Wolf on the Hunt

by N. J. Walters

  She was having a difficult time wrapping her head around the reality of having a werewolf in her bedroom. It was one thing to read about them and wonder, but this was a little too real.

  “I am.”

  Again, his voice made her insides quiver. That wasn’t like her at all. She’d never gotten stupid over a guy before, and she’d run across her share of handsome men in her life. But Louis was different.

  His hand was still midair, waiting for her to take it. He was tempting her, luring her closer. She knew that for a fact, but damned if it wasn’t working.

  “You can let the dog go,” he told her. “Shadow won’t hurt me.”

  Of course the dog wouldn’t hurt him. Shadow recognized him for what he was—the alpha of the group.

  She dropped her hand from his collar and took another step closer. She stopped when there were still several feet between them. Her arm was shaking when she lifted it. Her hand trembled as she pressed her palm against his.

  She was used to being independent. Feeling strong and in control of her life. This was outside anything she’d ever dealt with. How often did a woman meet an actual myth? Werewolves were part of ancient lore and the stuff of popular fiction. They weren’t real.

  Or that’s what she’d truly believed until a few seconds ago when she’d watched the man before her shift from wolf to human.

  His skin was warm and slightly rough. He slowly closed his fingers around hers, holding them for a brief second before releasing her. A sense of disappointment flooded her. She’d wanted the contact to last longer.

  “You’re a half-breed.”

  His words struck her with the power of a two-by-four to the gut. She flinched and curled her fingers into fists by her sides.

  “I’m what?”

  “A half-breed werewolf.”

  She shook her head in denial. Yes, she’d always been different from the people around her, always been attracted to wolves, always been able to sense things others couldn’t. But a werewolf? It couldn’t be possible. She’d have known. Wouldn’t she?

  “Am I?” She wasn’t sure she believed him. Wasn’t sure she wanted to.

  He cocked his head to one side and inhaled deeply again. He was scenting her. The realization shocked her. It was something she automatically did in any new situation. It was also why she only used natural products on her skin and to wash her clothes and clean her house. Synthetic scents were offensive to her nose. It was another reason she preferred the country to the city. Too many nasty smells in the city.

  “Yeah, you are. It’s mostly hidden beneath Shadow’s smell, but I can scent the wolf in you.”

  This couldn’t be happening. None of this could be real.

  “I have to sit down.” She started to sway and locked her knees so she wouldn’t fall flat on her ass. This was more than she could handle along with everything else she’d dealt with this morning.

  Louis grabbed her arm and guided her to the bed. “You didn’t know?”

  Anger flooded her system—at him, at her mother and especially at her unknown father. She welcomed it. It flooded her system with adrenaline, sending strength to her weak limbs.

  “How the hell would I? My mother never told me who my father was. She died when I was eight. How would I?” she repeated. Maybe her mother never knew. Maybe she’d planned to tell Gray when she was older. Gray would never know for certain.

  Louis sat down beside her. The mattress dipped as his weight settled on it, and she tilted closer to him. He took her hand in his. She was tall for a woman and solidly built, but he made her feel small and his hand seemed to swallow hers up. She tried to ignore the fact he was still naked and aroused. She might be freaked out about the situation, but she wasn’t dead. There was something about him that made her very aware of herself as a woman.

  Get over it, she told herself. He was a stranger. A dangerous man that she knew nothing about other than the fact he was a werewolf. This was not the time to listen to her hormones. Yes, she was attracted to him, but that was no reason for her to act on that or forget the possible implications of the situation she now found herself in.

  It had been dangerous enough when she’d thought he was a wolf. How much more risky was it now that she knew what he really was?

  “I’m sorry.”

  She wasn’t exactly sure why he was sorry. For telling her? Because she didn’t already know?

  Shadow sat in front of her and plunked his big head on her lap. He whined as if sensing her distress. She automatically reached out to him with her free hand and rubbed him. It brought her comfort and a sense of normality.

  She had a million questions, and finally there was someone who might be able to give her answers. Her heritage must be the source of her differences, the things that had set her apart from others her entire life. The reason her sense of smell and sight were enhanced, why she was physically stronger than other women and many men as well. Why she never got sick. She’d never even had a cold in her life. What other differences were there that she knew nothing about?

  “Does that mean I can shift too?”

  He doused her hopes with a single shake of his head. “If you were going to shift, you would have done it when you were a teenager.”

  “Oh.” That was too bad. As scary as the idea was, she wouldn’t have minded trying it.

  “Not much is known about half-breeds. They’re almost unheard of. Very rare.”

  That piqued her interest. “Why?”

  His eyes darkened, almost becoming black. A muscle in his jaw pulsed and his entire body tensed. “Because their packs almost always kill them.”

  Chapter Six

  Gray jumped off the bed and backed away from Louis. Oh God. She was so screwed. Louis remained seated on the bed. That had to be good, right? If he were going to kill her, he would have done it already, wouldn’t he?

  “You’re safe with me, Gray.”

  She tried not to melt into a puddle at the sound of his voice. It was pure liquid heat as it slid over her skin.

