by Kate Wendley
When she laid her head on his shoulder and finally relaxed against him, his tense excitement settled down and he blissfully soaked in the peace he felt by being in her arms. They effortlessly danced in sync, their bodies twisting and turning in a rhythmic intimacy he’d never felt with someone before. It was as if they’d always belonged together.
They held onto each other as the music kept them in a heady trance, Helena’s warm breath tickling his neck, and her hands idling gripping and caressing him. He wasn’t even sure she knew she was stroking him as if they were already lovers, and he didn’t care. She was his now.
They swayed together until the energy of the crowd surged to a faster paced song, jumping up and down and moving every which direction. Rio and the guys practically tore him from Helena’s arms in the meantime, oblivious to his need to keep ahold of her.
**
Helena felt safe and cozy in Marc’s arms, but when the sexy song ended, a faster one started and the crowd surged forward… and she finally noticed the gaggle of Marc’s friends giving her a death glare. Mortified with herself for letting her wolf lull her into a false sense of safety, she decided it was time to get the hell out of there. Having no reason to get into a territory fight over him, no matter how relaxed and awesome he made her feel, she took advantage of the frantic energy of the crowd and Marc’s possessive friends trying to get his attention while she slipped away.
She pushed and shoved her way through the press of bodies, her feet killing her by this point, but what a great way to end the night… a sexy dance with a sexy guy.
**
Marc didn’t know what happened, but one moment he had the woman of his dreams, maybe even ‘the one’ in his arms, and the next minute she was gone. Just… gone.
He yelled through the noise, “Rio! Where’d Helena go?”
“Who?”
“Helena! The woman I was just dancing with!”
Rio looked in the direction he pointed but Marc could tell it was useless. And when he was just about to take off and search for her, Rio grabbed his arm.
“Where are you going?”
The hard look in his eyes singed Marc’s soul. Dammit. He’d promised he’d hang out with Rio tonight. Promised. They were best friends after all.
But Helena…
‘Bro’s before ho’s’ as the guys in the crew liked to say, and his guilty conscience won out. He regretfully stayed where he was, letting the woman of his dreams walk away in favor of a friend he’d known for years. A friend he’d grown up with, done stupid stuff with as a kid, then even more awkward, stupid stuff with as teenagers. And then turning wolf for the first time and running free as a pack with Rio, Kev and the others…
And now they were all adults and had each other’s backs through thick or thin.
So letting Helena go was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? Yes, it was. Friends came first. But his mind wasn’t on the fun he’d been having tonight anymore. Now his mind was spinning out of control wondering where Helena was. Or who she even was. Where did she come from? He’d never noticed her around before. If he couldn’t find her after the show, would he ever see her again? His gut dropped at that thought. What if she lived on the opposite side of town and this was just a chance night that she was in the same place as him?
His wolf growled in his mind knowing they’d die inside if they couldn’t find her again. Maybe she’d wait for him outside. Yeah, that’s it. She’d felt relaxed in his arms. Surely she’d find him when the show was over. Right? Did she feel as crazy about him as he did about her? Or was that all in his head?
That thought was like cold water in his face. She had a solid, sure aura, which told him her life probably wasn’t a complete mess. But what about him? Could he say the same?
At the end of the show he tried to be casual as he frantically searched the faces of everyone around him. What if she’d already left? That thought horrified him. For the first time in his life he felt like he had to have someone, but there was no guarantee he’d ever see her again.
He could kick himself because he knew this was his karma for doing the same thing to so many women over the years. He’d never been serious about anyone, but he’d had a few say they wanted to be serious with him. Or so they’d claimed, anyway. They wanted to say someone was theirs but they didn’t want to settle down themselves. He knew what kind of life they led because he led the same life, and that wasn’t the kind of woman he wanted to grow old with.
He looked around himself in frustration. Helena was gone and he had no idea how to find her.
Chapter 4
Marc’s weekend was horrible. His wolf barely let him sleep, constantly pacing through his mind and making him feel unsettled. Helena was never far from his thoughts, and when his crazed mindset was too much too bear, he tried to reason with himself. After all, it wasn’t like he’d never meet someone else with a strong aura. But every time he thought that, his wolf forcefully told him no. It had to be Helena. He had to find her.
His mood didn’t improve by Monday morning. Helena was still on his mind, and he was still kicking himself for letting her slip away before he could get to know her better. He’d never felt as frustrated as he did right now. He’d been slowly trying to change his life, moving out of the house away from all his friends, even keeping his new place secret from them just to have some space and time to figure things out. And when he finally met someone who was exactly what he wanted in life, what did he do? He lost her.
But would she be any different than the other women he’d had in his life? When she gazed in his eyes last Friday night, was she thinking about anything other than his looks and her sexual attraction to him?
He had no idea why the thought of her was tearing him apart inside. He didn’t even know her. They’d shared one dance, just one, and now his wolf gave him no peace.
But how would he find her?
He pulled into the parking garage and flashed his work badge at the metal box that would let him in. The only parking spots were a few flights up at the far end of the ramp, so ten minutes later he finally made it to the IT office where he worked with five other guys.
