[Mammoth Forest Wolves 01.0] Liam

by Kimber White

  In the alley now, Molly stared at me, her eyes wide. I half expected her to be carrying the baseball bat. Instead, she drew me into the light. I straightened my back, rising to my full height. There was nothing I could say to her that could explain what I was doing there. In just a fraction of a second, I took in everything about her.

  She wore maroon scrubs. Molly Ravary. Her name tag hung crooked over her right breast. The vee of her shirt dipped low enough that I could see the pink strap of the tank top she wore beneath it. Like yesterday, she had her dark hair pulled back in a messy ponytail with her straight-cut bangs hanging into her eyes.

  In the end, I didn’t have to explain anything. It was Molly herself who sought out logic where there was none.

  “My God,” she said, bravely moving toward me. “You are hurt. Let me help you.”

  The wolf stirred beneath my skin as her scent filled me. She smelled clean, sweet, female. But there was an undercurrent of fear skittering across her skin. Of course there was. That was smart. But, it didn’t stop her from coming to me.

  “Come with me,” she said, fumbling for the keys to the clinic door. I should have turned and left. I could move so quickly she might tell herself she’d imagined it all. I was just a trick of the shadows. I didn’t though. Instead, I followed her. We walked straight back to one of the examination rooms.

  She grabbed a wad of gauze from the counter beside her and made a circular motion with her hand, pointing to my chest.

  Puzzled, I looked down. My t-shirt was torn across the abdomen. In the day since confronting Zeke, I’d forgotten about it. He’d cut a jagged gash through the fabric; the edges of it were rimmed with dried blood. But, the wound he’d made had healed within an hour after the knife went in. To someone like Molly, that would be impossible.

  I turned sideways, dodging Molly’s touch before she got to me. “What? Oh. I think it’s okay.”

  “Is that why you’re here?” she asked, her nose wrinkling. She had curious dark eyes that searched my face.

  My eyes flicked to the medication now locked up behind her. I’d had just enough time to stash the vials and bottles I stole behind the dumpster. I could move so quickly, she’d never even see me pick them up if she walked beside me out there. What would she think of me when she figured out what was missing?

  “Is she all right?” I asked, figuring it was time to at least to attempt to cover up the real reason I was here. “Your boss. I thought I’d come back and check. That guy yesterday seemed pretty serious about hurting her.”

  Molly’s face softened, but still, she kept glancing toward my stomach and the wound she thought I bore.

  “I’m glad you did,” she said. “I wanted to thank you. On Bess’s behalf, I mean. As far as I know she’s okay. But, she’s Bess. She’s hell bent on staying with that loser for the time being.”

  “She’s lucky to have a friend like you,” I said. “But you should be careful. Guys like that are more dangerous than you think.”

  No sooner had I said it before every protective instinct inside of me flared. If I hadn’t been there, he could have hurt Molly. The knife he’d stuck in my gut might have killed a normal man. A vision flashed through my mind of that dull blade sinking into Molly’s stomach, just below her ribcage. Good old Zeke must have been a hunter. He knew how to make it fatal. I coughed to cover the growl that erupted from my throat. Casting my eyes down, I didn’t want Molly to see anything strange.

  Down, wolf. This girl is safe, for now.

  “Thanks,” she said, advancing. “Now let me take a look at that cut. Did you see a doctor yesterday?”

  I could have stopped her. It would have taken nothing. Just a turn of my shoulder, a step back. But, I stayed rooted to my spot as Molly reached for the hem of my tattered t-shirt and lifted it. Her eyes widened at what she saw. There was no wound. Not so much as a scratch. Just a jagged hole in the fabric.

  “There’s dried blood.” she said. “I saw him do something to you. It happened so fast I thought maybe I was seeing things. Was I? Did he cut you?”

  I closed my fingers around hers, intending to draw her away from me. The minute our skin touched, heat spread from my core, rocketing up my spine. My knees went weak for an instant and my vision darkened. The wolf awakened.

