Stalk (Hotblooded Book 1)

by Victoria Danann

  Almost instantly the soft, warm woman draped over Nick’s shoulder began to change shape, drastically. Her mass protracted into hard muscle and bone that was heavier and, twisting as she was, impossible to hold. In wolf form, Reese pushed free of Nick’s hold, landing on the ground on her shoulder and jaw.

  She recovered from the awkward fall almost immediately and sprang into a teeth-bared crouch. In the struggle she’d managed to get in a few bites, which were bleeding profusely.

  The last thing he cared about was the blood. He was witnessing the birth of his very own miracle. A mate.

  Her wolf was every bit as beautiful as her human form. Dark legs and tail. Grey coat with rust colored highlights all around her chest, neck, and head. She was also adorable tangled in pale pink sleep wear.

  “Reese,” he whispered.

  She responded with a snarl so loud, angry, and ferocious he was afraid they were going to draw the attention of neighbors. And that simply could not happen. The wolf had to be subdued, but Nick kept his head and knew that, if the ‘experiment’ didn’t end with proof, it would be a missed opportunity.

  Without taking his eyes off her, he began to speak in low tones of apology and reassurance as he moved ever so slowly toward his phone. The entire time she kept her nose pointed far forward and rumbled with a continual low growl. It grew louder when she breathed out, quieter when the breathed in.

  If he could just reach the phone and get a photo, she would have to believe him. Knowing the slightest move could alarm her and trigger an attack, he continued to move painstakingly slowly.

  “I’m just going to reach over here and get this device,” he said slowly, quietly. “It won’t hurt you.”

  Apparently she didn’t believe that because another loud snarl erupted as she took a tentative step toward him. He hoped his ‘experiment’ hadn’t created a permanent distrust. It was clear that Reese’s wolf was mad as hell about the idea of having her two-legged form ass-slapped. She didn’t like that and she didn’t like Nick much either.

  “See. This won’t hurt you.” The wolf glanced at the phone and bared her teeth again.

  Nick looked down, located the camera feature with one hand and took the photo just before she sprang, seeming wholly committed to ripping his throat out. Only a werewolf with decades of practice would have both the skill and presence of mind to be able to shift during the partial second when his future mate was mid-air.

  When Reese, in wolf form, collided with Nick, she found herself on her back on the floor, with a large male’s jaws closed around her neck. His teeth didn’t dig deep enough to break the skin, but did apply enough pressure so that she understood the ritual. Clearly.

  She resisted for a few beats before surrendering to instinct then turned her head so as to make herself completely vulnerable; the wolf version of crying ‘uncle’. If she could have seen that the male’s tail was wagging with delight the entire time, she probably wouldn’t have experienced the moment of abject fear when she realized she might die.

  After submitting her throat, Reese involuntarily shifted back to two-legged form. The leggings were around her ankles, the sleep shirt was bunched around her middle leaving her arms and shoulders and breasts unencumbered. And she was staring into the face of a big gray timber wolf with amber colored eyes.

  She shuddered. Then sniffed. The wolf smelled familiar. Like… Nick.

  In front of her eyes he transformed into the man she’d learned to like, if not to trust. Fully.

  He adjusted his position so that he was cradled between her legs and administered tiny little kisses to her jaw and throat. “Your wolf is beautiful. I got a photo.”

  Reese sucked in a huge breath and looked a little wild-eyed. “This can’t be happening. Holy hell. This can’t be happening.”

  “Surprise.”

  “This is not funny. You just made it impossible for me to deny that you’re a… werewolf. Do you have any idea how ridiculous I feel saying that out loud? I liked my plausible deniability just fine.”

  “So you’re saying you wanted the blue pill?”

  “Blue pill? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Never mind. It was a movie reference and… irrelevant, I guess. The thing is that we weren’t getting anywhere with denying the obvious. Now that everything is out in the open,” he inched down so that he could place kisses between her breasts, “we can restart the clock on our future.”

