Found in Flames

by Desconhecido

  Luka rolled his neck and flexed his clawed hands. The digit with the broken claw hurt like a bitch, but he could handle that. It would heal after a couple of days. He still had nine good claws to dig into Char’s skin with. Not to mention a healthy set of fangs.

  ****

  Pulling his body back together from the flickering circle of fire he’d generated, Char smirked at the sight of Luka Craige’s rolling, burning body. Finally, after generations of looking over his shoulder, he would be free from the vengeful canine. He just needed to burn a little hotter first.

  “Incinerate,” he murmured in Latin as the magic built up in his chest. He would undoubtedly be exhausted after this, but he could rest on the plane. The flames surrounding Craige blurred from blue-orange to blue-green at his command. In moments the boiling would start.

  But something caught his attention. Howling. More of Craige’s pack were coming. That would be a problem if Craige himself wasn’t dead by then. Only, as soon as he’d registered the sound he realized his necessary focus had cost him an important observation. Something was coming at him from behind.

  Char spun, already grasping hold of a strain of the fire in order to catch the wolf with it, but he’d underestimated the wolf’s speed. Even though he’d dodged, he hadn’t dodged fast enough to avoid both sets of claws. The light-furred wolf tore into his shoulder with its momentum and the pain of the wound snuffed out all but the thin perimeter of flame as he landed hard on one knee. Damn mutt. Clamping one hand over his wounded shoulder, Char glared at the wolf as it caught itself in the dirt. He’d never seen this one before. It looked younger, and female. He’d been clipped by a bitch who likely didn’t actually know how to fight.

  Instead of charging again, however, she snarled threateningly at him and took up a position between him and her Alpha. Playing defense while Craige gathered himself. It was almost cute.

  “Guess it’s time to make another example,” Char ground out, pushing back to his feet. He’d throw a white-hot fireball straight through the female’s chest as soon as she lunged again. There’d be less left of her than what had been left of the Beta he’d caught recently.

  The howling had gotten closer and Char realized she was stalling. Not just for Craige, but for the pack. He was going to have to force her to make a move. But that would be easy enough, especially if her goal really was to protect her precious Alpha. Gaze switching to Craige, who had since found his feet again, Char grinned. Smoke was quite literally still wafting off the lupine form. And where there was smoke…. “Spark,” he called, the spoken command doubling the strength of the spell.

  ****

  Joella climbed up the rock in time to see a slender, light-furred wolf tackle a tall, burning form that she instinctively knew to be Luka to the ground. The wolf rolled him, covering as much of his body with her own as she could and helping to smother the flame. Even so, the sight of Luka on fire threw Joella’s heart into her throat. And apparently out her mouth, because without thought she screamed his name, barely keeping from launching herself off the rock and into the center of the flame. “Luka!”

  Across from the rolling wolves, Char’s head snapped up at her. She could barely see his expression through the plumes of smoke, but she just knew he was grinning. The arrogant, murdering, son of a bitch.

  More howling drew her attention and two more wolves leapt through the circle of flame. They were larger and had darker fur than the other, though neither quite as dark as Luka’s. And both ran straight for Char, snarling viciously. Joella was sure they were Chad and Russell. When Char’s focus turned to them she returned hers to Luka and finally registered the oddity of the sight before her.

  He was kneeling now, no longer burning, and though his body was human-shaped it was still covered in fur. Well, severely singed fur. His face wasn’t quite proportioned right for a human’s or a wolf’s, he still had a tail, and those were definitely long claws coming off his hands. For a moment she hesitated at the sight. No one would for an instant mistake a being like that for anything less than deadly. Deadly or not, though, that was Luka. And she trusted Luka completely.

  Forcing herself into motion after another glance toward Char to confirm that he was busy with the others, Joella jumped down from the rock. She was immediately bombarded by the heat of the fire that surrounded them, but she ignored it. She had to get to Luka.

  Luka’s head snapped up when she landed and he pushed himself to his feet as she sprinted toward him.

