The Werewolf Cowboy: Werewolves of Montana Mating Mini #6

by Bonnie Vanak

  Okay then. Katy selected a tall tree with a trunk bigger than a tractor-trailer wheel. She threw one globe at the trunk. The energy ball hit the tree with a soft ping. And the tree exploded, shattering into splinters.

  She stared. The tree had been warded against dark magick, but her power overrode the protective spell.

  “Whoa,” Grayson said softly.

  Whoa was right. If one energy ball did that, what would two accomplish?

  Katy looked around at the scattered splinters and remains of the tree. Concentrating, she thought of the tree as it had stood, tall and strong. She walked over and released the second ball of energy over the ruined tree.

  Stepping back, she watched as the tree reassembled, until it became a tall oak with a thick trunk, fully restored.

  Behind her she heard Grayson quietly swear. He joined her.

  “I have this power,” she marveled. “Why is it called dark magick?”

  His mouth flattened. “It’s a compromise, sweetheart. You can create all the fantasy you wish, but the longer you remain here, the more the darkness will beckon. Your folks wanted to give you a fighting chance to stay innocent until you could find a mate to anchor you. Mates center each other, balance out the good and bad. The more magick a dark Lupine has, the greater the need for a mate. If they lose them, like Cedric lost his first mate forty years ago…”

  “They grow cruel and corrupt,” she finished.

  Grayson nodded. “Cedric loved Lucinda. Really loved her, but when she died he went mad. He found a new mate, but it wasn’t enough. The darkness ate at him, and he killed her to restore his lost youth.”

  Such hard choices. If she left and returned to her pack, she’d lose not only this tremendous power, but Grayson as well. And the thought hurt her heart.

  “I can’t go back and forth between worlds?” She cupped his face in her hands. “Even with a mate to ground me?”

  He slid a thumb along the underside of her jaw. “No mate, not even me, can ground you for long, Katy. You’re too vulnerable and have too much magick, darling. The temptation to use your powers in the Skin world will drive you mad. It’s why I chose to stay in the Skin world since the time I turned twenty-one, and not shift into wolf. Knew if I returned here, I’d become a threat if I went back to the Skin world.”

  Grayson stepped back, away from her. Katy’s heart pounded hard with need and longing. Making love with this Lupine had reinforced her feelings for him, but the choices were hard.

  For the next two hours, he worked with her, teaching her to work the dark magick and control her emotions and not let the power take over. The longer they kept at it, the more conflicted she felt. This world, with all its terrors and wonders, made her long to stay.

  And yet how could she abandon Aiden and the pack that had raised her? All her loyalties as Lupine remained with the Mitchell Ranch. If she didn’t leave soon, she feared she would make decisions that would affect her future in the Skin world.

  She loved Grayson, but being his mate was another matter. Carrying his mating mark would cast her as an outsider in her pack. He was alpha now of the pack.

  When they returned to the lodge, leaving the unicorns in the corral, Grayson ushered into the house. In the living room, several members of his pack were lounging.

  On second glimpse, she realized they were doing more than sitting. They were practicing their craft. Energy balls of bright blue, green, and lilac hovered in the air as the Lupines summoned their powers. Some of the werewolves used their magick to rearrange the oil paintings on the wall. Others threw them into the fireplace, causing a great whoosh of fire.

  All the Lupines stopped and turned when she and Grayson entered the room.

  “Welcome home, alpha,” Chase said quietly, bouncing a bright blue energy ball on his palm. He bowed his head. The others followed suit.

  Grayson gave a curt nod, and ushered Katy up the stairs to the last door on the right. He opened the door to a bedroom with a large four-poster bed. Grayson opened the French doors leading to the balcony. Then he waved a hand and his clothing vanished.

  Not having enough control yet over her powers to do the same, she fumbled with her own clothing. It rustled, and then dropped to the floor. She stood before him totally nude, her nipples rigid from arousal and the air’s chill.

  Warmth surrounded her as Grayson pulled her into his arms. She buried her face against his chest and wept. He rocked her against him as he stroked her hair. It felt so good to be held.

