Sherry Pierce’s lips turned up into a small smile and her eyes lost some of their frost. “Impressive.” She said with a small tip of her head, “And surprising. I begin to see why you were chosen.” As if she had come to a decision the woman nodded and turned to walk back to her black SUV that was parked in the drive. “I may one day like you, Elizabeth Larkin, despite your flaws.”
A test? It had all been a freaking test? How messed up was that?! It didn’t matter that she had obviously passed, it was the principal of the thing. Plus, she’d gone and told Conner’s mother – his mother – that Conner was in love with her. Ugh! Conner hadn’t actually told her that. They hadn’t gotten around to discussing feelings. She could theorize that he felt strongly for her, sure, but assumptions in the past had gotten her into trouble and she didn’t do that anymore. Or at least she hadn’t until today. The nerve of that woman to suggest she’d take a bribe to leave her son alone.
Her skin was still crawling with indignation over an hour later when Conner showed up. She met him on the front lawn, had opened her mouth to tell him just what his mother had done when he sniffed and frowned. “What was my mother doing here?”
Elizabeth’s head reared back as she frowned as well. “What is up with Pierces and their noses? First your mom telling me I reek of you and now you telling me you can smell her. That’s some hyped up olfactory system – and kind of creepy.”
Conner didn’t bother to answer her question. “What was she doing here?”
Elizabeth told him – leaving out the part where she declared their mutual love – her temper rising along with her voice until she was practically screeching as she said, “Then she has the nerve to tell me that she might actually like me one day despite my flaws! Flaws!” Elizabeth was pacing, her arms flinging out in jerky motions before she stopped and pointed at Conner. “I’m sorry, but I do not like your mother.”
Conner reached out an arm to hook around her waist and pull her stiff body close. “I’m sorry she came here, Elizabeth, she had no right.” He kissed the mutinous line of her mouth, whispering against her skin, “You still like me though, right?”
Elizabeth felt all of her righteous fury drain out of her, and her mouth tugged up into a small smile. “Maybe you should kiss me better.”
She didn’t have to tell him twice as he sealed his lips over hers for a deep kiss. A few heated moments later, Conner raised his head and looked around. “Where’s J.T?”
Elizabeth laughed, her humor fully restored now that her mind was occupied with other things. “He’s taking a nap. I don’t think he and his new friends did much sleeping on their overnight adventure.”
Conner slid his palm against hers and laced their fingers together with a sigh. “A nap actually sounds pretty good right now. Neither one of us got much sleep either.” He shot her a heated look, “Not that I’m complaining. Last night was amazing.”
Elizabeth felt her cheeks heat. She completely agreed. And now that the adrenaline had drained from her body, the lack of sleep from the night before and the events of the morning all seemed to catch up with her at once. She tried and failed to stifle a yawn.
Conner raised their joined hands and kissed her fingers. “Come on sleeping beauty, I’ll tuck you in.”
Elizabeth let out a little mm of appreciation, her eyes going heavy. “Can you stay?”
“Only for a little bit. I have a ton of paperwork piled up at The Stag that I really have to get back to.”
Conner hadn’t wanted to leave. He took a little catnap, enjoying the feel of Elizabeth nestled in his arms, but his wolf was too agitated to fully settle. His mother had actually tried to pay his mate to leave him! He wanted to howl. Instead he went straight to her office and slammed through the door.
She didn’t seem surprised to see him. She tossed her pen down onto her desk and leaned back in her chair. “Well, now that you’ve announced to my entire staff that we’re about to fight with that dramatic entrance-“
“You actually tried to bribe my mate to leave me?!” Conner interrupted, not giving a shit who heard. He was so angry he could feel his eyes and teeth shift.
His mother stared at him for a moment calmly and her serenity in the face of his anger only fed the fire. He let out a low growl, the sound vicious yet Sherry Pierce did not flinch.
