Clawed & Cornered: A Viking Werewolf Paranormal Romance (Children of Fenrir Book 1)

by Heather McCorkle

  “What I plan isn’t your concern either.” He looked at the door before continuing. “But if you don’t want to bring me Sonya, your sister is really proving herself as a viable candidate. I could make her the official female alpha rather than just proxy.” The grin he gave me was all teeth.

  Every muscle in my body wanted to shift and attack. I vibrated with the need. Forcing my instincts down, I spun away from him and stormed toward the door. “It won’t come to that.”

  Laughter sounded on the other side of the door as I let it slam behind me. Morene flinched so hard the porch swing she sat in shuddered. No, I couldn’t let it come to that. Becoming Bane’s mate would kill my sister. And the determined look on her face told me she wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice herself for the cause. I had no choice but to bring Sonya to Bane.

  Chapter Eight

  Sonya

  Aside from a text thanking me for the wine and cinnamon rolls and saying he couldn’t wait to see me again, I didn’t hear from Raul for two days. I started to question what I had seen. Then I rationalized it. Finally, I dismissed it altogether as an overactive imagination thanks to all the stories my dad had told me as a kid. It wasn’t the first time my imagination had got the better of me.

  In the middle of my shift on the third day, Raul texted me to ask if he could meet me after work. The sight of his name on my phone sent a thrill through me and made me smile. Despite the weirdness of the forest incident, I liked this guy, a lot. I wouldn’t allow my weird upbringing to mess up whatever was building between us.

  Love to. Off at nine, I texted back.

  I couldn’t stop smiling through the remainder of my shift. My tip jar was brimming. I searched the bar for Raul but didn’t find him. Part of me was relieved I’d get to refresh my lipstick and check my hair, while another part worried just a little.

  After a quick trip to the ladies’ room, I stepped outside, re-rouged, with my hair free from its clips and brushed out. Warm evening air embraced me. The further into the parking lot I walked, the more I smelled pine trees instead of the bar’s sickly sweet stench. I turned the corner to the employee parking lot. Through the trees I spotted Raul leaning against his Porsche, which was parked beside my Jeep. In blue jeans and his black motorcycle jacket, he looked a bit dangerous and sexy as all hell.

  None of the trepidation I’d felt before returned. Being in his presence put me at ease, almost like something in him called to something in me. Whatever it was made me feel like I wasn’t alone in the world.

  Gaze roving slowly over me, he made a sound of appreciation that brought heat to my face. He pushed away from the car and produced a bouquet of yellow roses from behind his back. Accepting them with a smile, I buried my nose in them and inhaled.

  “You shouldn’t have,” I said, totally charmed despite having told him I wasn’t really a flowers kind of girl.

  “Oh yes, I should have. I’m the one who’s supposed to be giving you gifts, not the other way around. Thank you for the wine and cinnamon rolls, by the way.”

  I bristled a touch at the old-fashioned sexist notion. “It’s the twenty-first century. A girl can get her guy gifts if she wants to.”

  Face lighting up so much those amber eyes of his glowed like they were trying to catch mosquitoes, he stepped close and slid an arm around me. “Your guy?” he asked as he nuzzled into my neck. “I like the sound of that.”

  The feathery sensation of his breath against my skin brought back the memory of our kiss. Heat spread throughout me. My breasts grew heavy in my bra, nipples hardening enough to threaten to give away my desire thanks to my thin, billowy blouse. I didn’t care if he noticed. His hand slid slowly from my back and he opened the passenger door of the Porsche for me. Had it been an attempt to charm me because he wanted something, it wouldn’t have worked. From our conversations, I knew he did it because he’d been raised to treat women with respect, which totally worked for me.

