“So I came here, intending to re-enter the caves once the archaeologists were done and claim my own territory in the forest – the last surviving member of the Lowe pack. Having that kind of a legacy attached to my name – even as a rogue – would’ve been enough to help me re-establish some of my old family lands. I thought I might’ve been able to attract some other rogues to the area, and together we could form a new pack.
“But another wolf got here first – my cousin, Luke, although I didn’t know that at the time. I thought he was just a rogue wolf looking to take advantage of the Lowe name attached to the caves. It turned out, Luke’s father, Walter Lowe, had been overlooked when the village brutally murdered our family. He and I defeated another wolf that was bugging his mate, Anna, and together we established boundaries of our own pack – the Lowe pack, version 2.0. So far it’s just the two of us in the whole of the Crookshollow forest. But Anna’s pregnant, and we’re open to other recruits.”
“Right, fine. So I’ve got your entire family history. But that doesn’t explain why your stepbrothers are here.”
“The truth is, I don’t know the answer to that yet. My guess is, Douglas has heard about the Lowe pack by now. He either wants me to come back to Scotland, or, more likely, he can’t bear the insult of having me establish another pack, and wants to fight me to the death.”
“And me?”
I nodded. “That’s my fault. I’ve put you in the middle of this. They saw me with you, and now they think they can use you to force my hand. I won’t let them do it. I’ll protect you.”
“This is nuts. I didn’t ask for this.” Rosa set her cup down. Her hands gripped the side of the bench so tight her knuckles turned white.
“No, you didn’t.” I flashed her my grin. “Look at it this way. It’ll give you lots of fodder for that novel.”
“I already have quite enough inspiration, thank you.”
“I bet Hemingway wished he was targeted by vengeful werewolves.”
“Hemingway blew his brains out,” Rosa said. “I don’t really want to make him a role model.”
“Right.”
“He’s also white, and a man. You could pick a different writer. Or do you only read books written by old, white men?”
Whoah. Where did that come from? “It was just an example. Look, I don’t really want to argue about writers with you through the window, especially since that’s not the pressing issue here, and you’re a writer so I am totally going to lose. And I really hate losing. Can I come in now?”
“No.”
“It’s going to be difficult to keep you safe if I’m stuck out here. Not impossible, just more difficult.” I flexed my arm muscles. “I’m up for the challenge.”
Rosa gave me an odd look. “You’re really going to sit out there all night and keep watch?”
I pulled out the chair at the porch table and sat down, wrapping the duvet around my shoulders. “Yup.”
Her eyes softened. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, and moved toward the door. I stood up, letting the duvet drop to the floor. She’s going to let me in. She’s decided to trust me. I’m finally making some progress with this girl. I’m finally—
Rosa opened the door a crack. I took a step toward her, but she shoved something out to me. A cold cheese-and-onion sandwich.
“Enjoy your dinner,” she said, and slammed the door shut again.
5
Rosa
True to his word, Caleb stayed outside the door, keeping guard all night long.
I knew this because I did not sleep for the entire night. I spent a couple of hours in front of my computer, agonising over the first three sentences of my novel and trying to pretend I wasn’t sneaking a look outside at him every few minutes.
The first time I looked out at him, I noticed he’d transformed into his wolf. I guessed his fur – the beautiful grey pelt with a line of fiery red fur along his back – was warmer than the duvet.
Each time I glanced over, there was his grey body with the flash of red, turned away from the window, the ears pricked back, eyes alert for movement in the night.
I couldn’t work with him sitting out there staring like that. I shut down the computer, went to the bathroom (where Caleb sat outside the door. It took me twenty minutes just to do my business because I was trying so hard not to make any noise he could hear). I came back into the cabin and went to bed, where I tossed and turned for hours, my mind whirring over everything Caleb had told me.
I met a werewolf. An actual werewolf. He rescued me from two other werewolves who were trying to kidnap me in order to force him to do something he doesn’t even know what yet, for some shapeshifter gang that’s apparently been operating for years without ever hitting the news.