“I did not go there to pay your little human off, though I certainly would have had she been that easily swayed. I went there to ascertain her suitability as a mate – specifically your mate. Fight or flight is a basic instinct, Conner and she chose to fight. I must say I was quite impressed.”
“You had no right!” Conner snarled.
That finally elicited a reaction. His mother stood and leaned over her desk, her eyes shifting to amber. “I have every right. As your mother, as an alpha, and I will do it again with each one of my sons. It is my duty to protect my family and my pack. Do you deny this?”
Conner didn’t deny it, but he was still pissed. “Your future daughter-in-law, the mother of your possible future grandchildren, who will have a say in who those future children are allowed to see, does not like you. Keep that in mind, Mother, the next time you go about your duties.”
Sherry collapsed into her chair, a strained expression marring her forehead. “As a mother, she should understand.”
“Possible.” Conner said with a nod before leaving his mother’s office much quieter than he had entered.
Now he had to go clear off the mountain of work waiting for him so he could spend more time with Elizabeth and J.T.
Chapter Thirty
Over the next several weeks, they had the best time. Conner had taken them to Killington to enjoy the Adventure Center where they had ridden Beast Mountain Coaster, explored the maze, and did the trampoline jump. She had laughed as she tried to maneuver the sky ropes course, but had stood back with Jeremy and watched as Conner did the tower jump – no bungee jumping for the Larkins, nope, no way. But her favorite had been the gondola ride. Such breathtaking views.
They took scenic drives with no particular destination, and for Elizabeth, it was wonderful. She was so used to driving, paying attention to the road and which exit that she needed to take, that she never truly appreciated any of the beauty around her. With Conner at the wheel, she was free to look and marvel, especially on these mountain roads that were still surrounded by nature.
Another day they drove up to Shelburne to check out the Shelburne Museum. Jeremy had been fascinated as they’d explored the Ticonderoga, a side-paddle-wheel steamboat, and Elizabeth had only stopped them a few times on the drive to check out some shops that may be a good fit for the new catalog.
They stopped for maple sugar candy and Jeremy had been able to see how it was made before they drove to Burlington and explored the waterfront.
One evening they planned to see a concert at the Paramount Theater in Rutland and Conner had had to stop at a place called Gill’s. He promised them that they would be the best grinders ever, and after tasting hers, Elizabeth had to agree. They’d spread out a blanket in the park and had eaten while musicians had played in the gazebo.
Conner spent a morning teaching her and Jeremy how to drive ATV’s and they’d spent the afternoon riding the trails and had a picnic lunch by a waterfall.
Another day they checked out Quechee Gorge and Woodstock. They visited dairies, marble quarries, and covered bridges. They had talked, laughed, and taken so many pictures… They were making memories. Elizabeth was happy. Jeremy was happy. Everything was just going so perfectly – until it wasn’t.
It was a nice sunny day with just enough of a breeze to keep the bugs away. They had decided to go hiking a ways up behind her camp. Conner had promised they would find some blueberries and Jeremy was excited to be off, was in fact leading the way through the woods as Elizabeth and Conner got into a heated discussion about baseball. Conner, it turned out, was a Yankees fan which was pretty much blasphemous to a Boston girl, born and raised.
“You can’t be a
Yankees fan.” She said point blank with a shake of her head. “Sorry, but no.”
Conner stopped and ran a hand through his hair as he chuckled. “Do you even follow baseball?”
No, actually she didn’t, not really, but that wasn’t the point. “I’m from Boston, Conner. That means Red Sox.”
“I’ll tell you what,” he said, taking her hand, “When the Red Sox aren’t playing the Yankees, I won’t hope they lose. Okay?”
Elizabeth let out an inelegant snort. “Do you hear this nonsense, Jeremy?” She looked around with a grin on her face that fell once she realized she had lost sight of him. “Jeremy?”
“J.T?” Conner called out as well. He raised his nose and sniffed. Before Elizabeth could even blink, Conner was yanking off his shirt and breaking into a run as he yelled, “Jeremy, no!”
