by Anne Conley
A low growl off to Kelli’s right interrupted her thoughts. Fear spiked in her throat, almost like bile. She didn’t think there were wolves out here, but anything was possible. Gerri’s words about the wolf pack from the city floated back to her, intensifying the fear.
She dropped the cake and started running. The fight or flight instinct kicked in, and she knew she couldn’t fight off wolves, didn’t have the first clue how.
Kelli ran like she’d never run before. Her breath came in ragged bursts—painful in her lungs—and a panic roiled through her at the idea she was out here, running blindly through a trail in the woods she now knew was full of creatures she hadn’t counted on.
A chorus of growls from the trees surrounded her.
Shit. There are more than I realized.
Eyes glowed in the distance in front of her, stopping Kelli in her tracks. Listening to the growls rumbling around her, she realized she was surrounded by wolves. One came stalking out of the darkness on her right. Was that the one she’d heard growling in the beginning?
It was a large, blond wolf, leggy, with scraggly hair. As she watched, horror stricken, the wolf changed to a man. There was a mushy crunching sound as hair melted into skin and bones rearranged themselves to reveal who it was.
Dan.
Shock took over, and Kelli’s knees gave out as her limbs turned to jelly while she tried to process what she’d just seen. She tried not to faint. Dan was a wolf.
From the city.
And she’d never even known.
Was he who Gerri had been speaking about? Kelli was utterly and completely speechless.
“Hi, Kelli.” His words were cold, calculating, and so unlike anything she’d ever heard come from his mouth, she couldn’t respond.
She was still breathing raggedly, trying to catch her breath from running so hard, but she managed to swallow and nod. Mute. A stitch in her side nearly doubled her over, but she couldn’t break eye contact with Dan. A wolf.
How had she not known? Feelings of stupidity flowed through her, followed by anger that he’d never told her.
“Surprise!” Dan’s mouth broke open into a wide smile, and Kelli managed to find her legs again and scrambled to her feet; she didn’t like the way he towered over her. It was useless, though, as she was surrounded by wolves. There was no way she was turning her back to danger. And she knew beyond a doubt she was in danger here.
“You’re a shifter,” she stated simply. Aware she was stating the obvious, she couldn’t help it. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Would it have made a difference?” he asked, and for the first time tonight, she saw the Dan she knew. He was honestly asking her if it would have made her love him instead of Chase.
She shrugged. “Not really, Dan.”
His mouth curled into a sneer at Kelli’s offhanded response. He made eye contact with one of the wolves behind her and snarling began to surround her as the wolves crept closer.
Her blood turned to ice water in her veins as she realized what was happening.
“Are you out here to kill me?”
Dan nodded, mute. Kelli held her breath as he tensed his naked body, his muscles coiling for an attack.
“Why?” she whispered, her fear not allowing her voice to be heard. But she wasn’t dying without knowing why.
“Because you were supposed to be mine. We were going to be married, and then we would come back, challenge the leader, and merge the communities.” Dan spread his hands wide in a gesture of compliance that belied his words. “Easy peasy.”
His offhandedness was disconcerting, to say the least, his words contradicting the menace behind them. A chill rolled across Kelli’s skin. She couldn’t believe she’d actually felt guilty for breaking off the engagement. She wished she’d done it differently—more yelling, something childish and immature to get back at him.
Not that it would change things, but maybe it would make her feel better before she died.
He apparently had a plan that didn’t really include her at this point. There wasn’t anything she could do to stop him from killing her and then killing Chase and his family to get what he wanted.
“Why me?”
Dan shrugged. “Our first date, you had pictures with that shifter all over your apartment, and I saw an opportunity. You can Google most anything these days, and when I found out you used to be in love with a shifter, it was too easy. I would marry you. We would come back. When he saw you happy with another shifter, he would be an easy target.”
“How did you know he was a shifter just by looking at a picture?” Kelli was confused. Still scared, but confused. If she would die tonight, at least she would die knowing why.
