Waking Sarah

by Krystal Shannan

  Chris moved quickly and enveloped Sarah’s shivering form within his arms again.

  “You have to stop doing this,” she whispered into his chest.

  “It helps.” He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head then rubbed his cheek gently against her silky red hair. “You smell like flowers.”

  “You smell like grass.”

  He chuckled and loosened his grip. Her breathing and heartrate had returned to normal. “Walk with me?”

  Sarah nodded.

  Siobhan waved and turned back to the inn.

  He took Sarah’s hand in his and led her down the path deeper into the forest. Birds chirped, and the wind rustled the leaves and needles of the pines above their heads. He loved this mountain. It was easy to see why Margaret didn’t miss Vegas. The fresh crisp air was invigorating to his wolf.

  They walked out of the trees into a small clearing. A squirrel dashed away from them, sputtering noisily. He grinned. The little varmint knew he was a wolf and was announcing to the world how dangerous he was. Still, the constant chatter was mildly annoying.

  “Watch this.” He released Sarah’s hand, allowed his magick to flow over his vocal chords, and growled at the squirrel. The sound that carried across the meadow was distinctly animal, and the squirrel dropped the pine cone he’d been examining and made a mad dash away from them.

  He looked back at Sarah. Her head was cocked to the side, and her heart rate was elevated again, but she was in control. Good. Progress was being made. He smiled, but her lips only twitched in response, never revealing the beautiful white teeth behind her luscious pink lips.

  “How did you do that?”

  “We can direct our magick to transform a certain part of our body, instead of completely changing us.”

  She swallowed and walked over a few feet to a fallen log and sat down.

  “I always thought I was sick,” she started. A tear rolled down her cheek.

  Chris knelt on the ground in front of her, grabbing both of her hands. “You’re not sick. You are special.”

  “That’s not what’s it’s felt like for the past twenty-something years. I’ve had doctor after doctor try to diagnose me with scheizophrenia or some other disorder. But my mom refused to let me ever take anything more than a sleeping pill. She insisted there was nothing to be done, but to hide from it.”

  Her sobs wrenched at his heart. Gods, how horrible it must have been to have a voice in your head that you couldn’t communicate with.

  “Her wolf might be in pain from so many years of isolation. You will need to watch her closely while she adjusts.”

  Are you saying she will be in danger?

  “Yes,” his wolf answered.

  “I’m so sorry you’ve suffered with this, Sarah. I promise it will get better. We can make you whole.”

  “I just want you to take the voice away,” she cried, squeezing his fingers. “Can’t you just take it out?”

  He shook his head. “She’s part of you. You’re two halves of a whole.”

  “Why can’t Siobhan or Kate or whoever just make another spell to cast her out instead of waking her up. I don’t want to hear her all day long. I’ve nearly gone mad hiding from her at night. I just want it to be over. All of it.”

  Warning bells resonated in his mind. His wolf was right. She was in danger, but mostly from herself. It wasn’t her wolf that was ready to give up.

  “Sarah.” Her name slid easily from his lips. “I’m going to shift. I want you to watch. This isn’t something to be afraid of. Being a werewolf is a wondrous thing.”

  She was trembling, and her heart was racing, but she nodded. He stood and stepped back a couple of feet, shucking his T-shirt and then his pants. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t speak. The scent of arousal rose from her body, and he noted her pupils dialate.

  ***

  He was stripping right in front of her. His pants and shirt lay tossed to the side, and now he was staring at her as though she was the one undressing. She licked her lips and let her gaze caress his beautiful golden body. Rippling muscles outlined his chest like a beautifully carved marble statue, and his legs were strong and hard. If only he’d turn and give her a glimpse of his fine ass.

  The panic that’d been choking her over living with the dreaded voice twenty-four-seven morphed into arousal. She shifted on the tree trunk, acutely aware of the wetness pooling between her legs. It wasn’t right. She shouldn’t be attracted to him. It was too soon. She was a mess. She didn’t need this.

  The last bit of clothing was chucked to the side, and Chris stood before her in all his naked glory. His cock was erect and pointed directly at her, and she found herself wanting nothing more than to touch him and run her hands across his beautiful body.

  Wrong. Wrong. Stop thinking about him like that.

  A blur of something passed over his body, and a second later, a gray wolf stood in Chris’s place. His golden eyes glowed with awareness.

  The wolf’s mouth opened, allowing a long pink tongue to loll out to the side.

  She giggled. He was a wolf.

  He’d really stripped down to his birthday suit and changed into a wolf right in front of her. Just like Heath had morphed from a lion to man and then back into a lion.

  It was crazy.

  But it had happened. She’d watched it.

  The wolf stepped closer, and she reached out, rubbing her hand along his head and back behind his ears. His white and gray coat was so soft.

  “Do you like your ears scratched?”