  Beneath my thumb, I felt Molly’s pulse flutter. Her own eyes flashed with a dark knowledge she couldn’t possibly understand. Not yet.

  She should have jerked away from me. Any normal woman would have. Hell, any normal woman might have screamed bloody murder at finding a dark stranger lurking in the back alley with no good explanation for being there. Why the hell didn’t she?

  “You’re not okay,” she said, her voice breathless. She did pull her hand from mine. But, she immediately put two fingers beneath my jaw, feeling for a pulse. She closed her eyes and listened.

  My heart hammered inside of my chest, sending thunder from me to her. Molly’s eyes snapped open. I was just as shocked at that moment as she was. I knew what it must have felt like for her. She’d been trying to read my pulse. Oh, she felt it all right, but it came pouring from me and into her. She stepped away.

  “You should sit down,” she said. “Hell, you should be in the emergency room. You feel like you’re about to have a heart attack.”

  Then, her eyes changed. New realization dawned in them as she looked from me to the medication cabinet behind her.

  “Wait,” I said.

  “Is that why you’re here?” she asked, taking two steps back and crossing her arms in front of her. “For that?”

  Molly put a hand flat on the cabinet and looked at me with new skepticism. “Your pulse is thready. You’re diaphoretic. What are you on?”

  “I’m not on anything.”

  She kept one eye on me then reached back. A lab coat and stethoscope hung on a hook against the wall. She stuck it in her ears and came to me.

  “Wait,” I said.

  Molly pulled up my shirt and pressed the flat end of the scope in the center of my chest. She winced as the strong beat of my heart filled her ears, overwhelming her.

  “You’re not a doctor,” I said, pulling her scope away. She held onto the end of my shirt with one hand. With the other, she smoothed her fingers over the space above my bellybutton where the shirt had been torn. A day ago, Zeke’s knife had torn through my flesh. Now, the skin was smooth and tanned. Molly’s eyes flicked to mine as she felt the solid, hard muscles of my abdomen. She looked up and up, her gaze resting on the large tattoo I had on my upper chest.

  The wolf seemed to swell inside of me, aching to get out. I was hungry. Hungry for her.

  “What is that?” she asked, growing even bolder. She pressed her palm against the dark, howling wolf’s head inked at the center of my chest. Great wings spanned beneath him stretching almost to my shoulders. At their juncture, were two crossed daggers.

  I caught Molly’s wrist and pulled her hand away. It was as if I couldn’t stand to have her touching me. Or rather, I couldn’t stand to have her only touch me with her fingers. My need to kiss her, to pull her to me burned through me. She had to have felt it. I knew her own pulse rose to match mine. She couldn’t possibly understand what it meant.

  It was becoming more dangerous for me to stay here by the minute. The more Molly’s presence called to my wolf, the easier it would be for others to track me.

  “What do you need?” she asked, finally stepping away from me. Her proximity to me was sending her body haywire. Her forehead glistened with sweat. Her breasts heaved as she tried to catch her breath.

  “Drugs? Food? Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

  God. She thought I was some junkie. She thought I was homeless. I suppose she was half right.

  “I suppose that’s what you would think,” I said. Twice she’d found me lurking in the shadows by the clinic. Of course she’d assume I was after the drugs.

  She was right, of course. But not for the reason she thought.

  “I told you,” I l
ied. “I just wanted to make sure you and your friend were okay. That asshole yesterday is going to hurt her at some point. Badly. She won’t always have you or me to come out of the shadows and step in. Have you told her that?”

  “Of course I have. Everyone has. She won’t call the police. When they come, she won’t press charges. And you don’t have to lecture me about Zeke. I know what he’s capable of.”

  I rose to my full height, towering over her. “No,” I said, my voice dropping low. “You have no idea what he’s capable of.” I did. I felt Zeke’s murderous rage coming off of him in waves. It permeated his every pore.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Molly said, taking a cautious step away from me. I’d scared her.

  I drank in every detail of her. Sweat beaded in the hollow of her throat. She swallowed hard, then licked her lips, her quick, pink tongue darting out.

