by Sofia Grey
“Not far at all.” Levi flashed me a grin, but he looked tired. “That freakin’ diversion added two hours-”
The strange feeling in my neck exploded into a screaming warning and I clenched my fist on Levi’s thigh, fear tearing down my spine. “Stop!” I cried, interrupting him. Without questioning me, he brought the car to a safe halt.
“What just happened?” He grabbed my hands. “Jess. Talk to me.”
“I don’t know.” My heart hammered and my lungs were struggling to draw breath. “I just knew we had to stop.”
He smoothed the hair from my face, and waited until I’d calmed down. “Okay, let’s take this next corner really slow, see what’s up ahead.” I nodded.
In the couple minutes that we’d been stationery, the snow had already covered the car. I’d never seen it so thick, so blanket-like.
Levi set off again, at a crawl. This was ridiculous weather for driving, and I feared if we didn't get there soon, we’d have to sleep in the car. This final stretch had been horrendous. Narrow roads that hugged the side of the mountain, with steep drops on the other side, hairpin-tight bends, and zero visibility. Maybe that’s why I felt so odd? Travel sickness. Even as I thought that, I discounted it.
We embarked on the next blind curve, the wipers flying across the windshield, but barely keeping it clear of snow. Looming out of the white blur, was a hulking shape completely blocking the road. My heart leapt into my mouth.
Levi slammed on the brakes again. “What the fuck is that? Looks like a van, sideways, and covered in snow.” If we’d been going any faster, we’d have hit it. I shivered at the realisation. My prickly sixth sense might have saved us being in an accident.
“Must have spun.” Levi turned in his seat and looked behind us. “We’ll have to back up. There’s no room to turn around.” He glanced back at the blockage. “We’d better see if the driver is still inside. They might be hurt.”
He was right, and it made sense, but I didn’t like the idea. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight, not even for a minute. What was the matter with me? I was jumping at shadows.
Levi reached into the back seat for his leather jacket, and I snapped into action. “I’m coming.” I grabbed my own coat, a thick down-filled parka.
“Stay here, where it’s warm and dry. No sense in us both getting wet.” He was already opening the door, a blinding swirl of snowflakes pouring in, and he climbed out before I had chance to reply.
Common sense told me to listen to him. My gut told me differently and I scrambled to follow him, tugging on my coat as I went.
The BMW headlights lit up the stricken vehicle, and Levi went to try the driver’s door. A couple of steps behind him, I was momentarily confused when another set of lights swept over the van.
Another vehicle was coming around the bend. And it didn’t know we were blocking the road.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Engine noises. Metal on metal. A scream.
The world was filled with unearthly sounds. I didn’t have time to react, to even think.
“Jess.” Something shoved into my side, sending me sprawling, face down in the snow. Levi.
Every atom of breath whooshed out of my lungs and the shock-wave reverberated through my entire body. I tried to process what had just happened. Another car had hit the BMW. Levi had pushed me out of the way.
I tried to inhale, but couldn’t find my breath. Where was Levi? Was he hurt? Lights flashed, and over the buzzing in my ears, I heard voices. Shouting. I pushed to my knees and dragged in some precious oxygen. My chest hurt with the effort, but I took another ragged breath, and then another.
“Levi.” I tried to shout his name, but it came out as a wheezy croak. “Levi.”
Suddenly there were other people, hands helping me to my feet, voices asking if I was hurt.
“Where’s Levi? My boyfriend. He pushed me out of the way.”
“Over here,” a man’s voice boomed. I staggered toward him. I had to find Levi. Adrenaline must have been coursing through my veins, because I didn’t feel any pain, just the desperate need to find Levi. I’d never forgive myself if he was hurt. Why didn’t I stay in the car?
I stumbled through the snow, a stranger’s arm supporting me. It was only a couple steps, but felt like miles. I ran a dozen scenarios in my head. Levi was bleeding to death. Levi was already dead. I had to tell his family. I had to live without him. Pain filled my chest.
