Her True Wolf

by Kamryn Hart

  He could still have her.

  “Great,” Isabelle said. “I’ll come pick him up right now.”

  “He’s at my house.”

  Isabelle paused. “Be there in a few minutes.”

  Karol hung up the phone. Her eyes wavered between Casey and anything else she could focus on in the kitchen or living room. It was like she was doing everything in her power not to look at him. She settled for leaning her lovely ass against the wall as she bent over in her tight red dress and proceeded to take off her high heels.

  She let out a little sigh of relief when she tossed the red heels aside and rubbed her sore feet.

  “Sit down,” Casey said as he pulled out an old wood chair for her.

  Karol looked at him with wide eyes. He was worried she wouldn’t do it, but she moved forward and sat down in the chair like he told her to. He got down on his knees and took one of her petite feet in his hands and started massaging away the tension. He tried not to focus on the wonderful freckles she had on her feet too. He would start tracing them with his fingers instead of massaging. This kind of simple service for his Fated Mate was amazingly relaxing for him as well. He was glad his hands had had some time to heal. He was confident they wouldn’t crack open again—unless he wolfed out and went running another billion miles tonight.

  Karol moaned and relaxed at his touch. Shit. That sound was too much for him. It got him heated all over again when he was just starting to relax. He wanted to hear her moan like that while making love to her. He wanted to hear his name on her lips between those moans. His cock pressed against his shorts, but he ignored the discomfort and focused only on relieving her tired feet.

  “That feels so good,” she said breathlessly. The scent of her arousal was going to drive him certifiably crazy. “Wait. I totally forgot about your foot!” She slipped out of his grasp and got to her feet. “Are you still bleeding?”

  She took off her jacket and dropped it on the chair as she bent down to the ground beside Casey without tearing her dress.

  “It’s nothing to worry about,” Casey assured. “Seriously.”

  She moved closer to him and when she looked up at him again, their faces were inches apart. Her breath hitched and her eyes dilated, mirroring the intense smell of her cherry scented arousal and distracting her from her concern for his injuries. The urge to kiss her was moving him closer.

  He stopped before he kissed her and focused instead on the earrings she was wearing. They were crescent moons. If that wasn’t a sign, he didn’t know what was. He reached his right hand out for the earring hanging from her left earlobe.

  “These are nice,” he said, a rasp in his voice betraying his seemingly innocent words.

  “Thanks,” she said with a slight tremble. “They’re the only pair I own.”

  He moved his fingers up so they were gently brushing against her earlobe. He felt a spark of heat at his fingers and swore he could see a blue flash of light. She must have felt something too because she leaned in closer to him. There was nothing but a thin line of air separating them now.

  Casey lost his mind and any concerns or reservations. He had to kiss her. He bridged the last sliver of space separating them and brushed his lips against hers. The action was soft and shallow, wanting but careful. She reacted by pressing her lips harder against his. She wanted this kiss too. He caressed her lips with his, exploring a kiss like no other he had ever felt. This kiss was to die for, the kind of kiss and sensation that only existed between Fated Mates. It filled his soul at the same time it encouraged his body.

  He caught her bottom lip in his teeth, coaxing another moan to escape her lips. Then her hands were on his chest—and they were pushing him away.

  Confused, he stopped kissing her. He moved back until she was no longer pushing against him. They were both on their knees on the tiled kitchen floor. Silence engulfed them and neither one moved.

  Karol spoke the first words, breaking the silence. “I’m not that kind of girl.”

  Casey fucked up.

  He could sense the frustration and confusion spiraling inside of the woman who was his Fated Mate. She didn’t understand these feelings. She wasn’t told stories about Fated Mates since she was a pup because she wasn’t a wolf shifter. She had lived a life that taught her to be leery of men, and the pull she felt as his Fated Mate wasn’t magically going to fix that. He kissed her like that, with passion, and reaffirmed everything she already thought about him, that he wanted to fuck her tonight and nothing else even though that couldn’t have been further from the truth for him. Well, he had had plenty of one night stands with women who had wanted that same exact thing, but Karol was different. With her, he didn’t want a one night stand either. He wanted her forever, and he wanted her happy. Her upset was killing him.

