Ray was in his front yard, standing beside an electric-blue Harley Davidson. Under any other circumstances, Raul would join him and discuss its pros and cons. After all, just like his brothers, he had been a motorcycle enthusiast all his life. However, he was too upset to speak. Lowering his gaze, he headed toward his cabin’s entrance.
“I didn’t know my brother was a beaten dog,” Ray’s ironic comment made Raul’s blood boil in his veins.
“Watch your mouth, junior,” he grumbled, turning to him.
“I’m just saying, you look like shit.” Ray shrugged his shoulders. “What’s the matter?”
“Rough day,” Raul muttered, running his hand through his hair. “Where’s Dean?”
“He’s out to get some food,” Ray replied, craning his neck to sniff the air. “What a glorious scent. Did the human mess you up like that?”
“Do I look like I want to talk about it?” Raul spoke in frustrated tones, furrowing his brow. “Anyway, she’s out of my life. I just talked to her.”
“Before or after you kissed her?” Ray teased him as a devilish grin formed on his face. “Her scent is faint. That can only mean one thing. It’s very funny, though.”
“What’s that?”
“The grip she has on you,” Ray explained, assuming a more serious tone. “I mean, you just met her and she can affect your mood like that already. It’s like she’s cast a spell on you.”
“I wish she was a witch,” Raul sighed heavily. “It would be a lot easier for me to stay away from her. But, she’s not. She’s just this…,” he paused. “Gorgeous, kind human. And I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“Damn.” Ray gave a snort of derision. “I can’t believe what I’ve just heard. My big brother, the tough guy of the family, is actually in love. Who would have thought?”
“Don’t be stupid, Ray.” Raul frowned at his tone. “I just like her, that’s all.”
“The signs are all there.” This time, Ray’s voice held a firm tone as his smile vanished. “You said you’ve been thinking about her, you talk her up, and you took the day off to paint her. Is there anything else I don’t know of?”
“No. That’s pretty much it,” Raul said, his voice bass deep with sorrow as he averted his gaze from his brother. The realization hadn’t come as a surprise to him. The emotions she stirred up within him were clear signs. Raul had just chosen to ignore them. “It sucks, man. Wanting something so badly that you know you can’t have.”
“Look, I liked what you said last night. The ‘fuck the rules’ part,” Ray stated, slightly pitching his voice louder. “Okay, she’s human. So what? You’re thirty years old, and you still don’t have a mate. By the looks of it, the human is an ideal candidate. I wouldn’t hesitate if I were you.”
“Tell me you don’t mean that,” Raul scoffed, returning his gaze to Ray’s face.
“I just want what’s best for my brother,” Ray said. “I know the risks. Hell, we all do. We’ll do what it takes to keep her safe.”
Raul loved the words coming out of his brother’s mouth. If anything, they were more proof of Ray’s loyalty as well as keeping his hopes of being with Monica alive. Before he could start thinking about Ray’s suggestion, though, Dean’s truck roared down the road that led to his driveway. This wasn’t at all like him. His middle brother had usually been a prudent driver.
Dean’s blue Toyota skidded across the wet cement as he stepped hard on the brakes. He stormed out of it, his gaze locked on Raul as he hurriedly closed the distance between them.
“Your secret’s out,” Dean informed, his voice rumbling like thunder. “The doctor ran into Jessica this morning on the road outside Paxton. She asked her if she knew anything about–and I quote–‘a big, injured man, black hair, blue eyes, early thirties that she treated last night.’ I was just about to leave Joe’s Diner, when Warrick arrived. She told him everything. I drove out of there before he had a chance to ask me about it.”
“Then I know what I must do,” Raul declared, feeling a long snarl blasting from his throat. Tilting his gaze up, he stared at the hill, with Monica’s smiling image swirling in his mind. This time, he would not keep his inner wolf at bay. He would not ignore the voice of the beast within.
“Protect.”
