“The hunters,” he said, “I can’t believe you could smell them in human form from way down there.
“I smelled the gasoline and exhaust fumes,” she smiled, “But now I can smell sweat, one of them could use a shower.
She cleaned up the kitchen as they waited for them to reach the door. Why were they all the way out here? It was at least three miles by road from where they were camped.
Garrett opened the door and went out onto the porch before they could knock. She could hear them clearly through the door as they introduced themselves and Garrett sounded friendly when he said he was on honeymoon, a hint to leave them alone. She grinned to herself.
She heard their voices fade as they walked back to their car and she went out on the porch to join him. He snaked an arm around her waist as they watched the red taillight of the truck fade and disappear. His jaw was set in a hard line.
“They wanted to let us know to be careful, that there were wolves spotted in the area and that they are determined to hunt them down. The younger of the two saw them when he was fishing, said he spotted them and that one of them attacked him, so he packed up and went home.”
“Isn’t wolf hunting illegal?”
“Yes, this is really bad. There are no regular wolf packs around here so that means what they saw were shifters, careless shifters. They are going home now but are coming back at the weekend with reinforcements. We need to call in some help, we need to find the other’s before they do.”
He went outside to make a call and India glanced around the cabin, there were no beds but there was plenty of floor space for extra guests if Seann sent more shifters to help them. She went into the closet and reached up for the extra bedding and brought the quilts and pillows through to the main room to air out. There were six of them and she hung them over the sofas and chairs to warm up a little.
Garrett came back in and put another log on the fire.
“Seann says he will send a few people up here to help us find them before the hunters come back. I need to go out and scout around, make sure they are gone before the others get here. Lock the door until I come back.”
“I’m not a helpless little human, Garrett, let me come with you.”
“No, India, you would be helpless against a bolt from a crossbow or a bullet. I won’t be long, babe, I promise.”
She watched him from the porch as he disappeared into the trees and brought in more firewood from the side of the shed. She didn’t know how many would arrive tonight, but she guessed at least two or three, so she took some burgers and hotdogs from the freezer and prepped some corn. There were beans in the pantry and she made a chocolate cake from a packet mix she found, Imogen would be horrified!”
There was a gas grill outside that they hadn’t used yet and she lit it to burn away any old pieces of food before she cleaned it ready for dinner.
Garrett came through the trees two hours after he left, and she watched in admiration as he shifted back and came up onto the porch.
“I thought I told you to lock the door.”
“Get over yourself. I am not helpless and it’s wolves they are hunting, not humans, don’t be so bossy.”
He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and carried her inside.
“I thought you liked it when I was bossy.” He set her down and pulled her hard against him.
“I said dominant, not bossy.” She grinned and he threw back his head and laughed.
“I reckon our guests will be here in about two hours and we won’t be alone again for at least two or three days. I say we make the most of it.”
She smoothed her hands over his naked back and down over his tight butt and sighed,
“What did you have in mind?”
“I’m more of a show, rather than tell, kind of guy.” he put his hands under her t-shirt and his cold hands caused a delicious shiver to run down her spine, “But you are way overdressed for the things I want to show you.”
He threw the sofa pillows on the floor and lay down on his back and pulled her on top of him. She loved the feeling of power she had when she was on top of him and although he could easily overpower her, she loved it nonetheless. The sun had gone down and they made love by the light of the fire and she snuggled warm and safe in his arms until they heard the sound of a vehicle in the distance.
They dressed and waited on the porch until the truck came into view and Liam jumped down from the driver’s side and came toward them. Kandis got out of the passenger side and Bree from the back seat.
“Seann wanted to come but Imogen pitched a fit that he wouldn’t allow her to come up here, so Liam volunteered, Kandis is a fighter and I am the best tracker,” Bree said.
“You may have a contender for your crown, Bree, India picked up the hunter’s scent long before I did, Garrett said with a smile.
Bree hugged her and Kandis merely nodded as they went inside.
“Sorry about the lack of beds, but there are plenty of quilts and pillows,” she said.
“The floor is fine,” Kandis said but Bree looked less happy with the arrangement.
“You would fit on the sofa, Bree,” India said as she loaded a tray for Garrett to take onto the porch to grill. It was getting dark, but he would see fine with his wolf sight.
“Can I help?” Kandis asked hopefully, and India knew she was still trying to make amends for attacking her sister a few months ago. She had changed a lot since then and Imogen had totally forgiven her, maybe it was time to let it go.
“Sure, the plates are all in there, she gestured to one of the cupboards and silverware in the drawer below.
Kandis set the table and Bree picked out a quilt and pillow for herself and made two makeshift beds on the floor for Kandis and Liam.
“Bree and I were going to do a run tonight, make sure they are really gone but if you are as good as Garrett says, maybe you should come too, a good nose is worth more than two fighters, early detection system,” Kandis said and smiled and India thought how it transformed her face, she really was very pretty.
