by Anna Lowe
The coyotes began to jostle for position, howling in glee. She closed her eyes to avoid witnessing her own rape. She’d never, ever pictured it ending like this. A fighting death would be acceptable. But this?
The coyote holding her shuffled around to make room for another who pushed at her hips. His weight was already on her, setting her torn flesh aflame. She shifted away, but two more sets of jaws bit into her, deep and hard. Three of them were holding her now, with a fourth trying to mount her. She could feel his hips thrust blindly, seeking her entrance. Another second and he’d penetrate. The same part of her body that had yawned wide to welcome Ty was now clamped hard in gritty determination, but it was only a matter of time before the coyote managed to force his way in.
She hauled her lips back in a silent snarl. She didn’t want to imagine the pain, or worse, the degradation. No; she’d tear herself free first, even if it meant death. Better to bleed dry rather than grant them their sick pleasure. On three, her will declared.
One.
An image of Ty flashed through her mind, his hands giving hers a gentle squeeze before he eased himself down to her body. A tender moment so unlike the horror playing out in real time.
Two.
Her mind whirled through a mental slide show, and stopped at the image of Ty stepping around the bed with the lantern in his hands. That was the one she would die with, she decided, and quickly, before the beast at her rump forced his way in.
Thr—
The gully exploded with a thunderous roar and a shower of scattered rocks as half the slope gave way in a landslide. The hold on her neck went slack, and she scrambled away, grabbing at her chance to slip free within the chaos. She’d escaped the worst, and just in time. But what was going on? There seemed to be an entire army of gritty roars smothering the confused cries of the coyotes. Under it all, she heard the desperate beat of her heart drumming in her ears.
Without thinking, she lunged at a tawny form in front of her. The coyote screamed, struggled in her jaws, then went silent when she gave a neck-breaking shake. She was just releasing the limp body when a massive shape flew into her view. Lana sagged in despair, trying to blink her vision clear. No way could she take on that one. It was as big as a wolf—
It was a wolf. So huge and intense that the walls of the gully seemed to back away from him. His fur was the deepest, darkest brown. Like a creature that had sprung from the very womb of Mother Earth, possessed with a fury so great, his coat shook with it.
Ty, like she’d never seen him before.
I will rip you to pieces, Ty’s roar promised the cowering coyotes. And then I will rip you again.
She wobbled as he stationed himself in front of her, his eyes aglow. She knew those eyes, that power, even though she’d never witnessed their intensity at this extreme.
Mine! Ty roared, and the line of coyotes trembled. She did, too. She’d never seen fury like this. And she’d never felt anything like the huge lump that formed in her throat when she realized she’d been wrong to doubt him.
The coyotes’ eyes darted around as they looked for a way out. Another roar answered Ty’s—a second wolf, cutting off the coyotes’ retreat. The timbre of that voice could only be Cody’s. She pulled her lips up in satisfaction. The rogues were the ones trapped now, with three wolves to five coyotes. Those odds, she could bet on.
Ty’s eyes caught hers, warming her inner reserves. Her shoulders straightened despite the pain wracking her body.
A voice rang out, the lone human among snarling canines. “We didn’t know she was yours!” cried Yas. Hidden in his words was a plea for his life.
Through the sludge of her pain, she licked her cracked lips. How quickly the tables turned.
“You should have marked her!” Yas cried, voice unsteady.
Ty’s growl vibrated through the bedrock. He advanced on the rogue one deliberate step at a time, tail twitching murderously. Yas backed away, eyes low in a sign of submission. She forced herself forward even as a volley of fireworks shot through her back leg. She would fight beside Ty, not cower behind him. She would fight off her enemies and the enemies of her pack.
My pack. How right it sounded. Because Ty’s roar told her all she needed to hear. He loved her with all his might, and that might was the most impressive thing she’d ever witnessed. Ty was rage personified, wholly bent on revenge. Even more so the next instant, when a coyote sprang forward in mindless desperation, setting off the fight.