  “I’m sorry,” Casey said sincerely. “I didn’t mean—”

  “You can apologize by figuring things out for yourself and working hard and honest. And if you ever have a family, Casey, you better not leave them. Never trick a girl into falling in love with you and then leave her.” She gritted her teeth. “And don’t come back. I don’t want to see you again.”

  A knock at the door had Karol scrambling to her feet before Casey could get in another word. He struggled to get off the floor, stunned by her words. Was he guilty of that? The only woman who had ever been in love with him, the only one who wanted to be his forever mate, was Willow. But that was by design. That was what Blue Pack’s Alpha wanted. Not Casey. It wasn’t his fault that things ended badly with Willow. It wasn’t.

  He rested his weight against a chair as an odd scent grabbed his nose. He glanced at the front door Karol opened. There was a woman on the other side. The ridiculous amount of glittering jewelry she wore caught his attention before he could look at her closer. She had multiple gold rings and necklaces plated with crystals. He shook his head, clearing the dazzle out of his eyes and returned his focus to the woman wearing it all. She had long silky black hair streaked in white. Her skin was a dark brown, and she had hardly a wrinkle. It was Casey’s nose that told him she was older than she looked. Like a shifter. The weird scent was coming from her, and it was a scent that said she wasn’t human. She had to be some kind of shifter, but she wasn’t a wolf. Her smell was most similar to a crow’s.

  Curious, Casey went to the door. The woman looked at him with dark eyes almost as black as coal.

  “You must be him,” she said. “Name?”

  “Casey,” he replied.

  “I’m Isabelle Jones.” She held out her hand, and Casey took it to be polite. Her rings dug into his fingers as they shook hands. “Well, c’mon then.” She tugged his hand, forcefully guiding him out the door. He could have overpowered her, but there was no reason to fight her. Karol didn’t want him there any longer.

  She didn’t want to see him again.

  Casey looked over his shoulder when he was out of the house. He caught one last glimpse of his Fated Mate, her face sullen, her heart heavy, as she shut the door.

  Was that it?

  Did he lose his Fated Mate?

  Fated Mates were supposed to have this strong connection. They were supposed to stay together no matter what. She stirred feelings inside of him no one else had, and he knew those feelings would have developed into something transcendent if she had given him a chance. It was a taste of what having a Fated Mate was like. Endless attraction. Endless love.

  Isabelle let go of Casey’s hand and hopped inside a black Porsche. She turned on her headlights and started the engine. She rolled down her window and impatiently said, “You coming, boy?”

  Casey looked at the closed door hiding Karol away from him one more time, and then he made his way to Isabelle’s Porsche. The woman screamed money from head to toe and with her toys. He opened the car door and slid into the spotless and practically brand new leather interior.

  Once he had shut the door and Isabelle had rolled the window back up, she looked at him skeptically. “So, wolf, what brings yo
u here?”

  “How do you know I’m a wolf?” he asked.

  “I’ve met a few before. But I’m guessing you’ve never met a crow shifter before.”

  He shook his head. It explained her scent, though. He supposed it also explained her apparent obsession with all things shiny.

  Isabelle backed out of the driveway and made her way down a bumpy deserted main road in the dead of night. Old Tree Creek had a serious lack of working streetlights.

  “I ran away from my pack,” Casey said, deciding to go with the truth. What did it matter anyway? All he could think about was Karol and how she had acted like he had burned her. How she said she didn’t want to see him again.

  “Now why would you go and do something like that? I can tell you’re a good kid.”

