He grabbed her and locked his arms around her. He was so warm she felt his heat seeping into her skin and she didn’t fight him. She didn’t want to fight him. To be honest, she knew she was fighting a losing battle. She just didn’t have the strength anymore. All she wanted was for him to hold her, just like he was. It was so comforting and Dae knew little comfort in her life.
She didn’t let people get close to her, especially not men.
And this is the last man she ever would have thought to let close to her but he was also the only one she wanted. Dae wanted him deep inside where so few had been and it scared her. It wasn’t just sexual, regardless of her body’s constant response to him, it was something more.
Something Dae couldn’t name.
Something she was afraid to try to name.
Dae wondered when she let him truly see her. She wondered how he knew that being held by him meant more to her than anything else at that moment. He turned her so she was facing him and rubbed her arms and back as she felt vibration of sound lightly rumbling against her cheek as she leaned on his chest.
Dae’s eyes were literally on fire but Dae didn’t care if she lost her sight forever at that moment. It was so peaceful there. Dae’s little pocket of happiness. Her pocket of safety. And she did feel safe.
Here there were no sick stalkers coming after her and Iya, no nightmares, no memories. It was just her and him. She didn’t realize she was crying until his rough masculine hand wiped her exposed cheek.
Horrified, she tried to pull back. Dae didn’t cry. Not anymore. But Koda wouldn’t let her go.
“It’s just me and you. There’s no one here but us. You don’t have to hide anymore.” he said in a gentle whisper and it was like the flood gates opened up and threatened to drown her. Dae sobbed tears she didn’t think she had. Her body shook with each desperate breath, the pain almost unbearable. Almost, only because here she was no longer alone with the pain she hid. It hurt but it couldn’t hurt her anymore when she was in his strong arms.
It was old pain, just memories of another life.
Dae cried for what seemed like days. She mumbled, growled, and screamed the pain she held in for so long. And it broke his heart when he understood how bad it really was. She didn’t explain but there were words he could almost make out. Her pain ate at him like a festering wound. Now he shared that with her, no longer just her pain but theirs. He would carry it with him as long as she did.
His magic and hers were combining their essences.
Combining their human and animal souls.
He got flickers of images as he rocked her. Her memories were distorted, fragmented to him but he saw how her life had been. He saw how they tried to break her. Both man and wolf promised retribution. His souls demanded vengeance. But now was not the time for vengeance on enemies’ past.
He and Dae had a long road to walk. She started trusting him with the pain. She let down her walls so he could come in to make a place for himself. This was her first step for their mating, even though she still had no idea about who they were to each other.
A mating was more than physical; it’s emotional and spiritual as well. By letting him see her true self, she was allowing their spirits to bond. To join both animal and human souls into one-half of a whole. She was giving him a gift though she didn’t realize it yet.
He could pursue her for years and if she never let him inside her they would never bond soul to soul. It would be crazy to deny the mate the Great Creator chose for them; very few had done this and no one in his 50 years. To deny your other half, someone made for just for you, your one chance at true love would be insane. And he didn’t have one doubt in his mind that his beauty would be just stubborn enough to do it because no one else would.
He could tell her everything now, he could explain it all to her in detail and she would do the exact opposite of what she felt and knew deep within herself. Not to mention he would have to explain her true nature to her as well. He was not looking forward to that. He knew he needed to tell her before she found out the hard way. He couldn’t imagine having his first shift with no knowledge of who he was, of his true natures.
But now was not the time.
Dae’s sobs calmed down as her body began to lean on his for more support. She weighed hardly anything at all so he picked her up with ease. She tensed but didn’t fight him; she clutched her hands around his neck wrapping her fingers in his hair.
She felt so good there in his arms, her body pressed close to his. Her presence soothed both man and wolf but when she allowed him to take care of her was when both of his souls knew peace.
He didn’t want to let her go, ever. He wanted her attached to him like this for the rest of his life. He would do anything to keep her. His life meant nothing without her. He knew he would never live in a world that didn’t have her in it. She was necessary like the air he breathed and the food he ate only she was that and so much more.
He brought her to his bed and attempted to lay her down. He placed her in the middle of his bed and tried to leave her to rest when she opened her sleepy eyes. She grabbed his arm and neck locking him to her body once more.
She released him an inch to look up at him, “You keep them away. It hurts less when you’re close.” Dae whispered eyes red from her tears.
She pulled him back tight against her. He was shocked; he didn’t think she would allow him to lie with her. Not yet, but there she was, showing him that he didn’t know his hand from his paw. It was so honest and innocent it made him want to scream.
He would kill anyone who ever thought to hurt her, he swore as she clutched him tighter. He couldn’t stop the menacing growl as it escaped at that thought but that didn’t faze his mate one bit.
“Shhh maim and murder later. Now keep me warm.” He would have laughed at her bossy order but he was so happy that all he did was pull her to his body as close as he could. She wiggled and burrowed closer until her cheek lay against his chest where his heart beat only for her. She made a content sigh as he rested his cheek against her hair.
He lay quiet smelling the unique scent that was Dae as she drifted to sleep.
