Seer: A Werelock Evolution Series Duet (Book 1 of 2)

by Hettie Ivers

  “Lauren, I apologize. Please don’t be scared. I’m going to fix everything. You’re safe; I promise. This was all a mistake, but one that is easily remedied.” He spoke rapidly, his words formal and efficient—belying the underlying sense of urgency he was throwing off, the F-bombs he’d just dropped, and the fact that he was naked and sporting a semi.

  “I’m going to enter your mind now in order to warm you up and correct any medical complications resulting from your time here in the cave and our time together in the alley.” He’d begun warming my arms and legs with his hands as he spoke—his methodical touch in no way familiar or sexual. He was treating me like a patient, I realized.

  “You won’t feel any pain or discomfort from the process. In fact, you won’t even know I’m in your mind doing anything at all. I’m only explaining what I’m about to do so that you’ll understand what’s happening to you as I gently raise your body temperature back to normal. Understood?”

  He had definitely left in order to calm his wolf nature down.

  When I gave him no response, he continued. “I know you’re a smart girl who comes from a long line of seers. Based on what you’ve witnessed in the past hour, I will assume you now understand that I’m talking about employing the use of magic for this.” He paused, eyeing me expectantly.

  I forced myself to nod. My lips felt too numb to try and speak. I was at a loss for words anyhow.

  “Great. You may feel a prickling sensation in your extremities as your temperature rises. That’s normal. I will be in your head monitoring how you’re feeling and working to ease any discomfort, but please let me know if you experience any uncomfortable side effects I don’t seem to be addressing for you.

  “Once we’re done, I will replace your torn clothing, erase your mind of all this, and return you to your friend Abbie in Seattle. You will be left with the memory of having a conversation with me in the alley in which we both agreed I am too old for you and that we are not at all suited for any sort of romantic involvement.”

  He looked away, breaking eye contact to frown at the ground. It looked as if he was focusing very hard on something as he proceeded to warm my hands in his.

  Hold it together, Lauren. Don’t crumble now. Please don’t fall apart now.

  I knew the best thing to do to preserve my own life and sanity would be to accommodate Kai’s stoic, professional Dr. Jekyll side that he’d reverted to now by allowing him to heal me and erase my memory without objection. Only a short while ago, I’d feared his wolf form might mutilate and eat me, for fuck’s sake.

  But I didn’t want to forget our time together in the alley. I didn’t want to forget the way it’d felt being connected to him, or the things he’d said to me—about how he wanted to live out the rest of his days inside me. Now that he was back and pushing me away again—and I was no longer gripped by the terror of dying of hypothermia—all of the complicated pieces that made up the beautiful puzzle who was my Stranger-Danger were falling into place.

  Kai was the lonely, parentless, pack-less arctic werewolf pup who’d been shunned and abused for being different.

  “Lauren, I’m very sorry about what happened in the alley.” His voice was tight, his tone stern. His irises were blue when he lifted his gaze from the ground to meet mine. “As we’ve discussed, I’m too old for you. The alley never should’ve happened, but I’m going to fix everything.”

  He’d dragged injured and dying animals back to this very cave to try and save them, and he’d mourned the loss of each of those animals when they’d died because of the brief contact and connection they had afforded him—the connection he’d been so starved for.

  “Stop it.” His blue eyes were glowing at me now. “You need to understand that you don’t know me the way you think you do. Visions aren’t always accurate. They can be distorted by the receiver’s own desires and preconceived notions.”

  The filter is everything.

  It was true. He was right. But so was I, because I was the right filter—the right conduit through which to truly see and understand Kai.

  His words had confirmed that he was inside my head and listening in on my thoughts as he healed me. But I wanted to say it aloud for my own gratification just the same. My lips were no longer numb. I was feeling warmer. And bolder. Stupidly so. “Your wolf clawed my name into the wall of the cave.”

  I probably shouldn’t have said it the way it came out—like I had his number and I knew the score. And the score was that he was my bitch. But that’s exactly how it came out.