There he was. He lay on his side, fresh snow already blanketing him, and I dropped to my knees. “Levi. Babe?” I groped for his hand. Please be okay. Please be alive.
Time stopped for the longest moment. I tangled our fingers together, and leaned forward to brush the snow from his face. “Levi.”
His eyes opened. Blinked. “Jess.” He tried to sit up, groaned, and sank back down again. “Baby, you okay?”
I squeezed his fingers. “I am now.”
Someone draped a heavy coat over my shoulders, and a blanket around Levi. He kept insisting he was fine, but when he tried to stand, he was in visible pain and our rescuers helped him to their car, a big off-roader. I clung to his hand. It was only when I sat in the warm, dry vehicle that I gave in to the shock. My teeth chattered, and I shivered from head to toe. I suddenly realised that Levi was talking to the strangers, and I tried to pay attention.
There were three guys, all young and strong looking. Each had the same brilliant blue eyes as Levi, and the same graceful way of moving. I tried not to stare. Were they wolves too?
“I’m Levi, and this is Jess.” He hesitated, and then squeezed my fingers. “She’s my Mate.”
Mate? It seemed to hold some significance to the Welsh men, as they instantly relaxed around me.
“We’re ten miles outside the village. Fastest if I shift, and run like that,” offered the youngest. He gave me a shy smile. “I’m Dai Evans.”
One the others clapped him on the shoulder. “Good lad. Get them to send the tractor to drag the vehicles clear. Morris is putting out some warning lights to stop anyone else from coming through.”
Levi tugged me closer on the back seat of the car. “I’m sorry, baby. Did I hurt you?”
His concern brought tears to my eyes. “I’m fine, thanks to you.”
With the help of the third rescuer, Taff, we pieced the events together. The van had swerved to avoid a fox, spun on the ice and got stuck. The driver had set off to get help, and this crew had been on their way to recover the vehicle. Coming around the bend, they’d been unable to avoid our car, smashing the passenger side of the BMW into the rock face.
Where I’d been sitting was completely mangled.
In the shunt, the BMW had lurched forward, and Levi had pushed me clear, taking the hit himself. The young wolf, Dai, was going to despatch the local doctor to come and check on Levi, and then they’d figure out if he needed to go to hospital. In the meantime, they kindly recovered our luggage, and gave us hot drinks, then left us alone while they worked to clear the road.
We huddled together, and I tried very hard not to cry. Levi’s pained, wheezing breath scared me. I needed to talk, to distract myself from the realisation that Levi had risked himself to save my life. “You called me your mate,” I whispered. “I thought I was a bit more than that.”
“Ah yes.” He ran his knuckles down my cheek. “There’s something I should explain. It’s not mate, as in friend.” He paused, and I saw uncertainty in his eyes. “Some wolves,” he continued slowly, “are lucky enough to find their true partner. Their Mate. Like your dad, when he met your mum.” His smile was hesitant. “We mate for life.”
“Oh.” I tried to focus on his words. Thought about how good my parents were together, how happy, and still in love with each other. “And you think I’m your Mate?”
“I know you are.” He drew my hand to his mouth and pressed a hot kiss on my palm. “When you freed me from that cage. My wolf recognised you as its own.”
“Oh,” I repeated, my mind spinning and Levi nippe
d playfully at my fingertips.
“You already said that,” he murmured.
I pulled my wits together, as best I could. “So what does this mean?”
“That all depends on you, Jess. Whether or not you want to accept me.”
A short while later, things went chaotic again. The local doctor arrived and checked out Levi. There were definitely some broken ribs, and most likely fractures to his sternum and collarbone. He needed an X-ray, to make sure his lungs hadn’t been punctured, but apart from that he seemed to be fine. Luckily for us, the medical centre in Beddgelert could do this, rather than having to transport him to hospital—a near impossibility in this weather.
Wherever he went, I’d be with him, holding his hand.