“I would love to go with you, I will probably have some opposition, but I am going anyway!” she gestured toward the door.
“Liam and I will go,” Garrett said coming into the room with a plate full of hotdogs,
“No, Bree and I will sense anyone out there long before they see us and Kandis could kick anyone’s ass, Garrett. I am no longer a helpless little human needing your constant protection, you need to back off a little.”
He opened his mouth to argue with her and then shook his head and nodded,
“Stay together and don’t wander too far then.”
Liam brought in the burgers and they sat down to eat.
Liam and Kandis had developed an affinity and India was curious to see if there was an attraction there but she doubted very much if it was something that Kandis would share with them. After everything she had gone through years ago at the hands of Kellas and his friends, she was a very private person. Being violated as a child would destroy some people but Kandis was strong, inside and out.
They cleaned up after dinner and Garrett announced that when India and the others came back from their run, he and Liam would take watch duty out on the porch.
“You’ll freeze out there,” India said.
“Not with my fur, we will sleep in wolf form. Our senses are much sharper then.”
“Let’s go then,” Kandis announced and the three of them stripped off before they went outside.
Bree shifted before the door closed behind them.
“Show off!” Kandis said and shifted too.
India was getting quicker each time but still slower than others.
She shifted and the three of them ran off into the woods, forming a ‘V’. Bree and India at the points and Kandis as protector in the rear.
She led them to the campsite the hunters had been using and only the remnants of a fire pit remained. The other two took their fill of the hunter’s scent to commit to memory and th
ey swept a wide area on their way back to the cabin. The men were long gone but they knew they would be coming back.
Garrett was waiting on the porch as they approached and Bree and Kandis shifted quickly and India a moment later. He handed each of them a blanket and wrapped one around India's shoulders before they went back inside, God it was freezing without her fur. They dressed quickly and reported that they had sensed nothing out of the ordinary.
Liam and Garrett went outside and sat in the rockers on the porch and Bree made them some hot chocolate. They would shift when the house was in darkness and the others had gone to bed.
India and Kandis were sitting on the floor in front of the fire, Bree was snoring softly on the sofa under an oversized quilt. She drained her cup and looked Kandis in the eye.
“Liam is in love with you,” she blurted out and Kandis actually blushed.
“I know.”
“Do you like him, love him, loathe him, want to jump him?”
“Are you always so direct?”
“No, but I figured you owe me one so I thought I would ask.”
Kandis chuckled.
“You have balls, I’ll give you that, princess.”
“I’m hardly a princess and it’s not very original, you call Imogen that too.”
She shrugged.
“You are mated to Garrett, she is mated to Seann, that makes you pack royalty,” she laughed.
“Are you avoiding the question.”
“Yes.”
India didn’t know why she wanted to confide in Kandis, they had hardly been best friends, just the opposite but beneath her hard shell she was vulnerable and she was making a real effort to make amends.
“I didn’t want to be second best, so I avoided mating with Garrett. I thought he was still carrying a torch for his first mate, who it turns out wasn’t his mate, but his daughter and I wasted so much time when we could have been together.”
“He was devastated when that baby died,” Kandis shook her head, “I can’t even begin to imagine what he went through, so I am glad that he found you, everyone deserves to be happy.”
“So do you, Kandis,” India said softly.
“It’s not that simple,” she said and India kept quiet, waiting to see if she would say more.
Kandis stared at the fire for a long time and then she whispered.
“I have never been with anyone since I was raped, I don’t know if it will repulse me or I would freak out, I don’t know what to expect, India, I feel safe with Liam, he would never hurt me intentionally but I am terrified I will never be able to have a normal sexual relationship and I don’t want to burden him with my problems.”
“What happened to you was horrible, Kandis, I won’t even pretend to know what you went through at the hands of that monster but I know you are too strong, too independent to let it define who you are now. Talk to him, tell him what you just told me.”
They sat in silence until she finally looked up and met India’s eyes.
“I’m so sorry I tried to kill your sister, I’m glad you are both part of the family.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Garrett
He looked in on the others before and added some more wood to the crackling fire. Bree was curled up on the sofa, smothered under a mountain of soft pillows and quilts and Kandis and India were both fast asleep, stretched out in front of the fire. He scooped her up easily and tucked her into bed with a chaste kiss on her head and threw a quilt over Kandis before stripping off to go back outside to shift.
Liam came inside to leave his clothes in the warmth of the cabin and his eyes scanned the room until they fell on the blonde sleeping on the fireside rug. His expression softened and Garrett wondered if Kandis knew that Liam loved her. She carried more baggage than an airport carousel on Thanksgiving weekend, but if he was her true mate none of that would matter to him. He wasn’t privy to the details of Kandis’s attack and didn’t want to be, but he knew she had been to hell and back from the little he had learned on the night they caught her attacker.
