by Jenna Leigh
“Yes, damn it, I’m the throwback! What are you going to do about it, Elaine?” David roared, his eyes glowing in the moonlight.
A lesser woman would have probably fainted. As it was, all the males took a step back. However, Lainie finally concluded that her whole life had been one big lie. Someone was going to pay and a strip off David’s ass was just the beginning.
Her voice was flat and quiet after the echoes died down. “I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do. I’ll get a shotgun and fill your ass full of buckshot, that’s what!” She stepped up to stand toe–to-toe—well, not that close, there were bits in the way—with him. “And for God’s sake, put some clothes on, that’s just so wrong on so many levels that it ain’t funny.”
“Young lady.”
“Oh, don’t young lady me, David Lyingshit. When I had those bad dreams about those—” she pointed at Ben and he flinched, “—things, you said I was just imagining it all.” She punctuated each word with a poke to his chest. “You. Lied. To. Me.”
“Get me some damn clothes.” David’s voice was soft and calm. One of the others threw him a pair of shorts. “Honey, I want you to calm down.” He put the shorts on and reached out to touch her but thought better of it.
“Shut up. I hate you.” She turned and wrapped her arms around middle. “I thought you were my friend and all you wanted to do was damage control.” The tears that had been threatening fell in earnest now. She picked up the hem of her ruined dress and wiped her eyes.
“Yeah.” He put his hand on her shoulder and ignored her attempts to slap it away. “You know I love you.” He pulled her into his arms.
She resisted at first then gave in with a watery sob.
“At first it was just to make sure you didn’t remember, but then you happened.” The smile was evident in his voice. “Sweet little Elaine. God, I’m so sorry, if I could change it, I would. But I did what I thought was best to give you a normal life.”
“Normal how? I have bad dreams, David. Really dark and scary ones. I had some freak tear up my bed and all my underwear. That isn’t normal.” She sniffed back the tears. “How did you do it?”
“Do what?” His casual tone didn’t fool her one bit.
“Make me not realize what you and these dickheads really were? And just what in the hell are you?”
“Hey.” Jordan took offense at the dickheads comment.
David sighed, a big gusty one filled with regret. “It’s a long story.”
“I’ll make time.” The stubborn tilt of her chin made him rub his face wearily.
“Fine, but we’ll do it after we get you and Marcus safely to the house.” David gave her a long look. “I guess it’s past time anyway. I tried to hold off as long as possible.”
“Marcus!” She put her hands to her mouth. “He’s been shot! What if he’s dead?” She turned to head back the way she’d come.
And then he stepped into the moonlight. He was taller, broader and way more hairy. His nostrils flared and he lifted his lips in a snarl that made her tremble with the urge to fall to her knees. The others all backed away, their heads bowed before the glowing yellow gaze that landed on each one in turn. An instinctual part of her recognized that he was the leader yet another part of her rebelled at the very idea of bowing down to anyone. He’d lied to her, this whole time. He’d hidden a very important fact. He was a big, fat, lying werewolf!
“Stay away from me,” she snarled and stalked away from them all.
He jerked her off her feet and held her against his hard, furry chest. “You can’t leave, Lainie.” His voice was different, low and deep, guttural.
She steeled herself to show no emotion, especially not fear. “Let me go.”
“Never.” He sounded like he meant it, too.
Marcus’s arms cut off her air. She wiggled, but he ignored her, simply turning back to face the others with her hanging over his wrist like some freaky oversized charm bracelet.
David stepped forward and tipped her chin up so he could stare into her eyes. “Okohke.”
That one word made her whole world narrow down to a small point of light. She floated, with nothing to anchor her to reality. Then, Marcus shifted her in his arms, jostling her back to awareness
The crack in the dam holding back her memories got another fissure. She kept still, limp in Marcus’s arms. They spoke as if she wasn’t there, which was fine in her book. With an effort, she kept her breathing even and slow.
“Damn it. Why did this shit have to happen?” Marcus hefted her up and put one arm beneath her knees. Her head lolled back until he placed it on his shoulder with a tenderness that made her chest ache. “What were you doing out here anyway?”
Jordan answered with his usual sarcasm. “What the fuck do you think? It’s wabbit season.”
“Now she knows.” He sighed and sat on a nearby rock with his burden still draped over his lap. He stroked his fingers down her cheek, unaware of the cauldron bubbling inside her mind.
From deep within, things began to shine through the cracks. It was as if a wall had blocked out the memories of things she shouldn’t have heard or seen. David and Joanna had done what they thought was best, but in the long run, it was all for nothing.
She took a deep breath and the fissures widened. Another breath and parts crumbled. The first thing that came through was the smells. Antiseptic, steel and wet fur. Fur? Why not, she thought with a mental shrug. Apparently, she’d been around these Wolfkin things before.
No, there was something else. Bright lights, and being restrained. She’d felt fuzzy, drugged by someone, who? Then the images slammed into her so hard she caught her breath.
Samuel Bei swept into the room and smiled benignly down at the tiny girl who lay in a dazed stupor on the table. “Elaine?” He tapped her cheek. She forced her eyes open and squinted in the glare. All she saw were blurred shapes.
