Hayden’s Haven

by Cohen, Julie K.

  * * *

  MILA

  Mila watched as Hayden shifted into a gorgeous white wolf. Hayden’s shift was wicked fast. Three times she had seen him shift, and each time was an amazing and impressive display of strong shifter genes. She had never seen such a fast shifter, except for Vance, but he was an enforcer and enforcers’ strengths and skills often rivaled those of an alpha. On the other hand, her alpha, Truman, couldn’t shift that fast despite how good a fighter he was. Neither Vance nor Truman could hold a candle to Hayden’s strength and speed, not from what she had seen of him.

  She still couldn’t get over the fact that Hayden was a white wolf. White, of all colors. . . She would simply have to get past her fears, push them aside instead of letting them prejudice her against him. After all, he had never done anything to her, aside from being a bit demanding.

  Each time she watched Hayden shift, she had the desire to sit back with a bowl of popcorn and simply enjoy the show. And it was a show. . . a tantalizing, hold-onto-your-panties show. His shifts were a thing of beauty, as was that deliciously muscled back of his. She had yet to see his front, not that it was polite in shifter culture to stare at a nude shifter before or after a shift. She’d been taught from an early age to keep her eyes on the shifter’s face at all times until the shifter could dress.

  Maybe Hayden had thought her uncomfortable with the idea of having a naked male nearby outside of the safety of a pack. He always turned his back to her when he stripped and shifted, though she couldn’t imagine he was modest. Most male shifters had no problems with being naked in front of women, some even made a point of flaunting their manhood, even when not erect. Yes, indeed, that eyes-on-the-face social grace didn’t always come into play, at least not among single, adult shifters.

  From what she had seen of Hayden’s muscular, well-formed backside and powerful legs, she couldn’t imagine he had anything to be ashamed of. Corded muscles covered every delicious part of him. She’d love to let her hands glide across his broad shoulders and down his back until she reached that very fine ass of his and squeezed.

  Mila shook her head. Her thoughts would get her in trouble like the last time she had admired a shifter’s body. Getting involved with Vance had definitely been a mistake, one she wouldn’t be repeating with Hayden.

  As soon as Hayden bounded into the woods, Mila got to work starting another IV line on Kate. She only had one bag of antibiotics left, but it would have to do until they got to a town and she could find a medical supplier or a hospital. She hated stealing supplies, but sometimes it couldn’t be helped. In the past, she had sent funds after the fact. Stealing still felt wrong though.

  “How long?” Kate asked, her voice raspy.

  Mila smiled down at her patient. It wasn’t the first time Kate had passed out in the two weeks Mila had been treating her for sepsis following the knife wound to her kidney. “Maybe ten, twenty minutes this time. You’re pushing yourself and your wolf too hard. You shouldn’t have shifted.”

  “But Hayden said—”

  “And if he said to jump off a bridge—pardon the cliché—would you? He’s just a second.” She hated the words even as they spilled from her mouth. She knew she shouldn’t be pushing her feelings about Vance on Hayden. She hardly knew Hayden, but still. . . white wolf.

  Kate’s expression dimmed. “You don’t think much of Hayden, do you?”

  Mila had met enough shifters like Hayden to know he wasn’t her type. “He’s pushy, unreasonable, and a white wolf.”

  “I’m a white wolf,” Kate said, looking offended. “I still don’t understand what it is about white wolves that makes everyone look like they want to run and hide.”

  “I didn’t mean to offend you. I should have specified the males. You don’t count because you’re female.”

  “Yay, girl power,” Kate said, her tone dry.

  “That’s not funny,” Mila said, her jaw tightening. Kate couldn’t understand. White wolves didn’t prey on their own. “It doesn’t matter which birth pack a female shifter comes from. It’s not like we have a lot of power compared to the males. And white wolves are. . .” Mila took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Violent. Quite violent. ”

  “I don’t know what made you so jaded against white wolves, but you can’t assume they’re all bad based on one.”

  More than one.

  “And Hayden’s not like the others. At least I don’t think he is.”