A couple computers took up each table that they pretended were desks. Kev and Alek were already there. They were usually in before him because they got a ride from one of the other guys every morning. And neither of them had a car because they always blew their money on stupid stuff, or had too many tickets to afford insurance.
Kev was the dopier of the two, but also the nicer one. Even so, he rubbed Marc the wrong way sometimes, like today. His face lit up when Marc walked in.
“So, did you get you some strange after the show, bro?”
“What?”
“That plain girl you were all over. Did she ditch you or something?” He sniffed the air knowingly. “She’s not your usual type. Going after some strange these days?”
Alek mumbled quietly, “The horn dog’s back! All the girls will be so happy.”
Marc snapped, “Shut up. It’s not like that.” He was not going back to the days where everyone slept with everyone and it was just a mad free for all. Every time he thought about it he felt like an empty shell of a man. Shouldn’t being close with someone mean something? Not in their crowd. Sex was just sex to most of them. Nothing more. At one time that was enough for him, too. He wasn’t sure when, or why, that’d changed.
Alek half mumbled, “You can give them something to talk about for a while. They’re getting cranky and bitchy lately.” He smirked and looked Marc directly in the eye. “You always were good at calming them down. They just need a little Marc in them again.” He wasn’t sure what Alek’s problem was, because he obviously had an axe to grind with him.
Kev laughed. “Oh my God Alek. Where do you come up with this stuff, bro?”
They high fived each other as Marc’s temper rose. He couldn’t get away from these two unless someone out on the floor needed help with their computer, so he settled on giving the guys his back while he got logge
d into the network. Of course, they only saw that as a reason to keep taunting him like the mental twelve year olds that they were.
“Aw, we’re just kidding you Marc. Did you at least get to cop a feel before she told you to fuck off?”
Marc groaned and halfheartedly said, “Shut up,” as he stared at his computer. They just snickered, but finally zipped their lips when Brett walked in.
He had a lunch bag in one hand and his car keys in the other. “Good morning everyone.” His greeting was more out of habit than sincerity, but he was the boss so a few of them mumbled back an uninspired good morning as he walked through the room to his office in the rear.
Working in a distracted daze for hours, when lunchtime finally rolled around, Marc slid out the door before Kev or Alek noticed he was gone. They went to lunch together a lot, and they’d probably end up at the Thai place next door today, so Marc decided to ride the elevator up to the vegan restaurant on the second floor instead while he beat himself up yet again for losing track of Helena.
Chapter 5
As much as Helena hated taking a day off while they were in the middle of the Ultraterra Marketing campaign, it was kind of nice finding out she had to either take the vacation day or lose it. And since the heat wave had cooled a little, she ached to go for a hike in the scent filled woods surrounding Atlanta. Full moon wasn’t for another couple weeks, but her wolf had been agitated ever since she’d danced with Marc last Friday night. Her wolf wanted to stretch and run and hunt, so short of shifting into her animal, a hike was the next best thing for settling her down again.
It was a good thing Atlanta really was the ‘City in the Forest’ because she didn’t have to drive far to find a hiking spot no one else was at on a Tuesday morning. Perfect. Her increased speed wouldn’t freak anyone out if no one was around to see it.
She started with a light jog up the trail, giving herself time to ease into letting her wolf be a little freer inside her. It was harder to keep her beast tame when they were out in nature. She constantly practiced keeping her under control, though, only allowing her the amount of freedom that was necessary to allow her peace the rest of each day.
Always in control, always responsible, that was Helena. Her legs pumped harder as she tried not to think about it. She wanted her control to become like second nature, where she wasn’t always focusing on it. But her wolf constantly fought her. Her wolf wanted physical contact with other werewolves. She wanted to get their scent and be rough and playful with them. Her wolf didn’t care about pretending to be human. Her wolf just wanted freedom.
So for a time, Helena stopped thinking and just ran. Rocks and tree branches and winding trails were nothing to her. She raced up and down the rough path, as close to letting her wolf have complete control as she could get without actually shifting, and it felt awesome.
Until a blind corner had her running smack into someone.
**
Marc had to take the day off or he was going to punch Kev and Alek for their constant adolescent badgering about his sex life. This was why he didn’t want to live with the group of friends anymore.
That and he was ready to get out of his insulated life and do some exploring, which was why he was here at the Mountain View Trail on a Tuesday morning. For some reason he’d never gone hiking in his human form. If he felt like getting a run in, and the modified treadmills at the gym in Brookhaven didn’t satisfy his urge for a more than human speed run, he’d just go to the ranch and shift into his wolf. But the ranch was a good forty minute drive, and Atlanta was full of places he could just as easily go as his human self. As long as he was careful not to be spotted doing anything a human would freak out about…
So here he was. He wasn’t sure why he felt so weird being here by himself. He’d tried to get Rio to hang out with him doing things like this, but he was too stubborn to try anything that might actually be good for him. He relied too much on his werewolf genes to fix anything that might ever be wrong, mentally or physically. Being a shapeshifter meant they had some magic in them, and it was true they didn’t get the same illnesses humans got, but they still aged and got variations of regular old age ailments. Marc wanted to delay that as long as possible.
