by Kimber White
Oh, God! He was going to do it! “Wait!” I yelled, moving toward him. What if it didn’t work? Or worse? “Why don’t you try it on him first?” I pointed to the paralyzed wolf in the cage.
Derek raised a brow and nodded. “Good idea.”
I went to him, intending to take the bottle from him, but Derek brushed past me. “No way I want you near him. He might be paralyzed, but aggression is still pouring out of him. He’s liable to rip your hand off if he gets the chance.”
Derek went to the cage and squatted down near the wolf’s head. The wolf took slow, measured breaths and water poured from the corners of his eyes. I could have felt sorry for the creature, if he hadn’t tried to kill Grammy less than an hour before.
The space between the bars was just wide enough to allow Derek to fit his hand through. The wolf’s golden eyes widened as Derek got closer. I couldn’t read him the way Derek could, but I swore they conveyed pure terror. Derek filled the dropper and reached in. The wolf’s mouth hung slightly open as he panted, his tongue lolled to the side.
“I can’t do this one-handed I don’t think,” Derek said. “Jessa, I’ll hold his jaw open, you pour three drops of the stuff in on my count.”
I went to Derek’s side and took the dropper from him. He reached in with his other hand and spread the wolf’s mouth with two hands. His shoulders quaked from the effort of it. I knew what the toxin did. It rendered the victim stiff as well as paralyzed. Derek gave me a nod and I slid my hand in under his. Squeezing the stopper, I watched the thick liquid slide down the wolf’s tongue. Derek clamped his jaw shut and held it tight.
“Move back,” he commanded me. I did.
The muscles in Derek’s back strained as he held the wolf’s jaw closed. The wolf began to tremble. His gray fur rippled and his eyes widened. Something was happening.
“Listen to me,” Derek said, his voice low and full of threat. “You don’t have enough room to shift, so don’t even try.”
A muffled whine tore through the wolf as Derek held him still. But, the wolf’s body moved. He thrashed as Derek carefully let go of him and pulled his hands back through the cage bars. He didn’t have enough room to stand, but he regained the use of his muscles and rolled until he rested on his belly, head up and pressed against the bars.
“I’ll be damned,” Grammy said. “Looks like it worked.”
Derek stayed crouched. His own wolf eyes flashed as he leveled a gaze straight at the wolf’s. His heartbeat rippled through me as Derek grew agitated.
“Is he talking to you?” Grammy asked. I thought it the minute she did. Derek and the wolf seemed locked in some sort of telepathic conversation. Derek reached in again and put a hand on the wolf’s back to still him as the last of the tremors went through him and the antidote did its job.
“It’s okay,” Derek said as he withdrew his hands. “He’s healing. The bullet in his hip should work its way out. That shit worked.”
“Did he say something to you?”
Derek rose and stood next to me. I put the bottle of antidote in his open palm.
“In a way,” he said. “He’s not part of my pack, so I can’t hear his thoughts plainly. But, he’s afraid. He’s asking for help. And it’s not any of you he’s afraid of. It’s something out there. His pack leader, maybe.”
I looked back at the wolf. His eyes held an emotion I couldn’t quite place. Sorrow, maybe. But, I didn’t trust it. For now, his ass needed to stay in that cage. He could move now, but made no attempt to push his way past the cage bars.
“Keep that trained on him just in case,” Derek said, picking up the AR-15. He tossed it to my father. Then, he took the dropper and gave me a quick wink.
“Ugh!” The shit smelled even worse out of the bottle than it did in it. Derek held the bottle out to me and covered his mouth with his forearm. I screwed the cap back on the bottle and waited.
Derek staggered backward, then steadied himself with one hand on the table. He doubled over and his color went from white to greenish, then flared red as if he’d just eaten a handful of ghost peppers. The whites of his eyes turned pink, and a capillary burst in his left one.
“Derek? Dad! Do something to help him!”
My father was at my side. He put a steadying hand on my back and then gripped my arm to stop me when I made a move to go to Derek. Derek’s heartbeat boomed inside my ears. He was in agony. I couldn’t feel his pain, but I felt the effect it had on him. He gasped for air and gripped his knees. Sweat poured down his back and he trembled.
