by J. E. Taylor
“And yet you are standing inside my perimeter.” I cocked an eyebrow.
“I never professed to be of the right mind,” he said and took the reins of the horse, leading her towards the water trough.
Midnight reacted as he got closer. My stallion’s nose flared and he neighed, shaking his head before he reared on his hind legs.
“Cool your hide,” Lucas said to Midnight. “My girl needs some water.” He led the mare to the water and stood between his horse and Midnight.
Midnight stomped his hoof and backed away. He didn’t like the presence of a werewolf in his domain, and he trotted over to me, nudging me away from Lucas until I captured his head between my hands.
“Middy, it’s okay. He isn’t going to hurt us. I promise.” My calm voice seemed to do the trick, but my horse wanted nothing to do with either the mare or Lucas.
Lucas took the saddle and blanket off and placed them in the shed with my other riding equipment. He took off the mare’s bridle and bit and hung that up beside Midnight’s before he stepped out and nodded towards the cabin.
“Do you mind if we go inside? This is kind of unsettling.” He twirled his finger around to indicate my safeguards.
His discomfort amused me. So did the fact that he could just throw me over his shoulder and take me inside instead of being so polite. I gave him a nod and headed towards the back door.
He followed and once inside, his entire body seemed to melt with relief. He leaned against the door.
“You’re that girl, aren’t you?” he asked while looking at the ceiling.
He said that girl in the same tone I used when I said his kind this morning. When his gaze dropped to mine, I shivered.
“You’re the legendary wolf killer that I keep hearing about.”
I smiled and shrugged. “I guess.”
His eyes closed again, and he took a deep breath that expanded his chest. “There is a price on your head.” He straightened and walked past me directly to the ice box in the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” I asked when I rounded the corner.
“I’m hungry and I was looking at what you had available.”
“That’s our food,” I said.
He shot a glare in my direction. “I shared my breakfast with you.” He pulled out a slice of venison from under the ice and held it up. “Do you mind if I cook this up?”
I bit my lip for a second feeling a bit selfish. I thought about what Gram would want me to do. She would want me to be the perfect host to our guest, but I wasn’t willing to go that far. If he wanted to cook, by all means, he could cook.
“Go ahead. I’m going to clean up.” I turned, hanging my bow and quiver on the hooks in the hallway as a sign of trust. I still had my silver blade if he decided I was worth the bounty, but I didn’t think he’d go through all this trouble in the name of collecting on my head.
I filled the tub with lukewarm water and stripped my clothing. I stepped into the water and sat, sucking my breath in at the coolness of the bath. If I had been a little more patient, the water would have been hot enough to not shiver as I scrubbed the dirt from my skin. When I finished with my body, I dunked my head under the water and shook it, hoping that would be enough to clean the dirt from my braid.
The scent of food drifted under the door, and my stomach responded with a growl. I climbed out and toweled off before dumping the dirty water out the window. I’d have to fill the warmer with wood chips and the pot with water later, but right now, I was hungry.
I wrapped the towel around me and gathered my clothes. I’d have to do the wash in another day, but for now, I’d put on something comfortable instead of my hunting pants and vest. I pulled open the door, and Lucas stood right outside with his hand poised to knock.
His eyes flickered as his gaze dropped from my face to the towel hiding my endowments. His cheeks flared red as his eyes found mine again. “Um, dinner is ready.” He backed away, giving me just enough room to scoot by him.
Just being in close proximity to him turned my skin into an inferno, and I hurried into my bedroom, shutting the door on his curious gaze. I leaned against the wood and stared up at the ceiling, asking for strength. As a member of the Guard, I could not fall for a wolf no matter how attractive he was.
With a deep breath and a slow exhale, my skin cooled. I pulled on undergarments, stockings, my hunting dress, and boots. It was much less comfortable than my nightshirt, but I wasn’t going to make myself vulnerable with a stranger in the house.
I stepped out into the living area, and Lucas was sitting at the table waiting for me. Both our plates were brimming with venison, and a half loaf of bread sat sliced between them.
“Thank you,” I said and took the seat opposite him.
“You’re welcome.” He focused on the food in front of him.
For a lone werewolf, he seemed to have impeccable manners. When he finally looked up, his cheeks flared red.
“What?” he asked.
“I’m just surprised you have manners,” I mumbled and cut another piece of perfectly cooked venison. I also did not want to admit to him that he was a better cook than I was. My venison usually came out like rawhide, but this came out as good as Gram made it.
“I was brought up by my mother. My human mother,” he said. “She taught me how to act with other people, and despite my father’s barbaric ways, her teachings stuck with me. I am not like the other beasts out there.” He nodded towards the window. “I was born this way.”
I stared at him with a raised eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I am the only werewolf that I know of that was birthed by a human. Even the original was changed by an ancient rite and not by birth. I also don’t have the same bloodlust as my kind. It’s the reason I’m on their bounty list, too.”
I didn’t realize I had stopped with my fork halfway to my mouth until he cocked his head at me. Heat flushed my face, and I dropped my gaze to my plate. “So, you’re an outlaw?”