The narrow space amplified the clash to a veritable battle. Her ears rang with anguished screams, grunts, and scuttling claws. She shut away her pain and snapped at a coyote trying to edge past Ty, who was tossing aside another rogue with his blood-stained jaws. Lana let loose a snarl, or tried to; the sound wasn’t coming out properly. Her vision wasn’t quite right, either, bouncing from single to double images dappled with spots.
By the time she finished off the scarred coyote, she was swaying and dangerously close to collapse. She blinked, watching Ty take on Yas, who had shifted into a snow-white coyote. On a wolf, that coat would have been beautiful, but on Yas, it seemed all wrong. She just hoped she remained conscious long enough to see his white fur run red.
A shadow flickered, pulling her wobbly attention around to the left. She was fading fast, bleeding from a dozen wounds, but another coyote was launching himself at Ty.
She tried to warn him but only a hoarse peep came out. The coyote was in the air, aiming for Ty’s back. He was no match for the alpha but if Ty didn’t see him coming, the rogue might just get a lucky strike. She pulled out a last scrap of energy and threw herself forward. Her vision became a blurry patchwork. There was Ty’s dark brown coat, and a white, terrified Yas. The tawny fur of her target flashed in the foreground. Cody’s voice boomed in warning, far, far away.
When her jaws closed on coarse fur, she hurled her weight to the right, dragging the coyote down. The tackle unleashed a flood of pain that threw a blindfold over her eyes. More howls and thumps followed, then her flank was on the cool earth and the gully went quiet, at least to her ears.
She lay where she’d struck the ground, counting the last, hesitant beats of her heart. Her ruff was warm and clumpy. Her rump throbbed as she lay still, feeling her life ooze away.
She sensed a warm touch, a familiar breath, and anxious snuffling. It was Ty, licking her wounds and whimpering in her ear. Tell me you’re all right, he begged. Tell me you’re all right, my mate.
The words came to her as if down the length of a long tunnel, and somewhere in the fog of her mind a single patch cleared.
Mate. He’d called her his mate.
For all that her body was throbbing with pain, she let her lips curl into a satisfied smile. At last, Ty knew it, too. She mustered her last scrap of energy and did her best to deliver a faint echo of his words. Mate. My mate.
Ty buried his face in her neck, and his scent covered her like a warm blanket. Her mate knew her. Loved her. Wanted her. He’d picked her scent out from all the others competing for his attention. What else could she wish for?
Her joy faded as the irony bit deep. Ty had recognized love just as death was elbowing its way in. She’d run out of time. They’d run out of time.
She fought back despair, clinging instead to a slender thread of hope. At least he was with her, holding her close. She let herself sink into blackness on Ty’s soothing voice. The voice of her true love was the last thing she registered before slipping away into darkness.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Lana was expecting a tunnel of light or a pit of darkness to call her toward death. But it wasn’t like that. It was like the deepest, soundest sleep, broken only by the occasional whisper.
Mate. My mate. Stay with me.
Was she dreaming? She faded in and out as time slowed, then fast-forwarded, and slowed again.
Stay with me.
It didn’t feel like sleep, but it must have been, because her senses were registering a very soft, very quiet place she didn’t recogniz
e. It was warm and cozy, like a winter den she wouldn’t have to emerge from for months. Her ears picked up the whir of a hummingbird, the quiet tap of a branch on the wall. Wherever it was, she never wanted to leave.
Her body throbbed, though her wounds no longer gaped wide. Yes, the soreness was proof. She was definitely alive. A soft, safe something stirred nearby, then quieted again. Lana’s chest rose and fell obediently in time with a metronome ticking behind her. Maybe that’s what had kept her alive after everything went dim. She finally decided to peek at her surroundings, but even then, only one eyelid fluttered open. The other followed after an uncertain pause.
