by Kele Moon
Seconds ticked by. “Yeah. That’s me, Brandi. I’m a wolf. I’m not crazy though. Even if it sounds like it, I promise I’m not.”
“Are you actually admitting you were a real wolf or are you humoring me?” She couldn’t hide her shock.
“What did you see?”
“I saw you go from being a black wolf to becoming a naked man.”
“I admitted I’m the wolf. What more do you want?”
She walked to the door and leaned her forehead against it. “How is that possible? What are you?”
Brandi knew he was in the hallway, but she didn’t realize how close he was until he spoke softly against the other side of the door. “Come out and I’ll tell you everything. You’re safe with me. I won’t hurt you. I saved you, remember?”
She’d never forget that fight in the woods. He did save her life. He killed those other terrible creatures. He hadn’t hurt her yet. In fact, he’d been oddly considerate.
She sighed and flipped the lock before opening the door slowly, still questioning her sanity for trusting him.
Jason had backed up to lean against the opposite wall
“Hi.” He gave her a smile, showing off dimples beneath the scruff of whiskers that made him look dangerously handsome. “You still hungry?” His eyebrows rose as stared at her standing there in nothing but his shirt and hidden boxer briefs. “Sorry everything is so big. I don’t have any women’s clothing in my cabin. My shirt is almost like a dress on you. All that’s missing is a belt and high heels.”
“What are you?” she repeated, refusing to be swayed, no matter how compelling he was.
His smile faded. “A man.”
She slowly shook her head in denial because they both knew that wasn’t true.
He arched an eyebrow at her and gestured to his shirtless chest pointedly. “Take another look. I’m definitely a man.”
Brandi couldn’t help but stare like he suggested. He had an amazing body. Muscular, tan, perfect. She took a step into the hallway and looked up at his face. He was unbelievably handsome.
Sexy.
And he turned into a wolf…a deadly one.
Beneath the casual charm, she could still sense it. There was something wild and untamed about the powerful, enthralling man leaning against the wall.
Jason took a step toward her. “Touch me. I won’t bite. I’m a man, Brandi. Flesh and blood like you. You can touch me. It’s safe. I won’t hurt you.”
She lifted her hand and hoped he didn’t notice it shook. She gently placed her hand on his stomach. It was warm and rock hard and definitely flesh. She traced her fingers lower and his stomach muscles clenched. She saw a fine sheen of goose bumps spread over the smooth skin. That seemed human, but…
“You still turn into a wolf.”
“I do.” His voice was low and raspy. “I was born that way. I’m a man and I’m more. I’ve never hurt a woman in my life. My father was like you. Just human. My mother was like me. She was more. He left when she was pregnant with me. I didn’t know him, but I am half human, so we have that in common. I’m not totally different from you.”
Brandi stared up at him. He was sharing personal things with her. She wondered why but she was grateful. It made him more normal to her. She let her hand drop and took a step back.
“There is a small population of us in the United States. I’m not the only one of my kind. Your people like to call us Werewolves, but there are a lot of fucked-up misconceptions about us. We’re nothing like you see in the movies. Those ideas are mostly fantasy. The reality is we have families like you do. Jobs like you do. Friends like you do. Most of the time we’re just trying to protect what’s ours…like you do.”
“Those other men wanted to kill me,” she said uneasily. “Why? And why don’t you want to kill me? What makes you different? Don’t wolves hunt humans?”
“Those other wolves were assholes. I don’t know why they wanted to hurt you. That is disturbingly fucked up and I can promise you that most of us don’t go around kidnapping and killing innocent humans. If you’ll eat, I’ll try to explain to you why I think you were attacked.”
She nodded in agreement, knowing she was probably horribly naïve for believing him, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
Jason turned, studied her carefully, and then walked for the stairs. He paused at the top. “Why don’t you go first? I’d hate for you to kick me again and send me flying down the steps.”
She flushed a little. “Sorry about the coffee table.”
He grinned. “It’s all right. Only the mug broke. The table survived. You’re feisty. I like that. Besides, who am I to be mad at you for trying to defend yourself? It’s a good trait to have. I do, however, wish you’d go first.”
She moved around him and went down the stairs. He stayed behind her and motioned toward the kitchen. She smelled food and her stomach growled.
Jason touched the small of her back lightly. “Let’s eat. I had some beef and vegetable soup left over, so I heated that up. I didn’t want you to have to wait too long to get some food in you. It’s homemade. Not from a can or anything.”
He’d made turkey sandwiches to go with the soup. He must have been putting the meal together when she’d opened the hallway door to get her clothes. He pulled out a chair for her. She was surprised at his good manners and commented on it.
“My mother taught me to be a gentleman. We’re in human form more often than not. My mother didn’t raise an animal.” He chuckled. “At least not most of the time.” He took a chair across from her. “I poured milk. I hope that’s all right?”
She nodded and dug into the soup. It was shockingly good. Brandi would’ve thought it was delicious even if she weren’t starving. The turkey sandwiches were good too. She ate it all. Jason ate twice as much as she did. He’d polished off two bowls of soup and three sandwiches.
