Bound to Forbidden

by Keira Blackwood

  “You didn’t know you were mates before?” I asked, and popped a forkful of potatoes into my mouth.

  “I always knew.” Gram refilled her glass and tilted the bottle toward me.

  I shook my head. “Did he know?”

  “He was in love with me, just like I was in love with him. But we were children. We hadn’t taken the time to figure out who we were as individuals.”

  “But you were always mates,” I said, knowing the feeling.

  “Maybe,” she said. “But if I hadn’t gone out on my own, I would have always wondered what could have been. I wanted to go to culinary school, and if I’d stayed I wouldn’t have done that. I couldn’t be John’s mate until I was the woman I was meant to be.”

  I’d never known that.

  Nodding slowly, I said, “And that’s why you told me I should go ten years ago.”

  “You weren’t ready,” she said. “You were still growing into the woman you were always meant to be.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Pie?” She got up from her seat and grabbed a towel-covered tray from the kitchen. By the rich cinnamon scent I knew what it was—apple, my favorite. It was James’s, too. I wondered if he was going to get here soon, or if his O’Malley family business was keeping him too busy. His loss if he couldn’t make it...Gram’s pie was legendary.

  “You’re going to make me gain ten pounds while I’m here,” I said with a laugh.

  “That’s not a no.” She set the tray on the table and pulled off the towel, revealing a freshly baked pie.

  “It is definitely not a no.” I stuffed the last piece of beef into my mouth and watched as she plated the pie. The thinly sliced apples were piled sky high, and I nearly drooled as she slid it in front of me.

  “So was Grandad waiting for you in Forbidden while you went to college?” I asked.

  She smiled to herself and let out a small laugh. “He followed me.”

  I stared at her. “He followed you?”

  “Yes,” she said. “He rented an apartment a few miles from the college and sent me letters every week.”

  When I’d left Forbidden, a part of me had wished James would follow me, that he would ask me to come home. But if he hadn’t let me go, where would I be now?

  “Granddad sounds like a stalker,” I said.

  She laughed. “It wasn’t like that. We led separate lives, and I looked forward to the blue envelope arriving every Saturday evening.”

  “What did he write?”

  “Poetry.”

  Artistic. Like James and his paintings.

  “My John was more of a man of words,” Gram said.

  “And James isn’t.”

  She took her seat again across from me. “He might not be good at expressing how he feels, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have those feelings.”

  I nodded and took a bite of pie. It was divine—warm and sweet, savory with a flaky crust and tender apples. Gram sipped her wine, and we sat for a time in comfortable silence.

  “Do you ever wish you’d used your degree and worked as a chef somewhere outside of Forbidden?” I asked.

  “Never.”

  “Really? Not once?”

  “I considered what I gained being away from John, and what I missed by being without him. When I was ready, I came home. You don’t have to choose one part of yourself over another. You choose what makes you happy, and the rest falls into place.”

  What was the rest for me, and how would it fall into place? What if I chose James? Everything was different from what it had been before. He was more closed off, more distant, but he was still the boy that I always knew, deep down.

  Maybe it wasn’t that he’d let Declan act like I was an outsider, but that he’d accepted that I’d chosen to be one. I could bring my practice with me to Forbidden if that’s what I wanted. Maybe I did.

  My stomach full and my frustration eased, I figured it was about time to get going. And then I noticed the clock—it was almost nine already.

  “I should head back. Thanks so much for dinner, and the pie. It was really nice to see you,” I said, pulling Gram in for a hug. “I’m glad I came home.”

  “It was time,” she said, and hugged me back. “Take a piece of pie with you.”

  “I couldn’t.”

  “I’m sure someone would love to have it.” Her smile was full of mischief. “I think I remember James liking apple.”

  “Uh-huh, just happened to think of him?”

  She shrugged. “Drive safe, dear. It was good to see you, too.”

