Howl And Roar: Wolf and Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Howl And Growl Series Book 2)

by Cloe Cullen

  “Darius…he’s the Alpha, right?” Jorah asked.

  Narrowing his eyes, Remus nodded. “He is, and he makes most of the decisions around here. So, he’ll be seeing you soon.” With that, Remus spun on his heel and stalked off, Bronwen hot on his heels and Magnolia following close behind. As he and Nyssa turned to leave themselves, Jorah caught Magnolia glancing back at him again. Something about her constant gazing unnerved him, but wasn’t that just because she was a Vampire? If so, then why did she look at him so much? It’s not like she fell in love with him or anything like that, right? That couldn’t be.

  Tugging on his arm, Nyssa gestured forward. “Come on, let’s not stay here longer than necessary.” So, he let her drag him along, noticing the curious stares from others around the main hub. Were they finally catching on that Jorah was different from the rest of them?

  Nyssa led him past a few houses and further back into the trees once again. When they were finally clear of prying eyes, Nyssa let go of his arm and kept marching ahead, nodding for Jorah to keep pace with her. The loud bustling of the town died quickly, instead his ears rapidly picking up on the chirps of bluebirds and rush of a stream nearby.

  “We once lived in the Alpha’s house that resides in the main hub,” Nyssa said as they walked, her voice sweet and light. Clasping her hands behind her back, she continued on. “But after Darius killed our father and won the title of Alpha, we were essentially kicked out, so instead he and Remus built a house for us, just far enough away to have our privacy…”

  Jorah liked the sound of that. Getting some alone time with Nyssa didn’t seem to be such a bad idea, not in the slightest. He could tell she felt the same, with a dumb grin plastered to her pink lips. Yet something still nagged at Jorah, so he opted to put this newfound privacy topic on hold. “So those Vampires that are sticking by your brother’s side...Bronwen and Magnolia, right? Who exactly are they? I know you mentioned Bronwen briefly back up on the mountain, but…”

  Nyssa rolled her eyes, sighing. “Of course, you’d be interested in them, it’s only natural. Yeah, Bronwen is the one that switched sides and helped us win against Orpheus. Currently she’s negotiating with the other Vampire Lords to establish a better, more trusting peace between us and them.”

  “Huh, and it’s been taking two years to do that?”

  Shrugging, Nyssa glanced away. “Maybe longer, if there’s one thing most Vampires are experts at, it’s patience. Two years to them could feel like two months...or at least that’s how Bronwen explained it to me.”

  Feeling the sweat drip down his forehead, Jorah imagined seeing those Vampires every day. If he ended up living down here, he’d have to get used to the idea of them, wouldn’t he? “And what about that Magnolia? You never mentioned her before.”

  “That’s because I didn’t know about her until just now. I know just as much about her as you do. She must have come with Bronwen while we were gone...or maybe she’s come before and I just never noticed. Remus isn’t exactly loose-lipped when it comes to our dealings with the Vampires. Typically, he talks with our leader, Darius and his mate Amara, since those three have had much more experience with the Vampires.”

  “And you haven’t?” Jorah raised a curious brow. “You speak about Bronwen like you’ve had plenty of experience.”

  Nyssa’s gaze dropped, her body slumping slightly. “I have...just not the same kind as my brother...or Darius. I didn’t venture down into the Blackwood like my brother did two years ago, or cross into Red Rock like Darius did when the border river was still a strict border. Or fight off Changelings for the first time to save a group of cubs like Amara did.” Maybe it was Jorah’s imagination, but when Nyssa spoke about this Amara woman, a hint of spite layered her tone.

  Jorah let out a breath, smiling. “Sounds like me and my people have really been left out of all the fun! Your life sounds so much more exciting than mine has been.”

  Letting the serious stress of those tales leave her, Nyssa forced herself to match Jorah’s smile. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t exactly call those experiences fun, but I guess they’re more enriching than anything else.”

  As they followed a winding dirt trail through the trees, the duo finally came upon a lone shack hiding under a great oak tree. Sunlight streamed through the branches overhead and leaves continually broke from the branches of the oak tree and fell in a swirl around the house. Along with a slight breeze, the house was nothing short of breathtaking, in a simple kind of way.

