Hayden’s Haven

by Cohen, Julie K.

  “I’m making progress here. They have a genetic engineer here. We make a great team, and I think we might have a solution.”

  “When?” Damien asked, stepping closer.

  “Soon. Another week or two. Maybe longer. It’s hard to say.”

  “Will it work?” Truman again.

  “We’ll test it in the lab.”

  “You’ve been here long enough, Mila,” Truman said. “You can continue your work back home.”

  Her panic returned, and the words wouldn’t come out. Mila thought she had a handle on this, but she didn’t. Her alpha had already made up his mind. He didn’t want to lose any shifters and have his pack appear weak.

  There was shuffling of feet to her left. Hayden and Vance were staring at one another. “Move aside,” Vance warned. “You heard my alpha. He’s ordered her home.”

  “She’s doesn’t want to return to your pack. Ever.”

  “Is this true, Mila?” Truman asked.

  She nodded. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but she couldn’t. She had closed down again when confronted with the very real possibility that they were taking her back.

  “You’re not safe here. You’ll come home, with us.”

  “She’s safe here. No one will touch her,” Damien said, eyeing Hayden for some odd reason.

  “Your shifters killed three of mine who were trying to rescue her.”

  “They were yours?” Mila asked, stunned. “One tried to rape me!”

  Truman looked at Vance for an explanation.

  “They were lone wolves that we accepted into the pack. I didn’t have time to vet them well. We were rushing to save you, Mila,” Vance’s voice carried past Hayden, toward her. Hayden wouldn’t let Vance get past him, but that wouldn’t stop Vance from reaching her. “You know I would never knowingly put you in danger.”

  She wanted to laugh. Or cry. Her wolf was literally spinning in circles inside of her, not sure what to do.

  “She’s not going anywhere with you,” Hayden said, still standing between her and Vance.

  “Talk to me, Mila,” Vance said, finally side-stepping Hayden. “You know how good it is between us, honey.”

  Honey. That’s what he always called her after he beat her, when he apologized. Mila couldn’t breathe as all the memories assaulted her. The beatings, the intimidation, the loneliness.

  “I’ll say this much, you have a type,” Vance said with a slight growl from his wolf. He wasn’t doing a good job containing himself. Good, maybe he’d show his true colors in front of Truman and the alpha would finally see the shifter for the cold, manipulative, controlling bastard he was. “You want a white wolf so badly, stick with me, not this murderer.” He sneered toward Hayden.

  White wolf, white wolf, white wolf.

  “I’m not a murderer,” Hayden said his voice clipped.

  White wolf, white wolf, white wolf. Hayden was a white wolf like Vance.

  “You killed my men. I recognize your scent. You ripped their throats out.”

  “One was attacking her. The other two had attacked my enforcer. They attacked us, not the other way around.”

  Hayden backed up. Without taking his eyes off of Vance, he extended his hand behind him to her. When she didn’t take his hand, he turned to face her. The hurt she saw there in his eyes sickened her. She had let him down by hesitating. He was a white wolf, but he wasn’t Vance or Drake.

  Mila stepped forward and slipped her hand into his. His fingers wrapped around hers. He never hesitated, but she could see it in his eyes. She had wounded him.

  “Damien, we’re leaving. And if she hasn’t already told you, Mila officially requests asylum here.”

  “Is that it, Mila?” Vance called. “You’re shacking up with the shifter who murdered his own alpha? He’s just as bad as his brother Drake. The whole family is crazy. Why do you think my family left there a generation ago? I’ll blood-bond you, just like you’ve always wanted. Soon as we get home.”

  Hayden was Drake’s brother? Vance wanted to blood-bond? Did anyone ever tell her the truth about anything?

  “Damien,” Truman called past her, his voice as sure as ever. “We’re leaving. With Mila. She hasn’t requested sanctuary. Your shifter requested it for her. It’s not the same thing. Even if she did, we need her. She’s our only doctor. You prevent us from taking her and you will regret it.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Truman. While she hasn’t formally requested sanctuary, she clearly doesn’t want to go with you. And she’s doing important work here, work that will benefit shifters everywhere. You don’t need her.”