He pursed his lips in thought. The snarling behind her eased into low growls she tried desperately to ignore.
“Kelli, you didn’t make anything difficult. He was all you could talk about the first month we dated. Chase this, Chase that. He was the one that got away. I Googled him. His name is an old shifter name. It wasn’t hard to do the research. If he cared for you half as much as you said he did, then seeing you with a shifter when he’d given you up would bring him to his knees.” Dan’s hands spread in a gesture of complacency, he continued, as if they were talking about the weather. “Of course, in this backwards town, y’all don’t do anything the way you should and only foster all these outdated ideas. It would be easy to claim control.” He giggled; it was more than a little maniacal, sending a shudder through Kelli. He sighed, a loud, put-upon sound in the quiet forest surrounding them. “Of course, now, I’ll have to do things the hard way.”
The sound of snarling rose again as Dan shifted, the sounds of his bones snapping filling the air. Kelli watched, awestruck, as fur sprouted on his skin when his face elongated into the shape of an enormous wolf.
She had to do something or she would die. Without another thought, Kelli screamed for all she was worth—knowing her life was at an end—then she turned and ran.
As if they knew she was Dan’s kill, the other wolves backed out of her way, and the thudding of footsteps followed her. She was glad they’d had that little heart-to-heart; it gave her time to catch her breath. She would need it if she was going to get away from him.
But even as she ran for her life, she knew she wouldn’t be able to outrun him. Dan’s galloping footsteps were hot on her heels, loping along as if this were a game to him. Probably was.
She had never known Dan to have a mean streak in him, but then again, she apparently hadn’t really known Dan at all.
A stitch of sharp pain attacked her side, nearly doubling her over. But she kept going, while the wolf behind her let out a long, eerie howl.
She was so screwed.
A hidden tree root tripped her, and Kelli went sprawling with a yell. She rolled—wanting to at least see her attacker when she died—but just as Dan’s scraggly, dirty-blond scruff came barreling on top of her, a tawny streak of fur fell out of the tree they were under, rolling the wolf off her. Snarling yelps and growling screeches filled her ears as she watched, wide-eyed, while an enormous mountain lion dug its claws into Dan’s hide.
Blood poured out of long gashes down the wolf’s sides as he let out a howl of pain. Kelli’s heart leapt to know the cougar was Chase; he was rescuing her. There was a part of her that was disappointed she hadn’t been able to save herself, but the rational part of her mind knew she’d never be able to outrun a shifter, any shifter. But still, watching Chase and Dan battle it out in fur form had her heart firmly lodged in her throat.
She wanted Chase to win.
As soon as Kelli thought the words, the mountain lion snapped the wolf’s neck, rendering Dan a lifeless mass of fur. The enormous cat turned on the wolves who’d been watching and let off a primal scream, sending shivers racing across Kelli’s skin. It was a warning to the others, daring them to come closer. Kelli held her breath as she watched the wolves’ snarls turn to whimpers as, one by one, t
hey tucked their heads down and took off running in other directions.
Chase turned his amber eyes on her, softening from the predator to the protector. Padding over to her where she still cowered under the tree, he licked her hand, his tongue unbelievably rough and warm. She turned her hand over and sank it into his thick fur, which was coarse and soft at the same time, but underneath, it was hot.
The enormous feline nuzzled the crook of her neck, and she allowed it, trusting him completely. This was Chase. The same Chase who’d just snapped Dan’s neck, but the same Chase she’d lost her virginity to, who’d always been so tender with her, and whom she’d loved all these years.
“Oh God, Chase,” Kelli muttered into his fur, wrapping her arms around him. “Take me home with you.” The huge cat chuffed at her, licking her cheek, then turned away from her while she stood. The meaty, wet sound of his shift accompanied her as she dusted herself off and assessed herself for injuries. She’d missed it, again. But hopefully, she’d get more opportunities to see him shift.