  The drive back was dark and quiet, leaving me alone with my thoughts. The large helping of pie in the seat beside me was sure to be well enjoyed by James. And this time I didn’t even mind Gram’s meddling.

  Movement caught my eye out the side window, the dark silhouette of a huge bird hovering over a field of corn. I looked back to the road ahead.

  Something slammed down onto the roof of the car with a bang. I jumped at the sound, hit a pothole, and swerved. The headlights cut out, then back on.

  My head hit the steering wheel, and the airbag deployed, shoving me back.

  Everything turned, bashed, and crashed. My body jostled, held tight by the seat belt. The glass beside me shattered.

  Blood rushed to my head, and my arms hung past my hair. The car had flipped.

  My head was spinning and it hurt like hell. The airbag began to deflate. Beyond the dash, I could see dirt and the bottom of corn stalks—definitely upside down.

  I tried to move, to unbuckle my seatbelt, to find my bearings.

  Something flashed in the glass out front—something red. I watched as I struggled with the clasp, the belt digging into my flesh. I steadied one hand on the roof beneath me, trying to push back so I didn’t land on my head when the belt finally released.

  Then I saw the red again—a set of beady eyes. Did I hear music, too?

  I shook my head and looked through the dash. It was a bunny, white and fluffy. Where had he come from? Was he hurt in the crash?

  The buckle finally gave, and I half-fell, half-lowered myself down onto the broken glass.

  Something squeezed around my ankle and yanked me through the broken window, dragging me out along the ground. I reached for the stalks of corn, unable to grab hold of anything.

  “Help!” I yelled, but with the rush of blood in my ears, I couldn’t tell if I’d spoken or if it had only been in my head.

  I looked back toward the car, twisting and reaching for something to hold onto.

  I stopped moving.

  Whatever had been pulling me had let go.

  Standing two feet away was the fluffy white bunny. I blinked. There were three. Five. Seven.

  They dove toward me and I screamed as everything hurt and the world went black.

  Chapter 14

  James

  It was nine p.m. before Finn came to find me on my patrol around the B&B. My dreams of Gram’s apple pie were crushed. And I didn’t like how Anna and I had left things when Declan sent her off. It hadn’t felt right.

  “Why are you so pissed all the time?” Finn asked.

  I flipped him off. “It’s a habit.”

  He snorted. “Whatever, man. You’re done here, so you can go be angsty somewhere else.”

  I looked at the dark sky above. Clouds drifted across, and stars peeked out occasionally. At this point, I may as well stay here and hope to intercept Anna before she called it a night. I knew she needed space, but she also needed me as much as I needed her. I felt that in my heart.

  She had to feel the same, didn’t she?

  “When was your last tour through the building?” Finn asked.

  “Forty minutes or so ago,” I said.

  Finn walked back to the B&B and left me staring at the sky. The sounds of the woods were soothing to the wolf inside me, but something was off. I couldn’t quite describe it. Nothing was out of place—I could still hear the small woodland creatures, and the insects. A breeze rustled the trees.
All was quiet in the B&B. But there was a heaviness in the air, a feeling of danger.

  The blaring of a car horn broke the silence, and I jumped. I looked at the parking area in front of the bed and breakfast, but the noise wasn’t coming from there. It was coming from some point beyond the woods.

  This was not normal. I started running toward the sound. I wasn’t sure which would be more helpful, to be human, or wolf. Skidding to a halt, I tore off my clothes and shifted.

  The woods were my home, my element. My paws pounded on the forest floor, yet I made little noise. As a shifter, I should feel comfortable under cover of the trees. And still, a distinct discomfort surrounded me as I rushed toward the sound of the car horn.

  The horn went silent.

  I stopped, listening. I couldn’t hear much of anything. Not knowing what else to do, I rushed toward where the noise could have been coming from, jumping over logs, dodging trees. The feeling of uneasiness grew until I finally reached a car which had wrecked on the side of the road.

  It was Anna’s rental.

