by Anna Lowe
His eyes shone with a hint of the madness she’d seen in his father at times, and her skin crawled. Still, she forced her body closer to his and ran a finger down his cheek. “What kind of plan?”
He groped her ass and yanked her close enough to feel his growing erection. “Can’t tell anyone, baby. But soon, I will.”
She wanted to shove herself clear and scrub her skin clean, but she forced herself to play along. “Come on, Mett. You can tell me.”
He half whispered, half licked his next words into her ear. “Big secret. Just believe me when I tell you it doesn’t matter which of them wins.”
Her wolf snarled inside, but she kept the beast under control — barely.
So disgusting. How can you put up with this snake? her wolf cried. He reeked of tobacco and pure, unadulterated hate.
She did it because she had to. She had to find out more. What was Mett plotting? What did he mean?
“You can trust me,” she tried, touching his chest.
“Oh, I trust you all right. Don’t worry your pretty little head.”
That line, she’d heard before. And damn it, she hadn’t worried back then. Well, she was worried now. Mett was up to something.
“Now how about you and me—” he started.
“Mett!” one of Gretchen’s hulking sons called over. “You and that she-wolf of yours can screw later. Come and help.”
Her wolf’s snarl grew lower, more dangerous.
“Don’t worry,” Mett whispered, finally letting her go. “You and me can have fun later.”
Sure. Fun. She wanted to slap him, but she forced her reluctant lips into a smile instead. “Can I help?”
What? her wolf screeched.
Better to keep an eye on him, right?
If I’m not sick first, her wolf murmured.
“Sure, Summ. Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and towed her along.
We just have to stay in spitting distance, she told her wolf. See what he’s up to.
Spitting distance? Don’t tempt me.
She stuck with him for the rest of the afternoon, enduring more of his lecherous grins and touches. For the most part, though, she kept out of range of his wandering hands, which were mostly full as Mett and his cousins collected wood for a huge bonfire.
“For when the alpha is named,” he explained. “Not that it matters much.”
She studied him closely, trying to read his mind. What was he up to?
Beside the bonfire, they cleared space for a fighting arena, complete with rough wooden benches and risers.
“Gonna be a hell of a fight,” one of his cousins said.
“Yeah. Maybe they’ll kill each other,” Mett murmured. “Save us the trouble.”
Her heart raced, and she wondered if she should tell Thomas. But he was as much of an unknown as Mett.
As the sun dropped closer and closer to the horizon, the crowd grew. Wolf shifters she didn’t even recognize showed up, eager to witness the fight. Some of them looked wary, as if they, too, were as concerned about their future as she. They were ordinary shifters, she figured, who wanted to put their pack back on track — an honest track — and move on with their lives. A few younger guns chewed tobacco and chanted their support for one candidate or the other, and those worried her more. They’d follow whatever leader emerged from this mess. But who would that be?
She looked at the building Thomas had disappeared into for the afternoon, then over at the shelter where Dryver and his men waited as the hours ticked past. Finally, her eyes slid over to Mett. He lacked the raw power and brains of the other two, but he seemed so sure of himself. What ace did he have up his sleeve? He didn’t talk about his plans to anyone else, but every time he looked at her, he winked.
Right on cue, her stomach rolled.
Once they had set everything up, Mett and his cousins started drinking.
“You want one?” he asked, shoving a warm bottle of beer in her hands.
“No thanks,” she managed. “But do you want another?”
He grinned like a man freshly mated to a meek little she-wolf who would be at his beck and call. “Got me a good one, boys,” he called to his cousins.
Try me, her wolf murmured inside.
She served drink after drink, doing her best to get Mett as drunk as she could.
“There’s more back there, baby,” Mett said, waving her toward a building.
Happy for a momentary escape, she entered and looked around. “Oops,” she mumbled, entering a bathroom by mistake. She was halfway out the door when she stopped in her tracks.
Bathroom. Cabinet. Drugs.
She darted inside, grabbed the painkillers she found in the cabinet, and headed out to where the liquor was stored. The hard stuff. With shaking hands, she split open capsules and poured the contents into a bottle of vodka, then shook the bottle on her way out.
“Where have you been?” Mett barked, showing his dark side again.
“Getting you the good stuff. Look.”
The sun had just slipped over the horizon, and the men had placed torches around the fighting ring. Half a dozen men were already circling each other there, vying to be the first to start the show.
“Half an hour to go,” someone murmured.
Mett swiped the bottle from her hand and took a hard swig.
She watched him carefully, edging farther and farther away from the center of action, eyeing everyone around her while trying not to appear suspicious. Fights for an alpha position could take all night, mainly because they were preceded by dozens of lesser fights as men took sides and challenged each other in pairs. Those warm-up fights rarely resulted in death, but they were messy, drawn-out contests between hot-blooded youngsters eager to show off their prowess. More bark than bite for the most part, with contestants fighting in human form before shifting to four feet. One fight would lead to another and another, feeding the crowd’s thirst for blood. It would take hours for things to finally escalate to alpha level. She doubted anyone would miss her in the excitement. The trick would be slipping away in the first place.