Chapter Eight
Raul’s wolf loped across the forest, setting a fast pace, his large paws picking up wet leaves and chunks of mud as the air rushed through his fur. His yellow eyes blazed in the darkness, his face stone-like with determination. Monica Mills, the woman who had unraveled his life so quickly, depended on him, and Raul would rip out any wolf’s throat stupid enough to lay a hand on her, including Warrick’s. To him, harming her would be an act of war. He couldn’t have her, but that didn’t mean that the rest of his kind had permission to harm her. He would defend her with his very life, even if he had to take on three, powerful wolves at once.
Still as he closed in on the top end of the valley, he couldn’t pick up any wolf scents, and those were very strong, much stronger than human. This could be a trick, though. Warrick was cunning; he could easily have ordered his subordinates to mask their scents as well as his own. As Raul looked over the bush on the edge of the street, however, he discovered that this was not the case. There were just two cars parked outside Monica’s house. Neither of them belonged to Warrick or any other wolf he knew. Relief washed over him. Thankfully, they hadn’t discovered where she lived yet. Hiding behind the bush, Raul bent his knees and sat on the wet soil. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight.
Suddenly, a heavy object was thrown out of her window and grabbed his attention. In a split second, the air was filled with a loud, manly voice and the scent of testosterone–one that he was all too familiar with. Raul looked up from behind the bush, feeling his pulse rising. A simple glance across the road told him that the man in question had been the one that threw the glass bottle out of her window. As it shattered to pieces, yet another scent filled his mind with worry: alcohol.
“Tom, please! Leave!” Monica’s pleading voice made his blood boil in his veins and pound in his temples. He stood on all fours, a fierce growl rising up from within as he noticed the stranger. He was a little over six-feet tall, glaring at Monica, swearing at her, his right hand raised in the air to smack her. That was the final straw for Raul.
He jumped over the bush, teeth and fangs sparkling white in the moonlight. Two long strides brought him closer to her house. Hundreds of shards of glass were thrown across Monica’s living room as he lunged through the window. The man let out a scream of agonizing pain as the wolf’s jaws closed around his wrist. Raul’s momentum sent him tumbling onto the floor. The wolf landed on his chest, sinking his teeth into his flesh, his massive paws pressing down on him. With a hard bite, he snapped both bones in his forearm as if they were toothpicks, forcing an even louder, more painful cry of pain from him. Raul tasted the blood flowing down his tongue. He released the stranger’s wrist, but by no means was he done yet. He turned around, stepped off the crying man’s body, keeping his eyes looking down at the floor. Catching a glimpse of Monica would only distract him. When Raul was in position, he bit down on the man’s left ankle, looking up at him at the same time.
“Help me!” the stranger cried in terror as Raul dragged him around. The only thing that he managed to do was to infuriate the wolf even further. His teeth pierced the fabric of his jeans and held him in a tighter grip. Monica had curled up in the corner of her room, tears streaming down her cheeks, her hands on her temples as the wolf dragged him backward. Snarl after snarl left his lips as the man tried to kick him away to no avail. Raul’s fury was pouring through his veins like molten lava. Whoever he was, he had made a fatal mistake, a mistake for which he had to pay dearly.
The wolf loosened his grip, finding himself outside the window he had earlier shattered. Monica’s assailant all of a sudden stopped attempting to get free of him. He wasn’t breathing heavily. Raul stepped onto the curb, curious
as to what had caused him to quit. He tilted his head down as a foul scent of urine filled his nostrils. Apparently, this man was so petrified that he had peed on himself, and the wolf’s attack had knocked him out cold. Unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched, the wolf whipped his head to the right. Monica was staring at him. Waving his tail in a friendly manner, he let out a yip and turned around. His job was done. His doctor was safe and sound, at least from the crazy stranger who was about to abuse her. Now, he had to lurk in the darkness, in wait for anyone else who might want to harm her.
