Liam (Mammoth Forest Wolves Book 1)

by Kimber White

  I ventured closer to the edge of the woods. Mammoth Forest stretched for miles in all directions. Just a little ways up the interstate, this land turned into Mammoth Cave National Park. Living as close as I did, I’d only ever gone to the caves a few times as a kid. My father last took me when I was eleven years old the summer before he died. It had been just the two of us. Mama refused, citing severe claustrophobia. Daddy, on the other hand, loved it there. He’d worked as a park ranger through college before he met my mother and everything changed.

  Lois Ravary had been a knockout in her day. She’d had her pick of a hundred men, but she’d chosen Daddy. A fact she reminded him of every day of their miserable marriage. He could never keep her happy. No one could. My mother had untreated bipolar disorder. When she was up, my childhood had been an adventure. When she was down, we all paid. Daddy kept her level as well as he could. When he was gone, it had fallen to me. I got out as soon as I could. She still hated me for it, and we hadn’t talked in years.

  Nope. I didn’t mind living in my trailer park. I was free and it made me feel close to my father somehow. I knew the cave system probably stretched below my very feet.

  A howl rose in the distance. My heartbeat tripped. To my trained ear, that didn’t sound like a coyote. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was a wolf. The chill came back and I zipped my hoodie. The howl rose one more time as I turned to step back inside.

  We were slammed the next day. Bess had back-to-back surgeries. She’d walked in sporting an angry bruise on her upper arm. Jason and I gave her the same look. Bess tried to pull a sweater on before we saw, but it was no good. Today though, I didn’t have the energy to get into it with her. I’d heard that plaintive howl four more times before I finally fell into a fitful sleep the night before. Now, I couldn’t wait to get home and get to bed.

  When I finished running labs for Bess, she found me in the breakroom. Biting her lip, she leaned against the door. I knew what she was here to say and I decided to make it easy on her for once.

  “Bess,” I said. “I get it. Your shit is none of my business. You already know what I think, so let’s just not do this. Save us both the aggravation. But, I’m also not going to pretend I didn’t see your arm.”

  “I kicked him out,” she said, spitting it out in a gushing breath.

  I reared back. This was new. “You did what?”

  “It’s over, Molly. Last straw. I called my brothers and they helped me throw Zeke’s things to the curb. They’re over at my place right now changing the locks. I thought you’d like to know.”

  I beamed, going to her. I wanted to hug her, but Bess Kennedy seemed so frail. She’d been broken so many times. But, she was still here, standing as tall and strong as she could. I was proud of her, I just hoped she’d stick to her guns this time. I decided not to mention that we’d all heard this story from her before.

  “I’m glad. You did the right thing, Bess. You know you can call me if you ever need anything. Shady Acres isn’t much, but I’ve got a nice view of the woods. You can crash at my place if you want to get away.”

  “Thanks,” Bess said, smoothing her lab coat. “I think it’s going to be all right for now though. I think Zeke knows I mean it.”

  “Well, if that’s true, then I’m glad. You deserve better, Bess. We all think so. You’re pretty. You’re young. More importantly, you’re smart. You could have any man you want. Or, better still, you don’t need one.”

  Bess dropped her head so her hair fell over her eyes. I could never understand how a woman as accomplished as Bess Kennedy was could have so little self-esteem. I think she’d been hurt by men her entire life.

  “I’m not like you,” Bess said, lifting her head just enough so that her hair fell away.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, come on, Molly. You’re so sure of yourself. You’d never let anyone mess with you. You have all the answers.”

  Coming from anyone else, her last comment might have seemed like an insult. I knew she meant it as a compliment. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I think maybe I just do a better job faking it than you do.”

  “Well, you’re always asking me what I want. What about you? What do you want? You can’t want to spend your life squeezing anal glands and trimming corgi toenails, do you? When are you going to go back to school?”

  A tone came over the intercom. After a few seconds of static, Jason’s voice filled the room. “Molly, Misty’s in exam two for you.”

