by Lacey Thorn
Derrick was the one growling now.
“Running or fucking,” Cody mused while his mind ran through scenarios. “When did this start?”
Michael shrugged. “The run? Since I woke up. I’ve been antsy. Like my wolf is clawing to get out of my skin.”
“The fucking?” Adrian prompted when Michael didn’t continue.
Michael blew out a hard breath. “When I caught her scent.”
“Fuck,” Derrick grunted, running his hands through his hair.
“I warned you Michael would most likely feel the same way,” Adrian told Derrick. “There’s something about her.”
Cody couldn’t agree more. There was definitely something about Jess. Hell, he’d been adamant they leave her for the other humans to find. Not because he was an asshole, but because it was an asshole move to pull a stranger into their situation. Especially a woman.
Like Michael though, once Cody had caught her scent, he’d been a hundred percent with Derrick. Then Cody had touched her. She’d pulled his wolf to the surface immediately, making him more animal than man when he was around her. It was something they all seemed to struggle with. How was it one woman was able to pull at all four of their wolves?
Had she only affected one of them, Cody would have thought she might be one of their mates. But all of them? He’d never heard of male wolves mating the same woman. They might share women occasionally, but never their mates. It prompted the question, what the hell was happening?
“You’ll need to lock me up.”
They all turned to stare at Michael, and Cody took in the way he stood, the tension in his body.
“Talk to me,” Adrian demanded as he moved around Derrick and Cody toward Michael.
Michael shook his head. “I already told you. I’m off. I’m seriously afraid I won’t be able to maintain control of myself.” He heaved out a hard breath, rocking his head back and forth. “Especially around the woman.”
“We’re not locking you up,” Cody said while Derrick snarled. Cody glared at Derrick.
“We’re not locking you up,” Derrick agreed. “But I will hurt you if I think she’s in danger from you at any time.”
Michael shook his head. “I’ll leave before it gets that bad.”
“You’re not going anywhere as long as we have no clue what’s going on with you.” Adrian crossed his arms over his chest as if daring anyone to debate with him. Cody had no intention of arguing. Despite Derrick’s demeanor, Cody knew his best friend didn’t either.
“Let me get a few vials of blood.” Cody turned as he spoke, heading to one of the cabinets recessed into the wall where he kept medical equipment and supplies he thought might be needed in emergency situations. He took out what he needed and turned back toward Michael.
Michael held his arm out. “I’m starting to feel like a damn pin cushion.”
Cody watched Michael clench his jaw while he took the blood he needed. Once again, frustration filled him. What the hell had been in the damn dart that hit Michael? Michael’s earlier words made Cody want to dig deeper into his friend’s epinephrine levels. It definitely sounded as if Michael had dumped adrenaline into his system that needed expending.
“I don’t get it,” Derrick said as if he were reading Cody’s mind. “We know there was a shift blocker and enough sedative in there to knock Michael out. It should have burned out of his system by now. What the hell else did they have in there?”
“And is the little addition from hunters or from our own people?” Adrian tacked on.
The weight of both questions settled on Cody’s shoulders. Once they knew what it was, they’d be able to track down who was responsible for it. Finding out what it was, lay firmly in Cody’s hands. He prided himself on always being prepared. He always had a plan no matter what was thrown their way. But this? He was checking everything he could think of and finding absolutely no answers. Meanwhile, they watched Michael get a little worse every day.
“Cody’ll figure it out,” Derrick said without an inkling of doubt in his voice. It killed Cody how much faith his best friend had in him, had always had in him. When others in their packs had scoffed at Cody going to medical school, Derrick had been nothing but supportive. He’d even touted how important it was for them to have those of their species trained medically. Their ability for accelerated healing didn’t mean they didn’t need medical care, and it was imperative they had someone they could trust when situations required it. Cody had finished medical school and returned to work exclusively with the wolf packs. At least those who would let him.
“I know you will, Cody.” Michael walked back to the bed and sat down while he spoke. “But I’m asking you now, while I’m still in control. If something happens and push comes to shove, lock me the fuck up. Don’t let me hurt one of you or god forbid, the woman. Don’t make me live with that.”
Adrian opened his mouth, but Derrick spoke first.
“I’ll turn the key myself,” Derrick vowed. “But only as long as it takes for you to gain control and not a moment longer.”
Michael nodded then turned back to Cody. “Do you have more of that sedative you gave me last night?”
Cody nodded. “I told you though, I don’t like mixing drugs without knowing what’s already in your system. I have no idea how things might interact, and I don’t want to risk making you worse.”
Michael sighed. “I need it to sleep. I can’t…nothing shuts off, otherwise. Not my mind or my body. And I’m tired. Hell, I’m fucking exhausted.”
“How long has it been since you slept on your own?” Cody demanded as he stared at his friend.
Michael shrugged, but Adrian answered.
“Four days before you gave him something last night.”
Cody glanced between Adrian and Michael. “And you didn’t share that with me why?”
“Michael didn’t want to worry you guys,” Adrian answered, giving Michael a look as if daring the other man to contradict him.