“Give her the serum. I’ll be back in an hour after it’s finished going through her system.” His voice was soft and controlled, soothing. He’d been very nice to her ever since he’d rescued her on the night of the fire. She’d been five; he’d bought her a teddy bear and some dolls. She liked him.
As he was leaving, he told the nurse, “No one is to come into this room but me, is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
There was the rattling of metal and then a sharp sting in her arm. The woman soothed her when she cried out. “You’re a lucky girl. The Lupin has chosen you for his future bride.”
Her skin went hot and tingled for a few minutes. She squirmed but couldn’t move. Her arms and legs held by leather restraints. She was on a stretcher like the ones at hospitals. Was she sick?
Her eyes drifted shut again, and the next thing she recalled was a crash. She opened her eyes and screamed.
A big bear stood in the room. She made strangled noises, and her eyes rolled back in her head when he walked up to the table and sniffed her neck. He didn’t hurt her though, but that may be because the people that Samuel said kept her safe came into the room and fought with him until he chased them out with a deafening roar.
She struggled to get free again; her wrists were rubbed raw by the time she gave up and started to cry. She was just too little. She didn’t like being little, but Samuel said she’d be big one day. Where was he?
“Hey.” A voice interrupted her fretful thoughts. “Don’t cry.”
She turned her head and saw him. She felt strange. Her ears began to ring. He didn’t look much older than her. His hair was black, and his dark eyes were slightly tilted at the corners. He looked familiar, but she wasn’t sure who he reminded her of. However, she instinctively trusted him not to hurt her.
An explosion boomed in another wing of the lab. She flinched and so did he. “Let’s get out of here.”
She tugged on the restraints and shook her head.
He grimaced before he simply tore the restraints off with astonishing ease. “My name’s Marcus.” That was a nice name. Another wave of some
thing hit her right between the eyes. She felt sick at her tummy.
Then her vision cleared and she looked at him a little more closely. He wore a flannel shirt unbuttoned over a T-shirt and a pair of old faded jeans. His shoes were scuffed, and his clothes shabby, but he was the best-looking Prince Charming she could have conjured up in her childish imagination.
“I’m Lainie,” she told him, and then flushed when the sheet started to slip. She made a grab for it, but his hand was there before hers, catching it. He took off his own shirt and handed it to her, helping her button it when her fingers shook too badly to do it herself.
“Lainie, we gotta get outta here. They’ll be back soon.” He held out his hand and she took it, and another jolt of something slid into her brain.
“Marcus,” she tried out the name, rolling it around in her mouth.
“Yeah?” He lifted a brow and tugged on her hand. When she didn’t comply, he simply picked her up in his arms and started out of the room. Smoke billowed down the hall making her cough. Yells and screams came from far off, followed by a loud roar that shook the very foundations.
Marcus looked around, spied a likely door and slid inside, locking it behind them. “We’ll hide here for a few minutes then get out when it’s clear.” Here was a large bathroom with chrome stalls that shone so brightly under the lights that it made her head throb.
“I have to um, go.” She shifted from one foot to another. She’d had to go for a while.
“Well, go then.”
“You have to turn around. And run the water so you can’t hear.” She lifted her chin and glared at him.
“What?” He curled his lip in a disdainful sneer. “God, you’re such a sissy.”
“I’m not going unless you do.” She folded her arms and waited him out.
With a gusty sigh, he twisted one of the faucets on full blast and turned his back. “Hurry up, we don’t have all night.”
The sound of her bare feet slapping on the tile was loud even under the cover of the water. But she finally got finished and came out.
He turned around in time to catch her washing her hands. “We don’t have time for that. Come on!”
“I have to wash my hands.” She gave him a disgusted look. “Boys are gross.”
“A boy got you loose, didn’t he?”
“I was perfectly safe until the bear showed up. What is a bear doing here anyway? Do you think it will come back and eat us?” She paused and looked at the door. It now seemed very flimsy.
“No, the bear won’t eat us. I won’t let him. It’s going to be okay, I promise.” He seemed very brave.
She smiled at him, her ire of a minute ago forgotten.
He blinked once then shook his head. “Come on.” He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her along behind him as he opened the door and peered out into the hall.
The images from the past began to flow through her head much faster. She caught glimpses of herself and of Marcus at various ages, then David and Joanna and finally, Samuel. He had chased her through the woods in wolf form, and then sent the Wolfkin when she was a teenager. She’d gone parking with a boyfriend on an old dirt road. That night and the memory of the roars still made her cringe.
“Lainie?” Marcus’s voice cut through the darkness like a beam of light.
“What?” She refused to open her eyes. She didn’t want to see the man of her dreams looking like the monster in her nightmares.
“Come on, it’s time to go home. There’s a truck here.” He shook her and she finally relented, opening her eyes to find him back in human form.
She frowned, her brow furrowed in confusion. How long had she been out and what did she miss? The rocky landscape was deserted, with the others having long since left. Only Mick remained, sitting behind the wheel of an old Ford pickup that had seen better days.
Marcus stood before her with his hand out, waiting for her to take it. Was he going to act like tonight never happened? Did he think she didn’t remember?
