by Eva Gordon
No choice. She wouldn’t survive the trip off the mountain. He slugged through the snow toward the cavern she’d just escaped. Back at the cave, he stepped over the strewn bodies left in his wake from the recent battle. He set her down on the single sleeping bag and covered her with extra blankets. He packed the entrance of the cave with snow. The wind howled in mockery, that even he could not save his friend’s daughter. His wolf’s mate.
Lev turned and gazed at her. Shit. Lev brushed away icicles from Rachel’s blue tinged face. He had to get her out of the wet clothes.
Lev patted her cheek. “Rachel, wake up.”
No response.
He ripped her clothes off and then he stripped. Lev covered her with his body, then covered himself with the down sleeping bag and blankets. How many nights had he dreamt of feeling her naked body beneath his? Not like this. She might as well be a cold corpse. An ice princess never to be his.
His body radiated heat. Not his supernatural heat, but his own body heat.
Her skin warmed. He lifted himself and cocked his head. No heartbeat. He pressed his ear against her chest. A faint thump. Then nothing.
“Rachel, stay with me.”
Too late, he had lost her.
His wolf emerged. Not too late. Bite her. Save her.
An alpha’s saliva had healing properties. Biting and then sucking her blood would save her and make her his forever. Once he partook of a human with Stallo’s blood, he might become addicted. At the very least, create a bond so great she’d be his forever. Or as a mutant would he be spared? Or would that make it worse? No matter. He’d risk his soul to save Rachel.
Lev sunk his fangs into her neck. He tempered his need to quench his thirst, allowing only a small sampling of her blood. Just enough for healing saliva to stave off hypothermia. Heal her gash. Bring her back to life. To him.
He released her, kissed her lips and closed his eyes.
The taste of her blood took him into a primal forest, releasing his wolf.
The howl of wolves and blazing sun over the Red Forest gladdened his heart. The forest where he’d grown up. Contaminated by Chernobyl, but thriving with life.
Lev’s heart stirred.
Rachel stepped out of the forest and extended her arms. She wore a blue shift, her golden hair flowing down her back. A goddess before him. “Lev, you came to me.”
“My beautiful Rachel, we are as one.” He thumbed her warm glowing cheeks and gazed at her luminous amber eyes. The eyes of a woman meant to have been born a wolf.
“You are the wolf. The one at my window.” She threw him a mischievous grin. “My stalker.”
He lifted her chin. “Your protector. Now and forever.”
“Look, a meadow.” She dashed toward a field of flowers.
What was she doing in the Red Forest? No human should be there. “Rachel! Wait!” The radiation would kill her.
Lev chased after her, not as a man, but in wolf form. He had to get her out of the forest.
Rachel picked up a purple flower and sniffed it. Suddenly, she dropped the flower and touched a trickle of blood cascading down her elegant neck. “I feel like I’m floating in the clouds.” Rachel levitated. “Goodbye, my wolf.”
The metallic scent of her blood reminded him of his bite. Had he drained her? “Rachel, don’t leave me!” He howled in sorrow.
He returned to his senses. A hallucination.
No longer in the forest of his birth, he was back in the cave, with Rachel and with a howling blizzard outside. The taste of her blood still on his lips, he fingered the bite mark on her pale neck.
Lev sat and took her in his arms.
“Please, Rachel. Don’t die.”
Color slowly seeped back to her flesh and her lips. He lowered his head to her chest. Her heart beat slowly, but without long pauses. One thump after another. Each drumbeat gaining strength. Keeping her alive. With him. The gash on her forehead faded. A miracle, but she wasn’t out of danger. He must keep her warm until the storm passed and he could get her out of there.
He gently returned her to the bed and spooned behind her. The feel of her smooth flesh, made him groan with need. His desire must wait. Such a forbidden pleasure would come to naught. After Howard survived near death, the last thing he’d want to know was Lev had forced her to be his. Yet, his wolf differed in opinion. The claim had been made. He’d tasted her intoxicating blood. Sorry, my friend.
