Wild Instinct

by McCarty, Sarah

  “You would be assuming wrong. Now, stand down all of you. I’ve just spent all morning with Buddy ‘negotiating’ his departure, and I’m not in a good mood.”

  “You should have let Daire kill him,” Donovan said.

  Wyatt growled. “Just for that, Donovan, you can pick up the tab for his moving truck.”

  “Shit.”

  Wyatt looked around. “Anyone else want to stretch my sense of humor today?”

  No one said a word. Cur could see why. There was no sign of the benevolent leader about Wyatt today. He was all sharp edges just waiting to cut.

  “Good.” Wyatt pulled out the leather chair from his desk and dropped into it. “I get enough drama from the Carmichaels. I sure as shit don’t need it from my own pack.”

  Heather slipped in behind him and started massaging his temples. Wyatt laid his head back against her chest and sighed. “Thank you.”

  Cur couldn’t ever remember a leader allowing his guard down to this extent.

  Different, aren’t they? Garrett asked.

  Too different to trust, maybe, Cur shot back.

  If that were the case, we’d be dead already.

  That was the truth. Cur would be dead for defying the Alpha Protectors, Rachel for kidnapping Josiah, and Garrett for freeing Rachel.

  “If you two are done chatting among yourselves?” Donovan asked.

  Cur smiled. So the Protector could sense energy. “For the moment.”

  “I’d like to ask some questions,” Wyatt cut in.

  “Fire away.”

  Wyatt sat up, catching Heather’s hand in his for a kiss before moving her aside. “Of Rachel.”

  Cur felt Rachel stiffen. “What if I don’t want to give them?”

  The response was immediate. “You’re welcome to leave.”

  Sarah Anne gasped. Josiah growled. Megan wailed, “Auntie R!”

  Wyatt winced and glanced at Garrett’s small family. “We would all appreciate it, however, if you chose not to leave.”

  “What kind of answers do you want?”

  “Honest ones.”

  Rachel stilled. Cur could imagine what was going through her mind. The fears eating at her decision. Should she tell the truth and be ostracized? Should she stay quiet and be banished? He squeezed her waist.

  Can we trust him with the truth about her powers? he asked Garrett.

  She has powers?

  Yes.

  I trusted him with mine.

  Cur bent down and whispered in her ear, “It’s your choice. Whatever you decide. You’re not alone.”

  SHE wasn’t alone. Rachel absorbed that truth, holding it to her. She had a mate. Whatever she decided affected him, too. She looked around the small group, feeling the honed focus of the men, the sympathy of the women. When her gaze met Sarah Anne’s the other woman smiled. When she met Teri’s, the other woman took a step forward.

  “Since I’m the only one here without a mate to keep me in check, I guess it’s my job to moderate this discussion.”

  “I wasn’t aware I asked for a moderator,” Wyatt countered.

  She tucked her short hair behind her ear. “It’s your lucky day. I’m working for free. Which is a good thing, because after buying off Buddy, you probably couldn’t afford my rates.”

  The joke got a weak round of chuckles.

  “I’m not up on all my werewolf prejudice and superstitions, but I’m gathering any sort or ESP is met with suspicion, even in ancients.”

  “With good reason, when you consider traditional pack hierarchy,” Kelon interjected.

  “Well, I think it’s a lot of bull when you consider the evidence.”

  “What evidence?”

  “The interbreeding of species seems, through anecdotal evidence at least, to produce more often than not a stronger breed with unique skills.”

  “I’m not strong,” Sarah Anne interrupted.

  Teri sighed. “I did qualify with a ‘more often than not.’ ”

  “She did, seelie.”

  Sarah Anne cuffed Garrett, who simply chuckled.

  “You do, however, throw children that are superior,” Teri said.

  “Good grief, now she has me sounding like a dog in a breeding program.”

  Teri continued. “In my other life, I was a doctor. My specialty was genetics. In a way, werewolves are conducting a selective breeding program, but they’re focused on old traits, ignoring nature’s efforts to evolve.”

