by Dia Cole
14
Havana
Stunned by Gabriel’s sudden departure, I followed him out the open door. Ignoring the freezing air on my bare skin, I called after him, “Gabr—” I choked at the sight of him morphing from man to wolf. Oh, God.
The brown wolf dashed away from the cabin as if the fires of hell were licking at his paws.
He’s a fucking werewolf. They’re all werewolves. And I may be one too. With a cry, I stumbled back into the welcoming heat of the cabin and slammed the door. How can any of this be possible? My head swam with what I’d seen while my lower body still throbbed with desire.
The burning hunger inside me wouldn’t let me focus on Gabriel’s earth-shattering revelations nor would it allow me to feel ashamed of the way I’d gone after the man…wolf…whatever he was. Another wave of heat flashed through me.
Dazed, I stumbled to the bed on shaky legs and sat down on the mattress. The same mattress where I’d offered myself to both Liam and Mason. I inhaled deeply catching the masculine scent of the men.
Visceral need pulsed through me. If Gabriel hadn’t shown up, Liam and Mason might’ve taken me in every way two lusty men could take a woman. One wicked fantasy after another flashed through my mind. Mason sliding into me from behind while I took Liam in my mouth. Both men entering me at the same time…
With a moan, I fell back on the bed. The hot throb between my legs ached to the point of pain. Unable to stop myself, I stroked my damp flesh. My thighs shook as I imagined Mason flicking his tongue along my clit while Liam suckled my nipples.
Oh, God. Heat built to an inferno inside me. My entire body shuddered, and I came with a scream. Stars burst behind my eyelids as I crested on the aftershocks of the orgasm. It took a full minute before I came to my senses again. Jesus. What’s going on with me? Gabriel said I was going through some kind of heat. Like a freaking dog, or more appropriately a wolf.
I shook my head. Nope. That couldn’t be what was happening. There has to be some kind of rational explanation.
A log in the woodstove made a cracking noise.
Startled, I sat up so fast in the bed that my back spasmed. Ouch. I rubbed the base of my spine. It was definitely time for another pain pill. Now where did I put them? I glanced around the small room and frowned when I didn’t spot the bottle.
Wait. What if the pills Mason gave me made me feel this way? I fisted the bed sheets. Ibuprofen my ass. He probably slipped me an aphrodisiac. That would explain why I’d been acting like a nympho. The drugs probably made me hallucinate too. All this business about werewolves wasn’t real. My desperate need to have sex wasn’t real either.
Letting out a relieved breath, I walked over to where my dress lay crumpled near the recliner. Cursing Mason under my breath, I put on the back brace and the rest of my clothes. Then I glanced over at the crate Liam had brought in. The food might be drugged too.
You’re losing it, Vana. I rubbed my arms. Okay, so it was unlikely that the men drugged the food. My stomach growled in agreement. With a sigh, I padded over to the crate of food and grabbed an unopened box of chocolate chip cookies. Normally, I counted carbs like a freak, but there was nothing normal about anything in my life right now.
I carried my loot over to the recliner and stuffed my face until I couldn’t fit another bite into my mouth. Another loud pop came from inside the stove reminding me I had to add more wood. I opened the door to the stove and hefted in a log. As I threw it, a sliver of wood caught on my bandage and pulled part of the gauze into the stove.
I screamed as the gauze caught on fire. Like a flash, I unwrapped my hand and threw the rest of the bandage into the stove. Crap. That was a close call. As I glanced down at my hand, my heart skipped a beat. Black veins trekked out like spiderwebs from the cut on my palm all the way to my wrist. My hand looked just like Dr. Sullivan’s chest. No. God, no. Stark terror whipped through me as I rushed over to the water cooler and washed my hands. The blackened area didn’t wash away. Somehow I’d gotten infected.
My mind ever so helpfully played back the memory of my fight with Brody in the club alley. The drug dealer’s infected blood must’ve gotten into the cut on my hand.
Horrified, I probed the flesh around the wound. It was completely numb to the touch. The dark veins will spread and I’ll die just like the professor. Then I’ll turn into a monster like Jess and her undead friends.
