by Franca Storm
He grinned and howled lightheartedly. They followed suit, drowning the bar in their primal calls.
Ryan was in a good mood. The full moon was close. It was the time when wolves were at their strongest. The time when his pack would run wild all night through the forest located on the outskirts of the city, when they would then give in wholly to the wolf within, reveling in the absolute freedom of it.
The howls ceased and he laughed heartily. He took a large swig from his beer mug, relaxing back into his chair.
Josh, his second-in-command, clapped his hand down on his shoulder. So, where to tonight, Ry? I’m dying to lose myself in some easy pussy.”
Ryan felt the same desperation Josh was alluding to. Being so close to the full moon, wolves were embroiled in a sexual frenzy, their animal instincts at their most ferocious.
He smirked and pulled some cards from his leather jacket pocket. Tossing them on the table, he told the boys, “Have at it.”
They gathered around eagerly, snapping them up, as he informed them of a new club opening that boasted the wild atmosphere they were all looking for. “Never say that your Alpha doesn’t deliver.”
Whoops and cheers followed.
It all came to a grinding halt, though, at the sound of the bell above the front door chiming.
A strange heat rushed through Ryan, causing him to choke from its intensity. What the fuck?
It was followed by the sweetest scent he’d ever smelled. A scent he couldn’t even begin to place. It was… indefinable. Unheard of for a wolf.
Stunned, he watched curiously, as the culprit strode into his bar.
Some sort of biker chick, it appeared, decked out in leather from head to toe.
She pulled down the zipper of her jacket, revealing a thin tank underneath containing a sweet pair of tits that had his mouth watering. Big mistake, darlin’. Bearing any skin in a place packed with virile male wolves so close to the full moon wasn’t advisable at all. He could see why she had, though. She was sweating like crazy. Beads of sweat rolled down her neck, all the way to her delectable cleavage. Her brow was clammy too, and her hair was wet with it. She looked sick.
She flicked back her silky, black hair, as her piercing blue eyes searched the bar.
When she turned around in her search, her tight little ass grabbed his attention. Hot damn.
To his surprise, she didn’t seem the least bit fazed by walking into a place full of hulking male wolves. She strode further into the bar like she owned the damned place. Feisty as all hell. Fucking sexy.
As she moved closer, he could feel her strength. Not brute strength, though. Nah, something else, something more. Her tiny five-foot frame was clearly no indication of the power she possessed.
“Blane?” she called out, demandingly.
It’d been a long while since he’d heard that name uttered.
The boys laughed at her ignorance. The little thing seemed confused by their reaction.
And, dammit, for some reason, Ryan just couldn’t stomach the look on her face, the humiliation she was causing herself. He couldn’t let it continue a second longer.
He rose from his seat and raised his hand, the simple gesture silencing his pack.
The mystery woman’s gaze snapped to his and the connection was like a spike through the heart. Fucking hell. What was happening?
He recovered quickly, determined not to display weakness to anyone, least of all, to a stranger invading his territory. “Your information is old, darlin’,” he told her.
She frowned. “Blane is no longer Alpha of this pack?” She strode over to him. “Who is?”
He smirked. “That would be me. Ryan Winters. Have been for the last five years.”
“I see.”
He drew her over to the bar, away from the boys who were basically salivating over her, looking like they would jump her at any moment and exact their sexual frustrations all over her.
“Coming in here so close to the full moon is dangerous. My boys are a thin sliver of control away from ripping your clothes off and taking you right here in the middle of the bar,” he warned her.
“It couldn’t be helped,” she said, glancing around warily.
“You have business with Blane? You dealt with him in the past?”
“Yeah, we were associates.”
He cocked an eyebrow, more than a little surprised. “The old bastard didn’t exactly play well with pretty little things.”
Her gaze hardened, not liking his words. She was getting her back up and she snapped, “He didn’t have much choice. I was a Seeker at the time.”
Was? Interesting. He’d never heard of a Seeker quitting. He’d thought that death was the only way out of that life. And that wasn’t the only strange thing about her comment.
“Really? Seekers are human.”
“I… it is what it is,” she stumbled, her tough-ass façade slipping.
It seemed that was a sore spot.
She managed to recover and bit back at him, “Look, the pack helped me, and I helped them.”
Fine. He’d humor her. “And you want my help now, huh?”
“Yes.”
Ryan wasn’t going to let her off that easily, not with the attitude she was sending his way. She might be a sexy piece and there was some weird pull about her, but he wouldn’t let her disrespect go unchecked. He had to mess with her a little, make her work for it.
Leaning into her, he growled low, “Care to make it worth my while, darlin’?”
Her eyes flashed at his challenge, but she didn’t respond.
He stepped into her, invading her personal space. It was an act of intimidation, plain and simple.
Impressively, she didn’t back up, she didn’t back down. He could see he was making her uncomfortable with his close proximity, though. Her breathing had picked up. She could no longer hold his gaze. He’d shattered her tough act in one fell swoop.
The moment he moved back, though, alleviating some of the intensity of the sexual tension flaring between them, which he’d been using to his advantage, her gaze hardened.
She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I killed two wolves tonight.”