They registered ocher bedding with a navy stripe and ocher walls. Sliding to the floor, her eyes slowly focused on a diamond-pattern rug in cornflower blue. Overhead, bold strips of sky were framed by timber beams. Arizona was pouring into the room through long glass panels, coaxing her senses to life.
A gentle touch registered through her sluggish nerves, rubbing soft circles into her shoulder, and she knew it could only be Ty.
She choked on his name but couldn’t hold back the tears.
He folded himself carefully around her and whispered. “Lana.” He paused a moment as if weighing some decision, then pressed his lips to her ear and whispered again. “Lana. My love.”
The words embraced her as warmly as his body did. He said it again, holding her close, and a flurry of images passed from his mind to hers, showing the two of them together, enjoying a lifetime of love. Everything she’d ever wanted was in those images. More, in fact, than she’d ever dared wish for. She was in his arms, in his home. When her tears of fear and anger ran dry, she shed tears of joy.
Until a worry passed through her mind like a cloud in front of the sun. ”What about your father?” she croaked.
“My father will accept my mate,” Ty growled. The conviction in his words nearly rocked her back, and she knew he’d face his father with the same unshakable finality. She settled back against his frame, ready to close her eyes once more.
When his voice came again, it carried an uncharacteristic waver. “Why did you run off alone? Why didn’t you wait for me?”
She wanted to push her face into the pillow and fade out again. How could she explain? She’d doubted his promise, doubted everything about him. About the two of them.
Well, she would never doubt again. Nothing but death would part them now, and that, she hoped, would be a long way off.
She wanted to shake the question away, but Ty shifted around to face her, insistent.
“Audrey said…” she started, then trailed off at Ty’s glower. Why had she listened to her own doubts? “Audrey said you went to fight without me,” she said. “So I ran to find you…” She trailed off, cursing her own stupidity.
An awkward heartbeat ticked by, then another.
“What else did Audrey say?” Ty’s baritone was laced with granite.
“Doesn’t matter what Audrey said,” she mumbled, feeling like an utter fool. If all Ty wanted was a woman to keep at his beck and call, he could have long since had one.
“Lana, it’s a small pack here. So yes, I’ve been with a lot of the females,” he said, as if he’d read her mind. And maybe he had. One coarse thumb rubbed her cheek softly. “As a wolf. I haven’t taken a human lover since I first caught your scent.”
Her breath caught in her throat as his words washed over her. She went all warm, as if he was rubbing her with a balm. Ty hadn’t touched a woman in over a decade. He’d been waiting all those years—for her.
“I want you. Only you.”
A veil lifted from her eyes, as she realized what parallel lives they’d lived since that time when they hadn’t quite met. She hadn’t taken a human lover since then, either. As a wolf, well, that was different. The human world had its rules of propriety but for wolves, instincts were commands. Unmated wolves responded to nature’s calls without much discrimination. It didn’t mean much. But the fact that he’d waited all these years for her?
That meant everything.
Ty loved her. He cared. He was hers. All the risks she was taking in committing to this alpha, he was taking, too. His duty, his family, the fact that she was a Dixon—Ty was putting just as much on the line. But together, they’d stand strong. She looked into Ty’s eyes, so deep she could make out the outline of a shared future, centuries worth.
She turned and whispered into his shoulder. “I love you.”
A ripple went through his body, a release. He’d been waiting for the words, too. The last bits of tension in her shoulders loosened their hold and tripped away like tumbleweeds seeking another place to roost.
She yearned to open her body to him there and then. They’d done lust, possession, and need. The next time would be a combination of them all, and more. They would mate and seal a common destiny. But something in her hesitated.
“We can wait, my love,” Ty murmured, stroking her shoulder. “You need to heal.”
She went limp with relief the moment he spoke the truth. Her physical wounds were mending quickly, but her brush with the coyotes left other scars that would take longer to heal. She didn’t need sex right now; she needed comfort. And Ty was there for her.