No. I shook my head to dispel that awful thought. Maybe I’m just hallucinating this like the whole werewolf thing. I clenched my eyes shut and then slowly opened them. The veins were still there. My stomach rolled. I don’t think this is a hallucination. Oh, Jesus. What do I do?
My insides tied themselves into knots as I paced. According to Mason's estimate, I’d be dead within twenty-four hours. Unless… Unless the doctor had a cure or a way of treating the infection. Although my trust in him was shaken, he was my only chance at survival. I glanced at the door. I couldn’t wait around for him to make an appearance, assuming he even would. Mason said their place was just a few miles up the road. I’ll have to walk there.
I slung on my boots and my jacket that Mason must've brought back inside, grabbed my duffel bag, and opened the door. A freezing gust of wind blew in a flurry of snow that covered the table and bench. Looks like that winter storm is here. Shit. I had no choice but to chance it. Shivering, I stepped outside.
Snow was falling fast and hard. I blinked as a white flake stuck to the top of my eyelash. Despite the howling wind and the fact I was facing almost certain death, a childlike wonder hit me. Snow! I’d read about it and seen it in shows but it was nothing like actually experiencing it for the first time. Mom had never taken me anywhere outside of Saguaro Valley and in the six years since her death, I’d made no effort to travel or leave town.
Regret clawed at me. I’d been so consumed with working and stocking away money for fear that I’d end up like my mother—spinning around a pole until she'd gotten too sick to dance.
Standing there as death stalked closer with every heartbeat, I realized that I’d wasted so much of my life. In the end, money didn’t matter, but experiences and memories did. What precious memories did I have other than the handful of months I'd spent with Nathan, a man who'd never really loved me?
I studied the cold quiet beauty of the surrounding forest. I’d been missing out on so much. If I survive this infection, I won’t let fear and heartbreak keep me from living my life to the fullest.
Filled with resolve, I stumbled up the steep hill following the fading tire tracks. Although trudging through snow in stilettos would’ve been challenging in the best of conditions, trying to do it with a broken heel made it downright treacherous.
Halfway up, I slipped on a patch of ice and fell hard on the ground. Pain like nothing I’d ever experienced radiated through my lower back. Crying out, I tried to roll to my side. Agony pinned me to the icy road. I couldn’t move. Crap! “Help!” I screamed. “Mason! Liam! Gabriel!” I shouted their names until my voice went raw.
“They’ll come along soon,” I told the leaden sky. The cold crept in along with increasing wind. Damn. This isn’t good. Teeth chattering, I tried to cover as much of my skin as I could with my thin coat. I dug through my bag with trembling hands and draped myself with my dance outfits and then finally even the bag itself.
Snow fell harder, blanketing me in fine powder. “I don’t think I like you anymore,” I said to the white stuff. I blew on my fingers trying to shake the feeling they were being jabbed with needles.
My nose and exposed legs burned. Shit. I’m freezing to death. With that realization, tears leaked from my eyes. This is so screwed up. I wasn’t religious, but it seemed ridiculous that the powers that be would get me out of so many dangerous situations in my short life only to have me end up as a frozen corpsicle on a mountain.
It’s not fair. There were so many things I’d never gotten to do. I’d never been to the beach. Gone up in a hot air balloon. Had a child. And now I never would. A wave o
f grief washed over me. I’d also never get the chance to find out what Nathan wanted to tell me.
Since I was dying and all, I grabbed my cell phone with my shaking fingers and pulled up the last photo I’d taken of him. Seeing his rugged face made me shiver harder. He wasn’t model gorgeous in the way Gabriel, Mason, and even Liam were. His rough-hewn features were too brutal to be called handsome, but there was a compelling intensity to him that made everyone turn and stare when he walked through the room. He was one of those rare forces of nature that had the ability to put everyone he met into orbit around him.