Elizabeth tore after him, fear nearly choking her. Perhaps intense fear even caused hallucinations because one moment Conner was running shirtless and the next, a wolf was leaping out of Conner’s pants and jumping over the brush.
Conner came to a skidding halt. J.T was on the ground, propped up by his elbows as a female coyote stood before him, over her pups. Her lip pulled back to display her teeth in a snarl of warning. Conner placed himself half over J.T, blocking him from the female, growling low. He sensed Elizabeth’s approach, a mother as well, who would put herself in danger without thought, to save her own pup. She grabbed J.T, dragging him out from beneath Conner and running with him to safety.
The female coyote kept her eyes on Conner, who, at the moment was the bigger danger. Not that he had any intention of hurting her. She was only doing what came natural. He backed away slowly, continuing to growl in warning, buying Elizabeth and J.T time, though this female was more inclined to move her pups than to give chase.
Once enough time had passed, and he had completely backed out of the clearing, Conner shifted back to skin and swore foully. That was not how he had intended Elizabeth to find out. He had planned on explaining calmly in a safe environment where she wouldn’t feel threatened. He would then show her, allow her to pet him, to feel secure in the knowledge that he would never hurt her no matter his form, and then, answer any questions she had.
Instead, she’d been scared for her son’s safety, he had actually been able to smell her fear it was so thick, and then shocked by his transformation to fur. He wouldn’t be surprised if she was barricading the door right now.
Elizabeth was using her own body to block the door at the moment. Pressed against the rough wood, she bent over, gasping for breath. Her side felt like a knife had been jammed in and then twisted. She had never run so far, or so fast, in her life. At one point, when Jeremy had tried to pull away from the death grip she had had on his hand, she’d actually picked him up and tried to run with him until he’d yelled at her to stop.
It had been a hallucination that was all, she tried to tell herself as she continued to suck air into her starving lungs. Except the socks. The socks that had still been on the wolf’s back feet, one of them practically falling off and dragging on the ground. Conner’s socks. Would she hallucinate something like that? A wolf in socks? If she wasn’t in so much pain, she might even say it was just a bad dream. Dreams could be crazy after all and include a wolf in socks. But she was still gasping, her lungs still burning, a knife still twisting in her side. She didn’t need to pinch herself to make sure she was awake. This wasn’t a dream and that wasn’t a hallucination. She started looking around the room for something more substantial to block the door.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I saw the puppies and I wanted to play with them. The mom surprised me.” Jeremy said, his breathing not nearly as labored as hers.
Elizabeth still couldn’t speak. She raised a hand and gave a small wave to let Jeremy know she had heard him. The door nudged at her back and Elizabeth braced her feet hard in case the deadbolt didn’t hold. Her heart felt like it was pounding in her chest even faster if that was possible.
“Elizabeth?” Followed by pounding on the door.
Her voice came out unnaturally shrill as she screamed, “Go away!”
“Elizabeth, please!” A beat of silence and then, “At least tell me J.T’s all right.”
“I’m all right, Conner.” Jeremy yelled, looking at her as if he couldn’t believe that she was keeping Conner out. But then, Jeremy didn’t know that Conner was a monster. His hero – the man she loved – was a real life werewolf. She wanted to cry.
“I’m sorry, Conner,” Jeremy continued. “I just wanted to pet the puppies.”
Before Conner could answer, Elizabeth spoke up. “You need to leave now, Conner.”
“Please, let me explain-“
“I said leave! Go away! We don’t want you here!”
Elizabeth waited, still panting, her heart beating like it was going to burst from her chest. She heard Conner’s boot steps on the porch and then, a few moments later, his truck pulling out of the drive. She collapsed on the floor in front of the door and did her best to keep from throwing up.
