Fucking tail! It’s broken. She whimpered, curling into a ball and licking her fur where it hurt most. There was a bulge where the bone was cracked. It might just be a hairline fracture, she wasn’t sure, but it suddenly hurt like hell. Anger and adrenaline had sent her flying out of that den and in her rush, she’d done damage that would hinder the rest of her trip.
Katrin glanced around her, sniffed the air and watched warily for any other predators. An injured animal was fair game for all types. She could defend herself but at the moment she wanted only to rest and wallow in the stupidity that had resulted in her injury.
She sniffed the air the moment the smells around her changed. It wasn’t another animal or werewolf, but a pungent odor she didn’t recognize at first. When it grew stronger and the ripe smell of gasoline hit her, she jumped to her feet.
Katrin ignored the pain. The ground was vibrating and she heard a motor but she wasn’t near a road. When she spotted the three-wheeler she backed up into the trees, growling instinctively even though the rider wouldn’t hear her.
“Katrin!” a woman yelled.
What the hell?
Katrin focused on the rider. It was Heather McAllister, standing and holding the handlebars as she slowed and searched the trees.
“Damn it, Katrin. I know you’re in there somewhere. I’m sorry, okay?” Heather was yelling at her as she brought the three-wheeler to a stop, left it running and climbed off. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. I’m sorry I locked you in the room. I get stupid when I get mad, or at least that’s what Marc says.” The human female was walking toward the trees.
Katrin smelled her humility. She was sincere. She was actually apologizing to her. Heather kept walking, getting closer although she didn’t see Katrin lying behind the trees.
“I, uh, brought you some clothes. You’re taller than I am but they should fit. And Jarvis’ jacket is on the three-wheeler too. He and Marc are back there behind me.” Heather thrust her thumb over her shoulder.
Katrin looked in the direction Heather pointed. Jarvis had run after her? She hadn’t smelled him. Had she been hurt so bad that her instincts were numb?
“God damn it, I already got yelled at for locking you in the room. I’m sorry, Katrin. I know you’re in these trees somewhere. Don’t make me keep searching. I told the guys I wanted to apologize to you alone. It’s my stupid pride. I just get so pissed when anyone insults me because I’m human. Most of us are very good people. I’m sorry,” she wailed, carrying out the last two words.
Katrin knew she meant it.
“If you don’t come out soon the guys will come sniff you out. Please accept my apology. I didn’t mean for you to run off. I guess we both have sensitive areas that piss us off,” she added quietly.
Katrin stood and walked toward Heather. With each step the throbbing in her leg increased until she felt the pain in her teeth. It hurt like hell.
Heather spotted her and straightened, taking a step backward, but then forcing herself to stop. Katrin detected a trace of fear but Heather swallowed it. She was being brave and the human female actually earned a bit of Katrin’s respect for that.
“Oh God, you are hurt. Jarvis was right.” Heather spun around and ran back to her three-wheeler without further explanation.
Katrin stood where she was, remaining in the shelter and comfort of surrounding trees. She watched the human female snatch a bundle off the three-wheeler then yell, “She’s hurt!” before racing back to Katrin.
“Here are some clothes,” she offered, walking right up to Katrin and holding them out close enough for Katrin to smell them. “Jarvis said you would think they stunk like a human.” Heather’s smile and her shrug matched her continued smell of humility. Her honesty was no longer challenging and angry. “I can’t change how I smell and I know perfume doesn’t hide how I smell to a werewolf.”
Katrin barely had time to react when two large males bolted into the trees. One slowed when he neared her but the other damn near plowed into her. Katrin fell to her side and growled fiercely.
He was sniffing her everywhere. Katrin recognized Jarvis’ scent at the same time he discovered her injured leg.
Damn it! That hurts! She growled fiercely but Jarvis ignored her.
He licked her leg, sniffed it, taking his time, learning the extent of her injury before slowly raising his gaze and staring at her with concerned and pissed silver eyes.