Mett looked around for her, stumbled, then took another long swig.
Now? her wolf begged, ready to run for the hills.
She checked the scene one more time. Gretchen was on the far side of the arena, paying Summer no mind. Mett sat down on a hay bale, blinking hard. His cousins were drunk, too, even if they hadn’t ingested any of the spiked stuff.
Let’s go! her wolf urged. Now!
She took one last look around then stepped out of sight behind an outlying building. She moved slowly, using one structure after another for cover, leaving the hubbub behind. Finally, she reached the edge of the settlement and jogged up a path, then ran like she was running for her life.
Drew, her wolf hummed. We get to see Drew!
Her step faltered before she forced herself onward. What if Drew hadn’t been bluffing when he addressed the wolves? What if he had changed his mind about her?
She clenched her jaw and ran on, following a narrow gully that wound northwest. Even if Drew had changed his mind — even if he broke her heart — she had to see him. To share what she’d observed, for starters, and to find out how she might best help whatever mission he had been tasked with.
She stopped, shed her clothes, and hid them behind a rock before shifting to wolf form. And the second she did, instinct took over.
Mate! Must see my mate, her wolf cried as she sniffed the air for any sign of pursuit.
Nothing. No one had seen her go, and no one was following. They were all too busy at the fight, and they’d be busy for hours after with the bonfire and gossip that always followed such landmark events in a pack’s history.
And if anyone did follow her… Her fur bristled, and she bared her long teeth. No one was stopping her tonight.
She splashed across a creek and waded a long way upstream, exiting and reentering the water several times to make sure she couldn’t be tracked. Then she flicked her trail, jogged up a hill
, and sniffed.
She couldn’t scent Drew from here — not directly. But every muscle in her body sensed a pull coming from the east, so she ran that way full tilt.
Mate, her wolf huffed as she ran. He was out there. He was waiting for her.
She ran faster and faster, willing him to hear her call. Wait for me, my mate.
Chapter Six
Drew shifted from foot to foot and peered through the darkness. Where was she?
He kicked the ground for the tenth time and paced toward the road, then back up the trail. He’d driven miles from Hope Springs to a tiny state park that seemed as good a place as any for a clandestine meeting. But would Summer even show?
He scratched his ear and told himself not to doubt her. But hell, he had done a pretty good job keeping a poker face at the wolf pack meeting, not to mention making vague enough comments about mixing shifter species that she might have bought into his deceit. But surely Summer would know he was firmly on his cousin’s side. She wouldn’t turn her back on him, would she?
He checked the perimeter again and went back to pacing. The only sound was the crunch of his boots over the dusting of snow on the ground. He sniffed the air to make sure there was no one else around. And why would there be, way up this back road to a remote corner of the park? He’d let himself through a few poorly locked gates on the way in, parked a good mile away, hopped a fence, and hid his tracks carefully. No way was anyone going to interrupt them tonight.
Trust me, the voice in his mind whispered. You are safe here.
Well, he’d be the judge of that. He triple-checked everything until his bear was satisfied.
Safe. His bear nodded. But where is she?
He’d felt the pull to this place. Did Summer, too? There was a hum coming from the ground — almost from the center of the earth. As if Mother Nature had guided him to this special place, eager to facilitate a secret rendezvous.
He checked his watch and then the area yet again. The clearing he stood in held a couple of picnic tables with grills, and none of the ashes were new. The area was officially closed anyway, and most importantly, there was no hint of shifters here.
No, he didn’t have to worry. He was alone.
Don’t want alone, his bear sighed sadly. Want my mate.
That was the problem. There was no hint of Summer, either.
Patience, he barked at his bear, complete hypocrite that he was.
Finally, the bushes at the far side of the clearing rustled, and he spun.
“Summer.”
Her name was about all he could manage when she stepped out of the shadows. It was her. It had to be her. But Jesus, he’d never seen her in wolf form before. And that wolf — Summer — took his breath away.
She was just as beautiful as he expected. Her hair was just as fair as he was used to seeing, which made her lighter than any wolf he’d ever seen. Her eyes were that same chocolate brown, but they were even more intense than usual, and all the more striking with the slightly darker stripe of fur that marked the line of her brow. Her nose was black and shiny, and her nostrils flared, taking in his scent. She held her body exactly as she held her human form: tall and a little stiff, like someone who felt fear but refused to bow to it.
Fear. He was determined to erase that from her life. Someday. Somehow. Yes, it was risky, meeting like this. But not meeting was riskier, because he couldn’t keep his passion for her bottled up any more. This seemed like the only way — getting the need out of his system before sneaking back to the Blue Blood stronghold and caging away his desire again.
His bear rumbled, encouraging her to sniff all she wanted. You’re mine, and I’m yours. Did she feel it, too?
“Summer,” he said, letting his voice break the silence of the forest.
He held his breath, admiring every detail of the wolf. Imprinting them all onto his memory. Her long legs, the glint of starlight in her eyes. The hopeful expression on her face.
“Summer,” he whispered, coaxing her forward.
