***
The wolf coming toward them wasn’t the cute puppy-like creature who had sniffed her in areas it ought not have been sniffing. It was a big, mean killer. Maple looked into the beast’s eyes, hoping to see some of the gentleness she’d seen there, but there was none. Even still, she’d rather be bitten by the wolf than taken to wherever the man was trying to drag her.
“You better let me go. That’s my wolf, and he’s going to rip you apart,” she said with as much conviction as she could muster, ignoring the pins and needles in her feet as the blood rushed back into them. At least he’d cut that rope off, even if he’d left her arms bound. All she needed to do was to get away from the enemy. Get her uncle and Emmet out, and then take them both to safety. Right. No problem at all. Panic threatened to overtake her, but she pushed it away. She could fall apart once they were safe.
“Your mate won’t let me live, even if I let you go now. No, you’re coming with me,” the man said, his voice a few octaves higher than it had been.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said, then with a war cry so loud it shook the rafters, she bent her knee and slammed her heel down onto his foot.
The man cursed and stumbled back, still fisting her hair. She cried out at the searing pain in her scalp, but it was worth it when he lost his grip on her torso, sending them both sprawling to the floor. Pain shot through her shoulder as she landed hard.
In an instant, the wolf was there. His teeth sank into the man’s calf as it dragged him back and away from her.
Needing to put some distance between them, Maple rolled to the wall before sitting herself up. The man transformed in a surreal display she never would have thought possible had she not seen it with her own eyes. Fur sprouted all over his body as his clothes ripped to shreds. One second he was a man, the next, a massive wolf. Too stunned, she stared as the two beasts circled one another, sizing each other up. If she had to put her money on one, she’d put it on her wolf. At least it didn’t hide behind women.
Near the door, Emmet had the older man subdued. Or maybe he was passed out. She couldn’t tell, and if she was being honest, she really didn’t care. He looked on, a relaxed expression on his face as the two wolves met in the air, teeth tearing through fur and flesh.
Maple staggered to her feet and stumbled to where her uncle still lay. Emmet met her there. With a couple of good tugs, he had her hands free and was kneeling on the floor to release her uncle. She shook her hands, trying to get feeling back in her fingers. The sounds of the fight filled the room, and she couldn’t help but look. Blood was everywhere.
The brown wolf who’d been her captor twisted in the air, trying to get away from the other’s wicked bite, but it wasn’t fast enough. With a growl that reverberated around them, her wolf pinned the brown one to the floor. It didn’t struggle long. Its movements stopped, and the light extinguished in its eyes.
“We have to get out of here,” she said in a hurried whisper as the wolf turned its attention on them. “It’s coming this way.”
Emmet looked at the wolf and grinned. “You have nothing to worry about with him.”
A moment later, the door to the Sugar Shack opened and Niko walked in and strode toward them. He looked at the wolf and kept walking as though nothing was out of the ordinary. “Is she hurt?” he asked Emmet.
“Nothing serious, but this guy needs medical attention,” he said. “Grab Jaxon’s clothes out of the truck so he’ll stop prowling like a caged beast.”
Niko sprinted out the door, coming back less than a minute later with some jeans and a shirt, which he tossed toward the wolf. “Here you go, boss.”
Maple’s heart pounded, and her lungs burned for air as she watched her wolf savior shudder. In a matter of seconds, his fur receded, and a whole lot of naked skin appeared. When the creature stood on two legs, Jaxon had taken its place.
She did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.
Nineteen
Jaxon pulled his jeans up, not taking his gaze off Maple except to drag the T-shirt over his head. Her eyes were wide, and she shook so hard he thought she’d pass out, but she didn’t. After her initial shock, and the scream that had brought Luca rushing into the building ready for battle, she stared at him, not saying a word. He almost wished she would, so he’d know where to go from there.
“Can you guys leave us for a minute?” he asked, still looking right at her, gauging her reaction to being alone with him.