I’d fallen under his spell from the moment he interviewed me for the nanny position. He was the whole package. Rich businessman. Doting single father. Sexy, intense, alpha male. Ha. Little did I know there was more to that. One look from him melted me into warm toffee, and I hadn’t been coy about my attraction to him. But no matter how seductive I’d been, he’d refused to touch me until that fateful day when Max called me on my night off and begged me to sub for some dancers with the canine flu. I’d changed into my sexy dominatrix outfit and stormed the stage only to find a pair of shocked golden eyes out in the audience. After staring at Nathan like a deer in the headlights, I did the only thing I could do. Never taking my gaze from his, I gave the most seductive, lust-inducing set of my life. And when it was over, Nathan followed me offstage. Then he pinned me to the wall and kissed me so passionately, I forgot to breathe.
“I can’t fight this,” he’d groaned. “I need you, Havana.”
The memory of the rest of that night made my heart pound. After an arousing threesome with his friend, he’d taken me over and over and it hadn’t been enough. It never was enough with Nathan. We’d been inseparable, until that horrible Sunday evening when my world came crashing down.
My mind curled into itself as I relived the moment I’d walked up to Nathan’s front door in the rain. Knowing Mira was already asleep, I’d worn a sexy trench coat with nothing beneath. I’d rapped softly on the knocker and struck a sexy pose as he’d opened the massive oak door.
I licked my lips knowing how much he enjoyed role-playing. “Hi, sexy stranger. My car broke down and it’s raining. Can I use your phone?”
There was no answering heat in his golden gaze. “Didn’t you get my text?”
Taken aback by the coldness in his voice I stammered, “N-no. I forgot to charge my phone. It’s dead.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“But it’s Sunday,” I’d said like an idiot. We’d always gotten together on Sunday nights.
A feminine voice called from inside the house. “Nathan, who is it?”
“No one,” he’d called back his expression hardening.
A sick feeling twisted my gut. That doesn’t sound like the housekeeper. “Who’s that?”
“Mira’s mother. You need to go.”
I gasped in shock. “I thought she was dead.”
He’d clenched his jaw. “Go. Don’t come back here or try to see me or Mira again.”
His words lacerated me. Of all the ways I’d expected the night to end, no part of me was prepared for him to end our relationship. I gasped through the soul-crushing pain desperately wanting it to be some kind of bad joke.
“Why are you wasting time talking to that human trash?” a tall, blonde woman asked from over Nathan’s shoulder. She was breathtakingly beautiful in a designer gold satin gown that hugged every curve of her lush body. An unearthly glow seemed to radiate from her tawny skin.
I pushed back my wet hair self-consciously feeling dull and drab next to her.
Nathan stepped between us. “Her car broke down and she wanted to use the phone.”
The woman’s striking yellow eyes bore into me with a predatory intensity that had me freezing in place. I’d only ever seen three pairs of eyes like hers in my life. Tyberius’s, Nathan’s, and the little girl who’d become like a daughter to me. “Invite her in then,” the woman purred. “She could be… amusing.”
Nathan tensed. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear an expression of fear crossed his face. He twisted around to look at her. “No. I want you all to myself.”
My stomach rolled. God, could this get any worse?
“Fine then,” the blonde said, leaning over and nibbling the bottom lobe of his ear. “I’ll be waiting for you in our bed.” With that, she sashayed in the direction of Nathan’s bedroom and the oversize king bed that, just two nights ago, we’d nearly broken in half with our lovemaking.
I felt all the blood leave my face. “I thought you… me…” I gasped, tears stinging my eyes.
He glanced back at me, his lip curling in distain. “You meant nothing to me.”
Nothing to me. Nothing to me.
The freezing wind seemed to carry the echo of Nathan’s door slamming in my face. I jolted back into the present. Shivers racked my body making my teeth snap together so hard it felt like my jaw would break. I tried to curl into a fetal position, but soon a welcome numbness settled over me. A few minutes later, I barely felt the cold. The phone slipped from my hands. Goodbye, Nathan.
He didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. I was tired. So very, very tired. Losing the battle with my heavy eyelids, I succumbed to the darkness.