She licked her wolf lips and flicked her tail back and forth. Slowly, she took a step, and the moonlight shimmered over her coat. Another step, and Drew still hadn’t dared to exhale. He hadn’t even dared to think. He just stood there, lost in her spell.
She was all the way across the clearing, and that seemed much, much too far. But thankfully, she was coming closer, one cautious step at a time. She seemed to be getting taller, too, and at first, he thought it was a trick of the light — that the shimmer around her was her wolf’s body heat wavering in the cold air. Then he realized she was shifting, and he gaped. Shifters didn’t just change forms around anyone. Only around packmates and their most trusted friends.
“Summer,” he whispered in a voice thick with gratitude and wonder.
As she reared up on her hind legs, her human features emerged. She flexed her paws as they elongated into fingers and hands. Her beautiful wolf pelt receded, leaving her skin bare, and she wrapped her arms around herself. Against the cold or because of his stare? Both?
He gulped, unable to drag his eyes away from the sleek lines and creamy skin of Summer, the woman. So stunning, she looked like Venus rising from the ocean. So radiant, she flipped around his sense of seasons and hours. Instead of the cold of winter, he felt the warmth of July, and the space around her practically glowed, as if that was the sun shining down into that clearing instead of the nearly full moon.
Her skin was pale and smooth, her legs long and slender, her nipples tight in the cold. They pointed up slightly, peeking between her fingers, and his lips moved involuntarily. He longed for a taste. He longed to touch the swell of her breasts and the endlessly long legs that stretched to the graceful curve of her hips.
His bear chuffed inside. Mine. Mate.
Thank goodness for whatever instinct made him whip off his jacket and wrap it around her shoulders. Maybe she wouldn’t take him for a total caveman.
The thing was, he didn’t just place the jacket over her shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her, too, and she squeezed in immediately. So tightly, he could feel the push of her nipples against his shirt. So close, he could feel the warmth of her belly and chest. So intimately, his bear got all kinds of bad ideas.
“Hi,” she murmured.
When he’d spoken, his voice seemed to invade the peaceful space, but Summer’s seemed part of it, like the whisper of one branch over another or the soft flutter of a bird’s wings. But there was a sad note to it, too, and that gutted him. There was so much he wanted to say, but none of it came out.
Summer, put the past behind you. Step into the future with me.
Summer, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. Don’t you know that?
Summer, I dream about us sharing a life together. Do you dream it, too?
“Hi,” was all he could get out. “You found me.”
A shy smile spread across her face, warming him. “I found you.”
He wanted to ask how, hoping it was her heart and not her nose that had led her here. But they didn’t have all night, and he really ought to get down to business, right?
We have a couple of hours, at least, his bear growled. Plenty of time.
“You found me,” he echoed like a complete dunce, and her smile grew.
Every instinct told him to step even closer and share his body heat with her. But damn it — habit made him take half a step back. Somehow, that always happened. That back-and-forth. It was as if his inner bear couldn’t get close enough to Summer and wanted to erase the distance between them, while his human side knew he had to give her space. She was her own person, not his, and he couldn’t presume she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.
But damn, did he hope she did.
“You always do that,” she murmured, pulling him closer.
“Do what?”
“Step close, then step away.” She pulled again, inviting him into her space. So close, she had to tip back her head to look at him. Or more precisely, to look at his lips.
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br /> “You’re cold,” he murmured.
She shook her head and gave him a naughty grin. “I’m hot.”
He groaned inside. How the hell was a bear supposed to control himself in a situation like this?
“No need for control,” she whispered, tickling his ear with her lips. “Not tonight.”
He did a double take. Could she read his mind now? Or had the look on his face given him away?
No need for control, his bear echoed as she unbuttoned his shirt.
“I need this so bad,” she whispered. Her breath hung before her, a tiny cloud of condensation in the crisp night air.
See? his bear chuffed. She wants us. Needs us.
He pulled her closer, wrapping her in his warmth. He didn’t dare ask what this was, though he could see it in her eyes. He could feel it in the pull of her body on his.
She slid a hand up his chest, and it caught in the fabric of his shirt. A shirt he was ready to tear the rest of the way off — anything to be skin to skin with her.
“Drew,” she whispered. “I need you so much.”
Her eyes were aflame, and her breath hitched just like his did. His cock hardened in his jeans, pushing against the denim.
Summer, he nearly said. I need you, too.
He wanted so much. Her body. Her love. Her company, day in and day out. He wanted a future with her. He wanted her as his mate.
But if that didn’t make him a greedy prick, what did?
So he backtracked and focused on her. “Tell me what you need. Tell me what you want.”
“You,” she said, letting her hand stray downward again. She rested it on his abdomen, a good six inches higher than he would have liked. “I want us.” Then a cloud passed over her eyes. “But I’m scared, too.”
“Of what?”
“Remember who I am, Drew.”
Well, that was easy. “You’re the most amazing person I know. The person I want.”
She stared at him then shook her head. “Isn’t it wrong for me to want you after what I did?”
“You did what you were forced to do. And wrong?” He took her by the shoulders. “You didn’t do anything. Hate is wrong. Love… Love is right.”
