by Ruby Raine
It took everything he had to get back onto his feet. He shook his head trying to remain coherent. There was something familiar about this scent.
Never mind the God damned smell. Find the wolf.
But that smell, his mind argued.
A growl flitted through his lips. He needed to find out what created that smell. He wanted more of it.
The wolf. The wolf. The wolf. His human mind shouted somewhere deep in his brain.
Gray fur, just in front of him.
He lunged toward it, stopping himself just before landing on it.
Just a gray fuzzy sweater, his human mind warned.
The hiker.
The hiker turned around. “Eva!” Charlie’s voice came out in a sinister growl.
“Holy shit! Charlie Howard. You scared me half to death!”
Seeing a familiar face did not tame his wild side. His wolf senses tingled. He stepped closer, a menacing stance shouting silent threats at her.
“What are you doing out here?” His demand was unkind.
Eva stepped back, pointing apprehensively to a basket on the ground. “I’ve been collecting flower specimen for my father. What’s wrong with you, Charlie?” Her feet moved backwards in an attempt to put some space between them. But with each step she took back, he took one forward.
“Why are you here?” he asked again, disbelieving her explanation about picking flowers. Silver slits bore into Eva’s wide hazel eyes, each look he cast a warning for her to tell the truth. She swallowed a stammered response he didn’t hear.
The intoxicating smell filtered through his nostrils, seeping into his throat and nothing else mattered at that moment. He needed to find the source of the smell. He needed to possess whatever caused it.
He crouched down and sniffed the flowers she’d been picking. He swept the basket away with his hand spilling out the contents within. He stood up, stalking closer to Eva. She backed into a tree, her eyes taking quick swipes to each side, looking for an escape. Charlie could hear her heart, strumming faster and faster.
“They’re medicinal,” he heard Eva saying.
Her voice sounded distant to him.
He could only focus on the smell. A fragrance that enticed him, filled him with unbridled need, to a point where he might even kill for it.
Eva kept talking. “My father uses them to make herbal ointments, like the one I’m using to heal my leg.” She pointed at her still bandaged leg.
Charlie cast his gaze down for just a moment.
“I know they’re illegal to pick, but I didn’t think I’d be doing any real damage just picking a few,” Eva continued rambling.
“Stop. Speaking.” Charlie ordered severely. He moved so close to Eva she had no chance of escape. His muscular frame towered over her.
She refused his order. “What’s wrong with you, Charlie?” Her voice, purposely soothing. It sent a wave of awareness and clarity into his mind.
“Don’t move, Eva,” he pleaded.
He leaned his head against the tree just above her shoulder, the wolf and human sides of his brain in a battle for control.
Eva reined in her satisfied smile. So far, her experiment was working perfectly. She seemed to have found the perfect dose to do her damage. To make Charlie Howard lose control. To free the wolf. When the moon rises tonight, I will own him.
“It’s you. Same as the cave,” Charlie growled.
The hunter returned, overpowering his human side. The addictive smell winning the attention of his wolf. He stared into her eyes, blinking hard.
“What the fuck?” Her eyes weren’t a soft hazel any longer, more of a golden yellow. He shook his head again. Blinking hard. Nothing looked right. Everything was blurry. Wrong. His wolf sight had never failed him before. It was like his sense of smell was the only thing working.
Eva put her hand daringly onto his face, stroking his coarse whiskers; it brought a low rumble of a growl out of him. She didn’t worry about her eyes changing color. Charlie’s mind was so befuddled he’d never remember or think it real, later.
Charlie grabbed her hand meaning to push it away, but instead tore the sleeve of her sweater and laved his tongue up her arm, needing to see if the taste of her was as intoxicating as the smell.
She gasped, her body stiffening.
He grinned wickedly. Good. Eva hadn’t expected that.
What she hadn’t expected was her wolf’s reaction to the act. It shot a surge of electric pulses wherever his tongue licked her skin, leaving behind a trail that burned.
