Falling For The Wolf (Crystal Lake Forest Wolf Shifters Series Book 4

by Ovidia Pike

  “Camilla—”

  “I’ll be fine, Sam,” I said to him. “I’m going to head out now. I’ll be back by tomorrow.”

  “Can’t I at least walk you to the edge of the land?” he asked. I watched him for a moment, and something fluttered in my stomach at the warm, caring look in his eyes.

  “Sure,” I replied, trying to keep the smile off my face.

  “I’ll get the others together and talk to them about what we’re doing,” Jackson said. “I don’t doubt Lily and Nathaniel will be able and willing to help.”

  “Good,” I said, turning away with Sam. I stopped at my hut to grab a bag and left the village with him, walking out into the woods. Sam caught up and walked beside me, glancing over at me a few times before speaking.

  “Are you sure you want to do this? You...don’t like the princess.”

  “She’s useless and weak, but she commands a powerful guard,” I said to him. “She can help us.”

  “I can come with you. Selene won’t let anything happen to me.”

  “No,” I said. “That’s a risk. I don’t want to risk it. I’ll be fine, Sam.”

  “I know that,” he said. “I kind of just want to spend time with you.”

  I looked over at him to see a smile on his face.

  “Why?” I asked him. “You said yourself that I’m no fun.”

  “Because I think you’re perfect,” he said. “You’re fascinating and beautiful and strong.”

  “Sam,” I said, pausing. He stopped beside me, turning his face to mine.

  “Too much?” he asked.

  “I just—I can’t be yours. Not the way you want me to.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said with a shrug. “You let me close to you. You’ve let me kiss you. That’s all I need to go on. I’m happy either way.”

  “Why are you like this?” I asked him. “You have no reason to be kind to me.”

  “I do. I want to see you smile,” he said simply.

  “Are you like this with all women?”

  “Yes and no,” he said. “I’ve never quite been this smitten before.”

  “Smitten,” I said, trying not to smile.

  “That’s one way to say it,” he said, and I met his eye for one sparkling moment, fell for the grin on his face. I couldn’t help but to smile back at him, feeling giddy and light like a school girl with a crush.

  “This is where we part,” he said after a moment, turning away but flashing a hopeful look back to me. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

  “I’m sure,” I said.

  “And if the faceless man freezes and eats you?”

  “Nothing I can do about that,” I said. “There’s nothing either one of us will be able to do about that. If he catches me, I’ll tell him that I’m getting backup to kill Gabriel.”

  “Okay,” Sam said hesitantly. He leaned into me, placed a kiss on my cheek, then the tip of my nose.

  “Good luck, baby,” he said softly, before shifting and disappearing into the woods behind me.

  I kept going, keeping my ears open for any hint of footsteps. I heard nothing but the typical wildlife, and I felt relieved when I made it to the caves by the time the sun set. I walked through without hesitating, wondering if the guards would stop me, if I’d be thrown in the dungeons like the others. I decided to take the risk of trying to go to the throne room myself. I ran into two guards—a woman named Nalia and a man named Mik, both of whom nodded at me as I passed them. I went up the system and to the throne room, where several guards stood blocking the path to the royal caves.

  “Excuse me,” I said to them. They turned their eyes to me.

  “What are you doing here?” one of them asked.

  “I’m here to speak to the princess. The wolves need her help.”

  “You have been hanging out with wolves?” the woman said in a derisive tone.

  “Not by choice,” I said through gritted teeth. “Now go get the princess.”

  At first, she looked ambivalent to the order, but then she turned around and disappeared behind the thrones. She reemerged with Selene, dressed in sweats and a big t-shirt, rubbing her eyes as she yawned. Her eyes were puffy and swollen from sleep and yet she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen with her glowing golden eyes and cropped, messy blonde curls set above a face that could only be described as angelic.

  “Camilla?” she asked, blinking sleepily at me. “You’re here?”

