The Wolf Siren

by Karen Whiddon

  Exchanging a quick look, Kane and Kyle followed.

  Once inside, the blaring television was the only sound. The half-empty tequila bottle, a glass pitcher and three matching margarita glasses bore testament to the party the women had enjoyed earlier.

  None of the women was anywhere in sight. Of course, Kane glanced at the wall clock, it was nearly 1:00 a.m.

  Kris reappeared. “Debi’s asleep in our bed and Sharon has the guest room. I can’t find Lilly, though.”

  “Wake Debi up,” Kane demanded. “I need to know what happened to Lilly.”

  Though Kris didn’t look too happy at the prospect, he went to get his wife.

  A few minutes later, a bleary-eyed Debi appeared in the kitchen. Swaying, her eyes bloodshot, clearly still inebriated, she peered at Kane and Kyle with her brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s going on?”

  “Where’s Lilly?”

  Looking down, she shuffled her feet uneasily. Her unruly dark hair fell over her face. “She wasn’t feeling well, so she went home.”

  “Did you drive her?” Kane asked, even though he suspected he already knew the answer.

  Debi bit her lip as she met his gaze. “No. I think she drank too much. We all did. And by the time she decided she wanted to leave, there was no way I was going to risk driving her.”

  Furious, Kane glared at her. “She’s not used to alcohol. Come on, Debi. You and Sharon were supposed to look after her. Instead, you let her go wandering around the woods drunk in the dark.”

  At his words, Debi paled, looking as if she was going to be violently ill. “She...she didn’t make it home?”

  “We haven’t checked there yet,” Kris hurried to reassure his wife, after shooting Kane a furious look. “I don’t know why you’re getting all worked up. For all we know, she could be in bed asleep.”

  “She’d better be,” Kane snarled, spinning on his heel and heading for the door.

  After the briefest hesitation, his brothers followed.

  Cutting through the woods in the direction of the cabin, Kane cursed when he nearly stumbled over Lilly’s torn and shredded clothing. He stopped, picking up the scraps of cloth, noting the blood.

  Kyle winced. “Damn. That must have been some painful change.”

  Again Kane cursed. “She’d better not be hurt.”

  “I’m sure she’s all right.” Kris touched his arm. “You need to calm down.”

  Moving swiftly, barely keeping his violence contained, Kane knocked his brother’s arm away. He gathered up the remainder of Lilly’s clothes and took off running.

  When he reached the cabin, the first thing he noticed was the complete absence of light. His heart stuttered in his chest as he took the porch steps all at once. He burst through the front door, belatedly realizing it was unlocked, and flicked on a lamp.

  Ignoring Kyle’s urging to slow down, he headed for Lilly’s bedroom. The door was closed, but that meant nothing since she’d left it that way. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and pushed it open. And froze. Lilly slept, her head pillowed on her hand, long hair streaming out alongside her, oblivious to all the ruckus.

  Kyle and Kris came up behind him, peering over his shoulder.

  “Whew,” Kris whispered, clearly relieved.

  Kane moved them back, carefully shutting the door and motioning them back outside.

  “See,” Kris said, the instant they were back out under the stars. “You were worried for nothing.”

  “I’m still worried,” Kane told him, his jaw clenched so tightly it hurt. He held up the torn and bloody clothing. “I have to find out what happened to her.”

  “Let her rest, bro.” Kyle peered at him, his expression concerned. “You can talk to her in the morning.”

  Taking a deep gulp of air, Kane tried like hell to retrieve his earlier sense of well-being and calm. He couldn’t shake the notion that he’d failed Lilly. By leaving her in the company of his brothers’ wives, he’d left her unprotected. The fact that Debi had foolishly let Lilly go alone into the forest proved this.

  “You can go home now,” he said, aware he sounded brusque but beyond caring. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

  Though Kyle still looked worried, he nodded. After a moment, Kris did, too.