  His warmth felt wonderful. Katy ran her fingers over his broad shoulders, testing the tensile muscles. Her palms drifted lower, skimming his chest. He was hard, not a spare ounce of flesh on him.

  Grayson made a low, strangled sound as her hand went lower to explore his sex. He cupped her face and captured her mouth. His kiss was gentle, as if he cherished tasting her lips. Then he coaxed her mouth open and began sensually stroking inside with his tongue. White-hot heat raced through her.

  She moaned, clutching his broad shoulders. Damn, the wolf knew how to kiss.

  Never had she wanted a man more, to feel his hard body sliding over hers, surging inside her. No one had ever cared for her like this. She craved his closeness, yearned to intimately join with him.

  When he pulled away, she made a sound of disappointment. Grayson rested his forehead against hers. “Katy,” he murmured. “Am I a heartless bastard?”

  “No, you’re not,” she said breathlessly.

  The smoldering intensity burning in his blue eyes made her shiver.

  “Touch me, Grayson,” she begged.

  A shiver of anticipation raced through her as he skimmed his hands down her naked body. Palming her breasts, he gently squeezed, his thumbs rubbing over her hardened nipples. His mouth enclosed one. Clutching him to her, she cried out as he suckled, his tongue rasping skillfully over the tight bud. The delicious scent of male arousal filled the air.

  Somehow they made it to the bed, kissing and touching each other.

  As she fell back onto the mattress, he slid her to the edge, knelt on the floor and spread her legs open wide.

  He put his mouth on her. Katy cried out in pleasured shock. His tongue delved between the wet folds of her cleft, licking slowly. He growled softly as she writhed at each fiery stroke. Arching off the mattress she felt her entire body grow rigid as stone as the sensations built higher and higher. The sweet tension shattered as she screamed.

  “Now,” he said, his hard, fierce gaze meeting hers.

  Grayson mounted her, his hips settling between her outstretched, trembling legs. Still slightly sore from their previous sex, the shock of his thick penis pushing into her made her cry out. Katy stared into his glittering gaze. He pushed forward, his penis like a hot, iron bar stretching her sensitive inner tissues. Then he thrust deep, and slid all the way inside.

  They were sealed together now, melded from hip to breast. Katy gulped down a trembling breath, feeling as if he stroked into her very soul. Bracing his weight on his hands, he lay still, as if accustoming her to the feel of him inside her. Impatiently, she wriggled her hips in nameless acceptance. She hooked her legs around his hips, urged him to move.

  He began to slowly thrust. Silky hairs on his chest rasped against her sensitive nipples. She wound her arms around his neck, urging him forward, drinking in each sensation of being intimately joined with Grayson. Katy reveled in the feel of this powerful Lupine’s body sliding over hers, filling her completely.

  Grayson stroked against her sensitive core in such a way that the pleasure began mounting once more. He twisted, and the sensation wrung another sharp cry of pleasure from her as she climaxed. Above her he stiffened, then groaned her name as his big body bucked and shuddered. She felt the wet warmth of his seed spurt into her, sending her shuddering with tiny aftershocks.

  With a murmured sigh, he collapsed atop her. His heavy weight pressed her into the mattress. She stroked his arms, feeling the muscles jump as he panted into her pillow.

  A fe
w minutes later, he slid out of her, rolling and taking her with him, protectively tucking her into the crook of his shoulder. She read the tender possessiveness of the gesture, as if he knew she needed to be held after the intensity of giving her body to him.

  “I’ve wanted you for months now, Katy,” he said quietly. “I could only hope you wanted me as much.”

  “I do,” she whispered.

  Katy tunneled her fingers through the damp hairs on his chest, puzzling over the incredible sensation of being filled with light.

  They fell asleep in each other’s arms. Katy dreamed of a dark forest, filled with horrid flashes of light and screams so piercing they made her weep. Crying out, she woke up, shaking badly. Instantly he was awake, soothing her.

  He searched her face. “What was it? A bad dream, sweetheart?”

  Trembling she shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think…it was a memory.”

