The Big, Bad…

by Nina S. Gooden

  “Get down, little fool!” The wolf man grabbed me from behind and bounded to the left, into the brush and trees surrounding the cottage. Spurred by the sight of the creature who seemed to have one foot in the door of both humanity and animalism, the Hunters began to unload their chambers wildly.

  Dodging while he ran, he crushed me to his huge body. I could feel the power and grace he exuded as he moved. All around us bullets zoomed past, cracking into the trunks and branches of innocent trees after slicing through sleepy leaves.

  A cocoon of wind wrapped around us, and I was forced to put my head against his chest in order to breathe. The light sprinkle of hair that covered his entire body stirred under my breath, stroking my cheek like a living entity.

  Be calm, it whispered without words. Nothing will hurt you here.

  By the time we stopped running, the sound of gunfire had faded into the distance. I smelled the damp of the cave before I saw it, so when he sat me down on a comfortable sofa, my mind completely buckled.

  “What are we doing here?” A stupid question, but hey, at this point he was lucky I wasn’t in hysterics. The “cave” I had been brought to was nicer than the cottage we escaped. Rich tapestries hung before the damp walls, and polished stone was settled on the ground as flooring. The furnishings in the large space were expensive and carefully cared for. None of the dark wood had been tarnished by the moist air.

  My savior stepped quickly back into one of the only dark corners of the cavern, blowing out the candles nearby.

  “Where are we?”

  “We’re safe.” I couldn’t see him well, but his voice was still hard and gritty, and he sounded as if he were in pain.

  Those hysterics I was so proud of keeping down bubbled up dangerously and dizzied my head. “Why are we here? What is this place? Why were people shooting at us? Who the hell are you?” I panted the questions in an embarrassingly high-pitched squeal that may or may not have rendered nearby bystanders deaf.

  The ground beneath my feet decided it was a good time to shift. My eyes fluttered closed, and I felt my body drop backward. I expected to feel the full force of gravity when my skull bounced, but instead I was cradled gently against a plane of warm muscle.

  He caught me.

  Those familiar hairs reassuringly brushing my shaking body were all that kept me from bolting when I opened my eyes.

  I hadn’t gotten a very good look at much more than his eyes while we were in the bed or during our escape, but now I did. Staring down, the big bad wolf bared those long teeth in a twisted grimace. Dangerous, cunning eyes watched me carefully and caused little pricks of light to dance before my gaze. The face of a man meshed with that of a wolf and managed to appear much more intimidating than the body. Wolf ears twitched under a tumble of silver-purple hair, while a soft, normal-looking mouth housed long wolf fangs.

  “I-I have to get out of here.” I struggled against the hold of the wolf-man hybrid, but he didn’t flinch. Again.

  “Don’t,” he whispered. “I can’t let you leave the cave while the Hunters are still tracking us.”

  “Can’t or won’t?” I all but screamed.

  His eyes continued to move over me for several seconds before they narrowed. “Both.”

  I knew I couldn’t fight him off, but surety didn’t stop me from trying. I wouldn’t be held captive nor would I let him eat me without a fight! Wrenching free, I realized the entrance of the cave was impossibly far away when I watched him move. He caught me without effort and still I struggled. I tripped and slammed against one of his upholstered footstools, only to be in his arms before I hit the floor.

  “Stop fighting me!” He growled.

  “Stop scaring me!” I screamed back.

  If it was possible, the wolf looked hurt before he let me go. “If you run while I’m shifting, I will simply catch you and drag you back.”

  I nodded, mute, as the popping began again. The Lupine state shuddered violently until it fell like a coat from Wolf Boy's body. Patches of fur hit the floor as he shed, and his bulging muscles lessened to their naturally impressive state. Before long, the man-wolf hybrid was gone, leaving only a naked hunk in its wake. A naked, very aroused hunk.

  “Oh m―” I cut myself off. “Don’t you ever quit? Do you think you could put that thing away?”