  “I know,” I said.

  “But you need something from me. This isn’t just because of Zeke. I’ve never seen you around here before. You’re not...you don’t have a patient at this clinic. What’s your name?”

  I should leave. I could move so quickly I’d be nothing more than a blur of motion. There was a chance Molly would convince herself she’d imagined the whole thing. That would have been the smartest play. Except, I felt anything but smart around her. I felt feral.

  “Liam,” I said. “Liam McConnell. And you’re right, you haven’t seen me around before.”

  “You should go,” she said. I knew she had to be thinking about how quickly she could get to her baseball bat. I knew it wouldn’t have mattered if she had the thing in her hands. On some preternatural level, so did she. But, it wasn’t fear I sensed from her. Oh, no. It was desire.

  “You’re right,” I answered. “I should go. I’m just glad you’re all right.”

  Molly nodded. “I am too, Liam. I mean, I’m glad that you’re all right. I guess I’d only been imagining things.”

  “I guess so.”

  I moved around her, heading for the door. Molly backed up, putting her hands behind her on the counter. Her posture made her breasts thrust forward and my eyes were drawn there. I found myself wanting desperately to run my hands beneath her scrub top and feel the weight of her breasts in my hands. Or maybe I could steal just one kiss.

  In the end, I had no choice but to keep on walking. Molly stayed cemented to her spot, though I could feel her hot breath at my back as I headed out the door. Her tiny, fluttering pulse echoed through me, and I knew she could feel the thunder of mine heating her blood.

  I headed out into the night. It wasn’t safe here. There were shifters to the north, closing in fast. I’d been careless for the second time in a row where Molly was concerned. Stupid. So stupid. At least I’d managed to get what I came for. In a move so quick Molly couldn’t process it. I grabbed the things I stole and stuffed them into my pocket.

  “Liam?” Molly’s voice cut through me as sharp as Zeke’s knife. I wanted to turn and go to her, but then she’d see. I couldn’t keep the wolf at bay for a second longer. If I faced her, she’d see my eyes and wouldn’t be able to deny what I was.

  “Wait,” she called again. I curled my fists, letting my sharp claws out just enough to draw blood in the well of my palm. Now, I had no choice but to put as much distance between myself and the town as I could. The patrols would be on me in minutes if I stayed in one place. If the Alpha’s general found me, I’d be done for.

  As a full moon rose, I headed for the safety of the woods as Molly called my name behind me. Her voice reached me, whispering on the wind. It seemed to hover around me in the ether, tethering me to her.

  Molly.

  Four

  Liam

  Molly. With each beat of my heart, I felt closer to her even as I ran further away. It was so stupid of me to think I could be near her without it affecting me like this. I kept her name close, guarding it with my heart like a secret.

  Something else rose within me alongside my burning desire for Molly. It was dark, dangerous. It sucked the air from my lungs. As I ran at top speed, sweat poured down my back. God, I ached to shift. My wolf pulled at me, making my muscles clench and my bones rattle.

  So close. I was so close. I hit the tree line. Dead leaves crackled beneath my feet as I followed the west trails. Tall poplars hid the moon. Ahead of me, a doe with her twin fawns darted out of my path. They had nothing to fear. I wasn’t here for them tonight.

  I could feel the underground spring bubbling beneath my feet as the woods grew denser. With each beat of my heart, it got harder to breathe. They were coming. I’d been too careless. Two nights in a row in town. Both times I’d come too close to letting the wolf out. They knew. They could sense me. They were closing in.

  God. I had to be quicker. If they figured out I’d headed for Mammoth Forest, they would follow. I would die before I led them to the caves.

  To the east, a chorus of howls rose, sending a chill down my spine. There was no more time. Another few seconds, and the patrolling shifters would pinpoint my location. Then, everything we’d worked and died for would be lost. It would all be my fault.