  When he straightened back up, his arm wrapped tighter around my middle, pulling me against him. The scents of pine and earth wafting off him smelled so masculine and natural that a little sigh of pleasure slid from me. His chest rumbled his approval in a way that made my skin tighten deliciously. I met him as he bent down to kiss me. The soft touch of his lips made me hungry for more. My lips parted for him. Our tongues mingled, and he tasted so good it made me gasp. Deeper and deeper the kiss went, until our hands were exploring each other, and I was pressed hard up against the expensive sports car.

  The last wisps of concern were torn away in the hurricane of desire that hit me. I wanted him right then and there.

  Voices and the crunch of gravel warned us someone was coming and completely ruined the moment. He drew away and I got in the car before anyone could see me. My co-workers gossiped way too much, and it had to be one of them since we were in the employee parking lot. One of the waitresses came around the corner, the orange light of a cigarette illuminating her face. The Porsche roared to life and Raul pulled out of the parking spot. One hand on her hip, cigarette dangling from her lips, the waitress gave us a slack-jawed stare. I fought the urge not to hunker down in my seat. For one, the windows were tinted dark enough she shouldn’t be able to see in. For two, I was a grown-ass woman who had every right to date who I wanted.

  Raul laughed as we pulled out onto the road. “I take it she’s going to give you grief over me,” he said.

  Groaning, I ran a hand through my hair. “Definitely.”

  When he turned his runway smile on me, my insides melted. “Then we’ll just have to make it a night worth talking about.”

  While the food at dinner was amazing, the restaurant made me feel terribly underdressed. Most women wore nice dresses and heels that cost more than all of my college books put together, and most men wore suits. I was terrified of what the meal cost, especially after seeing the menu had no prices. That was never a good sign.

  Raul put me at ease by joking quietly about the stuffy patrons and assuring me he expected nothing more than for me to have a good time and enjoy good food. None of my tail was expected in exchange for the lobster tail, he had teased. He insisted that he’d been looking for a good excuse to eat at the place and just hadn’t wanted to go alone. The man’s charm and laid-back manner put me at ease. And it turned out he could be quite funny.

  Though we had traveled nearly an hour to reach what passed for a city in these parts and would have a long drive home, I agreed eagerly when he suggested we go for a walk in a local park. I didn’t want the night to end. It had been years since I’d had so much fun with a guy.

  We pulled into the parking lot and before I could reach for the handle, he had popped out and shot around to open the door for me. Like a gentleman of old, he took my hand and helped me out of the car.

  The heat of his hand in mine shot straight to my navel. The moonlight made his strangely beautiful eyes appear to glow. Before I could focus on them too much, they closed and he bent to kiss me. His firm, but soft, lips distracted me from my misgivings yet again. Our tongues explored each other’s mouths as our hands explored each other’s bodies. His physique was hard in a way one could only get from a combination of working out and using their muscles. It made me think he did a lot of hiking as a forest ranger. Before that train of thought could lead me down a disturbing path, his hand palmed my right breast, and my thoughts scattered.

  I ground my hips against his. The hardness that awaited made me want to strip him down then and there and have my way with him. It was dark and secluded enough that we just might get away with it. The thought sent a thrill through me. I reached for his belt.

  Laughter blew to us on a breeze, and young voices followed.

  Our kiss ended abruptly and we parted. Taking my hand back up, Raul meandered toward the path. I gave him a coy smile as I licked the taste of him from my lips.

  “Guess we got carried away,” I said in a breathless voice.

  He made a humming noise in his throat that made muscles between my legs tigh
ten. “You have that effect on me,” he said.

  My smile grew. I like that I affected him. “Let’s go to my place,” I said without thinking. This wasn’t something I wanted to overthink. Right now I wanted him, and that was all that mattered.

  One brow raised, his tongue darted out to touch his top lip. “Are you sure?”

  I let my gaze rove slowly over him. “Oh hell yes.”