Fool woman! He raised his lip, showing off long, dangerous-looking teeth. Don’t ever run from me again.
I wasn’t running from you. Her growls fell on deaf ears.
Jarvis straightened. He turned and looked at Marc and Heather. Katrin did the same. Both were watching them with solemn expressions. He barked once and Marc straightened, looking at Jarvis then shifting his attention to Katrin. Then turning, he nudged his mate.
“God damn it, Marc. You knock me on my ass and I swear I’ll smack you,” Heather snapped.
If Katrin weren’t in so much pain she might have laughed as the tiny human female tried bullying a large male werewolf in his prime.
“I don’t want to go.” Heather continued arguing with her mate as he began pushing her out of the trees. “She can ride back with me on the three-wheeler. I can get her to the house safely.”
Heather’s complaints faded when Marc managed to herd his mate out of the trees and away from Katrin and Jarvis. The human female didn’t understand. Katrin’s leg hurt really badly, but if she changed into her human form it would hurt a hell of a lot worse.
The three-wheeler revved up and Marc and Heather left them. Jarvis gripped Katrin’s fur with his teeth and helped pull her to her feet. He licked her gently, sniffing as he did. Katrin had never felt so pampered. Jarvis’ tongue was like heaven. For a few moments the pain subsided and she almost staggered from how good he was making her feel.
Jarvis rumbled in his throat and Katrin opened her eyes. She stared into his silver eyes, his face close to hers. He’d quit licking her and now simply stared. In their fur, he was so much larger, almost twice her size. He looked down at her and smelled so strongly of love she was overwhelmed. She couldn’t look away.
Announcing publicly that they were mated might possibly have been the most foolish act of her life. She’d been so shocked by the words she’d howled in an effort to protect them that she didn’t know how to react after the words were out. Publicly growling such permanent words bound her to Jarvis for life. Katrin knew if Jarvis didn’t want it, he would be able to run his way out of the mating. Another pack wouldn’t have heard her howling that they were mated. If Jarvis wished for his freedom, he would have it.
The way he looked at her right now, along with his rich, incredibly enticing scent, didn’t make her think he planned on running anywhere without her.
It had torn her heart out running from the one male she’d felt more of a bond with than any other she’d ever known. Not only was he incredibly sexy in his flesh and in his fur, he touched her and made her orgasm stronger than she’d known she could. His protective, dominating and honorable nature drew her to him, just as it had the night before when she’d sniffed him out at Howley’s.
Could Jarvis make her as happy as her sire did her mother? Was he the male she would run with the rest of her life? Hunt together? Fight together? Make love and be happy just as her mama and sire had been their entire life?
Thoughts of her sire and mama sobered her as so many memories of them appeared in her mind. Jarvis immediately smelled the change in her emotions and narrowed his gaze. He growled low in his throat.
It’s not what you think, she rumbled and stepped forward to nuzzle into his coat.
Katrin forgot about her injured leg momentarily and immediately went down in the hindquarters.
Damn it! She snarled, hating her injury. Katrin had believed jumping out the window her smartest move at the time. The human had locked her in the room after telling her they knew she was half Malta werewolf.
Oh shit. Now Jarvis k
new she was half Malta werewolf. She looked up at him as he pressed his body against hers, allowing her to lean on him. He definitely smelled of admiration and lust. Maybe she had imagined his lust smelled strong enough to be something longer term. But he hadn’t curled his nose in disgust or walked away.
They ran back to the McAllister den together. Jarvis paced himself alongside Katrin. When they were in the backyard, Katrin noticed a pile of clothes under a tree. The sweats Heather had offered her were folded next to them. They did stink of human and Katrin hesitated.
Jarvis didn’t. The change swept over him with impressive speed. He was a product of living in the mountains, just as she was, and having to move with swiftness just to stay alive. She also enjoyed the view as she stared up at his growing human form. When he stretched, muscles in his back and his ass twitched and flexed. There were a fair amount of scars on his body, but it was to be expected of a male his age.