  Fuck.

  I howled, but there was no response. I needed to call for her, see if she was around. Shifting back into my human form, I stood on two legs again.

  “Anna!” I called.

  She was nowhere in sight. I couldn’t lose her. If she’d wrecked, where had she gone? I looked inside the car, there was nothing there except for an empty plate. I smelled apple pie.

  Anna’s scent of clover was strong, too. I followed it from the driver’s side of the car and over to the edge of the woods.

  “Anna!” I shouted again.

  Why wasn’t she calling back to me? She had to have heard me. Following her scent, I made my way back through the woods, this time away from the direction of the B&B.

  I heard sounds of a struggle, and something being dragged.

  With a burst of speed, I finally found Anna.

  A dark form was dragging her. She was only half-heartedly struggling, and muttering about rabbits biting her, even though there were no rabbits around.

  What the hell did that guy think he was doing? I wasn’t about to wait and find out.

  “Hey!” I shouted.

  The form holding on to her leg turned, and I saw the weird dude from the B&B. Buddy. He didn’t look shocked in the slightest to see me naked in the forest.

  “Let her go.” I didn’t wait for him to comply—I barreled straight for him.

  He didn’t have time to react. He fell backward when I tackled him.

  Something pale and crumbly was at the corner of his mouth.

  “The fuck?” I said. “Those are pie crumbs! You got to eat motherfucking pie?”

  Behind me, Anna moaned. When I turned to look at her, Buddy threw me off of him. I spun around, ready to shift into my wolf and fight, but he was already running away into the darkness.

  I turned back to Anna. Her eyes were closed, and she muttered something else about bunnies.

  “Hey,” I said, pulling her up to a sitting position and into my lap. “It’s James. I’m here.”

  “No...rabbits?” she asked, her eyes still squinched shut.

  Looking around, I said, “Nope, not a single one.”

  In fact, the forest was empty. The dreadful feeling of foreboding had passed, and I felt like I was in a safe place once more.

  “They had fangs,” she said.

  “Fanged bunnies? Sounds scary.” The attacking rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail came to mind and I had to stifle a chuckle.

  “Shut up,” she said. “I can hear you smiling.”

  It was true, and I felt like an asshole, but I couldn’t help it. My fierce cougar mate, worried about bunny rabbits.

  Her eyes fluttered open. “It was Buddy.”

  I nodded. “He took off.”

  “He made me think of the bunnies.”

  “All right. Let’s get you back to the B&B.”

  It was possible that Anna had hallucinated due to the crash. But what had made her crash in the first place? Why was Buddy even out here? Was it possible that he’d made her hallucinate and that was the cause of her crash?

  If so, was that what had happened to the two members of Scrotal Eclipse of the Heart who had died, and to the third that Anna had mentioned biting himself?

  Anna’s pupils were dilated and she leaned her head against me. Now wasn’t the time to ask her for more information. I needed to get her to bed.

  I carried her to the car, first, where she retrieved her phone and purse. Then I walked her back to the bed and breakfast, stopping briefly only to grab my clothes where I’d dropped them.

  Finn was passing through the driveway in his wolf form. He cocked his head at me in question when I came out of the woods, but I just said, “Later,” and he continued on his patrol. I’d let Declan know what was going on, and he could distribute the info as needed to everyone else.

  Once inside Anna’s room, I texted Declan. Buddy just attacked Anna. I think he made her hallucinate. Maybe he’s doing the same to others so they hurt themselves.

  He responded immediately. Got it, thanks. I’ll tell the others.

  Anna leaned against her bed, still unable to stand on her own feet. I helped her out of her shoe, because she’d lost one, then took her out of her filthy, leaf-strewn clothes. She stood shivering in front of me in her panties and bra, so I pulled back the covers and helped her climb into bed.

  When I turned to put her clothes in the hamper, she spoke.

