by S. K. Yule
She didn’t understand how he could feel so right. She’d just met him, and she wondered if her overactive hormones weren’t responsible. It had been a long time, after all, since she’d been with a man. Her heart screamed in denial. Her heart knew that he was hers and that she was his even if she didn’t want to admit it yet. She sighed and fell asleep within moments, snuggled against her new lover.
* * * *
Anthony savored the feel of her soft curves pressed against his hard body, the smell of her like a siren’s call to him. Her soft, even breathing tickled the hairs on his arm. He wanted to enjoy every moment like this with her because when tomorrow came and he told her everything about him and what she was going to become, he didn’t know how she’d react. He knew his mate was strong and would be okay physically, and even though it was a little selfish, he couldn’t wait until they were on more equal terms strengthwise. He’d be able to make love to her any way he wanted without worrying about hurting her. He was mostly concerned how she would take the change mentally. Not wanting those thoughts to ruin this moment, he pulled Karen even tighter against him, nuzzled his nose deep into her thick hair, and, closing his eyes, allowed sleep to claim him.
Chapter Six
Her breaths puffed out in clouds as she ran through the woods. She felt free, unconfined, exhilarated, and peaceful. The tops of the trees were thick and blocked out the sun, shading the forest in deep grays. The breeze ruffled her fur as she ran through the white snow silently. Wait. Fur? What the hell was going on? A moment of unbound freedom suddenly turned to a fight between reality and something that wasn’t possible. She stopped and looked down at her hands, or at what used to be her hands. Paws and long claws now peeked at her. She’d seen those claws before, in the alley on Anthony.
Suddenly, she was human once again, and just as suddenly, a pain ripped through her and brought her to her knees. Something trying to get out tore at her insides. She grabbed her stomach and cried out in pain. She was scared. She was alone and in the woods. She was lost. How had she gotten there in the first place? She couldn’t remember. Panic numbed her muscles and a fine sheen of sweat broke out on her nude body even though she was kneeling in the snow.
“Karen. Come on, baby, you’re having a nightmare.”
A familiar voice floated through her unconscious brain, penetrating the walls of the dream, yet she continued to panic. She was terrified, but something told her to follow the voice and she’d be okay.
“Karen. Wake up, baby! It’s just a dream.”
Karen’s eyes flew wide and she found herself looking into Anthony’s face. He was holding her so tight that she could barely breathe. “Anthony. What’s wrong?”
“You were having a bad dream.”
He loosened his grip a little on her and she took several deep breaths. The nightmare came rushing back, and when it did, her arm started throbbing. She grabbed it and gasped at the pain, then gasped again when she looked down and saw that it was nearly healed. How could it hurt so badly when the wound was almost gone? Had it gotten infected? “Oh. Yeah, I guess I was.”
“We need to talk.”
She didn’t like the look on his face. He was about to tell her something dire, something she didn’t want to hear. A strange sensation crawled over her skin and made her shiver. It felt like a warning. A warning that she wasn’t going to like what he was about to tell her. She had an overwhelming urge to get off the bed and run as far and as fast as she could away from him. Thinking of earlier, she knew that wouldn’t be wise because he hadn’t had any trouble catching her before. “Wh-what is it?”
“You’re going to find what I say very hard to believe, but I promise you, I would never lie to you. So, please, listen to me, okay?”
She nodded, and he continued. “I know I scared you yesterday in the alley, and I know you thought I was some kind of stalker or something because I knew your name and where you lived. I’m not, though—a stalker, I mean. I know all about you because you are my mate.”
She began to speak, but he held his hand up to plead her silence and she remained quiet. “Just wait until I’m finished, and then you can ask me whatever you want.” She nodded again. “I know you are my mate because of your scent. Our mates have two unique scents. One that draws all of our kind and one that can only be detected by a mate. That is the reason why all the other pups were after you.”
What the hell was he talking about? She was his mate because he could smell her? What kind of crap was that? She was confused and had a feeling things were going to get even worse. “What do you mean your kind?”
“I mean my kind as in lycans.”
She laughed, and stopped abruptly when she realized he was dead serious. “You mean like werewolves?” He nodded. “Uh, I don’t think so.” Yet, now some things were making sense like the claws, the teeth, the glowing eyes, the sniffing. Holy shit! Could he actually be telling the truth? “No. This can’t be happening. I mean, the claws and all, that was just a Halloween costume right?”
“No, it wasn’t a Halloween costume, Karen. Don’t you remember last night in the club when you asked me why I wasn’t wearing a costume?”
“You told me you had your own built-in costume.”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I meant.”
“No. I don’t believe it. I must still be dreaming.”