  One of the battling wolves yelped, the sound full of pain.

  The fire circle flared higher, hotter.

  The hairs on the back of Joella’s neck stood up in split second warning and she stumbled, her ankle giving out on her in her haste to escape whatever was coming. She crashed hard on her side, her elbow screaming as it dragged in the rough dirt. Heat seared over her in a flash of orange. She looked up, expecting to see a wave of fire descending on her. She wasn’t prepared to find herself being shoved forcefully backward by the same almost-blonde wolf that had helped Luka.

  The world went sideways for a moment as Joella rolled, her vision a blur of orange flame and dark gray smoke. A piercing shriek of agony cut through her, but it wasn’t hers. Immediately following the shriek was an angry howl and a chorus of yelping and growling. She couldn’t distinguish the direction of the noises until she’d finally stopped rolling.

  “Well, that’s a start,” Char’s slightly strained voice declared. His voice somehow carried to her ears over the din of the wolves’ pain and Joella finally managed to shake the dizziness enough to lift her head.

  And the first thing she saw was a smoldering pile of embers beneath a black plume of smoke just feet away.

  That was where she’d fallen.

  That should have been her.

  ****

  Luka roared with fury as another member of his family was consumed with flame. Because he’d chosen to fight in his lupine form and because he was still weakened from Char’s series of attacks he was too slow. Too slow to tackle Joella out of the way of Char’s fireball. Too slow to keep Vanna from sacrificing her life in his vendetta. Now he’d lost both Justin and Vanna to this incarnation.

  He’d be damned if Char took anyone else from him.

  Turning his rage on the witch, who’d slipped from Chad’s and Russell’s reach during the chaos, Luka leapt forward.

  Char’s eyes snapped to his and he took a step back, lifting his unwounded arm to defend himself. But Chad tackled him from the side, latching firmly onto his arm and pulling, his fangs shredding Char’s flesh. Char cried out and the fire behind him flickered, on the verge of self-extinguishing.

  Chad released the witch moments before Luka finally sank his claws into the bastard’s chest.

  The fire snuffed out, thick smoke rolling around and slowly wafting up on the breeze.

  Char made a gurgled sound and dragged his eyes up to Luka’s as a trail of blood slipped out the corner of his mouth. “C-congratu-lations,” he choked.

  Luka snarled in response and wrapped his free hand around the witch’s throat.

  Chapter Nine

  “I brought you some fresh water,” Joella said softly as she set the makeshift bowl down. It was mid-morning on the third day since Luka had finally defeated Char. The pack was still recovering, and she was doing what she could to help. It was the only way she knew to repay them for what they’d done for her, for what they’d lost for her.

  Luka uncurled from his spot against the cave wall and approached the bowl. He’d been in wolf form almost exclusively since the fight. According to Chad, werewolves healed faster in wolf form. But Joella missed Luka’s voice. She missed his touch. And if this was even a glimpse of how she’d feel once they were well enough for travel and the pack moved on … she didn’t know what she’d do.

  Her life would be chaos when she returned to it, of that she was certain. She’d disappeared over a week ago without a word. When she went back with no good excuse she’d almost certainly
lose her job; subsequently her apartment, too. But she didn’t care at this point. For the moment, at least, she was where she wanted to be.

  Gently sifting her fingers through the re-growing fur on Luka’s head and neck, she whispered, “There’s a little more food left if you want it, too.”

  He rumbled an acknowledgment and lifted his eyes to hers, licking the last of the water from his snout.

  “Okay,” she said, wishing she could actually communicate with him. “I’ll go get it.”

  She stepped out of the small cave and made her way to the meadow, wondering who she’d come across this time. Max, Emily, and Lew were sharing patrol duty now that Emily was up for it, so she knew it wouldn’t be one of them. Chad was mostly recovered from his minor burns, but typically volunteered for night patrol—which, she’d learned, was generally considered more important. Russell still had a few injuries slowing him down, but, like most men, he seemed to be trying his best to play them off. And currently he appeared to be ignoring his need for rest in favor of sitting with Morgan, because both were curled up in human form off to the side of the meadow.