  I had to laugh at that. Misty was a hundred and forty pound golden retriever. She was probably here for her glands and nails. Bess’s smile widened. I hit the button on the wall. “Tell Misty and Beau I’ll be there in three minutes.”

  “Next year,” I answered Bess’s question. She gave me a wry smile.

  “You’ve been saying that for two years now. You need to step up your timetable. You’ll make a great vet. I should know. Plus, I don’t want to run this place by myself. I wouldn’t mind having a partner.”

  My pulse skyrocketed. It got a little hard to breathe. I’d never really let myself think that far ahead. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes,” she answered. “You’re right. I need a life too. A better one. Time off would be heaven. Think about it at least.”

  I wanted to hug her. Hell, I wanted to kiss her. Except, that familiar pit formed in my stomach. The issue was money. I just straight up didn’t have it right now. Getting a D.V.M. simply cost too much. I had just managed to scrape by enough money to put myself through vet tech school. Anything more was just a pipe dream.

  “Of course, if I can’t get things straightened out around here, there won’t be much of a practice to share.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. We were booked solid for the next three months.

  Bess brushed a hair from her face. “I’m sorry to dump all of this stuff on you, but I’m going to need you to help me check inventory later. I think I’ve miscounted. There were some things missing from one of the medicine cabinets this morning. I’m sure it’s my mistake. We both know my bookkeeping is terrible.”

  My heart lurched. There were meds missing. I’d been the last man out and I could have sworn I heard something in the back room. I’d brushed it off as nothing. Liam had pretty much drowned out all reason from my head. When I closed my eyes, I could feel the warmth of his hands over me. But there had been something wrong with him too. His heart beat too fast. His color was strange.

  “Molly? What’re you thinking?”

  “What? Oh. No. Nothing. But, yes. I can help you cross check the inventory. I’m sure it’s just a transposed number or something.”

  Now, I was covering. I knew in my heart if we had missing medication, Liam McConnell might have something to do with it. And yet, there I was protecting him, ready to make excuses just like Bess did with Zeke. What the hell had gotten into me?

  I heard a howl down the hall. For a moment, my heart stopped, thinking about the wolf I’d heard last night. But, it was just Misty. Her howl saved me from having to make any more excuses.

  “You better get on that,” Bess said. “Call me if you need my help.”

  I patted her on the shoulder. “I got this. And thank you. You’re a good friend.”

  “Right,” Bess said. “You’re a better one.”

  For once, I finished Bess’s notes early. After discharging our last surgery patient, I was antsy to get out of the clinic. In her typical scatterbrained fashion, Bess had forgotten all about the inventory discrepancy she wanted me to check. I’d done it anyway though. Bess had been right. We were missing several bottles of broad spectrum antibiotics. That in and of itself might not have caused me much alarm. But, we were also missing several bottles of Tramadol. It was one of the most potent pain relievers we kept in stock, reserved mostly for our surgical patients as we sent them home with their owners. I tried to push my suspicions out of my mind as it became time to clock out.

  Jason had only worked a half day and Bess was already gone. Even
though it was just past four and the sun still shone bright, I felt odd walking back to my car alone. That same sensation of eyes on me made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

  I’d parked in my usual spot across the street. I clicked the locks. Tossing my bag into the front seat, something made me look back the clinic. I did a double take. There was movement to the right, behind the dumpster.

  “What the bloody hell?” I hit the door locks again and walked back toward the building.

  “Zeke, that better not be you.” Even as I said it, it wasn’t what I was really thinking. I tried the back door, double checking that I’d engaged the lock. It didn’t budge.

  There was nothing there, not so much as a stray cat. Sometimes, people would leave kittens or other wounded animals they didn’t want in boxes by the back door. It happened more often than people would ever believe. We didn’t have the resources to care for abandoned animals. Most of them were too sick to even be helped. Usually the best we could do was euthanize them. The kittens were the worst. We worked with a local shelter trying to rehome them, but far too many had tragic outcomes.

