by Godiva Glenn
“I’d love to.” Nancy’s eyes glittered with excitement.
“Then that’s settled. You can report to Jones tomorrow if you’re eager to start that soon.”
“I will.”
Reid stood. “Perfect.”
Wyatt rose and helped Nancy up. He shook Reid’s hand, though he was still doubtful about this plan. Nancy hugged Reid before they turned and left, happiness plastered over her entire being.
Once they were out of earshot, Wyatt cleared his throat.
“Are you absolutely certain? Don’t think you have to do it because it was Reid who suggested it.”
“It’s not another bookkeeping job.” She held his hand as they walked and now tugged it to bring him closer to her. “It’s meaningful.”
He bristled. “It’s numbers and apparently meetings. That sounds like exactly what you were willing to run away from before.”
“It’s helping the pack stay hidden yet connected. I would be a vital part of the inner-workings that most of you don’t even think about,” she reasoned. “And trusted. You didn’t even know about the coven and secret arrangements. Yet now I’m going to be involved.”
Put that way, she made a valid point. “But if you get too bored or unhappy…”
“I think occasional boredom will happen, but that’s life. Not every moment is a grand adventure. But I have to admit that this feels like a big deal.”
It was, the more Wyatt thought of it.
“I have everything now. A purpose, a mate. Soon, a husband.” She wrapped his arm around her waist. “The new start I needed.”
He held onto her as they walked back to their home. Everything had changed quickly. He still recalled being broken and angry. Just last year, he’d scoff at what he now held dear. A human and her obsession with big-eyed birds.
They were good changes, however, and she was right. It was the new start he needed, too.
EPILOGUE
Nancy shivered, and it traveled down her arm and into the hand Wyatt held. The night was cooler than usual, not that it affected him. The chill carried a clean scent of distant rain, which he loved except he hoped he wouldn’t be returning home soaking wet.
“And you’re going to be naked soon,” she commented as if reading his mind.
“I never notice it.”
She looked up and he followed her eyes. The moon hung as if placed just out of reach. It was full and lovely, and the magic already danced upon his skin. An hour to go before he’d be pulled to the ground.
“I’m going to miss you.” He brushed his fingers through her hair. “I always miss you.”
She scoffed. “I’ll miss you too, but I need some alone time anyhow. I’m meeting with the witches this weekend and I need to go over way too many notes. For magical practitioners, they sure do love logistics and detailed reports.”
“Which makes me wonder how Jones managed with them.”
“He didn’t, not really,” she said with a grin. “He’s more clever than he lets on, but the task wasn’t best suited for him.”
“I’m just glad you’re enjoying it.”
She sucked in a deep breath and shivered. “I can’t even believe it sometimes. From working spreadsheets to being an ambassador between the human and supernatural worlds.”
“There’s still spreadsheets. I’ve seen them.”
“Yeah… but that’s the easy part of the job.”
He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. Seeing her happy made his heart overflow.
Charlotte and Damon approached, whispering to each other. Wyatt caught every word, but what they said didn’t make much sense. Something about a delivery.
“The magic feels different tonight,” Charlotte remarked. “Like the ancestors are telling us something.”
“I agree.” Nancy squeezed Wyatt’s hand. “Perhaps something is afoot.”
Damon looked her over. “You feel it?”
Wyatt held up his and Nancy’s joined hands. He’d known about Nancy’s ability for a while, though he hadn’t made a point to brag or tell everyone about it. “She feels the connection through me.”
“Really?” Charlotte marveled.
“I always sensed something about him, which I later learned was his wolf,” Nancy explained. “But since we mated last month, when the moon is full, I can practically taste it.”
“I didn’t know humans had that ability,” Charlotte said.
“It’s not common,” Nancy replied. She glanced up at Wyatt. “But according to the witches, some humans are more in tune to spirits. Like latent psychic sensitivity.”
“I prefer to think it’s the ancestor’s blessing, though,” Wyatt interjected.
Damon grinned at Nancy. “Either way it’s an intriguing talent. Tell me, do you taste it when Wyatt eats field mice?”
Charlotte smacked Damon’s arm. “Ass.”
“Not that involved, thank goodness. But yeah, after you guys have transformed and head out, it’s like a rush. Like I’m out there in a way.”
“And I don’t eat mice,” Wyatt clarified. “That happened once and was an experience not worth repeating.”
Charlotte glanced slyly at Damon. “I think I know why tonight is different for me.”
“Share,” Wyatt murmured. The wind had changed direction and brought with it a new scent. He knew their secret, and any of the other lupine would know too. Only Nancy was in the dark.
Charlotte turned to Nancy and took her free hand. “How do you like babysitting?”
Nancy shrugged. “It’s not really babysitting. The teens do their own thing. I usually read at the house or catch up on work.”
Charlotte and Damon exchanged another suspicious glance. Nancy had obviously assumed they’d meant the babysitting she did on wolf moon nights. The only lupine that weren’t out running were the few teens that didn’t shift yet, and since she was the only adult around, she technically watched over them.
Wyatt kept his face straight.
“Right, but would you be okay with missing a book or two to watch a gorgeous baby for your two favorite people in the world?” Charlotte asked.