  “Well, this is it,” Nyssa proclaimed. “This is my home.” She glanced back at him, her sparkling blue eyes pulling him further down the rabbit hole.

  Grinning, he walked forward. “It’s amazing, already loads better than that smelly cave I used to live in.”

  Giggling, Nyssa jogged to catch up, bounding up the steps to the front door and pushing it open. It banged against the side of an interior wall, the sound echoing inside. “So, how about it, want to see the inside?”

  Jorah didn’t respond, instead jumping up and scooching past Nyssa, their bodies brushing against each other. The inside was beautiful and cozy, scented of bark and cooked meat. Nyssa led him down to one of the many rooms that lined the front hallway, pulling him inside. The room was large, with two cots lining either side. “Well, this is where we’ll have to wait for Remus to come back with the others...I don’t suppose you have any ideas of things we could do to pass the time?”

  The longing look in her bubbling eyes drew Jorah in again, this time causing such compulsion as to make him saunter forward, stopping just before the fair-skinned beauty, and using his hand to draw a lock of her golden hair behind her ear. Touching her cheek with his meaty fingers sent shivers down his spine, her skin warm and soft. Nyssa stared up at him, naturally leaning forward at his touch, placing her own hand directly on his chest.

  All else faded from his mind, only the thumping of his heart and the anticipation of Nyssa’s lips brushing his own. “You know, I’ve been learning a lot these past few days,” he began. Nyssa’s hand traced his pecs over his tunic, drawing lines while he talked. Jorah gulped at the sensation of her teasing finger. Her lips parted as she watched his reaction, waiting for him to continue.

  “And what exactly have you learned?” She asked calmly, her lower lip quivering.

  “Well,” Jorah began. “I’ve learned that Changelings are real, and not just Seer myths to get children to stay put in their home caves. I’ve learned that the world has been moving on without my people while we hid away on the mountain peaks.” Nyssa hung on his every word. The words he spoke resonated within the room, striking the aching quiet like hot embers from a bonfire. “I’ve learned that not only are you Oldwood natives friendly with each other, but also the Vampires...something I never thought possible. And, most of all…” Jorah stared directly into Nyssa’s watery orbs. “I’ve learned that I simply cannot hold myself back from you any longer. I can’t seem to resist your beauty, nymph of the Oldwood forest.”

  With that, Jorah used his free hand to lift Nyssa’s chin so he could gently press his lips to hers. Immediately it was like his whole world changed, grew brighter. Nyssa’s lips tasted of salt and honey. His arms wrapped around her waist, pressing her slender body to his, letting her own hands wrap around his head, run through his pulled back hair. For the first time in years, Jorah was able to get lost in something other than the snow drifts, his mind, heart and soul being lit inside of a swirling inferno. They both shuddered as they kissed again and again, their kisses becoming frantic, wilder, their breaths growing less frequent and harsher when they broke away. Time slowed, the world stopped moving all around them, the noises outside vanished. All that mattered was the female shifter before him, her body seeming to latch on his.

  He hadn’t felt so alive since he first met Nyx when he was a teenager, caught up in a simple lust, just like any other boy would have. But Nyssa...she was different. She was strong, but also needed someone by her side; feisty, but willing to be open about her emoti
ons; quiet, but also incredibly wild and loud when she wanted to be.

  As their make out session continued, they began to rip at each other’s clothes, pulling off their tunics and fumbling with their pants. Her hands sizzled on his abs as they felt their way down. Only one thing could ruin the moment right now, but Jorah didn’t expect Remus or the others to come back any time soon.

  “My, my, it’s a little steamy in here, isn’t it?”

  The sudden, sarcastic voice startled them both to the point where they jerked away from each other and both began to voice their excuses at the figure standing in the doorway. But upon closer inspection, Jorah saw the figure was too tall to be Remus, and too red-eyed to be any regular shifter. Instead of a snarling wolf, a Vampire smiled at them both, as if walking in on a touching moment was the most natural thing in the world.

  “Oh, don’t mind me,” Bronwen said cocking her head and placing a hand ot her cheek. “Embracing the one you love is the most natural thing in the world. Please, don’t let me stop you.”

  Both Jorah and Nyssa breathed heavily, but it was Jorah who spoke first. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you followed around Remus everywhere.”