Chapter Thirty-One
Elizabeth dug the heels of her hands into her closed eyes. Her lungs didn’t feel quite so painful now, but her heart was still beating too fast and her hands were shaking. She had fallen in love with a werewolf. She recalled her phone conversation with her brother. She’d actually made a joke about becoming a werewolf. Oh, God! Conner hadn’t drawn blood with any of his playful nips, but… would kissing a werewolf, having sex with a werewolf, turn you into one? Her breathing began to accelerate again and she took a few slow inhales to try to calm down. In through the nose, out through the mouth. It would be okay, she told herself. She was not going to turn into a werewolf because all the movies said it was a scratch or bite which drew blood that turned a human. Neither of those applied to her. She and Jeremy were both just fine. They would go back to Boston – now, today. She’d tell Walter that she had changed her mind about heading up the new project. He would be disappointed but he would understand. Everything would be fine once they were home.
“Pack your bags, Jeremy.” She said, pushing her feet under her to get up off the floor. “We need to leave.”
“What? Leave? Why?” Jeremy looked stricken and she had to turn away.
She started heading for her bedroom and her own suitcase. “It’s not safe here.”
“Mom, please, I’m sorry. I promise I won’t touch another dog, ever. Please don’t do this. I don’t want to leave.” Jeremy choked out, tears making his voice crackle with emotion.
She shook her head sadly, her heart breaking for him. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it? Because I like it here and I know you do to. I don’t want to leave. You said we could stay! You promised!”
Jeremy’s face was red with anger as tears leaked from his eyes; his hands fisted at his sides. She could relate. So many emotions were rolling around inside of Elizabeth, fear for her son and for herself, sadness, anger. She was frustrated and just wanted to get the hell out of this place and go back to the safety of their normal lives where men did not change into scary wolves. She needed to be tough. This was for her son’s protection even if he didn’t understand. She drew herself up to her full height and extended her arm, finger pointed toward her son’s room. “Jeremy Thomas Larkin! Go pack your bags right now. I said we are leaving!”
“No! I won’t! You promised we could stay here! You promised! Why are you trying to ruin everything? I hate you!”
Elizabeth felt like her son had actually struck her. She stood there staring at him for a moment with her mouth open in shock. Jeremy may have been sullen and withdrawn before they’d come here, but he had never spoken to her like that.
She snapped back to attention when Jeremy made for the door. It wasn’t safe out there and he needed to understand that. The words just tumbled out of her mouth. “That wolf that held off the coyote was Conner, Jeremy. Conner is a werewolf, a monster.” Saying that last part out loud made her voice crack and her stomach heav
e, but she needed to stay on track. “Don’t you see? We need to leave!”
She saw Jeremy’s back stiffen. Now he understood. Now he would pack his bags and they could be on their way in less than an hour. He turned, he looked at her, a question in his eyes, asking her if she was joking. She nodded to confirm that what she had said was true and then watched in disbelief as her son’s face split into an excited smile and said, “That is so awesome!”
Wait, what? How could he possibly think…? “Didn’t you hear me, Jeremy? Conner is a werewolf!” Elizabeth screeched.
“Mom, that wolf – I mean, Conner – protected me. He saved me! He’s not a monster. He would never hurt us. He loves us. And I know you love him. How could you think he’s a monster?”
Elizabeth closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose. She sent up a little prayer for strength. She needed to convince her son. Why couldn’t he see they needed to get out of here? She opened her mouth to try again, but Jeremy forestalled her with his next words. “You’re assuming he’s a monster when he hasn’t hurt us or anyone else. Isn’t that racist or something? And aren’t you the one who always says not to assume? Conner said he could explain. I heard him. Don’t you at least owe him that?”
Defeated by her own logic. Elizabeth blew out a long breath, suddenly exhausted. She stared at her son for a moment, her shoulders sagging with resignation. He was right. She needed to let Conner explain – then they’d leave.
“His truck just went by again.” Jeremy said from his position at the window. “That’s every fifteen minutes now so he must just be driving in circles.”
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