Rescued by the Wolf

by Kristal Hollis

  The speakers crackled and hissed.

  “The reception will clear when we get closer to Franklin,” he said.

  Grace turned off the radio. Within a minute or two, she began humming. It didn’t sound like any particular tune to him but she didn’t miss a note, her head gently swaying with the soft, sweet melody.

  “Oh, there’s the overlook.” Not quite plastered to the window, Grace pressed her face close enough to the glass that Rafe saw her animated expression in the reflection.

  “We’re stopping, right?”

  Rafe would rather make up for lost time. Instead of going to a drive-through as usual, he’d eaten at the breakfast buffet with Grace at the resort restaurant which put him behind schedule. He liked schedules. Schedules kept things running smoothly. Schedules ensured that he always knew what to expect. And when.

  Grace turned to him. Her golden skin shimmered in the sunlight that filtered through the glass. Her eyes sparkled. And that smile, full of warmth and expectation—there was no way in hell he’d say anything to dampen that brilliance.

  “Whatever you want.” He wiped away the beads of sweat dotting his upper lip.

  “Are you all right?” Her hand on his arm caused the heat building inside him to flare.

  “I’m fine.” He flicked the air vent to blow on him and cranked up the AC.

  “Oh, no.” She sucked in her breath. “It’s not where you had your accident?”

  “What?”

  “Cassie said you ran off the road last year. Are we getting close to the spot where it happened?”

  “Different road.”

  “Good.” Grace returned to the window. “I wouldn’t enjoy the view if you almost died there.”

  He eased the tow truck onto the wide shoulder and parked. Grace jumped out before Rafe pulled the key out of the ignition. He tucked her phone into the pocket of his shorts.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said when he caught up with her. The rapturous glow on her face was worth any time lost on his schedule.

  He stood close behind her, reveling in her heat and the beautiful scenery. He loved living in the midst of the Smoky Mountains. Something about them harmonized with his soul. He had no doubts this was where he truly belonged.

  “Why is it hazy over there?” Grace pointed to the mountain range in the distance.

  “It’s a natural fog that clings to the mountaintops.”

  The trees below them rustled. No particular scent drifted upward, so Rafe focused his vision on the movement. His body automatically made subtle changes from relaxed to heightened awareness, ready to whisk Grace to safety if danger presented itself.

  His senses rose, then ebbed. He reached over her shoulder and whispered, “Look.”

  “What is it?” She leaned forward and Rafe’s other arm curled around her to prevent her from leaning on the rickety rails.

  “Watch and see.”

  She hugged her waist, trapping his arm between hers. “Gosh, you’re nice and toasty.” She cozied into him. “I wouldn’t have worn a skirt and sandals if I’d know it would be this cool.”

  Rafe smirked at what she called a skirt, not much longer than the shorts he’d seen her wear. Not that he minded. She had nice legs. Legs he shouldn’t imagine tangled with his.

  He refocused on the movement below them. “Here he comes.”

  “It’s a bear!” Grace’s ponytail flounced against Rafe’s chest. “It’s a bear!”

  Rafe couldn’t resist. “Yes, Goldilocks. It’s a bear.”

  “Oh, darn. I left my phone in the truck.”

  Rafe reached into his pocket and withdrew the device.

  “Thanks.” She gifted him with a delightful grin and turned to record the animal.

  The bear ambled a ways, swung its head, stood on his hind legs. His nose twitched to scent the air, obviously detecting Rafe’s wolfan scent.

  “That’s so cute.” Grace’s giggles echoed around them.

  The animal yowled and slapped his paw in their direction.

  “Oh, look. He’s waving.” Grace returned the greeting.

  The bear waited for Rafe’s, a test to determine friend or foe.

  Rafe howled a friendly acknowledgement. Satisfied there was no threat, the bear grunted and ambled off.

  “For Pete’s sake.” Grace stared at him with glittering green eyes. “You growl, you howl. Aren’t you taking your wolf obsession too far?”