  He didn’t seem to appreciate it one bit. His jaw clenched. The vein that ran down the midline of his forehead grew visible as it began to pulse. “Stop, Lauren.”

  It was an order. A warning. I knew he didn’t want to kill me. But at the same time, something in him seemed to resent having to be gentle with me. I got the sense it was a part of him that was beyond his full control—perhaps even that of his wolf.

  I was lucky to be alive and warm again. I probably should’ve heeded his order, shut the hell up, and backed off. But would I? Not this Wednesday child.

  Darkness had always followed me throughout my life, and I was done running from it. “You had sex with me in the alley because you wanted me. You flipped out and brought me here because you didn’t want me to be able to run from you.” Yikes. I really needed to tone down the “You’re my bitch” subtext that kept coming out.

  He growled and leapt to his feet. “I did not mean to bring you here! I was almost fully in control back in the alley. If you’d just kept your hands on the goddamned building like I—Fuck!” He began pacing the cave, fisting his hair and cursing like a man with Tourette’s.

  “If you’d just stood still for ten more fucking seconds, I could’ve gotten my wolf under control.” He stopped pacing and scrubbed a hand over his face, looking lost and broken. “I was going to put my pants on, replace your ripped shirt, and take you somewhere by car like a … a normal man.” His coloring went red. He looked away from me toward the wall. “Take you to a nice hotel and try and have standard”—he shrugged and pulled a face—“human sex with you.”

  It seemed clear from his expression that he didn’t have any experience with “standard human sex.” And that the very thought of it was seriously distasteful to him.

  “Maybe grab a late dinner … or order room service.” He threw his hand up. “Whatever stupid, boring shit normal human couples do. But instead … I brought you here. I brought you here!”

  He continued to pace as he berated himself. “I thought for once, maybe I wouldn’t have to completely erase your mind. That I could let you remember our first time together. Except for the claws”—he held his forefinger up—“I was definitely going to erase your memory of the claws. As well as my fears about killing you that you picked up on,” he added quickly. “But that was it. Now, I have to erase everything. All of this.”

  “You don’t have to.” Shit, what had he meant by “for once” he wouldn’t have to completely erase my mind? “Kai, it’s okay if I know. I don’t want to forget. I’ve had a really great … time tonight.” Halfway through that sentence I’d realized how ridiculous it sounded given the circumstances.

  “No.” He emphatically shook his head. “This can’t happen between us. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it was a mistake. You’re entirely wrong for me. And I can’t be normal for you. I can’t take you on dates. I don’t dance. God knows I don’t want to fuck you missionary style on some fancy hotel room bed.”

  “Then don’t. Fuck me here in the cave like your wolf wanted you to.” Wow. Sometimes my mouth truly was miles ahead of my brain.

  Within moments, Kai went from being a penitent, uptight doctor consumed with self-castigation to a growling wolfman who’d sprouted claws and fangs.

  “I told you to stop.” The reprimand came out in a voice that barely sounded human. He’d begun to shake. “I’m in charge, Lauren. I’m in control.”

  Even though he’d directed the words at me,
I got the sense they weren’t meant for me at all. I was sure of it seconds later when the white wolf burst forth and came charging at me with his great maw wide open.

  Then he disappeared. Leaving me all alone in the freezing cave. Again.

  33

  Lauren

  Note to self: Keep running from darkness. Don’t attempt to chase it. There’s a reason normal people run in the opposite direction. At the very least, stop antagonizing it while trapped in an ice cave.

  I’d never realized how much energy it took to shiver. My muscles ached. They’d begun cramping up from all my shivering. It felt as if Kai had been gone a lot longer than the last time. But maybe it only seemed that way because I’d been so certain this time that he’d be right back. My phone battery had died, and the cave was pitch black again. Before the battery had run out, I’d crawled over and made myself comfortable next to the third pile of bones—where my name was emblazoned on the wall.

  I’d done it to send a message. But I’d soon realized it was somehow colder in this corner than where I’d been before. Problem was, I’d grown too lethargic to crawl back to the warmer spot. Warmer—ha! So relative when it was varying degrees of freezing.