I couldn’t be sure how I felt about the Mate issue. It was too big and complicated to think about right now, and so I pushed it from my mind. At least for the moment.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Our first night in a shared bed was not how I imagined. Despite Levi’s protests of feeling fine, he’d been given strong painkillers and lay doped up and grumpy, while I tried to avoid moving. He was bruised from the neck down to his stomach, and I was terrified of hurting him in my sleep, if I rolled over.
“I want to hold you,” he grumbled, and so we spooned together. “I wanted to turn your legs to jelly again tonight, and then fuck you into oblivion.”
I stroked his hand where it curved around my breast. “Maybe in a few days.”
“These damned drugs.” His sleep-filled voice rumbled in my ear. “I don’t think I can even stay awake long enough to come into your dreams. I’m sorry, baby.”
My eyes filled up. “You have nothing to apologise for.” From his slow, steady breathing, I figured he was already asleep.
I was still wide awake, and with too many thoughts tearing around inside my head, to sleep any time soon. Everybody here had been so helpful and friendly, wolves and non-wolves alike. We’d met Tammy, the sister of Levi’s friend, Sasha, and she’d been brilliant. She’d booked us a room in this lovely inn, and had promised us a guided tour of the area as soon as Levi was up and about. She was also organising the insurance on Mum’s battered car, and sorting out a hire vehicle for us.
Our immediate problems had all been taken care of.
My thoughts returned to the man beside me. His body curled around mine, protecting me even in his sleep. Could I really consider a long-term relationship with him after such a short time? And if I did, would I move back to New Zealand with him? What about the shop?
The depth of what I felt for Levi was impossible to explain. I knew with a profound certainty that leaving him was not an option, so now I had to figure out how we could make it work. What would happen to Dad’s shop? How would my parents cope with me living thousands of miles away?
I had no answers.
****
After breakfast the next morning, Levi went for a check-up with the doctor, and I had a little time to myself. I found a quiet spot and set up a Facetime call with my parents.
I told them of the accident. How Levi had saved me. How he wanted to claim me as his Mate, and how I wanted to say yes.
Dad looked sideways at Mum, and then back at me. “The day I met your mum, I knew she was mine. I would move heaven and earth to be with her, and I still feel the same.” He gazed into the distance for a moment. Mum nudged him with her elbow and he met my eyes again. “I know how Levi must feel about you. I understand.”
“And,” piped up Mum. “If you feel for Levi even a tenth of what I feel for your dad, you’ll be very happy with him.”
Dad spoke again. “If you want to make a life together, Jessie-Bell, I’d be wrong to stand in your way. We’ll figure it out.”
The call over, I went back to our room, and found Levi sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Hey,” he greeted me, and patted the space beside him. “C’mon over here. I think I’m dying of hypothermia and I need your body warmth to keep me alive.”
I moved to his side. “If I want to hold you, will it hurt?”
“I’d be more hurt if you didn’t.”
We sprawled together, Levi propped up with a mountain of pillows, and he found a comfortable position where we could snuggle.
“I’ve been thinking,” I began, watching the expression on his face. “If I became your Mate, what would that mean for us?”
Hope flared in his eyes. He slid one hand into my hair and cupped the back of my head. “It’d be tough. There’d be lots of hot sex.”
I bit back my giggle. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. I’d also spend all my days telling you how beautiful you are, and how much I love you.”
“Really?”
He huffed out a laugh. “I’m thinking it’s a good sign that I reduce you to near speechlessness.”
I grabbed my courage and held it tight. “I love you. I know it’s early days, but I love you, Levi. I want to make this work.”
“I love you too, baby. You’ve just caught yourself a wolf.”
I stole a kiss. “I haven’t put you in cage.”
He stole one from me. “Actually you have. But your love is a cage I never want to leave.”
