A Wolf's Obsession

by Jennifer T. Alli

  Her mind began to wander, bringing images of his half naked body to the fore front of her thoughts in stunning detail. Focus, she scolded, shaking her head to dislodge the wayward thoughts. She needed to talk to Charlie not lust over her werewolf mate. Rolling her shoulders and working out the kinks in her neck, she strode into the dining room and couldn’t repress her smile of joy. The table was groaning loudly from carrying so much food. There was no way that she was going to lose this bet. Even when Wyatt smiled, poking his head out from behind the mountain of food piled in front of him her confidence didn’t waver. It didn’t matter that he seemed unconcerned with the sheer quantity of food that awaited him. She’d seen men that had prepared for eating contests fail when confronted with even half of what was on the table.

  That wish is mine. Rubbing her hands with glee, Kass sat down and waited for Wyatt’s inevitable failure.

  After the first dozen sausages, half a dozen eggs, thirteen rashers of bacon and eight slices of toast she wasn’t nearly as confident in her victory. She’d watched in horror as he’d steadily made his way through the mountain until it was no bigger than a mole hill and yet his pace hadn’t slowed.

  “Do you want some Kass? You haven’t eaten anything.” He smiled as he offered before popping another rasher of bacon into his delectable mouth.

  Unable to do anything more than shake her head, Kass felt the cold weight of disappointment settle in her stomach. His pace wasn’t slowing, if anything he was getting faster. She looked on helplessly as he polished off the meal that should have fed at least four with ease.

  Where does he put it all? She wondered, taking a moment to look over his body. There was nothing but muscle on him but he’d eaten the monster meal with the confidence of someone who ate that much on a regular basis. It was infuriating.

  Running a hand through his hair, Wyatt smiled. His body was finally firing on all cylinders. With the energy he’d gotten from his large breakfast, the hole in his chest was a thing of the past. He was completely recovered and owed a wish.

  “So,” Kass began sadly. “What do you want for your wish?”

  Leaning back in the chair, Wyatt folded his arms and smiled. “What do you think my wish is going to be?”

  It wasn’t hard to think of what the man sitting opposite her would want and she rolled her eyes hardly wanting to voice the words. Breasts, I hope you’re ready to expose yourselves. Wyatt was practically undressing her with his eyes. “I’m going to guess that it involves me naked.”

  “Hadn’t even thought of that but now that you mention it…” He purred, his eyes wandering over her covered chest clearly undressing her with his gaze. He wondered if her nipples were as pink as her lips and what the softness of her skin would taste like under his tongue before he shook himself out of his stupor. Seeing Kass naked might be what he wanted but it wasn’t his wish. He stood up and eliminated the distance between them. “My wish,” he ran his fingers along her cheek tenderly, “is to give you your wish. What do you want Kass? Name it and it’s yours.”

  She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m giving my wish to you.”

  “Why?”

  “All a wolf wants is to make his mate happy. You’re my mate and I want you to smile, to want to be here with me that’s all I’ll ever wish for. Who am I to deny you anything that could make you happy? Tell me what your wish is and I’ll grant it.”

  Shaking her head she got to her feet. “That isn’t really what you want Wyatt. I keep my word, that’s why I don’t make promises lightly.” She reached for the buttons on her shirt, her hands shaking as she popped the first button loose.

  “Kass stop.” Warm hands landed on top of her own and halted her hands in their tracks. “I was being serious when I said that my wish was for you to have yours. I’d love to see you naked but not like this. Your body is too precious to be won on a bet. Now what did you want for your wish?”

  Stunned by his words, Kass stood as still as a statue for long moments. She hadn’t expected this. I’ve never met a man that would give up a chance like this especially when he’s made it clear that he wants me.