  Joella managed a small smile for them when they looked over at her, her heart aching at the sadness in Morgan’s eyes. It was true Joella had been the twins’ least favorite person in the last few days of Vanna’s life, but she harbored them no ill will. How could she, after Vanna had so selflessly died to save her?

  Clearing her throat, she said, “Luka’s hungry.”

  Morgan looked away and Russell sat up, pointing. “Chad put it by that rock.”

  “Thanks,” she said before turning and going for the leftovers. She’d nearly made it back out of the meadow when a weak, feminine voice called out.

  “Is he…. Is Alpha healing well?” The question came from Morgan. Joella couldn’t decide if she was more shocked by the fact that Morgan had spoken in her presence at all or by the fact that her voice was devoid of the venom it had once held. She’d thought for sure the woman would hate her always now.

  Turning an easier smile back to the pair, Joella nodded. “I think so. Most of his fur’s even grown back.”

  The wolves smiled and Morgan wiped at her face. “Good.”

  ****

  Luka woke with the changing direction of the wind, blinking his eyes open to find himself alone in the cave. Joella’s ‘day clothes’ were resting where she’d left them earlier and his water bowl was gone. Why she’d have gone to refill it in the middle of the night he had no idea. The woman was crazy.

  Crazy enough to come running to him when she thought he was in danger.

  Crazy enough to stick around after the threat was gone and help nurse him—all of them—back to health.

  And, he hoped, crazy enough to stay with them—with him—for the rest of his life.

  That was one thing he’d had plenty of time to think about while he’d been recuperating. For so long his only real mission in life had been to avenge his family’s murder. He’d never intended to lose another wolf in the process, let alone two, but it was too late to go back and change his methods. An Alpha’s instinct was to build and protect his pack. He doubted he could have avoided pulling one together even if he’d tried. Now all he could do was focus on doing a better job of protecting the pack he had left. And one way to protect his pack was to ensure its future.

  A future that, for the first time, he could actually bring himself to think about. With Char finally dead and gone he had no excuse. And now that he’d met Joella he found he didn’t want an excuse. He wanted her. He wanted to claim her as his mate. He doubted she knew exactly what that entailed, since both of the mated pairs she’d had opportunity to talk to were born wolves, but he could explain.

  As soon as he found her.

  Luka pushed to his feet, stretched, shook, and ambled to the opening of the cave in order to catch her scent. As he’d suspected, she’d gone to the stream for water. Perfect. Testing his renewed strength, he pushed off at a run. And the more he ran the better he felt.

  Once he was close enough he took a breath and willed himself to shift. He hadn’t returned to his human form more than once since the fight, but he was ready now. And he couldn’t exactly have the necessary conversation with Joella if he didn’t have human vocal chords.

  He easily crossed the rest of the way to the stream, finding the woman he sought sitting back on the patches of grass and gazing up at the nearly full moon. So he paused and cast his own gaze up to the one power stronger than he. It was true that once a wolf reached maturity they could resist the pull of the moon, but resistance wasn’t easy and it went against every instinct a wolf possessed. For that same reason, a newly-Turned werewolf had no control over the allure of the full moon, no matter their age. He’d heard that some Turned wolves even took longer than a year to gain that control. But he’d also heard it largely depended on the strength and development of the wolf who bit them, and in that case Joella would be fine.

  Assuming she said yes.

  “Comfortable?” he called after a moment, watching with a grin as she jumped.

  “You scared the crap out of me!” she exclaimed, finding her feet. She opened her mouth to lecture him but paused before a smile overtook her expression. “Luka,” she breathed, moving to stand directly in front of him. One delicate hand landed on his bare chest and she swallowed back tears. “You’re up.”

  Lifting his hands and letting them frame her cheeks, he murmured, “Miss me?”