  “You don’t know him well, do you?” Mila asked.

  “Honestly, no, but he’s easy to get along with. He’s always been fair to me.”

  “He looks so much like that asshole Drake.”

  Kate closed her eyes, looking relaxed again. “That explains your dislike of white wolves. My cousin doesn’t have a good reputation, with good reason, though I don’t think anyone gives him a fair shake half the time.”

  “Cousin?” That startled Mila. She knew there were very few white wolves left in the world, but even so, to be Drake’s cousin. . . How unlucky could a shifter get?

  “I found that out last month when I discovered I’m half-shifter. I’m still learning to shift. Sometimes it happens fast, other times I feel like I’m trying to pick up a wet beach ball with one hand.”

  “Ahh. That explains a lot then.” Mila smiled at Kate, which was easy to do. Kate was quite likeable. At twenty-six, she was only two years younger than Mila and had been fighting to survive, although in a different way than Mila.

  Mila couldn’t imagine what it would be like to find out in her mid-twenties that she was half-shifter, let alone related to one of the most vicious alphas she had ever seen.

  “That explains what?” Kate asked, the worried look on her face deepening. Making Kate feel bad about having a psychopath in the family while she was already stressed about Callen wasn’t the way to keep her patient calm.

  “I didn’t realize you’re half-shifter. It explains why you’re healing slower than expected. On the other hand, you’ve blood-bonded Callen, so I’m sure that’s helping you.”

  “I’m lucky he’s a strong shifter then. Not that I would have known the difference when I met him.”

  Strong shifter. Those were words Mila hated.

  “To me, a shifter was a shifter,” Kate continued as she stared into the darkness, no doubt waiting for Callen to return. “There are so many nuances I have yet to learn about being a shifter.”

  “He’ll be fine, Kate. He’s an enforcer, and alphas don’t just give that job to anyone.”

  “Callen would do anything for his pack.”

  “For you, you mean. He’d do anything for you, Kate. I’ve seen how he looks at you, touches you.”

  I want that one day. A man who will look at me the way Callen looks at Kate, as if she’s the center of his universe.

  Kate smiled. “Callen never gave up on me. From the moment we met, he always watched out for me, but it took me a while to trust him. I grew up with humans, hadn’t even seen a shifter before, let alone ever imagined I was half-shifter. My first shift was last month, after we blood-bonded. It’s a long story.”

  “I imagine we’ll have a lot of time to talk back at your pack. I won’t know anyone else there. Just you and Callen.”

  “And Hayden.”

  Mila fell quiet. She had learned a long time ago not to say anything that would get her in trouble. She had let her guard down around Kate and said too much, insulting Kate and disclosing her hatred of white wolves all at the same time. What if Kate told Hayden? Mila didn’t want to offend him, especially since he was working so hard to get her to the safety of Damien’s pack.

  “Why don’t you like Hayden?” Kate asked, sounding defensive again, as if Hayden was hers to protect.

  “I never said I don’t like him. He’s. . . I don’t know, rather pushy.” White wolf. White wolf. White wolf.

  Kate’s expression eased. “I don’t think it’s fair judging him under these circumstances. He’s worried about us and Callen. Wait until you see
him back at our pack. I mean, I don’t know him too well myself yet, but he’s always been fair and rather easy-going from what I’ve seen. Even after I shot him.”

  “You really shot him?” Hayden said something similar before they found Kate passed out, but Mila thought he was joking. “Care to fill me in?”

  “It’s a long story.” Kate’s eyes began closing even as she stared off toward the woods.

  Mila patted her shoulder. “Never mind. Rest for now. You can tell me later when we reach your pack. Sleep while you can. I promise to wake you when Callen returns.”

  Mila finished taping the IV bag to Kate’s arm in case Hayden returned before it finished. She reached into the backpack and withdrew the pouch holding the mylar blanket. She ripped it open, forgetting how obscenely loud the crinkling would be. She already had it out, and Kate needed to stay warm.

  After she spread the blanket over Kate, Mila scooped up the gun and searched for an area with some cover to relieve herself. There was no telling when Hayden would return.