Fucking hell. She couldn’t have shocked him more.
A chorus of low, threatening growls reverberated through the bar. The pack had heard her. They possessed supernatural hearing, so a whisper didn’t make a bit of difference to any of them.
“You walk into a wolf bar and tell the Alpha that you’ve killed two of his brethren? Do you have a death wish, darlin’?”
“They were attacking a human woman. I had to stop them. Given the rabid state of them, there was only one way to do that.”
Ryan took her words in, the Alpha leader in him taking the reins. All trace of humor and joviality left him. He pushed down the desire he’d felt the moment she’d entered his bar. He needed to focus on what she was telling him. Rabid? Attacking humans?
With his head clear, he picked up on something that he’d failed to notice before. He scented her deeply.
“What are you doing?” she asked, taken aback.
There it was!
He snatched her right arm and shoved up the sleeve of her leather jacket. She winced at his roughness and it had him regretting not being gentler. Why did he care either way? He didn’t know her. Something really messed up was going down.
“Those wolves weren’t mine.”
“What?” she said, pulling her arm away.
“Not mine, darlin’.”
“How can you be so sure? I didn’t even describe them to you yet.”
“Because my pack members don’t carry poison in their claws.”
“Poison?” she gasped, eyeing her arm. She wasn’t wolf, so she had to bring the wound up real close to see what he had. Black droplets interspersing with her blood. It was slight, barely perceptible at the moment, but that wouldn’t last. That shit spread quickly.
Ryan really didn’t know what the hell was going on with him when it came to the ho
t little stranger. He didn’t show weakness. He didn’t demonstrate compassion to outsiders. He cared about one thing only. His pack. Yet, he found himself offering, “I’ll help you.”
“What? Why?” she asked, suspiciously. “Wolves don’t do favors for non-wolves.”
Damn straight, they don’t.
“Look, do you want my help, or not?”
“What do you want in return?”
She was paranoid as all fuck. “You killed two of my enemies tonight. This will make us even.”
“Really? That’s it?”
“Yeah. I don’t like owing people favors.”
“Okay. Uh… thank you.”
Jeez. The vulnerable look in her eyes was doing something to him. He shifted his weight, forcing himself to get a grip. “Where was the attack?”
“Just a few blocks from here. The industrial district.”
He nodded and called over his shoulder, “J, you got that?”
“Yeah, boss.”
He watched her look over his shoulder at Josh. He saw her raise her eyebrows at his appearance. He wasn’t surprised. J looked like he’d just come from a gig with a 1980s hairband. Big, dirty-blond hair fell down well past his shoulders. He was decked out in jeans that were way too tight. The tip of the iceberg was his leather vest exposing his hairy-ass chest that had a bunch of thick, gold chains resting upon it. Ryan was pretty sure he also had on eyeliner. He wasn’t a conventional-looking wolf, not to outsiders anyway. They always thought of wolves as big, hulking masses of men. It wasn’t always the case, though.
Ryan returned his focus to the girl and asked, “How long ago?”
“Just a few minutes.”
“Good.” He called out to Josh again. “J, head down there with a couple of the boys as backup and check out the scene. Then, go to the club and chill like we’d planned.”
“You’re not coming?” Josh asked, disbelief obvious in his tone. Ryan knew it was shocking. It wasn’t often that he’d turn down an evening of rough and wild sex, especially so close to the full moon.
“I need to take care of this.”
He turned and gestured for the girl to follow after him.
He led her to the flight of stairs at the back of the bar. Taking them two at a time, he sensed her lagging behind and looked over his shoulder to see her struggling. By the time he stopped outside the door to their destination, she was staggering over, breathing heavily.
The poison was starting to take its toll, spreading quickly.
He opened the door and ushered her in ahead of him.
He watched her scrunch up her face as she took in the state of the place. Messy as fuck would be an understatement. “My apartment not up to your standards, darlin’?”
“My standards?” she shot back.
“Yeah. You’re a prim and proper little angel,” he said, simply. “It was obvious the minute you started speaking to me.”
Her eyes narrowed and she stepped into him, glaring up at him heatedly. “You don’t know me, wolf. You want to throw down and see how wrong you are about me?”
Wow, feisty! He was enjoying it… too much. “You think you can take me?”
Her eyes flashed. “I’m ready to find out.”
He grinned and stepped back. “Let’s rain check it.”
“Right, I almost forgot how misogynistic wolves are.”
He grabbed her good arm, jerking her towards him. Leaning down to her level, he spoke huskily into her ear, “Nah, that’s not it. If I’m gonna lay my hands on you, gorgeous, I’d rather it was under different circumstances. Bending you over that couch there and fucking you within an inch of your life, for instance.”
He released her and turned away, just managing to hold back a laugh. The look on her face had been priceless. She’d been so shocked. He was just messing with her with the whole prim and proper thing. She was all attitude and toughness. Similar to a wolf’s demeanor, actually.
He crossed to the small kitchenette and called over his shoulder, “Take a seat on the couch. I’ll get the antidote.”