It had happened in the cave as well, her wolf wanted to come out and play. She was tempted to let it.
No. Not yet.
If he finds out too soon it will ruin everything.
Charlie had never experienced anything like it before. A complete loss of control. His actions taken in and taken over by just one desire.
The tiniest bit of his human mind raced frantically to regain the upper hand.
If it was night and the moon risen, without a doubt he would surrender to the wolf. It waited, just under his skin as if counting down to the moon rising. He would not be able to stop the transformation.
Stop it? Why would I want to stop it? He’d never felt such need to allow the transformation to take place. To uncage the wolf.
Charlie’s breath came out in deep pants, a feral snarl flitting through his parted lips. He tore the rest of the fuzzy sweater off Eva, leaving just a thin tank top to cover her. He forced her arms above her head, pinning them against the trunk of the tree.
He leaned in, threatening to connect his teeth with her skin. He licked the lengthening canines pushing out his lips. Eva exhaled, a shudder of fright sending Charlie into a frenzy.
“You should be afraid of me.” His exposed teeth pinched across her neck. A sinister snarl plastered doom against her skin.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Eva held her breath. Too far...
Charlie wanted to bite into her flesh. Needed to tear skin off her body and rip her to shreds. Maybe he should let her go? Yes, let her think she can get away from me. Give her a few minutes’ head start. This thought excited him. Aroused him.
He loosened his grip and then changed his mind, tightening his grasp on her arms.
Eva swallowed hard, feeling her captor’s growth hardening against her stomach. Its lusty throb ground into her abdomen. She pushed right back wanting to feel it. Wanting his thick lust to press lower.
Why did I just do that? He’s about to rip my damn throat out. She was having all the wrong reactions to this experiment meant to test Charlie’s defenses. Not hers.
She’d barely been able to get her yellow wolf eyes to change back to her human hazel. This test needed to end, now. It was an epic fail. She’d lost her control over him. And still, her body reacted to him in every wrong way.
Not my body. My wolf.
She hadn’t planned for this possibility.
When it happened in the cave, she thought it was her wolf feeling a little frisky. She’d almost told her father but decided against it. That might prove a fatal mistake now.
Even with these thoughts swimming through her brain, her wolf had a mind of its own. Her breaths came out rushed and needy.
Charlie recognized this reaction. It wasn’t fear.
So she likes it. He wanted to see the fear back in her eyes. A snarl swept through his teeth. His mouth widened in warning, his tongue caressing his teeth, his mouth watering just thinking of eating her.
Eva closed her eyes, bracing for the bite. Fuck. This isn’t going to end well. Stupid bitch, she berated her other half as it continued to encourage him. His tongue licked her skin from neck to cheek and she let out an ecstatic moan. Teeth clamped onto her shoulder.
Eva had no idea which side was winning at this point. She felt equal amounts of fear and desire.
Charlie’s arms lifted, pulling hers higher. She winced, bare arms scraping against bark, her toes just touching the ground.
His legs centered between hers, pu
shing her limbs apart, her feet leaving the ground. She was trapped unless she freed her wolf. She didn’t have enough strength to fight him off her in human form. Her human half screamed silently to beg him to stop, but the wolf wanted to feel his bite. She’d never had her two halves want the opposite thing. Maybe that wasn’t right. The wolf wanted him, but if she was honest, God damn it, so did her human side. But not like this. Ending up dead was not part of the plan.
His teeth tightened against her skin. He needed to taste her flesh. To have it on his tongue, in his teeth. Nothing else mattered. Just one, delicious, bite.
“Charlie. Devin. Howard!” a hardened voice called out.
It was William.
Charlie ignored him.
“You must stop!”
Charlie whipped his head to look at William and let out a savage growl.
William rushed Charlie, slamming him to the ground. He reached down and grasped Charlie’s throat, threatening to choke him.
“Do. Not. Make. Me. Hurt. You.” William spat out venomously.
