“What do you mean?”
“Debi loves to gossip. I imagine she and Sharon will try to pry as much information out of you as they can. Don’t feel you have to share anything you don’t want to.”
Again she nodded. “I’ve read about these kinds of get-togethers. I guess it’s high time I actually experienced one, even if it scares me to death.”
For a second, he looked puzzled. Then, as his handsome face cleared, he slung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close for a hug. Just touching him, no matter how briefly, made her feel better.
“How long will you be gone?” she asked. Then, embarrassed, she shook her head. “What I meant to ask is how long will this girls’ night last?”
“Probably three or four hours, I’d guess. You’ve got the movie, plus snacks and drinks. If I know Debi, there’ll be lots of good food.”
Again she swallowed, trying to ignore the flutter of panic in her belly. “What should I wear?”
At this, he chuckled. “Wear whatever you want. I imagine everyone will want to be comfortable. You can wear jeans or shorts with a T-shirt.”
Though she felt as if her feet were rooted to the floor, she managed to walk a few steps away. “And you’ll be in the woods with your brothers? Hunting?”
“Yep. Changing. Hunting as wolves.” The way he flashed his teeth in a quick smile reminded her of a wild animal. “It’s been way too long for me. I really need this.”
At the thought, she shuddered. She couldn’t help herself.
Kane’s gaze sharpened. He’d seen. Thankfully, he didn’t comment. Heaven help her, but she thought he might really understand. She didn’t know if she should feel warm and fuzzy about that, or afraid.
Chapter 7
For the next several hours, Lilly tried on different outfits from her limited wardrobe, paced in front of the full-length mirror, and tried to rehearse possible conversations inside her head. She’d probably speak as little as possible, but she also wanted to be prepared. She knew the other women were extremely curious about what her life had been like as a captive for fifteen years and needed to find a polite way to say “none of your business.”
Other than that, she supposed she’d survive. That didn’t prevent her stomach from twisting in a knot, though.
Exactly two hours and thirty-five minutes later, she stepped into the living room, as ready as she was ever going to be. Kane sat on the couch, reading. He looked up, his gaze traveling over her, the warm glow of his approval making her feel hot. “You look...perfect.”
Attempting a smile, she finally gave up and settled for a nod. “I wish I wasn’t so nervous.”
Pushing himself up in a fluid motion, he crossed the room to her. She stood frozen as he loomed over her. Heart in her throat, she stared up at him, wondering. One side of his mouth curved in a smile as he reached out and casually fingered a tendril of her hair. She sucked in her breath, heat pooling in her lower body. Her heart pounded and she wondered if he would hug her or...something. Instead, he simply smoothed her hair away from her face. The gesture felt more intimate than a kiss, making her feel even more exposed and naked.
And more. She burned.
Shocked, she jerked away, hand to her throat, breathing fast. He didn’t speak, or come after her. He just let her go.
Which was good. Wasn’t it?
Rattled and confused, she pushed past him to the front door. As she stumbled outside, she inhaled fresh air, her mind whirling.
What exactly had just happened?
The sound of car tires on gravel interrupted her attempt to think things through. A bright red convertible, top down, pulled up. Debi, her mop of curly black hair secured by a colorful, paisley scarf, waved. “Are you ready?”
Glancing back at the cabin, Lilly nodded. She reached for the car handle and turned one more time. Relief flooded her as Kane appeared in the doorway, lifting his hand in a wave. She waved back and then got in the car.
Debi grinned at her and gunned the motor, making the tires spin and kick up dirt and rock. She cranked up the radio as they barreled down the narrow road, taking the turns as effortlessly as Kane’s car had while Lilly gripped the door handle and tried not to look worried.
To her surprise, they’d barely turned from the gravel road onto the paved main one, before Debi hung a quick right. “We all live on part of the family land,” she explained, correctly interpreting Lilly’s silent question. “You could have actually walked here if you’d cut through the woods, but I was afraid you’d get lost since you’re not familiar.”
Debi’s rapid-fire way of talking made Lilly’s head ache, even though the other woman’s tone was friendly.
They pulled up in front of a beautiful stone and wood A-frame house. Two other vehicles, a white minivan and a four-door sedan, were parked in the drive.
“Sharon’s already here,” Debi told her, killing the engine and jumping out of the car. She raced across the drive toward the house, moving gracefully despite her platform heels.
Lilly glanced at her own flip-flops and shrugged. She climbed from the car and hurried after the other woman, who’d already disappeared inside. The front door stood wide open and the sounds of music and laughter drifted out.
Hesitating, Lilly smoothed her shirt down and took a deep breath. She placed one foot after the other, making her way toward the kitchen.
The instant she went around the corner, Debi looked up, beaming, and motioned her forward. “You know Sharon. She makes the best margaritas.”
On cue, Sharon reached for a pitcher and, her long, perfectly manicured nails gleaming, poured some into a blue-rimmed margarita glass. “Here you go.”
Accepting the drink, Lilly took a sip. To her surprise, it tasted good. “I like this,” she marveled, realizing too late she should have tried to keep the shock out of her voice.