  Wiggling my eyebrows at him, I pulled him into a faster pace alongside me. We resumed our play of chasing, catching, and kissing one another on our way back through the park. Exhilaration fueled my steps. Not only had it been a long time since I’d had a man between my legs, but Raul also made me feel wild and carefree—like I had been before med school. It made me realize how badly I wanted to be that person again; free of doubt, stress, and debt. And the hot man teasing and laughing with me made all that real and possible again. We were almost back to the car when he grabbed me around the waist, literally swept me off my feet, then froze, body rigid—and not in a sexy, jump your bones kind of way.

  I looked into his eyes only to find him staring off into the darkness. A prickling at the back of my neck made me run a hand over it. The feeling only intensified. Breath held, I followed Raul’s fierce gaze into the darkness. Light reflected off two almond-shaped eyes the color of ice. I’d never seen blue wolf eyes, but I knew beyond a doubt that’s what they were. The shadows hid all but those eyes and hints of fur. Yet something deep inside told me it was a wolf. And those eyes were so far off the ground it had to be the biggest wolf on the planet.

  I let go of Raul, squirmed my way free of him, and started to back away. The car sat only a few steps behind me. Raul put himself between the wolf and me. It would have seemed valiant—if not outdated—if his crouched posture hadn’t reminded me so much of the guy in the woods with the wolf. A low growl full of menace and warning sounded. It wasn’t coming from the shadows. It came from Raul. But that was impossible. It wasn’t a sound a human throat could make, nowhere close.

  My foot slid off the curb and a squeal of surprise erupted from me as I fell backward. Raul’s Porsche broke my fall after only a few inches. I spun around and scrambled for the door. After what felt like an eternity, my fingers found the handle and I tore it open. A flash of guilt made me pause and look back to check on Raul. It appeared he had advanced toward the wolf a few steps.

  “Come on, Raul, before you get bit!” I called to him.

  He started to walk backward toward me. Once he reached the front end of the car, I got in and slammed my door shut. In a literal heartbeat—so fast I didn’t even see him move—Raul was suddenly climbing in the driver’s side. The Porsche roared to life and we tore out of the parking lot fast enough to throw me back in my seat.

  Raul let out a whoop followed by a nervous laugh. “That was crazy, right?” he said through a smile that looked forced.

  I didn’t smile back because I was afraid it would turn into a terrified grimace. “Yeah. What the hell is a wolf doing in the middle of town?” I asked. And why was it so freakishly huge? I wasn’t about to voice that question and sound completely crazy.

  Glancing in the rearview mirror, Raul answered, “I’m pretty sure it was a cross with a Newfoundland or something. Probably someone’s dog.”

  My brows rose in disbelief. “You really think so?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief out of my voice.

  He waved a hand dismissively as he took a forty-five mile per hour corner at sixty-five. “Definitely.”

  I supposed he could be right, but still… “That was very valiant, in an old school knight in shining armor kind of way, but you didn’t have to throw yourself in harm’s way for me,” I said.

  Giving me sort of a crooked, half-smile, he put his hand on my knee. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to get all alpha male on you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a powerful woman who can take care of herself. Instinct just kicked in.”

  Warmth spread through me, promising to banish the weirdness of the night if I let it. I covered his hand with my own, not sure if I wanted to remove it, or slide it higher onto my thigh.

  “Instinct?” I asked.

  The wistful look he gave me made the warmth spread—until I saw him check the rearview mirror again. Why would he keep doing that? A wolf-dog wouldn’t exactly follow us onto the highway.

  “Maybe not instinct so much as teaching. My parents raised me with old-fashioned values mixed with modern views. It stuck.”

  “Hmmm. I think I’d like your parents.”

  The laugh that escaped him had a harsh edge. “Maybe. They can be…strict. But they’d like you, I’m sure of it.”

  That stunned me to silence. Fear of the “meet the parents” conversation made me desperate to distract him. I moved his hand higher up my leg. “Well, I like you.”

  Eyes widening a bit, he gave me a panty-dropping smile that made me want to do just that. “I like you too, a lot.”