Now this selfsame werewolf was outside my door, standing guard like a watchdog … wait, that was probably the wrong analogy.
And the reason these wolves were after me was because I was a mate. I had wolfish genes. I almost wasn’t surprised. My mother always said I had a wild streak.
If only she knew.
Actually, did she know? Did my mother have these genes, too? I’d never met my father. She’d told me he was a vacuum cleaner salesman she’d met in the bar she worked at, and he’d been charming, but forgettable, but was that a lie? Could he be a werewolf, too? I mean, vacuum cleaner salesman? Really?
Don’t think about it. Go to sleep.
But I couldn’t. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw those two wolves circling me, their teeth bared, their bodies poised to attack. My heart pounded in my chest, and my eyes flew open again, checking every corner of the room for glowing eyes.
My gaze fell on Caleb’s sleek, wolfish visage – a silhouette in the moonlight, just visible through the kitchen window. Just seeing him there made my heart beat faster, but in a good way. My personal protector. It was kind of cool, actually.
I can’t believe you just thought that. This is a serious situation. You are literally the female lead in a horror film right now. And you may have the sexy werewolf guarding the door right now, but all he needs is for the baddies to feed him a poisoned donut and then you’re really in trouble.
You wanted something different from Old Garsmouth. Well, you got it.
My gaze fluttered across to the window again. Caleb stalked along the front porch, on a circuit of the cabin, then sat down in front of the window again, his long tongue panting against his teeth. As beautiful as his wolf form was, I kept remembering the taut muscles of human Caleb as he slammed into his brother. Goddamn, he was sexy. And funny, too. And nice. I mean, he seemed nice. I guess I didn’t really know him, but he was standing outside protecting me. He didn’t push me to invite him inside. That seemed pretty nice to me.
I wanted to invite Caleb inside, to beg him to protect me from a much closer proximity. But that would be foolish. And I was done doing foolish things for now.
It’s nice of Caleb to stay with me. He doesn’t have to do this. And the way he flirts with me …
Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not interested, and even if he was, you’re not interested in him. He’s white, and you know that’s a recipe for disaster. Not to mention the whole werewolf thing. He thinks you have this gene, that you could be a potential mate. But that’s ridiculous … whoever heard of a black werewolf …
I’m so confused … so tired … and I can’t sleep …
My eyes fluttered open. Daylight streamed through the tiny window above the desk. My sheets were balled up around my torso. I’d been asleep, probably for hours.
I rubbed my eyes, adjusting to the sudden influx of light. A shadow moved across the end of the bed. A man, completely naked, stood over me, holding a square object in front of my face. A bomb? A weapon?
My heart leapt into my throat. I tried to scream, but I was still half asleep. All that came out was a frightened squeak.
“Ah,” Caleb’s voice said. “You’re awake.”
It’s just Caleb. Relief flooded my body, along wi
th another feeling I was going to do my best to ignore. I sat up, ready to admonish him for coming inside the cabin, but he pressed a warm mug of tea into my hands. He sure knew his way to an English girl’s heart.
“What time is it?” I fumbled for my mobile.
“About ten,” Caleb said, giving me that sexy grin. “I heard you tossing about last night, so I thought I’d let you sleep late. I figured you could do with it.”
“Yeah …” My eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, and Caleb’s naked body came fully into view. He wasn’t even wearing the duvet. My gaze flickered over his lean figure, the elaborate tattoos dancing across his chest, the taut muscles of his thighs, the V of his abs leading down to … to …
Oh god. It was huge. He was hung like … like an animal. My stomach churned. I was only two minutes into my resolution to ignore my desire for him, and already it was a raging failure.
“You like what you see?” Caleb’s voice snapped me out of my trance. My face flushed with heat. Oh crap, he saw me looking. And he was half hard. Oh crap, oh crap.
