Dante would have never allowed her to leave the bar if he knew she’d lost control at the park. She’d handled it and gotten away from the humans before her beast fought free of her skin, but if she hadn’t, she might have attacked the paramedics. The smell had been so strong.
She held onto hope that there would come a day when she didn’t remember the cottage, that what the doctors had done to her would not haunt her waking moments. Before then, she wanted to return to her job. It was what drove her when she first came to Dante and his pack. If she could master this new creature inside her, then she could get back to helping others.
Now, she could barely manage herself, let alone this beast.
“Hey,” Van said, grabbing her attention. “We should climb that waterfall and get a view of the woods from the top.”
She followed his outstretched hand to the small waterfall a hundred feet away from them. There was a small trail as if others had trekked toward it to marvel at its beauty. The sound of rushing water eased the torrent of thoughts that had been slamming her brain only a moment ago.
The waterfall itself was a series of slate shelves, one level spilling out onto another level in a way that many store-bought fountains tried and failed to replicate. The greatest difference between this waterfall and a fountain would be the slippery rocks, which she mentioned.
He shrugged. “It should be easier to climb off to the side. I doubt those rocks will be as slippery. Besides, we’re shifters. If we fall, it shouldn’t be high enough to seriously hurt us.”
Carol should have told him no. This was a bad idea. She could feel it in her bones. But when Van took her hand and led her along the trail with that wide grin of his, she melted. A little bit of light parted the gray clouds that had been hovering over her, and she found herself laughing with delight.
The slate protrusions to the right of the waterfall weren’t as slippery as the ones directly under the water, though Carol was sure she’d squashed a few spiders in the first few grabs. Van let her go first. Having him behind her was comforting. She imagined he was only hanging back to get a good look at her butt.
It was what she would have done had he gone first.
Carol didn’t tell him that she’d never gone rock climbing. It had always been on her list of things to do, before she’d been changed. She’d thought that when the man bit her, she would never be able to do any of the things she’d once dreamed of. Yet, here she was. The ground was twenty feet below her. The landing fifteen feet above her. She wanted to throw her head back and howl to the world, remind it that she was alive.
She was alive.
No matter what she’d lived through, she was alive, and she wanted to make the best of every moment. She paused her ascent and tipped her head back. The howl slipped from her throat like it was a part of her soul. The sound echoed between the trees. Birds darted into the air, startled by the sound.
Below, Van chuckled.
Everything quieted when the sound of snapping branches thundered through the air. A great bellow followed, filled with rage and power. It thundered through the rock and shook her grip. She made a soft sound of fear as she hugged close to the cliff face, but it was swallowed by the roar above.
A shadow passed over them. Carol knew she shouldn’t look up, but the part of her that needed to know exactly what was around her forced her gaze skyward. The shape blotting out the sun was unmistakable. Her heart dropped to her feet. She nearly let go of the cliff face.
There was, in fact, a dragon that lived in these woods.
“Down! Down, down, down…” Van cried out.
At first, Carol couldn’t move. All she could do was stare at the beast above her as it coasted through the skies above. A dragon. There was a dragon shifter overhead.
She heard a soft grunt and looked down. Van had dropped to the ground below. He motioned for her to let go, his arms wide to catch her. Bile rose and burnt her throat. The human part of her was frozen in terror. Her beast, on the other hand, would not be lizard-food.
The creature surged forth and took control of her body. It pried her fingers off the rocks and kicked off the cliff face. Carol cried out, airborne. The beast lingered near the surface. It made her senses sharper and strained to hear if the dragon was coming for them. With her wolfish eyes, she saw the dragon bank in the air and turn around.
Coming back for them.
She landed in Van’s arms. The sound he made was a small puff of breath in her ear. She expected him to set her on her own feet, but he took off in a breakneck run without putting her down. His hands were tight on her, like she was a precious object he didn’t dare break.
Once they were away from the waterfall, Carol pushed at Van. His breath was ragged. He didn’t need to carry her the whole way out of the woods. It was too much for him to do alone when she was more than capable of running on her own. She rolled out of his arms and landed in a crouch, on her hands and feet. Van might have protested, but she was already running. He quickly caught up.
Though there was perhaps a mile and a half of the trail left, they made it back to the truck in what felt like minutes. As if it were a beacon of safety, Carol collapsed against it. She scanned the sky above, but there was no sign of the great beast that had appeared on their hike.
A dragon.
A dragon!
She slowly turned to Van. The awe and terror she felt was mirrored on his face. She let out a low laugh, a chuckle of disbelief. No one would ever believe them. Carol herself could hardly believe what they had experienced.
They stared at one another like this for a long while, holding each other’s gaze as they fought to catch their breaths. Only when the zing of heat raced through Carol did she look away. Her cheeks warmed, but a smile still rested on her face.
“That was an experience I would pay to never have to live through again,” Van said.
“I don’t think it was all that bad,” Carols said despite the fear that had obviously frozen her earlier. If her beast hadn’t taken over, she might have become lizard-food.