  He stared out the window as the scenery around him slowly started shifting. There were more active construction sites and the new buildings were looming ever closer with each moment driving in the car. “The Wolf seems to be dying out. My pack blames humans and the lone wolves who mate with them even though there’s no proof it’s their fault. I found out there’s a big world outside of my pack. I didn’t want to claim a she-wolf in my pack and continue living the way I’ve been living. I decided I wanted to go my own way and figure things out for myself,” he explained.

  “Dying out? I doubt that. Though I’ll admit I haven’t seen many young wolves in a while. Still, the Moon Alpha would have said something if there had been a serious shift in balance. Wolf shifters disappearing would qualify for that. No, what’s more likely is that wolf shifters have fallen into a slump. I’ve heard of it happening from time to time when the Moon or any of the Celestial Trinity aren’t pleased with their shifters.”

  “What?” Casey asked, lost.

  “You have a lot to learn, wolf. You’ve been isolated all your life in a pack that tailored history to what suited them. Basically, the Celestial Alphas run Trinity, a shifter alliance meant to bring unity. Not only for shifters though. The idea of Trinity is to have peace and understanding between shifters, humans, and even witches. It’d be nice to be known and accepted throughout the world instead of always hiding.” Isabelle waved her bejeweled hand dismissively. “Anyway. What was going on with Karol?”

  Casey’s head was spinning. This was all new to him. He always figured there were other shifters out there. His pack hinted at knowing of the existence of others, but they stayed away from them just like they did humans. That was why Isabelle didn’t surprise him. However, He had never heard of witches, and he had never heard of Trinity.

  “Nothing,” he replied to Isabelle’s question, his heart sinking as he thought about Karol.

  “Don’t deny it. She’s your Fated Mate, isn’t she?”

  Surprised, Casey turned his head to look at her. “You know about Fated Mates?”

  “I’m a shifter made by the Moon too, boy. You wolves living in isolated packs think you're so special and treat yourselves like you’re the only ones, but you’re not. There are other shifters gifted by the Earth or Sun as well. The Moon, Earth, and Sun are the Celestial Trinity.” She sighed. “Give Karol some time. She’s a good girl. You won’t be able to move fast with that one though.”

  “Noted.” Casey was already learning a lot of new things by being away from his pack. He would have to ask Isabelle more about all of this Trinity stuff sometime when he wasn’t trying to fucking hold himself together after his Fated Mate so thoroughly rejected him.

  “I have some apartments waiting to be filled by people working on repairing the city. The apartment I’ll put you in houses only shifters. The idea here is to eventually get shifters and humans working together side by side.”

  “You’re just doing this out of the goodness of your heart?” Casey inquired.

  “Yes and no. I’ve got money, but I’m not that rich, boy. Trinity is backing this project.”’

  “Right…”

  She smirked. “Eventually, shifters and witches will be exposed to the rest of the world. Even without Trinity, it’s bound to happen at some point. Trinity wants to do it right and without the chaos that would probably follow otherwise. One thing at a time though. Shifters and witches aren’t on good terms typically since many witches are part of the Circle. That’s a long story.”

  Forget this stuff about witches and not getting along. He had no clue about any of that. What he did know was the pack he abandoned and a little about humans. He couldn’t imagine shifters being outed to the human world. There had to be plenty of shifters like his pack who would be pissed. It would definitely create that chaos Isabelle was talking about. It would mean war.

  “Better not tell that to shifters who live like my old pack,” Casey said.

  “It’s a delicate process, but I wouldn’t worry about big changes anytime soon. That’s part of what renovating Old Tree Creek is all about. If humans work side by side with shifters to build something good, if they make friends with them, get to know them, finding out what we are won’t be nearly as terrifying. Shifters and witches keeping to themselves and shunning humans is what is really dangerous.”

  “You sound passionate about this.”

  “Wouldn’t be part of Trinity if I wasn’t.”