Charlie kicked and pulled at William’s arm, unable to free himself. His only thoughts revolved around killing Eva Jordan. Sinking his teeth, ravaging her milky skin with globs of red.
He gnashed and chomped his teeth, aiming his bite at the vampire. If he didn’t calm down, and accidentally bit William, the vampire would be dead in minutes. This didn’t deter William from pinning Charlie to the ground, his icy grip holding firm around his neck.
Michael appeared, out of breath. Holy shit. His eyes were wide with confused dread as he witnessed William nearly strangling Charlie, his brother in a rage unlike Michael had never seen before. His eyes swept to Eva, her gaze frozen on Charlie.
Michael could sense the uncontrolled fury and need pouring out of his brother; he tried to ignore it and ran to check on Eva. “Are you okay?”
She nodded yes, looking only slightly bewildered. To Michael’s surprise, there was little fear in Eva’s emotions. The smallest bit of confusion over what happened. This baffled him for a moment until he realized what emotions were pouring out of her. Lust, desire, excitement.
“Wow,” Michael uttered, trying to ignore his empathic ability. Any normal person would have, and should have, been frightened near to death. Her feelings baffled him, but more importantly, Eva Jordan, turned on by his brother’s enraged behavior, was not a picture he wanted in his mind.
“Get her out of here,” William demanded forcefully.
Eva didn’t struggle when Michael grabbed hold of her arm and hastily departed the area. The farther away Michael took Eva Jordan, the more in control Charlie became. After just a minute of breathing Eva free air, a defeated, but normal looking Charlie Howard lay on the ground underneath William’s grasp.
Upon seeing Charlie return, the vampire released his grip.
Charlie turned over, trying to get up, but fell back to his knees in complete disgust. He remembered everything. Everything he’d done. Said. Felt. Wanted. Almost taken.
“I nearly killed her, William. I wanted to kill her. If you hadn’t stopped me...”
If William hadn’t gotten there when he did. If he hadn’t stopped him.
At the very least, he would have bitten Eva, passing on his curse to her.
He couldn’t even think about what he’d tried to do to William.
Charlie thought he might be sick.
William reached down and pulled Charlie off the ground, forcing him to stand and look at him, eye to eye. “I will not allow you to fail, Charlie. Do not give up now.”
“What if it’s something you can’t stop, William? Whatever this was, is... I don’t even remotely pretend to understand, but I don’t think it had anything to do with the alpha. It felt more primal, like I happened upon something that triggered my wolf.”
Charlie turned away from William, fearing he’d see disappointment in the vampire’s eyes. “If it had been a full moon, William, I would not have been able to fight it. If something like this ever happens to me during a full moon, I won’t be able to control it. I will transform and I will kill someone. Many someone’s.”
“Then we will do as we have always done,” insisted William, dashing in front of Charlie, to speak at him directly. “We will not stop until we find a solution.”
“And what if the only solution is to kill me? Can you do it, William? Can you kill me?”
William closed his eyes and dared not think about it.
“You can’t let me hurt anyone.” Charlie’s voice sounded as though he’d already conceded that he was doomed.
“Let’s go home,” was all William replied.
MICHAEL WAITED ANXIOUSLY in the jeep. He took a relieved breath when he saw Charlie and William exit the woods. His brother said nothing as he slid into the back seat. Michael threw a look at William, who tossed one back that said, not now.
He started the jeep and headed toward home. His gaze drifted to the mirror, keeping an eye on Charlie as he drove. His brother looked defeated, deflated. Like he’d already lost the battle and condemned himself.
He wasn’t paying attention to the road and hit a pothole, sending the jeep bouncing into the air. It landed with a hard thud. “Sorry,” apologized Michael. “We need new shocks.” The jolt released Charlie from his silent stupor. “You okay?”
Charlie nodded a weak yes.
“Look, um, I don’t really get what happened out there, but we’ll figure it out, and deal with it.” Michael looked to William for backup, but he seemed far away, deep in thought.
“What happened was I nearly killed Eva Jordan. No, not killed, more like ripped to shreds.”