  “I am,” I said. “The wolves need your help.”

  “How are you involved with the wolves?” she asked. “I thought...you were one of Elina’s fiercest followers. You hate the wolves. I’m supposed to lock you up.”

  I swallowed hard, thinking of Sam, then pushing the thought away.

  “I loathe the wolves, your highness. But I’ve gotten roped into their...issues.”

  “What kind of help do you need?” she asked, climbing on the throne and sitting cross-legged as she seemed to shake the sleepiness off.

  “We need your guard. There’s something out there in the woods that is trying to kill Gabriel Alarick. He’s the one controlling those things.”

  “The dead?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Who is he?”

  “Nobody knows who or what he is. He doesn’t have a face, it’s just blank. But he, like, eats people and has the ability to paralyze us.”

  “He eats people,” Selene said slowly.

  “Yes,” I said. She peered at me closely.

  “You think you can kill him?” she asked.

  “With enough people, we may be able to. There’s a witch and her mate who have broken out of the paralysis before. That’s our best shot.”

  “So you want my guard,” she said.

  “Yes,” I told her. “If you can spare some of them.”

  “We’ll bring them all,” Selene said.

  “We?”

  “I’m coming,” she said, sliding out of the throne.

  “Princess, with all due respect, you will only hold us back. You don’t know how to fight.”

  “I’ve been learning some things,” she said. “I can help.”

  “No,” I said to her firmly. She lifted an eyebrow, staring deep into my eyes.

  “I am your princess and soon to be queen,” she said. “And I will accompany you.”

  “Okay,” I consented, shivering at the tone in her voice. In that moment, she reminded me of Elina at her most passionate, and I couldn’t help but to think of the strength she was capable of possessing. Or might already possess.

  “I’ll be back in a moment,” she said.

  She disappeared from the throne room and emerged in a few minutes, dressed and with a pack over her shoulder.

  “We’re going to the village first, right?” she asked. I nodded.

  “Does Gabriel know I’m coming?”

  “Gabriel won’t be with us. He’s off having a pity party because he broke up with his girlfriend.”

  “Is he okay?” she asked. I shrugged.

  “Does it matter? He’s not coming. Which is why we need your full guard.”

  “Gabriel is so powerful. More than a lot of us combined,” Selene said in a hesitant voice.

  “You scared, princess?” I asked her. She gave me a dull look.

  “I’m being rational. I’m risking several people for this.”

  “You’re right,” I said. “But we have to do it. We don’t know when he’s coming back and the other day, he killed about fifteen people.”

  “Wow,” Selene said. “We’ll bring the full guard.”

  “How many?” I asked her as we started to descend down the caves together.

  “I have twelve men and women assigned to my personal guard,” she said.

  “Are they old blood?”

  “No,” she said with a frown.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. She shook her head.

  “It’s nothing,” she said with a bright smile.

 
; “If they’re your personal guard, why are they so far away from you?”

  “I have them train in the evenings down in the forest,” she said as we stepped off the base of the rock and onto the ground. “They should be down there.”

  I followed her along the outside of the caves and into the woods. We walked through the trees until we heard voices, and upon entering the clearing, we could see the guards paired up and fighting with each other, each of them in their lion forms. A large lion stopped what he was doing and trotted over to us, barreling into Selene and knocking her to the ground. She laughed and kicked at him, but he had already shifted and grabbed her foot to stop her. He then reached down to take her hand and help her up, and she dusted off her back with a laugh.

  “Isn’t somebody supposed to stop him from doing that?” she said to the rest of her guard, who had shifted and were coming toward us.

  “There’s no stopping him, the beast,” one of the men said with a grin and a bow. “Evening, your highness.”

  “I need you guys to go on an adventure with me,” she said. “You up for that?”

  “Hell yes,” the man said, looking around him. “Y’all in?”

  “Yep,” said a woman, and the others mumbled an agreement.

  “When and where are we going?”