It was only when she found herself staring down at an empty plate and bowl that Brandi thought to be embarrassed with how fast she’d devoured the meal.
Her cheeks heated. “Thank you. That was really good.”
“I’m an excellent cook. My mom always wanted a girl to pass down all the family recipes to, since both of her brothers died and she was the last of the line. Instead she got me.” Jason shrugged casually. “So I got to be the son who learned everything, including Grandma Ellen’s peach cobbler recipe and how to make a mean stew like my great-uncle Greg.”
Brandi smiled. “I understand that to a degree. My dad wanted a boy. He got me instead. He signed me up for every sport he could. I’d had enough of it by the time I hit high school. He was ready to fight the school board to see if he could force me to be a football player, since they didn’t accept girls.”
A frown marred Jason’s face. “I thought you said you had a brother.”
She nodded. “I do. We have different fathers. My mom was married to Joe’s dad. They divorced. She met my dad and got pregnant with me. My dad wanted to marry her but she was still in love with her ex-husband. They got back together. Joe and I were raised in the same house, but I spent weekends with my dad. He was active in my life and I’m his only child. He really wanted a boy. Joe always encouraged me to toughen up too. Even when I got older and lost interest in sports, he agreed with my dad. Not to be a jerk, he was just afraid boys would target me because…”
Jason arched an eyebrow when she stopped talking. “Because you’re very attractive?”
“Thank you, but not really.” She felt her cheeks heat once more because he sounded sincere in a way she hadn’t heard from a man before. “I’ve never been skinny. Kids picked on me because I was short and round. Joe taught me how to defend myself since he couldn’t always be there to protect me against the bullies.”
“You’re not overweight. You’re lush. Feminine.” Jason tilted his head, giving her another deep-dimpled smile. “I always thought that was one of the benefits of human women, their softness. I’m sure the men you know like that very much.”
&nb
sp; “I, um…” She paused, not sure how to respond to that, so she said, “Thank you, I think, but that’s not totally true. It’s much more socially acceptable to be thin. I’ve worked really hard at losing weight. I bought a treadmill, joined a gym, and got on one of those diet programs where you buy the food so I’d be slimmer for my wedding. I dropped twenty pounds and managed to fit into my dream dress.”
He glanced at her hand. “No wedding rings? Did they steal them from you? You didn’t mention needing to call a husband.”
“I’m divorced. I married the wrong guy.” She shrugged and lowered her gaze back to her plate. “We were married for just over a year before I realized what a domineering jerk he was. Carl was the one pushing me to lose the weight, so I should’ve known how shallow he was. The control trip was bad enough, but then I found out he was sleeping with other women. I left and never looked back. I still try to stay fit, but I’m just naturally lush, as you put it.”
Jason nodded. “I see.”
“What about you?” She glanced at his hand the same way he’d done to her. “No wedding ring?”
“Nope.” He grinned. “Not yet. I haven’t found the right one. I thought I did once but she couldn’t handle my life.”
“You mean your secret?”
“She was like me. That wasn’t it. She didn’t like my job. Being half human made it kind of tough growing up around full-blooded Weres. I had to fight a lot when the other males thought I was a pushover or weaker for my half-human genes. I got so good at fighting that no one could beat me. I was given my job because of it. I’m the law enforcement of my kind in this area. She didn’t like that. She wanted a calmer life than being mated to an enforcer.”
She took a shuddering breath as she remembered him saving her. “You fought and won against three other wolves.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Most of my kind couldn’t win that kind of fight.”
She couldn’t help but look at his broad bare shoulders and powerful arms. “You’re really in shape.”
“Brandi.” His voice caught with something seductive and compelling. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Her gaze flew up to his. Those earnest brown eyes had darkened as he studied her from across the table, making her feel like a completely different kind of prey. She moved in her seat as a warm, tingling wave spread over her body from that look, making all the tiny hairs on her arms stand on end.
“I’m still a man,” he warned with that same low catch in his voice. “And you’re extremely attractive to me.”
She met his gaze evenly, although she wanted to shift once more under the surge of tension that was suddenly thick in the air.
He cleared his throat, all evidence of good humor gone as he looked away from her as if desperate for a distraction. “We are a territorial species and this is our land. The men who grabbed you don’t belong in this area. Other Weres sometimes try to take over a territory. I suspect someone is thinking about starting a war with us. It’s been done in the past and it’ll keep happening. I think you were grabbed because they wanted to leave your body on our land so we’d find you and know we were being challenged. It’s—” Jason shrugged, “a fucked-up thing some of my kind do.”
“I don’t want any part of your war.”
“And I don’t blame you. It’s against our laws to drag humans into our world. Unfortunately not everyone follows the law. Just like humans, there are noble Weres and bad ones. Some who follow the rules and some who break them. Good. Evil. So that’s why I think you were taken, why they brought you here, and why they wanted to kill you.”
She let that information sink in. “I know you lied about the no phone to keep me from calling the police, but I need to call my friend Jenny. She’ll be really worried. I understand why you don’t want me to call the cops. They’d accuse me of being nuts anyway, wouldn’t they? I mean, Werewolf stories have been around hundreds of years and everyone thinks they are pure fiction. No one would believe me. They’d want to drag me to a mental hospital if I started ranting about what really happened to me. I just want to go home.”
