Captivated by the She-Wolf

by Kristal Hollis

  Using a wet cloth, she wiped away the dirt, sweat and tears. Her nerves more settled, she dressed quickly and opened the bathroom door.

  “Mom?” Alex stood in the doorway, his eyes wide and skin pale. He might be nearly grown, but he was still her little boy.

  “I’m fine.” She pulled him into a tight embrace.

  He didn’t cry, but his shoulders heaved. If she could, Ronni would hold him forever.

  More composed, he stepped back. “What the hell was going on out there?” Now that his nerves had settled, Alex’s temper began to show.

  “It’s hunting season,” Ronni said.

  “But they’re trespassing!” Alex stomped behind her into the living room.

  “Some people think rules don’t apply to them.” Like Jeb.

  Ronni continued into the kitchen, pulled back the curtain covering the window above the sink and peered outside. Sharpening her wolfan eyesight, she watched several pack deputies fan out to search for the hunters. She checked the sky and trees for signs of her brave little raven, but there were none.

  Her heart sank. Please be okay, little one.

  “Mom,” Alex called to her. “Tristan is here.”

  Ronni dabbed at the sting in her eyes and went to greet him.

  “Are you okay?” The gravity in Tristan’s voice caused the nervous jumble in her stomach to somersault.

  “I sliced my hand on a sharp stick.” Ronni lifted her injured palm. “Otherwise, I’m fine.”

  Relief eased some of the worry in Tristan’s face. “The sentinels are tracking the hunters’ scents. Did you see what they looked like?”

  “I was staring more at their guns than their faces, but there were three of them.”

  “If you remember anything else, let me know.”

  “Wait.” She called him back. “Have you seen a large raven with gold eyes?”

  “Not tonight,” Tristan said. “Why?”

  “He followed me on my run but didn’t come back when I did.”

  “I wouldn’t worry,” Tristan said. “We haven’t seen any injured or dead animals in the immediate area. More than likely, your raven flew away.”

  “I hope so.” It would hurt Ronni’s heart if the raven was injured or killed trying to save her.

  Chapter 11

  Hands trembling, Bodie dressed quickly and cast his gaze around the woods where he’d hidden his vehicle earlier that evening.

  If he hadn’t been with Ronni and distracted the hunters, Bodie could’ve lost her before he really knew her. Just like Layla.

  No, not quite.

  He and Layla had been married just over a year and he’d never felt an intimate connection to her the way he did to Ronni. When Layla died, Bodie experienced a great shock and mourned her loss but he hadn’t felt the cold chill in his core like he did when Ronni had fallen after a shot rang out.

  At first, he had attributed his attraction to Ronni to her kindness in the sanctuary when she was naked and he was vulnerable. The gentleness of her touch and the soothing tone of her voice had seeded deep within him. But kissing her had sparked something much more than gratitude.

  And when he thought the hunters had stolen her from him, an unexpected tidal wave of dark emotions had flooded his senses. Consumed with an irrational rage, Bodie attacked them in a startling fury of vengeance until he saw Ronni and Alex running toward the house. His sharpened vision had not detected any bloodstains on her lovely tawny fur, but she held up one paw as she ran.

  The prompt arrival of the Co-op’s security patrol had caused the hunters to flee. Ordinarily, Bodie would have pursued them.

  However, right now his instinct was driving him toward Ronni. It was almost midnight; he couldn’t simply show up and casually say, Hey, beautiful, what’s up?

  He reached for his phone. In the middle of typing a text message to Ronni, the device rang with a call from Tristan.

  “We’ve had another run-in with hunters on Co-op property.” His solemn voice told Bodie what he already knew.

  “Anyone hurt?”

  There was a moment of dead silence and Bodie wondered if Ronni had actually been hit but he hadn’t seen the wound.

  “Nothing serious.”

  Relief broke the tightness in Bodie’s chest. “Tell me you caught them.”

  “I’ve got trackers on their trail—if they’re still in the area, we’ll find them.”