He hit the trail with irritation at himself still lingering in the back of his mind. He couldn’t help it. He felt like he’d totally screwed up by losing Helena and it was the worst feeling in the world. And he was so lost in thought, he didn’t realize someone was racing around the corner in front of him until they collided.
He nearly had a heart attack. It was a woman. Hot, sweaty, and wolf.
“Helena.” From her silence, he guessed she didn’t remember him. “It’s me, Marc.”
Her eyes were a little bright, so her wolf was obviously just below the surface. Sometimes werewolves had a hard time forming words when their animal was too free inside them. Helena looked like that right now, or maybe she didn’t. He was too damned excited to be running into her again to be able to tell. She tensed, then pulled away.
“Helena, remember me? We met at the Tabernacle last Friday night. We danced together, but then I lost you in the crowd. I−”
With her eyes on the ground in front of her, she snapped, “I know who you are.” She pulled further away, heading down the trail the way he’d just come.
“Wait! Can we talk?” He refused to lose track of her again.
Without looking back she said, “No. Leave me alone.”
“But−”
With ferocity she yelled, “Don’t follow me!”, then took off running.
He stared after her, horrified that he’d found her, only to promptly lose her. Again.
He looked around in frustration, turned a couple circles because he had no idea what to do, then furiously swore at himself.
His wolf urged him to run after to her, to chase her down and tackle her, but his human self knew better. She’d told him to stay away in pretty clear terms, and he refused to be a creepy stalker. Dammit. He screamed in frustration once more for good measure, then glumly continued on with his hike.
**
Helena winced when she heard Mr. Tall and Gorgeous’ anguish. Her wolf, who was just as stunned as she was to run into drop dead cozy, sexy Marc, now wanted to race back and soothe him. Well, her wolf wanted to do more than just soothe him, but she put that thought out of mind. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he wasn’t for her.
Still, she’d been rude. All he’d said was that he wanted to talk to her, so she reluctantly waited for him to come back down to see what he had to say. If nothing else she could let him know he had no reason to feel frustrated about losing her in the crowd that night because there was never going to be anything between them.
**
The hike didn’t calm him the way he’d hoped it would, so Marc was ready to head back home. He took his time looping back on the trail, having no motivation for a workout anymore. Luckily, though this was the first time he’d been here, the trail was pretty easy to follow, even while completely distracted. It was widening up ahead so he figured he was getting close to the end.
As he stepped into a small clearing he heard, “The dance was nice.”
He turned to his left and stared in shock at Helena, sitting on a picnic table as if she’d been waiting for him.
“You startled me up there.” She pointed further into the park.
Taking that as an invitation to finally talk, he started towards where she sat sunning herself. When she immediately hopped off the table and looked like she might run away, he stopped cold and dropped to the ground.
“Are you ok?”
“Uh, yeah. I guess my wolf was tired and wanted to sit down.” He smirked and she fought a smile, too, though she continued to look down on him with a mixture of suspicious confusion. Maybe she even thought he was a little crazy, but her smile finally settled reluctantly into place.
Marc had become more and more trusting of his wolf instincts over the last few years. By the easing of Helena’s
tense posture, and the fact that she’d stepped closer to him now that he was in a submissive position to her, he realized his wolf knew exactly what he was doing.
“It’s good to see you again.”
“Really? Why?”
His excitement cooled. Hadn’t she felt anything even close to what he’d felt when they danced together? “Because I wanted to get to know you after our dance.”
Her eyebrow arched in bored cynicism. “Why? What about your girlfriend? Don’t you think she’d mind?”
“Girlfriend? I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Then you just randomly kiss women in bars?”
He got a sick feeling in his stomach. What stupidity on his own part had she seen him do? “Bar? You mean at the Tabernacle?”
Her sharp eyed look softened. “No. I’ve seen you around downtown recently, but it’s really none of my business.” She said in a more distant tone, “The dance was nice, but I should get going. Nice to see you Marc.”
Oh shit. She’d seen him kiss another woman, and recently. She turned to leave and he desperately barked out, “I’m not proud of kissing Lyndsey.” Helena stopped and turned back in interest, so he kept going. He felt like he was groveling for her attention, and he’d gladly do worse to keep her here.
“She’s a friend of a friend and just plopped down in my lap. I hadn’t been with someone in a long time so when she kissed me…” He shrugged. “I went with it, but it wasn’t long before my mind was wandering and I knew it’d been a mistake to encourage her.”
Helena gave him a long suffering sigh. “Oh the humanity. It must be terrible to have beautiful women throw themselves at you.”
“It’s actually worse when the one I’m interested in won’t give me the time of day.”
She gave him another look of cynical disbelief, then stubbornly sat down across from him. Not too close though.
Seeing that as a good sign, and the fact that she wasn’t beating around the bush with him, he decided to be totally honest with her. “Do you have any extra powers?”