Ronan: Night Wolves

by Lisa Daniels

  It didn’t take long after Ryland shifted before they reached the water. Without slowing down, he charged into the water and immediately changed direction. They began to run upstream.

  “Shouldn’t we be going downstream?” She strived to keep her voice down while trying to make sure he could hear her.

  The bear simply shook its head. They reached a point where Ryland was not able to touch the bottom, and Serenity gasped as the water rose up her legs. There were a few sounds from the bear, but she didn’t quite understand what he was trying to say. He sped up, his legs working furiously to get back to an area where he could reach the bottom. In a short amount of time, he had managed to swim much further upstream than she would have. He got high enough on the bank that her legs were out of the water, but his paws were still in it, masking their scent. They progressed like this for she didn’t know how long. His body began to move to the side, and she readjusted her position. With a nod, he charged out of the water and up the bank.

  Despite his size, Serenity began to notice the smooth motion of his body. It was rather impressive the way he maneuvered and sped up, almost like he was a large cat instead of a lumbering bear. Nor did he seem to tire as they made their way through the woods. The sun was setting before he seemed to show any signs of slowing.

  When he stopped, they were close to a cabin. It was tiny and there was no sign that anyone was there. He moved in a way that indicated for her to slide off of him. Serenity swung her leg over and moved down, making sure to put more weight on her uninjured leg. She stumbled a little, but found a pair of arms around her before she could fall.

  “Whoa, careful there. We are going to stay here tonight. It’s going to take at least another half day to get to the next occupied cabin, and it isn’t safe to try to do that at night.”

  “You can shift into a bear.”

  Ryland’s eyes stopped looking around them and shifted down to her. He simply blinked at her.

  “You can shift into a bear. How does that make any sense?” Serenity’s eyes turned to look at him, and that was when she noticed that his upper body was again naked. Unable to stop herself, she began to look down, but she paid for the distraction when her foot caught on a root.

  “I don’t think you are in any state to walk on your own.” With that, he lifted her up and carried her to the cabin. “It’s not going to be comfortable because no one has been here for more than a decade. Still, it will be more comfortable than finding another little cave. I’ll hunt down food. You just go get warmed up.”

  “That’s hardly fair. I should do something.”

  Ryland looked down at her. “Working on recovering is the best thing that you can do.”

  “Maybe there is some canned food in there.”

  He paused. “There might be. If you want to look for it, go ahead, but try not to put any weight on that leg, at least not any more than necessary. If your knee starts to hurt, sit down.”

  Serenity frowned, “When was the last time you ate?”

  “What?”

  Her eyes met his. “You didn’t eat last night. There wasn’t any food remaining after you fed me. When was the last time you ate?”

  “I don’t need to eat every day.”

  “Sounds like you haven’t eaten in over a day.”

  “Thank you for your concern, but I guarantee you that I am completely fine.”

  “Make sure to get enough for yourself because if you aren’t eating, I’m not eating.”

  “Are you really going to be difficult right now?”

  “You spent all day running. As a bear.” The words sounded so odd coming out of her mouth, but Serenity forced herself to continue. “If I had to guess, making that kind of massive shift takes up a lot of energy. Coupled with outrunning dogs, you need food more than me.”

  He opened the door. “I will see what I can do.” Placing her gently on the ground, Ryland turned to leave.

  “Ryland.”

  He stopped before closing the door, his beautiful blue eyes radiated in the dying light. “Thank you. For everything.”

  “It is my fault you are in danger. If I weren’t here, they would not be so intent upon hunting us.”

  “If you hadn’t pulled me out of the water, I would be dead.” She cut him off before he could counter. “You didn’t have to be there. So no matter how you look at it, you have been saving me for more than 24 hours now. Thank you.”

  An honest smile spread across his face. “You are welcome.”

  The next 45 minutes were spent getting food and cooking it up. The pair sat by a small fire Ryland had started in a bucket in the middle of the room because, as he pointed out, they couldn’t use the chimney.

  After they were done eating, he stood up. “You can have the bed. It’s dusty, but there’s nothing else wrong with it.”

  “Have you already tried it?”

  “No, but I can tell that there aren’t any bugs making a home on it. Although I cannot vouch for the level of comfort you are likely to find on it. ”

  “You are welcome to join me.” Serenity moved over to it and sat down, bouncing up and down a little to see just how much spring it had. It wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought. The silence from Ryland caused her to look up. “What?”

  He quickly shook his head and looked away. “You are doing much better today. I don’t think that you need me to warm you up. After all, clinging on to a bear will warm up anyone.”

  “I still feel a good bit colder than usual. The extra warmth can only help, right? I mean, you still want me to go to the hospital, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” he was looking at her again. “But–”

  “Don’t argue. I don’t want you sleeping on the floor and there is no way you are going to sleep on that.” She pointed at a couch that looked like it was more than a century old.

  Hesitantly, he moved over to her. “I am not sure this is such a good idea.”

  Serenity moved over so that he could lie down. “What are you afraid of? I don’t bite.”

  His cheeks turned a little pink. “That was certainly not what I was afraid of.” Ryland reclined, but he looked incredibly uncomfortable as he did.