  Mila heard everything they were saying, even recognized how it would help Damien if she spoke up on her own behalf, but she couldn’t. Hayden was Drake’s brother. He hadn’t told her. What else hadn’t he told her? Hayden had fallen exceedingly quiet in the exchange between the alphas.

  Everything made sense now. Why they not only looked alike, but why so many shifters in Damien’s pack hated Hayden. She looked at their joined hands. He hadn’t released her. Would he want to possess her like Vance? Was she trading one bad situation for another?

  Mila looked at Vance for the first time. He was whispering to Truman. Whatever he was planning, she couldn’t go back. Finally, she glanced up at Hayden. She backed away from both white wolves, into Damien who steadied her.

  Down to three shifters now. Damien. Tess. Callen.

  Truman cleared his throat. All eyes turned to him. “Damien, clearly you have me at a disadvantage since I’m on your territory. And I must apologize, but we couldn’t help but overhear your discussion with the traitor earlier.”

  Hayden visibly winced at being called a traitor, but Damien stood solid behind her, not making a move or a sound. Truman’s words meant nothing to him.

  “While it’s true we lost a lot to the virus, there were a lot that were left homeless when their packs were wiped out. We’ve been recruiting them, training them off site. Fortunately, they were off site when the virus ripped through our camp, and it’s only through Mila’s quick thinking that the virus was contained and our losses minimized. So, you can see how invaluable she is to us.

  “You need shifters to go up against Drake. I have shifters now, more than enough to help you overwhelm Drake’s pack. You want to see that other pack released and fix things with the government by handing Drake over? Fine. I’ll give you the army you need, Damien. But only if you give me Mila.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  HAYDEN

  Hayden’s wolf growled and started biting him from within. He didn’t like the blond shifter standing in front of him. Hadn’t liked him from the moment he had seen him, and Hayden agreed. He knew from the moment the shifter fixated on Mila that this was the shifter who had made her life a living hell.

  From the moment Mila descended the steps, Hayden noticed every technique Vance used to intimidate her. She had been doing really well, talking to her alpha, explaining what had really happened, until that asshole had side-stepped him and gained a direct line of sight to her. Then she had clammed up again. She had barely been able to take Hayden’s hand—though that likely had to do with the fact that she had finally learned the truth about him and Drake. Hell, what a mess.

  More than once, Mila cast her eyes downward. The smell of her fear, the very fact that she no longer sought his strength, outraged Hayden. He would protect her no matter what. There was no way in hell these shifters would take Mila.

  Truman’s lips curled into a smile. “I’ll give you the army you need, Damien. But only if you return Mila to me.”

  The scent of Mila’s fear spiked to an all-time high, a split second before she bolted out of Damien’s house. Hayden shoved past Vance, who had the nerve to prevent Hayden from going after her. Despite shouts from Damien behind him, Hayden chased after Mila.

  The snow was coming down hard, and she didn’t even have a coat on. Odd how that thought struck above all others. She was his to worry about, that’s all he knew
, even if no one else would acknowledge it, including Mila.

  He found her scent trail easily enough, but then it quickly disappeared with the wind whipping as it was. Snow quickly covered her tracks. Hayden shifted. His wolf would be able to track her better, though even he was struggling.

  The wind calmed long enough for him to find the direction she’d fled. Hayden ran at top speed and still hadn’t overtaken her. That’s when he saw paw prints overlaying Mila’s scent trail. The truth struck him at that moment. Mila had shifted! That’s why she was able to maintain a lead, given the brief head start she’d had. Her wolf was fast! Pride swept through him, and joy, for his Mila. She could shift! They’d be able to blood-bond and run together and. . .

  Hayden stopped short at the sight of the gorgeous brown wolf lying in the snow at the base of a tree. Her scent, the scent of her wolf that he’d caught and dismissed earlier today as his imagination had been real. His Mila could shift!

  Dazzling green eyes had locked onto him, meeting him full-on, as her spirit did every time they were together. She hadn’t run from him, but from Vance and Truman, maybe even the situation itself. Then again, she hadn’t run to Hayden either.