  “Our future?” She looked down at what he was doing. “Stop that! I’m trying to have a crisis here.”

  He chuckled. “Okay. So maybe you need a little period of adjustment.”

  “Have you always been that good at understatement or is that new, too?”

  He leaned up the better to see her face. “All things considered, you’re taking this pretty well.”

  “No, I’m not. It’s just that it’s impossible to think when your bare sexy bits are nestling with my bare sexy bits. I’m only human.” She scowled. “I mean…”

  He chuckled. “I know what you mean.”

  She sighed. “That’s good. Because I have no idea if I know what I mean.”

  “We’ll take this one little step at a time, but I do want to get this in early so you know. I’m thrilled to my toenails.”

  “You are?”

  “Oh, yeah. I wanted you before. Just imagine how much I want you now.”

  Something about that little speech warmed her heart. “Can I see the photo?” she whispered.

  “Of course.” Grudging putting any distance between them, he slowly eased away. Reese stood and readjusted her clothes so that she was actually wearing them.

  Nick handed her the phone.

  She knew what to expect, but somehow it didn’t lessen the shock. She took a half step backward until her calves touched the sofa base then sat down hard, eyes never leaving the picture. On the one hand, a very angry wolf with pale pink pajamas tangled in ridiculous fashion was comical. On the other hand, as she’d suggested to Nick earlier, there was nothing funny about the situation.

  She was a werewolf.

  How she wished she could go back half an hour to a time when she didn’t have to confront that.

  After staring for some time, she put the phone down and said, “What’s next?”

  “It’s like learning to drive a car. Well, not exactly like that, of course. I mean it’s just a new skill set. You need to learn how to drive your second nature.”

  “The analogy just isn’t working.”

  “Right. Can you take a few days off work?”

  “Not just short notice, but no notice? I’d be more or less challenging them to fire me.”

  “I misspoke. I should have said you have to take a few days off work. Your job won’t be secure if you show up before you’re ready and start eating people if your wolf thinks you’re in danger, or being slighted, or mistreated.”

  “Good God. My wolf might eat Gossie Claypus,” she said half under her breath. “On the other hand, maybe that wouldn’t be all bad.”

  Nick chuckled. “There are some advantages to being double natured.” Her eyes met his and she looked interested. “Go pack a few things and come with me. Up into the mountains. You’ll learn about what you can do and how to stay in charge of your feral side. If you get fired, well, Mars and I need help in the offices. We’ll match what you were getting.”

  She angled her head to the side. “How long?”

  “I can’t read the future. I’m guessing a week?”

  Her face was impassive, but it was easy to imagine wheels turning in her head. “Did I hear you say there are others?”

  “Yeah. They’ll be happy to meet you, Reese. They’ll help you any way they can.”

  Her eyes were looking all too big and liquid. “How did this happen?” she whispered.

  He shrugged. “Like I said, my best guess is some kind of dormant trait that gets triggered by sex with one of our kind.”

  “Our kind,” she repeated slowly.

/>   Nick had finished dressing while Reese stared straight ahead. “Come on now.” He took her hand and pulled her up. “You’re going to love it in the mountains. Think of it as a badly needed vacation.”

  “Vacation. From being human.”

  “Give it a chance. It may grow on you.”

  Her eyes found his and came into focus with a single-minded clarity. “You hit me!”

  “Reese, I had to do something to try to coax you to shift. Please don’t get worked up again because if you do…”

  When she began growling low in her throat, he immediately stepped into her and covered her throat with his big right hand. He applied just enough pressure to establish dominance while he began speaking quietly. “Take a breath. I will never raise a hand to you again so long as we both shall live. You have nothing to fear from me now or ever. I’m the one who will keep you safe. And protect you with my life. Everyday. All the time. I swear it.”

  That seemed to work. When she went quiet and still, he took his hand away.

  She stared for a few beats before saying, “Everyday? All the time?”