  Given the state Bodie was in, it would probably be best for the wolves to find the hunters tonight, rather than him. Tomorrow, he might have a calmer perspective but right now, it just wasn’t possible.

  “Where are you?” Bodie tried to sound casual. “I can help.”

  “That’s why I’m calling.” Tristan cleared his throat. “The shooting happened around Ronni’s place and she’s pretty shaken.” There was expectation in his pause.

  Bodie didn’t need to ponder why Tristan had called him for Ronni. He expected that the rumor mill had gone into full operation after the kiss he gave her outside Mabel’s.

  “I thought you might like to be with her, but if I’ve misunderstood what’s going on between you and her, I can call Rafe.”

  “If he needs to know, then call him. I’m already on my way.” Bodie tossed the phone on the seat and started the truck. Throwing the transmission into Reverse, he backed out of the hiding spot.

  Then, he spun out onto the road and didn’t slow down until he reached the hidden turn to Ronni’s house. Two Co-op security vehicles were parked in the driveway, lights still flashing.

  Bodie walked to the front of the house and knocked. He heard movement before the door opened.

  “Bodie?” Relief and confusion filled Ronni’s big blue eyes. “What are you doing here?”

  “Tristan called.” Bodie stepped inside.

  Ronni closed and locked the door behind him. “You didn’t have to come.”

  “Catching poachers is my job.” However, the pounding heart and gut-wrenching knots in his stomach were a reminder that this incident was personal. “Are you all right?” The question he’d been dying to ask since watching her go down.

  Ronni nodded, her mouth sealed tight, and she hugged herself.

  Bodie would’ve preferred for her to fall into his arms so he could give her some measure of comfort and take some for himself. Instead, he lifted her gauze-bound hand. “What happened?”

  “Rammed my palm on a stick. It’s nothing serious.”

  “How is Alex?”

  “I’m okay, Mr. Gryffon.” Peering down from the second floor, Alex’s face was pale, his large blue eyes squinted.

  “You can call me Bodie,” he said gently. No need for formalities in a time like this.

  “Those assholes had no right to be here.”

  “I’ll find them,” Bodie promised. “I wanted to be sure you and your mom were safe before I helped with the search.”

  “You’re not going anywhere until I take care of the scratch on your neck,” Ronni said. “What got you?”

  Bodie swiped his fingers along the inside of his collar and down the corresponding spot on his neck. Something wet and sticky coated his fingertips. He drew back his hand and stared at the blood. “I’m not sure,” he said, instead of telling her that the damn poacher nicked him after all.

  “Come with me.” Frowning, she turned and walked away with the confident stride of someone who expected to be obeyed.

  Bodie glanced up at Alex. The teenager leaned on the bannister.

  “No matter what she says—” Alex gave him a sympathetic look “—it will hurt like hell.”

  * * *

  Focusing on Bodie’s wound would keep Ronni’s mind off what could’ve happened to her and Alex. And what might’ve happened to her new bird friend. Closing the door behind Bodie, she led him through the bedroom, his gaze lingering on
the cozy queen-size bed before she tugged him into the master bathroom, already feeling less anxious with him near.

  “Sit.” She pointed to the toilet, lid down.

  An amused smile hovered on his lips as he followed her instruction.

  “Take off your shirt.”

  “I like the way you take charge.” The smile became more prominent. A dark eyebrow lifted, and his gaze slid to the open door with a view of the bed. “Are you going to get rough with me?”

  “You’re punchy from the blood loss,” she said, even though the injury was merely a superficial wound.

  “Maybe I should lie down on the bed.” Desire darkened his eyes.

  The air crackled with anticipation and expectancy. The static charge bouncing between them raised the tiny hairs along her arms. It also resurrected a primal need in her core.

  Outside of the biological urge induced by a full moon, she hadn’t had a desire for sex since becoming a widow. Until she met Bodie.

  Palm up, he beckoned her closer with the curl of his finger. Feet following her instinct, she ignored the warning flags her brain signaled. As his hand closed around her wrist, sparks nipped her skin.