  Without thinking, Serenity moved close to him. Instead of turning her back to him, she put an arm over his chest. He took a deep breath and his body seemed to freeze.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Ryland turned to look at her, his eyes shining in the dim light. “Now that you are not in any real danger, I find that I am having trouble keeping myself under control.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Serenity looked up at him, and she found that her eyes drifted down to his lips.

  His breath became shallower as they stared at each other. Ryland’s hands pushed Serenity’s hair behind her ear and then lingered on the back of her head.

  “Oh,” her voice was low as she realized what he meant. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his. His hand immediately slid down her back and rested on the small of her back, pulling her hips against him.

  Suddenly, he pulled back. “No, I’m sorry. I do not take this kind of thing lightly.”

  Serenity looked at him and couldn’t help but smile at the look on his face – it was the first time she had seen him look uncertain. “Neither do I.”

  “But you don’t know anything about me. That suggests–”

  “Apart from the fact that you have repeatedly saved me, you are loyal and faithful to a fault according to a couple of people who seem to know you well. You take things seriously, but you also keep perspective in a way that people like me and Alaric can’t. And I know that you can become a bear. I don’t understand it, but it seems unlikely that many people know about that, even in a small town like Deep River.”

  Ryland rubbed his ear. “But you have known me less than a month.”

  “And you have known me less than a month, too.”

  He looked at her, then looked away as he shook his head. “No, Alaric told me about you almost right f
rom the start of when he tried to poach you. The more he talked about you, the more interested I got. Then when I saw you for the first time…” His eyes said everything that he seemed unwilling to utter. Attempting to hide his feelings, Ryland began to slide out of the bed. “You don’t have any idea who I am.”

  Serenity stretched out a hand. “I know that you care, that you are not the jealous type, and that I will always be safe with you. And your interest isn’t just physical. Do you have any idea how much of a turn-on that is?”

  He was speechless for a moment. Clearing his throat, Ryland wasn’t quite able to look her in the eye. “I don’t like the jealous type either. It’s never you they are interested in, but the idea of owning you. I can’t belong to any one person because I am needed by too many.”

  Serenity pulled her hand away. “Because you can change form, you are responsible for a lot, aren’t you?”

  He gave a slight nod of his head. “Though he is older than me, I was responsible for Alaric. You have no idea how difficult that was. When he was young, he was worse than Silas. His womanizing nearly exposed us to the world. When he got into technology, I thought that things would finally settle down, but he went crazy, gaining more and more attention that made it nearly impossible to protect him.”

  “Why do you have to protect him? Can he not do that himself?”

  Ryland gave her a wry smile, “Have you met the man? If someone doesn’t remind him to eat, he will completely forget. He has a single-mindedness that made him unfit to take the lead. That fell to me instead.”

  “Take the lead?”

  “Oh, um, I am responsible for all of the bear shifters in this part of the country.”

  “There are more of you?” Serenity’s eyes were wide. “Wait, are you saying that Alaric and Silas are shifters, too?”

  “Yes, of course. We are related.” He shifted a bit on the bed, trying to get comfortable while keeping his distance.

  “Oh,” a light went off in Serenity’s head. “That’s why they are always defaulting to you, and why what you say and want is given so much weight. I thought that was because you were picky, but they are showing deference.”

  “No. It’s just respect.”

  “Just respect? I don’t think that is a bad thing. So the man that I look up to, looks up to you?” She placed her head on her hand. “After the last 48 hours I can see why.”

  His eyes watched her for a moment, the look returning to them. Ryland began to sit up. “I don’t think that I can stay like this and not…”

  “Please don’t leave me.” Serenity placed a hand over his.

  He turned and looked at her. Slowly his hand shifted and his fingers interlocked with hers. Tentatively, he moved closer to her. “Promise you won’t try to own me. You won’t become jealous.”

  “You don’t need to worry. I tend to get wrapped up in my work. As long as you promise not to get jealous, we will be fine.”

  “I can understand why men would be possessive of you,” his eyes moved down her body, then back up to her face. “You need not worry about that with me. I trust you completely.”

  “Why’s that?” She smiled at him as he moved closer to her. “Some kind of sixth sense?”

  “No, just the regular five senses. I’ve seen and smelled the way you interact with others. Your cold demeanor goes much further than just your voice. Your entire body locks up when you aren’t interested.”

  He was very close to her, but Ryland’s words caught her attention. “You mean you can tell that about people?”

  “My senses are much stronger than a human’s. I can smell and see things in the way people act that say a lot about them. Not everything, but enough. It was obvious that the defensiveness you felt around me wasn’t actually because you were trying to reject me, but because you were afraid of what would happen if you got comfortable. Fighting your instincts. It’s why I have fought my own.”

  Serenity looked at him, the words and his actions now making more sense. “Instincts have worked against me in the past.”

  “I am sorry for that. It is terrible how people teach each other to distrust instinct.”

  “My instincts tell me that I can trust you. And I…” Serenity was unable to say what she was thinking, but her eyes moved down to Ryland’s lips.