Nancy’s puzzled expression slowly became one of shock. “You? You’re pregnant?”
“Yep!”
Nancy released Wyatt’s hand and embraced Charlotte. “Have as many as you want! I’ll watch them all!”
“Whoa. We don’t usually birth a litter,” Damon said. “Pretty sure it’s only one in there.”
“But you don’t have to stop there!” Nancy said with a laugh.
Wyatt shoved his hands into his pockets and watched them hop with joy. He moved to stand next to Damon. Their friendship had taken time to repair, but it was fixed now.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
Damon placed a hand on Wyatt’s shoulder and gave him a look. Wyatt didn’t expect more, as Damon wasn’t exactly a fountain of emotion, but he recognized the look. This was as close as he and Nancy would get to children, but it was enough. Children weren’t in their cards, but the love they had wasn’t lessened by it.
“We’re fine,” he whispered reassuringly to Damon. “We’ve already got it all.”
Thank you for reading Night Surrender. I hope you enjoyed it. I would appreciate your review!
The Night Wolves world carries on with Night Caught. Continue reading for the first chapter!
ONE
The humans have a saying. There’s no rest for the wicked. These words had become the unfortunate truth of Kalle’s existence. Perhaps he himself was not wicked, but his needs were, and those needs were showing no sign of ever abating.
The sun was high when Kalle finally stood on his own two legs, free of his wolf form. Last night’s full moon had kept him under its spell long into the day. With every passing month spent without a pack, the more imbalanced his soul became. He was going feral. If this pattern continued, he would end up trapped in his wolf form forever. No longer lupine, but simple beast.
He found his clothing and dresse
d in silence. Something he’d discovered about being on his own was how much he missed noise. Chatter. Conversations. Not participating in them, necessarily, but hearing them. The woods had sounds and before his exile he considered it a calming version of silence. Now it was deafening.
Tonight, he’d handle his needs. Not all, but as many as could be crammed into a single instance of debauchery.
While he cleaned up, attempting to make himself look less like a homeless man living in the woods, he tried not to regret his decision. He could have had a pack. Months ago, he’d been invited. But he’d turned it down for various reasons, and now he was facing the consequences.
He held his breath and finished his transformation into eligible bachelor with a light spritz of cologne he’d stolen from a previous trip to town. The scent, a blend of musk and vanilla, wreaked havoc on his sensitive nose, but it did well to mask the fact that he slept on the ground and bathed in the river.
Human females were more discerning than lupine, after all.
His kind naturally attracted attention from humans, but he still preferred to not take chances. It was too risky, and he needed companionship too desperately to rely on pheromones alone.
“My name is Kalle,” he said to the empty forest. It sounded strange. He’d been away from town for a full month, and that was the last time he’d spoken. “You look lovely,” he practiced. “My name is Kalle.”
Pathetic. Disgust for how he’d fallen rose up like bile in the back of his throat, but this is what it took to survive. And he was nothing if not a survivor.
He brushed at his dark shirt and glanced at the sun. Dusk still had a few hours to go. He packed up his things into his backpack and tucked it into the hollow at the base of the tree next to him. Before his date tonight, he’d need food. He was running out of cash, but tonight he’d splurge.
* * *
Kalle downed a shot of whiskey and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The burger and fries had cleared his palette, and the alcohol made him feel sanitized. His wolf had taken a liking to hunting trout in the nearby lake’s shallows, and though it was safe for him, it felt strange to return to his human form with the taste of raw fish lingering in his teeth. Food was cooked for a damn good reason.
He glanced around the bar, slowly taking in the night’s crowd. This town had a decent number of attractive young women, and there were plenty here. The hard part was making sure whoever he spoke with was single.
He’d made the mistake of flirting with a woman whose boyfriend was outside smoking. It wasn’t a mistake he wanted to repeat. Bar fights meant being banned from the easiest spot to pick up women, after all.
He moved away from the counter and followed the wall, circling the herd. One woman’s attention followed him. Several women had looked his way since he’d entered, but this one was more focused than the rest and had a flattering hunger to her.
She sat alone at a table, her slender fingers picking at the free bowl of peanuts at its center. And as he rounded the pool table to see her better, her deep brown stare didn’t waiver. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath, but one end of the bar smelled close enough to the other. If she had lingering remnants of another guy’s cologne, it was lost to the reek of cheap beer and everything else. His wolf stalked back and forth in the back of his mind, as if he needed a reminder of what tonight was about.
The feral part of him was already imagining taking her outside. Her auburn hair had a gentle curl to it that shimmered in the sleazy light hanging from the pool table, and that was enough for his wolf. He’d never had a redhead before. His appetite craved new, as if a night with her would be a conquest. His human mind didn’t understand it, but that didn’t matter. This was his wicked side, and feeding it meant staying sane a bit longer.
At first, he hadn’t understood why hookup sex tamed his wolf. But that side of him relied on the baser parts of nature. Eat, thrive, survive, not that human women could help with the thrive part since they couldn’t give him progeny.