“Don’t touch him,” Grammy said, coming to the other side of me. “Don’t go near him. If he can’t control his shift, he might hurt you without meaning to.”
Derek managed to nod and put a hand up, agreeing with Grammy’s warning. So, I stood between my father and grandmother and watched helplessly as we waited to see whether the antidote helped him as well.
His whole body shook. In fact, the walls of the hut quaked along with him. The howling outside drew closer. Derek dropped to all fours and clawed the floor with his hands. His spine drew up at an impossible angle. Bones cracked and rolled as his fingers elongated, becoming black. Then, fur sprouted all over him. Silvery gray and shimmering. Derek’s pants ripped at the seams, and he finally took a halting step forward.
He shed the last of his clothes and his human form. His wolf sprang forth, snarling and powerful. Dad tried to push me behind him, and Grammy let out a gasp. But, I pulled myself away from them and walked toward Derek.
I wasn’t afraid. I was in awe. Derek’s wolf took a slow step toward me. Though Grammy and my father couldn’t sense it, I could. Derek was free. His heart beat strong and steady. Power coursed through his veins. He dropped his head and came to me. Reaching out, I put a tentative hand on his back, my fingers sinking into the rough fur. A shiver ran through me as my wolf came to me. I sank to my knees in front of him.
Derek nuzzled against me. I ran my hand down his powerful back, feeling hard bones and sinew.
“Is he okay?” Grammy asked, traces of fear in her voice. She’d moved back behind the computer monitors. In her head, she knew who this was. In her heart, I knew she still carried the fear from her own experiences so many years ago.
“He’s more than okay,” I whispered as I lowered my head so Derek and I were eye to eye. He blinked slowly. Though his beast was out, I still sensed the keen mind of the man who’d risked his life to save me. Not once, but many times over in the space of a day.
He pawed the ground and took a step back. The wolf in the cage whined behind us. Derek’s wolf went to him. He bared his teeth and let out a low, vibrating growl. The enemy wolf went quiet, submitting to Derek’s authority. He laid down, resting his head on his front paws. Derek let out a chuff then paced in front of the doors of the hut.
“No!” I cried out, sensing at least the direction of his thoughts if not the specifics. His heart raced. He felt trapped. I knew what he wanted. To hunt. To kill if it came to it. He let out a low, gruff bark and pawed at the doors.
“There’s too many of them,” I said. “They’ll kill you.”
Derek pawed at the ground again. He pressed his snout against my palm and raised his tail high. He couldn’t talk. I couldn’t read his mind. Still, I somehow knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted to go out there. He thought he could chase off the threat all alone.
“Let him go,” Grammy said. “He knows what he’s doing.”
“Grammy, they’ll rip him apart.”
“No they won’t,” Dad said. He’d joined Grammy at the monitors. “I think they’ve been called back. Fire’s almost burned out in the storage shed. They haven’t done any more damage. The two that were circling the south entrance aren’t there anymore.
Derek barked again and pressed his shoulders against the door. He could have easily torn through them, but then we couldn’t lock them behind him. “Are you sure?” I asked. Derek went up on his hind legs and dropped down again.
“Shit,” I said. I went t
o the metal cabinet near the wall and pulled out a duplicate AR-15, slinging the strap over my shoulder. “Fine. But I’m not letting you go out there alone. I’ll watch your six. I think I’ve proven more than once I know how to shoot straight when I have to.”
Derek growled and pushed me backward with his snout against my leg.
“Get used to it,” Grammy called out. “My Jessa’s got her own mind. And she’s not wrong. Besides, anything comes within a hundred feet of her, you’ll be able to sense it and move fast enough to stop it.”
Derek kept right on growling and narrowed his golden eyes. A thrill ran through me as he fixed his gaze on me.
“I’ll go with you,” my father said. But, when he tried to stand up, his legs gave out and he would have hit the floor if Grammy hadn’t been right there to steady him.