  A raised eyebrow was all I got, and I couldn’t muster enough courage to repeat myself, so I turned away. The act started with me simply wanting to shield my innocent eyes—ha!—but my body seemed to have other plans. On its own it decided it was time to get the hell out of Dodge, and once again, I was moving to the nonexistent door.

  My only warning (besides good old-fashioned experience) came in the form of what must have been the most annoyed huff puff I had ever heard.

  A clothed body—once again, where did he get those clothes?—caught me around the waist and tossed me effortlessly in the air. I landed across the room in a bed big enough for six grown men. Painfully aware of my compromised position, I battled huge pillows to free myself, to no avail.

  “When will you cease fighting me? It appears one or both of us have an enigma to solve, and we cannot do so until you have calmed.”

  It was spoken in a soft, almost pleading voice that seemed to contradict the power and strength I sensed from him. I’ll admit it did the job. I stopped struggling long enough to gawk. He looked so normal. Civilized, even.

  “Wait, what?”

  He huffed a little, eyeing me in a way that made me feel like a toddler about to get a scolding. “We were set up. We need to find out by whom and why before the next full moon.”

  Scrambling forward, I stepped out of the bed and moved slowly around the makeshift house. “What’s with the sudden time crunch? Why does it have to be before the full moon?” I tested the distance in which he allowed me to move before following. He simply stood still, watching. “I mean, I know a lot of you…run then, but why’s it a problem?”

  His mouth twitched, but I couldn’t figure out if it was because he was fighting a smile or a frown. “I can’t believe you, a mate, just asked me such a question.” The wolf man continued talking as if he didn’t hear my exclamation. Which would be impossible; it was loud enough to wake the dead.

  “This is the last week of the mid-winter month. You know…February.” He paused as if waiting for me to suddenly understand what he meant. As if I could think after the bomb he just dropped on me! When I didn’t respond, he continued, running his hands through his deliciously shiny hair. “It’s the Wolf Moon.”

  Oh, I knew what he meant. The Wolf Moon was a phase of time in which none of the Pack could morph. For one night a year they were mortal, be they mortal wolves or mortal men. Whatever form they decided to take, for twelve hours they would be stuck. Vulnerable.

  And that night was tonight.

  If a threat existed to the family, it could not be allowed to remain during the Wolf Moon. That being carefully filed away in my mind, I opened my mouth to ask a rational, calm question. This is what came out: “Whatdoyoumeanasamate?”

  It was poorly done, and I could see that even with his heightened sense of hearing, Wolf Boy couldn’t catch what I said at the decibels I said it. I repeatedly myself louder but with much needed pauses between words.

  “You’re to be my mate.”

  I gaped at him stupidly, positive my mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water. There was too much going on, too many changes. I agreed with his statement on some level. Something deeper than body and stronger than mind told me he was right. Still, my brain felt as if the overload had finally become too much. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I quickly hid them. “But I don’t know you.”

  The wolf sniffed the air experimentally before moving to my side. Before I could stop him, he tilted my chin up and brushed a wayward tear with his thumb. “I hope you don’t mean in a biblical sense because I can argue for at least a brief acquaintance there.”

  His comment was so unexpected, I laughed. Once it got
started, the strange, incessant reflex continued until I was doubled over with tears flowing down my cheeks. When I finally sobered, I realized Wolf Boy had left and returned with a tray filled with fruits and nuts. There was even a lovely teapot, steaming with unknown contents, and delicate ceramic ware set upon a small table he pushed near us.

  “O―Wow,” I muttered. “For a hole in the side of a mountain, this place sure comes well-stocked.”

  I never really understood the term “wolf grin” until I had one turning my stomach over like flapjacks. “Of course it is. It’s mine.”

  A wry smile spread across my lips. “You seem to have an affinity for that word.”

  “I have an affinity for you.” His sweet, hard mouth brushed across mine so briefly I didn’t realize what was happening.