  The city surrounding the wolf shifter and crow shifter now was nothing like the city Karol lived in. The buildings were tall. Casey had to crane his neck to see them out the window. The streets were new asphalt, the sidewalks were clean. This part of the city wasn’t sleeping. Men and women were dressed for a night out. He saw plenty of couples walking in and out of buildings. There was a club with such a loud bass he could feel the vibrations in Isabelle’s Porsche.

  “Is this really the same city?” Casey asked.

  “Yeah, but it’s the other half. New Tree Creek. Crazy, huh?”

  Casey continued to stare out the window, taking it all in. This was the biggest city he had ever been in. He had never seen so many humans at once. He had never seen skyscrapers in person. It was a little intimidating, but it was also exciting. He could just imagine taking Karol out to this part of the city for a night of fun—assuming he’d be able to win her over.

  Isabelle said he wouldn’t be able to take things fast with Karol. He could see that well enough for himself. Convincing her that they were meant for each other was going to be a challenge. He decided it wasn’t one he was going to attempt to tackle until he was established in this city. He didn’t want Karol to think he was some bum trying to mooch off her.

  God, the more he thought about how he would ever confront her again, the more nervous he got. What was the right thing to do? She said she never wanted to see him again, but he couldn’t allow that. One day he was going to see her again. When he was certain he’d be able to win her over.

  This sucked.

  Isabelle pulled into a parking lot with a bunch of apartment complexes built efficiently side by side with small spaces in between. They were clean cut and new, but they weren’t especially eye catching or anything. They were plain in their neutral beige color and in their flat out rectangular architecture.

  “You’re in complex C, apartment thirteen,” Isabelle announced as she killed the engine in the half empty parking lot.

  Casey followed her through the parking lot and up complex C’s stairs as she led him right to his new apartment. When they were in front of the door, she held out a key.

  “Thanks,” he said as he took the key.

  “Get some rest. I’ll get you in the morning and explain the job.” She gave him a little nudge with one of her ring fingered hands. It felt more like he was getting a nudge from someone wearing brass knuckles, but whatever.

  She walked back down the stairs, and he let himself inside. He didn’t bother turning on the light switch since he could see well enough in the dark. The light of the Full Moon was sinking in through a window. The inside of the apartment was much like the outside, but everything was fresh and clean and the place was refurbished. He couldn’t believe how easily he
had found a place to stay and a job. He didn’t even have to go looking.

  “Guess you’re really looking out for me,” Casey said as he walked to the window and stared at the Moon high above him.

  Then he looked at his reflection. A pair of light brown-green eyes stared back at him. He looked over his short dark brown hair, his cleanly shaved face, muscular jaw—and then something caught his eye. A light was reflecting in the window, and it looked like it was coming from his right earlobe.

  He leaned in closer to the window and tilted his head so he could get a better angle. He touched his earlobe, feeling a small area of skin that seemed to be a fresh scar in the process of healing. The skin there was shiny, pearly, different from the rest of his bronze skin. That unusual bit of skin was in a very specific shape, a reflection of the Moon looking in on him.

  He knew what it was. It was a Lunas Sigil. He must have gotten it when he touched Karol’s left earlobe and felt that crazy burst of energy. The Moon had decided this even though he hadn’t claimed her. This was confirmation. She was his Fated Mate. According to Casey’s mother, powerful wolves used to know how to use Lunas for a variety of contracts. The Moon’s power would manifest as a sigil on the skin of whoever had used Lunas as a magical bind to a contract. In theory, Lunas could be used to do almost anything. It was powerful stuff. The Moon was powerful.

  “Other than Karol,” he said to the Moon. “You weren’t looking out for me with her, but you still want me to go after her?” He didn’t need the Moon to tell him that. His heart was hers the moment he met her. He wasn’t sure he could give her up if he tried.

  He sighed. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to get her to like me when she thinks I’m a fucking jackass like all the old shits sitting at the bar she works at. And she’s probably right. I did go and break Willow’s heart tonight. I knew she loved me in a way I didn’t love her, and I just led her on because that was what everyone expected. Who am I kidding?”