  “Grace, Co-opers have a special affinity to the wolves in the sanctuary. It may seem strange to you. But to me, they’re family.”

  Chapter 17

  A perfect day. Rafe hadn’t thought those existed anymore. Today had proved him wrong. He pushed back his empty plate, satisfied with the meal and the company.

  “Your meat loaf is delicious.” Grace devoured the last bite.

  “Thank you. It’s my specialty.” Doc gave an easy grin.

  Rafe balled his napkin and dropped it on his empty plate. “It’s the only thing you ever learned to cook.”

  “That’s why it’s a specialty.” Doc winked. His phone buzzed and he excused himself from the table.

  “Thanks for inviting me.” Grace picked up the plates.

  “Figured you could use a home-cooked meal.” Rafe certainly appreciated it. Mostly eating fast food and takeout, Rafe looked forward to his weekly meal with his father. Even the nights when they exchanged no words.

  There’d been no lack of conversation tonight.

  Grace talked about everything she’d seen today. She spotted things Rafe never cared to notice and he liked the way she saw the world—bright, colored, teeming with vitality and wonder. Rather than the drab, barren landscape he was used to seeing.

  He gathered the glasses and followed her into the kitchen. “Thanks for helping Alex with his homework.”

  “He’s a smart kid. Eager to please.” Grace rinsed off the plates and put them in the dishwasher.

  “Only when you’re around.” Rafe didn’t fail to notice how cozy the kitchen felt with her in it.

  How cozy he felt with her.

  “Alex misses his dad.” She moved aside. “You should take him fishing or something.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Rafe emptied the glasses in the sink and placed them on the top rack of the dishwasher. Then he rearranged the haphazard way Grace had set the plates in the bottom rack.

  “They’ll get clean no matter which way they’re turned.” She dried her hands on a dish towel and turned around.

  Rafe stood so close she bumped him.

  “Oops, sorry.” Her clear green eyes glittered as she looked up at him.

  All day, he’d contemplated kissing her and had resisted.

  He cupped her face. Her lips parted with a soft breath as he leaned closer.

  “Don’t mind me.” Doc came into the kitchen.

  Disappointed by the interruption, Rafe grazed Grace’s cheek instead of finding her mouth.

  “I’m needed at the hospital. I’ve got to change and head over there.”

  “Thank you for supper. I’m sorry you have to rush off.” Grace gave Doc a hug.

  A flash of jealousy whipped through Rafe. Absolutely irrational, but he was jealous all the same.

  “Come anytime. The door’s always open.” Doc patted Rafe’s shoulder before heading upstairs to change.

  Rafe walked Grace to the tow truck. His hand gravitated to the small of her back as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. He reached around her for the passenger door and she turned to face him.

  “I had fun today.” She tugged the front of his shirt.

  Rafe moved closer, blocking her against the vehicle. His lips found her mouth in the soft, unhurried kiss he’d wanted to give her in the kitchen.

  He’d had fun with her today, too. Something that
went beyond a good time. He’d enjoyed every single moment with her because he’d felt no pressure to be something he wasn’t.

  After coming to Walker’s Run as a child, Rafe was taught how to dress, how to eat, and how to function in society more like a human, less like a wolf. And he always felt slightly out of sync because of it.

  In rehab he learned if he wanted to stay sober, he had to come to terms with his true self. Each day since, Rafe had dropped a little more of his facade and allowed a little more of himself to come through.

  But with Grace, he was simply and totally himself.

  At her soft whimper, all pretense of restraint evaporated. His tongue swept inside her mouth with unbridled urgency. He cradled the back of her neck and tilted her head for the right angle to deepen the kiss, slowing down only to rev up to a maddening frenzy. Their tongues danced and mated, devoured and conquered.

  His hand trailed down her back, gently molding her against him. Soft in all the right places, she fit him perfectly, like a piece of the same puzzle.

  A silvery light flashed in his conscience with one imperative thought, Mine!

