Marked Northern Shifters 1

smiled.
Claire’s face became serious. “But I can’t stay with Trey. Even though he likes me, he doesn’t know how to raise children. He was taking me to a werewolf who did.”
The back of Alec’s neck prickled and the vision of Liam shimmered. “A werewolf who knows how to raise children?”
She nodded solemnly. “Is Liam nice?” She looked directly at Alec, her little brow furrowed in worry. “Gabriel says you know Liam.”
His throat was so dry Alec couldn’t answer. He feared he was desperate to believe Liam was nice.
She looked down at her feet, held onto her ankles and rocked slightly. “Gabriel lies but Trey doesn’t. Trey said Liam knows how to look after me. I’d have a brother, too, if Liam adopted me.” This was said wistfully, as if it wouldn’t come to pass.
Ira. Was Ira a werewolf, too? Gawd.
“But Liam hasn’t come to get me.” She sounded forlorn. “He came to get Ira, but he’s related to Ira and not me.”
Alec worked his throat, trying to keep his voice even. He had too many questions and he needed to choose the most important ones. “Are Gabriel and Liam friends, Claire?”
She shook her head. “Gabriel hates Liam.” She looked at Alec with hope. “You’re my friend, right?”
“Yes, Claire, I’m your friend.”
She peered around. “They can’t know that. I don’t want them to know I talked to you.”
“I don’t want them to know, either. But you must talk to me again.”
“Okay, but they might come back soon.”
“Then you’d better go.”
She slipped away and Alec slumped over, pressing his palms against his forehead, as if that pressure could keep his brains from falling out. How many werewolves were there in the world?
Gabriel hated Liam. Alec hated Gabriel. Maybe Gabriel lied and Liam didn’t hate Alec. Because you could only do this—hand over your lover to be a pet—to someone you hated, loathed, despised. Alec could have sworn Liam didn’t despise him.
Still, Liam was a werewolf and, Alec remembered now, had wanted to see Alec’s bite.
Liam had known exactly what it was. A mark.

Chapter Nine
    The next day Gabriel came down to gloat, but he got bored when Alec didn’t seem much different from previous days. Presumably he’d expected a nutcase after speaking Liam’s name. Gabriel lies , Alec repeated to himself, like a mantra. He prayed it was true.
    After Gabriel left, Alec talked quietly to the pup, asking that she visit him again that night when the men were gone and she could speak.
She gave a low woof that Alec could now interpret as yes.
“I want you to tell me everything you know about Liam, okay? Because I am trying to make a plan for you.”
She cocked her head at that. Later she disappeared and returned with goodies, this time uncooked hotdogs. At least it was protein and while his stomach was a mess, his body was ravenous. He forced them down and drank water to wash away the taste.
He assumed the wolves didn’t notice the missing food she brought him, or maybe they didn’t care. They didn’t pay much attention to Claire that Alec could tell and he didn’t know why she was with them. What would the men want with a little girl? There was, thank God, no sexual interest that he could discern. Had her “friend” Trey given her to them? Alec hoped not.
Certainly, Liam took better care of Ira than they did of Claire. Maybe that meant something about the quality of a person, werewolf or not. Though Liam could still have betrayed Alec to them after he saw the bite.
Marked. He’d been marked and this was his fate.
Claire. If he thought of Claire and plotted out a way to make her safer, he might stay sane for another day or two before he totally cracked.
Night fell and wolves didn’t come to see him. Only Claire, naked in moonlight. The girl was going to freeze to death if she kept this up.
“You should wear clothes,” said Alec.
“I don’t like clothes. They’re uncomfortable.”
“Winter is coming. You need them.”
She shrugged. “I have fur.”
“When you have fur, you can’t talk to me.”
She smiled for the first time, dimpling, and he thought her adorable. Adorable and filthy, but he didn’t care about her dirt, just her well-being.
“Claire, you must tell me everything you know about Liam.”
She sat on her haunches. “He used to be with them, but then he left.”
“He left. Why?”
She shook her head, unknowing. “It was a long time ago.”
“Okay.”
“That was bad, that he left. Gabriel hates when wolves leave