  I looped around to the front door, holding my breath. Luckily, there was nothing on the porch step but the green welcome mat Bess kept there. Straightening, I turned back around and headed for my car.

  I made it about halfway before turning one more time. I put a hand on the brick wall, peering around the alley.

  “You might as well come out,” I said. “I know you’re back there. You suck at hiding.”

  The wind shifted, blowing my hair back. Heat shot straight down my spine. A pulse pounded in my ears that didn’t feel like my own. Impossible. You can’t hear someone else’s heartbeat like that. And yet, that’s exactly what it felt like.

  Then, Liam stepped out of the shadows. His eyes glinted in the setting sun, turning them gold. Except the sun was behind him.

  He took three slow steps toward me and my heart dropped into my shoes. I took a step back. I had to get around him to get to my car. Instead, I stayed rooted to one spot, afraid to move, afraid to breathe.

  He stopped just in front of me. A muscle jumped in his jaw as his eyes flicked over me, studying me. His features seemed to change as I looked at him just as intently. One moment, his eyes were blue; the next, they flashed gold. Impossible. I had to be seeing things. He wore fresh clothes at least. His t-shirt stretched taut over his hard muscles. I had the urge to touch him, running my fingers over his biceps and straight up to his shoulders. God, what was I thinking? I didn’t know him. This was three times now I’d caught him lurking around the clinic looking for what...for me? I let out a hard breath. No, not for me. He was here to score. There could be no other explanation. I don’t know why I just hadn’t voiced my suspicions to Bess about who might have broken into the clinic. Why was I protecting him?

  “I can’t help you,” I said, my voice cracking. “I don’t know what you think you’re going to get from me, but you should just go.”

  Liam nodded. His eyes darted back and forth. He seemed to be having just as much trouble breathing as I was. It was as if the air between us had grown thicker. His fingers twitched at his sides like he didn’t know what to do with them. Like he was trying to keep himself from...from touching me. “I know what you did,” I said. My heart was beating so loud between my ears I couldn’t think straight. Every shred of common sense I had was telling me to run. Don’t engage. I knew Liam was likely the one who’d broken into the clinic. He was dangerous. Even now, as he stood before me, I could see the signs. The sweat on his brow, his ashen color. He clenched his fists at his sides, but he couldn’t hide the tremors. He was either in some serious drug withdrawal, or worse still, he’d taken something. God, he had to be seriously bad off if he’d resorted to stealing cat tranquilizers.

  “Molly,” he said, his voice barely sounding human.

  He took a step toward me. I should run. I should scream. But, as I felt his body heat pouring off him in waves, my nerve endings ignited. If Liam was craving drugs, I was craving something else. Him.

  I had my car keys in my hand. I stuck the jagged edge between my index and middle fingers, holding it out as a weapon.

  “I’m not here to hurt you,” Liam said, his eyes widening in shock. “God. I would never hurt you.”

  “You need help,” I said. “I looked the other way before. I can’t do it again. There’s a free clinic about ten miles from here. You can catch the bus one block over. Go there. Get help.”

  Liam raised his hand and tore his fingers through his hair. He cast a glance over his shoulder. He was scared of something. What in God’s name could scare someone as big and lethal-looking as Liam?

  “It’s not what you think,” he said. “But you’re right. I shouldn’t have come back here. But, I had to see. I had to know if…”

  “If what?”

  Liam went incredibly still. The tremors stopped and he squared his shoulders. In one breath, he seemed to shake off the effects of whatever drug his body craved. Heat rose between us. Just as he seemed to be pulling himself together, I was falling apart. It started as warmth in my gut. It spread, dragging me forward. We stood only inches from each other, but it seemed too far. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted to inhale his scent and feel his strong arms around me.

  “Liam?” I said, my throat dry as sandpaper.

  The pounding in my chest steadied. Again, I had that strange sensation of hearing dual heartbeats. Liam’s and mine. I was losing my mind.

