He reached for his right boot, undid it, and pulled it clear. His left followed. Then back to the right sock, the left.
He found his belt, undid the clasp, pulled the entire leather strip clear until it hung from one hand, then let it fall.
He was smiling again, enjoying the performance.
Now she saw his behavior as another marking of the territory. Look at me. Don’t dare to look away.
He undid the button at his waist, revealing a thickening of belly hair, the black line of his shorts.
Two more buttons and then he moved his hands to his hips, hooked thumbs into the waistband of pants and shorts, and started to slide them down.
His manhood sprang free, skinny and semi-erect, and seconds later he stood, legs slightly apart, arms braced like a weightlifter about to reach for the bar. He had left her alone until now, but his intent was clear: some time soon he would possess her.
He turned then, and she saw that the body hair extended thickly across his back, apart from where that scarred patch extended round his side.
Was his body hair always that thick...? His rib-cage that barrel-like? His hips so skinny?
He dropped to his knees, his face tipped up to the sky.
All of a sudden, pain had written itself large across his features.
She studied him as he kneeled there, fascinated and scared in equal measure. The hair was definitely getting thicker, becoming long and coarse across his shoulders.
He tipped forward, shifting his weight to hands and toes, knees tucked up.
Seen so close, she could see the stretching of bones, the realignment of joints, the thickening of hair across his butt, the first stub of tail emerging like some gruesome cartoon hernia at the base of his spine. The sheer physical shift as his body stretched, reconstituting itself to its new form.
As before, the previous evening, there came a moment. A point where – blink and everything flipped – what she saw slipped from distorted man to ... other. Wolf.
She looked, and the big alpha male stood before her, in the open ground before the bothy.
He held himself low to the ground, head swinging slowly from side to side, tail flicking uncertainly. Then, slowly, he straightened, pushing himself up as if his legs were still growing longer.
He was a big male, fur a deep gray at the sides shading to near-black along the spine. Along the beast’s nearest flank there was a patch where the fur abruptly thinned, revealing a near-circle of angry scar tissue. When that heavy head swung in Jenny’s direction she saw a fierce, untamed look, nothing of the man this beast had been. Lips curling, he snarled at her, the sound loud enough to carry through the window.
Inadvertently, Jenny took a step backward, retreating into the shadows of the bothy’s interior.
Then, almost casually, the wolf turned away and trotted across the open area to the first fringe of heather.
Here, the beast paused once more, glanced back, then threw its head up skyward and let loose a howl that reverberated through Jenny’s flesh, through the ground itself. A fierce, piercing cry that ululated and grew the longer it went on.
A challenge.
For the beast that had been Jonathan Carr knew that no matter where he was, the beast that was in Billy Stewart would be unable to resist the challenge of that call.
35
He hears the howl again. Tastes the challenge on the air.
Somewhere, buried deep, a reasoning part of his brain knows that this is foolish, a challenge like this is only set by one confident of victory. Knows that he is being called to a fate that may be beyond his powers to control.
But that part of his brain, the sensible, reasoning, human part, is deeply submerged and has little purchase.
The howl speaks to his belly, to his heart, to the blood coursing through him.
It is the howl of another alpha male, one staking a claim over what is his.
And it is a challenge he must meet.
He leaves the last of the trees behind, scrambling up a steep, rocky incline before emerging on the moor, forcing his way through a coarse tangle of bracken and heather.
As the vegetation thins to a rough mat of heather, his speed increases. The scent is strong, laying a trail for him to follow. And, every so often, that howl!
He comes to the high ridge of bare rock and pauses. The ground falls away here, down towards the loch. And there, nestled among the loch-side trees, he sees the blocky shape of the stone building, cast in golden evening light. A gray vehicle sits before the building.
Becoming more cautious, he trots down towards the bothy.
There are no more howls now. The new alpha must have scented him on the air, knowing his challenge has been met.
He pauses again, seeing movement from somewhere inside the building. A pale face. A female. Her.
He realizes now that there is more at stake than mere territory and dominance.
He starts to trot down the slope again and then–
A massive impact in his side sends him tumbling away. Loud snarling fills the air. Claws and teeth fly, deflecting off his thick coat and twisting body as he finally starts to respond to the assault.
Rolling across bare rock, he finds himself on his back, paws raised defensively, and when he looks up, all he sees is the dark shape of a large male wolf above him, teeth bared, descending in full-on attack.
§
She saw the silver wolf approaching.
Billy.
She wanted to rush out, warn him that this was a trap, that Carr was waiting for him.
She knew Billy’s wolf-form was larger than any true wolf she had seen, but Carr was something altogether different... He really was a monster.
She moved towards the window again. Was that a response in the way Billy briefly paused? Had he spotted her?
All of a sudden, the dark wolf launched himself at Billy. Hunkered down low, Carr had managed to conceal himself in the heather, but when he stood and leapt it was as if he had simultaneously doubled in bulk.