For once in her life, having the beast take over had helped her. She hadn’t threatened anyone’s life. The wolf was more interested in their survival than harming those around her. But she didn’t put much stock in the exchange. There had been no humans around her. Only a great beast and Van. Neither of which she could harm.
She shook herself. Now wasn’t the time to think about such things. Everything was fine. She was fine. Her beast was fine.
“We should get out of here,” Van said. He came around and opened her door for her.
She cast one last look at the skies over the hiking trail before climbing into the passenger seat.
“Despite encountering a whole dragon, I think today was the best day I’ve had since coming back.”
Van did a double take. “This was your best day?”
She laughed. “I know it sounds crazy, but things haven’t…”
Carol quickly pressed her lips together. She’d nearly let her secrets slip. The pack needed to think that she was doing fine. She couldn’t give them perfect, but fine she could do. As long as they thought she was fine, no one would drag her away.
She could keep on living her life. Chewing on her lip, she realized she wanted more time with Van. It was a craving. Like knowing there was a bag of her favorite potato chips in the cupboard, but that she couldn’t open them. Van was so close, and his scent covered everything inside the truck cab.
All she wanted was to reach over and touch him. The back of his hand. The fine hairs on his arms. The stubble growing along his jaw. His sculpted lips.
Carol coughed and leaned back in her seat.
“You were saying?”
“Hm?” Carol pretended not to know.
Van fell back into his seat. She could feel the space between them growing wide, becoming a canyon. It hurt, but that was what she needed to do. If she let him get too close, he would see that she wasn’t fine. She was, in fact, a mess that she didn’t know how
to put back together.
Today had been a start. A great start, actually. But she couldn’t rely on Van to always be in her life. She just needed to do more physical activity on her own. Away from humanity.
Chapter Seven
He couldn’t stand it any longer. He needed her. Holding Carol in his arms as he ran out of the woods had overwhelmed him. Her scent was embedded in his shirt. It mingled with his in a way he couldn’t stand. The beast inside him thrashed. It demanded one thing.
Mark her.
It repeated the words over and over. Van could think of nothing else. He prided himself on being rational. He was always the levelheaded and clever one of the pack, but around Carol he felt like a bundle of twisted wires. Signals were flying in every direction. They were so fast he couldn’t tell what any of it meant.
That was a lie.
He knew what it meant. He’d known since the moment she’d returned. The smell of her turned him inside out. Her wounded eyes broke his heart and enraged his beast. Van was made for one reason.
That reason was Carol, even if he didn’t think he could tell her yet. If he told her and she wasn’t ready, she would slam a door in his face. He couldn’t break the door down. The woman had lived through enough. She didn’t need a lusty shifter trying to force his way into her life.
He was surprised when she let him inside her apartment. He followed because the look in her eyes said she didn’t want to be alone just yet. Their hiking trip had been cut a little short.
The apartment was barren. Only some of Dante’s old furniture remained. A full mattress on a metal frame. A tilting entertainment stand that held no form of entertainment whatsoever. A couple of stools near the kitchenette island.
Her clothes were flung about the bed, which she hurriedly shoved away when he noticed them. It was as if she’d struggled to find something to wear that morning. The thought warmed him. To think that Carol had worried about meeting him brought him a small glimmer of hope.
“All I have to drink is water,” Carol called back to him.
“That’s fine.” He approached the kitchenette but didn’t sit at one of the stools.
He couldn’t bear having the island between them. After the dragon appeared, his need to be at her side had become a sharp and demanding instinct. He did his best to not freak Carol out, but he needed to know that she was safe. That meant being within reaching distance.
If Carol noticed, she said nothing. She grabbed a cup from the cupboard and filled it under the sink faucet. Van grimaced at the tap water. Carol offered an apologetic smile as she handed it to him.
“It’s all I have,” she said before biting her bottom lip.
The small gesture wiped his mind. He no longer cared that he was drinking tap water. He stared at the plump flesh caught between her teeth. He wanted to know what it tasted like between his own. Instead, he threw back the entire glass of water.
It did nothing to cool the heat growing inside him. He couldn’t stand being inside with her. Alone with her. He wanted to pull her into his arms and carry her over to the bed. All he wanted was to feel her body against his. He needed to make sure she was safe, that she was happy.
Had anyone bothered to make sure she was happy?
Her stomach growled. Before either could say anything, Van turned and opened a cupboard, intending to grab a snack. What he found was an empty shelf. His brow furrowed. He opened another cupboard. It, too, was empty.
“Why don’t you have any food?”
She looked away, her gaze on the floor. “I don’t have any money and I’m not letting Dante charge me for food.”
Van shook his head. “If you starve your beast, it’s going to go wild. You can’t worry about what Dante is going to do. Take care of yourself first.”
She shrugged, a sort of nihilistic expression taking over. “Either I throw away everything I might earn in the future just so I can eat now, or I wait and bank that money when I make it.”
“Your logic is flawed.”
She spread her feet apart. “I’m indebted to everyone! A human girl rescued me. Dante is feeding me and letting me live over his bar. You’re wasting your time with me. I’m not a charity case. I refuse to be like that.”