  “There really is something extraordinary happening between us.” His gaze roamed her face, feather soft and titillating. “Isn’t there?”

  Ronni swallowed the breath she held behind a scrunched mouth. “I don’t know,” she lied. There was definitely something happening. “Between Jeb’s arrival and hunters shooting up the neighborhood, I’m a little rattled.”

  “For the record.” Bodie urged her to sit on his lap, and against her better judgment, she did. “I think you’re holding up pretty well.”

  But she was so damn tired of always hanging in there. Sooner or later, something had to give.

  Bodie tucked her against his chest. He felt warm and safe and strong, and his clean, male scent held no trace of sickness or disease. Just pure masculine virility.

  A distant howl echoed in her mind and the repercussion formed a single chant—Mine! Mine! Mine!—that forced Ronni out of the sanctuary of his arms.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t do this right now.” Turning away, she hugged her chest to seal in the comforting heat from Bodie’s body. Still, her skin cooled and a dull ache began to throb in her heart.

  “You can’t accept a little reprieve from the craziness happening in your life?”

  When he put it like that, it seemed so simple. The reality was that what was happening during the reprieve was much more complicated.

  The howling declaration she’d heard—and still heard with every heartbeat—was her wolfan instinct declaring her true mate. It had to be a mistake.

  Ronni had known Zeke since childhood. Their mateship began in fear. Eventually, love did come, along with her inner wolf’s declaration that he was her true mate. They were lucky. Not all wolfans formed mate-bonds with their life partners.

  Still, it had taken years for the ethereal bond to form. She barely knew Bodie. Confused by the stress of everything that had happened, her instinct couldn’t be trusted. Immense caution was needed or she would screw up all of their lives.

  “I’ll catch those bastards.” Conflicting emotions flickered across Bodie’s face. “Jeb will eventually leave. When the dust settles, I’ll still be here.”

  “One thing at a time.” She dampened a washcloth and handed it to him. “First, we tend to that scratch. Now take off your shirt and wash your neck.”

  She didn’t need to look at him to know he was grinning. The image formed clearly and brilliantly in her mind’s eye. Prepping a sterile gauze, she gave in to her own smile, knowing that soon the sting of hydrogen peroxide would wipe out all that male smugness.

  She turned around and nearly dropped her jaw.

  He’d taken his shirt off, all right.

  Now, she was used to seeing physically fit males. Among wolfans, nudity was a natural part of life and not reserved merely for sexual activity. And their natural athleticism kept them in prime physical condition.

  But holy moly! Bodie was ripped.

  As if he was the choicest cut of premium steak, her eyes devoured the richness of his bronze skin pulled taut over impeccably chiseled muscles. His corded neck, shoulders and torso were packed with more hardened bulk than wolfans but his masculine waist and hips were slightly leaner. That by no means diminished the devastatingly erotic ripple effect on his abs when he drew in long, deep breaths and let them go.

  “Care to paw my honey pot?” His pecs danced to a silent, though no less hypnotic, beat.

  “Um.” She had no ability to put together coherent words.

  “Should I drop my pants, too?” He stood. “I might have something else that needs doctoring.”

  There was no might have. The outline of his large erection would be visible even to someone with cataracts.

  Her mouth went dry because all of the moisture in her body pooled in her sex. Desire spread like a wicked flame through her body, reducing all rational thought to ash.

  Consumed by rampant primal instinct, Ronni pounced and Bodie’s arms banded around her. He claimed her lips, his tongue searing and branding her mouth with his taste. Abandoning the medicinal gauze in her hand, she drove her fingers through his long black hair and pressed tightly against him, wanting to be completely and utterly possessed. Backing her against the wall, his fingers dug into the fleshy curve of her ass. She locked her legs around his hips and settled so that his long, thick, hard shaft aligned perfectly with her feminine mound.