  Hayden shifted and knelt by her. “I’m sorry, Mila. None of that should have happened. I thought once they heard the truth they’d leave. For your alpha to try to barter fighters for you. . . Nothing excuses that.”

  Hayden gently sifted his fingers through her fur, wondering what she was thinking, and why she refused to shift back so they could talk. They had a lot to talk about, not the least of which was the truth he’d kept from her. Maybe that was why she wasn’t shifting.

  “I should have told you about me and Drake. Sometimes I think if I ignore what my brother’s become, then the rest of the world will too. Or that shifters will see me for who I am and not simply as Drake’s brother.”

  Mila nuzzled his hand. Was he being forgiven? “I’d really like to speak with you. When you’re ready.”

  The snow was really coming down hard now, and the wind was whipping through the trees, almost blizzard conditions, but not quite yet. Either way, they needed to get to shelter. He could shift back, should shift back, because in his human form he was starting to freeze, but he’d lose the ability to talk to her. He wasn’t sure she would go with him as it was.

  “My cabin’s not far. Let’s get inside and talk.”

  Mila’s wolf snarled as she sprang to her feet.

  Hayden was slammed into a tree. The white wolf lunged for his throat, never giving Hayden time to shift. Hayden’s hand clamped around the wolf’s throat. In this form, he wasn’t powerful enough to crush the wolf’s throat, not with how the wolf was clawing the hell out of his chest, but it was enough to keep those jaws from tearing out his throat.

  A growl deafened him as Mila’s wolf lunged at the white wolf, knocking him off Hayden. He had seconds at best to shift. Hayden shifted, but too late to keep the white wolf from clamping his jaws around Mila’s throat.

  Hayden couldn’t do anything. If he charged the wolf, the wolf could easily snap her neck or bite down and tear her throat out. Hayden shifted back.

  “I surrender! Leave her alone!”

  The white wolf lifted his jaws off of her neck, blood was dripping down her throat but she was alive and conscious. The wolf kept her pinned, with his powerful front paw pressing down into her shoulder.

  Hayden spread his arms out in the least defensive position he could think of. “I’m all yours. Or do you prefer to fight a female because it’s easier?” He was vulnerable in human form, but he needed to draw the wolf away from Mila, at any cost.

  The white wolf lunged for Hayden’s throat. He was fast and strong, but not as experienced. Hayden twisted his torso and got the wolf in a headlock as the force of the impact threw them both to the ground. Hayden rolled to his left. Knowing he had no time to shift, he grabbed a branch and snapped it free. It wasn’t much but it would have to do. From the corner of his eye, he saw Mila’s wolf, lying on the snow, not moving.

  That’s when a pair of yellow eyes appeared behind her. Hayden swung at the white wolf, frantic to reach Mila. With a quick pivot, the wolf easily changed direction and grabbed Hayden by the leg, toppling him over. Hayden’s back slammed the hard-packed snow, knocking the branch from his hand and the breath from his lungs.

  The white wolf growled as he stood over Hayden’s prone form. A mucous mixture of drool and blood leaked from his mouth as he pinned Hayden and prepared to go for the kill. The wolf behind Mila leaping over her and slammed into the white wolf, freeing Hayden.

  Hayden was tempted to follow Callen, but Callen was pursuing the wolf on their territory. He had the advantage, and Mila needed Hayden.

  Mila’s wolf was still laying in the snow, her breathing fast but steady, but her eyes were closed. The gash above her left eye didn’t look serious, but the snow beneath her was red from the wounds in her neck. Hayden lifted Mila and hesitated only long enough to look in Callen’s direction. He couldn’t see through the near-blizzard conditions, let alone hear anything.

  A tree branch snapped ahead of them, on the snow-buried path that led to his house. Two wolves broke into view and blocked his path. Frank and Blade.

  “Keep going! We’re fine. Callen’s in pursuit!”