  Wyatt smiled and brushed his lips against hers softly. “That’s because you hadn’t met your mate yet but I’m here now.” He pressed more firmly against her soft lips, breathing the sweet scent of her in. He might have wanted to see her naked but this was definitely more worthwhile. “What do you want Kass?” He kissed her again, stroking the embers of passion that lay dormant within her. “Tell me. Anything you want and it’s yours.”

  His kisses were turning her mind to mush but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She liked kissing him and could quite happily do it all day and even though she knew exactly what she wanted she couldn't help but tease him. “Anything?”

  The tip of his warm tongue traced her lower lip, sucking the tender skin into his mouth as they moved closer until their bodies were pressed firmly against each others. “Anything,” he confirmed.

  “So if I wanted you to take off all your clothes and go running in the wilderness that would be cool?”

  He didn’t even hesitate. “Of course. If that’s really what you want then I’ll have to work very hard to convince you to take your clothes off and join me.”

  She sighed as she pulled back and regained her bearings. Her wish was an important one. “I want to use your phone. I need to call my dad he’s going to be worried sick and I don’t want him to do anything stupid.” Like trying to attack Ethan to get me back.

  “Fighting to save your life isn’t stupid Kass. It’s noble. I like the sound of your dad. One day when my mind is...better I’m going to have to meet him and thank him for protecting you and keeping you safe all these years until I could find you.”

  “Wyatt, you really need to learn to stay out of my head.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s rude. People don’t go around reading each other’s minds.”

  His smile widened. “That’s because they can’t. It’s not my fault that some people aren't as lucky as we are. My mind is an open book to you, take a look whenever you want. I’m not going to try and stop you.”

  “Well we weren’t talking about your mind we were talking about mine and I don’t want you to try and take up permanent residence.”

  “But I like being in your head.” He sighed. “It’s soothing. This thing between us is going to help me get better. My mind isn’t right but as long as I can share yours then I’m going to heal. You wouldn’t deny a sick person their only chance at recovering would you?” he teased, wrapping a strand of her hair around his fingertip and marvelling at the silky texture of her fiery locks.

  “I thought you said that just being around me would help you to get better.”

  “It can’t hurt to try more than one thing and if they both work then I’ll be well again in no time.”

  Rolling her eyes Kass gave up. There was just no reasoning with some people especially if that person was a self confessed crazy person. “Phone.” Holding out her hand expectantly, Kass waited refusing to indulge Wyatt’s argument any longer. He’d won...for now.

  The smile never left his face as Wyatt reached into his pocket and handed Kass his mobile. He was enjoying spending time with his tempestuous mate. Who knew that arguments could be so much fun?

  “It isn’t meant to be fun Wyatt.”

  His smile widened so much that it could have outshone the sun. Standing up, he tugged playfully on the strand of her hair that had so fascinated him. “You’re lucky I like you so much otherwise I think this could be considered an invasion of privacy.” He slid the phone into her hand. “I’ll let you call your dad alone. Don’t say that I don’t know what manners are.”

  “I never said you didn’t have any manners.”

  He laughed as he left the room. “Well you should have done, this is a one off.”

  It seemed strange that just a few minutes ago she’d been desperate to get her hands on the sma
ll device that now weighed so heavy in her palm. Her mind was at war, her desire to let Charlie know she was safe fighting against her fear of the questions he was going to ask. Charlie was the most open minded man she’d ever met but her current situation would push even him to his limits. If she wasn’t going through it herself she’d never believe it. As soon as the thought crossed her mind Kass frowned. Charlie had spent his entire life dealing with unusual situations, he’d raised a phoenix, surely finding out werewolves existed wouldn’t even faze him.

  Gathering her courage, she let the familiar number fly from her fingertips. Long seconds passed, Kass’ grip on the phone tightening until her knuckles were white.

  “Hello?”

  She sighed in relief as Charlie’s voice filled her ears. “Dad?”

  “Kass? Is that you?”

  “It’s me dad.”

  “Thank god.”