“I’m not asking you to be a charity case. I’m not asking you to let everyone take care of you. What I am asking is that you take care of yourself. Right here. Right now.” He leaned toward her.
She didn’t pull away, but her defiant expression faltered. She threw her hands in the air. “When will I get a life of my own?”
Van didn’t know what to say. He had no answer for her. It all depended on Carol. She could apply for jobs anytime. He could see, though, that she wasn’t ready. She looked to be on edge all the time. The only time he saw her guard lower was out on the hiking trail. The sound of her howl had filled him. It’d made him think that she was finally working towards freeing her mind of everything that happened.
Maybe he was wrong. Her past had a grip on her so strong that she would need help to break it.
“I’ll make sure everything will work out,” Van promised. “You won’t be in debt to anyone. The pack doesn’t work that way. We help one another survive. We protect each other from outside evils and make sure that the everyday trials don’t break us.”
He took another step closer. Carol’s shoulders fell. She looked up at him, lost. He could see that she wanted to believe him, but too much stood in the way. The ghosts of what happened and the toll that it had taken on her still had too much sway over her.
He wrapped his arm around her and drew her close. Her breath rushed from her lips, a satisfying sound that tightened his core. The tension between her shoulders eased away at his touch. He needed her. All of her. More than she would ever know.
Van thought he had his life together, that he could be a patient kind of man and give her the time she needed. Yet, alone with her in this small space, his beast rose with a hunger he’d never known before. Was this what Dante and Rodrigo felt? Van imagined his need was sharper, fiercer, for he couldn’t bear it any longer.
She laid her hands flat against his chest. He waited for her to push him away, but the shove never came. Instead, she stared into his eyes as if transfixed by him. Could she see everything he felt in his eyes? Were they the open windows to his soul?
He hoped she could, for then he wouldn’t have to find words for the way he felt. She could feel it for herself and understand why he could no longer fight it. Her scent wound its way into his nose. It filled him and made him ache for more. For the taste of her. For the sound of her moans when he made love to her.
Another heartbeat passed. Carol said nothing. The rise and fall of her chest had paused. She held her breath. He needed to move before the moment passed, but only one thing crossed his mind. His beast pushed for it. Van tried to fight the urge, but in the end, his beast won.
He dropped his head to her shoulder and breathed deep. His lips grazed her collar bone and brought a sharp gasp from her. She sank into him. It was so trusting, a small sign that perhaps he wouldn’t have to wait for her forever. She would be his.
Soon.
He nipped the flesh between her neck and shoulder. She gripped his back. Her nails dug through his shirt. He sucked in a shuddering breath. He didn’t have to do this, but the beast roared that she belonged to him. She was the only mate they would ever love.
His teeth sank into her skin. She moaned, bucking in his grasp. He held her tighter. Now, all who passed her would know that she was taken. No one would dare touch his mate.
***
Distantly, Carol knew what had just happened. Her body still tingled with the orgasm that had burst unexpectedly inside her. Van had marked her. She’d heard others talk about what that meant, though she didn’t understand exactly.
Wasn’t it…like courting?
Yet, they hadn’t spoken about anything romantic. They’d gone hiking, but Carol hadn’t thought of it like a date.
She shuddered, anot
her ripple spreading through her body. Neither of them said anything. Van held her while her knees refused to operate. That was…pleasantly unexpected. She fought to regain her footing. Nervous laughter crept up her throat.
Once she could stand on her own, she took a tentative step back. Van seemed to panic because he practically leapt away from her. His cheeks were red, and he threw glances at the door.
What was she supposed to say? Thank you didn’t seem right. She wasn’t particularly thankful. If anything, she was confused and somewhat aroused still. Her stomach fluttered in the heat of her core. She wanted more. It was a truth she didn’t know what to do with.
If she crossed the space between them, she was sure Van would have her. He would kiss her back if she kissed him. But a small voice in the back of her mind asked why. Why did he mark her? Why would he want her?
She was broken and useless. Like a stubborn fool, she refused to let anyone help her, and it was only leading to more pain. She would be the ruin of her own life if she wasn’t careful. Yet, Van seemed drawn to her anyway.
A question reached the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it back, suddenly afraid of the answer. If she asked him why he wanted her, and she didn’t like the answer, it might ruin her. If he only wanted her because she was weak and easy, would she be able to stand that? A part of her hoped he truly wanted her, that he saw something in her that he couldn’t let go.
How awful was it to hope he could love her?
“I’m going to…I’m going to go now.” Van spun on his heel and darted for the door before she could stop him.
He disappeared and left her alone with her thoughts. She sighed. It was going to be an uncomfortable night. Her wolf didn’t share in any of her indecision. It was proud of Van’s mark. The wolf didn’t question it at all. Carol didn’t understand why, and the wolf would share no words to explain.
Of course, it wouldn’t.
She threw herself back on the bed and crossed her arms over her eyes. Her body hummed, muscles twitching from the run through the woods. They’d had a great day. She’d loved every minute of it.
The Lion's Loyalty Page 6