  I didn’t remember lying down on my side on the frozen cave ground, but that was the position I was in when Kai finally came back again—in his wolf form. Not the best indication he’d succeeded in calming his beast nature down.

  I decided to remain motionless as the white wolf approached me—having learned that lesson in the alley. Who was I kidding? I barely had the energy to keep my eyes open, much less get up. And my left cheek was possibly frozen to the ground.

  The white wolf unleashed a deep, nasty growl as he approached. Crap. That wasn’t a happy-to-see-me sound at all. I squeezed my eyes shut as his jaw opened over my face.

  Oh, God. I wasn’t ready to die.

  A big wet tongue lolled out and lapped at my face. It was so warm it felt like he’d scalded me with it. I whimpered in protest, wanting him to stop, but he just kept going. My skin felt like it was on fire. I was crying by the time he got to my throat.

  He pushed me onto my back and hovered over me on all fours as he went—his body heat warming me, helping my frozen form to thaw. The big tongue traveled down over my collarbone, then lower. He tore away what remained of my shirt with his teeth, removing it from his tongue’s path.

  I kept my eyes shut as fear propelled my thoughts in a dark direction.

  What if he snapped and killed me? They’d never find my body in here.

  Why hadn’t he come back in his human form? He’d been gone so long—did that mean something?

  I heard a soft snarling sound, followed by tearing of fabric—my skirt—the last of my clothes. I felt a slight tug against the material beneath my bottom before the entire thing was rent from my body.

  What if this was it?

  My mom would never recover from my disappearance. She’d blame herself for not warning me sooner about werelocks being onto me. She’d end up back in the hospital—perhaps permanently. Who would call my dad to tell him she needed help?

  The wolf was licking my legs—and it hurt. I make a panicked whimpering sound when his nose pressed between my bare thighs and briefly brushed up against my sex. He didn’t like that and snapped his jaws at me, which made me cry harder.

  Why couldn’t I have just let the Dr. Jekyll version of Kai heal me and erase my memory like he’d wanted to? Why’d I have to go and challenge him until his wolf had come out?

  I was close to becoming hysterical, having resigned myself to a gory demise, when the fur that had been brushing against my lower legs was replaced by warm, smooth skin. At first, I thought maybe I’d imagined it. I was still so cold I couldn’t feel much anyway.

  But neither could I bring myself to look—to open my eyes and confirm that Kai was back in his human form.

  I was all but numb as I felt the sensation of a man’s broad hips settling between my thighs, the tip of his hot cock notching up against my entrance. A man’s nose pressed to the hollow of my throat. I heard his inhale. Felt the heat of his chest as it expanded and pressed up against mine.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured into my neck.

  Air escaped my lungs in a rush of relief. This was a good sign. He was human again. And apologizing. I was going to live!

  “It’s just that I’ve fantasized about hurting you. So much.”

  Or not.

  “Fantasized about the scent of your fear, and the taste of your tears.” He thrust halfway inside me. “For so long.”

  A surprised gasp escaped me at the tightness of his head breaching me where I was already swollen and sore from our sex in the alley. Yet it didn’t hurt half as much as I’d expected.

  Because even though I was still shaking from fear and from the cold, I was quickly growing wet again—my body aching to take him. There was no hiding that fact. Something was deeply wrong with me.

  I bit my lip and made a groaning noise that echoed through the cave as slowly he sank deeper.

  “That’s it, Lauren.”

  His lips were on my face, kissing the wetness coating my eyelids and cheeks.

  “You’re okay now.” He pushed to the hilt inside me, causing me to grunt as my insides strained to accommodate him.

  I wasn’t okay. I was feeling all kinds of things—and okay didn’t make the list of them.

  I felt so full with Kai inside me. He was too big to fit me, too exquisitely damaged to belong with me. And he was far, far too many shades of scary and crazy for me to be okay with having him inside me like this. But I was. I was so okay with it that if it wasn’t for the fact that I was halfway frozen, I’d probably come embarrassingly fast.