“You’ll stay put,” Grammy said. “Derek and Jessa can take care of themselves. Besides, just in case one of those bastards is out there just waiting for the chance to get in here, I’d really rather not be here by myself. Or alone with that one, even if he is out of commission.”
The wolf in the cage squeezed his eyes shut. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Then, the vision of him charging Grammy with bloodlust in his eyes cured me of it.
I flipped the safety off the rifle and gave Derek’s wolf a nod. “Let’s get this over with. I go where you go.”
I reached over Derek and slipped the bolt. Grammy was right behind me. “Don’t open this up again unless you’re sure it’s me. Keep your eyes glued to the monitors. We’ll head to the south end of the yard first. That’s where it looked like they were headed. And if you spot any more of them headed this way, shoot them.”
“Oh, don’t you worry, honey. Not my first time at the rodeo.”
I gave Grammy a hug and a firm kiss on the forehead, then turned and followed Derek out the door. Grammy slammed it behind me, and I heard her engage the deadbolt. Nothing was getting through there unless she allowed it.
I turned toward Derek. Smoke quickly filled my lungs along with the smell of burning rubber and gasoline. I covered my mouth with my arm and kept my eyes on the white underside of Derek’s tail as he loped toward the south end of the lot.
An eerie silence settled over everything. Ash covered a lot of the cars as we drew closer to the burned out storage shed, adding to the post-apocalyptic vibe. Derek waited for me. I came to his side and put a hand down, threading my fingers through the thick fur on his back. He pricked his ears, turning the left one sideways. His heartbeat slowed as he listened for danger. His black nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. Then, he kept going.
We were alone. No distant howling. Not even crickets or frogs from the swamp on the other side of the north gate. We walked the perimeter, looking for damage to the fence. We found it at the southernmost edge of the lot. Just a tiny hole made with wire cutters, probably. So, they hadn’t ripped through it with their teeth. They’d come prepared. But now, they were gone.
I felt the tension go out of Derek’s back when I rested my hand against his spine again. He stretched out his front paws and raised his tail high again. His fur rolled, and I stepped back, sensing a change in the rhythm of his pulse. I remembered what Grammy said. Don’t get too close to him during a shift.
This time, Derek’s movement was seamless. Quick and full of power. He rose to his full height, fur replaced with tanned skin glistening with a thin sheen of sweat. Then, he turned toward me, amber eyes alight with fire. A shudder ran through me as I looked at him. He was beautiful. Naked. It was the first time we’d been truly alone since I learned the truth about who he was. And for the first time, I wasn’t afraid.
Chapter Eleven
The world became the sound of my own breathing as I moved toward Derek. Warmth flooded through me with each step I took. He pulled me to him with no words, no touch. But still, I craved him, like the air filling my lungs. I wanted to touch him. He stood completely still, letting me come to him. I hadn’t realized until just then, that I needed exactly that. Though I wasn’t afraid, I was unsure. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. On some level, I think I’d always known it. But, so many years of believing one thing about all shifters took time to sift through.
“Jessa,” he said, his words a rippling whisper across my skin.
On an elemental level, I just needed Derek. His touch. His breath. His body. But this was instinct talking. I knew that. I hadn’t lost all sense of myself. It wasn’t like that. I just needed.
I wanted to drink in every detail of him, and he seemed to know that. He stood before me. Perfect. Strong. And . . . mine. My eyes raked over the hard curves of his strong chest. The dusting of curls over his nipples that tapered down to a dark trail below his belly button. The flat planes of his stomach. His cock. Huge and turgid. Heat blossomed inside of me, rising to a pulse between my legs.
I wanted this man.
No amount of reason or rationalization mattered now. I went to him. I stood just an inch away from him. I raised a hesitant hand, hovering it over his chest. Then, I laid my palm flat against him, letting his body heat permeate me, making my knees shudder. Moisture pooled at the juncture of my thighs. I wanted to lay down in the tall grass, spread myself open and give in to every wild instinct surging trough me. Through us both.
But I couldn’t forget what brought us out here.
