Untamed Wolf

by Wade, Cara

  Sam bit her lip. She didn’t know the first thing about what was in the files but she knew her father would have mentioned them if he thought they might be reopened. “When did all this start?”

  “Almost as soon as Walter died,” Jonathan said shaking his head. “It’s like they were waiting for him to go before they started all this.”

  “Are we privy to any of these files?” she asked.

  “Well, yes and no. We can see some of the files, but not detailed information just yet. We can see who or what they are concerning, so we can properly advise them or offer counsel, but until we take on a case, we can’t see anything.”

  “Okay, let’s see them.” Sam said marching to her office, her mind already working out ways to argue to keep the files under wraps and out of the public sphere.

  “Well, one more thing you should know,” Jonathan said haltingly. “Uh, your husband is one of the names listed.”

  Sam’s brow arched at this. This was new. Why hadn’t her father told that much, at least? It must not have been anything he thought was concerning enough or he would have mentioned it. “Okay, thanks,” she said absently, sinking into her chair.

  Jonathan nodded. “I’ll have my secretary make the request that they send the files over. Nothing electronic, all old school as far as I know. Maybe that’s a blessing in this case. Less chance of it spreading.”

  Soon Sam was elbow deep in paperwork trying to unearth as much information as she could about Jack. At the same time, she was wracking her brain trying to recall anything her father might have said that had anything to do with Jack needing some records sealed. Nothing, he hadn’t said a word about it. But why would he? He’d assumed they were sealed forever. He couldn’t have known that someone would want to have the files reopened.

  She could just call Jack and ask him. She felt odd doing that. Suppose it wasn’t something he wanted to discuss with her. Without more information to go on, her hands were tied. She had to ask him what the files were about. She called Jack and he answered right away.

  “Thank you for the sandwich.” He sounded happy and Sam forgot she’d even left it for him.

  “Oh, you’re welcome,” she said. “I have to ask you a serious question…what can you tell me about some files that my father had sealed for you?”

  Jack was silent for a few beats. “I can talk to you about that tonight. Walter never told you?”

  “I don’t think so. I would have remembered him saying something about some sealed records.”

  Jack sighed. “He told me he did mention it to you when you two spoke before I went into the room.”

  Sam grew thoughtful. Had he? Had she just been consumed with Papa’s sickness and overwhelmed by his request to marry Jack that she hadn’t heard what he’d said to her? “I don’t...I mean it’s possible. He didn’t sound like he was entirely there when we were talking. He said you were a shapeshifter,” she laughed.

  Jack was silent again.

  “Jack?”

  “Let’s talk when you get home,” he said quietly.

  Sam hung up with him and thought about their conversation again and again the rest of the day. Why hadn’t he denied it? What was a shapeshifter anyway? She didn’t want to look up anything on her computer and was scared about the conversation she’d just had with him on the phone. Was she being monitored?

  She left the office early, taking home a few things to look over for tomorrow. She spoke with Jack again briefly and he told her he would have dinner ready and would tell her whatever she needed to know. She sensed an alarm in his voice that, in turn, alarmed her more.

  True to his word, Jack had dinner ready when she walked in and they ate together in awkward silence, his secret hanging between them. When they’d finished cleaning up, Sam sat across from Jack and looked at him expectantly. “We need to clear this up. I need to know what’s in the file if I have to defend maintaining the seal on it.”

  Jack nodded. “I agree. Not just because you have to defend it, but because we’re married. You will find out anyway. Walter was right. I am a shapeshifter.”

  Sam stared at him. “I just don’t get it. You’re normal. You’re human.”

  “I’m also a werebear. And the records that have to remain sealed will reveal my identity as a shapeshifter. If that happens, all hell breaks loose.”

  “How did this make it to an official record anyway? How did anyone find out?”

  Jack massaged the bridge of his nose. “I’ll tell you more in detail another time. But the gist of it is that we were on a mission, Walter was caught and that was the only way I could get him out. That’s when he found out and he helped seal the records for me. No one else on the mission knew about it, except one officer who had to record the damn thing. He’s gone too now, but the record remains. I didn’t think anything of it because, well, they were sealed.”

  Sam briefed him about why the records could be revealed to the public and he thrust his hand into his hair. “I can’t believe this,” he growled rising to pace around the room. “They were waiting for Walter to leave. These are all files of guys who did what they had to do to save other men. Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to do the right thing.”

  Sam wanted to press him about what some of the other files contained but she stopped herself. At the moment, this was about him and his file. She was married to him now, so whatever he had done in his past would reflect on her too. Her commitment to the marriage so early on surprised her.

  She turned to ask him if there was anyone he might know that would be of assistance to him, or possibly owe him a favor but she didn’t see him. Samantha swiveled around in time to see him standing in her blind spot. “Do you want to see?” he asked her.

  “See? Oh, well…” She didn’t know how to respond.

  “If you’re looking for more information, this is it.” Without further warning, he fell to the ground on his hands and knees and his back arched as his body transformed before her eyes. Jack was gone, replaced with a bear. He came to a standing position again, but this time, his shadow was looming over her. He had to be at least seven feet tall.