  He leaned in, his lips gently touching hers. Serenity couldn’t stop a moan from working its way up through her throat. The sound seemed to inspire him, and Ryland slid his tongue into her mouth. Serenity’s hand ran through his hair, gently running her nails against his scalp. Ryland let out a low growl that rumbled through her body, causing Serenity to lean into him. Ryland’s body responded by pressing her down into the bed as his hands moved down to her shirt and slipped into the back of her jeans. Serenity pulled away from him and moaned a little louder as she brought her leg up around his hip.

  Ryland’s hand snaked up her shirt, quickly pulling it over her head. He buried his face in her neck, his other hand slipping around her back and pulling her to him. The way his teeth gently pulled at her skin caused a groan from her as she pressed her hips into him. Serenity’s hands moved to his pants and quickly began to unbutton them. He removed them, and just as quickly pulled off her shoes and jeans. Pausing for a moment, his eyes looked over her body, his hand gently caressing her calf, then working up her thigh. He brought his face down and pulled her legs against his body, being extra careful with her injured knee. Ryland lifted up her legs, and breathed between her thighs. Serenity groaned and gripped the old sheets with both hands, not even feeling the pain in her wrist in the excitement Ryland was causing her to feel. His hands cupped her shoulder blades and he moved up, sliding into her in a single motion. Serenity shouted at the sudden sensation as he penetrated her. Her body arched up into Ryland as her hand ran through his hair. Lowering his body over hers he continued to hold her legs, cradling the knee, and he slowly pulled out of her, only to quickly press back into her.

  Finally finding her voice, she shouted his name. For a moment he stopped. Serenity opened her eyes and looked at him, the hunger obvious on his face. “Please don’t stop, Ryland. Please.” She panted the words.

  Almost as if she had broken a spell, he brought his face down to her breast and began sucking on the left one, his hips creating a steady, desperate rhythm. Serenity ran her fingernails up his back, calling his name. Every time she said his name, she could feel him harden further inside of her, which made her yell louder until her body tightened up and she desperately tried to pull him closer. Ryland quickened the rhythm, bringing her to another climax.

  An hour later, he lay down beside her, both of them sweaty and tired. She lay down on his chest, panting heavily. He pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. The rest of the night, they clung to each other, even long after they had fallen asleep.

  Chapter 11

  In the Light of Day

  Serenity woke the next morning and looked into crystal blue eyes, causing her heart to skip a beat. “Good morning,” Ryland murmured, pulling her into a kiss. She pressed into him, her body wanting more.

  “I’m sorry, but we need to get moving. We can pick up later.” Ryland moved his lower half away from her, and she could tell by the sheets that he was fighting the urge to continue.

  “You are right. We need to get out of here and let someone know about the poachers.”

  At the last word, Ryland tensed. “Yes. I need to get to a working phone before they move on. We also need to get you to a hospital,” his eyes looked at her body under the covers, “although at this point I think it is mostly as a precautionary measure than a necessity.” He swallowed and quickly slipped out of the bed.

  Serenity smiled at the way his face flushed a little. It would have been impossible to imagine that look when she had first met him. “Alright.” She pulled the sheet over her and stood up to collect her clothing. “Maybe there is a car nearby.”

  ‘There isn’t one with fuel in it. I’ll change back into the bear and you can rid
e me until we get to the cabin.”

  “Sounds good to me.” There was a tone in her voice that indicated she wasn’t thinking the same thing he was.

  He turned to look at her, a look on his face showing that if she kept going, he was going to find it very difficult to focus.

  “Sorry,” she murmured. “But you will need to shift again, won’t you? I can’t walk up to strangers with a bear.”

  “I plan to keep going. You can get to safety because the family is a good family. They won’t be up here much longer because they leave when it snows. They can get you into town.”

  “Why can’t you join me?”

  “I have a few other things I need to take care of. We have been looking for the camp for a while. I had hoped to spot it on the trip, but it was not supposed to be quite like that.”

  Serenity couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed because he had said that he was there because he had promised to be. Now it made sense why that was the case. He had promised to take care of the shifters, so he needed to be there. Hiding her disappointment, Serenity nodded. “Okay. If you need to go, then I will have them take me to the hospital.” She wanted to ask him when she would see him again, but she didn’t want to make him feel like she was trying to track him. “I’ll text you when I get out. There is no doubt they will keep me for at least a night since I won’t be able to explain half of what has happened.”

  Ryland gave her a feeble smile as he picked up his clothes. “Yes, thank you. I trust you to say what you need to without hinting at the… other stuff.”

  She laughed, “If I said that you were a bear, they would lock me up.”

  He handed her his clothing as he said, “There I think you are right. Not an enviable position.”

  Serenity couldn’t help but smile at him. “Don’t worry. I have a much better reason for not talking about it. I mean, people have always thought I was a little off in the head, so that’s not much incentive for me.”

  Ryland’s smile was genuine as he looked at her. “People are fools.” Still naked, he stepped up to her and gave her a long kiss. When he pulled away, he stroked her head, then turned and offered his back. Serenity let him lift her from the floor. As soon as she was on his back, he moved to the door and opened it. Once they were outside, Ryland shifted and took off.