  His relief was an almost tangible thing and guilt settled over Kass. While she’d been busy trying not to lust after her self proclaimed mate, Charlie had clearly thought the worst. “Sorry I didn’t call earlier. I’ve been….busy.”

  “Not important,” he said dismissively. “That doesn’t matter. Are you safe? Where are you?”

  She bit her lip. This was what she’d been dreading. “It’s hard to explain but I’ll try. Remember that man who was holding me a few days ago?”

  Suspicion filled his voice but he nodded in agreement. “Yes.”

  “Turns out that he wasn’t one of Ethan's men.” Now how to tell him the rest? She paused, took a deep breath and then decided that honesty really was the best policy. “Well he’s a werewolf and he thinks I’m his mate. And by mate I don’t mean friend, he thinks I’m his wife and he plans on keeping me here,” she rushed, the words tumbling out of her mouth. She clutched the phone tightly and waited expectantly for his reply. Her nerves were strung tight and getting tighter the longer he didn’t say anything. “Dad?”

  “Well that’s a damn sight better than you being with Ethan.”

  He was taking the news much too well. There was something going on. “You don’t sound surprised about this dad. I just told you that I’m living with a werewolf and that’s all you can say?”

  “I’ve always known that werewolves exist and even if I didn’t know that, I spent my whole life raising a phoenix and trying to keep her out of the hands of a mad man, werewolves aren’t going to cause me any sleepless nights.”

  “You knew about them,” she spat in accusation. “And you never told me?”

  Charlie sighed heavily. “Of course I told you Kass. All of those stories I told you when you were a baby…they were the history of your people. This thing with Ethan all started because of a werewolf and his mate.”

  Her head was starting to spin, her breathing becoming choppier but Kass fought to regain control of her body. If she fainted because of speaking to Charlie she had a feeling that Wyatt would be very reluctant to let her speak to her father in the near future. After being raised by Charlie she knew a lot about men and protection. Everything about Wyatt screamed that he would take protection to new limits.

  “Kass? Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine dad but those stories you told me I thought they were just fairy tales. I can’t even remember them.”

  “Well they weren’t Kass, they were history lessons. I wanted you to be prepared but apparently I wasn’t as clear as I could have been that the stories were important.”

  “Well I know that they’re important now. Refresh my memory…please.”

  “Once upon a time -“

  “Dad, if this actually happened then you can’t start with ‘once upon a time’ that’s how all fairytales start and that’s probably why I didn’t believe you in the first place.”

  “This is how the story was told to me and this is how I choose to tell it. The reason that I started like that is because no one knows exactly when this happened all that we know is that it did. Now stop interrupting and listen.” He sighed and continued his tale. “Once upon a time there was a phoenix who found out she was the mate to a werewolf. The phoenix had never thought to love anyone because she didn’t want to have to see those that she loved wither away and die but the werewolf was as immortal as she and he pursued her until she fell in love. The love that the two shared was as intense as a burning sun for the two were immortal and when immortals love they do so with every atom of their being. The two were blessed with many years of happiness but the werewolves were hunted by men who didn’t understand that they were not beasts and wished to see them all gone from the world.”

  Relaxing into her chair, Kass let the sound of Charlie’s voice calm her. After meeting Wyatt she was very much convinced that this story could have been true. Wyatt was intensity personified and if the trait had been passed down to him by his ancestors she knew that the phoenix in the story had never stood a chance against him. She chose not to think too hard about what that meant for her and continued listening to Charlie’s soothing voice.

  “The hunters cornered the werewolf and his phoenix mate. Though vastly outnumbered, the wolf fought hard to protect his mate but in the end they were both slain. The phoenix was reborn but her werewolf mate was gone forever from the world and the phoenix was wild in her grief. She took her own life and chose to come back to the world as a baby hoping that the innocence of new life would save her from remembering the loss of her beloved wolf. The phoenix grew into an adult without incident but when she turned twenty seven and the memories of her past lives returned to her she couldn’t cope. The grief was too raw to survive and so she set about finding a way to end her cursed immortality. There was no way that she could live in a world where her mate was not, she would find a way to join him permanently in the ever after.