  She wrapped her arms around his torso and pushed herself up on her tiptoes, planting her lips firmly on his. He could still smell the salt of lingering tears in the air, but he could also smell relief. Relief and rapidly building desire that matched his own.

  Luka growled and plunged one hand into her hair while the other arm locked around her waist. He took control of the kiss, sweeping his tongue into her mouth and swallowing her moan. He’d come out here with the intention to talk to her about accepting him as her mate, about becoming a werewolf and leaving her human life behind. But now he had half a mind to let that wait until he’d had his way with her at least one more time. She was pressing herself against him shamelessly, her nails digging into his back and her tongue matching his stroke for stroke. It was all he could do not to tug her pants below her hips and slide his aching cock into her heat. All he could do not to throw his head back and howl at the moon at the very idea.

  Somehow, though, he managed to pry his lips from hers without indulging the primal instincts churning in his blood. Yet.

  Still gasping for breath, arms still tight around him, Joella breathed, “Make love to me, Luka. I don’t want to be able to walk in the morning.”

  Luka growled and slid his nose down her throat until he could drop his forehead onto her shoulder. His every instinct begged him to give her what she was asking for. And if he thought for a moment he could trust himself to indulge in her without claiming her against her will he’d have done it. But he wanted her too badly to trust himself this time.

  Joella slid one hand down his spine and grabbed his ass, rocking herself against him in a physical plea. “Luka.” She moaned. The breathless desire in her voice reminded him all too easily of the sounds she’d made the last time he’d given in to her, in this very clearing.

  Swallowing his own growl of desire, Luka dragged his hands around to her hips and forced a few desperate inches between their bodies. “Not yet,” he managed, his voice thick to his own ears.

  She pulled in a breath and blinked up at him as her grip loosened. “Is something wrong?”

  “No,” he assured her. “We just need to talk about something.”

  “Now?” she asked, sounding slightly incredulous. It was a feeling he well understood.

  Instead of replying verbally, Luka took her by the hand and guided her toward the largest patch of grass, encouraging her to sit with him. She complied with marginal hesitation, confusion and a pinch of fear marring her scent.

  “Ella,” he began carefully, letting his thumb ca
ress the back of her hand. “We’ll probably be leaving after the full moon.” The scent of tears drifted to his nose again and he pushed forward. “I want you to come with me.”

  Her eyes widened and her hand curled tight in his as if she were anchoring herself. “You … do?”

  Luka swallowed and inclined his head. “I want you for my mate,” he said firmly, leaving no room for misinterpretation. His gut churned with nerves like he hadn’t felt in decades, but he ignored it.

  She dropped her gaze to their hands and pulled her lip between her teeth. “But I’m human,” she whispered shamefully.

  “I know,” he said. “But you don’t have to stay that way.”

  The wind blew her hair sideways along her shoulders, sending a short chill through her and he gave her hand a squeeze. She lifted her watery eyes to his and quietly asked, “That’s possible?” She swallowed, clearly not done, and he caught a flicker of insecurity before she added, “You’re sure you … want me around that long?”

  Luka growled and tugged her into him, catching her by the chin and claiming her mouth in a rough, demanding kiss. He appreciated that she’d grown comfortable enough to let him see that insecurity, but he hated it all the same. She didn’t have a damned thing to be insecure about or ashamed of, and anyone or any society that had taught her differently could go to hell.

  When he released her lips he framed her face, some of her hair caught between his fingers, and said, “I didn’t even have a future before you, Joella. I need you next to me if I have a hope in hell of figuring out what to do tomorrow. The only question is, are you sure you want this life?”

  She looked up at him, studying him, so he did his best to let her see into his heart.

  “Yes,” she finally said. “I don’t even know how it works or what’ll happen, but yes, Luka. Take me away from this place.”

  A breath of relief rushed from him and he pulled her in for a gentler kiss. He swirled his tongue around her mouth leisurely, arms sliding down to her waist and encircling her. She squirmed against him until she’d wound her arms around his neck to better return the kiss.