  Nick Sigil gave her a heart-stopping grin that would make any straight girl’s knees threaten to buckle. “I swear.” He gestured toward her bedroom with his head. “We have an hour and a half drive. So…”

  She nodded slowly, but made no move toward the bedroom. “And if I get fired, you’re going to give me a job that doesn’t depend on our, um, relationship working out?”

  He cocked his head. “Ultimate, ironclad job security. No worries about your relationship either. Wolves mate for life.”

  Wolves mate for life?

  That statement prompted a hundred, no, a thousand questions, but she figured she could save it for the car ride.

  While Reese was throwing things in a bag… what to take to a werewolf christening… she was planning to pummel Nick Sigil with questions. But she slept for most of the drive instead. Learning to shift is exhausting.

  CHAPTER SIX Surprise

  It was late by the time they reached the lodge. Everything was quiet and dark. There were no outside lights for security because werewolves feel pretty secure when surrounded by packmates. No inside lights either. Night lights would be a joke to werewolves who can see pretty well by moonlight.

  When Nick cut the engine, she whispered, “Maybe nobody’s home.”

  He laughed softly as he reached over and ran a finger down her cheek. “Everybody’s home. Come on.”

  When he turned on lights inside the door, Reese’s eyes went wide. The great room was Architectural Digest beautiful.

  “This is gorgeous,” she whispered.

  “You don’t have to whisper,” Nick said. “We’re getting all of them up.” He grinned wickedly. “Want to have some fun?”

  She wasn’t sure she did want to have whatever kind of fun could cause Nick to look gleefully evil. “I’m… not sure?”

  “Okay. It’s just as well that I take the blame for this one.”

  He walked behind the long kitchen island at the far end of the room, pulled a copper-bottomed pan down from the hanging rack, grabbed a large soup ladle, and began banging on the pot, while announcing, “Hear ye. Hear ye.”

  A commotion erupted immediately, the result being noises akin to elephants having been loosed in the upstairs. But in less than a minute, all six of Nick’s packmates were staring at Reese, who was standing half behind Nick, peeking around him.

  She pointed to Ken and said, “Is that…?”

  Of course Ken had forgotten to put on a shirt, but Grey would cut him slack because of the unusual circumstances.

  “It’s not ink,” Nick half turned to say, lowering his head and his voice, but not taking his eyes away from the other shifters.

  “You’ve got five seconds to start talking,” Grey half-growled at Nick.

  “Sorry for the rude awakening,” Nick began. “But this is important.” Every pair of eyes shifted to look at Reese.

  The attention of six intense male shifters trained directly on her made her hyper aware that she was the only female. Nick heard her heartbeat quicken and sensed her discomfort. Just as quickly as Reese began to express a fear reaction to the circumstance, she calmed and the anxiety subsided.

  Nick had always heard that females were famously fast learners, but Reese was already becoming comfortable with her newly discovered dual nature. While her human intellect indicated that she should be wary of being the only woman in a house with seven men, the newly awakened wolf part of her personality assured her there was no cause for alarm.

  They would not hurt her.

  “This, gentlemen, is Reese Braga,” Nick announced. “She’s my future and may be the key to yours.”

  Rapp cocked his head to the side, sniffed the air, and took a tentative step in her direction “Shifter?” He sounded as incredulous as if he couldn’t believe he was asking that question.

  Nick nodded. “Yes. New as if she’d just been born. My best guess is that she’s been carrying a dormant gene that was triggered by mating. She’s had a traumatic night, shifting for the first time, learning that she’s dual-natured. So stop scaring her.

  “I’ve brought her here so she can be safe while she’s learning how to control her four-legged side and all the ways she might be different now. I hope you’ll make her feel welcome.”

  The other six males stared at Reese like she was a unicorn.

  “So you’re saying there might be others?” Rapp said. “Like her?” The hope in that question was unmistakable.