“Stay right where you are. Don’t leave,” Jarvis ordered the second he had his jeans snapped.
He wagged a finger at her and she made a show of snapping at it. Jarvis laughed and ran into the den with his shirt in his hand. When he returned just minutes later, his shirt was still twisted around his torso. He held out clothes he’d grabbed from her backpack.
“These might smell better,” he said.
God, he was so damn sexy. His blond, tousled curls fell past his ears. She loved how he smiled, how he smelled, that incredibly drool-worthy body.
Katrin continued staring at him as she let the change take over. Slowly the sounds around her muted. The clarity disappeared as her eyes became human. Her senses dulled. But she barely noticed. As her spine changed shape and the bones and muscles in her body shifted from that of werewolf to human woman, her attention remained on Jarvis.
Then the pain set in.
“Ow!” she howled, her voice still half-human and half-werewolf.
“That’s it, my sweet little Cariboo.” Jarvis was ready for her. He hadn’t been standing there enjoying the view, but waiting for the pain to set in. “Let’s get you inside. The pack doctor is on his way.”
“I don’t need a doctor,” she said through gritted teeth. “Give me my clothes. I’ve been hurt worse before.”
“As have I,” he said, handing underwear to her but then remaining close so she could lean on him to put them on. “We might not always live like this, but for now we have the luxury of a doctor and assurance the bone won’t heal wrong. We might as well take advantage.”
Jarvis helped her finish dressing then scooped her into his arms.
“Hey!” She immediately twisted against him. Her leg throbbed too much to fight him but she had to do it. “I’m not being carried into that den.”
“Those mouthwatering breasts feel damn good smashed against my chest. Keep doing that. It makes up for me dressing instead of undressing you.”
“Damn it, Jarvis,” she complained.
He simply tightened his grip and entered the McAllister den.
“Bertha will be here any minute,” Marc announced, stopping at the bottom of the stairs when Jarvis bound up them with Katrin. “Just get her comfortable and I’ll keep Heather from trying to play nurse.”
“I heard that!” Heather yelled from somewhere downstairs.
* * * * *
Bertha was a salty old female who didn’t mince words or howl anything that didn’t need to be said. Katrin might have liked her if she weren’t in so much trouble.
“Clean break by the looks of it. Let’s get it wrapped up tight and see how she’s doing tomorrow. I’ve got pain medication that will make sleeping easier tonight.”
“I’ve never had pain medication and I’ve broken bones before,” Katrin managed. It was getting harder and harder to concentrate and she already knew it would be a sleepless night as she endured the pain until her bone began healing. For a werewolf, it might take up to three days before the bone was completely mended and the pain subsided.
“Then let me give you a treat. Open wide.” Bertha pulled a single pill and a bottle of water out of her bag. She opened the water bottle and held both to Katrin. “Bottoms up, my dear.”
Katrin accepted. Living without the pain until her bone was healed sounded like a decent plan. She popped the pill into her mouth and drank from the water bottle.
“Now there’s a good little bitch.” Bertha chuckled and pushed stringy gray hair from her face. She then ignored Katrin and spoke to Jarvis, who had been leaning against the far wall. “Come here and help me wrap this. My paws aren’t what they used to be,” she informed him, chuckling when she rustled around in her bag again.
Katrin didn’t notice her pain disappear. She barely was able to focus on Bertha or Jarvis as they tightly wrapped her leg and rested it on several pillows. Instead she faded into a dreamless sleep, one free of pain and worry over her future, her littermates, Jarvis or who would judge her for the blood that ran through her. The bed was incredibly comfortable and even the human smells that were prominent in the room didn’t bother her. Quite possibly, it was the best sleep she’d ever had in her life.
Chapter Seven
“Marc had to go into work,” Heather told Jarvis when he came downstairs the next morning.