  “I knew you were a throwback,” Lisa told Donovan.

  “Tell me that tonight in bed.”

  “Shut up,” Wyatt cut in, sitting forward in his seat.

  Teri dipped her head. “Thank you.”

  “The only pack that’s accepted the packless lost is Haven.” Teri waved her hand, “By the way, I hate that description.”

  “It’s no one’s favorite,” Garrett said.

  “I’m just not sure you all understand what you’ve got.”

  Wyatt stilled, his tension spreading to the others in the room. “Tell me.”

  “By taking in the lost, by not discriminating against those with psychic abilities, you’ve got an edge no one else has.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You all revere and fear the ancients for their skills, some of which are psychic. Historically, the reason these skills exist is because the ancients have an incredible amount of time to develop them. But by dropping prejudice and starting over, you all have the potential to define yourselves in a way other packs can’t.”

  “She’s right,” Daire said, walking into the room.

  Rachel stiffened. Any doubts Cur had that Daire was the person in the dream died.

  “Garrett and Cur, here, are master telepaths.” Daire explained, “Each strong in his own right. With the proper training, I’m pretty sure they could take out ten Protectors at a shot.”

  Rachel didn’t take her eyes from Daire. Her fear tainted the air. She backed into Cur. He put her behind him, meeting the raise of Daire’s brow with a lift of his lip.

  Wyatt exchanged a glance with Kelon and Donovan. “Master telepaths?”

  Kelon swore. Donovan clenched his fist. “There isn’t exactly a way to measure these things.”

  “Actually, there is,” Daire countered.

  Wyatt waved his hand to Rachel. “Then what is she?”

  Daire took a step forward and held out his hand. “May I?”

  Rachel shook her head.

  Cur linked with Garrett. Monitor?

  There was a second’s wait and then Garrett came back, Done.

  Pulling Rachel into his side, Curran bent down and whispered, “Let him.”

  Her brown eyes met his. The fear within tore at his conscience. “Trust me.”

  After a few seconds, she nodded and held out her hand. Daire took it. No one seemed to breath as Daire measured Rachel’s worth.

  Daire released her hand. She slumped against Cur, her heart thundering against her ribs, her breath coming in short gasps. Daire grabbed a chair and slid it over. “Sit down.”

  It was an order. Rachel obeyed, clinging to Cur’s hand all the way.

  Cur exchanged a glance with Garrett. Garrett shook his head.

  “What is she?” Wyatt asked.

  “A low-level seer whose skills are developing randomly.”

  “What does she see that she fears?”

  “Me betraying Haven.”

  Thirteen

  “NO way!”

  Teri’s denial broke the silence. Chairs creaked and floorboards groaned as everyone reeled in shock.

  Rachel felt Teri’s glare like a blow. “How could you?”

  She tried to push out of the chair, but Daire was before her and Curran beside her. Unless she wanted to crawl through the wall, she was trapped.

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “You couldn’t see Daire betraying anyone. It’s not in him.”

  Rachel didn’t know what to say. “Daire saw what I saw.”

&nbs
p; “And what was that?” Wyatt asked.

  “A moment, a fragment in time.”

  “But not the whole picture?”

  She shook her head. “No. I never see the whole picture.”

  Daire caught her eye. As much as she wanted to look away, she couldn’t.

  “If you were trained, you might.”

  She didn’t know if she wanted to be trained, to see the future in its entirety. “I’ll think about it.”

  “I’d think it beats the half-ass messages you get now,” Cur said.

  She spun on Cur. “I said I’d think about it!”

  Holding up his hands, he backed off. “Fair enough.”

  “Tell me, Rachel, do you think Daire will betray Haven?”

  She didn’t know how to answer. She just shrugged.

  Garrett was the one who answered for her. “She doesn’t know. She’s literally at the mercy of these visions. It’s why she ran with Josiah. The dreams, in her interpretation, told her to.”