Both Debi and Sharon laughed. “Of course you do!” Sharon’s long, red curls bounced as she moved. The freckles that covered her pale skin looked as if they’d been painted on, a kind of natural adornment. Next to the two vibrant women, Lilly felt mousy, with her straight, dirty-blond hair and ordinary figure. But they took her in to their circle as if she was just like them, and made her feel welcome and at home.
The next couple of hours passed before Lilly realized it. They talked and joked and watched a long, mushy movie that she didn’t entirely understand, but which made the other two women cry. She lost track of how many of the delicious margaritas she had, but it didn’t seem to matter as she didn’t feel any different.
At least, until she got up from the couch to go to the bathroom and the entire room tilted crazily. “Oh, gosh!” she said, and then giggled. Which so wasn’t like her, but she didn’t seem to care.
Debi and Sharon giggled with her. “Careful, honey. There’s more tequila in that drink than you realize.”
Lilly nodded, but that only made the spinning worse. She stumbled into the small powder room and closed the door. When she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she stared. Her pupils looked dark and unfocused and why on earth was she smiling that goofy smile?
She moved too quickly and the room spun. She began to feel queasy and had the uneasy feeling she might get sick.
Gripping the door frame to steady herself, she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. When she made it back to the den where the movie credits were just now rolling, she went over to Debi and lightly touched her arm. “I need to go home.”
Debi peered at her, squinting as if her eyesight had become impaired. “I thought you were staying the night?”
Pushing back the stab of panic, Lilly shook her head, which turned out to be a mistake. “No. I don’t...feel well.”
The other woman stared at her with a mixture of fascination and horror. “Are you about to get sick?”
“I don’t know.” Lilly concentrated on a single spot on the wall, willing everything to stay still. “But it’s likely. And if you don’t mind, I’d rather do that in my own cabin.”
Debi and Sharon exchanged glances. “Neither one of us is in any shape to drive.”
“That’s fine,” Lilly hurried to say. “Earlier you said I could have walked here. If you’d just point me in the right direction, that’s what I’ll do.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go stumbling around in the woods,” Sharon put in drily. “Why don’t you stay a while longer, have some water or coffee, and see how you feel?”
But a sense of urgency had taken hold and wouldn’t let go. Lilly had to fight the urge to run for the door and rush out of there. “Really, I’ll be fine.”
She must have sounded convincing or, more likely, the others were equally impaired because Debi finally shrugged. “Fine. I’ll walk outside with you and show you which way to go. As long as you stay headed that direction, you’ll end up back at your cabin.”
Lilly thought she did a convincing job of walking a straight line as she followed Debi outside. Sharon hadn’t protested, too occupied with mixing up one final batch of margaritas. Lilly imagined the two of them would pass out on the sofa before the night was over.
Once they reached the driveway, Debi marched around to the back of the house. She pointed to a star shining through the upper tree branches. “Follow that star and you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks.”
“I’d go with you,” Debi offered half-heartedly. “But these shoes weren’t made for tromping around in the woods. At least you don’t have to worry about wild animals. They tend to leave our kind alone.”
Our kind? Lilly guessed she meant Shifters. She started forward, keeping the star in her sight. One wave and Debi turned around and went back into the house, leaving Lilly alone.
She could do this. Slipping into the woods, Lilly breathed in the scents of pine and oak and earth and felt her head clearing. Moving carefully as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she felt a thousand times better. Even better, the alcohol appeared to have put the monster inside her into some kind of stupor.
Since she didn’t have a watch, she had no way of knowing how much time had passed, but after walking a while, always keeping that dang star in view, she thought she should have come across some part of Wolf Hollow. Instead she came to a small stream, managed to cross it and continued on, hoping she didn’t end up lost.
A while later, she had to admit defeat. Stopping next to the massive trunk of an ancient oak, she pondered her next move. Should she stay put and wait for the sun to come up or continue on and hope for the best?
The sound of a wolf howl made her freeze. It was close. Really close.
Since Kane and his brothers were out here somewhere, hunting in their wolf shapes, she hoped it had come from one of them rather than a wild animal. But then she realized she didn’t even know if they’d recognize her while they were wolves. She knew pathetically little about her own kind and what she’d managed to learn before being taken prisoner, she’d been forcibly made to forget. While she knew what she’d been taught—that they were demons out to take souls—was nonsense, she couldn’t shake her terror.
Heart pounding, she felt around on the tree, wishing she could find a branch so she could pull herself up.
Something screamed—the shrill death cry of a small animal. Lilly froze, horrified.
At that instant, the thing inside her made a break for freedom.
Defenses down, Lilly reacted a second too late. Alcohol had dulled her senses. She slammed her mental barrier down, but the beast had already begun reshaping her body. Painfully.
As she fell to all fours, she let out a cry of pain, an awful cross between a howl and a snarl. Dimly, she realized her clothes were tearing as her bones elongated. With her last human thought, she hoped none of the others found her. She’d learned the last time how deadly her monster was to anyone or anything that dared approach it.
Kane. As she pushed herself off the leaf-strewn forest floor, noting the blood among the pieces of human clothing, she squashed the awful urge to use the last remnants of her human voice to call him to her.