“Are you hurt?” he asked her anxiously.
She shook her head. “Just shaken up.”
Chase embraced her and buried his head in her neck, like he had as the mountain lion. “That scared the hell out of me. I thought I was going to be too late.” He took her hand and led her off the path. “My house is about a mile away. Can you make it?”
Kelli nodded, feeling secure for the first time that night.
Chapter nine
At the beginning of the hike, Chase had been bleeding from deep bite marks on his back and arms, but as time went on, they’d stopped bleeding and the marks got less angry looking. The closer they got to their destination, the more Kelli’s adrenaline turned to anticipation. They didn’t talk much, and she tried to ignore the fact he was naked.
But it couldn’t be ignored. His broad shoulders, caked in dirt, were no less muscular. His long, lean legs were muddy up to the calves, but still strong, with light-colored hair covering them. His arms were ridiculous. Somewhere along the lines of adulthood, he’d grown a portable gun show, with his biceps and forearms nothing but ropey muscle.
Her mouth was dry as she desperately tried to focus on events of the night.
Chase had come to her house, announcing they could be together—like, together together—then he’d left when he found out she had a man there. She’d made Dan and his parents mad and then ran off to find Chase, where Dan had attacked her, his goal to make her dead. Chase had dropped in, killed Dan, and was now taking her home with him.
To be together with her.
“Are we going to … bond?” The lights of his house were in the distance, and Kelli knew the end was near.
He stopped. “Is that why you came?” Chase’s eyes bored into hers, the intensity scary. She bit her lip and nodded. The intensity spread into a wide grin, and he pulled her in close to him, all his hard ridges and planes feeling wonderful against her softness. “Then yes. After I shower, that’s what we’ll do.”
Grasping her hand in his, he continued walking, faster than before, and she giggled at his sudden hurry. Up until now, their pace was steady—fast, but not too taxing. Now that the intentions were clear on both their parts, she almost had to jog to keep up with him.
“Aren’t you tired? You just fought. You must need to recover,” she huffed, trying to catch her breath next to his long legs.
“Are you kidding me? There’s one thing that can help me recover from a fight better than rest.” With those words, he scooped her over his shoulder and started running toward his house.
**
Chase took the fastest shower of his life, knowing his mate waited for him on the other side of the door. He was quelling the questions running like wildfire through his mind. He’d realized her fiancé was a shifter when they’d been in her room together. That was why he’d thought things were hopeless. Surely he’d bonded with her already. Would that mess up the bonding for Chase? He growled at the thought, reminding himself it was an ex-fiancé, and a dead one at that. He knew in his heart she was his one true mate, but had he already fucked up by trying to force the bond with Angelica? Had Kelli done the same with Dan?
He wouldn’t know until he tried.
Chase barely toweled himself dry before walking into the bedroom, where Kelli sat on the bed, waiting for him.
“I’d like a shower, too, Chase. I’m all sweaty from running. I can smell myself,” she said quietly.
Disappointment flooded him at the thought of waiting another minute. “I love the way you smell, Kel. But if it’ll make you feel better, please hurry.” To emphasize his point, he planted a long, wet kiss on her mouth, one that left no mistake of his desires for her.
To his delight, she reacted the way she always did, by whimpering into his mouth and curling her fingers in his hair. But she broke the kiss.
“Rein it in, Tiger. I’ll be fast.”
“Panther. Not Tiger,” he muttered as she got up and went into the bathroom with a giggle. Whatever. He could wait. Lord knows he’d waited long enough. He could wait forever.
Chase listened to her shower, indulging himself in the fantasy of soapy water sluicing down her ripe, lush breasts, distended nipples begging for his touch. Lost in the image, he absently stroked himself, gripping his cock at the base and slowly dragging his fist up and down. He didn’t hear the water shut off, so lost in his fantasy of taking her in the shower, her legs wrapped around his hips as he pistoned in and out of her wet heat. He licked his lips, imagining her taste as the scene played out behind closed eyes.