He sighed deeply. “There’s one of the four who chased you still unaccounted for and you saw the fifth wolf’s face. He was probably their alpha. Their leader. You were taken from a gas station and if someone didn’t see your abduction and report it as it happened, I’m certain someone has missed you by now. The police will be looking for you. This other pack also has your car. That means this asshole can find out who you are, what your name is, and where you live. He will kill you, Brandi. He has no choice. He has to protect his identity and his pack’s secrets.
“Until we can figure out who this guy is and take him out, you aren’t safe. Letting you make calls and allowing you to leave would mean helping this asshole find and kill you. Don’t think your human laws will stop them. They can make your body disappear in ways you don’t want to know about, but you have to trust that I won’t let that happen. I didn’t risk my life to save yours so you could die anyway. I want you to live. Calling your friend would put her in danger too. You don’t want that, do you? You don’t want to drag your friend into this war.”
“I don’t.” The jolt of sickening fear made her feel physically ill when she thought about Jenny. “She’s pregnant and engaged. We were going to spend the weekend together shopping for her wedding dress. They just found out about the baby and are planning on getting married before she starts to show. It sounds like a shotgun wedding, but they’ve been living together for two years. Their families are both thrilled. I was so excited for her…and now this happened. I hate for this to ruin such a happy time for her.”
“That’s why you need to stay here and not contact anyone until everything blows over. It’s safer for them if they know nothing. Let my people handle this and when we get these asshole, you’ll be free. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days. We’ll come up with a cover story for you to tell everyone. Maybe someone grabbed you and then you got away in the woods. We’ll say you got lost or something. We’ll have time to think about it and come up with a good cover. I’ll personally take you closer to the town of Dryer and drop you off in the woods next to the road. You can wave down someone for help and I’ll follow you to make sure they take you to the cops. You just need to hang in there, Brandi. Let us find this evil asshole and protect you. We will find him. My people are out in the woods right now tracking where those bastards came from.”
Jason seemed so heartfelt and sincere. His determination to protect her was more than endearing, enough to make her do something stupid—like believe him.
She nodded slowly, trying not to think about what happened to naive women who trusted the big bad wolf’s good intentions. “All right.”
He eyed her suspiciously, as if unsure of her determination to trust. “No more running away from me?”
“I’ll stay.”
Obviously satisfied, he stood and started to clear the table. Brandi hesitated and then decided the least she could do was help him. They did dishes side by side as the silence and the gravity of their situation hung heavily in the air. The handsome, massive man next to her washed the dishes while she dried them. He shot her a smile when they were done, and then turned to face her.
“My mother used to say many hands make light work. I forgot how true it is.” His smile broadened, almost as if he was feeling nostalgic, but she thought she saw a tinge of sadness in his eyes when he confessed, “She’s been gone for a long time. It probably sounds stupid to a human, missing my mother. I know humans are very, um…singular. They’ll move clear across the country by themselves, but wolves like company. We stay close to our family and we need our pack for survival. We desire the companionship. Our lives sort of revolve around it.”
“I understand. Humans aren’t as singular as you think. We like companionship too.” Brandi tucked a stray curl behind her ear, unable to believe the completely bizarre conversation she was having. “I also live alone. I know how hard it can be.”
Jason was silent, studying her in a way that left her skin tingling as he let his gaze run over her, wearing nothing but his T-shirt. “Your ex was an idiot to let you go. That’s a human thing. Wolves mate for life. We don’t have divorces in our world.”
“But you said your father left.”
“He was human, and also an idiot,” he reminded her. “Will you swear that you’ll stay inside? I removed the phones. I want to trust you, but you don’t know me and I don’t know you. I need to go out there and help my people hunt this alpha son of a bitch down. We were supposed to have a run, but it’s work now so the other wolves will be busy. You’ll be safe inside the cabin.” He gave her an apologetic look. “The SUV keys are leaving with me. There’s no second set. It’s a very long walk to a road and there are going to be a Weres out tonight. I’ll be back in a few hours. Do you swear you’ll stay here inside where you’re safe?”
She nodded silently, not really trusting herself to say it out loud. It all felt too crazy to be real.
Jason walked out of the kitchen and Brandi followed him to the front door. She was trying not to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing he was leaving. This man—wolf—whatever he was, left her floundering. He was too broad and muscular, unbelievably tall and far too handsome for her sanity, and there was an honesty to him that resonated with her more than it should. The idea of him being so lonely bothered her. She just couldn’t clear her thoughts and get a handle on the situation when he was giving her those looks that caused an ache between her legs she didn’t want to have to acknowledge.
Jason turned the knob and glanced back to her. “You might want to stay away from the windows for the next few minutes. I’m going to be stripping. Please leave my jeans on the porch. I don’t think you’d appreciate me having to come in naked. Unlike some of the movies, we can’t shift with clothes on. They get tangled and make it difficult once we’re in wolf form. Feel free to make yourself at home.”
He shut the door before she could respond and she found herself staring at the aged wood in stunned disbelief.