But she couldn’t. Not only did she know she couldn’t bear him to see the horrible beast she was inside, but she would be dangerous to him. Not only to him, but to any male shifter.
Long ago, in the midst of the too-horrible-to-think-of experiments, the doctors of Sanctuary had performed on her, she’d listened and learned they wanted eventually to mate her and get her with child. A super-beast, they’d called it. They’d wanted to create an army of demons eventually.
At that moment she’d vowed to do whatever was necessary to prevent that from happening. Even as they’d injected her with hormones, used specially formulated pheromones to make her irresistible to Louis, the other poor soul they’d captured, planning to put them together and perpetuate the most unholy indignity of all.
And then he’d died. Poor Louis had been tortured and experimented on as much as she. They’d said too much testosterone and steroids had made his heart give out. Jacob Gideon, the man who’d called himself her father, had not been pleased.
As she moved forward, keeping to the shadows to better hide her misshapen form, she realized with a start that her thoughts were still logical, clearly human. Not the mishmash of furious rage she’d come to associate with her other self.
Strange. Emboldened by this, she moved forward, using her powerful nose to track the presence of Kane and his brothers. Though her beast’s natural instinct was to seek them out, Lilly had enough self-control to push in the opposite direction. She would hunt, for the first time in nature since she’d been fifteen, and then make her way back to the cabin so she could regain her human form.
Hopefully, no one would be any the wiser.
A small rabbit was foolish enough to cross her path. When it saw her, rather than running, it froze. She made short work of killing it, feasting on the fresh meat. Then, leaving only the fur and a few small bones, she lifted her snout and scented the wind, searching for the unique scent of mankind.
* * *
Wolf Kane skidded to a stop, causing his brother Kris to crash into him. He snarled a quick warning, but barely spared either of his siblings a glance. Below him lay the fresh remains of a recent kill. And the scent of something else, a Shifter perhaps, but no scent he recognized.
Kyle growled low in his throat, making the same connection. No one in town was foolish enough to hunt on the McGraw family land without an invitation. Since he and his brothers had made their plans way in advance for this night, he knew no one local would have come here.
Then who?
The scent, decidedly female, made his wolf self go into high alert. His brothers, even though they’d already found their mates, whined. The scent made them uncomfortable rather than aroused. Which meant the scent only affected him.
A sneaking suspicion made him freeze. Lilly? He discounted the idea. She was with Sharon and Debi.
Another female Shifter. Remembering what Shawn had said about Anabel Lee, he snarled. Spinning on his paws, he took off for the place where they’d left their clothing. Once he’d changed back to human form, he’d get to the bottom of this.
His brothers were close on his heels as they raced for the protected clearing where they’d first shifted into their wolf shapes.
* * *
Not only was her sense of smell forty times better, but her animal self had eyes that could see much better in the dark. She managed to locate the cabin, even though not a single light was burning. Padding up as close as she dared, she lowered her belly to the ground and tried to force the beast to let her have her human shape again.
Of course, monster that it was, it resisted.
Keeping her breathing deep and even, Lilly employed the techniques she’d been taught. Despite having learned them at the hateful hands of the doctors of Sanctuary, they were effective. In a few moments, her body began to contort and twist. She found this part extremely painful, but eventually she was herself again. Naked, sore and aroused, which she always seemed to be for
some reason.
At least no one was around to witness her humiliation. Not like the old days at Sanctuary.
Tiredly, she pushed to her feet and padded up on the porch, hoping Kane hadn’t locked the door. Luck was actually on her side, and the knob turned easily.
Once inside, she headed straight for the shower. Under the hot water, she shampooed her hair and soaped every inch of her skin, and then repeated it all for good measure.
When she’d finished, she toweled off, found a clean T-shirt and panties, and climbed up on the bed, not even bothering to turn on the light. Closing her eyes, she let herself slide off to sleep.
* * *
Once he’d become human again, Kane grabbed his clothing and got dressed. Behind him, both of his brothers were doing the same.
“What the hell was that?” Kyle came up beside him, frowning. “I didn’t recognize the scent.”
Teeth clenched, Kane managed to shrug. “I don’t know. Are you familiar with every local Shifter’s scent?”
“Pretty much,” Kris joined them. “At least any of the ones who’d be running on our land. This one wasn’t local.”
“A tourist?” Kyle scratched his head. “That’d be kind of weird. They’d know to check in with the town Pack, who’d give them directions to the safe common area for changing.”
“I’m betting this wasn’t a tourist,” Kane said, already striding off toward Wolf Hollow. “I have a pretty good idea who it might have been.”
As his brothers hurried after him, their sharp intake of breath told him they’d realized who he meant.
“Lilly?” Kyle jogged up next to Kane. “Do you think she’s finally over her issues with shifting?”
“I don’t know,” Kane said.
“She’s supposed to be with Sharon and Debi,” Kris put in. “So I doubt that was her.”
Cutting across the swath of forest that led to Kris and Debi’s house, Kane slowed to a jog when the stone building came into view, halting before he reached the sidewalk. Kyle did the same, but Kris strode past them, heading for the front door.
The Wolf Siren Page 10