  Bronwen chuckled, the unnatural din to her laugh startling him. “Well I wanted to come check up on Nyssa, I wanted to talk with her. But if you two want to finish what you started, I’ll happily wait in the next room.”

  “No!” Nyssa said, pinching her temple, groaning. “No, Bronwen...just no. I’ll talk to you now.” She glanced at Jorah. “Sorry...we’ll, uh, continue this little session of ours later, okay?”

  Adrenaline still coursed through Jorah’s veins, and his whole entire being ached to hold Nyssa again, but he sighed and threw up his hands. “Alright, alright, what can I do when a Vampire comes knocking? I guess I’ll just be outside, or something.” So, Jorah grabbed his tunic off the ground and hurried out of the room, Bronwen moving to allow him to pass. She giggled as he left, leaving Jorah to feel the most awkward he had in a long time.

  Chapter Seventeen: Nyssa

  “ Would you like me to pour you some tea?” Bronwen asked as she came back into the room where Nyssa waited. Carrying a tray holding a steaming kettle and two cups, Bronwen smiled and stalked over, dropped down to a cross legged position and began to pour them both cups of her Vampire tea all in one smooth motion. For as long as Nyssa had known Bronwen, she always envied how smoothly and intently she moved, as if every action she made was carefully planned and set into motion beforehand.

  Sitting, with her knees drawn up to her chest, and now fully clothed, Nyssa sighed and nodded. “Sure, Bronwen.”

  “Wonderful! I do so enjoy when others partake of my favorite commodities,” Bronwen said as she poured. Nyssa watched the two streams of scalding, green-tinted water entered the tiny porcelain cups, swirling and filled to just before overflowing. Placing the kettle down, Bronwen handed Nyssa her cup. “Here you go.”

  Grabbing it from Bronwen’s long, bony fingers, Nyssa winced at the heat that sizzled under her fingertips. When Bronwen first brought her tea set from the Blackwood a year prior, tea had been a strange concept to Nyssa, but now it was like second nature to her and a few others around Gray Creek. It was one of the many “trades” that went on between the Pack, Pride and Blackwood Vampires. She coughed after the first sip but relaxed a moment later as the heat coursed through her body.

  “Ah, sorry about that,” Bronwen said. “I sometimes forget that my tolerance for heat is higher than most shifters around here.”

  “Another perk of being a Vampire, right?”

  “Something like that,” Bronwen said, her eyelids drooping ever so slightly. Any other stranger wouldn’t have noticed that tiny detail, but Nyssa had come to know Bronwen well over the past few years, picking up on her facial expressions; because Vampires lived for so long, their muscle memory often fades with time, and so their expressions differ greatly from other species, at least that’s how Bronwen explained it. It’s why they were mostly always smiling that creepy smile. Nyssa still didn’t fully understand, but she didn’t need to understand it to see it.

  “Something wrong?” Nyssa asked, leaning closer.

  Bronwen brightened her features at the question and shook her head. “Nope! Not at all...I was just thinking what the offspring of a Vampire and wolf shifter would be like, what traits they would take from each parent.” Nyssa nearly spit out the tea that was entering her mouth at that moment, gagging and spilling a bit of her tea onto the wooden floor. Bronwen giggled at her reaction, just like she always did. “Caught you off guard, did I?”

  “Are you expecting a child?” Nyssa asked quickly, picturing Bronwen pregnant, her brother a father, and herself an Aunt. “I mean, not that I’m all for it...I just wasn’t expecting to hear this kind of news-”

  “Please calm down, dear,” Bronwen said, taking a sip of her own, still stable, tea. “I’m not specifically talking about me or anything like the sort you’re happening to think about. I’m just speculating.”

  “Wondering what it would be like to be a parent, huh?” Nyssa said, relaxing. She glanced at the tea cup in her hands. That concept seemed so foreign to Nyssa at the moment. Youth and parenthood weren’t often talked about in the same breaths, and even if they were, they weren’t spoken about the same person.

  “Perhaps,” Bronwen revealed. “Your brother’s a grown man, at an age where becoming a father wouldn’t be all that difficult for him. Of course, he’s still young, and I’m not saying I would force him to have children now, of all times. We Vampires are patient.”