  Samantha screamed and leapt off the armchair she was perched on. “Jack!” she cried out and backed away as he began to walk towards her slowly. His hand was outstretched. They were Jack’s brown eyes, but this couldn’t be him. Her heart pounding, she backed into the door to their bedroom and ran inside shutting the door just as she heard him emit a low growl. Tears streamed down her face. What had she gotten herself into? What had her father been thinking? She sank to the floor and buried her face in her hands.

  “Sam,” Jack said from behind the door. “It’s still me,” he said. His voice sounded even deeper, if that was possible. She felt, rather than heard, a growl from the other side and she scooted away from the door out of fear. Sam hugged herself tighter and clamped her lips together tightly.

  A few minutes passed by, and the low growls she’d heard before she shut the door on him were long gone. “Sam?” Jack said in his usual voice. “I changed back. I’m sorry I frightened you. I just needed you to see for yourself.”

  All she could see when she closed her eyes was him coming towards her. Did he cease to be himself when he changed, or did he retain all his thoughts and memories too? She had so many questions but she was too shaken to voice any of them.

  “I’m sorry,” she said opening the door. “I’ve never seen that before. This is all very different for me. I don’t know what I was expecting.”

  “It’s fine,” he said quickly. “It’s not something most people ruminate over anyway.”

  The rest of their evening was relatively normal, but Sam made an excuse and turned in early. They had been moving closer and closer towards each other in the bed that she shared with him, and even last night he’d pulled her body flush against his own as they slept. Tonight, she wanted none of that. She wondered if she should consider sleeping in another room. Suppose he couldn’t control his shifting. She shuddered. Even the
energy he put out while he was himself was so powerful that she found it difficult to do small tasks without getting distracted. But it was just a fraction of the power he gave out compared to when he was a bear.

  Jack was nice enough to give her some much needed space after that and they only discussed the files as needed. She felt like he’d pulled away from her the night he shifted and she couldn’t tell why. She was the one who was frightened by it, and she had every right to be! She could hardly call what her father told her a warning. After all, she was overwhelmed with emotions the day before he died, she couldn’t have made sense of anything, let alone such a strange revelation.

  A week passed by, and Sam realized that he was becoming more and more aloof with her. She felt a familiar sense of dread that she’d felt when Papa used to treat her as such when he bid her goodbye and sent her to boarding school after her mother had disappeared. It wasn’t an overt cruelty, but a loneliness settled into her that she couldn’t shake. And that feeling made her incredibly sad.

  Papa had the best intentions when he asked her to marry Jack, and she saw that. He was capable, smart, kind, but he was exactly like Papa in this area. She just didn’t think she could deal with another man who would keep his emotions so tightly under wraps because he decided it was better than releasing them so they could heal together. Jack was not the right man for her, she thought tears still stinging her eyes. She might feel a strong attachment to him, but she had to cut it loose. She wouldn’t allow herself to go down that road again, because in her experience, the payoff would be delayed until it was almost too late to appreciate.

  ***

  Jack jerked his car towards the left lane and honked at the driver that pulled out in front of him. He was irritated by the smallest things and it was only getting worse. Since the day he had shown Sam the other part of himself, he’d felt the sting of her rejection. It brought back all the unwelcome memories he had as a child. Just when he thought he was long past those feelings, they found a way to manifest themselves at the worst possible time.

  He understood why Sam was scared that evening. She wasn’t prepared, or she was ill-prepared, he couldn’t tell which. He had just assumed she would accept the other part of him as easily as she’d accepted his human form. He hadn’t anticipated her reaction to be quite so...loud. He recalled the look of terror in her eyes when she screamed. He waited for her to adjust to him being a bear but she’d been too disgusted by him.

  It took him a long time to get over the aversion to himself when he was younger, and after a while he embraced it. Brash though he was back then, he met Walter soon enough and it helped him rein in his urges, or at least gain control of them.

  The worst part about all of this was how his attraction to her was growing even though they were barely making eye contact. They were polite and distant with each other. He could tell she was avoiding him, and he tried to give her space to allow her to adjust. But the more space he gave her, the further she pulled away. He wanted to fix what he’d done and thought about planning a quiet evening at home so she would feel relaxed and open about her fears. He couldn’t change himself, but he knew she would come to accept him eventually, she had to.

  That evening, he made the one dish he knew how to make well, Cajun chicken pasta. He divided the pasta onto two plates, pulled the garlic bread from the oven, and pulled the wine bottle out of the refrigerator. The table was set, he just had to wait for her to come home.

  As if on cue, he heard the key in the lock and he stood to receive her. The look on her face was priceless. He felt his chest swell at her reaction. Her face lit up and she almost dropped the tote she was holding. “It smells good in here,” she said looking at him in surprise. “Did you make this?”

  “I’m a man of many talents,” he said grandly. “But this might be the only dish I make well at the moment.”

  She smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat. She looked so beautiful. He itched to cross over to her and pull her into his arms, but he refrained. He didn’t want to scare her away again. He pulled out a chair for her to sit in and took a seat across from her.