“No!” She took a step towards the door, but what could she do? Her first instinct was to rush to them, to wade in and somehow haul them apart, a primal response coming from deep within. To fight for her man.
She forced herself to stay there, standing at the window, as outside, just where the bare rock of the parking area met the tangled heather of the moor, two blurs of fur careened off each other.
She saw the dark wolf pounce, the silver lying on his back, exposed.
A flash of teeth as the dark wolf’s head lunged.
A blur again, as they engaged, rolling together across bare rock.
She pressed against the window, hands flat against the glass.
Billy broke free, turned, stood his ground with his front legs spread, his head low, teeth bared.
Carr didn’t hesitate, throwing himself at his foe, teeth and paws flying.
Billy twisted, deflecting the attack, briefly latching on to Carr’s flank as the bigger wolf flew past.
She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t just stand and watch, no matter how foolish any other option must be.
She went outside, and then everything happened at once.
The door thudded shut behind her and a brief moment of silence descended.
Both wolves stopped and turned towards her, fixing her with predator glares.
And then a distant sound that had started as an insect wine became suddenly louder. Mechanical. An engine, like that of a motorbike.
Beyond the two wolves she saw movement, one of those little ATVs, like a motorbike on four bulbous tires.
She took a step towards the wolves. The silver wolf responded instantly, stepping round to put himself between Jenny and the dark wolf. His foe rose up, emphasizing his greater bulk and height, preparing to pounce and then leaping.
A shot tore through the evening air.
Both wolves fell, the darker body smothering the other.
Jenny ran to them, oblivious to any danger.
Sh
e reached for the dark wolf and heaved at it, trying to get to Billy.
In the corner of her vision she saw movement, the man who had jumped from his ATV, taken aim and fired in a single movement: Jim McQueen.
He joined her, reached down, heaved, and the two of them managed to pull the dead form of the dark wolf free.
Even as she hauled at the beast, she felt bones and muscles shifting beneath her grip. As she kneeled beside Billy, she sensed Carr’s form still shifting nearby, becoming human again, naked and bleeding and motionless.
Tentative now, she reached towards the wolf before her. Fresh blood matted his coat, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the fight or McQueen’s bullet.
Jenny glanced up at McQueen, who stood over them, rifle poised in the crook of his arm. How much did he know?
He nodded, as if reading the question in her face. “I knew,” he said softly. “I always knew, but we never spoke about it. Then this evening, we were down by the river when we heard the howl. Billy just looked at me and said, ‘I’m goin’ after him, but Jenny told me I wisnae to do it all myself.’ So I came after him as fast as I could...”
As he spoke, Jenny had turned away, back to Billy. She leaned forward, buried her face in the fur at his neck, remembering how well their bodies had slotted together, her head in the hollow between neck and shoulder. She couldn’t lose this so soon!
She felt movement, a slight rise and fall. Straightened. Looked down and saw dark eyes fixed on her.
“Billy? Come back to me, Billy. I love you.”
He started to shift, his thick coat thinning, legs and arms thickening, muzzle retracting. Up close, it was surreal: the heather, the landscape, the rocks and there, right before her, things happening that should never be happening, like a warp in reality right before her eyes.
Seconds later, he lay there before her, naked and very human. His body was hunched up in the fetal position with his knees drawn to his chest.
He was breathing. At least he was breathing.
“Ye’d better get out of here,” said McQueen.
She peered up at him, and he nodded towards Carr’s body.
“I’ll stay here wi’ this one. I’m gonnae have some explaining to do, an’ it’ll be a lot easier if I don’t have tae worry about what the two of you say, too.”
Billy sat. He had a bite to his left shoulder, long scratches down his side, a split lip. He looked at them, dazed.
Jenny went to where Carr had dropped his clothes, gathered up pants, shirt and coat and came back to help Billy into them.
She nodded towards Carr’s BMW. “He said he’d hidden the keys,” she told McQueen, and the retired cop went into the bothy to search.
When he had gone, Jenny turned to Billy, leaned in and tenderly kissed his damaged mouth.
“You said you love me,” he said, as she pulled away. He was smiling, like a loon.
Her look cut through his excitement.
“I need you to listen,” she said, her voice steady. “I need you to put these clothes on and come with me in the car. Get away from here. No excitement. No fuss. No distractions. I just... need... to concentrate. I need you to help me, Billy. Do you understand?”
He didn’t, clearly, but his trust in her was clear.
He stood unsteadily, and dressed, and nearby there was a flash of lights as McQueen unlocked the BMW and stood beside it, keys hanging from one hand.
36
She found her things in the car – her purse and cell phone. Carr must have brought them when he abducted her.
There was a message on the phone, but she tried to ignore it. Had to concentrate. Focus on just getting away.
As she drove cautiously back across the moor, she was aware of Billy’s eyes on her, but he didn’t press, didn’t ask.
She felt sick. Felt darkness threatening to spread in from the corners of her vision.
She stared at those twin indentations in the heather ahead of her.