He laughed. “Certainly to humans, but that’s because they don’t stop to question whether killing me is just or not. They assume my heritage makes me a killer, which is incorrect. I am half human and half wolf and have always refused to attack people. I have never bitten anyone either because I have no idea what kind of curse I would be passing on. Because I refused to kill humans or attempt to turn them, I lost my family.”
My eyes softened.
His lips tightened. “I have killed, though. The day they killed my mother, I tore the pack to pieces. So, I’ve committed the ultimate sin in the eyes of the werewolf clan.” He shrugged and went back to eating his meal.
A lump formed in the back of my mouth as a deep sadness filled me. Lucas had no one. Humans didn’t trust him, and his own kind hunted him. I cleared my throat and focused on my food. Before I had a chance to finish, a knock on the front door interrupted us.
Adrenaline rushed through me as I stared at Lucas. His back was towards the door, but if anyone saw a stranger eating in my grandmother’s home, there would be hell to pay. I pointed to the kitchen, and he picked up his plate and moved to the corner near the sink, which was a blind spot to the front door.
I waited a second and then cracked the door. Annie Wilton stood on the threshold, with Doc Wilton’s horse tied to the front porch post. My heart thundered in my chest at the stricken look on her face.
“There were complications. Come quickly,” she said and grabbed my hand, pulling me out the door.
I took one glance at Lucas, and he nodded before the door closed on his worried gaze. My stomach dropped because I was certain I would come home to an empty house, but my grandmother’s situation was more pressing than Lucas’s. I hopped onto the back of Doc’s horse without prompting, and Annie kicked its sides. We were galloping at top speed within a few breaths.
When the horse skidded to a stop a few minutes later at Doc Wilton’s house, I hopped off and ran into the house without a glance back at Annie.
Gram was strapped o
nto the same exam table I had left her on. However, she looked much worse now. Her skin had turned to grey and her lips almost blue. My gaze dropped to the floor. To the mess of red towels and rags.
Gram moved her hand, and I stepped close to take it. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a harsh rasp. I leaned close.
“Love you, Ruby,” she whispered.
I pulled away. “I love you, too, Gram,” I said, and it was as if my words pulled the last of the air from her lungs.
Her raspy breath stopped on an exhale. I waited for her to inhale again.
“Gram?” I squeezed her hand. “Gram?” The pounding in my ears drowned out all sound. I shook her arm. “Gram!”
Doc Wilton moved behind me and clasped my shoulders, trying to pull me away from my grandmother.
I spun around to face him. “You have to help her!”
“I can’t. That’s why I sent Annie to get you. Your grandmother lost too much blood. Her hip shattered and punctured an artery in several places. It was a miracle she remained as lucid as she did for so long. There was nothing I could do.” He ran his hand through his hair. “There was just too much damage.”
“You can’t help her?” I asked with a voice I didn’t recognize. “You can’t save her?”
“No, honey. She’s already gone. She held on to say her goodbye to you.”
Tears blurred my vision, and my throat closed against the wail of sorrow filling my soul. The last of my family lay on that table, and my heart broke with the loss. My knees wobbled, but I wouldn’t allow them to buckle.
Not here.
Not in front of her spirit.
Gram would expect me to be strong, to carry on without her, but all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and forget the world around me. I pressed my lips together and turned, taking one last glance at the woman who raised me to be strong and independent.
“Bye, Gram,” I whispered and turned towards the door.
“I’ll make the arrangements,” Doc Wilton said.
I nodded and left his house as fog filtered through my brain. Memories of Gram’s laughter and her gumption flashed in front of my eyes. I didn’t remember the walk to the cabin, but I found myself staring at the door with arms that were too heavy to lift.
After a moment, the door cracked open, and Lucas’s bright blue eyes peered out at me. A wave of relief hit, and my chin quivered. He opened the door wider and closed it as I crossed the threshold. Gratitude that I wasn’t alone in Gram’s house layered on the sorrow. Without permission, tears flowed hot from my eyes, streaking my cheeks.
My knees buckled and I dropped, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Lucas’s shadow crossed over mine, and his hand cupped my shoulder as he crouched down next to me. His kind eyes triggered the gates, and a sob slipped from my lips. I covered my face to try to quiet the horrible sounds.
Lucas pulled me onto his lap. His arms wrapped around me, offering warmth and comfort. He didn’t bother with meaningless words. He let me purge the pain onto his shoulder in a wealth of tears until his shirt was as wet as my face. When I finally quieted down, he stood with me in his arms and brought me to my bedroom. After he laid me on the bed and slid my boots off, he covered me with a blanket and glanced at the window.
“The sun is setting,” he said, and hooked his thumb over his shoulder.
“Stay,” I whispered. My request was more for his safety, but I also didn’t want to be alone.
“People are going to come by,” he said.
I huffed. “Not at night. No one is allowed outside after dark.” They would be here first thing in the morning, but while the darkness blanketed the woods, no one in their right mind wandered.
He blinked at me and gave me a half smile. “So you defied town ordinances by searching for your grandmother last night?”
“Yes. That comes with jail time. But having you here...” I shrugged. There was no use telling him I was facing a death sentence if anyone found out I allowed him to live.
