Corbin came over and sat beside her by the fire. He reached behind her and pulled the tie from her hair, allowing it to fan down her back. Shivers skittered along her skin. He examined her, not saying a word. There was something conflicted in his eyes, something sad, something lonely. “I don’t know.”
“You promised you’d answer.”
“I did. I answered honestly,” he said.
She supposed no one could know if they liked something in just a day or two with little interaction. She was expecting another miracle, another impossible fairy tale.
“You’re right. It was a silly question.”
He kept looking at her, taking in every feature. Corbin was a perfect male specimen, and she couldn’t help but stare at him in return. The flames flickered, creating warm dancing shadows along the stone walls. His eyes were dark and menacing, his stubble coming in, and his lips thick. “It’s not a silly question. I’m just incapable of answering. I don’t feel.”
“What does that mean?”
“I can’t feel. Not love, anyway.”
This revelation fascinated and saddened her. She wondered if it was a werewolf thing. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m fucked up. I wouldn’t even recognize my mate if she were right in front of me.”
“So, you’ve never loved a woman?” He had to be in his late-thirties, early forties. Although hard to believe he’d never loved another woman, it somehow pleased her.
“Not since my mother,” he whispered. “But that was a long time ago, so long I scarcely remember what she looked like.”
They were so close she could feel the heat radiating from his golden skin. It was an intimate, gentle moment. She felt a connection deeper than sexual attraction. God, she wanted to fix him, to show him love was possible—with her. His hand was at the back of her neck now, slowly caressing, strength and tenderness.
“Maybe you just haven’t met the right one yet,” she offered.
He smirked and tapped the tip of her nose. “And I am to believe you’re that woman?”
She scowled, feeling smaller than the sparks escaping the flames. “I never said that. I was just trying to help.”
“Maybe you can…” He tilted her chin up, leaning over to lightly rub his lips over hers. She instinctively closed her eyes, her body feeling spineless. “Show me how to feel before I destroy myself.”
The kiss intensified until she was lost, drowning in Corbin’s warmth, strength, and raw sexuality. Either everyone else pegged him wrong or this was going to be her biggest mistake yet.
Chapter Nine
Corbin knew he was going to kill Nova. One way or another, it had to happen. So their time together was the perfect chance for him to get to the bottom of his deepest insecurities. Although he’d never admit it to his brother, he knew there was a slight possibility Ryder could be right. Corbin didn’t know anything about the mating call, only the stories. If Nova was the mate for the Rockford Pack, he wouldn’t know one way or the other. He was so fucking broken from his shit childhood that he wouldn’t recognize love if it was right in front of him. It wasn’t acceptable for an alpha to have such a weakness. Even Garret Gregor and his pack had embraced the mating call, marking Cassidy as their mate. Although he suspected Ryder knew the truth about his failing, he needed concrete answers of his own.
This experience would be his therapy. He could spill his guts, reveal his weaknesses, and test his theories…and then kill the witness. Only the longer he spent with her, the less he wanted her to suffer. Yes, she was the reason for his predicament, the mutiny in his pack, and putting a rift between him and Ryder. But, although she was the source of his torment, she was also innocent. Maybe he wouldn’t kill her slowly, prolonging her suffering. He’d make it quick and painless, probably snap her neck.
He kissed the girl.
Nova’s lips were pink and parted, too tempting to ignore. Corbin wasn’t one to kiss on the mouth, but he allowed himself to do the unusual, to act out of character. He needed answers. He wanted to understand his inability to feel anything beyond lust for a woman. And there was something captivating about the little human that made it way too easy to begin his experiment.
“I have so many questions,” she whispered against his lips.
He kissed away her words, deepening their connection. Gods, she tasted sweet. He was used to disposable women, the type ready to accept any man in their beds. This little firecracker was an irresistible mix of sweet innocence and raw desire. And the fact that she was untouched by another male fueled his libido like never before.
But the longer he kissed her, the more he realized the threat she represented. A siren capable of exploiting his weaknesses. Was she their mate? He had no fucking clue, but she was bringing out a new, soft side of his emotions that could be seen as a weakness by his enemies. He felt claustrophobic, these sensations unfamiliar and unwelcome. He pulled back as if burned, his breathing still labored. Corbin stared at her face—the look of surprise in her eyes, her swollen lips. She reached for him, but he leaned away.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He could scent her lust. It filled the fucking cave to the point of insanity, but he had to be strong. His father would have been able to resist any temptation. Corbin continued to prove a sorry excuse as his replacement.
“Why are you in my forest? Who sent you?”
Maybe Garret Gregor sent her to divide and destroy his pack. It would be all too perfect for his rival. His suspicions of the little human grew by the second.
“It was a university-sponsored trip to study the impact of the forest fire on the ecosystem.”
“Are you sure about that?” He ran a hand through her hair before securing a handful in a firm grip. She let out a slight gasp as her head tilted to the side. “Who sent you to seduce my packmates? To seduce me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“You’re trying to distract me from killing you, aren’t you?” He tightened his grip, and she cried out. His wolf clawed within him, demanding to be let free. Corbin forced his instincts down and focused on the girl.