  “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have…”

  He came to me. I felt frozen. I knew that everything else in my life would be separated between the moment before and the moment after.

  It was such a simple gesture. Liam reached for me. He slid his fingers to the back of my neck, lacing them through my hair. His thumb brushed my cheek. The air went out of me in a whoosh. It was as if his fingertips ignited every pleasure center inside of me. My knees went weak. The throbbing pulse between my legs spread. My nipples hardened. The urge to kiss him burned through me.

  “Liam,” I gasped.

  His eyes darted over me. His lips parted. I zeroed in on every detail of his face. Hard stubble shaded his square jaw. His earlobes reddened and his breath caressed my neck. A junkie, I told myself. He had to be. Except, when his eyes glinted, they held their stone-cold focus on mine. His head was clear. He was so close and yet, not close enough.

  I don’t know who moved first. I think it was him, but it might have been me. Before I knew what was happening, I tilted my head to the side and sank into him.

  Then, Liam kissed me.

  I closed my eyes and fireworks exploded behind them. Liam’s touch seemed to short-circuit every sense in my body. It was as if I no longer existed alone inside myself. He was there. Consuming me at the same time he kindled a deep fire low in my core. God, I wanted. Naked lust poured through me. I couldn’t control it. I knew in the deepest parts of me that if Liam wanted it, I would let him take me then and there. It was raw, primal, thunderous.

  Liam broke away first. Whatever was happening inside of me, Liam had a similar reaction. The shudder came back and he took two halting steps backward. I thought my knees were weak, but it was Liam who dropped to the ground.

  “Liam?”

  He was on his hands and knees in the middle of the alley. His back contorted. At first, I thought he was going to have a seizure. I went to him, meaning to reach for his chin and bring his face up to meet my gaze.

  “No,” he said. His voice had turned guttural, filled with pain.

  “I’m calling 911,” I said. I’d dropped my purse on the ground. I reached for it now, fumbling to find my phone.

  “No!” Liam said again, more forcefully this time. He turned from me as I reached for him a second time. It was as if he didn’t want me to see his face.

  A crack echoed through the alley. I recognized it as the sound of breaking bones. Liam threw his head back and I understood why he’d turned away.

&nbs
p; It wasn’t Liam anymore. His cheekbones were distorted, jutting out at wrong angles. He locked eyes with me, and that’s when I screamed. Liam’s had gone pure gold with the pupils larger than they should be. He didn’t seem human, he seemed…canine.

  The moment I thought it, Liam completed the transformation. He wasn't human anymore. His clothes tore violently from him. He lowered his head and gave one great shake. In Liam’s place, the largest wolf I’d ever seen stood before me.

  He was beautiful. His silvery coat glistened in the moonlight. He gazed at me with keen, intelligent eyes. The wolf’s ears pricked back and he pawed the ground.

  I should have been terrified. Maybe I was, but I realized with cold clarity that I had undergone a transformation nearly as shocking as Liam’s in the same span of time. Things that should have scared me to death seemed to make perfect sense. One single thought repeated in my brain like a drumbeat.

  What took you so long to find me?

  I’d heard all the rumors told in hushed whispers all of my life. Shadow Springs held secrets outsiders could never understand. Some said real-life monsters prowled Mammoth Forest. But, those were just stories grownups told little ones to keep them from wandering off from campsites. Weren’t they?

  There were no such things as monsters. And yet, there were some people in this town others wouldn’t stand up to no matter what. The mayor, the police chief, even the local weatherman.

  Secrets. Lies. Whispers.

  When I inhaled, the world was one thing. As I exhaled, it became something else, and all of the secrets and legends I’d tried to avoid came straight out of the shadows. I had no choice but to face them head on.

  I reached for the wolf. Though my thoughts were calm, my body seemed to register the fear anyone else would have expected. My fingers trembled. Again, I had the sense that my life would be separated into chapters. Before Liam’s touch, and after. I sank my fingers into the wolf’s downy fur. He let out a soft wail and stomped his front paws on the ground.