  She swallowed hard and tried to gauge his sincerity. He held his hands out in front of him as if trying to reassure her that he meant no harm. They were big hands, capable of snapping her neck quite easily. He couldn’t look harmless no matter what he did. There was a feral aura about him, an animal magnetism that was always present. There were also bloodstains on several of his fingers.

  “If I were going to kill you, you’d already be dead,” he added.

  Okay, not what she needed to hear even if it was the truth. He’d had plenty of time to get rid of her if that was his plan. He wouldn’t even have had to shift to human form to do it.

  What had possessed her to bring a wounded wolf home from the woods? Oh yeah, compassion. See what that had gotten her—a werewolf in her bedroom, a confrontation with local hunters and a visit from the local law. And, by the way, she was also partly werewolf. Her day was off to a stellar start.

  As always, Shadow was by her side. She could depend on him. He was the one constant in her life.

  “Why?” she asked. “Why do the packs kill half-breeds?”

  Louis sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face before raking his fingers through his shiny brown hair. “Ignorance. Just pure meanness. They don’t want to dilute the bloodlines.”

  Her stomach knotted. Well, she’d wanted to know. It wasn’t pretty, but she had to remember that a werewolf wasn’t a human. And humans had done plenty of killing over the course of civilization to preserve bloodlines. It wasn’t limited to werewolf culture.

  “Who raised you?” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs.

  The man was as naked as the day he was born, and he was talking with her as if they were having coffee at a local restaurant rather than him sitting nude on her bed. She motioned with her hand in the direction of his lap and his impressive erection
. “Do you mind?”

  He glanced down and then back up at her. A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “I don’t mind at all, chère, but I can see you do.” He tugged a corner of the blanket over his lap and she breathed a sigh of relief. His massive shoulders and rock-hard chest were still exposed, but it was better than it had been.

  Not that it was a hardship to look at him. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was the perfect male specimen. She itched to sketch him. Ultimately, she wanted to paint him.

  He patted the bed next to him, but she shook her head. “I think I’ll stay here.” She was just as afraid of herself as she was of him. She was attracted to him in a way she’d never been to a man before. She wanted to bury her nose in the curve of his neck and inhale his masculine earthy scent.

  Most men smelled wrong to her. It wasn’t just their cologne, which sometimes could be overpowering to her better-than-normal sense of smell. There was something about their natural scent that repelled her. She’d only had a few short-term relationships in her life and she hadn’t been overly upset when they’d ended.

  Now, she wondered if it was because she was a half-breed werewolf. And wasn’t it weird to be thinking such a thing?

  “Gray?”

  His voice brought her attention back to their conversation. What had he asked her about? Oh, yes, now she remembered. “My grandmother raised me after my mother was killed.”

  “What happened to her?” There was pity in his eyes. For her.

  She squared her shoulders. She didn’t need anyone feeling sorry for her. Things could have been much worse, but she’d had her grandmother to depend on. “Car accident. The police said it was probably a drunk driver, although no one was ever caught or charged.”

  Gray could still remember the fear she’d felt when the police had shown up at her school. She’d been expecting her mother. Instead, her entire world had collapsed. She’d spent several bewildering days in foster care until her grandmother had been located and contacted.

  “I’m so sorry, chère.”

  She dug her fingers into Shadow’s neck and held on. What she really wanted to do was collapse onto her knees and bury her face in the dog’s fur. There was genuine sympathy in his voice.

  “Yeah. Me too.” She needed a break from this conversation. “I want coffee. Do you want some?”

  “That would be great.” He hesitated, but only for a second. “You have anything to eat? Healing my injuries and shifting takes a lot of energy.”

  She could have kicked herself. The man had been shot and bled heavily. His body had actually rejected three bullets. He should be on his way to the emergency room and surgery, not sitting and talking with her as though nothing had happened. Dried blood and dirt stained his chest and one of his arms. Of course he was tired and hungry.

  Gray motioned to the bathroom. “Why don’t you get a shower? I’ll put on coffee and whip up something to eat.”

  “Thank you.” He stood and she backed toward the door. He might not mean her any harm, but she was still wary.

  “No problem. Towels and facecloths are on the shelf.” It was cowardly, but she turned and fled, needing a few minutes to compose herself.

  She went straight for the coffee pot and got a clean mug down from the cupboard. She couldn’t remember where she’d left hers earlier. The brew was slightly bitter, but she gulped it down. Her hand trembled and she gripped the mug with both hands.

  She should call someone and let them know what was going on just in case something happened to her. Only she didn’t have any really close friends and none of her acquaintances would believe her. No, she’d more likely end up in an emergency room being treated for a mental breakdown if she told anyone she had a werewolf in her house.

  The shower came on and she was forced to set the mug down before the contents spilled over everything. She moaned and dropped her forehead onto the cool countertop, barely resisting the urge to bang her head several times.

  No, no, no. Don’t think about Louis in the shower, wet and naked. All that prime flesh glistening under the spray. Definitely don’t think about the slick soap gliding across his skin.

