Saved By Her Wolf (Silverwood Island Shifters)

by Maia Starr

  “Wait!” Ginny said as she pushed against Zander, who jerked back himself in tense unsureness.

  “What's wrong?” he frantically asked, his breathing becoming raspy.

  As Ginny stared into Zander’s eyes, a surge of resolve washed through her, the pounding of her heart matching the rhythm Zander had started. “This is my first time,” she said, slowly and clearly. Surprise clawed its way into his face, and Zander nodded, a tight grin forming as he hesitated to touch her again. “Are you...okay with this?”

  “Yes!” she said quickly, latching onto his neck and pulling him to her lips once more. “Just, teach me, okay?”

  Zander nodded gently; this time instead of diving straight for her bottom, Zander grabbed at the hems of her summer dress, lifting it above her head, revealing her half-naked figure beneath. Unable to stop staring at her, Zander reached forward, tracing a single finger up from her belly button to the light bra holding her chest in place. He glanced to her for reassurance, and when she gave it in a tiny nod, he used that massive single finger to rip her bra clean off, throwing it into the sand somewhere to the side.

  Picking her up, Zander placed her onto the hot sand, her skin rippling at the sensation of his warm lips pressed to hers and the cold sand shifting under her back. With one hand, Zander began to pull down her panties, though because he kneeled over her, he needed her help. Soon enough Ginny lay spread on the sand, her arms laying above her head, stretching while Zander loomed over her, his shadow engulfing her completely from the light. Ginny’s stomach began to churn like crazy, a whole flock of butterflies bothering her insides, her mouth going dry and wet at the same time as Zander pulled off his clothes, revealing his chiseled body and massive manhood. Ginny couldn’t help but gulp as Zander positioned himself over her, eyeing her all the while.

  “I’m going to put it in...slowly, okay?” Zander cooed, his usual energy nowhere to be seen, and instead, a steady rhythmic pulse of serene focus emanated out from him.

  Ginny breathed in hard and exhaled just as she nodded yes, and a second later a wave of cold pain rushed up her waist to her head as Zander entered her. Everything whirled around her, the pretty dark ocean and the shining moon, the looming trees, the candlelight; the only thing that remained true was Zander, veins bulging in his neck as he grunted with pleasure, Ginny reeling from that sudden penetration.

  “Sorry!” Zander exclaimed as Ginny wrapped her legs around his muscled butt, digging her heels into his back and clenching her teeth. The pain remained, but it already felt lessened, so Ginny motioned for Zander to keep going, unable to find her voice. “Alright, but you’re asking for it...”

  Just as the waves of ocean lapped against the sandy shore, so too did Zander build a rhythm and propelled Ginny into a whole new world of ecstasy. With each thrust growing harder and faster, Ginny’s mind began to go numb, especially as her body began to respond and shift the pain into pure pleasure. Soon enough, Ginny moaned, the watery sounds of the waves mingling with her voice as if the ocean were Ginny herself.

  All Ginny saw was Zander at that moment. All she wanted was Zander, and for him to never stop smashing into her, to never stop sweating and kissing her neck and cheeks, for him to give her what she always wanted: a prince charming.

  And then as the biggest wave crashed against the shore, splattering all over the beach, Zander made his final thrust, Ginny screaming out in mindless pleasure. Zander remained attached to her as they both jerked and froze, their touches sending shockwaves through each. When the shockwaves settled down, Zander collapsed on top of Ginny. She thought his huge body would crush her, but instead, he cuddled with her, pulling her shivering body to his, his hands reaching to find better holds on her skin. Neither said a word to each as they smiled and kissed one last time.

  “I think I just claimed you,” Zander said, panting and patting her. “You'll be my one true mate.”

  “What...do you mean?” Ginny asked through breaths of air.

  “Wolves choose their mates, Ginny. We mark them. Hear me now, because you’re mine, and nothing will ever harm you under my watch.”