“I can’t help with what I don’t know about,” Cody admonished. “Let me see what I have that’s least likely to cause any further issues.”
Derrick followed Cody as he headed down the hallway toward the den’s fully stocked lab.
“Thoughts?” Derrick asked as soon as the two of them were alone.
“If I had any, you’d be the first to know,” Cody admitted.
“I can see your mind working from here.”
“That would be because I’m calculating possible drug interactions with a substance I don’t have a fucking clue about,” Cody snapped before turning and looking at Derrick. “Watching him, witnessing the changes, especially what we saw earlier, makes me think they’ve added something in to fuck with his adrenal medulla.”
“What’s that?” Derrick questioned. “Something with fight or flight, right?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“Easy then. We take him out and let him run it off, or we do some close combat training.”
Cody wished it were that simple. “Except for that little problem of the anti-shift drug they gave him.”
“Fuck!” Derrick snapped. “I forgot he can’t shift. What about fighting? Can he fight with one of us and get it out of his system?”
“Something’s warning me that isn’t a good idea either. And before you ask, no, I don’t have a medical reason for that conclusion. My instincts are screaming at me that we shouldn’t try it.”
Derrick looked thoughtful. “I’m good with listening to your instincts. They’ve saved more lives than I can count. Including my own. Any suggestions on what we should be doing for him? I fucking hate seeing him this way.”
“We all do. And I’m working on it. For now, I’ll try to give him something to counteract a rush of adrenaline in his system.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” Derrick demanded, and Cody wasn’t surprised his friend was picking up on his growing worry.
“If we don’t find out what’s going on with him soon, I’m afraid we’ll lose
him. If he were human…” Cody stopped and shook his head. “Hell, I think he’d already be dead or close to.”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly,” Cody agreed. He had to force himself to say the next sentence. “It’s the wrong time to have her here. There’s too much we can’t control.”
Derrick growled, the sound rumbling through his chest and filling the room.
“Including you. And Michael. Hell, even I’m struggling. Only Adrian seems to be holding out when it comes to her.”
Derrick shook his head. “He wants her, too.”
“Then we need to send her away, Derrick. Before we’re all completely fucked.”
And not in a good way, Cody thought. Definitely not in a good way.
“She stays,” Derrick commanded as if Cody weren’t battling the desire to make the same demand himself.
Cody nodded. “I’m going to give Michael another dose of sedative while I examine the new samples I took. Maybe, they’ll indicate what to give him to counter what was in that damn dart.” He paused, blowing out a breath. He knew Derrick wouldn’t like his next words. “Stay away from her, Derrick. Right now. For all of our sakes. Give her the room she asked for.”
Chapter Six
Derrick was drawn to Jess as if she were singing a siren’s song meant just for him. He’d tried to force his feet to take him anywhere but to her, but there was nowhere else he wanted to be. Maybe, she’d walk out of his bathroom and tell him to get the hell out of his bedroom. She’d already told him she needed space, and the first thing he’d done when the opportunity presented itself was to find her. Just her scent calmed his soul. God help him, she’d have to reaffirm her need for him to get the hell away from her.
He’d deserve it, and he’d honor it. He swore he would. For now, he sat on the edge of his bed, listening to the sound of the shower running in the other room. Cody was busy giving Michael another sedative downstairs. Then he’d go work on finding answers. Adrian would stay with Michael. That left Derrick alone with Jess.
His senses focused on every sound he heard in the next room. The water. Jess’ subtle movements. It was too easy to imagine her naked, to visualize the water dripping off her. He wanted to taste, to touch. A growl had him searching the room for one of the other three. Reality slammed home when he was forced to acknowledge the animal sound came from him.
Before he realized his intent, he was across the room, fingers closing around the bathroom knob. He forced his hand to still, leaning his head against the door and breathing deeply. Bad choice. Really fucking bad choice. Her scent filled his lungs, and it was like a match to gasoline. There was no holding him back as he opened the door and stepped into the steam.
“Derrick?” Jess called from the shower, and the sound of his name on her lips was his undoing.
He stripped quickly then had the shower door open in mere moments. Her eyes widened as he stepped in with her.
“I want you.” The words were hard, slurred as need for her ate at his insides.
“I can see that.” Her gaze fell to his cock where it rose long and thick between his legs.
“I can’t control myself.” And it killed him that he couldn’t. “I’m fighting with everything I have to keep from touching you, from bending you over and taking you. I need you to yell at me if that’s not what you want. Order me away from you. God help me, I don’t think I can stop myself.”
She moved into him. “Didn’t I already tell you I needed time alone? I don’t think you listen very well, Derrick.” She shook her head even as she wrapped her palm around his girth and gave his shaft a squeeze. “Besides, I’m not going anywhere. I want you, too. God help me, I want all of you, and I don’t know how to feel about that.”
His kiss cut off the rest of her words, forcing her backward under the water until her back met the wall, and the warm cascade ran over his back. He had her boosted and pinned in seconds, enjoying the way she automatically lifted her legs to wrap around his waist. He wanted to ask if she was sure. Wanted to hear her say again that she wanted this, wanted him, but he didn’t want to hear she wanted them all. Not now. Not this first time together. This was only for the two of them. For now, she was only his.