  She complimented the food multiple times and he wished he’d done it sooner. He’d spent far too long sulking about her reaction to him. When they were done eating, Sam insisted on cleaning up and began to clear the table.

  “No, I’ll clean up later,” he insisted. “Let’s go sit in the living room and enjoy the wine.”

  “It will only take a second,” she said. She carried the plates and bread basket to the kitchen, he followed her closely with the salad bowl. As he reached into a drawer next to her to cover the extra food, she turned abruptly and dropped the plates. The bottom plate shattered and the top plate bounced and got chipped on the side when it clipped the cupboard.

  “Oh no!” Sam cried. She knelt down and began to pick up the pieces quickly.

  “Stop, stop,” Jack said, alarmed. “You could get cut! Let me get the broom.”

  He stepped into the pantry to retrieve the broom and dustpan. They soon had the floor cleaned up and the food was put away. Sam stopped to wash her hands and that’s when Jack noticed a small pool of blood collecting under her foot. It wasn’t just there, there were drops of bright red blood all over the tiles.

  “Sam! You’re bleeding!”

  Sam looked down and gasped. “I thought I just stubbed my toe, I didn’t even think…”

  Jack thought quickly and scooped her up to take her to the bathroom in the master bedroom. He set her down between the two vanities and poked around the linen closet for the first aid kit. He examined her foot and found a large gash on her big toe, near the nail.

  “Pretty deep, but you’ll be fine,” he murmured. He cleaned up her foot, taking care not to hurt her further. Her foot felt warm and squirmed under his attention. Once it was bandaged, he let go of it and cleaned up.

  “Nothing was imbedded in there, right?” she asked him.

  “No, why does it feel like there is?” He paused, ready to un-bandage it to take a closer look.

  “No, well yes, but it feels like something huge is wedged in there.”

  He peeled it back carefully and shined a light into it. “No, nothing. But it might feel like that because of how wide it is.” He replaced the bandage and smoothed it over. His hand lingered and then rose up of its own accord and cupped her shapely calf.

  He sensed her breath quicken and she leaned forward ever so slightly. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to give him a closer look down into her blouse. He saw the sweet swells of her breasts and itched to cup them. He looked up and saw her searching his face. Her lips parted and she leaned further towards him in invitation.

  He didn’t need more encouragement than that. Their lips made contact for the first time and he felt a vibration inside from the growl that he fought to suppress. One battle at a time, he reminded himself. He planted his hands on either side of her. Although she was perched on the counter, he was still a head taller than her. He used it to his advantage, coaxing her mouth open with his probing tongue. She complied, wrapping her arms around his neck, scooting to the edge of the counter to wrap her legs around his waist as well.

  He felt himself surge at her heat so close to his member. He picked her up again, keeping her tight against his body. He set her on the bed, trying with great difficulty ensure that he didn’t frighten her. She removed her blouse and tugged his shirt upward. When he felt her hands dip into his pants he couldn’t withhold the growl any longer. He clenched his fists to keep from ripping the rest of her clothes off.

  “Hurry,” she whispered urgently. Her hand had encircled his throbbing member and she was stroking him into a frenzy.

  “Wait,” he ground out. He stopped her hand movements and felt bad at her look of disappointment. “It feels good,” he assured her quickly. “Too good, I don’t want to finish before we start.”

  She looked relieved and scooted back against the pillows. They both finished undressing down to their underwear. His mo
uth went dry looking at her creamy skin against his dark sheets. Her breasts were lifted up, the points begging for a taste.

  He followed her down and settled between her thighs. His mouth claimed one nipple as his thumb and forefinger rolled the second one. She moaned and grabbed fistfuls of his hair, tugging and scratching his scalp. He had no idea so many nerve endings were up there that would lead directly to his groin.

  He switched sides, giving the other breast the same treatment. Her legs wound around him again and her feet dipped into the waistband of his underwear, pushing them down. He drew back as he felt himself getting closer to losing his control. Jack gritted his teeth trying to maintain his control.

  “Sam,” he said helplessly, dropping his head to her chest. Her hands slipped down to her side and she removed the last barrier between them. She gripped him and then began stroking up and down the sides of his chest.

  “Jack,” she breathed. “I need you inside me.” Her legs tangled with his urgently.

  That did it, he positioned himself at her core and looked into her glittering eyes before he plunged in. Sam let out a small cry and her back arched in response. He stopped and waited for her to adjust to him. When her hips began to undulate under him he pulled out to the tip before plunging in again and again. She met him thrust for thrust, her hands gripped his shoulders and her moans filled the room.

  “Jack,” she said breathlessly.

  He couldn’t speak. His chest felt like it was on fire from trying to contain the animal inside of him. He didn’t want to scare her, she wasn’t ready to experience all of him yet.

  “I need more,” her head tossed from side to side, her hips continued to rise up off the bed to meet him. “I’m so close,” she cried. “Please, Jack.”

  He felt himself reaching the edge too and knew he had to finish quickly before he began to transform. He gripped her hips and flipped her over to her stomach. She came up at an angle almost instinctively and turned her head to the side. He snaked one arm around her waist and held her hip on the other side steady as he pushed himself back into her slowly and then withdrew.