  Without delay, Blade and Frank raced in Callen’s direction. Hayden carried Mila down to his cabin. The house was cold. He needed to get a fire started. He was shaking as he laid her on the rug by the fireplace. He could have lost her tonight. As he started the fire, Hayden kept glancing at her, assessing her breathing, her color, her wounds—to make sure they had stopped bleeding. They had. Her wolf was healing her, but it would take time. All Hayden could do was to keep her comfortable and warm. He tucked a warm wool blanket around her body as he sat on the rug beside her and stroked her fur.

  Hayden leaned over and kissed her wolf’s forehead. “Come back to me, Mila. I’m not ready to let you go.”

  * * *

  MILA

  Mila woke to the smell of a fire, which was rather disappointing. At first, she had thought she had smelled Hayden, but then she had smelled blood. Coppery, bitter blood. She must have been dreaming about that night the wolf had attacked her and Hayden had killed him. All of her dreams of Hayden lately had been rather peaceful. Most involved running alongside his wolf, or simply holding hands as they walked by a river. None of those dreams involved a fireplace. The crackle and hiss of burning wood prompted her to open her eyes.

  She lifted her hand toward the heat, only to realize she was holding up a paw. The memories came rushing back. She had run from Damien’s house. When faced with a flight or fight scenario, a weak shifter always chose flight. Hands—or in this case—paws down.

  With the snow coming down around her, and the lack of a coat, she had decided—or rather her wolf had decided—to shift. Fighting her wolf would have been senseless. She had already been trapped for months. Her wolf deserved freedom—they both did—which was the reason to keep running as soon as she cleared the main part of camp. No one would save her from Vance and Truman, except maybe Hayden. Though at that moment she hadn’t given him a chance, afraid of what he’d do and say considering how she hadn’t supported him. That look on his face when she hadn’t turned to him still haunted her.

  “Awake at last,” Hayden said.

  Her wolf sat up, placing the fire to her back. Hayden was sitting on the rug beside her, naked and torn up. There were claw marks down his chest along with several bites on his arms, though they were healing.

  She longed to touch him, to soothe his pain, but she couldn’t do that in wolf form. She’d shift right now if it were so simple, but it wasn’t. Hayden only made it look easy. Her Hayden was such a strong shifter. Would he still be her Hayden after he learned the full truth?

  Mila lowered her head to the rug.

  “Still not planning to shift back, I see. That’s okay, sunshine. I can talk for both of us until you’re ready.”

/>   His smile warmed her, better than a thousand fireplaces ever could.

  Hayden reached forward and gently touched the wound above her left eye. The simple contact stung, and she bared her teeth before she could rein her wolf in. Her wolf was still on edge, but she stepped aside, giving Mila control.

  “Sorry,” Hayden said, pulling his hand away. “It must have been deeper than I thought.”

  The cut was nothing. It would heal, though not as fast as his wounds, even though those were deeper. Her eyes darted to the back room. Would he let her leave his sight long enough to shift? Shifting was always slow and painful, a pitiful display. She wouldn’t humiliate herself by doing so in front of Hayden.

  “All right, sunshine. This is what we’re going to do. You’re going to rest and I’m going to put out some food and drink for you. When you’re ready, you’ll shift. If you don’t shift, then I’ll have proof that my cooking sucks, and I’ll have to try my next tactic.” He scrubbed his hair with his right hand. “Though I’m not sure what that is quite yet,” he mumbled to himself as he headed toward the kitchen.

  The heat of the fire warmed her fur and skin, relaxing an emotionally and physically overtired body. She watched Hayden until her eyes started to get heavy.

  Hayden’s wolf chased her through the woods, playfully nipping at her hind legs, daring her to go faster, to push herself, only to find herself tumbling down a hillside and shifting before she reached the bottom. The hard hit at the bottom never came as her shifter scooped her up and laid her down in a bed of grass, leaning over her with dark eyes filled with love and passion.

  He captured her mouth even as his legs wedged between her thighs. His tongue was velvety smooth, stroking her lips, reaching in, slowly possessing her. As she opened her mouth, granting him entry, his powerful cock slid into her pussy. Tongue and cock worked together in unison, making every inch of her body climb toward a new high, one she hadn’t reached yet, one that always seemed to be out of reach.