  She tried many things but none could stop her coming back and remembering her loss, until one day she decided that her heart was too heavy to bear. She decided that the only way to end her suffering would be to remove the cursed organ from her chest. She found a man dying and gifted him with her heart and was finally reunited with her love. The man that had been given a phoenix’s heart lived one hundred years without ageing a day. He grew wealthy and had sons who, when asked about their father’s youth, were told tales of the woman with stars in her eyes that had saved him by giving him her heart.”

  “She gave away her heart?” After spending her entire life defending her own, the idea of simply giving it away was ludicrous to Kass and her hand rose to her chest in automatic defence.

  “Yeah she did and after the man died his sons began to hunt down phoenixes because they wanted to live longer and that’s where Ethan comes from. His ancestors managed to get their hands on the heart of a phoenix and he wants the same.”

  “He’s not getting my heart.”

  “No he’s not,” Charlie agreed. “Especially not if you stay with your werewolf.”

  “You want me to stay here?” She couldn’t believe her ears. Charlie was always the first one to demand she stay as close to him as possible after a close encounter with Ethan. He’d never ever told her to stay away.

  “I don’t know where you are but there’s no one that you’ll be safer with. If that wolf thinks you’re his mate he’ll lay down his life to protect you.”

  You don’t need to tell me that, he gave me his heart this morning. “You’re trusting a man that you’ve never met to protect me?”

  “I don’t need to know him Kass, you’re his mate.”

  She rolled her eyes at the words. She’d heard them all morning from Wyatt’s mouth, she didn’t need to hear them from her father’s as well. She quickly put that train of thought behind her. It wouldn’t do to dwell on Wyatt’s mouth, her cheeks were already flush from the brief reminder of his sinful lips. “He told me that already.”

  “You don’t seem to understand just how lucky you are Kass. You’ve found the love of your life just at the right time. Ethan has no idea about this wolf, he can’t find you and even if he did, yo
ur werewolf would be more than happy to take his head off if it meant protecting you.”

  “I never said that I loved Wyatt.”

  “Wyatt? Is that his name? I like him already.”

  “Well you’re not the one expected to fall in love with him. He’s…” Her words trailed off. She might not love Wyatt but what went on between them was private. Charlie might be her father but he didn’t need to know about Wyatt’s madness. “He knew Emily.”

  “So what if he knew her? She’s gone now and he has you. You’re perfect and don’t let anyone tell you different. If he knew Emily then he knows what it’s like to lose her, he’ll be even more careful when it comes to protecting you.”

  Kass couldn’t help but smile at his words. “You sound just like him.”

  “Well you know what I always say.”

  Her smile widened even further. “Great minds think like mine,” she chuckled.

  “Exactly. Kass.” His voice turned serious. “Kass have you got your meds?”

  She’d completely forgotten about the pills that had once been as essential as air. “No.”

  His voice turned cold. “No,” he screamed. “What do you mean no? Those things are keeping you alive.”

  “Wyatt’s doing a pretty good job of that by himself.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do I,” she muttered under her breath. Running her fingers through her already messy hair she sighed. “I had an attack but Wyatt managed to get my heart back under control. He seemed pretty confident that he can do it again if I have another attack and he’s making sure that I’m not doing anything that would put me at risk.”

  Charlie’s relief was almost a tangible thing. “You’re not really doing a very good job of convincing me that you shouldn’t be there. The fact that he can control your heart is just proving to me that you and him should be together. I know that you aren’t prepared for a situation like this, your heart has made sure of that, but this really is what’s best for you. I don’t know where you are and neither does Ethan. There’s only a few weeks until your birthday and after that you can have a normal life. I don’t want to know where you are and I don’t think you should contact me again unless it’s a matter of life or death.”