Maybe the feral pulse throughout him had turned thrive into simply ‘fuck’ or maybe it was the physical closeness. It didn’t matter. His wolf needed it, so he got it. Whenever he found a willing woman to have a good time, his human self gained a bigger foothold. A foothold that diminished each full moon, but until he had a better idea about finding balance, this was what worked.
He arrived at her table and was greeted by her smile, which seemed too sweet for their surroundings.
“Are you alone?” he asked.
“Depends. Are you about to make some lame comment about me being too pretty to be alone?”
“No,” he replied. “To start, I’m not looking for trouble with another guy if you’re taken. Second, that’s your out. If you don’t want me talking to you, you can say you’re with someone, and I’ll be gone.”
“I see.”
“And to be fair, ‘pretty’ is a bit too simple of a word to describe you.”
She glanced away for a moment, and her hands abandoned the stale peanuts. “In that case, I’m alone.”
He held out his hand. “Kalle.”
“Sky.” She shook his hand and her brow wrinkled as if he was doing something strange.
As far as he knew, shaking hands and introducing oneself was standard. It had worked a dozen times for him before, anyways. He leaned against her table. She didn’t have a drink, which struck him as odd. No drinks. No date.
“You look bored, Sky,” he said, committing her name to memory. “Would you like a beer? Or maybe one of those colorful dessert drinks?”
“I’m not in the mood to drink.”
“This seems the wrong place to be, then.”
She shrugged and looked around the room, gaze landing on the far end of the bar. “I was supposed to meet friends. They bailed, but I was already here. I was trying to make the best of the night, or at least stick around until I had a better idea of where to go.”
“Did you want to go somewhere else, then?”
“Oh… I wouldn’t know where else to go,” she said. “We can stay here. I’m pretty new in town. Guess I should get used to this.”
He tilted his head. “You’re new in town and your friends abandoned you? Where did you get these friends?”
Her mouth fell open momentarily before she laughed awkwardly. “It’s a long story. You know what? Maybe we should get out of here.” She slid from her stool and was the same height standing as she had been sitting, which was not at all tall. “I need some fresh air.”
She barely waited for him to react before making her way to the door. Her head turned left and right as she walked as if she was looking for someone or something. Normally, Kalle would avoid a sketchy female, regardless of how attractive. Unfortunately, his rational side wasn’t in charge.
He was willing to be that she was married or dating or untouchable for some other reason, but he had to do what he had to do. It was either get laid and feed his inner beast or slowly slip further into an unbalanced feral state.
Just watching Sky’s lean hips sway had doused his brain in a thick fog. He wanted to touch her hair, which he imagined would be like silk floss between his fingers. Her large, deep brown eyes held a mysterious hard glint to them, and he wanted to see if it would last through a rough tumble.
She took a deep breath once they were outside and lifted her chin toward the line of trees that met the back of the parking lot.
“You want a moonlit stroll?” he asked.
She slid her hands into the back pockets of her tight black jeans and took a step away. Staring over her shoulder she said, “I think you know what I want, and we can’t handle it in there.”
She walked away, leaving him staring and drowning in beastly lust. Her point was true enough, but in his experience most women preferred anything to sex in the woods. Cheap hotel room, sure. A car parked in a dark spot, maybe. But the outdoors? She knew exactly how to turn him on.
He caught up to her and placed his hands on her hips. H
is thumbs brushed under the hem of her shirt, catching the soft warmth of her skin. “Wait.”
“Why?”
He spun her to face him and reached down to cup her chin. She watched him as if in a trance and he dipped down to kiss her. Her lips parted hesitantly but he didn’t mind the nervous drafts that came from her. Like a woman afraid of her own wants—that was fine by him. He wasn’t here to question her decisions.
Hand tangling in her silky soft hair, he closed his eyes and embraced the heavy weight of desire. She was everything he needed tonight, and judging by her pounding heart and the gentle sigh she released as he kissed her, she needed him too.
Her hand flattened against his chest and pushed at him. The action didn’t manage to move him an inch, but he got the point and gave her space. She wiped her thumb across her bottom lip and shivered.
“Chase me,” she said in a low breathy voice then sped into the night.
He gave her a moment, holding back the growl that vibrated in his throat and the tremor that heated his blood. How fitting that she would want to play this game. He excelled at this game.
The night cast shadows around him but he could see clearly and track Sky’s lazy dash through the trees with no effort. She danced around, glancing back at him as leaves crumpled beneath her boots. He followed in a bit of a stupor. He couldn’t get drunk off the human’s drinks, but his mind was spinning.
He blamed it on her and how the scent of her anticipation colliding with his wolf’s desperation.
He caught up to her and grabbed her by the arm. “I’ve got you.”
Her eyes flickered beyond him for a moment and she grinned. “Or I’ve got you.”
The sheer cockiness of her voice did him in. He pressed her back to the nearest tree and captured her mouth with his. There was still a wall between them, keeping her from giving in completely. Apparently, her words were more confident than her body, but she wasn’t moving away this time.
He gripped her sides and trailed his hands up so that his thumbs traced the underneath of her perky breasts. They weren’t huge but they weren’t small. The perfect medium. A tiny squeak left her throat, riling him.