Anthony shook his head slowly. “Well, it’s the truth and you better get used to it because when that bastard bit you he made you into one of us. You will change for the first time in about twenty-four hours, give or take.”
She sat up slowly and looked at him. She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry or . . . what. “You have got to be kidding me. Are you playing some horrible joke on me or something?”
“Karen, I’m not joking and I’m not kidding. You are going to change for the first time soon and I’m sorry it happened this way. I know you know it’s the truth because I saw your nightmare. It’s your mind’s way of preparing you for what’s coming.” He put his hand up to stop her reply and cradled her arm between his palms. “Look, I know it has been painful for you so far. Had I been the one to change you, you wouldn’t have suffered at all. We aren’t supposed to change anyone but our mates.” He rubbed his thumb gently over the nearly healed bite mark marring her skin.
“So, you are saying that I’m going to be a werewolf and that you had planned to do this to me even if I hadn’t been bitten by psycho crazy boy in the alley?” She tried to pull her arm from him, but he held on to her firmly.
“Karen, I would have never changed you until I talked to you about it and you had agreed. I would never force you to do anything unless it was for your own protection. I am not capable of hurting you.”
He finally let her arm slip from his hold and reached for her. She evaded his hands and scooted to the end of the bed. She jumped off the thick mattress, darted for the bathroom, and slammed and locked the door behind her.
She pressed her cheek against the cool door. This could not be happening. This was not real. She kept telling herself that over and over, yet something deep inside her disagreed. The claws, the eyes, the sniffing, the dreams, her nightmare, they all were consistent with everything he told her. She couldn’t become a werewolf. Would she change every time there was a full moon? Would she want to kill and eat animals? Could she hurt someone while being a werewolf? She had so many questions. She was living and breathing her own real-life horror movie.
She did believe Anthony about two things without question. He wouldn’t hurt her, and he would never have forced this on her. Even if she didn’t understand all of what was going on, there was never any doubt about how protective he was with her. He’d already risked his life twice to keep her safe.
She turned on the shower and, standing under the hot spray, let the steam numb her brain. She stayed under the water until her skin started to prune before shutting the tap off. She stepped out and wrapped a huge, fluffy towel around her that fell to her knees and scrunched her ha
ir up in a smaller one. Her clothes were ruined and she had nothing else to wear. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing because even wearing a towel was probably better than having to put that hooker getup back on. She took a few deep breaths, opened the door, and was surprised to see a duffel bag sitting on the bed that upon closer inspection, was full of her clothes. She didn’t want to know when or how he had gotten them, but she was glad she had them nonetheless. She pulled out a T-shirt and sweatpants and rummaged through a big dresser by the door until she found of pair of Anthony’s thick socks. They were too big, but they were very warm. She brushed out her still-damp hair and decided to follow the smell of cooking food to its source.
Anthony’s house was absolutely gorgeous. Cathedral ceilings were in every room, and skylights lined the ceiling of the living room. One whole wall of the living room was also glass and overlooked a dense, snow-covered forest. It was breathtaking, and she could envision living here instead of the city. The house had an open floor plan and the kitchen was no less spectacular. Black granite, speckled with tiny flecks of gold, countertops lay over handcrafted dark wood cabinets. The stainless steel appliances would make any cook envious. Over the matching island, stainless cookware dangled from a pot rack hanging from the ceiling by long chains.
Karen sucked in a breath when she saw Anthony standing at the stove cooking. The only thing he wore was a pair of black jeans, and when he turned toward her and gave her a hesitant smile, she noticed he hadn’t bothered to button the top button, which allowed the denim to ride low on his lean hips. The trail of black hair that ran from the bottom of his navel and disappeared into those low riders nearly made her mouth water. The man was beautiful.
“Have a seat. The food’s almost done.” He turned back to the stove and grabbed the toast when it popped out of the toaster.
She sat on a stool in front of the island. Within a few moments, he slid a plate of eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, and toast in front of her. He set another plate with the same beside her, poured two cups of coffee and brought them over before sitting next to her. It smelled heavenly, and her belly rumbled.
“I was beginning to wonder if you were going to stay locked in the bathroom all day.” He nodded at her plate. “Dig in.”
“Thanks.” She took a big bite of eggs. “Mmm. This is really good. A man who knows how to cook”
One corner of his mouth turned up as he chewed on a piece of bacon. “You’d be surprised by what I know how to do.”
Somehow, she didn’t doubt that. She had so many questions to ask him about the werewolf thing, but she didn’t want to discuss it over this wonderful meal. She crunched on some toast and found even it was done to perfection. “This is a beautiful house, Anthony. But, don’t you get lonely up here all by yourself?” He frowned. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you that.”
