a scare. But here, Chase was even more aware of my missing dignity than usual, his eyes scanning the crowd in front of us in search of danger or imagined slights, and I knew he wouldn't remonstrate with me in public. Earlier, my friend had begged me to don two legs for our introduction to polite society, but that had seemed like a terrible idea since I was even more erratic and unlikeable on two legs than on four. So we'd instead settled on allowing Chase to be in charge of dealing with the furless, while I padded along at his side as silent but menacing muscle.
    Sounded like a good deal at the time since I was always willing to let my milk brother take the lead if it floated his boat. But now I was starting to wonder whether the two of us had gotten in over our heads, walking unprepared into this melee of laughing, growling, posturing, and flirting shifters.
    "Welcome." The word came from behind our backs, and we both whirled, Chase nearly toppling over in his haste to find out whether the greeting emanated from friend or foe. Despite our plan to let Chase speak for the two of us, I surged forward to give my milk brother time to recover his composure, then looked up into the deepest eyes I'd ever seen.
    Usually, shifters kept their lupine natures under wraps when walking two-footed, but I could tell that the middle-aged man standing in front of me was more of my own school of thought on the issue. Why put the wolf to sleep when canine senses were so powerful, even if pointy teeth had to be hidden beneath human gums? This man's wolf was alert and rampant behind his human eyes, and despite my seven-year absence from All-Pack, I recognized him instantly.
    "Chief Wilder," Chase greeted our host, holding out one hand in greeting and proving that he also had guessed the man's identity. But even though Chase had called our host by the right name, my milk brother clearly hadn't understood the implications of the wolf lurking behind the man's eyes.
    Crazy Wilder, as shifters liked to call this man behind his back, was the host of All-Pack for good reason. He was the biggest, baddest shifter around. And, unfortunately, he and I both knew that shaking hands with a submissive werewolf barely old enough to drink was miles beneath the other alpha's dignity. The only question was how hard our host would slap my friend down.
    Sure enough, the older man stared pointedly at the offending appendage until Chase flushed and let the hand fall back against his side. Despite knowing exactly what was coming, my lip curled upwards at my friend's embarrassment and I placed the first mark in my mental tally book against Chief Wilder. Some day, I'd pay him back in spades.
    I didn't growl, though. First, there were my prime directives to consider. And, second, Chief Wilder's wolf was stronger than