  “Why don’t you take the owner’s cottage?” Grey said. “That way you can have some privacy and…” He motioned to Reese.

  “Reese,” Nick supplied.

  “Reese,” Grey repeated, “can get used to being here.” When the alpha looked directly at Reese, she shuddered slightly. “You’re welcome here. All of us will help you in any way we can. Someday soon you may even think of us as family. I’m Grey.” He turned to Nick. “And I’m going back to bed.”

  One by one the males stopped in front of Reese, told her their names, and welcomed her. When the last left the kitchen, Nick led her back out to the car to retrieve her bag.

  The path to the ‘owner’s cottage’, as it had formerly been known, was made of river stones. It would have been treacherous for humans at night and would require lighting. Reese noted that she could see by halfmoon light. She could also pick up scents on the breeze and there was some delight in being able to gather information about her surroundings in that way. She’d have to learn how to interpret the smells, but that was for another day.

  The design was functional; a living room, dining room, galley kitchen, bedroom and bath. It was the last thing to be renovated and still smelled like fresh paint and stain. The style replicated that of the lodge. Tasteful. Woodsy. Masculine. Modern.

  Nick was grateful that there were clean sheets on the bed. He wasn’t sure why they’d gone to the trouble since there’d been no plans for guests. Providence maybe. Perhaps Kai’s meticulous attention to detail.

  “We’ll stay here for now,” Nick said.

  She yawned as she eyed the bed. “I’m too tired to change clothes. I just want to fall down and sleep. If I wake up, I’ll think about all this then.”

  Coming up behind her, he chuckled and kissed her neck. “It’s a lot. You can process at leisure. Just kick off your shoes and crawl in if that’s what you want.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded.

  He pulled the covers back while she unzipped her stylish hiking boots. As she slid inside the covers he pulled her Patagonia puffy vest and scarf away from her body so that she could sleep in leggings, socks, and a long comfy sweater. All in all, her day wear ensemble was probably as comfortable as any sleepwear could hope to be.

  Nick stripped bare and curled behind her, molding his body to hers. By the time he’d settled she was asleep, the faintest snore ruffling her nostrils so softly that only w
erewolf ears could hear. For him it was the sweetest sound imaginable. What he was holding in his arms was a miracle. It was the equivalent of winning the lottery, getting three wishes from a genie, and discovering the Fountain of Youth.

  A female werewolf.

  One who gave every appearance of having accepted him as mate. He nuzzled her hair and smiled in the darkness, one word repeating over and over in his head on a constantly renewing loop. Mine.

  Inside the house all six of his packmates were also wide awake, but for very different reasons. Instead of being too excited to sleep because of being curled around a mate he never expected to have, they were too excited to sleep because of the possibility of someday finding mates of their own. Female werewolves. What a welcome turn of events.

  CHAPTER SEVEN Tracker

  R.W. Foley pulled his Jeep under its designated shed and opened the back door for his dog to jump down. He lived alone on a seven acre property a hundred miles north of Vancouver. It was as thoroughly off grid as it was possible to be and still be reached by land. Roads and WIFI were two of the four concessions he grudgingly made to modernity. The other two were electricity and running water.

  He was putting up with WIFI because he couldn’t get work guiding or tracking without communication. And he couldn’t communicate without a phone. As soon as he’d saved enough, he planned to buy a truly off grid place and spend the rest of his days interacting with as few people as possible.

  If business continued like it was, he figured another four years. Five tops. There was no reason why business shouldn’t continue. He was really good at hiding his true feelings about the clientele who sought him out. In fact, he was in high demand by doctors, lawyers, and guys with titles beginning with the letter “C”. The economy looked good enough to hold until his nest egg was ready to hatch.

  Foley unloaded the guns before the groceries then went about bringing the house back to life after a week away. Most people would have been surprised to learn that the rugged, outdoor ‘man’s man’ loved nothing as much as long leisurely soaks in a hot tub. He’d been dreaming of it for hours on the trip home.