“Stop it!” she yelled. “You’re hurting me.”
He loosened his hold but kept close.
“I just want to go home. You’re the one keeping me here against my will.”
Corbin didn’t sense any deception, but he couldn’t seem to trust himself lately. He felt more fucked up than ever. Knowing his brother, his rock, wasn’t on his side shifted his whole world off its axis. His anger was fading, and he realized it was grief messing with his head.
“You’re the one trespassing on private property. I was very clear there would be terms of payment.”
“So, what? You killed my friend, and now you’re going to kill me?” Her bravado was rising, mingled with genuine fear. The little thing was cute when she was trying to be tough.
“Your friend? That asshole?”
“Still. Even if he was a jerk doesn’t mean he deserved to die!” she said
“Your opinion.”
“Do it then. Kill me, too!” She reached out to strike him, but he immediately seized her wrist in his fist. He wrestled her down to her back, holding her while she thrashed about. What was she trying to accomplish? She was a fish caught in a net. There was no point struggling. “Get off me!”
He waited for her to lose steam. When she calmed several degrees, her chest still rising and falling in deep waves, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked in her disheveled state. He had to get away and clear his head of her spell.
“Behave,” he said, pinning her arms to either side of her head.
“I’m not a spy or whatever you think I am.”
“What are you then, little human?”
“Tired, hungry, and scared.”
Her words impacted him like a blow to the gut. Why did he care? He desperately wanted to hate her, needed to hate her. Corbin had planned to tear her apart piece by piece before bringing her to
his private hideaway. But he was growing weak, pitying her instead of staying strong. Nova was supposed to be his pawn, his payback, but she was proving to be much more complicated.
“Sleep. I’ll answer your questions later.”
Corbin stood up and backed away. His head was a mess. He needed some air, needed to be alone.
* * * *
Ryder tracked his brother, racing through the forest with Shade not far behind. The last twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind. He found out the human hiker was his mate, and he’d inadvertently alienated his alpha, his only family. How could he show his brother the magic of what he felt with the mating bond when Corbin scarcely felt anything at all? Once he’d returned to the pack as a teen, he’d changed. The human world had hardened Corbin, making him cold and sadistic. The new qualities suited an alpha hell-bent on succeeding at any cost. He had no pity for weakness, traitors, or rivals. But it wasn’t a life. Corbin was more machine than man in his human skin. Ryder continually prayed to the gods to give him his brother back, to heal his brokenness. But with Nova’s sudden appearance, everything had only gotten worse.
He’d tracked for over an hour until he sensed Corbin’s wolf just ahead.
“Corbin,” he called.
Within minutes, the alpha stepped out from behind a tree. He held open his arms wide. “Here I am, little brother. Go ahead and end this.”
Ryder shifted into his skin. “I’m not going to kill you. You’re my brother. My alpha.”
“And what are you now, Ryder? A lone wolf?”
“I never turned away from you. I’m a Rockford wolf, always will be. I just needed you to hear what I had to say.” Ryder wondered where the hell Nova was. Had Corbin killed her? He was capable of anything. It would be so much easier if he could talk reasonably with his brother, but Corbin was a sociopath with a volatile mix of untamed alpha power and bottled-up hatred. Despite the grim facts, Ryder had faith in his brother…always would.
Corbin scoffed. “She was able to pull your strings like a fucking puppet. Everything I do is for you, and in return, you betray me for a female?”
“Why can’t you hear me? Why won’t you accept the possibility that I’m right and Nova’s our mate? Have I ever lied to you, ever hurt you?”
His brother was suspicious of everything. Ryder knew how to calm him and keep him in check, but today would be a challenge even for him.
“My word is supposed to be law!” Corbin roared. “But you humiliate me and destroy everything I’ve built because of her?” His eyes were narrowed, his claws piercing his fingertips.
“Why can’t you understand?” he asked. Ryder didn’t know how the fuck he was supposed to prove his point to Corbin. He wasn’t even one hundred percent sure he was right. Shade felt the same pull from Nova, but it wouldn’t be confirmed until the other two Rockford wolves spent time with her. If she was their true mate, he prayed to the gods his brother was capable of accepting the fact. Corbin needed to feel love, deserved it more than any of them.
“What is that supposed to mean? Are you mocking me?” Corbin rushed him, throwing a solid punch to his face.
The sting radiated through his body, and he had to supress his desire to shift. Ryder had no choice but to fight his brother. They fought dirty, throwing punches and attempting to take each other down. Back and forth, they shoved, punched, and rammed one another. The emotional strain between them was palpable, their strength fueled by passion. The entire forest seemed to tremble as their grunting and cursing carried up through the forest canopy. Even though it was daylight, deep shadows from the ancient trees shrouded them like twilight. They were both experienced fighting in their skin, their strength comparable. But his brother had the alpha edge, eventually bringing Ryder down and bracing a victorious knee over his chest. Ryder wasn’t even sure how much time had passed. The fight seeming to have lasted a lifetime.
“You’re fucking losing it, Corbin!”
His brother lost his steam, his body going limp as he dropped down to sit beside Ryder’s prone body. “You’re right, I am.”