“We’ll be right outside,” Niko said before closing the door behind him and Luca as they left. Emmet had already gone up the road to get cell reception to call for an ambulance.
Maple still knelt before her uncle, clasping his hand. He couldn’t tell if the man was conscious or pretending to be asleep. He really didn’t care.
“Maple—”
“I can’t do this right now,” she said, her voice cracking a little.
He should have talked to her. Told her what he was. She might have been scared and run back to New York, but it would have been better than the hurt shining in her eyes now. At least he could have followed her and eased her fears slowly. Made her see that they were meant for one another.
He reached over, needing to touch her, but she flinched and pulled back. “Don’t. I’m barely keeping myself together.”
Hanging his head, he stood and went to the door. “I’ll leave you alone for now, Maple, but we will talk.” She didn’t look at him and didn’t say a word. With a heavy sigh, he opened the door and stepped outside.
“How’s she doing?” Niko asked from a few feet away. Not surprising, Luca was nowhere to be found. He was probably patrolling to make sure no other surprises waited for them.
Jaxon grunted and shook his head. “She doesn’t want to have anything to do with me. I fucked up. Bad. She didn’t know I was a shifter.”
Niko nodded. “Well, she does now.”
A moment later, the door to the Sugar Shack whipped open, and Maple came rushing out, her eyes wide. “They said they were going after my grandmother. They said they wanted us all dead,” she practically screamed at him.
“Where is she, Maple? I need an address.”
Maple’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears. “She’s at the Golden Oasis Retirement Home in Scarsdale. Suite 2054.”
“On it,” Niko said as he whistled for his brother, a move he’d undoubtedly pay for later.
Off in the distance, sirens sounded, getting louder with each passing second. The moment Emmet brought his truck to a stop, the brothers hopped in, and Emmet jumped out. They exchanged a few words, then the brothers set off again.
When he looked down at Maple, the tears she’d tried so hard to hold back slid down her cheeks. She swiped at them with her fingers, sniffling softly. She may not want to talk to him, and she may be upset, but he’d be damned if he’d let her go through this alone.
Without giving her the opportunity to deny him, he pulled her into his arms and held her tight. She stayed stiff against him for several moments, but at least she didn’t try to get away. Then, with a shuddering sigh, she melted against him and her sobs broke free.
She didn’t lift her head when Emmet walked past, then again, taking the one shifter they’d left alive with him. Using the man’s own SUV, Emmet drove away, leaving them alone to wait for the ambulance.
He rocked with her, his hands stroking down the length of her back as she let the emotions she’d been holding free. He didn’t release her until the sirens stopped in the drive and the paramedics came bounding over the rough terrain with their stretcher.
Maple followed them inside, then out again, staying with them as they loaded it into the ambulance.
Helpless, Jaxon waited until they were done, hoping she’d give him some indication of what she needed. “Follow us to the hospital?” she asked, her expression guarded, when she finally met his gaze.
“Of course. I’ll be right behind you,” he said, a small measure of hope flickering to life.
S
he dug in her pocket and handed her keys over before disappearing into the ambulance without saying another word.
Fuck. Did she want him there, or was he delivering her car? Not that it mattered. He’d deal with whatever she threw his way as long as she didn’t shut him out completely.
***
The ride to the hospital was rough, and her uncle’s moans eventually subsided when he succumbed to unconsciousness again, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Even the paramedic taking care of him was happy to leave her in her own quiet hell.
Jaxon was a werewolf. A real life, living, breathing, fucking werewolf. Her grandfather hadn’t been trying to scare her from going into the woods all those years ago. She’d seen him shift right before her eyes. There was no evidence that was more concrete than that. And Emmet. He had to be a wolf, too.
Reality as she knew it tilted on its axis, and she felt like she was drowning. Her chest hurt from the labored breaths she couldn’t quite catch. Darkness swam in the edges of her vision.