“Now, that’s a picture …” Kelli mused as she walked over to him, putting a knee on the bed. She swatted his hand off his erection and grasped it, her soft hands so familiar and warm, he groaned and let his head fall back. It wasn’t what he’d had in mind for tonight, but he was finished thinking. His brain checked out as soon as she touched his cock. “How does all this work? We’ve had sex before.”
He tried to unscramble his brain but was having difficulty doing so with her touching him. So, with a sigh, he gripped her hand in his and stilled its movements. “What Tanner said, is that we have sex and both bite each other during it. If it’s a bonded mating, you’ll shift. That’s all I know. I didn’t ask for specifics. I just went to you. He said Gramma told him.” He shrugged helplessly. They’d had lots of sex before, but maybe they had been too young for it to work. “I think it’s weird Tanner and Gramma and that other woman all talked about sex around the dinner table with my parents.”
Kelli quirked a grin at him, and it sent a tickle fluttering inside Chase. His heart kicked into high gear as she crawled across the bed and straddled his hips. His hand automatically went around her waist. “It’s also weird talking about them in bed while we’re about to have sex.” Always one to point out the obvious.
Tangling his hand in her hair, he tugged her down to him. “So we going to do this, or what?” She giggled, and he swallowed the joyful noise with his mouth, turning the giggles to a moan that sent a shock of sensations to his balls. God, if he didn’t get inside this woman now, he was going to explode.
He forced himself to go slow, though. They’d always been so eager with each other, but now was different. They were grown now, and if he was making her his mate, he wanted it to be different than the frenzied, hard fucking they’d done in the past. He wanted it to be slow, pleasurable, memorable.
As his hands roamed her naked body straddling his, he marveled at the smooth skin over soft curves. Kelli had truly matured into a beautiful woman. With wide hips, soft thighs, and large breasts, she was every bit the woman he’d dreamt of while she’d been gone.
And now, she was his. For the first time, the surety of what he was doing overwhelmed him, and he had to stop kissing her just to breathe in her scent and make sure this was real. Yes. She was still musky, feminine Kelli, the earthiness of her arousal so strong he nearly wept with it. He gripped her hips and squeezed.
“This is your choice, Kel. I want you in control of this. You have the power here.” Always have. God, why didn’t he ever see it before? He could have saved them both so much heartache if he’d just realized his feelings for her were so much more than love.
With a wicked grin he’d missed so badly, she sank onto his cock, and the grin turned into something deeper, darker. Her brows furrowed, her jaw dropping as his length filled her, and his Kelli moaned out a feral, primitive sound.
Chase loved that sound.
Kelli buried him to the hilt inside her, and her warmth encased him with a pulsing need to claim her. As she adjusted to his size, he realized how tight she was.
“Did you fuck him?” He gritted out the words, not really wanting the answer but needing it nonetheless.
“Tiny pecker. Not like yours,” she groaned at him, swiveling her hips on him, causing him to gasp.
“That’s a wolf thing.” Chase clenched his teeth against the impending orgasm, willing it to bay.
“Are we going to talk about him?” Kelli raised herself until just the tip of him was inside her, then she tightened her muscles and slid back down. Chase nearly blacked out at the sensation.
“Nope. We’re done.” His hands at her hips were clenching so hard, he was afraid he’d leave bruises, so he busied them elsewhere, hoping to distract himself. With one hand, Chase reached up for her dusky, rose-colored nipple, distended from her perfect, large breasts, begging for a tweak from him. The other hand went to the clit peeking out at him from the hood covering it and circled the swollen nub.
“Oh!” Kelli cried out, as she began moving in earnest. Thank Christ, she was finished with the teasing. As much as he wanted to take his time with this, urgent need took over and he started thrusting into her just to listen to her noises each time she lowered herself.