Read Untamed (Wolf Lake) for Free Online

left side of his face appeared to have been ripped open, the wound somehow unable to heal, leaving a jagged scar from temple to chin.  
    No one in Natasha's pack knew how he'd come by the scar.  
    "What happened?" Nafarius asked, more gently this time.
    No longer hungry, Natasha pushed her plate aside. "My father got some bad news," she said, her gaze darting from Nafarius to Sam and back again.
      "I'm sorry," Nafarius said, and he was. He owed this female an apology and an explanation. But not for lack of trying. All efforts to communicate with Dimitri had gone unanswered, the male cutting off negotiations in favor of violence. Natasha's attack hadn't been the first, and Nafarius feared it wouldn't be the last.  
    "Don't be," Natasha said with a nonchalance she was far from feeling. "Besides, I faired better than the other guy."
    Nafarius frowned. "What other guy?"
    "You know that saying, 'Don't kill the messenger'?" Natasha traced the pattern etched on her fork. "Yeah, well, it's not one my father lives by."
    "Jesus," Sam whispered, horror widening her eyes. What kind of male was Dimitri?
    Nafarius' curse was biblical as well, while Roland remained silent.
    "How did I end up here?" Natasha asked.
    "Roland found you," Nafarius said.
    "In your territory?" Natasha asked. Had her father dumped her body as a message, or was Dimitri's trespassing into another alpha's territory just another sign of his madness?
    "Yes." Nafarius confirmed.
    Natasha nodded. "My father...I..." she hesitated, swallowing against the sudden lump in her throat.  
    "Your father attacked you," Nafarius supplied, hoping to spur her story.
    Natasha's eyes snapped to the male's face, darting back and forth between Nafarius and Roland. "No."
    "No?" Roland asked, disbelief adding an edge to his tone. "I could smell him on you - "
    "I tried to kill him," Natasha admitted quietly. Unbidden, her hand rose and rubbed at the hollow in her chest. The place where her pack bond had always been ached, it was the most painful wound her father inflicted.
    " You what?!" Nafarius jerked to attention as the female suddenly took on dangerous dimensions.  
    Roland took a step forward, his features bleached with shock.
    Natasha's skin prickled, the base of her spine tingling in warning as the alpha's power rippled through the room. "He killed my pack-mate, slaughtered him when he returned with the news of your mating."
    "I've known Dimitri going on fifty years," Nafarius growled, eyeing the female suspiciously. "I've never known him to act irrationally."
    All alphas were temperamental, even violent, but protection of the pack came before all else. To attack one of your own was unthinkable.
    "Why?" Roland asked.  
    "My father has become an Old One," Natasha said softly, breaking Nafarius' train of thought.
    Nafarius blinked in surprise.
    Sam felt a shiver of dread through the mate bond, the emotion from Nafarius sharp and piercing. A second later and the sentiment echoed along the pack bond from Roland and Maddie.
    "What's an Old One?" Sam asked.
    Natasha looked up at Nafarius, her eyes asking him to explain.
    "Do you remember when I told you that werewolves count their lifespan in centuries?" Nafarius waited for Sam to nod before continuing. "I've known some to live as long as eight hundred years. But none of them were alpha wolves."
    Sam frowned. That still didn't answer her question, or explain the others' response to Natasha's declaration. "Okay."
    "It's rare for an alpha wolf to reach old age, most of them are killed by younger, stronger wolves in a fight for dominance. But every once in a while you get one that survives. We call them Old Ones and they usually have to be put down," Nafarius finished softly.  
    Natasha looked up to find Nafarius watching her, his blue eyes touched with sadness. For her father, or for himself? As an alpha male, Nafarius risked the same fate as her father.  
    Suddenly chilled, Sam wrapped her arms around herself. "What happens that