  “See ya,” they chimed in unison, trying to sound normal and not entirely succeeding. Lifting his hand in a wave, Kane watched them until the darkness swallowed them up. They didn’t know how to take his extreme behavior, but there was no way in hell that he could explain the entire reason to them. They understood the bare bones, but Lilly’s story was hers to tell or not.

  Returning to the house, he found himself back in the bedroom, as if compelled. Lilly still slept soundly, her chest rising and falling with each breath. He stood in the doorway and watched her, aching, still clutching her ruined things.

  Then, gathering up every ounce of his willpower, he forced himself to back out of the room, and shut the door.

  * * *

  Lilly woke, her head aching. Heck, her entire body felt as if it had been stretched on some sort of medieval torture rack. Stretched. She sat up in bed, too quickly, making the room spin and nausea rise in her throat.

  Last night, she’d let the beast inside her free. Her monster had, however briefly, won.

  Stunned and sickened, she gagged. She’d drank too much, for starters. She should have known better, especially since she hadn’t ever had alcohol. Sipping mixed drinks wasn’t an activity the people of Sanctuary had been prone to. In fact, she remembered the kids in high school talking about getting drunk, as though it was fun. This had been before her father had put her under lock and key.

  Though Debi and Sharon had seemed to enjoy it, Lilly knew it wasn’t something she’d try again. Ever.

  Pushing herself off the bed, she grabbed the edge of the door to steady herself, and took a deep breath. She staggered into the bathroom, her head pounding, wishing she could get rid of the awful taste in her mouth.

  Turning on the shower, she peeled off her T-shirt and stepped under the hot spray.

  When she emerged from the bathroom, not feeling a whole lot better, her heart sank as she realized Kane waited for her, his expression once again turned to stone.

  Did he know? Had the scent she’d left behind in the woods alerted him to the fact that when she shape-shifted, she wasn’t a wolf, but something else entirely? Something much, much worse?

  Some of the panic that had flared inside her must have communicated itself to him. As she stared, waiting for him to speak, his expression softened.

  “Come here,” he said, his voice quiet as he held out his hand. “I want you to tell me about last night.”

  Still, she stood frozen, unable to make herself move. She’d learn to lie, and well, in her time at Sanctuary, but this was different. Kane didn’t want to cut her up inside just to find out what made her tick. He asked out of concern rather than a desire to hurt.

  She took a deep breath. Unable to shake the notion if she took his hand, he’d somehow be able to discern everything from her touch, she moved past him without touching him.

  Taking a seat on the couch and demurely crossing her legs, her heartbeat skipping fast, she hoped like hell she appeared calm and composed. Slowly, she dragged her gaze up to meet his. “I had too much to drink last night. I wasn’t feeling well, so I walked back here.”

  Truth, so far.

  Kane didn’t respond. Arms crossed, he waited. Though he still seemed remote, he didn’t appear threatening. Of course, ever since she’d met him, Kane had been nothing but kind to her.

  “And?” he finally prompted, letting her know he was aware she had more to tell.

  “My...beast—” she struggled over finding the proper word to describe the thing inside her “—my beast fought me. It...won.”

  A gleam of interest made his silver eyes glow. He moved closer. “You changed?”

  “Yes.” As shame flooded her, her entire body grew hot. “I did. But as soo
n as I could regain control, I changed back.”

  “You should have hunted with us.” His tone, while fierce, also sounded gentle. “My brothers and I would have welcomed your company.”

  Horrified, she could only stare at him, wondering if he’d lost his mind. “I thought you understood.” Her voice broke. “Whatever those people at Sanctuary did to me...”

  Unable to finish, she turned away, unwilling to let him see that her eyes had filled with tears.

  Grateful when he didn’t comment, she used the time to pull herself together. Of course he didn’t understand. He hadn’t been there. He hadn’t seen. He didn’t realize the thing inside her was a danger to him and any male it came into contact with.

  As he lifted her head, the words hovered on the tip of her tongue, but the look on his face stopped her. Pity.

  Pity from the last person she wanted it from. Pity from the only one she’d thought she could trust.