  “We need to go now,” she said. “We’re going to the wolf village first—”

  “We’re going to the wolf village?” asked the man who had tackled her.

  “Yes, Leo,” she said to him. “You gotta problem with that?”

  “Such an attitude. Brat. You want me to tackle you again?” he asked with a grin. The princess giggled.

  “Try it and I’ll bite the hell out of you,” she said. He shook his head with a laugh, and I cleared my throat.

  “This is your—” I paused, looking between the two of them. A light flush came over her cheeks.

  “This is Leo. He’s the captain of my guard and the bane of my existence.”

  “You love me,” he said, reaching out to tussle her hair.

  “We’ve known each other since we were kids. That’s the only reason I haven’t had him killed yet.”

  “And because you love me,” he said with a wink. Selene rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile on her face.

  “And who are the others?” I asked. “I should know their names.”

  “Introduce yourselves while I brief Leo on what we’re doing,” she said. “He can explain while we go.”

  The other guards introduced themselves, but I barely paid attention, instead keeping an eye on Selene and Leo. They stood close together and she was laughing again, her hand covering her mouth. I wondered what was going on there and how much trouble she would get in if anybody but the guard knew how they so clearly felt for each other. As royalty, she wasn’t allowed to take a mate, only to breed with one of the old blood males that were available for her when she was ready to bear a child.

  When the introductions were finished, Selene and Leo rejoined the group, and together we made our way back to the village.

  Chapter 16: Sam

  “Where are we going to keep her?” I asked Camilla, who shrugged.

  “I’m going to camp in the woods with my guard,” Selene said, appearing in the doorway.

  “Your highness, we’re not going to make you sleep outside.”

  “I don’t get to sleep outside enough,” she said. “I’ll be more comfortable with my friends than in a hut in the village.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked her. She nodded.

  “Of course,” she said. “So, who are we waiting on?”

  “Lily and Nathaniel,” Jackson said. “They’ll be here any minute.”

  “Who are they?” Selene asked.

  “Lily is a witch. Nathaniel is, well—”

  “A very big man,” Camilla finished.

  “That’s his power? He’s big?” Selene asked. “Is he trained?”

  “Your highness, he’s not just big,” I said to her, just as Nathaniel ducked through the doorway.

  “Oh, wow,” Selene said, staring up at him. Lily smiled as she came in after him.

  “Don’t you just want to climb him like a tree?” she asked.

  “Wow, Lily,” Camilla said with a rare laugh.

  “I’m sorry—who is this? You’re gorgeous,” Lily said, looking at Selene.

  “My name is Selene. I am—”

  “Oh my god, you’re the princess,” Lily said with wide eyes, bowing her head. “I’m so sorry.”

  Selene giggled. “It’s okay.”

  “So what’s the plan?” Camilla asked.

  “There’s a cave close to your system,” I told Selene. “Probably a couple of hours away. That’s where he keeps the zombies stashed. I think that’s a good place to start.”

  “How many entrances are there to the cave?” she asked. I exchanged a glance with Camilla.

  “We didn’t get that far in our exploration,” I said to her.

  “We’d better send someone over there,” she suggested.

  “I’ll go,” said Jackson.

  “I’ll go with you,” Nathaniel said.

  “No way you’ll fit through the opening, bud,” I said to him.

  “I’ll go,” Lily said.

  “Lil—”

  “Nathaniel, what do we always say?”

  “You can protect yourself,” he grumbled. “I know that, I just—”

  “I’ll take good care of her,” Jackson insisted. “But we’d better get going.”

  Lily nodded. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Nathaniel’s cheek.

  “I love you,” she said. He smiled at her, nuzzling her forehead, kissing her there.

  “I love you, too,” he said.

  “Okay,” Camilla said impatiently. Lily laughed.