Watching her hesitantly do as he’d said, he zoned in with his wolf vision and studied her arm. As he’d suspected from the exhaustion that seemed to be plaguing her now, it’d worsened. Black blood oozed from the nasty gash. He had to hurry things along.
Locating the antidote at the back of one of his kitchen cupboards, he grabbed a first aid kit as well, then sped back to her.
He placed a roll of gauze and the purple vial containing the antidote down on the well-worn coffee table in front of the couch.
“Take off your jacket.”
As she peeled it off, he shook off his own and tossed it on the floor beside the couch.
He saw her eyeing him in question.
“I don’t want that shit staining the leather.”
Her eyes roamed over him, drinking in the sight of him in only a black wife-beater. They flicked back and forth from his muscled arms, then dipped lower to his abs. He watched her bite her lip.
Mmm.
He cleared his throat and her gaze snapped to his. The intensity in her eyes caught him off guard. Desire, for sure. Jesus fuck. She kept drawing him to her with some sort of inexplicable pull that seemed to come out of nowhere. He could barely focus when it surged between them, barely breathe steadily.
He looked away quickly and ran his hand over the rough stubble on his chin. Anything to distract himself from what he was feeling for her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
What a question.
Everything about his reaction to her was wrong. And now that they were alone with no distractions between them, it had grown all the more intense. His cock was rock-hard. They hadn’t done a thing, yet he was fired right up. How the fuck was that possible? No one had more control than him.
“What are you?” he demanded.
“I already told you that I used to be a Seeker.”
“And I already reminded you that Seekers are human.” He took hold of her arm, telling her, “This would have killed any human. Only a supernatural being could survive this.”
He watched her reaction and she seemed as confused as he was. It was clear in that instant that she didn’t know what she was anymore than he did.
Unease and a trace of hurt flared in her eyes. He couldn’t stand it. He loosened his grip on her arm and told her in a gentle tone, “Let’s just get this fixed up. Okay, gorgeous?”
“Cora.”
“Yeah?” he said, smiling. “Taking a risk revealing your identity, huh?”
“You’re helping me. You let me into your apartment, your personal sanctuary. I figured I owed you my name, at least.”
“Appreciated.” He snatched up the vial and tried his damnedest to keep his eyes fixed on the wound and the task at hand, rather than her delectable, way-too-appetizing tits, which were rising and falling prominently from her labored, stilted breathing. “This is gonna hurt, darlin’. I’ve used it on myself before and, baby, I can take a lot of pain. It’s one of the perks of being Alpha. I’m gonna need you to prepare yourself, okay?”
She closed her eyes tightly and told him, “Just do it.”
He held her arm steady and poured the purple liquid along the length of the wound.
He braced himself for what he knew would come.
She screamed.
He put the vial down, still holding her right arm steady.
Her eyes snapped open and they met his. He saw tears glistening in her eyes. Before he could react, her hands suddenly gripped his arms, her nails digging ferociously into his exposed skin as she fought against the excruciating pain.
He reacted without thinking, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly to him.
“It’ll pass in a few more moments,” he breathed into her hair. “Just hold on, darlin’.”
Finally, her screams ceased, and she released his arms, pulling back sheepishly. She reached for the gauze on the table, but he gripped her arm, stopping her.
/> “It’s already healed.”
“What?” She looked at her arm and saw what he was. Nothing. No blood. No scar. It was as if she’d never been clawed. “Oh my God. How the hell?”
“You’re something real special.”
“I’m not human then,” she murmured to herself. Wide eyes met his. “I don’t know what I am.”
“Well, I can tell you that you’re not wolf. Nor, vampire. Bloodsuckers have a certain stench.”
“Why did I need an antidote if I can heal?”
“The same reason I did when it happened to me. The same reason why, if I’m stabbed, I have to pull the offending object free first. It’s a blockage. If you don’t remove it, the wound can’t close.”
She nodded her understanding. “It’s never happened before… this healing.”
“Something must’ve happened to activate it.”
Realization flickered on her face. “You know what it was?” he asked.
“Ryan,” she gasped. “Shit. Are you going to shift?” she asked, worriedly.
“What?” Shift? Why was she asking him that? He was an Alpha. It meant he had incredible control over his wolf. He wouldn’t shift on a fucking whim.
“Your eyes… they’re glowing. They’re bright gold.”
She stepped close, too close. Instinctively, he reached out, his hands brushing her waist. That slight touch did something to her, awoke something, because her eyes suddenly shone right back at him. “Yours are following suit. Silver, though.”
Utter shock infiltrated his entire being. He couldn’t find the words. Hell, he couldn’t do anything but stare at her. It’d happened. The one thing he’d never thought possible.
It was her.
She’d found him.
It explained his odd, intense reactions towards her.
She was the one. His one.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he breathed.
“What?”
“This glowing? It means—”
“I’ve heard of it, yeah.”
“So, you know it means we’re destined mates then?”
She shook her head. “It’s probably a mistake.”
“You hate the idea of being mated to a wolf, darlin’?”
“No. It’s not that. A lot of weird things have gone down in my life over the last day. Craziness. It’s probably just…” She trailed off just as he saw the glow of her eyes grow even more vibrant.