  Chapter 8

  Watching as Lilly tried not to weep, Kane had to clench his fists to keep from going to her and taking her in his arms.

  At last he finally understood. Like an anorexic who, when looking in the mirror, always saw a heavy body, Lilly truly believed her wolf was deformed, some kind of monster. Part of her healing process would be confronting her wolf self and discovering that she was a wolf, nothing more. Nothing worse.

  Looking at him, she gasped. “Don’t.” She shook her head so rapidly her long hair whipped around her. She sounded broken.

  Damn propriety. In three strides he reached her and hauled her up against him. With her head tucked under his chin, he inhaled the shampoo scent in her hair. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, meaning it.

  “Don’t be.” Holding herself stiffly, her low voice vibrated with pain. “I’ll be fine.”

  When she pulled out of his arms, he had no choice but to let her go. And ache as he watched her, back to him, struggle mightily to keep all of her emotions buried inside her.

  He wished she’d simply get angry, beat on him with her fists, something. Anything would be better than pretending she didn’t feel anything.

  Maybe some exercise would help her. “Go and put on some loose-fitting clothes.”

  Clearly shocked, she swung around to face him. “What?”

  “We’re going to my sister’s house. She and her husband have a state-of-the-art workout studio out back. It’s time you start learning a few self-defense moves.”

  “Okay,” she said, surprising him, before disappearing into her bedroom, closing the door after her.

  While she changed, he located a pair of gym shorts and put those on. As he was lacing up a pair of sneakers, she emerged. She’d tied her hair back in a ponytail and wore what looked like expensive yoga clothes. He tried not to notice the way the workout shorts clung to her shapely bottom, or the way her fitted yoga top highlighted her new lush curves.

  Despite himself, his body stirred. He turned away, disgusted with himself. Of all the times for his libido to start acting up.

  Since Kathy lived right around the corner, they were there in under a minute. Kane had an open invitation to use the gym so he didn’t have to phone ahead. He retrieved the key from its hiding place inside a fake rock and unlocked the door.

  Once he flicked on the light switch, he stepped aside so that Lilly could enter.

  “Wow, this is really nice.” She stood just inside the doorway, surveying the large open space with one mirrored wall and all kinds of professional gym equipment. With the sunlight illuminating her dirty-blond hair, her aura had taken on a golden glow. It looked almost healthy.

  “Kathy’s husband must be serious about working out,” she continued.

  “He is. Tom used to be a professional bodybuilder,” Kane told her.

  Moving to the center of the room, he took out two mats and placed them on the floor.

  Lilly followed, constantly turning to take in every aspect of the room. He didn’t blame her. The entire family always joked that Tom could turn the place into a paying gym if he wanted to.

  “So what now?” she asked.

  “First, we warm up. Do what I do.” Smiling at her, he began to move. “Do what I do.” He ran through a serious of jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, then stretching. Finally, he showed her a few basic kicks.

  Her form looked good and she completed every exercise. By the time they’d finished the warm-up, a light sheen of perspiration covered her forehead, making her creamy skin appear to glow. This captivated him for a moment, before he shook it off. Still, he had to wonder what the hell was wrong with him. Focus. He needed to focus.

  “What else?” Balancing on the balls of her feet, she appeared energized by the exercise. “I’m ready to learn how to fight.”

  He grinned. “Bloodthirsty, aren’t we?”

  Grinning right back, she gave an exaggerated shrug. “It feels good to be in control, even if it’s only practice.”

  Again, he felt another flush of attraction, which he managed to ignore. “Good. Now remember an assailant isn’t going to walk up to you and calmly ask you to go with him or her. Most likely, they’ll be jumpy and jittery. You can turn that against them.”

  She nodded, appearing focused and comfortable.

  “You look relaxed.”

  She flashed him a smile. “I am.”