  “Sorry,” she said, as she left with Jackson. I could feel Camilla’s eyes on me and I turned to meet her gaze. She flushed and looked away. Her hand dangled beside her beneath the table, and I took the risk of reaching for it, stroking her open palm with my fingers. She looked at me again and there was heat in her gaze as I played with her hand, twining our fingers. I didn’t realize anyone was talking until Selene cleared her throat.

  “Sam?” she said. I turned my head to face her, but my hand didn’t leave Camilla’s. She had started to respond with her fingers, teasing mine, her breath going shallow beside me. I let go of her hand and brought mine to her hip, stroking it up and down with my knuckles, brushing them slightly above the band of her shorts, touching the soft skin there.

  “Sorry, your highness,” I said to her, my voice coming out low and gruff. I slipped my hand to the small of Camilla’s back.

  “What’s the plan after we find out how many entrances there are to the caves?”

  “We’ll surround them and go inside, start by killing all those things in there. We’ll have someone at each entrance killing them as they come out. He’ll show up, guaranteed.”

  “What if he doesn’t?”

  “Either way, we’re getting rid of most of his army,” I said. “But he will show up.”

  “What do we do if he freezes us?”

  “Lily will be able to help us if she charges herself first. Ideally, she’d use Gabriel’s energy, but since he’s gone—”

  “Where is he, by the way?” Selene asked.

  “He broke up with his girlfriend and ran off with his tail between his legs,” Camilla said.

  “Oh, right,” Selene said with a frown. “That’s inconvenient.”

  “We’ll be fine without him,” Camilla said.

  “And if we all get frozen and eaten by this thing?”

  “We won’t,” I said to her, though I had no idea. I only hoped that Lily’s powers would help us, and that we’d be able to corner him before he flew away. Camilla shivered beside me and I realized that I was stroking her back up and down with my fingertips. The feeling of her skin under mine seemed to set me on fire. I leaned over, forgetting anyone else was in the
room, and took her mouth in a soft kiss. I heard Selene clear her throat again.

  “Do you two need some privacy?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I said, not taking my eyes off of Camilla. She blushed and looked at Selene.

  “No,” she said quickly, pulling away from me. “I’m sorry, your highness.”

  “Let’s leave them alone,” Selene said to Jackson and Nathaniel, who I had forgotten were even in the room.

  “Have fun, you two,” Nathaniel said with a laugh. I didn’t look at him, but pulled Camilla’s face to mine with both hands, kissing her long and deep.

  “Sam,” she breathed against my mouth, hands going to my belt, beginning to unfasten it. I reached down and stopped her from pulling my zipper down, though my cock was rock hard and aching to be touched.

  “I’m a wolf,” I said to her, staring into her eyes. “That’s who I am.”

  “I don’t care,” she said, tilting her face forward to kiss me again, tasting my mouth. I shook my head and pulled back.

  “Are you sure? Or are you just saying that because you need to be fucked?”

  “I don’t care,” she repeated in a small, quiet voice.

  “I’m a wolf. Say it.”

  “You’re a wolf,” she said, kissing me again. “I don’t care.”

  I grinned at her and let go of her hands so that she could undress me, taking off my pants. She wrapped her hand around my cock, and I groaned when she started to stroke it with her fingers, her eyes on mine, slightly shy. I reached forward to pull off the sports bra she was wearing, and she let go of me so I could pull it over her head. Her breasts were large and ripe, pink nipples hard and wanting. I wanted to touch them, to cup them in my hands, but instead I continued to undress her, pulling her shorts and panties down until she was naked in front of me, her body lean and toned. I leaned in to kiss her, finally bringing my hands to her breasts, toying with her nipples with my fingers. I dropped to my knees to take one between my lips, sucking on it tenderly as I pulled off my shirt so that we were both naked. She shuddered when I started to suck on her other breast, teasing it with my tongue. She whimpered when I pulled away, lifting her off her feet and putting her onto the table.

  “What are you doing?” she asked as I parted her thighs against some resistance.