  More silence. She reached deep inside for the memory that finally started to surface, and it made her choke back a sob. Trees, blackened, their limbs shattered from the energy hurled at them in a vicious fight. The scorched earth…her parents’ bodies…

  Now, she finally remembered what Cedric had forced her to forget. What Grayson never wanted her to recall.

  “My parents didn’t kill themselves, Grayson. You found them, and you found me. You know what they did.”

  Her lover went still, his expression guarded.

  Katy sat up, and tears rolled down her face. “I know now. They killed each other. They took me into the Feral Forest and they fought because my mother wanted me in the Skin world and my father wanted me here, maybe to leech my power as I grew older, so their lives would be preserved. And they fought a terrible battle…and killed each other.”

  They would have killed her as well, if she had not sought refuge behind a rock. That was how Grayson found her, weeping and hungry, but too frightened to venture out.

  “I’d hoped you’d never find out,” he said, his expression sad. “It’s too much for one Lupine to handle.”

  Katy reached up and kissed him. “Thank you for saving me. But I have hard decisions to make, Grayson.”

  He cupped her face in his strong hands. “Katy, please, darling, stay with me. I promise I’ll be your anchor, your mate. I’ll make sure your power is tempered, and keep you from going insane like your father did.”

  Oh, she wanted to believe him. With all her heart, she fiercely wanted to stay. But her parents were thought to be each other’s anchors…and in the end, the power ruling over them had killed them both.

  Pressing a hand to his bare chest, she gazed into his ice blue eyes, filled with love for her. If only love was enough. Her heart felt like it would shatter.

  How could she leave him?

  But he had a pack to rule, and people who needed him.

  “I live in the Skin world, and I belong with Aiden’s pack. Your people are here. You’re now their leader.”

  He went still, and very quiet, but beneath her fingers, she felt his heart beat faster.

  “I can’t live here and have all this power at my fingertips. I’d eventually end up destroying someone I love, maybe even myself.” She sucked in a breath and her voice quivered. “Or worse, you or any children we would have.”

  His mouth flattened and his gaze turned cool. “Is that your answer?”

  Vision blurred from her tears, she nodded. “Take me back, Grayson. I need to go home.”

  The following morning, Katy struggled to hold back her tears. All the time she lived at the Mitchell Ranch, she’d been secretly yearning for something more.

  She’d seen the other females with their mates, the closeness they shared, the laughter and tears and anger. Her sense of place and purpose had been the ranch, until now.

  Grayson was her sense of place, her purpose. Shadowing her for the past year, watching over her, protective and primitive. He was her rock, and refuge.

  How could she bear life apart from him?

  Grayson didn’t say much as they ate breakfast. After, he took the amulet that he’d given her long ago and placed it on his bureau.

  “Reckon you won’t have need of this any longer, if you’re staying in the Skin world.”

  Katy went to him and slid into his arms. Stroking her hair with a trembling hand, he gripped her hard with his other arm.

  “Hold me,” he whispered. “Hold me tight and never let go, or my heart will break. You’re my dawn and my sunset, my life.”

  “I love you so much,” she sobbed. “Why can’t you come with me? Stay with me, please. I can’t bear it without you.”

  No longer did his arms tremble. Grayson gently eased away from her, and in his eyes, she saw the sorrow mingling with new purpose.

  “Don’t cry, Katy. I’ll never forget you, and you’ll always hold my heart. But you’re right. I want what’s best for you. That kind of power you hold inside you can turn deadly.” He smoothed back her hair. “It’ll have to be siphoned out of you before you leave.”

  “That sounds terribly uncomfortable and scary,” she whispered. “How?”

  “Something this big, I’ll call the Silver Wizard. He’ll remove your power.”

  Katy stepped back, searching his expression. “Tristan rules here as well?”

  Grayson’s mouth quirked in a ghost of a smile. “Not usually, unless we call him. He kind of leaves us alone, except when we need him.”

  They went outside, into the bright sunshine. Overhead, blue, pink, and purple fairies flitted in the air and the unicorns whinnied as the Lupines in the pack forked out hay to feed them.