Rachel, in a semi-awake stage, sighed in pure contentment. One moment, a huge avalanche had buried her alive and the next a big wolf had dug her out. Taken her to a deep forest where the sun’s warmth grazed her flesh with live healing heat. Together, they stood in a meadow of flowers. The dream lingered as a large warm man spooned her naked body. Warm breath on her neck. His thick arms draped around her, holding her in a strong grip, but giving her enough freedom for her to breathe. His engorged member pressed against the small of her back and her butt. Lev’s arousal. Oh, yes.
She opened her eyes. Not a dream.
Naked.
With Lev. Shit. Lev! Disoriented and unable to move, she rasped, “What is going on?”
He sprung up and grabbed a blanket to cover his rather pleased-to-be-sharing a bed erection. “You almost froze to death.” Lev straightened and smirked. “I saved your life.”
Ice cold air slapped her and reason returned to her muddled head. Escape. Avalanche. Naked. With Lev. In Nepal.
Rachel pulled the thick sleeping bag up, wishing she still had her macho Russian heartthrob heating pad surrounding her freezing flesh. She glanced around and then returned to the ripped, hard-muscled Russian Adonis. He smiled at her as if it had been his plan all along to shelter her with that glorious body of his. Cocky as ever. Then again, he did it to save her life not to catch a quick or rather long feel. That might have been wishful thinking on her part. “Oh. Th-thank you.”
“Stay covered. I’ll make some hot coffee.”
Lev turned to start a propane camp stove, exposing his muscular ass. Powerful like the hindquarters of a racehorse. No wonder he could run fast. The subzero temperatures bit through her covers, yet he walked around as if he’d never left his heated hotel room. Even if he had been raised in the tundra, no human could tolerate such severe cold temperatures. She glanced around. “We are back at the camp where you found me.”
“Yes. Until the storm passes.”
She fingered the gash on her forehead. It felt healed, more like a minor scratch rather than an open wound. Maybe, the cut hadn’t been as bad as she thought. Her attention turned to her nape. It itched and she touched it. Dented as if by a bite. “Something bit me.”
Lev snorted, mischief in his blue eyes. “You are safe now.”
Her cheeks burned. Shit. He gave me a hickey while I was knocked out. Weird, but going to drop it. If there was a next time, she wanted to be awake to experience the thrill of feeling his bite on her soft skin. “What happened to the kidnappers?”
“Don’t worry about them. They are no longer a problem.”
“As in, they are dead?” If not outright killed by the fierce bear, they certainly must have frozen if they were outside during the blizzard.
“Precisely.”
“They said a helicopter would pick them up, but not sure when.”
Lev stiffened. “The storm will buy us time.”
“True.” If they attempted flying now, they’d crash in the low visibility and stormy weather.
He grabbed her clothes and handed them to her. “Get dressed. I will make breakfast.”
She gaped. “How did my clothes dry?”
“Old Russian secret.”
“Like digging out of a killer avalanche.”
“Yes, survival skill.”
Rachel had a million questions about him. That is, if he could answer them without compromising his mission. He was definitely special ops of some type. Russian master spy? Perhaps some international team of kickass soldiers. Or as Madam Montfort stated a rougarou? The man who landed near
the entrance as a wolf before morphing back to a human could not have been a hallucination caused by the elevation. Rachel chose to accept his lame explanations for now. First, dress for warmth and avoid the temptation to press her aching nipples against his hot hard body. She nodded. “Turn around.”
With only the blanket concealing his nether regions, it accentuated his ripped abs. Lev could be the poster model for a protein or muscle supplement advertisement. He chuckled and returned to gathering freeze-dried foods.
His bare feet, exposed to ice cold floor, had not turned blue or gangrene. “Aren’t you freezing?”
“Yes. But I’m used to it.”