She leaned back, losing herself in his arms and the downy pillow. Fluffy clouds trooped across the sky, and her eyes fluttered to a close. She let her other senses explore the house from the comfort of her little den under his arm. The warm, earth-toned bedroom felt like an extension of the bed. Beyond it, she sensed other rooms she would get to know soon. Her nose registered a fireplace. The comforting scent of burned embers was an homage to the past; the neatly stacked kindling beside it held the promise of the future—their future, ready to burn bright. There were kitchen smells, too, dominated by spicy sauces. She could picture the chili peppers, strung hot red on a line. It was cool and clean in that kitchen, bright and airy. She could feel it.
Her new home. Yes, she could get used to it here.
Ty snuggled close and whispered. “My love.”
She could get used to that, too.
Beyond the living room and kitchen there was more. Space enough for a couple of cubs, when the time came.
Three, at least. It was Ty, speaking in her mind.
“Hey!” She rolled over, ready to chastise him. The man radiated satisfaction that only wavered when she winced, still sore from her wounds. “Can you hear everything I’m thinking?”
“Just some things.”
She thought it over. Three cubs?
If that’s okay with you, he hastened to add.
She laughed. Maybe this alpha wasn’t such a tough guy, after all.
“So, what am I thinking now?” Lana lost herself in his eyes and imagined just where she’d like him to touch her next, and how. She wasn’t ready for sex, but the perfect cuddle, that would be just right.
His eyes went liquid with recognition as he rearranged her in the curve of his body, wrapping around her like armor. His lips massaged her right ear with light kisses.
“I didn’t say anything about kisses,” she said in a happy hum.
“Those are extra. You don’t like?” The moment Ty paused, she missed it. Desperately.
“I like, I like!” she said, spurring him back into action.
Slowly, gradually, she let herself relax and take it all in. Ty, strong yet tender. The house, cozy and serene. Beyond them lay the humming beauty of the desert and the endless Arizona sky. She felt her new life envelope her like a comforter, ushering in the warmth of sleep.
I like.
Ty must have agreed, because her back started to rumble from his deep inner purr.
Wolves don’t purr, he murmured.
This one does. She smiled, drifting happily to sleep.
EPILOGUE
One week later…
“There’s one more thing we have to do tonight,” Ty whispered, lowering his glistening body to hers. “Are you up for it?”
A drop of sweat fell to Lana’s chest and m
ingled with the scent of their lovemaking. She watched him rub it into her flesh with one delightfully coarse thumb, sending a shot of warmth to the embers still glowing inside. She was still coming down from her high, the mark on her neck tingling from his mating bite.
Her half-lidded eyes slid past his body, to the windows, up into the night-cloaked hills. She couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for leaving the paradise of bed until she realized what he meant. A serenade of the moon. Was she up for that?
“If we take it slow.” Funny how the man made her feel capable of anything. Loving. Living. Singing.
“As slow as you want,” he promised.
She snorted. “As slow as you went just now?”
His face clouded over. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Her chuckle gave away the tease. “It was amazing.” She touched the matching bite mark she’d left on his neck. It was already healing, just like her own. After a week of waiting for exactly the right moment, they’d finally marked each other as mates for life. A faint scar would remain as symbol of their eternal link. Her hand slid to Ty’s chest and rested there, feeling his heart rate settle as his fingers wrapped around hers. Going for the blood bond while making love had produced a shattering climax for both of them.
“Amazing,” she breathed. The word fit most of the events of the past week. “You were amazing, too, when we had to deal with your father.”
The old man had boiled over with pure hate the first time she’d met him. Ty had gone into the council house alone the morning of his father’s return, but she had quickly followed him in. They’d promised each other to fight their battles together, after all.
Though the council house was dark and her eyes slow to adjust from the bright sunlight, there was no mistaking Ty’s look—a mixture of frustration and gratitude that sent two messages at the same time: Jesus, I told you to stay outside and Thank God you’re here.
She would have grinned if not for the three centuries of alpha sitting over there like Mount Vesuvius on a very ugly August day.