Sleeping alongside Katrin had been heaven and pure torture. Her soft, sensuous body had barely moved. He had wrapped his arms around her and held her close. The wrappings around her leg were a continuous reminder that she was healing. Bertha had given her a drug strong enough to knock her out so she wouldn’t endure the initial pain while her leg healed. As much as he appreciated knowing he wouldn’t smell the pain and stubbornness of Katrin trying to prove she knew how to handle the healing of a broken bone—even if she had done it before—already he ached to have her awake.
“He told me to tell you he won’t be gone all day,” Heather was saying as she handed him a steaming cup of coffee. “Our house, or den, is yours while your mate is healing. Feel free to watch TV or do whatever you wish. I have to leave for work in a few minutes.” She spoke as she hurried around the kitchen, pulling frozen food from a microwave. It had absolutely no smell.
Jarvis hid his surprise when she hummed in approval after taking a bite. He wasn’t even sure what it was she ate. “Thank you,” he said, being humble. “You and your mate are very gracious in allowing Katrin to mend here.”
“How is she doing?” Heather asked, gulping coffee and eating whatever it was she was eating in a few gulps.
“She’s still asleep.”
Heather finished her breakfast and threw the cardboard plate she’d eaten the food from into a trash can under the sink. She swallowed her coffee, put the cup in the sink, then reached into a cabinet and took out another cup that had a lid on it. She poured coffee into it until it was full and put the lid on.
“Good. I’m sure she needs her rest. Marc told me she broke her leg. I feel so terrible. It’s all my fault.”
“Katrin will be fine by tomorrow,” Jarvis said, knowing he didn’t need to hide his scent from Heather. Nonetheless, he kept his frustration over the human pushing Katrin into running hidden the best he could.
Heather shook her head. “It’s not fair that werewolves heal so quickly and we have to lie and suffer in pain forever when we’re hurt.” She smiled at Jarvis as she hurried out of the kitchen. “Oh, Marc told me to tell you that your pack leader won’t come by until your mate is awake and coherent.”
Jarvis followed her into the living room and to the front door. He wasn’t looking forward to discussing his mating to Katrin until she was awake and the two of them had discussed it privately first.
“I have to go to work. Bye,” she called out and was out the door, closing it behind her.
Jarvis wasn’t comfortable hanging out in the McAllister den by himself. He’d never spent much time watching TV. Being whelped in the mountains and running through them most his life hadn’t offered the luxury of cable or internet.
After leaving a note for Katrin on
the nightstand, Jarvis left the McAllister den and walked along the highway into Prince George. McAllister’s den was a good ten miles from Toubec’s ranch. It was an overcast day and the temperatures were low, but enough humidity made the air thick and Jarvis was sweaty by the time he’d reached town. He stopped in Howley’s for a drink and to cool off before heading to Toubec’s to find Jaeger.
“Give me two longnecks, Shackley,” a lunewulf male at the bar said.
Jarvis stood next to the two lunewulf males ordering and made eye contact briefly, but long enough to smell their righteous stench as the one closest tried looking down his nose at Jarvis. It was a futile attempt since Jarvis stood several inches taller than the male.
“Whatever is coldest,” Jarvis told the bartender and parked his rear on the barstool.
He paid for the longneck and tipped the bartender generously before guzzling almost half of it. Cold perspiration dripped from the outside of the bottle. He fought the urge to roll the bottle across his forehead. In the mountains the temperatures never soared this high. He would need to get accustomed to it though, if the plan forming in his head was carried out. First, he needed to decide what to say to his littermate.
“Did you hear about the Malta werewolf?” the lunewulf next to him said to the other male and bartender.
“The howlings are there’s a female out at Toubec’s,” the other lunewulf said.
Jarvis glanced over at the lunewulfs at the same time the bartender did. Shackley growled but continued stacking boxes of beer behind his bar. He didn’t smell overly interested in the conversation. Jarvis was though. He focused on his beer bottle and listened while his stomach churned in disgust over the spicy anger and righteous stench of the two males next to him.
“What I heard,” the lunewulf sitting closest to Jarvis said, “is she killed one of those Cariboo while on a run.”
“I’ve heard she sent dishes flying inside the Toubecs’ den.”
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