“Why not? You can ask me anything you want. And the answer to your question is, yes, I get very lonely up here sometimes. But, most of the time, I’m very happy here.”
“It just seems so secluded.”
“Yes, but I have a need for seclusion.”
“Oh.” Yeah, she guessed being a werewolf would require a certain amount of privacy. Good God! The word werewolf sent shivers down her spine. Suddenly, she wanted to know everything about the man sitting next to her. She felt a need for some kind of normalcy. “Where did you grow up?”
He chuckled. “In a cave with the rest of my pack.”
“Oookay.” Maybe that wasn’t such a good question. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Red.”
“Favorite movie?”
He laughed again. “American Werewolf In London.”
She laughed too. “Yeah, I like that one, too. Favorite holiday?”
“Hmmm. I never really celebrated them much, but I guess since it’s coming up and you’re here, I’d have to say Halloween.”
“And here I thought Christmas was everyone’s favorite holiday.”
He shrugged. “Don’t know too much about Christmas. I’ve never celebrated it.”
She nearly choked on her food. “What! Why not?”
“Well, I guess because I’ve never really had anyone to celebrate it with.”
“But what about your family, your friends?”
He shrugged again. “Karen, my family is not like a traditional family. One like you are probably used to. We don’t really keep in touch. I know this may sound cavemanlike to you, but the men in my family are, um, let’s just say very territorial, especially the ones who have mates. We don’t hang out too much. Don’t get me wrong. If something happened or we needed something, the pack would come together and be there in a moment.”
“Oh. Well, I can’t pretend to understand all of that, but I can’t really say that I have a traditional family myself. I mean, I don’t really talk to my sister all that much, and she lives on a different continent. And my mother, well, she’s not completely there mentally any more and has decided that she no longer needs me in her life.”
Anthony reached over and squeezed her hand briefly to comfort her. “What about your father?”
“He died.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, Karen.”
“It’s okay. It happens, you know? Anyway, this year you should celebrate Christmas.” She couldn’t believe he didn’t celebrate the holiday. She was sad that he’d never experienced it. She’d make sure to remedy that this year. She’d buy him presents and make him help her put up a tree and bake cookies and . . . She sighed. Would she be with Anthony at Christmas? A part of her doubted everything he’d told her and another part knew their meeting was more than just a coincidence. That part of her knew that she and Anthony would be together for a long, long time.
Thoughtful, she chewed while they ate the rest of the meal in silence. When she was finished, she picked up her plate and took it to the sink. She took a couple more sips of her coffee, put it in the sink also, and made her way to the windows overlooking the snow-capped trees. She glanced at Anthony, and knew it was time to clear the air.
* * * *
Anthony came up behind her and pulled her back against his chest. She resisted at first, then gave up and relaxed. He smelled her damp hair and sighed. He loved her, even though he knew that she might never love him. He had no choice, and even if he did, he knew deep in his heart that he’d still choose to love her. He’d give his life for this woman without hesitation. He hoped she could come to care for him because there was absolutely no way on earth he would let her go. He couldn’t. It was that simple and that complicated.
“You were telling me the truth, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Your eyes were glowing last night in the alley, and you ha-had claws and fangs, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” She shivered, and he pulled her tighter against him.
“It really wasn’t a Halloween costume?”
“No.” He sighed and rested his chin on top of her head.
“Can it be stopped?”
“No.”
She turned to him and her pleading eyes nearly drove him to his knees. “Will I hurt people? Will I turn into a horrible monster every time there’s a full moon?”
He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “No. I won’t lie, though. You will find that you have a natural predatory instinct to run, hunt and protect. Those feelings will be strong, but you will know exactly who you are the whole time and will never do anything against your nature. It’s really not so bad, baby. In fact, it’s wonderful. You will feel free, unrestrained by society. You will be stronger, faster, and when you get older, you will even be able to control how much you change. That’s what you saw me do last night—a partial change. And the full moon has nothing to do with it. You can change any time, day or night, whenever you want. The first time is the only time you can’t control it.”
“Oh, Anthony. Are you sure I won’t hurt anyone? I couldn’t live with it if I did.”
“Karen, think a
bout this for a moment, okay. Remember the other night? Did I look like I was completely crazy and uncontrollable, or did it look as if I was aware of what I was doing?”
Her brows furrowed, and he knew she was remembering the fight in the alleyway. “Did you kill that man the other night, the one that bit me?”
He closed his eyes. Maybe he shouldn’t have used the incident as an example. He didn’t want her to know what he’d done. He knew she had to know on some level that he’d killed the pup, but he didn’t want to say it out loud. He was worried she’d see him as a monster. “Karen, please don’t make me answer that.”