“Not even the Inuit or local Sherpa go around butt-naked and barefoot in subzero temperatures. So don’t give me that I’m a tough Russian crap.”
“But it’s true.”
She hastily dressed and donned her snow boots. “Seriously, you need to get dressed.” Not that I’m complaining, but treating gangrene isn’t something I look forward to.
“Good idea. Over breakfast I will explain real reason cold doesn’t affect me.”
“I’m all ears. I just hope it’s not some military experimental drug that makes soldiers impervious to pain.”
“You, my Goldilocks, have a creative imagination.”
“By the sound of what you are about to tell me, not creative enough.”
Lev handed her the warm brew and sat with his mug, not bothering to dress. Nonetheless, he had the good sense to keep the private part of his anatomy well covered. “What I’m about to tell you is so secret, we only let you live if you sign our non-disclosure contract. The signature requires two other witnesses, but I’ve been permitted to tell you if you agree to remain silent.”
Her curiosity piqued. “And if I don’t keep the secret?”
“Then you would be marked for quick execution.”
She swallowed the hot coffee almost searing her throat. “That serious?” Must be a deep clandestine government outfit. Russian? Or as Jim would have said, the Illuminati?
“More serious than any secret you could ever imagine.”
Rachel lifted her chin. “I will not betray my country.”
“This has nothing to do with national loyalty. You will not betray the United States or any other country.”
“And if I talk, you will kill me?”
His jaw tightened and his expression turned grave. “I am ordered to, but I will not, cannot.”
“Because we had a great dinner date?”
His expression softened. “And shared a bed while naked.”
“Okay, so you would refuse orders because we snuggled? That’s comforting.”
“It’s more than that.” His demeanor returned to a tad above somber. “First, you must agree to keep our secret. Your life depends on us. Only we can protect you from your would-be abductors.”
Rachel’s memories flashed to the immense wolf by her window, Madam Montfort’s rants about a werewolf who made her his, the dead wolf who turned into one of her abductors. Could Lev really be some weird wolf-human genetic experiment? Was that why he seemed impervious to cold? Had her father become obsessed with transgenic medicine? Was this the mess he’d gotten himself involved in? She whispered as if not wanting him to hear, or rather not wanting to learn the answer. “My father, is he part of this secret conspiracy?”
“Yes.”
“That explains why he’s ignored me all these years.”
“He’s protected you from our kind.”
“Your kind? As in some sort of genetically modified wolfen creature?” Her cheeks burned. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound harsh.”
Lev narrowed his intense blue eyes on her and she felt like she was in a hypnotic trance, but aware of her surroundings. The sound of her heart echoed in her ears as if a mouse caught in the gaze of a snake. Then he released her from his hold, freeing her from doing his bidding. “It’s not so simple.”
“Yet whatever you are, Howard was happy to leave his family for?” Her parent’s marriage had been rocky before he disappeared from her life, but what kind of father ignored his only child?
He sighed. “About your father?”
“Yes, let me guess. He’s become one of your kind.”
Lev snorted. “No.” He lowered his head as if preparing her for bad news. “Dr. Becker was shot protecting data about you.”
Rachel rocked slightly. “Shot? Is he…dead?” She couldn’t breathe. She gulped, trying to clear the emotional constriction. Get air into her lungs. She focused on Lev’s penetrating eyes. Clear blue. Tranquil. Her pulse returned to normal.
“No. He’s recovering and will be happy to see you.”
“Where? What hospital?”
“In Montana. At our Lycan Intelligence Agency headquarters hospital and research center. State of the art facility. He could not be in better care.”
She whispered, “Lycan Intelligence Agency.”
“LIA.”
“CIA for werewolves?”
Lev laughed. “Accurate description, only we are global and not tied to one nation.”
Madam Montfort’s warning of danger and her near abduction reinforced the off the wall idea she was so important. “What possible information about me was he protecting?”
“First, do you agree to keep our secret by allowing me to mark you?”