  Ginny wanted to call him crazy again for mentioning his delusions of being a wolf, but while her mind wanted to speak, her body made no move to help it, so instead, she closed her eyes, smiling and beginning to dream under the starry sky.↡¶

  Chapter Ten

  Zander

  Ginny was the one. Zander was certain of it now.

  Days after his magical night with Ginny on the beach, of becoming one with her and melding their bodies together, Zander was certain his claim of her as his new mate was the right call. He was so certain of it that he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

  Her touch; her soft, frail skin that radiated under the full moon; her pink lips that never seemed to stop inviting him to taste more of her body; her gorgeous emerald eyes. Every part of her drew him in, made him want to see her more and more, to the point where he not only readily focused his attention on his work for her but stayed long past his work hours to flirt with Ginny, to make sure the children were doing alright.

  It wasn’t a stretch to say that Zander had become infatuated with Ginny. Not only was she just downright beautiful, but Ginny was turning out to be just as superb on the inside as she was on the outside, and even though she continued to shrug away his claims of being a wolf shifter, he still found himself madly in love. One day Ginny would realize the truth of his nature, and maybe by then Ginny would be just as infatuated with him as he was with her.

  But while Zander had fallen in love, his inner wolf going wild at his every thought of her, she remained aloof and evasive in one category: the reason she truly came to Silverwood Island.

  The longer Zander spent following Ginny around like a lovesick puppy, the more convinced he was that Ginny had run from something, something that had frightened her so badly she couldn’t help but snag her kids and run to Silverwood. Despite his new relationship with Ginny, he still found her shaking and trembling from time to time, even sometimes grimacing at his unexpected touch. He hadn’t noticed the night he lay with Ginny, but she also hid small black bruises that scarred her skin, always hidden under whatever top she’d be wearing. He could imagine what, or who, had marked up her body, but judging from the size of the welts, Zander could assume they were from fists.

  “So, what’s the real reason you’re here?” Zander asked for the hundredth time as he and Ginny walked the forest paths back to her cottage on the hill overlooking the sea. In each of Ginny’s hands were two full bags of vegetables, meats, and canned foods, while in Zander’s he held two bags full of toiletries and candies and toys for the children. Ginny glared at him as they round a thick-trunked tree.

  “I’ve told you, I wanted to get away,” Ginny said, her annoyance growing in her sweet voice.

  If this were anyone else, Zander would have dropped the conversation long ago, but now he couldn’t help himself, with his wolfen instincts driving him on to find out the truth about her. “But get away from what? Was someone after you?”

  “Away from city life! What else?” Ginny squealed, though her voice quivered as she spoke as if she were afraid of saying more than the same line she fed him every time he questioned her motives to come to Silverwood.

  “Which city?” Zander said, not buying her ruse.

  “Seattle...”

  “And you’re telling me that, especially with the four-year-old twins, you just decided to get up and move to a place where you don’t have neighbors, the children have no one to play with, all on a whim? You left behind your job—”

  “I haven’t had my barista job in over a year.” Ginny scowled, ripping her eyes off of Zander and marching forward at a faster pace to start leaving Zander behind, though it was simple enough for Zander to match her new pace. “And besides, is it so wrong to move somewhere where the children don’t have friends right away? It’s normal to be alone at first. Besides, there are schools on this island for them, so there’ll be other
kids.”

  “A school,” Zander amended. “Silverwood isn’t big enough to house more than one school for all levels.”

  Sighing as if Ginny had deflated under the pressure of the world, she glanced at him, her downcast eyes more curious than spiteful. “Why do you care so much about Oliver and Grace anyway? I know that we...hooked up and that we’ve been getting closer, but we aren’t that close just yet. You act like they’re your own.”

  Zander blinked. He hadn’t really thought about it, but ever since he claimed Ginny while she was half asleep that night at the beach, he’d been thinking not only about Ginny, but the kids as well, wondering what they liked for food, as gifts, what their favorite pastimes were, whether they were safe and sound sleeping next to the open ocean. Maybe it was a side effect of being a wolf shifter, but since Zander considered Ginny his mate, the twins were his pups now, even if he’d only known them for just over a week. Cocking his head, he looked at Ginny. “Because I claimed you, remember? You’re my mate.”