  “C-cold.”

  “Shh-shh. Not anymore. I’ve got you. I’m sorry I took so long.”

  What did he mean by—Oh. I felt warmer already. He was inside my mind—doing that thing again where he warmed me on the inside from head to toe. Oh, that was so much better.

  He kissed the tip of my nose. “So many times, I’ve imagined the beauty of your features tightening with pain. The scent of your fear overwhelming me as I drive into you …”

  This wasn’t right.

  I wasn’t safe with him.

  “You are,” he contradicted my unspoken thought. “I’m in charge, Lauren,” he said, repeating his words from earlier—from right before he’d flipped out and turned wolf. “I’m in charge. I’m in control now.”

  Once again, I sensed he was talking to himself rather than to me. As if he was asserting control over himself—or perhaps his wolf—by stating it aloud.

  His muscled forearm slid under my left thigh, raising it high—easing his access and changing the angle of his penetration as he pulled out and then very slowly pushed back in.

  “Often, in my fantasies, I take you too hard, too fast and deep for your human body to handle.”

  Why was he telling me this?

  His knuckles caressed my cheekbone. “I don’t stop when I scent your fear or see your tears.”

  And yet he was being so gentle with me as he said it—so tender.

  “I take you harder. My hands on you become rougher, growing claws as I hold you down.” His lips brushed across my forehead as he ground his pelvis into me and softly confessed, “Sometimes, I bite you. Claw your skin apart. Mark you on the outside as I mark you on the inside.”

  God help me, this was fucked up.

  His mouth dipped to my ear. “And you’re dripping wet.” He pulled halfway out, hiked my leg higher, and thrust back in. “Because you like it.”

  He wasn’t wrong. But as I felt the scrape of his teeth down the side of my throat, I got nervous. A sense of foreboding came over me; there was an ominous energy in the air. “I—I like it gentle … I like feeling safe.”

  I thought I heard him murmur something against my neck. But then I realized it’d been a chuckle.

  If I’d preferred gentle and safe, I wouldn’t have taunted and bai
ted him. I would’ve let him heal me and erase my memory. We both knew it.

  I abandoned focusing on the why’s of my behavior as he took the sensitive flesh at the juncture of my neck into his mouth, his tongue and teeth sucking erotically on it as his heavy cock slid in and out of me, going just shy of too hard, too fast, and too deep for my body to handle—blanking my mind while drawing my body into a state of tightly wound anticipation.

  Just as I started to come undone, as I heard my own little cry of orgasmic bliss begin to echo up through the cave, he bit into my neck, and everything changed. His hips started hammering into me faster, his hands squeezed my flesh harder, and I didn’t just release. I flew.

  I floated back down to earth utterly racked with exhaustion. I was quickly succumbing to the call of sleep when I heard Kai whisper above me, “I think you crave the promise of something a bit darker. The shadow of something vicious.” He pressed sweet kisses to my forehead.

  I made a vague humming sound in agreement, halfway opened my eyes, and murmured, “And feeling safe.”

  His soft laughter sounded so far away, even as his glowing blue eyes floated directly above my blurring vision. I could no longer keep my lids open.

  He reversed our positions, pulling my body on top of his.

  With my head pillowed on his chest, I felt the sensation of a warm blanket being draped over me, and I wondered where he’d found such nice bedding inside a cave.

  The last thing I remembered as I was falling asleep was how good the weight of his fingers felt as they caressed the top of my spine, and how incongruously soothing the sound of his voice was as he kissed the crown of my head and said, “Satisfying my wolf is the only way you’ll ever be truly safe with me.”

  THE END

  Thank you for reading Seer (Werelock Evolution Book 6)! I hope you enjoyed it. Kai and Lauren’s story will continue and be completed in Book 7.

  THANK YOU, dear readers!

  Thank you for reading Seer (Werelock Evolution, Book 6). If you enjoyed reading this story, I hope that you will consider leaving a few words in a review to help other readers discover it. Every review is very much appreciated!