Thinking fast, I threw a pillow at him. He caught it easily, damn him. “You’re disgusting. How did you get inside?”
“The window above the desk was unlatched. You’re a bit shit at this whole hiding-out-and-keeping-safe thing.”
“I haven’t had much practice.” I sipped my tea. He’d made it perfectly, damn and god bless him.
“Luckily, you have me.” Caleb sat on the edge of the bed, his thigh brushing against mine. The touch of his skin sent an electric shiver through my whole body. Why, why did he make me feel like this? Was it just my genes reacting to his pheromones? Was this just nature's way of trying to make me have his strong, sexy wolf babies?
I rubbed my head. These thoughts were going to give me a migraine. “Yeah, lucky. Lucky to be a prisoner in my own cabin with two homicidal werewolves on my tail. Lucky is exactly what I’d call myself right now.”
He tossed the pillow back at me. I grabbed it before it knocked over my tea.
“They’re not homicidal, technically. They’re just in the market for a kidnapping.”
“That makes me feel so much better.” I finished my tea, feeling more alert already. “What do I do now? Are they still after me?”
Caleb nodded. “Yeah. Robbie’s outside right now, hiding in the trees. I don’t think he’ll attack – he’s just keeping watch, making sure we don’t leave the area, waiting for me to leave you alone so they can strike.”
“If it’s you they really want, why don’t they just try talking to you, like normal, non-homicidal people.”
“Because they ken I wouldn’t care about what they had to say. I think it’s best if I move in here. I’ll be able to keep an eye out for you.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I am not kidding. If I let you out of my sight for a moment, those two are going to pounce on you.”
“But … but you can’t move in here!” I gestured at the space. “It’s barely big enough for one person! Where would you sleep?”
I can’t have him in here. I’ll never get any work done if an enormous, gorgeous wolf man is doing pull-ups on the door frame and bringing me cups of tea and sliding his hands all over my body—
“We’ll top and tail.” Caleb swung his leg up onto the bed beside me, his toes facing me, as if to demonstrate. Now his whole leg was pressed up against mine, sending another pulse of delight straight to my core. His crotch was open in front of me again. My eyes landed immediately between his legs, and my cheeks burned.
“That’s not happening.”
Caleb lifted one eyebrow. “… You have a better idea?”
This is ridiculous. We can’t do this. I’m not going to last a day. “Damn right I have a better idea. You can sleep in your own cabin.”
“Only if you come with me.” His face turned serious, his eyes boring into mine. “I don’t want to tell you what to do, Rosa, but if my brothers get their hands on you, I can’t promise you’ll remain in one piece. The Macleans are basically the werewolf mafia. They won’t hesitate to hurt you if they think it will get them what they want from me.”
I gritted my teeth. I didn’t want Caleb here, in my space, being all gorgeous and distracting while I was trying to write my book. But with the werewolf mafia involved … an image of his brother’s bared teeth flashed before me. I shuddered.
“Fine. I guess we’re roommates.” I am so going to regret this. But at least I’ll be alive to regret it. Caleb started to say something, but I cut him off. “We’re just roommates. And I have a few rules.”
“Lay it on me.”
“One, you have to wear clothes while you’re in your human form. Duvets and towels don’t count.”
“You’re going to deprive yourself of all this?” Caleb gestured to his body. My stomach flipped as my eye travelled along his sculpted chest.
“I know it will be tough for me, but I’ll live,” I said sarcastically, although I was a little sad about it. I patted the pillow he’d placed on the bed. Pouting, he arranged it over his crotch.
“Number two, you have to be quiet. No talking at all during the hours of nine and three.”
“A strange rule, but sure, whatever.”
“It’s not strange. I came to Crookshollow to write this book. Why did you think I chose a cabin in the middle of the woods? Did you think I have a fetish for cockroaches and malfunctioning plumbing? I wanted a quiet place to work, away from people, especially away from white men. So far, you and your werewolf family have robbed me of a day of productive writing. That won’t happen again.”