  I could feel the safe spaces beneath my feet, snaking out deep underground. Dark passageways and caverns spiraling down and down for hundreds of miles. Humans would never find them; only shifters could. If the Chief Pack ever realized we hid there, everything I’d sacrificed would be for nothing. There was already a bounty on my head.

  No human would ever be able to find the hole in the ground that led to the caves. There were times that even I lost sight of it. Not tonight though. Tonight, every life that mattered to me depended on me getting there in time.

  I did.

  Sliding to a halt, I kicked leaves up on either side of me as I dove for the cave opening. My shoulder popped as I hit it on the rocky outgrowth on the other side. Without even thinking, I shoved it back into joint.

  To be safe, I piled dirt behind me, concealing the small entrance even more. In near pitch darkness, I felt along the cool rock walls until I felt the curve. Pressing my back against the wall, I slid into the antechamber. There, my breathing eased. The howls had faded to nothing. My heartbeat was my own again. I was safe.

  A torch flared in front of me, and two cool green eyes hovered for a moment in the darkness then stepped into the light.

  “You’re late,” Keara said. She held the torch in front of her and rested her other hand on her hip.

  She wasn’t much bigger than Molly at five feet two. Keara’s hair matched the blazing torch she held. She thrust it before her so she could see me better. She had only human eyes, after all. The rest of us didn’t need the light to see down here.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I ran into a little trouble.”

  Keara’s eyes narrowed. She looked behind her. Jagger moved out of the shadows. His dark hair shone beneath the torchlight. Further into the cave, we had a system of LED lights set up. But here, so close to the mouth, it was better to keep things natural.

  “You okay?” Jagger asked. He towered over his wife. The heat coming off them was palpable. Jagger could scarcely go five minutes without touching Keara in some small way. Now, he held a protective hand at the small of her back.

  “Come on,” he said. “The others have been bouncing off the walls waiting for some news from you.”

  Nodding, I followed them. Guilt washed over me with each step I took. For his part, Jagger didn’t ask me any questions as we moved deeper into the cave system. He reached back and took Keara’s hand. Part of the trail grew treacherous as we passed a narrow ridge beside a hundred foot drop.

  It took a full ten minutes to get to the deepest part of our encampment. Keara hit a switch drilled into the wall, turning on the string of LED lights along the floor. The others had gathered in a large antechamber. Stalagmites jutted from the floor. Between them, we’d set up cots and tents. Any one of us would have preferred to sleep in the open air, but it had grown too risky. The humans who stayed with us could, but for
the five shifters that formed the core of our group, the danger of drawing the Chief Pack’s shifter patrols was far too great.

  Jagger leaned down to kiss Keara before moving away from her. Mac, Gunnar, and Payne stepped out of the shadows. It was just the five of us here plus Keara at the moment. When we could, we housed human and shifter refugees and tried to help them cross the border and get free of the Chief Pack. For the five of us though, it was far too dangerous to try. We’d been marked by the Chief Pack as their most wanted traitors. Even across the border they would come for us.

  “Well?” Mac asked. His wolf eyes flashed silver, stirring my own beast. God. It had been three days since I’d last shifted. Some nights I thought I’d go mad from it. Mac, I knew, hadn’t dared to shift in almost two weeks. My half-brother, Mac and I had different fathers. But, we shared the same auburn hair that turned steel-gray when we came into our wolves.

  “I managed to get a few things,” I said, grateful to at least be able to tell them that truth. “I was telling Jagger and Keara, I ran into a little bit of human trouble. Nothing I can’t handle, but I’m going to have to go back to the clinic tomorrow. I got some painkillers, some of the antibiotics Keara wanted. There’s more though. I’m going to have to go back for it.”

  “Shit,” Payne said. He paced in front of the cots. He’d begged me to let him go on this run with me. We needed a steady supply of medicine. The vet clinic seemed safer than the hospitals and doctor’s offices we’d tried. We couldn’t do what we did without human help. Sometimes, that put them at risk. Sometimes they got hurt because of it. We were trying to stockpile medical supplies in case the worst happened. Unfortunately, it did often enough to cause worry.