  He made her sound like a pathetic idiot.

  “How would you know?” she snarled, her claws extending.

  “Cur gave me permission to enter your mind.”

  “What?”

  Curran’s hand on her shoulder kept her in her seat. “For protection, in case Daire really is a traitor.”

  Was she supposed to be grateful? Shrugging off Curran’s grip, she jumped to her feet, not caring that she stepped on Daire’s toes. Not caring that she was making a spectacle. She was fed up and she wasn’t taking this anymore.

  Daire stepped back. Rachel moved into the center of the room. The door was only eight feet away.Between her and it were Sarah Anne and Teri. Her friends. “All right. I have prophetic dreams. I can’t control them, and lately I can’t trust them, but that doesn’t make me a mental petrie dish in which you all get to indulge your need to experiment.”

  Garrett stepped in her path. Slamming her hands into his chest, she had the satisfaction of hearing him grunt, but he didn’t budge. Behind her there was a growl. Curran playing knight in shining armor. Well, it was too late. He’d betrayed her more than Wyatt.

  Garrett inclined his head. “I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t accept your apology.”

  Garrett looked over her shoulder at Cur. Rachel warned, “Don’t look to him for help. I don’t accept his, either.”

  She stormed out of the building, slamming the front door in Curran’s face.

  How could he betray her like that?

  Fourteen

  SHE got as far as the middle of the drive when she realized she had nowhere to go. She’d just stormed out of the room containing all the family she’d ever had since her parents died.

  “Damn. Damn! Damn!”

  “I’d throw in another one if I were you.”

  She turned. Heather was behind her. “Yell if you want, but don’t hit me. Wyatt would have a problem with that.”

  Rachel pushed her hair off her face. “I don’t want to hit you.” From what she’d learned from Sarah Anne, Heather had been good to her and Teri, giving Teri everything she needed to recover from her injuries and loss. Jesus! She couldn’t believe all Teri had been through. “You’ve been good to my friends.”

  “Believe it or not, it’s our intention to be good to you, too.”

  “Really.”

  Heather grimaced. “The boys can be a bit overzealous.”

  “Boys?”

  Heather smiled. “I say that to get their goat. Especially when they’re being particularly autocratic.”

  “They were certainly that today.”

  Heather motioned to a rock. “Mind if I sit?”

  “Not at all.”

  Heather pulled off her boots. “These are killing me.”

  “Why wear them, then?”

  “You mean despite the fact that they look great and make my legs look longer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wyatt told me when I bought them they were too small, and I don’t think he needs to know he’s right.”

  “He’ll be able to scent your distress.”

  Heather smiled. “Not if I’m careful and not right away. I like the man to have to wait a bit before he gets to say ‘I told you so.’ ”

  Rachel felt silly standing while Heather sat. She took a seat on an adjacent rock. “What did you want to say?”

  Heather rubbed her foot. “You’re werewolf, so you probably understand a lot better than I do how deeply tradition is embedded in your culture. What Wyatt’s trying to do here is good, but it flies in the face of how all of you were raised, so occasionally, he or one of the other Alphas screws up. It doesn’t mean their intentions aren’t good, or they truly don’t want to integrate all of the pack. It just means, they’re . . .” She shrugged.

  “Human?” Rachel inserted.

  Heather grinned. “Exactly.”

  “Does Wyatt really intend to welcome all of the lost that want to join, regardless of their differences?”

  “He truly does.”

  “That’s going to be a mess.”

  “At first, absolutely.” Heather spread her hands, indicating Rachel’s position. “Consider yourself Exhibit A.”

  “Touché.”

  “Thank you. The situation is further complicated by the fact the Carmichaels have declared a blood feud against Haven and we just discovered an unknown wolf has infiltrated the human gang in town and was spying.”

  “For what?”

  “We don’t know. He got away, but you can see how your arrival and your dream caused a bit of an uproar.”