Reality slammed home. I put Doc Wilton in the same position as I now sat in. I closed my eyes and buried my face in the pillow because I didn’t want to entertain what Doc would do now that Gram had died.
Lucas lit the lamp on my nightstand and then started for the door.
“Where are you going?”
He stopped and shifted from foot to foot as he looked out the window. “I need to go.”
I glanced at the darkened window and then back at him.
“Damn it,” he muttered and doubled over before falling to his knees.
All my sorrow and every narration in my head halted as his gaze locked on mine. His eyes flared bright. I blinked as the fabric encasing him tore, the sound of it sending a shiver up my spine. His hands clenched into tight fists as the cords on his neck stood out. His muscles trembled hard enough for me to feel it in the springs of the bed.
The transformation from man to massive wolf did not look pleasant in the least. It wasn’t done in a snap, where one moment he was a man and the next he was a wolf, like I always assumed. Bones cracked and stuck out at odd angles while he silently endured the pain. There was a final snap, and then the wolf looked at me amidst the ruined clothing.
He glanced at the mess surrounding him and sighed before using his snout and front paw to bundle up the scraps into a small pile that he picked up and brought over to the trashcan in the corner.
Questions surfaced, but I wouldn’t get any answers until morning. Lucas curled up in the corner and put his massive head on his paws. I stared at him in silence until my eyelids dropped closed, and I let the exhaustion claim me.
Chapter 9
Knocking interrupted my broken dreams. I rolled away from the noise, curling into a tighter ball and shivering against the morning chill.
“Ruby?”
The strange voice penetrated my sleep-addled brain. My eyes flew open, landing on a bare chest on the opposite side of the bed. I sat up and glanced down at my attire, and then everything fell into place. This wasn’t a nightmare after all.
I stared at Lucas. He stood wrapped from the waist down in the comforter, and what was visible was a sculpted torso like I had never seen before. I wanted to reach out and touch the relief map of his chest and feel the muscles under my fingertips. Another shiver captured me, and I wrapped my arms around my stocking-clad legs.
“Someone is here,” he said and nodded towards the bedroom door.
The knocking continued, and I climbed out of the bed.
“Just stay in here,” I said before I left the room.
“If you get the chance to grab the saddle bag I slung over the fence out back, I have an extra pair of clothes in there,” he said.
“I’ll do my best.” I closed the bedroom door and crossed to the front door.
Outside stood the entire squad, led by Remy. His solemn features and reddened eyes told me more than I wanted to know about how he felt about Gram. He gave me a nod and went to step inside.
I blocked his path. The last thing I needed was the Guard milling about while I had a naked werewolf in my bedroom.
“Remy, I really don’t want any company right now. I’m sorry, but I need some time to let this all sink in,” I said and glanced at the twenty men standing outside.
His face hardened, and his eyes narrowed. “You went looking for her after dark, didn’t you?” His voice turned as fiery as his glare.
There was no sense in denying it, so I nodded. “It was Gram.” My chin trembled and my eyes filled with hot tears, but I blinked them back and started to close the door on the group.
“Doc said you had help.”
I stared at him. “Yes. A farmer from outside Dakota territory found us and helped me get Gram to Doc’s office.”
Remy gave a slow nod.
“Gram would have died out in the woods otherwise,” I said and my voice cracked. “Lot of good it did anyways.” I shut the door before the tears came in earnest.
“You know where to find us if you need anyt
hing,” Remy said and patted the door a couple times.
“Thank you,” I called out.
Footsteps shuffled away. When I no longer heard noise, I opened the door just to check. No one was in sight. I shut the door and hurried out the back and into the corral. Lucas’s saddle bag hung by the stable, and I ran across the field and grabbed it.
Back in the house, I tossed the bag into my bedroom and closed the door, leaning my back on it for a moment to get my racing heart under control. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, slowing it down until I almost felt normal. When I opened my eyes, my gaze landed on my grandmother’s room. A lump returned to my throat.
I would not be able to escape her within the confines of these walls.
The bedroom door opened, and I jumped and spun around, right into Lucas’s bare chest. His skin was warm and soft, and I pushed off with my hands, taking a step back. His eyes were as wide as mine as we stared at each other.
Another knock at the door broke whatever spell had captivated us. I glanced at the front of the house and then at Lucas.
“You need a shirt,” I mumbled under my breath.
A smile toyed on his lips. “I don’t have one,” he whispered.
My gaze dropped to the rocking chair where my pile of clothes from yesterday sat and I pointed. “Yes, you do.”
He turned and I swore his shoulders dropped a fraction as if he were as disappointed as I was for him to cover up. I crossed to quell the knocking at the front door.
Travis stood on the other side of the threshold, his face still on the pale side. His arm was set in a plaster cast and held in a much more stable sling than my shirt. He gave me a tired smile and handed me my soiled shirt.
“I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother,” he said.
I pressed my lips together and nodded, blinking away the mist that blurred my vision. He stepped towards me, but I put my hand out, stopping him.
“I’m okay,” I said, but my shaky voice belied my words. I silently cursed at my inability to stabilize my emotions.