  Despite what Kate thought, Mila liked Hayden. Too much. Every time he approached, her heart raced. Then the old fears surfaced, strangling her ability to be herself. Inevitably, she’d say something biting, irritating Hayden and sending any chance of getting to know him better into a downhill spiral.

  After answering nature’s call, Mila fastened her belt and slipped the gun into the back of her waistband. The foul scent of another shifter nearby reached her nose just as her arm was wrenched behind her.

  The male with bad breath slammed her against a tree as he leaned in and whispered, “I finally found you.”

  Chapter Two

  MILA

  Fear coursed through Mila as the man’s foul breath raked over her neck. He grabbed her arm and forced it high up her back, nearly dislocating her shoulder in the process. After taking her gun, he secured her wrists behind her back with a plastic zip tie. If she could put some space between them, she’d kick him in the balls, but he kept her trapped against the tree as he sniffed along her neck.

  “You smell nice. Be a shame not to taste you before turning you over, but I have my orders.”

  Mila’s body tensed as his hand drew down her chest to cup a breast. As much as it repulsed her to do so, she took a deep breath and drew in his scent. He smelled like raw sewage boiling in the summer sun. Nothing at all like Hayden, who smelled like spring water rushing through a glen. There was no doubt in her mind though. This guy was definitely shifter. He’d be impossible to overpower, even if her hands were free.

  He grabbed her by her shoulders, turned her around, and slammed her against the tree a second time, only this time she felt the impact in her bound hands and the back of her head.

  “You like my scent, doll? You can taste me. That wouldn’t break any rules, would it?”

  “Hayden!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

  The male punched her in the face. Her knees buckled as she tasted the coppery flavor of blood from her split lip and blackness filled her vision.

  He kicked the back of her knees. Pain riveted outward from where her knees struck the ice-packed snow that felt as hard as cement. Another backhand to her face had her swaying before he grabbed her hair and violently yanked her head back. Mila clamped her mouth shut as the shifter unzipped his pants, pulled out his erect dick, and shoved it into her face.

  “Open or I’ll cut you, deep. Too deep for your wolf to heal.”

  When she turned her head to the side, he struck her again, sending her crashing into the snow-packed ground. Branches and rocks bit through her shirt and the cold sliced through her jeans. His hand grabbed her by her throat as he began to pull her onto her knees.

  That’s when she caught a flash of white fur in the corner of her vision. A deep angry growl filled the air as the white wolf slammed into her attacker, causing her to fall back against her right side again. The white wolf sank his teeth into her attacker’s throat and squeezed until all she could hear was the faint wheezing, then none at all. The shifter never had the chance to shift. His death was swift and vicious, and well-deserved, though not easy to watch.

  Mila’s vision grew hazy. With an odd detachment, as if she were watching the world through a glass, Mila struggled to stay conscious. The sleek white wolf circled the area one last time, securing the area, and then shifted.

  Hayden, in all his glorious nakedness, squatted before her, cursing under his breath as he gently brushed a finger over her cheek, easing blood-matted hair aside. She tried focusing on his face, but the trees were spinning. Concussion most likely.

  “Bloody hell,” Hayden said when she closed her eyes. There was something dark and possessive in the way he hovered over her, touching her with a softness that seemed surreal after the violence she had just witnessed. And yet his touch instantly calmed her.

  She fought to stay conscious. As if being a weak shifter wasn’t enough, not being able to access her wolf’s ability to heal sucked. She could really use her wolf’s help right now, or at least some acetaminophen for the pain spreading through her body. Visions of Vance entered her head, and she jerked when Hayden touched her bound hands behind her.

  “Only me, sunshine,” Hayden said with a calm voice.

  She had called out to him, and he had come. He hadn’t left her, as Vance would have. Hayden had come for her.

  He ran the pad of his thumb down her cheek. “Stay with me, Mila. I’ll get you warmed up soon.”

  Warmed up? She could feel the snow melting through her clothes, soaking her. Strange how she hadn’t noticed her body shivering before he had said something.