Nevertheless, Raul didn’t have the heart to leave. He just stood on the far edge of the street, his yellow eyes flashing anticipation. He needed to cast one glance upon the object of his desire. And within seconds, she granted him that wish. Monica walked through the door, gazing down into his eyes. Much to his surprise, she didn’t stop. Instead, she continued to pace toward him as if she had no fear of the massive predator standing so close to her.
“You’re not here to hurt me.” Her voice was thick with emotion as one more tear toppled over the edge of her eye. “You’re here to protect me.”
It was one of the few times that Raul wished he could speak in his wolf form. But all he could muster was a sad yip as he lowered his muzzle.
“God,” Monica sighed, squeezing her eyes shut as she lifted her hand to cover her mouth. “I must be losing my mind. Here I am, talking to a wild animal.”
The sorrow in her eyes, her tears, and her shattered voice broke his heart into a million pieces. Raul couldn’t stand seeing her in such emotional pain and shock. She was filled with sadness, sounding lost and utterly hopeless. She deserved better–much better. In that moment, he knew, he could make it better, so he made the biggest decision of his life and decided to reveal his true nature to a human.
Monica’s jaw fell open, and her face sagged in total disbelief as he shifted back into his human form. Raul’s legs lengthened and thickened, his hips changed shape, his muzzle shortened and became a face with a real nose, his claws retracted and reformed, his eye color changed, and his fur disappeared. Her gaze slowly ran up his chest as she shook her head sideways, her mouth still wide open.
“I’m a lot more than just a wild animal,” spoke Raul, his voice soft as he leaned in toward her. “You wanted to know the truth. Well, here it is.”
“I am losing my mind,” Monica whispered, her lips trembling as she lowered her eyes. “I’m hallucinating.”
“No, you’re not,” he assured her, taking her hands into his. “I can shift back if you like.”
“Sh…Shift?” she stuttered. “You’re–”
“A shape shifter,” Raul finished her sentence. “I’m part human, part wolf. That’s why I can heal faster. Last night, I wasn’t attacked by a bear. I got into a fight with a couple of shifters.”
“Those yellow eyes…” Monica’s voice was barely audible. “It all makes perfect sense now.”
“It’s also why you and I can’t be together.” His baritone voice was filled with sorrow as he ran his thumbs across her wrists. “Any non-business-related interaction between my kind and yours is forbidden.”
“Non-business?” She squinted at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Shifters can be business partners with humans. They can buy and sell things or services to each other. But that’s about it. That’s the rule. If we start dating and my people find out…” He paused and drew in a sharp breath. “They’ll kill you. They’ll kill us both.”
“That’s why you’ve been avoiding me?” Monica’s voice became high-pitched. Raul nodded assent. “What a terrible rule.”
“Look, it’s not safe for you here.” Raul lowered his tone. “They know you treated me last night. That’s what I came here to tell you. You need to come with me.”
“Okay,” she said on an exhale. “Let me call 9-1-1 first. He needs to be taken to a hospital.”
“Who the hell is that prick, anyway?” he asked, casting a quick glance down at the man on the road.
“My ex-husband,” Monica replied. “He wanted me back. I said ‘no.’ He threatened me. That’s when you showed up. Thank you. Again.”
“Make that phone call, doc,” Raul urged, smiling down at her. “I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Nine
Monica’s reaction had come as a pleasant surprise to him. Yes, she looked dumbfounded for a few seconds after his transformation, but Raul expected that. He had also believed she would freak out and run away from him. Yet, the young brunette had done no such thing. She even agreed to follow him, making his heart leap with joy. He was dying to ask her why she was so open-minded. So, when Monica locked her front door and crossed the road again, he decided he wouldn’t miss the opportunity. However, as she came closer, he couldn’t help but notice her smile of embarrassment.
“I’ve seen you naked twice, and we haven’t even been out on a date yet,” she remarked, keeping her eyes pointed down at the road.
“Uh…Yeah,” he gave a short laugh. “It’s weird. But then again, we’re not a normal couple, are we?” he inquired, turning around to face the slope.