“What happened?” She asked, deciding to give him a chance to tell her. She took his hand, but when she started to take a step her heel hit the ground and she winced.
“Your foot.” Marcus immediately swept her up. She noticed he was only wearing the tuxedo pants. They weren’t torn so she assumed he’d taken them off before shifting into that Wolfkin thing. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.” He repeated the words he’d said to her so long ago. The voice was deeper now, overlaying the youthful hero he’d once been to her. She closed her eyes and saw them superimposed onto each other, the boy and the man. But now she knew it was a lie. It was never going to be okay again.
Chapter Twenty-two
Marcus wondered what the hell to do. She might or might not remember anything about tonight’s fiasco. If she didn’t, then he was home free, unless he counted the guilt of keeping her in the dark. And he felt it eating at him so much that he hurt. He rode in silence, well aware that Mick kept giving him nervous glances. At this point, he would usually reassure the other man that he’d done nothing wrong and he wasn’t mad at him. Nobody would be killed or at the least disemboweled tonight. Unless you counted Marcus—if Lainie did remember, she may try to kill him. What if the hypnosis didn’t take this time? Marcus took his hand off her thigh and rubbed his face wearily.
“Lupin?”
“Yeah, Mick?”
“Am I in trouble?”
It took a lot for the younger man to ask him this, and he knew it. So, he reached way down inside and found that spark that made him the leader. “No.” He got a sigh of relief in return that made him recall just how bad it had been under his father’s rule. That Samuel was a sadistic bastard was no great secret.
Marcus wasn’t, and some thought it made him weak. He didn’t agree, and when needed, he got physical enough to prove his strength. Most of the pack knew he led with his head and heart, not his fists, teeth and claws. But, when push came to shove, he shoved back.
Lainie moaned, turning his attention back to her just as they made it through the gates to his home. His house was a sanctuary and he aimed to keep it that way, for both of them. He only hoped it didn’t become her prison. Because if she did remember, there was no way in hell he could let her leave.
Her eyes flickered open, then shut quickly in the glare of the portico lights. He knew she was playing possum, and he let her. It allowed him to put off the inevitable confrontation he knew had to come.
Mick stopped the truck and hurried to open the door for them.
“I mean it,” Marcus reassured him.
“Yes, sir, I’m sorry.” Mick’s head went down and he whined softly. “They were just there.” He straightened. “But, sir, Ms. Westerbrook is a fighter. She’ll make you a good mate.”
“I think so, too.” With that, Marcus turned and went inside, giving Allen a tired promise to tell him all about it in the morning. He made his way up the stairs with the limp bundle in his arms. Her breathing was slow and steady, but her heartbeat told another story altogether as it thundered rapidly in his ears. The scent of her fear almost choked him, and the minute trembling of her body made him want to howl and smash things. All of this added up to one conclusion. She knew.
His long-legged stride made short work of the distance and soon he was in their bedroom. He smiled wryly at the telling pronoun. When had it become theirs and not his? He kicked the door shut and placed her in the center of the bed where she lay perfectly still in all her tattered finery like Sleeping Beauty. “Wake up and face the music, darlin’.”
For a long moment, she didn’t move. He frowned and leaned over her, intending to check her pulse. Maybe she was really sick. Right as he reached out to put his fingers on her neck, her eyes flew open and she screamed.
Lainie slithered across the bed, falling off the other side with a thump. “Son of a bitch. This has got to be the worse night of my entire life.”
“Elaine?” His voice sounded right above her head.
She slowly looked
up to meet his worried gaze.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she grumbled, twitching her filthy, torn skirt back over her thighs. It was unfair that he could look so damn normal. And don’t forget hot as hell too, the bastard.
“Can you get up, or do you need help?” He reached down as he spoke but she drew away from his touch. He looked hurt before his expression became remote and cold. “I see.”
“Do you really? Well, that’s nice for you, because I don’t see at all!”
“What do you remember, Lainie?”
She stood, wincing when the wound on her heel reminded her of its presence. She ignored it so she could glare down at him.
He lay on his side with his head propped up on one hand, staring at her with those warm brown eyes. He scratched his bare stomach, bringing her attention to his abs, which were distracting her from her purpose.
What the hell was the matter with her? She took a deep breath, thinking it would help. It didn’t, because the wild, rich scent of sand and spice filled her nostrils. His scent.
She bit back a whimper of need and shook her head to clear it. Her skin heated and her limbs grew heavy. Moisture pooled between her legs, and she clenched her thighs together to stop the tingling sensation. Her eyes went wide then narrowed when she noticed the look on his face.
His nostrils flared and his eyes were bright gold. The word that came to mind when she looked at him was feral. He smiled at her and licked his lips reminding her of the other places he’d licked just this afternoon.
She moaned then caught herself. She refused let her body’s reaction to his rule her. No matter how tempting he was, she would not succumb. “Oh, maybe, I don’t know, the fact that you had fur and big pointed ears?” She put her hands on her hips, and swore she heard him snort. “Or could it have been the fangs and claws, and if you think I’m ever gonna forget I saw David naked, you’ve gone and lost your rabbit-assed mind!” Her voice rose and he winced.