15
Mason
My mind was a jumbled mess as I followed Liam’s truck through the gates of Sanctuary and parked the SUV near the front of the lodge. Havana’s a latent. She’s one of us. Excitement coursed through me. Like me she’d be an outsider among Lykos since those of us who were raised by humans were viewed with suspicion. Long ago, I’d stopped giving a damn about what they thought. I belonged in the human world. With Havana.
But she belongs to another…
My heart sank. Although I’d never been a fighter, I’d battle tooth and nail for her. The memory of her sultry moans and the sweetness of her lips made me shift in my seat. I wanted her more than I’d wanted anything in my life. And that included finding my birth family.
But Havana doesn’t just belong to another Lykos male. She belongs to an Alpha. My shoulders sagged. I had no chance competing with Nathan. Or did I? My head shot up as I remembered our earlier conversation. Havana called him a bastard. She said she’d never take him back.
Hope flared inside my chest. The rules of our faction were clear. Females chose their mates. Tasha was many things—psychopath, sadist, and master manipulator, but her stance on female dominance never wavered. Males served females, never the other way around. Sadly, this wasn’t always the case among other factions, but in Tasha’s territory Nathan would have to recognize Havana’s choice.
But what if he compels her to choose him? No. I shook my head dispelling that abhorrent thought. To force a female’s affection would be an act too low for any Lykos Alpha male. Although I didn’t know Nathan well, I’d heard he was honorable.
Hope returned and on its heels happiness. She’ll be mine. Filled with resolve, I jumped out of the vehicle only to find Liam exiting the truck. I froze and watched the big male walk over to me. What if she chooses Liam instead? The male was bigger, stronger, and could break me in a half and not break a sweat. Doubt chewed at the edges of my joy.
Liam looked shaken as he walked over. “What do you think Nathan will do to us when he finds out we were with Havana?”
“Nothing,” I said as we walked up the steps.
Liam punched in the code on the panel by the door and gave me an incredulous look. “How do you figure?”
“It was her choice.”
Liam rubbed his beard thoughtfully as we walked into the lodge. He strode into the library and sat down heavily on a dark leather couch. A broad smile stretched across his face. “You’re right. He can’t punish us if it’s what Havana wanted.”
I nodded. “And if she were to choose me over him, there’s nothing he could do about it.”
Liam jumped to his feet. “Why do you think she’d choose you? She wanted to mate with me.”
A low growl rose
from my throat. “She wanted me first and if you hadn’t intruded, we would’ve mated.”
Liam straightened his shoulders and looked down at me. “Clearly, you weren’t her first choice because as soon as I got there she was eye-fucking me.”
“Really? And that’s why she asked me to join your little make-out session? Obviously, she wanted a man with more…experience.”
Liam flinched and then schooled his face into a grimace. “She seemed plenty happy with what I had to offer.” He reached down and grabbed his crotch.
The crass move had me fisting my hands. “Why would she want to mate with a brainless barbarian when—”
“Enough, you two. She wanted to mate with all of us,” Gabriel interjected from the doorway. The male shook the snow off his naked body in a decidedly canine move. “She had her hands all over me before I could run out of the cabin.”
Liam and I both growled at him.
Gabriel snarled back. “Fuck off if you know what’s good for you. The female’s coming up on her first heat and she’ll fuck any male that gets within a few feet of her. Hell, I remember my father and I having to tie my sister down during her first heat. She kept trying to escape so she could mate with the neighbors.” Uncaring of his nakedness, he padded into the library and studied a wall of books. “No matter how much each of us wants her, she belongs to Nathan. None of us can touch her.” He spun around and glared at Liam and me. “Do you understand?”
Momentarily distracted by the gold gem embedded in his eye socket, I didn’t respond. The pain has to be excruciating. The temptation to remove the foreign body so the male could heal was almost irresistible.
Liam shook his head. “She doesn’t want Nathan.”
“She hates the Alpha,” I added. “She could choose to mate with one of us instead.” And maybe claim one of us too.
“You’re grasping at straws.” Gabriel fitted his eye patch over the jewel in his eye socket. “As soon as Nathan gets here, she’ll fuck his brains out and all will be right with the two of them.”