Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,72

still to this day, she’s terrified of a wolf’s howl.”

Fuck. I have to swallow down the bile that’s pushing up my throat.

“She mated three years ago to another pack member,” Hugo goes on, and we follow his gaze to one of the enforcers in the ring. I instantly see the resemblance of his bright blond hair to that of the little boy still running around, now with dirt and a smile smeared across his face.

“Collins is blind,” Hugo says, making my eyes widen in surprise. “His pack of cougar shifters exiled him for it as soon as he was of age. He lived rogue for five years before he heard about this pack and asked to join. He’s a damn good fighter, despite his lack of sight, and he sees what other people don’t. He’s observant; he can tell what people are doing wrong by listening to the way their bodies sound when they move, and he inspires some of our physically weaker shifters by showing them that they can be strong.”

I watch as the enforcer turns his head, as if listening, and then whirls around and snatches Janie’s hand from where she was trying to creep up on him on the other side of the fence. She tips her head back and laughs, and the enforcer claims her mouth with a kiss.

Hugo turns to look at all of us. “Each and every one of my pack members has a story like that, Addie included. She was born into Pack Rockhead—a pred-only pack, and they punished her for it everyday of her life for fifteen years until she was exiled.”

My hands curl into fists. The fact that my mate was forced to grow up like that makes fury coalesce in my veins.

“I found her at a gas station. She was skin and bones, with hollow eyes and fear evaporating off of her skin. I love her like a daughter,” he tells us sternly, looking each one of us in the eye. “She’s a duck. A prey bird that the rest of the shifter world will look down on. Hell, even other Canes will look down on her. But she’s loyal, and kind, and smart—and if you fucking hurt her, I will fucking hurt you worse.”

I know he’s serious. I can feel it in the alpha bond. If we hurt Addie, there will be a reckoning.

I know that Alpha Hugo isn’t just powerful or strong. In the short amount of time I’ve known him, I’ve also learned what a good male he is. He takes in shifters who are different, and he gives them a place to belong. He makes the weak have strength. He makes the prey learn that they don’t have to run. He gives the misfits a place to fit.

I don’t know why the hell he’s decided to accept us into his pack, but I’m so fucking honored that I can’t speak. I can feel how different this pack is. It’s a family.

I’ll never be half the shifter that Janie or Collins is. Hell, I’ll never be as strong as Addie had to be when she was just a girl. These shifters have been through hell—shunned and beaten, bullied and hated, all because they weren’t born as the perfect preds that our society demands.

Shame washes over me for ever sharing those kinds of hateful prejudices, and because I know my best friends better than I know myself, I know that Herrick and Lafe are feeling the same exact things that as I am. Heavy emotion burns the back of my throat, and my Adam’s apple bobs up and down.

“We understand now,” Lafe says quietly. And he’s right. We do.

Hugo studies him for a long moment, and then looks over Herrick and me. I feel like he’s looking into my fucking soul as he watches me, and as my alpha, I submit to him. I want to be a part of this pack. I want to help protect these shifters. I want to earn my place as a member of Pack Aberrant, and be the mate that Addie deserves.

After what feels like an eternity has passed, Hugo finally nods. “Good,” he says to us, like he sees the huge impact he just made in us. He holds out his hand for me to shake. “Welcome to Pack Aberrant.”

My coyote howls inside of me. Lafe is grinning, and Herrick dips his head in thanks.

This—this right here. This is why we left our old pack. We weren’t exactly sure what we