She clutched him close like he would actually be stupid enough to leave her. Silly woman, how did she not know that he was hers already? He would never want to be anywhere else. She was home for him and if she let him hold her for the rest of their lives, he would know the ultimate happiness.
He prayed she would accept her real nature and his so they could be bonded for eternity. He didn’t want to be anywhere else for eternity other than wherever she was. And he knew he’d do anything he had to do to make her understand, to protect her, to have her, to keep her.
She was his just as much his as he was hers; she just didn’t know it yet. She would always be his. He vowed this on his life; she would not push him away or allow anyone to step between them. No matter who would be stupid enough to try, he would make them regret it. Mine.
Rain sat in the lobby downstairs debating what he should do. Koda was protecting a feral bitch. She had to be Cursed, one didn’t see many feral Tribe pups. Well, Rain didn’t ever see feral pups, period.
It had been so long ago that the Tribe used being feral as a way to keep the pups in line. He could still hear his mother telling him ‘You better behave Rain, or the feral’s will steal you away.’
Being feral had been likened to the boogeyman among his people. But her hands… Rain had never seen a pup or wolf able to manipulate the shift that way. He had to tell Alpha. If that pup was feral, she needed to be put down. And who ever was stupid enough to protect her could go with her, brother or no.
Twenty-four
He shouldn’t be worried about this, he thought as he paced in his room. After all, he had been doing this, working on this, for months. It was too late to have second thoughts. It was business, plain and simple. It shouldn’t be keeping him awake at night, or stopping him from hanging out with all those hot Phi Beta Kappa’s. Still, he paced in his room as
the music thumped from downstairs through the walls.
He should call, there was something about this new guy… but would Iya ever forgive him? He wasn’t sure. He should just stay out of this whole thing.
Mind his business.
He should have minded his business before those first guys propositioned him with getting information on Iya and that she-devil. But he needed the money so bad, he couldn’t tell his dad that he failed almost every class he took that year. His dad would kill him. This was the only way; at least he had a chance at passing this time around.
He asked himself, if this was so necessary, then why the hell did he feel so bad? He didn’t know. Well, if he didn’t take the guys up on their offer, then somebody else would have. At least he knew the info was being passed back and forth to these guys. It was little things, like where they liked to go, class schedules, who they were friends with. So it wasn’t that bad, right?
Maybe it was how weird this new guy was that had him nervous. The questions he asked were strange. Who was he kidding? The whole thing was strange and wrong; he should have never done it in the first place.
The question was now that he did it, what did he do from there on out?
For the hundredth time, he opened his phone, scrolled down his phone book and snapped it shut before he got to her number. He shook himself.
To call, or not to call? Dammit he really wished he hadn’t failed Shakespeare in high school.
Dae was sitting on the sofa reading from her old psychology textbook. Dae had dropped this class, she remembered because Iya lost interest in the professor…
Dae was watching herself ignore Koda from across the room like the scene was a movie. Strange. Koda was staring at her so hard her clothes should have ran away screaming from her body in fear.
Oh, Dae had to be dreaming of last Thursday. Dae vaguely wondered why she would be dreaming about this day.
Koda was being exceptionally annoying with the questions when Iya wasn’t around. While Iya was in the shower he had questioned her about her healing and she had teased him. Oh, had she teased him…
“You heal fast.” Koda said abruptly. He had been forcing Dae to acknowledge his presence all the time. As much as she denied liking it, she secretly waited for it.
“So it seems, Observation Man.”
“Do you ever wonder why that is?” He started to sound annoyed.
“Nope.” Dae said nonchalance.
“Not at all?” He said it like he didn’t believe her, like all Dae did was wonder why she was the way she was. Dae didn’t have that kind of time.
“No. Do you?” She questioned.
“Do I what?”
“Do you wonder why you heal so fast?” Dae clarified.
“No.” The truth. Dae scented no lie.
“Hmm, then it’s not important why I do, is it?”
“Well don’t you think it’s strange?”
“Why would it be strange?” Dae continued to pretend to read her textbook.
“Are you going to answer every question with a question?”
“Are you going to clarify each question so I can understand exactly what you’re asking?”
“Fine.” he said through gritted teeth. He growled as he continued, “Do you find it strange that you heal faster than any other person?”
Dae remembered thinking it was cute. She didn’t admit it to herself then.
She shrugged. “It’s all I’ve ever known. Who cares about other people?”
“You don’t find it strange that there’s no one you know who has the same ability to heal as fast as you do?” He sounded incredulous. Dae wondered if somehow she represented herself as someone who cared about other people.
“I didn’t say that.”
“What do mean?” He sounded so frustrated. It made Dae want to smile.
“I said I didn’t care about other people, not that there were no other people.” She kept reading her textbook like it held all the answers in the world to life as he waited most impatiently for her to continue.
“So you know others who heal like you?” Dae scented his irritation and hated herself for liking it.
“Yes.”
“Who? Your family?”
“Quite possibly. I am an orphan.”
“You don’t know if they’re family?”