Her free will returned, though she sensed he could easily compel her to agree. He must want her to voluntarily choose. To be marked. Her eyes widened. “The claw marks on my father’s arms.”
“Left by three witnesses to his oath.”
Anxious to get to the bottom of her father’s mysterious work, she nodded. “I agree.”
“You will sign the contract once we return to headquarters. Since it’s just me, my leader gave me permission to mark you with the three claw slashes to identify you as one of our humans.”
She put up her palm. “Whoa, whoa, hold on. What do you mean one of our humans? As in you are not?” No way was this werewolf stuff real, even baring the evidence when her abductor turned from wolf to human. Unless, in all the commotion, she might have really seen a wolf or dog, and then the shock of the torn body somehow caused temporary insanity.
“Do you agree?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Unfortunately, for your own good, no.”
“Does Howard agree?”
“Your father insisted I bring you in.”
“Fine. Since it has nothing to do with national security, I agree. Scouts honor not to tell.”
“Good, I will tell you and then mark you.”
Claws. “Is it about what psychic Madam Montfort said about you being the wolf stalking me?”
“Who?”
She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Wait, you are not going to have to kill a little known medium who saw you in a vision?”
“Don’t worry; she’s no threat to us. She has no hard evidence and no one would believe her. Regardless, do not tell anyone else about her.”
“What if she continues to talk?”
“If need be, I can compel her not to.”
“You are starting to sound more like a vampire.”
He laughed. “The legend of the vampire’s ability to mesmerize stems from our kind.”
Rachel quivered. “Okay, spill the beans, what the hell are you?”
“I’m a lycan, what your myths call a werewolf.” He grinned, showing his long glistening white fangs.
Despite everything she’d seen and experienced, doubt shadowed her scientifically trained mind. Lev could suffer from Cutaneous Porphyria, the rare genetic disorder which often included long canines. Yet, he looked healthy, in an Olympic athlete sort of way. Without blinking, she stared at him. Besides the fangs, he didn’t have obvious wolfish features. He was a hot attractive human male, without a unibrow or having more than normal body hair. Just the right amount of chest hair to enhance his broad muscular chest. Yet, his blue eyes exhibited feral intensity. “Only, you are not a my
th.”
“Do you wish a quick demonstration, Dr. Becker?”
Way to appeal to the scientist in me. “Yes.” She put her coffee down.
“Our transformation is quick, a blink of an eye, but I will slow the shift.” Lev dropped the blanket and stood, naked. His arms furred, claws formed, his face changed in contour from a man’s to a wolf’s long snout.
Rachel gasped as he went from man to Hollywood horror movie werewolf to giant wolf. The same black wolf that had scared the crap out of her back in New Orleans. “Holy, holy shit!”
Lev shifted back to human form and wrapped the blanket around his waist. Rachel stood gaping. Staring. Silent. Was she in shock? Had he pushed her to the edge of insanity? “Rachel?”
Rachel circled him, not like a frightened human, but like a scientist examining a new species. Almost too detached. She furrowed her brows. “This can’t be bioengineering.”
“You are right. We are a separate or rather created species long before the science of genetics.”
“No.” Rachel pressed her hand against the cut on her forehead and shook her head. “It’s the elevation and now a possible concussion. I’m hallucinating.”
He sat next to her and brushed a curl from her forehead. “No. Your head is good, better.”
“How do you know? It’s not like you have x-ray vision.”
The pack had jokingly said he used x-ray vision to see through walls, but that wasn’t true. He had acute vision, like most weres, but his mutations had taken on other manifestations. Super strength, enhanced senses, human speech as a wolf, superior mind control and the ability to temporary shift into other predator species. Not to mention his ability to heal quicker than most alphas, and from what he could see her injury, his healing worked even better on humans. Rachel was the first human he’d bitten . “No, I don’t.” He smiled. “You know how dogs can be trained to sniff out disease?”
“Yes.”
“I can, too.”
She swallowed. “Better than a dog?”