  Nyssa smiled at Bronwen’s reaction. This was the closest she ever came to be flustered...at least while she was around anyone other than Remus. The duo naturally came to confide in each other in the past year after they had grown their friendship, and now was no different. She was sure Remus told Bronwen to keep an eye on her, but Bronwen always had a way to make these little tasks her own, especially when it came to Nyssa. “You make it sound like you and Remus are already mates. I know how my brother gives you a hard time.”

  Bronwen’s eyes watched Nyssa intently, her smile fading to a weaker one. “Yes, well, you’re right. We aren’t partners...yet. He’ll come around eventually, though. Like I said, we Vampires are a patient bunch.”

  “What do you see in him?” Nyssa asked, trying to read Bronwen’s stoic expression. “What exactly about my brother made you become so…”

  “Fascinated by him? So intrigued I decided spend my time vying for his affections?” Bronwen said. “Well, it’s true Remus gives me the cold shoulder more often than not, and treats me more like a duty than a love in public nowadays, but he’s gotten considerably better about opening up to me in private.”

  “Seriously? Well, I guess that’s not too much of a surprise.”

  “Exactly!” Bronwen said, using her hand to accentuate her words. “We’ve spent hours just sitting and talking to each other, trading stories and playing games. Remus has a softer side that I’m even surprised he’s willing to show me, so I know that hard exterior is just a show for those around him. I’ve brought many things with me from the Blackwood, thanks to how often I travel back and forth. We even play some Vampire games, like chess and the like.”

  Cocking her head, Nyssa stared at Bronwen. “Chess?”

  “A strategy game. I’ll have to bring you to one of our lessons sometimes.”

  Nyssa shook her head, strategy was not her forte. Maybe Remus, or even Darius could, possibly even Lowell, but her? No, Nyssa lived in the moment, not thinking ahead too far, but rather getting stuck in the past.

  Bronwen waved her hand in the air. “But enough about Remus. You and I both know more than anyone else on the man. Let’s talk about you and this Jorah fellow.”

  Nyssa twitched at the mention of him, the memory of their lips connecting still incredibly fresh in her mind. She wanted nothing more than to march outside to where Jorah awaited so that she could finish what they started, but at the
same time she felt content getting to speak with Bronwen, who she hadn’t gotten the chance to speak to in weeks. “What about us? There’s not much to tell just yet.”

  “Oh, I beg to differ. You already told us all how he risked his life to save you, carried you through the frigid cold to the safety of a less cold cave to make sure you didn’t die of frostbite,” Bronwen said matter-of-factly. “Don’t be afraid to speak your mind. I won’t tell anyone else. Not even Remus, if you want.”

  “Thank you, Bronwen,” Nyssa replied. “But...there really isn’t much to speak about just yet. We haven't’ exactly had much time to ourselves, and what you saw earlier was-”

  “Just the beginning,” Bronwen said slyly. “Yes, I know all too well. It was quite adorable to see you fawn over someone other than Darius for a change.”

  Her cheeks flushing bright red, Nyssa frowned at the Vampire sitting across from her. “I wasn’t fawning, and don’t bring Darius into this, he doesn’t have anything to do with this matter.”

  Bronwen raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t he? Haven’t you been in love with him pretty much your whole life?”

  “No... maybe.”

  Bronwen giggled. “Then he has everything to do with this little situation of yours. I only bring it up because for the past few years you’ve often brooded whenever someone mentioned Darius and Amara being together, you know, the two who met almost magically, falling in love with each other in an instant, becoming the saviors of both Gray Creek and Red Rock at the same time!”

  Nyssa snarled. “Yes, I remember, you don’t need to remind me!”

  “So then how do you feel about Jorah? Remus has been awfully worried about you these past few years. But now that you might have someone else to lean on, I think everyone would be happy about that.”

  Nyssa stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about the bear shifter who had saved her not once, but twice, from both Changelings and his own people. His deep set, dark eyes and chiseled features matched perfectly with his tied back, dark brown hair. His big physique captured her as well, with toned biceps and abs that poked out from his broad torso. Other than his devilishly dark good looks, his charming smile and jovial way of speaking that warmed her heart, he helped her think of someone other than Darius. She guessed it was no secret that she liked him, but was this just a fleeting feeling of lust, or a genuine growing love she felt for the male shifter she’d only met the day before?