  “Ah, again with that delusion of yours!” Ginny said. “You know, like I said, I came here to run away, not be thrown into another guy with issues.”

  Choosing to ignore the jab at his level of sanity, Zander turned on her. “Another guy? So you did run from someone then!”

  Throwing her arms up in the air, Ginny looked up into the treetops, her exasperation with Zander’s childlike questioning growing quite clearly thin. He realized that if he kept going, she’d probably snap on him. It was enough to take care of two children already. “Alright, fine. Don’t tell me, yet, Ginny, but know this: whoever you’re running from, you don’t need to face that person ever again without me by your side. I’ll always be protecting you and the children. You have my word.”

  “You mean now that you claimed me?” Ginny said, smiling. “I guess this nonsense of yours never will let up, huh?” Glancing away into the shadowy forest, Ginny narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her nose, letting out a deep breath. “Maybe we should slow down a little...maybe not just hang around my place all the time, huh?”

  “It isn’t nonsense,” Zander stated, trying his best to keep his wolf from growing enraged. “I am a wolf shifter. The wolf part of me is going crazy about you right now, and I can’t stop myself from being by your side.”

  “Oh please.”

  “I’m serious.” When Ginny refused to acknowledge his claims, Zander leaned in closer. “Okay, fine, think about it like this. Who’s watching Oliver and Grace right now?”

  Ginny eyed him, squinting. “Callie and Ash. So what?”

  “Remember what I said? That most everyone on the island is some sort of shifter, including Callie and Ash...”

  Suddenly, Ginny slowed her pace; her eyes fixed ahead at the rays of sunlight poking through the distant treeline. The lines of her face creased as her brows furrowed in thought, a gesture that Zander couldn’t help but find quite cute. He expected her to arrive at some conclusion about Zander’s words, but instead, she simply sighed and continued forward, breaking through the treeline and walking up the grassy hill that led to her cottage. Zander felt like sighing as well and followed her.

  Now his desire to figure out everything about Ginny was even more frantic, though he forced himself to hold back. He’d find out one way or another. All he needed to do was earn her complete trust, and maybe then he’d finally unravel the mystery of Ginny Whitlock.↡¶

  Chapter Eleven

  Ginny

  Who knew Silverwood Island would both put Ginny in a state of awe and frustration at the same time?

  She liked Zander, she really did. He took her virginity in the best way she could have ever imagined, treating her to one the most special nights she could have asked for. Her thighs still remembered the rush of his skin as it slapped hard against her. Granted, she was still deciding on whether he truly was her Prince Charming or not, though he already checked off most of the boxes.

  The one thing Ginny was having a hard time getting over was the fact that ever since that magically night he followed her around like a lost puppy, always stayed within a certain distance of her and the kids, as if he were afraid she might burst into flames and there’d be no one else to pick up an extinguisher. Zander was hot, the incredibly sexy man of her dreams, and he had an amazing, funny personality to boot, but no woman wanted her privacy invaded twenty-four seven...well, at least she didn’t, not at the moment. She had other priorities to focus on, two very big priorities in the forms of Oliver and Grace; the moment Zander would enter the room, Ginny’s mind would slightly stray from them, often accidentally switching bowls and juice boxes and mixing up who said they wanted chocolate ice cream and who wanted vanilla.

  Or maybe she was just worrying too much? Honestly, having to look after the children on her own for the past few weeks was already driving her insane, especially since they were on the run.

  But even if she could get past the fact that Zander hung around her more than he probably should have at this point in their budding relationship, there was still his delusions of being able to shapeshift into a wolf. Like, seriously? Werewolves were nothing more than fairy tales. She’d admit that his looks did mirror parts of a wolf, like the way his ears were pointed, or how his eyes appeared to glow in at night, or how his teeth appeared to be overly sharp whenever he flashed that signature, gleeful smile of his. And then there was the point that he growled every so often, clutching his chest as if he were preventing something from trying to escape his body...or maybe he just had heartburn.