“They’ve moved off,” Derek said, reading my thoughts behind my eyes. “At least ten miles to the southeast.”
I nodded. “They might be heading for Tygart’s forest or wherever they came from.”
“They lost two of their own. One killed. One captured. If it were my pack, I’d retreat and regroup until I knew just what I was dealing with.”
“Uh huh.” Derek filled my senses. I breathed in his heady musk. It intoxicated me. His rough skin over hard muscles. I wanted him to wrap his arms around me. And his eyes. The clearest amber, flashing dark then glowing gold as the beast within him flared just below the surface.
“Derek,” I said, swallowing hard. I could barely think straight. It felt like I was the one with toxin running through my veins. And Derek’s touch seemed to be the only antidote.
“Can they see us?” he asked, sliding his arms around me. I craned my neck to keep his gaze.
“Huh?”
“Your father and grandmother. The security cameras. Does he have anything in this corner of the lot?”
“Huh? Oh. What?” I took a step back and shook my head, trying to clear my brain from the pull of Derek’s presence. We were far beyond the storage shed. This part of the lot was overgrown with the tall grass and purple wildflowers. If you could ignore the stacks of tires just a few yards away, it was almost beautiful here. Like an island of prairie in the midst of my father’s property.
“Jessa?”
“No. Actually. The southern part of the fence is about twenty yards that way past the trees. He’s got it wired with cameras, but they’re stationary and face out beyond the lot. He’s been meaning to fix that.”
“Hmm.”
“You’re sure the wolves aren’t coming back?”
“For now,” Derek said. “I’ll be able to hear them if they get within a couple of miles of the place. I don’t think they planned on you not killing me.”
I smiled, running my hands across his shoulders. I traced the faded outlines of the scar my bullet made, and my heart went into my throat. God. What if I had shot him through the heart? I could have killed him. It would have tormented me right along with him.
“I’m sorry for that.”
“You said that before. And I already forgave you. It’s a different world down here for you with the Kentucky wolves. I think you and your family have done what you had to, to survive. I understand.”
I’d leaned up on my tiptoes, but now, I went back down flatfooted. “What’s it like where you come from?”
Derek smiled. He took my hand and we walked even further out toward the south gate. He kept scanning the horizon, moving his bod
y between me and open field. The grass grew even thicker here and tickled my knees as Derek led me through the wildflowers. It felt natural, to be with him like this. Like I’d known him all my life. Or more accurately, like I’d waited for him all my life. Only now I’d finally realized it.
“We’re a family. A big, loud, sometimes dysfunctional, but always supportive family. We have a wide expanse of land reaching from the northern part of the lower peninsula, all through the upper peninsula of Michigan and into Canada. Wild Lake is kind of our sanctuary. Neutral turf, if you will. Non-shifter friends of the packs own farmland in the center of it. The Bonners. Brother and sister. You’d like them. I’m not saying all the packs agree with each other about everything. But, when it comes to a fight, the packs stand together.”
“How many packs?”
Derek shrugged. “Ten now. The number keeps growing. I’d like to take you there, Jessa. I want you to see how mates are supposed to be treated.”
I slid into his arms. It was good and natural. His warmth spread through me, sending a shiver of pleasure along my spine. Oh, I wanted so much more. All of a sudden, my clothes chafed against me. I wanted to be naked and natural just the way he was.
Derek leaned down and hooked a finger beneath my chin. He tilted my head up toward his and kissed me. Slow and tender, with an undercurrent of heat. I felt that kiss all the way down to my toes. Rippling heat and pleasure flooded through me. It was perfect. And yet, it wasn’t enough.
“Derek,” I gasped when he let me up for air.
His wolf eyes glinted gold as he looked down at me. I couldn’t stay with him like this much longer. I needed him too badly, and so did he. It was hunger and lust and a thousand other things. I knew the timing couldn’t be worse, and it bothered me a little I couldn’t seem to control my own urges. I’d never been like this before. I’d never wanted the way I did with Derek. Finally, Derek finally gave voice to what I knew we both felt.
“Jessa. I need you. But if you’re not ready . . .”