“Here, breathe into this,” the paramedic said, handing her a paper bag.
She looked at him, suspicion making her heart pound. Was he one? She put the sac over her mouth and nose, trying to calm herself. She hadn’t had a panic attack in years. “Are you one of them?” she asked the man when she was finally able to take a breath without feeling faint again.
His eyes narrowed. “One of what?”
“A werewolf. Are you one?” The words sounded ridiculous, even to her own ears. When they got to the hospital, they’d lock her up in the psychiatric ward.
“No, I’m human,” the man said as he turned his attention back to her uncle. He didn’t seem fazed by her question.
“But they are real?”
He looked at her again. “Yes, but I suspect you already knew that.”
She nodded. “Are they all dangerous?”
“Are all humans dangerous?”
She wasn’t in the mood for games. “Just answer the question.”
“No, they’re not. If my hunch is right, the wolf following us would be happy to answer all your questions.”
Maple huffed. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to speak with that particular wolf, much less ask him anything.
Before she could ask anything else, they arrived at the hospital. She filled out forms and approved tests she had no clue how she’d manage to pay for, but she’d cross that bridge when she got to it. Her uncle was wheeled into surgery less than two hours after their arrival to repair some internal injuries and bleeding.
Jaxon had tried to stay with her. Going so far as to say that he’d keep to the other side of the room and not speak with her, but she couldn’t handle being around him yet. Too much had happened. She needed to get her head on straight before she spoke with him again. With a curt reply, she’d told him to leave, and so he had. Bone tired, she sat in the waiting room—alone—her eyelids too heavy to keep up.
Twenty
“Maple, wake up, baby,” a gentle voice called from next to her, a soft hand patting her knee.
Her jaw ached, and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep, but the pain in her neck jarred her to wakefulness. The second she opened her eyes, the waiting room came into focus, bringing to the surface the reason she’d been sleeping in a chair in the first place. Uncle Peter.
“There you are.” Grandma’s voice filtered through the haze of her drowsy mind.
“Grandma?” Maple whipped her head to the left, ignoring the pain of the sudden movement. Sure enough, there she was. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”
“That’s my son that just got out of surgery. Of course, I’m here. As for how, I hopped on a plane and got a ride from the airport. Your beau made all the arrangements.”
Maple nearly choked on her own spit. “I’m not sure he’s my beau at this point, but I’ll be sure to thank him when I see him next. Uncle Peter’s out of surgery? How’s he doing?”
“He’s fine, baby. It takes more than a beating to keep a Hudson down. The doctor came to tell me he’s in recovery, and he won’t be allowed company until morning. You might as well go home and get some sleep.”
Maple thought about the cabin, and the fact that Jaxon wouldn’t be there with her, and her heart squeezed tight. If she was being honest with herself, she felt a little bad for shutting him out and sending him away like she had. He’d lied to her. There was no getting around that, but she hadn’t let him explain, either.
“He’s waiting at the coffee shop across the street,” Grandma offered with a smile.
“I don’t know if I can deal with him right now.”
“Hog wash. You need to speak with that boy. He’s hurting as much as you are, you know.”
“He lied to me.”
Grandma nodded. “It’s a delicate balance between shifters and humans. Some people accept them, others don’t. Right now, you’re in the don’t category. I thought I’d raised you better than that—judging a man by something he has no control over.” Grandma tsked at her.
“It’s not that simple.”
“Love never is, baby. I can’t tell you how to live your life, and I can’t make you forgive him, but it would make this old woman’s heart happy if you would talk to him. Hear him out. He’s known a long time that you were the one for him, and he’s waited all these years for you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“No, you don’t. That’s partly my fault, but I’m too tired to get into it right now. It’s been a long day for this old gal. Go to him, Maple. Let him answer your questions. If you can’t forgive him at the end of it all, then so be it, but don’t let pride get in the way of your forever kind of love. You deserve that kind of happiness.”