  Whatever it was, it all made Ginny’s head spin like a dreidel. She guessed no guy would be perfect, though Zander was dangerously close.

  Ginny opened the front door to her cottage to find it quiet and still, which immediately created goosebumps crawling up her forearms.

  “Hello?” Ginny called, looking around the kitchen and living room for signs of the twins or their babysitters. “Oliver? Grace? I’m back with the groceries.” Peering into the hallway as she set her bags on the kitchen counter, Ginny blinked. “Did they go out or something?”

  “They're here,” Zander said behind her, his voice rattling her bones as she whipped around to stare at him. For a moment she’d forgotten he had traveled with her to the stores in town. “I can smell them.”

  “You can smell them?” Ginny asked after a beat.

  Suddenly, the shuffling of feet resounded in the hallway, and when Ginny peered back, she spotted Oliver and Grace standing in the hallway, running towards her. Callie and Ash popped their heads out moments later from a different bedroom, one that Ginny hadn’t found a use for yet, squinting into the beam of light that came through Ginny's open front door.

  “Mommy! Mommy!” Grace called as the two slammed into Ginny’s legs, wrapping their arms around her legs. “What did you bring back?”

  Laughing, Ginny patted them both on the head and crouched down, meeting their rosy cheeks and booping them both on the nose, which earned adorable smiles. “All kinds of stuff: cookies, fresh bread, vegetables...” Their faces soured at the mention of healthy greens, but Ginny only messed up their hair in response, getting them to giggle.

  Callie and Ash mosied out from the hallway, stretching out their arms and wiping sleep from their eyelids as they yawned. “Sorry for not coming out right away,” Callie said sheepishly. “The kids decided they wanted a nap after we read them some stories, and we decided we’d take one too.” Her frizzled hair told Ginny they must have been fast asleep, especially if they hadn’t heard Ginny and Zander come in.

  As they spoke, Oliver and Grace ransacked one of Ginny’s bags, pulling out a case of peanut butter cookies, their eyes widening and their bodies half jumping up and down. “Mommy, can we have one?” Oliver called.

  When Ginny glanced over, she sighed but nodded. “But only one! And why don’t you offer one to Callie and Ash? For making time in their days to play with you both?”

  Both Callie and Ash began to argue that it was nonsense, that they loved every sec
ond of the time they spent with Ginny’s children, but soon enough the kids came around with bug eyes, holding out the peanut butter cookies for them both to take, each waiting for desperately for their babysitters to take one. “Don’t you want one, Aunt Callie?” Grace said gingerly, straining to put the cookie in Callie’s jean pockets.

  “Aw! Of course, I do!” Callie suddenly said, crouching down to their level so that Grace could lay the crumbling cookie down in Callie’s hand. “I mean, if you’re gonna call me something so adorable I can hardly refuse.”

  “Oh dear,” Ash mused. “I guess no one can escape the effects of innocent kids, huh?” He elbowed his wife ecstatically. “Fine then, cookie me, Oliver!”

  From over her shoulder, Zander reached and grabbed one of the cookies as well, shrugging when she shot him a look. “Hey, don’t look at me, party-pooper. Join our cookie-eating brotherhood already.” The kids giggled at his joke, which grew a smile on Ginny’s face; her heart ebbed and warmed at his joke, seeing that kids were happier than ever. So Ginny grabbed one.

  “Oh yeah, we’ve got some news too!” Ash suddenly said as the group spread out around the counter, chewing on their cookies. “Looks like another new face will be arriving on Silverwood Island soon.”

  “Really?” Zander asked. “That’s pretty quick, isn’t it?”

  “Actually, yeah,” Callie said. “Supposedly this guy is coming with a group to look at potential homes. They haven’t decided for sure just yet, but I guess you’ll get more work soon, Zander!”

  Grunting, Zander glanced at Ginny. “I still have some repairs to do on Ginny’s cottage. So I’m not going anywhere just yet. Leave that to Flint and the other guys.”