  “James. Don’t go.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” I held up her clothes. “Just to the bathroom, then I’ll be right back.”

  After I put away her clothes, I turned off the light, took off my jeans and t-shirt, and climbed into bed beside her. She snuggled against me, sighing.

  “Goodnight, sleep tight,” I said. “Don’t let the fanged bunnies bite.”

  Somehow, she had the strength to slug me in the arm.

  Chapter 15

  Anna

  My eyes still shut, I stretched my arms and legs and arched my back. There was something warm and hard behind me, something unexpected. Then I remembered.

  James.

  He’d held me all night long. His body was wrapped around mine, holding me exactly the way I’d needed. And now I was afraid to stir, because I didn’t want to wake him.

  It was funny how one minute we could be like desperate teenagers, clumsily tearing each other’s clothes off. Then the next we could be perfectly content to just lie together. No, it was more than that. I wasn’t just glad to be held, I wasn’t just comfortable in his arms. I’d spent days in Forbidden, but it wasn’t until last night that I’d felt like I was finally home.

  His touch was familiar, like our bodies were meant to fit this way, with him curved protectively around me. I didn’t want to get up just because it meant I’d wake him. I didn’t want to leave the bed because it meant I had to leave his arms. And I didn’t want to leave anymore, ever again, even if it was only to pee.

  I traced my fingers over his arm, the one that was draped over my stomach. He felt like forever, like everything else had been a dream, that the time we’d spent apart was a fog and this was the reality that was always meant to be. I rolled my head slowly toward him, wanting to look at his face.

  The scowl lines that he always seemed to wear were gone. He looked like the James that I used to know, the one who was carefree. I wanted to wake up every morning just like this.

  “Looking for a way to escape?” His eyes were still closed and his voice was gruff.

  “Not this time,” I whispered.

  He peeked at me through one still-sleepy eye. “I’m going to keep asking.”

  “I know,” I said. “But this time, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Is that so?”

  “This time I’m not afraid to stay.”

  His eyes shot open at that. He pulled me in with his deep teal gaze. I could get lost in those eyes, drowning in the tropical ocean that was Jam
es. And sometimes he was the storm, but sometimes I was, too. And no matter how rough the winds blew, he was the anchor I’d hold onto.

  “What are you saying?” He narrowed his eyes at me.

  “You know what I’m saying.”

  “No, I’m going to need you to lay it all out there in no uncertain terms.” He studied my face, his eyes lingering on my lips before flicking back up to meet my gaze.

  I could see his guarded hope, clear as day I could see it, because I felt it too.

  “I want to move back to Forbidden,” I said. “To be with you.”

  He tackled me to the mattress and stole my breath with a kiss that promised everything. With his lips he claimed me, with his tongue he owned me. With his heart, he possessed everything I was and ever would be.

  I kissed him back and ran my hands over the planes of his shoulders, up his neck and through the thick hair on his head. He was warm, and he was right, and he was mine.

  The room quaked with a loud bang.

  In no time at all, James was on his feet, always the protector.

  I held the blanket up to my chest, my heart racing, my lips bruised. I followed his gaze to the window.

  There was a bird trying to beat its way in, a huge monster of a creature slamming itself into the glass. Then it backed up and vomited all over the window.

  My stomach turned. “Well, that was something.”

  James laughed.

  I climbed out of bed and grabbed my clothes. “Rain check?”

  He watched me dress, and I watched him. The air was charged and strange. Everything was the same, yet everything was different. We were mates. Forever this time, and that changed everything.

  “Do you smell that?” James asked.

  I inhaled deeply. “Cinnamon rolls?”

  He nodded. “It’s not your Gram’s pie, but—”

  “Oh I forgot,” I said. “I was supposed to bring you a piece. It was in the car.”

  “Buddy stole it.” James clenched his fist and looked to the door.

  “What?”

  “When you were hallucinating about bunnies after the crash,” James growled. “That guy staying on the first floor stole my pie.”