  White-hot kisses dotted the expanse of her neck, drawing out hisses of indulgent pleasure. His hand slipped beneath her shirt, warming and tickling her as he mapped her skin. She wore no bra to impede his roughened fingers from caressing her breasts. He pinched and rolled her sensitive nipples and she saw stars.

  She ground her hips against him, cursing the fabric between them but unwilling to stop to remove the barriers and risk breaking the spell. Bodie growled her name and goose bumps ran the gamut of her skin.

  Every system in her body focused energy on the tension coiled in her sex. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Couldn’t feel anything but the powerful ache gnawing at her center.

  Bodie shifted his hips and suddenly Ronni exploded. Waves upon waves of pleasure battered her senses until she was drowning in ecstasy.

  He stilled and the rhythmic sound of his breathing lured her back to reality. Brushing the hair from her brow, he smiled. Unlike his arrogant, teasing, boastful grins, this one was soft and poignant and filled her heart with so much awe she thought it would burst.

  Ronni gave Bodie’s lips a soft peck, untangled her fingers from his hair and unlocked her legs to slide down his body until her bare feet touched the cold tile floor. “Well, that was—”

  “What you needed.”

  “I’m not usually like that with men.”

  “Good.” His cocky smile was a little crooked. “I want to be the only man who gets you so hot and bothered that you have to fling yourself at him.”

  “I didn’t fling.” I pounced. Big difference.

  Bodie chuckled.

  A dark spot on the floor caught her eye. “What is this?” She picked up two pieces of soft, black fluff.

  “Could be bird feathers.” He plucked them from her fingers. “A raven swooped over my head when I got out of the truck.”

  Ronni’s breath hitched. “How big was he?”

  “Huge. Maybe even giant.” Amusement shimmered in his eyes.

  “I’m being serious.” Ronni bumped him out of her way. “A large raven visits me every night and I couldn’t find him after the commotion.”

  “Well, the one I saw was bigger than any I’ve seen and had golden eyes.”

  “That’s him!” Relief flooded through Ronni.

  “He was squawking and
swooping around the front of the house.” Bodie handed her the feathers.

  “Was he hurt?”

  “He looked fine to me.” Bodie pulled on his shirt.

  “Hey, Bodie!” Alex called from the living room. “Does it hurt yet?”

  Bodie glanced at the unrelieved erection pressing against his zipper. “Yeah! Hurts like hell!”

  “Told ya!” Alex’s laughter sounded strained. Considering the scare they had, Ronni would’ve worried if he hadn’t been affected.

  “I bet the raven scratched you on the neck when he flew past you.” She picked up the now unusable gauze and tossed it in the garbage can. “I still need to disinfect that scrape.”

  “Oh, no,” he said, scrunching his nose from the lingering smell of antiseptic. “Just a Band-Aid. I’ve suffered enough tonight.”

  Guilt pinched her conscience. After taping a bandage over the flesh wound, Ronni cradled his crotch, massaging the large bulge. “I can take care of this, too.”

  “I came over to take care of you,” he said, so soft and sweet that she nearly puddled at his feet. He cupped her arms, holding her upright so she wouldn’t.

  “Mom! Tristan is here again.”

  “I’m coming!” She pressed her forehead against Bodie’s shoulder.

  “No, you aren’t,” he whispered. “But you certainly were a few minutes ago.”

  After lightly smacking her backside, he strolled out of the bathroom. Incredulously snapping her jaw shut, Ronni checked her reflection to make sure she looked decent before casually following him out.

  Bodie shook Tristan’s hand. “I hope you have good news.”

  Watching his curious gaze flicker back and forth between her and Bodie, she gave Tristan a bland smile so as not to confirm his suspicions about what transpired in the bathroom. It wasn’t his business to know that she’d just experienced a rip-roaring orgasm without even having to take off her clothes.

  “I don’t.” Tristan continued the conversation with Bodie. “The sentinels tracked the poachers to an access road where they escaped in a dark-colored truck.”

  “Plates?” Bodie asked.

  Tristan answered with a head shake. “Couldn’t get a make or model either. One of our sentinels went down and he became the priority.”