  “Don’t be. Adrenaline is important,” he told her. “You can use it as a tool. We’re going to run through some attack scenarios. Start by targeting your attacks to the body’s most vulnerable points. The eyes, neck or throat, face, groin, ribs, knee, foot, fingers, etcetera. You hit them where they’re most vulnerable. Your goal is to counterattack as quickly as possible.”

  “In other words, how to end it efficiently.” Her tight lipped smile looked more like a grimace.

  “Yes. In addition to that, you have to develop an awareness of your surroundings so you can escape if possible.”

  “I’m ready.”

  “Then let’s go.” First he walked her through a potential choking situation, showing her how to break the hold and also what not to do. He split each move into steps and they practiced one at a time. First a block, then a palm strike and ending with a quick knee to the groin.

  Once it seemed she had all the moves down, the time had come to try it at full speed.

  Surprisingly, she balked at this. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  He couldn’t help himself; he laughed. After a startled second, she did, too. It felt good, releasing the lingering tightness in his chest.

  “I’m sorry.” Biting her lip, she peered up at him through her long lashes, looking not the least bit contrite. “But I sometimes don’t even know my own strength.”

  “You need to learn.”

  She nodded. “All right. I’m ready.”

  The first time, he took care to be gentle, holding back a large portion of his might. She flipped him easily, partly because he anticipated it.

  Frowning at him, she shook her head. “Don’t hold back.”

  He gave her own words back to her. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “It doesn’t matter whether I’m hurt or not. I want to learn. If they come for me, the last thing they’re going to care about is not hurting me.”

  Because she had a valid point, he pushed up from the floor and launched himself at her. At the instant before he connected, she twisted, ducked sideways, and took him down with a swift kick to the knee.

  Stunned, he didn’t have time to protect himself and fell, his right hip taking the full weight of his body.

  “What the...”

  She’d taken a step back, looking as shocked as he felt. In that second, he realized what the wrong response would do to her already fragile self-confidence.

  “Excellent!” Steeling himself not to wince as pain stabbed through him, he pushed to his feet. “Again.”

  This time, he made his movements more deliberate. Still, she managed to elude him, shaking off his grip while at the same moment landing a powe
rful kick to his stomach.

  Winded, he grinned at her while he tried to recapture his breath. “Good job.”

  Though she didn’t appear entirely convinced, she flashed a quick smile and came closer, extending her hand. “Are you all right?”

  “Fine,” he huffed, even as he realized he wanted to grab her fingers and pull her down beside him so he could kiss her. Just the thought was enough to catapult him to his feet.

  Careful not to look at her in case she read his desire in his eyes, he crossed to the small refrigerator and pulled out a couple of bottles of water. “Want one?” he offered.

  “Please.” When she reached for it, their hands connected. A jolt of pure lust ran through him, fingertip to arm, straight to his groin. He covered this by opening his water and draining the bottle.

  After a moment, she did the same, though she only drank half of hers. “Are we done?”

  Was that his imagination, or had her voice gone husky? Quickly, he decided he was hearing things thanks to his overheated libido.

  “Not yet.” He managed a casual smile. “We’re going to do more push-ups, but this time I want you to jump up into a palm strike. Kind of like a burpee with a punch. This will prepare you in case you ever get knocked to the ground and have to fight for your life.”

  She nodded. “Now?”

  Though his hip still ached from his fall, and his abs still felt the impact of her blow, he nodded. “Now.”

  A few rounds of this and he called it. “I think we’ve done enough for one day.”

  Though she was barely breathing hard, she agreed. “I’d like to go back to the cabin and shower. Then I want to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing.”

  About to take her arm, he thought better of it. “You’ve earned it.”

  “So have you.” The warm gratitude in her smile matched the glow in her blue eyes.

  Raw need had his blood heating. The surge of desire again angered him at its inappropriateness. He was her Protector, not her seducer. Yet even that knowledge didn’t stop him from desiring her.

  “Let’s go.” Though he knew he sounded gruff, there was no help for that. He led the way out the door, stepping aside to allow her past, before locking up and replacing the key in its hiding place.