  He woofed softly and licked her arm.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  She moved both hands to each side of his face and dug her fingers deep into his fur. His tongue stretched out and licked the tip of her nose. She laughed, letting him loose and wiping her nose with the back of her arm. When she looked up again, Chris’s brown eyes peered back at her, darkened and swirling with heat. He’d shifted back.

  His light brown hair curled against his forehead, and she ran a hand through it without thinking. He leaned forward on his knees and pressed his lips against hers, wrapping an arm around her waist. He tugged her gently forward until she was pressed to his chest. His lips were soft and coaxed her tight ones with little caresses from his tongue. She gave in, opening her mouth to his explorations. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, touching every part. She moaned a little into his mouth and heard a familiar rumble in his chest. This time it didn’t scare her. This time it just felt right.

  He tugged her down to the ground and laid her out before him. She shivered, and excitement fluttered across her skin like thousands of butterfuly wings. He leaned down and pressed kiss after kiss to her face and neck, trailing slowly down along her collerbone. One of his hands skimmed across her stomach, tracing her bellybutton and dragging the hem of her shirt upward. She was lost in the sensations of his exploration. His mouth closed around one of her erect nipples, eliciting a gasp from her.

  When did he pull the shirt up that far?

  It didn’t matter. It felt so good. Her back arched, pushing the breast closer. She wanted to feel...anything...something besides the pain she’d been living with for six months. But it was wrong to lead him on. She couldn’t do that to him.

  “Chris,” she whimpered. “Chris, please stop.”

  He released her breast immediately and locked gazes with her. “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t do this. You’re too nice, and I’m a mess, and I can’t lead you on like this. I don’t have anything to give you. I can’t be in a relationship or a fling...or whatever it is that we’re doing. It’s too soon.”

  He nuzzled her bare breast again. She closed her eyes for a second and sucked in a breath. “What do you feel when I touch you?”

  “Pleasure.”

  “Nothing else?” he questioned, raising his eyebrows quizzically.

  There was more, but it was wrong. She couldn’t tell him. It was betraying Brad and her feelings to him. He was dead, but she’d loved
him more than anything in her world. Now a new world was being shown to her. A new love was blooming. And all she could feel was guilt.

  “Guilt.”

  His eyes softened, but they still swirled with golden hues. “If you feel guilty, then you must feel something to be guilty over.”

  Tears burned in her eyes. No. She didn’t deserve to fall in love again. Her chance at happiness had been stolen. Brad’s had been stolen. It wasn’t right.

  “Please take me back to the inn.”

  Pain masked his face for a moment before he nodded. He stood, dressed quickly, and offered her a hand, lifting her to her feet. She rearranged her shirt and shorts, smoothed her hair, and padded quietly after him along the path back to Woodhaven.

  ***

  Chris sat up suddenly in bed. Something had roused him. He listened to the wind outside and the creaking of the inn. Then the soft sound of sobbing drifted in through his door.

  He slid from his bed and moved silently down the hall. Multiple pairs of golden eyes lit the end of the hallway in the girls’ wing.

  “We have her, Chris,” Sam’s voice murmurred softly. “Siobhan told her not to take the sleeping pills. It’s going to be a rough night.”

  A sigh slipped from his chest. He nodded. “I’ll make her some hot chocolate.”

  Sam nodded and slipped into Sarah’s room. Margaret and Siobhan followed close behind with the other Demakis sisters.

  He turned and headed for the stairs, but her sobs tore at his heart. If there was something he could do, anything, he would do it to save her from this pain. The meds she’d been on would make it harder for Siobhan to wake her wolf. He knew she needed to get them out of her system, but he also knew what a precarious emotional state she was in. What if it was too much for her? What if the wolf overwhelmed her?

  “You can’t fix everything.”

  He wiped moisture from his eyes and hurried down the stairs. I need to fix this.

  “Just because you can’t fix your mother’s broken heart, doesn’t mean you have to fix Sarah’s.”

  She’s supposed to be mine.

  “You don’t know that for sure.”

  He shoved through the front door of the inn and out into the icy morning air. Confusion hung around him like a black cloud. He’d wandered alone for so long. Following his brother into the military had given his life some purpose, at least for a while. But when his brother found his mate last year, it’d been like a knife to the gut. Chase hadn’t even been looking. He’d just stumbled across Sam in an airport.

  But Chris had pined over one girl after another, his heart longing to find the one meant to be his soul mate. His parents had always been so happy together. They’d depended on each other and completed each other. He wanted that. He’d wanted it for so long. But fate had denied him a mate year after year. He was eighty years old. He wanted a family of his own.

  Now everything around him had fallen apart. His father had been killed. The Alpha and Beta of the pack was gone along with others. His brother was stepping into the Alpha role, and he had been pushed into accepting the mantle of Beta. His mother cried every night, and the sound tortured his heart. They sounded eerily like the sobs coming from Sarah’s room right now.