  It was almost like life on her ranch, with a few distinctions.

  Hope flared in her heart. “Grayson, what if Tristan removed my magick, except the power to shift? Could I go back and forth between worlds?”

  His gaze flattened. “No ordinary Lupines can last here for long. It’ll drive you mad and make you vulnerable to Others, who would eat you alive. I couldn’t be there every moment to watch over you, and you’d be a prime target for anyone to attack. Without your dark powers, you’d be dead.”

  Then he stepped back and sang out notes of a clear, high tone. A minute later, there was a flash of purple smoke.

  A tall man with black hair stepped out of the smoke. Clad in black leather pants, black shirt and doeskin boots, he was quite handsome. Each strand of his shoulder-length black hair was tipped with silver, glinting like polished chrome.

  Tristan, the Silver Wizard, the judge of Lupines and shifters.

  Having heard his name spoken several times, and seen him from a distance at the Mitchell Ranch, Katy felt in awe of the powerful wizard, but she felt no fear. She sensed no anger or cruelty in him. Only wisdom and sadness, as if he knew what task faced him.

  Grayson put a protective hand on her shoulder. “Tristan, I called you forth to drain Katy of her dark magick. She wishes to live in the Skin world.”

  The wizard sighed. “Katy, is this what you truly desire?”

  Desire? No. She wanted both worlds. But Katy knew that was impossible. “I have to return to the Mitchell Ranch. I want to stay here, but I’m afraid.” Her voice broke. “I can’t risk turning into something like Cedric or my parents. It would kill me to destroy Lupines instead of using my powers to save them. Do all dark Lupines eventually turn corrupt?”

  Tristan shook his head. “Not all. Only when they achieve a great age, and only purebreds.”

  “Purebreds like me,” she whispered.

  He nodded. “With the right mate, you might survive. But the longer you live, the more thirsty you grow for power, and for life itself. It is what destroyed Cedric. The love for power outweighs the love for a mate.” The wizard’s expression turned cynical. “There is a reason they call it the Dark Kingdom.”

  She looked at Grayson, her love, her life. The idea that she could eventually destroy him hurt worse than never seeing him again. Her parents had deeply loved each other, and yet that wasn’t enough to prevent t
heir descent into madness.

  Katy held out her hands. “Take this from me. Please.”

  Tristan gripped her wrists. She felt a draining sensation, as if someone sapped away all her strength. Grayson caught her in his arms. Exhausted, she let him hold her, for it felt as if she could fall asleep for a year. Never had she been this tired.

  “Now that she’s a normal Lupine, getting her through the Feral Forest is going to be a bitch,” Grayson muttered.

  Tristan quirked a dark brow. “Ah, Grayson, such directness. One reason I like you. There is no need to battle the darkness within. I shall teleport you both to wherever Katy desires.”

  “Really?” she asked.

  Tristan’s expression turned kind. “If that is what you truly wish, then close your eyes. Think of where you really want to be, Katy.”

  She closed her eyes and conjured an image, feeling a warmth infuse her.

  When she opened her eyes, Tristan was gone. She and Grayson were alone on the same dirt road bordering his ranch and the Mitchell Ranch.

  “I don’t understand.” She looked around. “Tristan brought us here?”

  Grayson nodded. “He told you to imagine where your heart desired to be. Reckon this means you truly want to be here, because if you didn’t, we’d still be at the Gray Wolf Ranch.”

  His deep, smoky voice rang with sadness. Katy gripped his hands. “Don’t go. Stay here, with me. I can’t bear to live my life without you.”

  Gently he removed his palms from her clasp. “I can’t stay,” he told her, caressing her cheek. “Have to get back to my world, Katy. I’m ordering you to be happy. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”

  He kissed her, hard and fast.

  With a careless tip of his Stetson, Grayson walked away, and then suddenly he was gone.

  Out of her life, forever.

  Chapter 14

  Two weeks after returning to the Mitchell pack, Katy wasn’t certain she’d ever find joy again.

  Everyone had been kind to her, and her adoptive parents showered her with affection. But it wasn’t the same.