There was already a vast change in her attitude and behavior and he greatly admired her tenacity and strength. Seann had made the right move when he assigned her to work under Liam as an enforcer. She was strong and fierce and as her wounds healed, a glimpse of the girl she used to be was emerging. She could be critical and a little demanding, but he suspected it was the defense mechanism she had cultured to stop her going mad after she was brutally violated as a teenager. One thing that was never in question though was her loyalty to this pack.
The porch sheltered them from the worst of the wind, but he was acutely aware of India inside curled up on their bed and he wanted nothing more than to be tucked in beside her. He could quite happily stay up here with her in isolation for the next six months, but he knew by the end of the week they would be going back to reality and their everyday lives in the compound. Not that there was anything wrong with his life, he loved where he lived and he loved the pack, they were his family, but he would miss spending all day, every day with her.
India would move into his cabin with him and he would speak to Lachlan about having some men come over to open up the wall to the unused garage to create more space inside, maybe turn it into a snug where one day their kids would play games or watch movies. He smiled at the thought, when did he come over all domesticated and when did he start thinking about a houseful of kids.
He closed his eyes contentedly and settled into a dreamless sleep and somewhere in the middle of the night, he woke to find it had been snowing fairly hard and India was tucked into his side on the porch, wrapped in a heavy quilt. He rubbed his wet muzzle on her cheek, and she smiled in her sleep. She felt warm and cozy, so he let her stay for now.
Kandis came out onto the porch, stretching her lean body and yawning and looked at Liam before she turned to Garrett.
“Go inside and get some sleep, Garrett, I will keep Liam company for a while.
She stripped off and shifted and lay down beside him and Garrett changed back and scooped India up and took her back to bed. She barely stirred as he lay her down and climbed in beside her and pulled her close, feeding off her body heat. It was still an hour or so until dawn, but he knew he wouldn’t get back to sleep. He knew in his gut the hunters didn’t lie, they would be back, and he needed an idea to get them off the trail of the shifters and have them looking for them elsewhere, preferably far away from here.
He wished he could send India back home with Bree while they waited on the hunter’s return, but she would never go for it, neither would Bree. India was still inexperienced as a shifter, despite her emerging talents and he couldn’t bear the thought of her being hurt but he also knew this was a battle he wouldn’t win so resigned himself that she would be staying with him.
The door opened and Liam came back inside, shaking some snow from his hair.
“Garrett, we have company. Kandis sensed someone in the trees and there is a faint smell of wolf in the air.”
He slipped out of bed quietly and pulled on his shorts just as Kandis came inside and quickly dressed too. She shook Bree awake and he was tempted to leave India where she was, but he knew she would be furious if he did that, so he woke her too and handed her his t-shirt to pull over her naked form.
“We may scare them off if we go after them, better to let them see us like this,” Kandis said as they went back out onto the porch and turned on the soft light so that they could see them clearly.
“It’s okay, we know you’re there,” Bree said quietly, knowing that wolf hearing would pick up anything they said. “We mean you no harm but there are hunters coming back here who do. Come on in and let us help you.”
“They are over there somewhere.” Kandis gestured to the left where the trees were denser. “I wish I could get closer without spooking them to try and get a sense of what they are feeling.”
“I can smell their fear, they are terrified!” India said, “There are three of them, but they don’t want to come a
ny closer, they don’t trust us.”
“How do you know?” Bree asked her.
“I can feel their emotions, each one has a different color and scent, I believe they are also new wolves and very young,” she said softly.
Garrett put a hand on her shoulder. He had never known a wolf to have such a finite sense of another wolf’s emotions and knew she had a terrific gift that would be a tremendous asset to the pack in the future, but for right now they needed to gain the trust of the youngsters in the woods.
“I can sense how afraid you are, but I promise you that no-one here will hurt you, please come inside with us. I am very new to this life, only a few months, so I can guess you are too, but it’s going to be alright, I swear it,” India spoke very softly knowing they could hear every word.
“That’s a unique skill, India, being able to read their emotions, especially from way back here,” Kandis said, “I am almost jealous.”
India lifted her head and sniffed the air in front of her.
“They are changing back, their human scent is much stronger now and I can hear one of them talking, it’s a young male.”
They waited patiently and a few minutes later three figures emerged from the trees. The boy in the middle looked about eighteen or nineteen years old and the tallest of the two girls flanking him, just a little younger. The other girl was trying to hide behind the male which made it difficult for Garrett to get a good look at her. They were filthy and skinny and looked like they hadn’t had a decent meal in a long time.
“We won’t hurt you.” he repeated India’s promise. “Come on in and have some breakfast, we have plenty of food and we are happy to share it with you. We also have plenty of dry clothes, you have probably lost a lot when you change.”
The girl peeked out from behind the male at the mention of food, but her huge brown eyes were wary. She was painfully thin and her light brown braid hanging way down her back looked too heavy for her head. She licked her dry lips and Garrett knew she was starving. He held out a hand to them in welcome as they approached the cabin and his eyes widened as the smaller girl detached from the others and came toward them, he whispered to the others.
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