  Hayden cursed again as he pulled at her ties. She let out a stifled yelp as pain radiated up her arms, but she said nothing. She was wet, cold, and battered. He was trying to free her.

  Her hands sprang apart as he finally cut through the ties. Then she was being lifted. Her head lobbed against a hard but very warm chest. She snuggled, trying to wrap herself around that source of heat. That heavenly scent of spring water returned, except she didn’t hear any water nearby. Why was she so cold?

  Wait. She should know this. Years of medical school and years working at the free clinic in town had given her the information she needed to figure this out, except her brain simply wasn’t working right.

  The crinkling of foil caught her attention as she was laid down on a bed of dried pine needles above the snow. Why was someone wrapping her in tinfoil? Oh, she could really go for some grilled ribs right now. She was starved. Her stomach lurched again. Okay, no ribs. Toast maybe. Her stomach rebelled, and she threw up.

  She was turned on her side. Someone was holding her hair back and lightly rubbing her back. After her stomach emptied itself, Mila tried to lean back. Strong arms lifted her, moved her a few feet into the air and set her down again. She opened her eyes, long enough to see Hayden’s black eyes watching her, with a definite frown riding his square jaw. Such a handsome shifter, too handsome to frown like that. She preferred his quirky, flirty look, the one she had caught a glimpse of back in the bakery once or twice. Even that frustrated look of his when she had resisted his directions earlier was preferable to the dark, crushing scowl he now sported.

  How had she thought he looked like Drake? Sure, they both had dark hair and dark eyes and the same jaw, but they were nothing alike. Hayden’s eyes held genuine concern even though she was nothing to him. Ah, but she was judging him by his wolf’s color again, assuming all white wolves had that sadistic, aggressive streak in them.

  She had to start thinking of him as Hayden, the shifter who had done more than save her. After all, not many guys would hold a woman’s hair back while she threw up.

  Mila closed her eyes, trying to withstand the wave of pain emanating from her ribs. The bastard had definitely bruised, maybe cracked, a few ribs. Every breath brought new pain.

  Ah, there was that scent again. Water and grass. A sweet scent that reminded her of a valley of wildflowers. Hayden. She tried to smile at that, except
her lip hurt too much.

  She needed to forget about Hayden and how he had held her hair back. She was making too big a deal out of that small kindness. Damien had sent Hayden here to escort her to his pack. She was nothing more than a job to him. For all she knew, Hayden was no better than Drake. After all, Hayden’s wolf had shredded her attacker quickly and without mercy. . . like Drake had done to those hunters at the summit years ago.

  * * *

  HAYDEN

  Ten fucking minutes. Hayden had been gone ten fucking minutes, and a shifter had found Mila, brutalized her, and nearly raped her. Hayden had misjudged the situation, believing he, Kate, and Mila had lost the men hunting them. One had slipped by, unnoticed, but that was all it had taken. Leaving the women alone, with only a gun to protect them, was beyond foolish. A gun was only good for distance. Once a shifter got close enough, got his hands on a person, survival, dominance, came down to brute force.

  Mila lay on the ground with Kate bent over her, trying to assess the doctor’s injuries. Fucking hell. Mila was the doctor here. Hayden didn’t have a clue what to do for her and from the expression on Kate’s face she didn’t either.

  When Hayden had carried Mila over to where Kate had been resting, she cried out in pain. Hayden was sure she suffered bruised, maybe broken ribs on her right side. Add to that the extensive damage to her face and wrists and Mila’s wolf had a lot of work to do to heal her.

  His poor Mila. . . Hayden still couldn’t get the image of the shifter with his dick pressed up against her face, and his hand wrapped around her throat, choking her, trying to force her to open. A deep growl escaped Hayden’s throat before he realized what he was doing.

  Kate looked over her shoulder at him. “You okay?”

  Hayden didn’t deserve her concern. Kate should be resting, but now she was up, tending to Mila’s injuries while he guarded. Hell, Mila shouldn’t have any injuries.