He refused to break the kiss that was driving them both wild. He didn’t need to. She reached between them and positioned him where they both wanted, running the crown through her folds, bumping her clit and catching her breath before pressing him into her opening.
“Fuck me,” she ordered when they finally broke for air.
He was more than happy to comply. He surged deep, filling her with every inch of his rod. Her head fell back against the slick tile, exposing her throat in a sign of surrender, whether she knew it or not.
He clamped his teeth at the base of her throat, barely managing to refrain from breaking her skin. He pounded into her until her cries echoed around them. Her nails dug into the backs of his shoulders as she urged him on. She took everything he gave and only demanded more. He tried to be gentle of her side, careful of her wrist, but she had no such hesitation.
“Jess,” he moaned. He needed to say more, but the words stuck in his throat.
“Yes,” she agreed as if she heard all the things trapped inside him. “Take me. Make me yours, Derick. Yours.”
He growled, his wolf agreeing with her request. She was theirs. She’d asked. It would be so easy to make her his mate. He wanted to, and being balls deep inside her wasn’t doing anything to deter him.
“I want you to be mine,” he forced out.
She nodded, but he needed more.
“Say it,” he ordered.
“Yours,” she agreed.
The words barely left her lips before he claimed them again. God, he could die in her kiss. He reached down, sliding his hand between their bodies until his fingers hovered over her clit. He pressed down, rubbing tight circles over her with his thumb, throwing her over the edge into orgasm. Her channel squeezed around his cock, milking it. He surged deep and held there as he spilled inside her. He skimmed his lips back down to her throat, kissing where he’d lightly bit her. She shuddered against him as tremors wracked her body.
It took long moments before he could move. He braced one hand under her ass to hold her to him while he used the other to turn off the water. He didn’t bother toweling off. He carried her out of the bathroom and straight to the bed, tumbling them both onto the mattress.
“That was amazing,” she said, reaching out to trail her fingers over his chest.
Cody was going to kill him. If he didn’t, Adrian or Michael would. And he deserved their wrath. He’d done exactly what Cody had warned him not to. Now, there was no turning back. His glance fell to the bite marring her perfect skin. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t permanent, and knowing that had his animal on edge. She was his now. Only his. All his. So why the fuck was he worried about Cody or Michael or Adrian? Thoughts of them had no purpose filling his head at present.
“Think the others have realized what we’re doing up here yet?” she asked, and he swore there was laughter in her voice.
“Christ, woman. Do you have any idea what we’ve done?” What he would do?
“Well, I wouldn’t have taken you for a man to regret sex,” she challenged.
Derrick sat up and stared at her. “I don’t regret what we shared. But make no mistake, Jess. I’m not only a man. I’m a wolf. Sometimes, more animal than man. I don’t think you understand what that means.”
“Because I’m not one of you?” she asked. “I’ve been around wolves in one capacity or another all my life. I’m well aware of what they’re capable of. It’s the man part that might throw me a curve.”
The woman only became more interesting. He was curious to find out how she’d been around wolves. Obviously, it had been enough to prompt a few of her degrees. Most notably, the ones in animal biology and zoology—with a specialty in canis lupus, wolves.
“You said you’d been searching for us. When we found you in the Jeep, you sa
id those words.”
She nodded. “From the time I was little, I’ve always been fascinated with wolves. It was a love my mother shared with me. When she died, my father encouraged it. Maybe, it was a way to keep a part of her alive for both of us. Then we found an obscure story about people who could shift into wolves, and I was hooked.”
“An obscure story?”
“Do you know every myth or legend has a kernel of truth to it somewhere? All I had to do was follow the trail back to the beginning.”
“Where exactly did the legend or myth you followed start?” She definitely had his curiosity piqued now.
“It’s taken me all over the world. Africa, Asia, Europe. But I actually found what I was looking for in Alaska.”
“Damn, you’ve been everywhere.” Derrick was impressed. He’d done some traveling, but nothing like her.
“Some places twice,” she offered with a grin. “I have to admit I fell almost as hard for Alaska as I did for the wolves themselves.”
“You’re an interesting woman, Jessara Mueller.”
“You should meet my father.”
Derrick couldn’t stop himself. He leaned in and took her mouth again. Cupping the back of her head, he angled their heads until they were perfectly aligned. God, she was heaven. He wanted her again. He was already half on top of her, his cock hard and thick again with need. For her.
“Derrick?” she questioned when he paused with his mouth hovering above hers.
He licked his lips, gaze dropping once more to the mark at the base of her throat, the one he needed to make permanent. He growled, the animal sound appearing to turn her on further. She cupped her breast with one hand, her thumb rubbing over the hard point of her nipple, drawing his gaze and making his mouth water with the need to taste, to wrap his lips around the ripe berry and suck.
“Do you want me, Derrick?”
“Yes.” A guttural growl.
“Take me,” she challenged, crooking her finger and beckoning him to her.
“I’m going to claim you,” he warned.