Dae sighed in mock-exasperation. “I’m not sure if he’s family. He could be, we both look Native American and he can heal as fast if not faster than me.” Koda was growling like a rabid dog by the time she finished that statement. Dae felt so proud.
“Who!”
“Well he’s really strange; I mean this guy does the weirdest–”
“WHO?” His growl became 1000 times more menacing. She dropped the text book, and was on her feet with her hands at her hips. She narrowed her eyes to make it look really believable.
“I am not going to tell you if you can’t act like a person and not some damned rabid beast! Did you really just growl at me twice?”
He snarled back at her and Dae’s smile almost slipped through. Her hands flew off her hips and slid through her long hair, trying to feign that frustrated hair pull Iya always did when she pissed her off.
“I can’t even talk to you when you’re like this–”
Something that could have been a snarling howl filled the room.
Dae looked him in right in his eyes hoping he couldn’t see the amusement in hers. Dae was a second away from laughing in his face.
“You.” Dae spat at him entirely amused at her game.
“Me?” he questioned looking shocked.
“Yes, you.”
“I said family.” he said like he didn’t get the punch line of the joke.
“Yes Sasquatch. You’re the only other person I know of that can heal quickly and since were both clearly Native American and I have no parents, it stands to reason we’re related.”
Dae was overjoyed at the anger she saw in his face. Score, she thought seconds away from doing her touchdown dance. The rest of that conversation continued to amuse her greatly.
“We are not related.” he growled.
“Oh, yes we are cousin Sasquatch, you’re like me and I’m like you–”
“We. Are. Not. Related.” he stated again emphasizing each word like she was a 2 year old.
“Oh come on now, we could be brother and sister! Look at us–”
He jumped in front of Dae so fast she was shocked as he snarled, “We are not related. I do not feel this way about anyone I am related to, nor would I ever. So stop this right now!”
Like clockwork, Iya came out of the bathroom, forcing Koda to get out of her space.
Gods, was she really that bitchy? Remembering that made her feel guilty.
D’nile was a very scary place. Dae would stay in America from now on.
The scene faded out and slowly awareness dawned. Dae woke up surrounded by Koda’s scent. Dae rubbed her nose into the pillow she laid on wondering why this pillow felt so funny. It was hard and warm; not uncomfortable though. The case was bunched up around her face, so Dae tried to smooth it out by rubbing her face against it.
She felt and heard Koda laugh. “You’re tickling me.”
Dae opened her eyes and saw that she was nuzzling his ribcage. Oh, right. He was such a big beast compared to her, she should have been happy she wasn’t rubbing her face on other areas. It would have been awkward had she awoke, rubbing her face on his ass. Dae couldn’t help laughing.
Koda grinned in amusement. “What’s so funny?”
Dae shook her head. She wasn’t telling him.
“Tell me.” Koda pulled her whole body up so that she lay across his chest. God’s, why did this man make her feel like a ragdoll all the time?
Dae propped her chin to rest on her hand across his chest. She had an excellent view of his smiling face. He had a smile that made her melt. She slid her other hand to his side wondering why this didn’t feel awkward at all.
“Nothing.” Dae said
amusement lighting her liquid gold eyes. Koda couldn’t feel any apprehension or fear from her. Just contentment. He relaxed; this was another of those steps she needed to take. He still felt her. She wasn’t closed off to him like before.
Koda smiled. “It’s something. Tell me.”
Dae looked around the room mischievously and Koda started to feel like a fly in the spider’s web. Dae noticed.
“Are you always going to be wary of me?”
“Depends, are you always going to be so devious?”
Dae couldn’t help the smile that escaped. “Touché.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Dae bit her lip lightly; she knew she was caught –just like she planned.
“I was just wondering where else you were ticklish.”
The look on Dae’s face made him wish he didn’t step off that cliff so enthusiastically.
Dae grinned as she began the tickle fight. For such a monstrous beast, Koda was very agile but then again so was she. Koda was twisting and turning trying to get away from Dae’s tickle assault. Dae discovered Koda was ticklish under his arms, his ribs, on his hip bones before the sneaky beast turned the game around on her.
Who the hell knew Dae she was ticklish?
It seemed like Koda figured out every single spot in seconds. Dae flipped and twisted trying to get away, but he used his size to gain leverage on her. The floor, the bed and the dressers all became the battlefield as Koda tried to capture Dae.
Sooner than she could think, he had her pinned on his bed with her arms above her head and her legs tangled in the sheets so tightly she couldn’t move them to flip him over. He sat across her bound legs and Dae had no choice but to concede, that was as soon as she could stop laughing. Dae laughed more in their brief tickle war than she laughed in her whole life.
It felt good. Dae really didn’t want to be anywhere else. It was a strange feeling; Dae was happy, deep inside where she was never before.
Koda was grinning as he wagged his eyebrows like Groucho Marks. Koda felt it, deep inside, he felt her happiness. He gazed deep in her eyes and released her arms. He wanted to kiss her but he didn’t want to startle her into a panic.
Lost & Found (A Lost Ones Novel Book 1) Page 29