“Okay,” choked Michael.
“It was some sort of smell,” Charlie explained. “Intoxicating, like a drug. A very bad drug, with very bad side effects.”
“Smell?” questioned William, joining the conversation.
“I can’t even describe it other than completely overwhelming. It took over all control. I had none left. It happened when we were in the cave in Bloodsucker Bay as well.”
“Is that what happened?” asked Michael. He hadn’t brought it up again, although he had never seen his brother acting so strangely.
“It wasn’t near as strong or as bad when it happened before, in the cave. But the same underlying feelings were all there. Just dampened. A lot. Unlike today.”
“Perhaps this Eva Jordan’s body releases some sort of chemical that attracts your wolf?” William suggested.
“With the horrible side effect being I’m so attracted, I want to tear the skin off her body, piece by piece.” Charlie lifted his eyes in dark sarcasm.
“Something of the sort,” William replied bleakly.
Charlie did recall having a raging hard on, and had no idea if William or his brother had witnessed that, but didn’t bring it up, horrified by it. Horrified by what he’d wanted to do to her. What he did do to her.
It wasn’t him. It didn’t even feel like his wolf. His wolf had never acted like that before, ever. His wolf was physically stronger than his human side. Less controlled. Frisky; it was definitely that. It liked to play rough. Hence his time with Nina, however, she had the power and strength to handle him.
What he’d wanted to do to Eva was sadistic.
He swallowed hard, wondering if she was just as twisted as him. There was a moment he remembered clearly, when she had returned his desire. That had been real. He had sensed it. Felt it by the way her body responded to him.
Most of what happened was getting hazy in his memory, like a dream slipping away after waking. But he remembered wanting to injure and kill. To bathe in pain and fear.
“How was she, Michael?” he finally dared ask. “I don’t know how the hell I’m going to do it, but I need to find some way to apologize.” Charlie shook his head and released a weary exhale. “How the hell do you apologize to someone you threatened to tear to pieces?”
“Yeah, I don’t think they make any cards for that,” Michael jested lightly, attempting
to brighten his brother’s outlook. “But actually, she was okay all things considered. A little freaked I think, but to her benefit, she handles crazy well. Kind of eerily well.” It was something he and Charlie had noticed when they’d met her in the cave, but Michael was beginning to wonder if there wasn’t something to Charlie’s distrust of her. His brother had felt something was off. Maybe there was. Then again, maybe she just liked her men angry and dangerous.
He shook his head, disbelieving he was once again being dragged into a sibling’s sex life. Although, this situation was a bit different and much more complicated.
He glanced through the mirror watching his brother’s face. “It’s actually too bad you want to kill her so badly, Charlie. Eva is,” Michael stopped, searching for the right words. “She’s very into you.”
“Yeah. Too bad,” he uttered in dry disgust.
Michael left out one little part. When he and Eva had gotten out of the woods, her emotions had just disappeared. He couldn’t get a read on them any longer. He wondered maybe if it was shock. Perhaps the reality of what had just happened hit her more appropriately, the excitement washed away by an overwhelming dose of fear. This was the only explanation he could imagine behind the cause of her emotional shutdown. Regardless of why, he didn’t want to burden his brother with this right now. He’d tell him later when things had calmed down.
“Charlie, it dawns on me,” said William, from the front seat, “that we have never properly researched the subject of mating rituals between wolves, or werewolves.”
“Mating rituals?” Charlie repeated, awkwardly.
“Yes. The smell that attracts you to Eva is obviously engaging your wolf. Perhaps this is because it sees her as a potential mate.”
“Do wolves eat their mates?” Michael asked. “I’ve never heard of that.”
“Me either.” Charlie shifted uncomfortably, hoping they would move onto another topic.
“I could be wrong,” William advised. “Perhaps your wolf senses something about Eva that you do not care for, and it sees her as a potential rival.”
“Rival? Like she’s into women? Not men?” clarified Charlie.