  He broke this kiss. He wasn’t ready to accept another mate. Hell, he didn’t know if he’d ever be ready for one, but he’d definitely warmed to Grace’s idea of being a friend with benefits.

  “Wow.” Dreamy-eyed, she smiled.

  “Yeah, wow.”

  Rafe heard the race of an engine before a Mercedes swung into the driveway and slammed to a stop.

  Rafe yanked open the tow truck passenger door. “Stay inside and lock the doors,” he warned and slammed the door shut.

  Rafe didn’t ask how Clay had found him. Everyone knew where to find him on Wednesday nights.

  Small town, few secrets. The pack had been more than fortunate to keep theirs for so long.

  “What the hell are you doing?” The ugliness in Clay’s voice matched the sneer on his face.

  Rafe clucked his tongue over his teeth. “In general? Or right this second?”

  “Don’t be flippant, you son of a bitch. Do you think I’m stupid?”

  Stupid, no. Pretentious. Arrogant. Oppressive. Reactionary. The list could go on for a quarter mile, at least.

  “Who is that woman?” Clay jabbed his finger toward the tow truck.

  “Not your business.” Rafe kept his voice level. “Why are you here?”

  “I want all of my daughter’s things returned. The jewelry box, the stuffed animals, her gardening books. Everything.”

  “That might be a problem.” The jewelry box broke years ago and Lexi had tossed it in the garbage. The stuffed animals she gave to the hospital pediatrics department after Rafe claimed her.

  “I gave it away.” Rafe rubbed the muscles bunching at the base of his neck. He really hoped this would be the last time he encountered Clay.

  “You bastard! How dare you treat Alexis’s possessions like garbage.” Clay grabbed Rafe’s shirt.

  Rafe shoved him back a few steps. “I gave her stuff to the people and places she would’ve wanted to have her things go.” It was the last act of kindness he could ever do for her.

  “I want it all back!”

  “Collect it yourself. Cynthia knows where it all went.”

  “What’s left at the house?”

  “Nothing that belonged to Lexi. Ronni packed up everything for me. The house is hers now.”

  “Your blood-kin have no right to be in my daughter’s house. If you don’t get them out, I will.”

  Rafe kept his hands fisted at his sides so his fingers wouldn’t latch around Clay’s throat. “Stay away from my family, Clay.”

  “Like you stayed away from mine?” His cold, harsh laugh scraped Rafe’s auditory senses.

  “Get your blood-kin out of my daughter’s house.” Clay’s gaze cut to the tow truck. “Keep your paws and your cock to yourself. I won’t allow you to desecrate my daughter’s memory by whoring with other women.”

  Purple-faced, Clay barreled past Rafe.

  Rafe spun around and sank his fingers into Clay’s shoulder. “She is under my protection and if you go near her, it won’t end well for you.”

  “You promised to protect my daughter. Now she’s dead.”

  The truthful words punched Rafe in the solar plexus.

  He had failed to protect his mate. He’d grown too docile, too tame, too oblivious to the dangers of predators.

  It didn’t matter that they were in a protected sanctuary. He should’ve scented the intruder and stopped him before he focused his sights and pulled the goddamn trigger.

  He let go of Clay’s shoulder and took a deep breath.

  “I warned you to stay away from her. You didn’t listen.” Clay stepped so close Rafe had to tilt his face to lift his gaze to see something other than the bulging veins in Clay’s neck. “Stay away from her.” Clay jerked his head toward Grace inside the vehicle. “Or she may end up dead, too.”

  “Get away from my son!” Doc stormed down the porch steps and shoved Clay away from Rafe. “Keep licking that old wound if you want, but come near Rafe again and I’ll end this feud. Permanently.”

  Rafe’s father might appear harmless and gentle, but a human male couldn’t run with the Alpha wolf if he didn’t have the balls and fortitude to keep up.

  “So be it.” Clay spat and walked away.

  * * *

  “Everything okay?” Grace twisted in her seat to buckle the seat belt. Her lips still tingled from the kiss they’d shared, but she no longer had hopes of anything more developing tonight.