When they came to the steep slope down to the main trail, she engaged the lowest gear and used that to brake their descent, driving almost on autopilot.
Back through the forest. Blue and white police tape to one side, a uniformed man standing bored guard.
The lawns, chewed up by car tires.
The castle.
She kept driving.
Just had to get away. Away from all of this.
Out onto the narrow road that led one way to the village and the other through the mountains to somewhere remote. She chose that direction.
§
“Will you just stop and tell me what’s wrong?”
His voice was soft, patient. He’d waited all this time before pressing.
They were approaching a passing space on the narrow road, so she pulled up, took another deep breath.
“First...” she said. “Just let me...” She reached for her cell phone, that message. Set it to speaker and let the voicemail play.
“Jennifer. It’s your mom. Your pop passed away last night. I just thought you should know.”
That was all. Short, and to the point.
Jenny looked at Billy. He reached for her, put a hand on hers as it lay on the steering wheel. “How do you feel?” he asked.
“Like that’s the end of his story,” she said.
“You sorry you didn’t go back?”
She shook her head, an instant response. She’d long since ceased being a part of her father’s story.
“Will you just give me a minute?”
She climbed out of the car, and went to stand by a low stone wall that separated the passing space from the moor. Hills and mountains stretched away before her, sheep dotting the heather nearby.
The cell had signal here, and back home it was mid-afternoon. She pressed to call back.
“Hey, mom,” she said, when her mother answered on the third ring. “I got your message.”
“Jennifer.”
“Was it easy for him?”
“They made it easy.”
“Good. Listen, mom, I’ve met someone. I may not be back for a while.”
“Is he a good one?”
“I think so. He’s kind and strong and funny and sensitive. I love him.”
“That’s what matters,” her mother said.
“It is.”
“You can live your life, Jennifer. Run free.”
“So can you.”
“I know.”
They rung off, no goodbyes, no false promises, just hope, and love.
§
She turned. She’d sensed him coming up behind her as she spoke to her mother.
“‘Run free’?”
She nodded, slotting herself into his strong embrace, her face resting against him, tucking into that hollow.
“The difference is,” she said, “that I’m not running away from things any more. Now I’m running towards something.”
“Us?”
“Us.”
“He did it, didn’t he?” said Billy. “Carr.”
She only had to nod, briefly. He knew.
They stood like that for a while, then she said, “I need help, Billy. I can feel it inside me, building up, a dam about to burst. I’ve been trying to suppress it ever since I came to up at the bothy, but I can’t hold it in much longer. That first time... you’ve told me how hard it is. I need help. I need support. Can you do that?”
§
They walked away from the Land Rover, across the heather to where the ground fell away, a small stream cutting its path through the rocks.
Here, they stood facing each other, reached for their clothes, stripped.
She’d been fighting it back since waking at the bothy, but she couldn’t for much longer. That raw, primal thing, deep within.
The change.
She didn’t know at what point she’d realized what Carr had done, that he’d applied Lilian Lee’s treatment to her. Turned her. Changed her.
But she knew that he had.
And now was her time.
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Naked, she stepped towards Billy. That thing where they just slotted into each other’s embrace.
She felt him stir against her, but now wasn’t a time for that. Now she needed him in a different way. Needed him to guide her through what was about to happen.
She felt it first of all as a twisting deep in her belly. A tightening. Almost a sexual thing.
Then a shift in her spine, a clicking of vertebrae, a twanging of nerves, and the pain almost made her double over, it was so sharp.
Next, it felt as if a fist had clenched deep inside her chest and this time she fell to her knees and cried out.
Now, so close to the heather, the sweet fragrance became intense. The sounds of the breeze, the rustle of vegetation, the distant cry of a bird.
She saw her fists grinding down into the moss, saw dark hair sprouting on her knuckles, the backs of her hands.
Felt another great upheaval deep within.
Looked up and saw pale flesh. A naked man. Felt a rush of fear. Stopped thinking in words and sentences: that fear was a thing, not a concept.
Another shift tore through her, like something unfolding inside her body.
She lowered herself against the ground, as if she might sink into it.
Felt another upheaval.
Gave a soft whimper. An animal thing. A wolf thing.
§
They run. Their pace a steady lope they could maintain right through the night.
The silver alpha male, only slightly hindered by the wounds to his shoulder and ribs.
The darker, smaller female to his side. His mate.
Evening has fallen. An owl with yellow eyes sweeps low across the heather. Sheep call to each other, disturbed.
And the two wolves run, not away from things, but towards something new, a life together.
Epilogue
Jim McQueen puffed at his cigarette, a vice he’d only picked up again recently.
He needed to get this all straight in his head.
Billy would be okay, he knew. He always was. He was a survivor, that one. And his American lassie was a kindred spirit, a survivor, too.
But what to do about Jonathan Carr?
He looked at the naked body just across from where he stood.
Last Alpha: A Highland shifter romance Page 18