“A couple?” she said, nodding at the same time. “I like the sound of that.”
“You’d better get used to it.” He gave her a sideways smirk, offering his hand.
“Hold me tight, please,” Monica requested, wrapping her fingers around his hand. “It looks slippery.”
Raul preferred to remain silent as they started down the slope. He wouldn’t look up ahead. Maybe it was her golden skin glowing in the moonlight that had made him marvel at her, or maybe it was her approval of his nature, or maybe it was all of the above. He simply could not take his eyes off of her, waiting for her to open her mouth. By then, she was sure to have dozens of questions, questions that needed answering. But first, he would pose the one that had been puzzling him since the moment she had agreed to follow him.
“You seemed a little too cool about my secret,” he remarked. “How come you didn’t just…?” He faltered. “Run?”
“Do you believe in fate, Raul?” she answered his question with a question of her own.
“Fate’s a complicated thing, doc,” Raul spoke his mind. “I asked you something a lot simpler than that.”
“Over the past twenty-four hours, I saved your life, and you saved mine twice.” Monica assumed an emphatic tone, turning to him. “I don’t know about you, but I think it is fate. To be frank, I don’t care if you’re not entirely human. The way I see it, you’re a lot more human than some people I know. Your DNA doesn’t define who you are. Your actions do.”
“Well said,” he commented, his eyes glistening with contentment. “Humans can be very unpredictable. That’s one of the reasons why we can’t socialize with them. At least, that’s what my grandfather used to say.”
“He must have had some bitter experience on the matter,” she said as her smile slowly faded. “I don’t understand, though. You can do business with people, and you can’t trust them in your personal lives? Isn’t business all about taking risks?”
“I mentioned the rule, Monica.” Raul’s voice dropped down an octave. “Shifters can partner with humans. That doesn’t mean they actually do it. The only business they have with humans in Paxton is when tourists visit Joe’s Diner, and that’s because it’s the only diner in town. Other than that, there’s nothing.”
“No humans live in Paxton?” Monica asked, curiosity written all over her face.
“None,” his response was sharp. “Shifters only.”
“Wait a minute. I have a pretty good view of the town from my house. It’s small, but there must be three to four hundred houses there. The population must be at least fifteen hundred. I know wolves live in packs, but packs can never get so big. Individuals fight each other on a daily basis. The more there are, the less they are able to tolerate each other. Eventually, the pack breaks up. Wolves are territorial, too. A pack’s territory is marke
d. Trespassing is punishable by death. What’s the deal in Paxton?”
“Your friend was right,” Raul said with a smile of amusement on his face, “you do love wolves. Most people don’t know much about them. Yeah, the population is close to fifteen hundred. When I last looked, it was 1,466. There’s just one pack, and it’s nineteen strong. The rest of the residents are neutral. They just don’t care who’s in charge. They’re bound by the rules like the rest of us, but they stay out of any disputes.”
“Are you part of that pack?” Monica’s last question put him in a difficult position, reminding him of the predicament into which they had both plunged head over heels. For a moment, the joy that was in his heart was replaced with anxiety.
“I am,” he admitted with a sigh as they approached the border of the forest. “So are my brothers and sister. She’s not here now. Melissa’s visiting my aunt Susan in Montana.”
“You have a sister? I’d like to meet her,” she expressed, her eyes glinting with excitement, pulling her hand out of his grasp as she pivoted around to face him. “If she’s anything like her brother, I’m sure we’ll become really good friends.”
Raul would not dignify her compliment with a rebuttal, even though he loved her kind words. Once again, he gazed upon her face. The whiskey-hued curls that were cascading down each side, the tiny globes of her eyes fixed on him, and her smooth, dark, golden skin had taken his breath away. Tilting his head down, he lifted his hands to cradle her cheeks as her flowery scent made his heartbeat escalate. Their mouths joined in a long, tender kiss as she snaked her arms around his waist.
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