  He couldn’t handle it. Another broken woman. Another disappointment.

  They would wake her wolf when the full moon rose. Then his fanciful future with Sarah would dissapear like the fog in the forest when the sun rose. Once her wolf was awake, he wouldn’t be able to pretend she was meant to be his any longer.

  He drew in a deep breath and turned back. He slipped quietly back inside and made his way through the commons area, down the front hallway, through the dining area, and into the kitchen. His brother sat at the breakfast bar sipping on a mug of coffee.

  “Jeez. What are you doing up?”

  “Couldn’t sleep,” Chase answered.

  Chris glanced over at the counter again, noticing a mess of papers spread across it. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to figure out how Peter and Keith kept the casino running smoothly as well as everything else that has to do with running the pack. Scott is covering expenses here at Woodhaven, but I have to figure out casino work schedules and taxes, and...Gods! There’s just so much crap I never knew they took care of. Sam is getting a residency at Vegas General Hospital. I told her she needed to pursue her love of medicine, no matter where it was.” He stopped and stared at him. “Sorry.”

  Chris shrugged. “No problem. Sometimes it’s good to just get it off your chest.” He dug through the cabinets and got a kettle going for the hot chocolate. “If there’s something I can do to help. Let me know.”

  “I need you here to get Sarah acclimated to her wolf then bring her back to Vegas, and we will get her situated in Margaret’s old house. Scott and Margaret are getting rooms here ready for the next two latents. They will live at Woodhaven for the time being.”

  “Next two?” Chris raised an eyebrow and pulled the singing teakettle from the red-hot burner. “Already?”

  “Yes, Kyle and Griffin are en route with Paul and Leslie Cartwright and Bonnie and Joe McLain.”

  He poured hot water into the mug and found the powdered mix for cocoa. “I hate that we have teenagers out doing this.” He paused. “Why are Bonnie and Joe headed back?”

  “Kyle and Griffin are fine. Their dad is doing most of the legwork. They are just playing chauffeur. Bonnie caught onto the tail we had on her, and she demanded to know what was going on.” Chase paused and met his gaze. “How’s Mom?”

  It would be easier on Sarah if her mom and dad knew, even though her dad was human. Old laws didn’t really apply to these new situations. The Council had always eliminated latents. No one had ever attempted to awaken them.

  Chris shook his head. “Mom’s not good.”

  “She left when Bonnie did. Our sister went with her,” Chase stated softly.

  “I know.”

  “I didn’t know she still cried at night.”

  Chris sighed. “She will get there. It’s gonna take some time though. Think about losing Sam then multiply it by nearly two hundred years.”

  His brother shuddered visably and nodded.

  “Are you ready for the ceremony tonight?”

  “Yes, but have they told her I’m going to bite her yet?” Chase mumbled.

  Chris snorted. “No, I don’t think so.” The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He was jealous his brother would get to taste Sarah. But only the pack alpha could bind a wolf to a pack. Kate’s magick would wake her. Hopefully the old witch knew what she was doing. “I’ll tell her.”

  “You like her, don’t you?”

  He picked up the mug of hot chocolate and started toward the door. “It doesn’t matter.”

  A scream from upstairs urged him to walk faster. He climbed the stairs two at a time, managing not to spill a drop. He stopped outside of Sarah’s room. Scents and sounds from inside told him the room was full.

  “No! Stop!” Sarah yelled.

  “Sarah, it’s Siobhan, sweetie. It was a dream. You’re in your room.”

  “I need a pill. I’ll be fine,” Sarah murmured. “I’m so sorry I woke you all up.”

  “Sarah, you can’t have a pill. You have to stay off the meds so Kate can perform the spell,” Margaret whispered.

  “I’ve changed my mind.” The springs creaked on the bed. “I want a pill. I don’t want a wolf. Get out of my room.” Sarah’s voice grew harsher and higher.

  “Tell me about the dream. What happened,” Siobhan asked.

  “No! Get out! All of you!”

  He pulled open the door and stepped inside. “Sarah.” Her eyes widened at the rumble of his voice. “My sister always liked hot chocolate after a bad dream.” He held up the mug and walked to the side of the bed.

  “I’m not talking about it.”

  “That’s fine. It’s hard to talk while you’re sipping on hot chocolate.” He winked and noted with satisfaction that her
heartrate had already relaxed. “You girls go. I’ll sit with her.”

  Siobhan gave him a piercing glare but said nothing. She and the other girls filed out of the room slowly.

  He sat on the edge of the bed and handed Sarah the steaming mug. The soft lamplight from the nightlight in the bathroom cast an orange glow in the room. Her red hair rippled with highlights, and he knew he’d never seen a woman more beautiful.