  In the end, if my skin hadn’t been tingling, I wouldn’t have been sure the swift kiss happened at all. “Look, you can’t be serious about all of this mate stuff.” A silver eyebrow shot toward the ceiling, and I quickly cleared my throat. “You know what I mean. I don’t…even know your name.”

  “A wrong easily rectified. My name is Aldrich.”

  I know it sounds cheesy, but my body wasn’t clearing its actions with me anymore. The moment he murmured his name in that deep, sexy voice, every part of me shivered like a tiny bolt of lightning had been unleashed. The hairs on the back of my neck literally stood on end and the smallest moan slid passed my lips.

  “Yes, and your mate.” He said it with such unwavering confidence, I almost felt bad for disagreeing with him.

  As it was, the intensity of his gaze had me smothering quite a few “oh mys.”

  “Why don’t we come back to this after we decide what we’re going to do next?”

  For a change, he agreed with me, and once he made sure I was seated and eating, he continued. “We must find out why we are being set up for the life-taking of the woman who lived in the cottage.”

  I shifted uncomfortably and a bite of orange turned to sawdust inches from my mouth. “Y-you think she is dead?” A thought struck me, and I inched backward, genuine fear crawling up my spine. “If you have no connection to this, how do you know about Granny at all?”

  Aldrich smiled, and I was ashamed to admit the possibility of him being a murderer failed to kill those damn stomach butterflies. “It pleases me to know it has only now occurred to you that I could have done this.”

  I leaned over and smacked him with the back of my hand for his arrogance, which only managed to increase his amusement. “Just answer me,” I muttered, though the fear had long since fled and left me with an odd sense of comfort.

  “If you remember, I could smell her on you.”

  Blushing, I resisted the urge to sniff myself and instead concentrated on the matter at hand. I also swallowed down another “Oh my.”

  “And so you are really sticking to your story of being knocked out and waking where you did?”

  “Of course, though I am sure whoever was able to break through my defenses had to have been very skilled.”

  “Not to mention strong. You are an extremely big man. I doubt just anyone could have lifted you.”

  Again with that damned grin of his. “Thank you for taking note.”

  “Anyway,” I said a little too pointedly, “why do I have to come? Wouldn’t you have a much more successful investigation without me tagging along?”

  Aldrich turned serious, one hand going up to his face. “You would normally be correct. It goes against my very nature to allow you to remain in harm’s way, but I fear to allow you out of my sight for two reasons. First and the most obvious being, as my unbound mate, you carry with you the risk of one of my enemies harming you to get to me. Without completing the ritual, you have none of the strengths allowed to a true mate.”

  He said so much so casually, and I didn’t understand a great deal of it. Suddenly feeling as if I should have paid more attention while Mina spoke of her family, I decided to hold off on my complaints and objections until later. “And the other reason?”

  Aldrich stood in one fluid motion while stripping off his shirt. I opened my mouth to protest but quickly shut it when he turned around. I pushed my chair back and stood, reaching for him.

  My eyes must have bulged as I examined the damage. He revealed ragged, nasty blossoms of red, puffy skin. The wounds were surrounded with caked, dried blood, but I could see how quickly and cleanly they were healing. Several of the holes had already closed entirely, leaving nothing but painful looking bruises.

  I remembered the pain I heard in his voice when we had first arrived in the cave. “Oh my,” I said as a curse instead of in awe. “What is this?”

  Aldrich lowered his shirt and turned back, encouraging me to settle back into my seat. “It’s not as bad as it seems. While we were fleeing, I could not dodge all of the initial shots while lifting you. I thought the bullets were silver, but it turns out they were just regular ammunition, which brings me to my next point. I’m not so sure the trap was laid out and geared toward me. I think they came for you.”

  It was a dramatic statement, and while the possibility of someone trying to kill me was noted, I could only focus on one part of what he'd said. “You thought you had been shot with silver bullets, but instead of stopping to shift and thus heal…you stayed in your weird middle state to get me to safety?”