  It was official. She’d lost her mind. She laughed. At herself and her situation.

  Shadow poked his nose beneath her arm and she lifted her head. “I’m all right,” she assured him. She wasn’t, but she’d fake it until she got there.

  “He’s hungry,” she reminded herself. Louis, not the dog, although Shadow could probably use a snack too. “Let’s see what I can whip up.”

  Eggs and toast were the quickest meal she could make. She didn’t have bacon, but she did have some sliced deli ham. She assembled everything she needed on the counter and began to crack eggs into a bowl. She remembered Louis’s size and decided to use the entire dozen eggs. She was going to need to do more shopping once he left.

  She stopped in mid-crack. Once he left. Louis was just passing through her life. He wasn’t a part of it. Her chest ached and it got hard to breathe. It felt as though something was squeezing her heart and lungs. It wasn’t sorrow. She wouldn’t let it be such a deep emotion.

  Egg white slid down her fingers and she swore under her breath and tossed the broken shell back into the cardboard egg tray. She went back to work cracking eggs until they were all in the bowl.

  “I’m fine,” she assured Shadow when he kept looking at her with dark, worried eyes. The dog gave a small whine of disagreement. “I have to be.” Meeting Louis was nothing more than an accident of circumstance, but it had served to teach her more about herself than she’d ever known. For that, she was grateful. She hoped he’d answer some of her questions before he left. It was enough.

  It would have to be, because it was all she had.

  She picked up the fork and began to vigorously whisk the eggs into a frothy liquid.

  Louis leaned his hands against the cool tiles, ducked his head and let the water flow over him. It felt good to be clean, to have the last remnants of the shooting washed away. The scars were still visible but would fade to almost nothing as time went on. He straightened and slicked the hair out of his face before glancing down at his erection. Damn thing still hadn’t gone away.

  He couldn’t hear Gray over the whoosh of the water, but he knew she was in the kitchen cooking something for him. It was all kinds of wrong to be thrilled by that fact. He liked the idea of eating something she’d prepared for him. His wolf growled in appreciation.

  He damn well couldn’t go into the kitchen looking like this. The only thing he had to wear was a towel or sheet, and the fabric was going to tent with his cock at full mast. He usually had more control over himself, but there was something about Gray that shot it all to hell.

  She was just so sweet and brave and hot as hell. His dick twitched. Oh yeah, her curly brown hair and her expressive blue eyes drew him in. Her full breasts and curvy hips made him sweat. It was a wonder the water wasn’t steaming as soon as it hit his skin.

  Louis cursed and grabbed the soap. It was Gray’s soap, the fresh, natural scent that coated her skin. His cock hardened even more.

  He lathered it between his hands before tossing it back on the shelf. He huffed out a breath and wrapped his fingers around his shaft. It felt so fucking good. Not nearly as good as it would to have her hands on him, but he could easily imagine it.

  He closed his eyes and gave himself over to the fantasy. It wasn’t his rough, callused hands on his cock but Gray’s smaller, softer ones. He groaned and pumped faster. His balls were trying to climb into his damn body they were pulled up so tight.

  Even better, he imagined her on her knees in front of him, naked, her full lips wrapped around the head of his cock as she sucked him deep. He snarled as his orgasm shot from the base of his shaft and out the top. His dick swelled in his hand. If he’d been inside her, he’d be locked in her wet heat.

  He slapped one ha
nd against the tile to keep from falling to his knees. That’s what he really wanted—to be buried as deep as he could get in Gray’s tempting body.

  He ignored the remnants of his release, letting the water wash it away as he continued to pump until he couldn’t take it anymore. Only when he was sure he was totally spent did he grab the soap and clean himself up once more. It wouldn’t do for him to forget that Gray most likely had an enhanced sense of smell. The last thing he needed was for her to scent his release on his body.

  Yeah, that totally wouldn’t be cool.

  He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower onto the mat. The towels were on the shelf and he grabbed one. He dragged it over his wet hair and then across his body before wrapping it around his waist. He shrugged. Nothing more he could do to make himself more presentable.

  She’d already seen him naked and stained with blood and dirt. This was a definitely improvement.

  He opened the bathroom door and silently padded down the hallway toward the kitchen. The delicious smell of eggs and ham tickled his nostrils. His stomach growled, a reminder that he was running on fumes. He ignored the weakness in his legs and chalked it up to jerking off in the shower instead of to blood loss and the efforts of healing.

  She didn’t turn around, but her shoulders tensed when he walked into the space. He hadn’t spoken, so she’d either heard him or scented him, maybe both. “Whatever you’re cooking smells good.”

  Gray turned slowly and ran her eyes over his body from head to toe. His cock stirred even though he’d just taken care of the damn thing. Louis stepped to the other side of the counter to hide his instant response to her. He didn’t want her more afraid of him than she already was. She was a woman alone with a man she didn’t really know.

  “Eggs, sliced ham and toast. It’s not much, but it’s quick and filling.” She pulled two slices of golden-brown bread from the toaster and began to butter it. “Have a seat.”