  Yes, she could. “Maybe I should take that training.”

  Heather nodded and fished in her pocket. “Maybe you should but in the meantime, take these.”

  The keys jangled as Heather passed them over.

  “What do they go to?”

  “The guesthouse behind the main house. It has a big soaker tub, which Sarah Anne is filling up right now. You’re welcome to stay there as long as you want.”

  Rachel closed her fingers around the keys. She guessed she had a place to go after all.

  Fifteen

  THE house was empty when she got there. The tub was full and big enough for two sporting an infinity edge that let her slide all the way down in the water right up to her chin. She closed her eyes, breathing the rosemary scent of the bath salts Sarah Anne had put in. Listening to the fire crackle in the small wood stove, letting the moment of peace flow over her. For the first time in weeks, she could relax.

  “If I climb in there with you, are you going to drown me?”

  Curran. She sighed as her mark warmed that first tiny bit. “I haven’t decided.”

  “Open your eyes and tell me that.”

  The minute she opened them she knew it was a mistake. Curran stood beside the tub, hands on hips, legs slightly apart, naked and aroused. Above the sharp jut of his cock she could see the laddered layers of muscle over his abdomen. Above that there was the clear delineation of his pecs. Her pussy clenched. And above that, her heart twisted. The apology she hadn’t accepted was in his eyes.

  “You don’t play fair.”

  He shrugged. “Did you really expect me to?”

  Had she? She tilted her head to the side, studying him, studying herself. Whereas she’d grown up loved, she knew from Sarah Anne that Cur hadn’t. He and Garrett had had to fight for everything they had. And once they’d obtained it, they’d had to fight again to hold on to it. Cur had grown up packless, truly one of the lost. But he was still a good man. Misguided sometimes, but still good. “No.”

  She moved to the side. “And if you come in, I won’t drown you.”

  He didn’t move.

  “I thought you wanted to come in.”

  “I do.”

  “Well, it won’t happen if you don’t take that first step.”

  “If I come in, I’ll make love to you.”

  “I understand.”

  “I need to know something first.”

  �
��No, I’m not a virgin.”

  Living among humans, she’d tried to adapt their ways. After a couple of brief, unsatisfying affairs, she’d decided some things weren’t for her. Curran waved her statement aside without a smile or a growl. “Neither am I.”

  She blinked. Whatever was on his mind was serious. “What is it?”

  “Are you going to leave me?”

  The question lodged between them, brutal in its honesty, stark in what it represented. Curran’s pain.

  She slid forward in the tub and wrapped her hands around his ankle. His expression was shuttered. His posture braced. Did he really think so little of her that he thought she’d leave him over what happened in the main house?

  The answer when it came was humbling. He didn’t think so little of her. It was himself he didn’t see as a prize. And now that she had a flimsy excuse, he expected her to take it and bolt for greener pastures. She shook her head.

  “We’re mated, Curran. There’s no do-overs.”

  “I don’t want you just because I put a mark on you.”

  “Then you should have thought about that before you marked me.”

  “I wasn’t thinking of anything then.”

  She tugged on his ankle. He teetered, but quickly regained his balance. “I think you were thinking a heck of a lot more then than you are now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Then, you thought I was a person you could admire. That you wanted. Now you think I’m some petty individual incapable of making a commitment.”

  He slid down into the pool, his gaze guarded as it met hers. “You didn’t mark me.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Is that what’s bothering you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you remember at all the time you marked me?”

  His lips took on a sensual fullness and red tinged his gaze. “Yes.”

  She closed the distance between them, sliding her bare thighs over his, shivering as the hairs on his thighs tickled hers. “Then you’ll remember you had me a bit distracted.”

  One of his hands cupped her hip. The other cupped her skull, tilting her head the way he liked. “I did, but that doesn’t answer my question.”

  She couldn’t remember what the question was, with his cock snuggled against her pussy and his mouth a hairbreadth from hers.