  “The anthro state is hardly ‘weird.’” He looked at me as if he couldn’t understand the question. “It is true that if a pack member is hit with silver, a quick enough shift to another form will often push the metal out of his or her body…” He trailed off, perplexed. “But you were in danger. As your mate, it is my duty and honor to protect you.”

  I swallowed against the emotion swelling in my throat and chest. He looked so open, so honest. “You could have died—would have if you had been right.”

  “But you would have been saved, and thus my life wouldn’t have been spent needlessly.”

  “And how would I find my ‘happily ever after’ if you just died?”

  He raised an eyebrow and frowned. “I do not believe such a thing exists.”

  “Why not?”

  “I am a wolf. We do not get happy endings; we are almost always the bad guys.”

  I frowned against the sad existence he thought was his destiny. Even so, he said it with no bitterness, no anger. Just pure and simple honesty. He truly believed he didn’t deserve happiness. Even after he risked his life for mine…

  Ducking my head, I hid my face under the guise of inspecting my tea. “So, what’s the plan now, then?” I couldn’t take any more of this mate talk. It made me feel something I was nowhere near comfortable with identifying.

  Aldrich frowned. “A good question. I cannot go back to the Pack with this. If it is something simply against one or both of us, we should not drag them into it. Unfortunately, this also limits our options greatly. I’m not sure who to trust.”

  “What about Undedicated wolves?”

  Aldrich’s frown was as impressive as his grin. It creased and deepened, becoming a flat out scowl in a second. “You wish to take such important matters to Undedicated children?”

  Feeling suddenly protective, I scowled right back. “Not being sure if you want to have your entire life run and dictated by a family of spoiled ‘royals’ hardly makes the Undedicated children.”

  “Is that what you think the Council of Elders is? Spoiled royals?”

  I shrugged. “What can I say? There’s no balance in having a handful of supposedly ‘superior’ wolves decide the fate of all and enforce useless rules with cruel punishments. It’s archaic and unfair.”

  A small laugh escaped him, and he busied himself clearing our dishes. “Some would say those royals are the only thing standing between our race and extinction. Those ‘useless rules’ they create are meant to keep us all safe.”

  “Yes, but not everyone gets a say in those rules.”

  He made a noise, but I couldn’t tell if it was a groan or a laug
h. Finally, he shrugged. “Maybe not, but the animal kingdom doesn’t run like a human kingdom. Democracy doesn’t work for everyone.”

  I folded my arms over my chest and did my best to glare at him. “Yeah, well not everyone can live their lives following orders blindly.”

  Finished, he turned to smile at me again, and I went all mushy inside. “You’re exactly right. All right, we will go to these children who you value so highly you would speak to me so.”

  I couldn’t quite place why but I got the distinct feeling he was laughing at me. The ass.

  Chapter 3

  Anthro form gave me the willies, but I didn’t complain this time when Aldrich transformed and scooped me into his arms. Maybe it was the careful way he lifted me, or maybe it was the look on his mixed face when he turned to me, shifting and pleading. Don’t be afraid of me…please.

  Pulling me against his chest, he flew into the sky, a few great bounds launching us with ease. The sky opened up like an empty road and welcomed us. “Hang on tightly!” I wrapped the riding hood tight around my body.

  We sank into the night easily, and by the time I realized where we were headed, we were already there. Mina’s house was the only one on the street with lights burning. Everything else was dark and empty.

  Aldrich settled into the darkness close-by and released me. “We’re here. I’ll stand watch while you speak to your friend.”

  I’m not exactly sure why, but the thought of being separated from him even for a short while filled my mouth with a sick and sour taste. “You aren’t coming with me?”

  He shrugged a little. “My first duty is always to your safety. Find out what’s going on. Where are all the people and what are they saying about what's going on? I know you haven’t lived in Harmony your entire life. You’ve spent a time of your younger years near the sea. Find out if anything happened around then.”