Ryder sat up, lightly touching the welt on his cheek. It would heal within the hour. “Where’s the girl, Corbin?” Ryder could sense his brother’s rage had subsided. It seemed the very life had drained from him. But Ryder needed to know what had happened to Nova. She was the heart of the issue.
“Sleeping.”
“Did you hurt her?”
Corbin turned to look at him, his eyes haunted. “I wanted to.”
“Did you?”
He shook his head. “I’m going soft. I’m not fit to lead.”
Ryder clapped his brother on the back as he struggled to get to his feet. He chuckled. “It’s called love. It won’t kill you.” Relief cascaded through his body knowing she was alive, and hopefully unharmed. And he prayed the gods were finally opening up Corbin’s black and white world to color.
“Did you mark her?” asked Shade, stepping into the clearing.
Corbin scowled. “Another traitor,” he murmured.
He was still sitting on the forest floor, not attempting to rush their packmate. Ryder concluded it was a good sign considering the brutal state he’d left Shade in earlier.
“I was only trying to protect the girl. You should know how it works,” Shade said.
“How what works exactly?” asked Corbin, slowing standing.
“The mating call.”
“I don’t remember saying I was enthralled by the female. I said she was alive. Unlike the two of you, I seem to have better control of my urges.”
Shade shifted into his wolf and dashed away. Ryder felt his conflict: love verses loyalty. Sometimes it was better to say nothing when the alpha was involved.
“Where is she?” Ryder asked, getting right to the point. Corbin still resisted the possibility of a mating. He had no doubt his brother would have already killed Nova if he hadn’t felt something stirring.
“This is what you’re worried about? What about the Arctic wolves? They’ve already defied my demand to leave. I had to kill one that was trying to claim the girl.”
“And the second one?”
Corbin shrugged. “Hell if I know. But if one had the nerve to come back, others will follow.”
Anxiety simmered inside Ryder as he imagined the second wolf finding Nova unprotected. His instincts to protect her were off the fucking chart, especially knowing an outside wolf had managed to get his hands on her.
His brother made eye contact with him a moment before shifting, an unspoken connection being passed to one another. Nova could be in danger. Corbin wouldn’t admit it, blinded by his usual need for domination, but he cared about her. He didn’t have to say it. Ryder knew his brother better than he knew himself.
Chapter Ten
Nova wasn’t sure how long she’d slept, but when she woke up, her head was mercifully clear and rested. Her stomach growled. She pushed up into a sitting position, her muscles aching and body chilled. The fire had petered out to a pile of blazing ashes. She looked around, the cavern now gently lit from the outside daylight. It was all rock, some type of cave in the side of a mountain. There was a thick layer of earth and pine needles creating a soft, natural carpet throughout. The cave itself went deeper until it disappeared into blackness, so she wasn’t sure how big the space actually was.
Where was Corbin? He was an enigma all right, one minute hot, the next cold. She wasn’t sure what to make of him. Maybe she’d lost her mind, but she wanted him to want her. Craved it. They’d been so close to making a connection before he snapped. How could such a beautiful man be that messed up? Then again, he was a fucking werewolf. Or had she dreamt that part?
She dared to climb out of the cave to relieve herself below in the woods. There were a few wild raspberry bushes nearby, so she ate as many as she could pick. Nova made no attempt to escape. Even if she did, how far would she get before nightfall? The idea of traversing the forest alone was too daunting. And she wanted Corbin to return. Somehow she knew he
wouldn’t hurt her, despite his repeated threats. She needed more time to prove to him she wasn’t his enemy, just a regular girl. Hopefully not too regular for a man like him.
She tried to get back into her temporary safe haven, but apparently climbing down was much easier than getting back up. There was some rustling deeper in the forest, bringing her nerves rushing to the surface. Was it Corbin coming back? A wild animal returning to claim its cave? She bit her lower lip and froze, too scared to move or attempt to hide.
The moment Ryder appeared through the brush, she nearly sank to her knees in relief. Corbin was right behind him. How was that possible? Ryder was the one to warn her that Corbin would kill her given the chance. Seeing them both together again reminded her of that erotic scene they’d shared by the river. They were both gorgeous, golden-skinned and all hard muscle. And naked.
“Are you okay, Nova?” Ryder asked, stalking closer. Corbin stayed in the background, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes dark and flat.
She nodded, her voice not obeying.
“We’re going to bring you to our home. Then we’ll figure things out,” Ryder said.
She felt a little surge of panic when she imagined him arranging for her to get back to the city. What the hell did she have to go back to? As crazy as the last couple days had been, she didn’t want the craziness to end. She needed these werewolf men to love and keep her. Nova desperately wanted to belong to something bigger.
“Are you letting me go home?” she dared to ask.
Ryder did a sideways glance toward Corbin. “We’ll talk about that later,” he said.
“So you’re not? Are you going to let him kill me?”
Ryder smirked. “I doubt he’ll kill you. In fact, I’ll bet he wants to keep you.”
Nova felt momentarily lightheaded. Those possessive words should terrify her, but they were everything she dreamed of hearing. If only they were true.
The Rockford Pack [Wolves of Climax 8] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 7