“Fine. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse. Any more rules?”
I jabbed my finger at the overstuffed chintz chair in front of the fire. “Yep. You’re sleeping in that chair.”
Caleb looked incensed. “No way. That thing is like sitting on a cactus. I’d rather sleep on the floor.”
“That works for me, too.” I shoved his leg off the side of the bed.
Caleb made a face. “Can’t we share the bed? I promise I won’t hog the blankets.”
“That’s not going to happen, so get it out of your head, wolf-boy.”
“Is that all the rules?” Caleb gave me a wicked grin. “Will you discipline me if I disobey?”
I sighed. “I need breakfast.”
“Ah, now that I can help with.” Caleb swept off the bed and practically skipped to the kitchen. “One breakfast, coming up!”
After a breakfast of bacon sandwiches made by Caleb – and after I made Caleb chip the burnt bacon off the top of the toaster – I walked with my wolf protector over to his cabin so he could collect some of his things.
Caleb travelled in his wolf form, so he could quickly dart into the trees if one of Margaret’s other residents walked past. I kept staring at his glossy red and grey coat, unable to believe it was really Caleb beneath that fur.
Inside his cabin, Caleb transformed into his human form again. His naked body moved through the cluttered space, collecting up clothes and supplies into a black backpack. The place was identical to mine, except that there was a hideous chaise-lounge instead of the chintz chair, and Caleb’s kitchen was a mess of dirty dishes and buzzing flies.
I sat on the edge of his bed and waited, my nostrils breathing in the heady scent of him that clung to the cabin. An image of Caleb’s naked legs dangling over the side of my bed danced across my vision.
How am I going to survive with this guy living in my space? How are we not going to end up in bed together – an event that, as much as my body wants to deny it, would be a bad, bad idea?
I was just going to have to be strong. Strong and bold, like Nancy said.
“All set.” Caleb slung the rucksack over his shoulder. He was wearing dark jeans and a brown work shirt that made his hair look even more red and wild.
“Won’t you need your mattress?” I pointed to the thin mattress sitting on his bed.
“What for?”
“For sleeping on. The floo
r is going to be pretty uncomfortable without it.”
“I’m still hoping I’ll be able to convince you to share the bed.” He raised on eyebrow, and flashed me that wicked grin. “Kidding. I’ll abide by your rules. I just don’t plan on doing much sleeping.”
“That’s awfully presumptuous of you.”
“‘Presumption’ is my middle name.”
“Bring the mattress.” I folded my hands across my chest, hoping he didn’t see my nipples standing out through the fabric of my shirt.
Caleb shook his head. “Joking aside, I don’t think you understand that I really don’t need the mattress. I can’t let my guard down for a moment. If I go to sleep, I’ll be leaving you vulnerable.”
I couldn’t believe this. He’d known me for exactly two days, and he was going to forgo sleep just to protect me. A lump rose in my throat. I’d never had anyone try to protect me before.
There were so many times when I’d wished I had someone who I could count on, a friend who would tell the bullies to fuck right off. When all the white kids threw their fruit at me at the fancy school my mother had scrimped and saved to send me to. When a random guy at the pub punched me and called me a stupid black slag because I wouldn’t go home with him. When Debbie Seymour and Susan and all their cronies attacked me in the local press, and everyone in town ignored me or talked about me behind my back …
I’d always been alone – the one black girl in an ocean of white. I couldn’t walk into a room without immediately knowing I was different, and that I was considered lesser than, just because of the colour of my skin. My skin was a weapon to be used against me, and I had no one on my side. And yet here was Caleb. How easily he had stepped into the role of my friend, my protector, and I had let him.
I didn’t want to believe this, didn’t want to trust that I was this lucky. But I couldn’t help the surge of hope welling up inside me, a feeling that this time had nothing to do with how hot he was.
Writing the Wolf: A wolf shifter paranormal romance (Wolves of Crookshollow Book 2) Page 5