Epilogue –
Two Weeks Later
When we returned to Manchester, it was to several pieces of good news. Charlie was home, and looked set to make a good recovery, and my parents had come to terms with Levi being my Mate. I think Mum had something to do with that, but Levi’s willingness to risk himself for me, won Dad over.
That would be have been enough celebration for me, but Dad had some other news to share. He was planning to sell the shop—not to Jack Harper—but to the supermarket chain that wanted to open a branch of their DIY stores in the same street. Dad had been tipped off by Becca, who’d found out from Toby. This was why Jack had been so keen to buy the shop, in the hope of reselling it and making a quick profit.
“You’re free to make your own decisions about your future, Jessie-Bell. Chaining you to this life isn’t fair. And now I can retire early,” he told us. “Very early. So if you do end up living half way around the world, we can come and see you.”
“I’ve always fancied visiting New Zealand.” Mum’s smile was bright. “Maybe even living there one day.”
When I’d come back home, just a few weeks ago, I thought I had my life planned out. The only wolves I knew, were the little wooden ones on the Christmas tree.
Now I had a real wolf of my own, and many Christmases to look forward to with him.
The End
Playlist
Music is interwoven so tightly into my writing that I can’t untangle the two. Either I’m listening to a playlist on my iPod, have music seeping from my laptop speakers, or there’s a song playing in my head – sometimes on auto-repeat.
If Caging the Wolf had a soundtrack, this would be the playlist:
Slash (ft. Miles Kennedy) – Bent To Fly
Villainy – Ammunition
Seether – Words As Weapons
Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved
Blindspott – Yours Truly
Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know?
The Checks – You And Me
Kings of Leon – Don’t Matter
Imagine Dragons – It’s Time
I Am Giant – Transmission
Listen along with my Spotify playlist: Caging The Wolf
If you enjoyed Dreaming of a Wolf by Sofia Grey, check out her other books, including the rest of her Snowdonia Wolves series.
Wolf at the Door
Love can heal all wounds…
Pop star Lillian Hart is determined never to trust another man. She has no idea that the wolf at her door is anything other than a wounded dog, much less the Alpha of the Snowdonia Wolf pack. There’s something about the wild creature that pulls at her. Then a man with her wolf’s eyes starts to invade her dreams, and reality and fantasy merge in a way that has her hoping, against all odds, for dreams to come true.
> Lillian may have sworn off men, but Jake’s not just any man, he’s a shifter, and he’s about to shift Lillian’s world to make room for him. He vows to claim her as his Mate, and when Jake makes a vow, he keeps it. But Lillian wants to take it slow and Jake is not about to waste any time.
In this battle of wills, both discover giving in and trusting their hearts can heal even the deepest of hurts.
A Handful of Wolf
Sasha's not a looking-to-the-future kind of guy, but he's made an exception with his plans to travel and meet lots of pretty girls. Too bad his Pack Alpha, fate, and reality have other ideas about his trip abroad. He's pretty sure he didn't sign on to be a diplomat for the Snowdonia Wolf Pack. Or to find a Mate. Especially not a human Mate.
Megan knows better than to let a sweet-talking charmer get under her skin, but Sasha's sexy playfulness is making her forget all her rules. Except one: she's not willing to risk her heart by falling in love. The gorgeous boy from Wales can only be a fling, especially since her over-protective brothers hate him on sight.
In the midst of a wolf uprising, a hesitant Mate, and Megan’s complicated family ties, Sasha learns that sometimes impulsiveness is dangerous and even lethal. Can he show Megan why they belong together before it all comes crashing down around him and he loses his Mate forever?
A Very Wolfie Christmas
Sasha's homesick for the snow of the Welsh mountains, but the New Zealand sun and Santas in board shorts are worth it, if he gets to spend the holiday with his Mate, Megan. Besides, he's got a surprise planned for their first Christmas together.
When he discovers he's not the only one keeping secrets, his plans threaten to crumble. Can he make this a holiday they’ll never forget, for all the right reasons?
Dreaming of a Wolf