  “Peachy,” Rafe practically snarled. He jammed the key into the ignition and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

  Tires squealed as the Mercedes spun out of the driveway. She wished for a flock of birds to shit all over his shiny expensive car. Karma for spoiling Rafe’s good mood.

  “Who is he?”

  “Clay Reinhardt, my former father-in-law,” Rafe said, tight-lipped as turbulent emotions stormed in his eyes.

  Rafe snapped on his seat belt and eased onto the road. Grace waved goodbye to Doc, who stood by his car watching them leave. Such a nice man.

  Grace didn’t press Rafe further about the incident. She sat quietly, sliding through the day’s pictures on her phone. She smiled at the one of Rafe at breakfast. Head down, eyes focused on his plate, his intense expression left no doubt eating was serious business.

  Her favorite photo, of the dozens she’d clicked, was at the scenic overview. They’d huddled together for the selfie. Rafe’s chin rested on her shoulder, his cheek sealed against hers, his mouth firmly set, the shadow of a smile dancing in his bright, blue, devastating eyes.

  Before they arrived at the resort, Grace touched his arm, the muscle hard and warm beneath her fingers. “I’m sorry that jerk ruined the day.”

  “Why do you do that?” His hardened gaze fixed on her.

  “Do what?”

  “You say I’m sorry as if you actually have something to apologize for.”

  “Old habit,” Grace said. “When my dad was home on leave, sometimes the simplest thing would set him off. Somehow I was always to blame.” When the cat clawed the curtains, it was her fault because she wanted a pet. When her dad stepped on one of Matt’s Legos it was her fault because she hadn’t checked to make sure he’d put them all away. When her mom burnt dinner it was because Grace forgot to remind her to set the timer.

  “Grace.” Rafe interrupted her thoughts. “You aren’t responsible for the bad blood between me and Clay.” He glanced at her. “What you are responsible for is making today perfect.”

  Her insides melted. “Thank you.”

  He smiled a real, honest-to-goodness smile.

  It was merely a flash, but whoa! He should wear a label. Caution: Smiles can provoke heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and the
sudden urge to get naked and sweaty.

  She adjusted the air vent before she acted on the impulse.

  Chapter 18

  A gentle wind sifted through Rafe’s fur. He lay on a bed of new spring moss with a clear view of the first quarter moon hooked high in the heavens. Lower in the sky, a few storm clouds drifted north. By the time they were swollen enough to drop rain, they’d be hanging over Gatlinburg.

  Three feet away, Brice tipped his snout upward to watch a moth fluttering above his head, though his eyes kept flickering over to Rafe. Brice had never been as comfortable as Rafe was with silence.

  They were breaking curfew. Not that Brice cared about his father’s edict not to shift into their wolves after 10:00 p.m. He’d vocally opposed his father in private, and when Rafe said he wanted to talk, Brice had suggested a night run in the sanctuary, knowing Rafe was closer to his wolf nature than most in Walker’s Run.

  Tonight, Rafe had a hard time putting words to his thoughts. He struggled to make sense of the enigmatic pull toward Grace.

  All wrong for him, she was impulsive, scattered and human.

  All wrong for her, he was scheduled, organized and wolfan.

  But the sexual energy between them was damn near combustible. Coupling was inevitable. It was only a matter of time.

  Rafe didn’t agree with Gavin’s wait-and-see plan for Grace. She needed to know the truth and if the Alpha family remained silent, he needed to be the one to tell her.

  “How did you explain being Wahya to Red?”

  “She saw me shift on the night we met.” Brice’s blue eye glittered and his green eye seemed to glow. “Why?”

  “Grace deserves to know the truth. I don’t want her hurt, and the longer we keep her in the dark, the harder it will be for her to trust any of us.” Especially him.

  “Are you planning to tell her?”

  Rafe ignored the question and stretched out on his side.

  “You know the rules, man.”

  Wahyan law strictly forbade exposing one’s wolf to a human unless the human was in mortal danger, or if the human was the wolfan’s mate.