Read Online Legend (A Wolf Lake Novella) by Jennifer Kohout - Free Book Online

back."
    "I told you that you didn't need to help," Maddie pulled one last weed, looking up at her new friend.
    "I feel like a freeloader," Sam said. "You do all the cooking, feeding me. Seems the least I can do." It felt weird, her place not quite a prisoner, but definitely not an invited guest.  
    "Well, well, well...look who has been digging in the dirt," Rose stepped out of the trees, her two constant companions close on her heels. Sam knew better than to think that Rose was here to help. More likely than not, she was hoping to catch the eye of the men working nearby.  
    Most of the pack's gardens were planted so they worked with the surrounding forest. But a nearby dead tree was threatening to fall, taking out a large part of the garden. Nafarius had ordered it taken down, and several men were stripping down to do the job.
    "What do you want, Rose?" Maddie asked.
    "Me? Nothing," she said, shouldering her way past Maddie, she knocked the basket out of Maddie's arms, vegetables rolling everywhere. "Fetch!" Rose said with a laugh, her two constant companions giggling in appreciation.
    Maddie was reaching for a potato, when she felt Sam's hand on her shoulder.
    "Pick it up." Sam ordered, staring at Rose.
    Rose's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Back off, human, before you get hurt."
    Sam stepped between Maddie and Rose. "Pick. It. Up."
    "Or what? You'll make me?" Rose laughed. "It seems Nafarius' little pet has grown claws."
    Across the way, Roland caught sight of the confrontation and moved to intercept. He may have little use for the human but she was still under Nafarius' protection.  
    "Wait," Nafarius said.  
    "What? Why?" If Rose harmed the human, Nafarius would be forced to put her down. Right or wrong, Rose was still pack and Sam was human.
    "I want to see something." Nafarius had come to know Sam a bit over the past few days.  
    Sam's smile held little humor. "At least I'm not the pack's bitch in heat."  
    Sam knew she'd hit a sore spot. Rose was one of those women that spent their lives trying to catch the right man. She walked around flashing flesh trying to tantalize the stronger males in the pack. Maddie had mentioned that there were several willing to take their ease with the female but none of them wanted to mate with her. "Lift your tail often enough and eventually someone will take you up on your offer," Sam taunted.
    "You bitch!" Rose lunged at the human, a low vicious snarl turning her face ugly.
    Sam braced for the strike, didn't bother trying to defend herself knowing that she didn't stand a chance against Rose's inhuman strength.  
    "Rose!"
    Rose froze, Nafarius' roar echoing across the forest. Slowly, every line in her body screaming in reluctance, she stepped back. "This isn't over," she promised, before stalking off out of sight.
    "I told you, a human doesn't belong here." Roland reminded.
    "The problem is not that she is human," Nafarius said turning away from his second. "It's that she's alpha."
    Sam pressed a suddenly shaking hand to her stomach. Taking a deep breath she half knelt, half collapsed to her knees and started helping Maddie pick up the scattered food.
    "You shouldn't have done that," Maddie whispered.  
    "Have I made it worse for you?"  
    Sam wasn't sure what had possessed her to take on the other woman. She was outmatched on every level but something inside refused to allow her to stand by and watch as Maddie was bullied. Maybe it was because Maddie was the first real friend Sam had.
    "No. I know how to deal with Rose."
    "Why do you let her treat you that way?" Sam was honestly curious. She was trying to understand pack protocol but the dynamics were complex, with shades of nuances that escaped her. Maddie had tried to tell her there were some things only one born a werewolf could understand.  
    "She's one of the most dominant females in the pack. I'm not strong enough to confront her," Maddie shrugged. It was the notion of someone that had lived with a belief her entire life and