The sadness that crept into her grandmother’s eyes each time she spoke of her late husband shone bright and fresh as the day he died. “That’s what you had with grandpa, isn’t it?” Maple already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it anyway.
“It is. And I want you to have it, too. Now, go. I want to be here when they allow us into the room in the morning, and I won’t be able to do that if I don’t get some rest. I’m too old to be traipsing all over the country like this.”
Maple leaned forward and hugged her grandmother. The manual wheelchair she was sitting in couldn’t be all that comfortable. “Where are you staying? I’ll help you get settled.”
Grandma shook her head, her purple-tinged grey hair bouncing. “I’m at the Regency down the road, and Jaxon has hired someone to help me out while I’m here. You have no more excuses. Go to him, baby.”
“But—”
“But nothing. I didn’t raise a coward. Get going,” she said, her voice as stern as it had been when she’d been a teenager.
Sighing, Maple stood, then bent over and gave her another hug. “You know, one of these days, I’m not going to let you boss me around anymore.”
“I know. Until then, get. And send Niko in for me, would you?”
Maple didn’t question. She left the waiting room, and sure enough, Niko stood there, waiting. “Grandma says she’s ready to go. Don’t let her talk you into doing anything other than bringing her to the Regency. She can sweet talk herself into all kinds of trouble.”
She didn’t wait for his reply. If she was going face Jaxon tonight, she had to do it now. Otherwise, she’d lose her nerve.
***
Jaxon’s heart skipped a beat when Maple finally exited the hospital and stood beneath the streetlight. With her shoulders drooping and the ever-present smile that usually graced her gorgeous face gone, she looked so tired. He wanted nothing more than to go to her and carry her away.
When he’d spoken to Mrs. Hudson, she’d assured him that Maple would come to him, but the defeated look ate at that certainty. She peered at the café, finding him easily in the spot he chose right by the window, before taking a deep breath and glancing away. It would serve him right if she marched in there, demanded her keys, and left him for good.
A
fter another moment, she squared her shoulders and crossed the street. She didn’t stop until she was standing next to his table. “I’m told we need to talk,” she said, her voice more than a little strained.
“I’d like it if we could,” he admitted, standing to pull out a chair for her. There was so much he needed to say, but he’d let her take the lead. “Can I get you a coffee? Something to eat?”
Maple looked down at the chair he’d readied for her. Her hand came up to her neck, and she kneaded the muscle there, a small grimace crossing her features, but she made no move to sit. What she needed was a hot bath and a comfortable bed, but here she was, having to deal with all this on top of the shit day she’d had.
“How far am I from home?” she finally asked.
“A little over a half hour.” If possible, she deflated a little more.
Her sad gaze met his head-on for the first time since she’d arrived. “You should have told me.”
He didn’t have to ask what she was talking about, and she was right. There was no denying it. “I know. I’m sorry.” If he could turn back time, he would, but he couldn’t. All he could do now was deal with the aftermath as well as possible.
“I’m so tired,” she admitted after another deep breath. “Can we get out of here?”
He threw some money on the table and was escorting her out the door moments later. Whatever she wanted, he’d do, as long as she didn’t shut him out. “Your car is in the hospital parking lot, but I’d be happy to drive you wherever you want to go.” Even if she refused, he’d follow her wherever she ended up going and make sure she got there safe.
“Thanks. I don’t think I can drive. How far is your place?” she asked a little timidly, as though uncertain of how he’d react to her request.
“Come on,” he told her as he led her to his truck a few parking spaces away. “I’m not far, and I promise, I’ll let you rest. You look dead on your feet. How is your uncle doing?”
He helped her into his vehicle, then with the seatbelt when her fingers fumbled with the latch. By the time he climbed in behind the steering wheel, her eyes were closed and she’d leaned up against the headrest.
Sassy Ever After: Northern Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Sugar Shack Book 1) Page 9