  Despite the fireworks of nerves those words set off in me, I smiled. I wanted to give this a chance. My hang-ups from my odd upbringing would not ruin this for me. It had just been a dog, after all. It was totally coincidental and separate from the incident in the woods—an incident that had nothing to do with Raul. And the fact that he kept looking in the rearview mirror and accelerating was also totally coincidental. Totally.

  Chapter Nine

  Sonya

  Caught up in the moment as I was, I didn’t see fate coming for me. I should have. There were signs, like the animalistic growl rumbling in his chest as he kissed a wet line down my jaw to my neck. I wasn’t about to protest. The primal sound of it was sexy as hell, even if it did remind me of all the strange things I’d seen over the last week. His incredible amber eyes developed a shine about them that seemed unnatural, but I figured that was the drinks we’d had earlier getting to me. It had to be that, along with my wild imagination. His hips ground against mine, pushing me into the door to my downstairs apartment.

  Again he asked to go inside, and again I refused. I certainly had nothing against premarital sex, but casual sex was another thing altogether. Especially with a guy I had only met two weeks ago. What had I been thinking when I’d invited him back here? It was bad enough that we were making out in the dark alley in front of my low-income apartment where my sketchy neighbors could come out at any moment. But then, Twin Falls, Idaho, wasn’t exactly a hopping town after midnight. And seeing as my apartment building was only a little two-story number that housed less than fifty, the odds of anyone being around were slim to none. All the more reason not to go inside where temptation would lead me somewhere I wasn’t willing to go yet.

  Not anymore. I needed to process the weirdness of our date and make sense of it first. Something strange was going on here; I felt it deep in my bones.

  The gentle nips at my neck grew harder. Walking that razor edge between pleasure and pain made my blood pump so hard the cool Idaho night felt more like Arizona in the midst of summer. Until impossibly sharp teeth grazed the sensitive skin of my neck.

  “Ouch!”

  Those teeth broke through my skin and sank deep into the muscles and meat of my neck. I screamed and writhed in pain but he had locked onto me with the strength of a boa constrictor. After an excruciating few seconds, his teeth withdrew from me in a rush.

  One moment he was pressed against me, the next he leaped back and stood against the building across the alley as if using it to brace himself. His mouth hung open and within it, not one set of fangs shone in the streetlight, but two; a set on the top and a set on the bottom, much like a canine. The worst part; they were covered in my blood. My blood.

  “What the hell?” I yelled, a hand going to my neck.

  My fingers came away slick and sticky with blood. He stood there, staring at me with those gleaming eyes, blood trickling over his bottom lip. Slowly, like a cat’s claws, his fangs retracted until they looked like no more than overly pointy teeth. Before tonight I had thought his toothy smile looked sexy. Now,
not so much. If it weren’t for the blood making a steady trail down his chin, I would have thought I’d imagined the whole thing. Then there was the pain.

  Keeping my eyes on him, I fumbled in my pocket for my keys while the other searched for the mace I kept on me. My fingers settled around the metal canister. Hand so steady it surprised even me, I took it out, flicked my thumb under the safety cap, and pointed it at him. The bastard just grinned, though it was a sad smile instead of one filled with humor. A cold chill of fear threatened to extinguish my anger.

  “What. The. Hell?” I demanded slower, emphasizing each word, desperate to hang on to the anger that gave me courage.

  His shoulders sagged, his defined chest caving in on itself as if he were trying to melt back into the wall. The button-up shirt he wore lay splayed open, giving me a good view of the blood that dripped from his chin onto his pale pecs. Only moments ago I had opened that shirt in my eagerness to touch his bare flesh. The memory made me shiver with revulsion. That gorgeous, fit body of his suddenly seemed to sport more hair than I remembered. Hair covered his bare chest where I didn’t recall him having any before, and the line of it from his belly button down into the waistband of his jeans had definitely thickened. My hand holding the mace began to shake, and I loathed myself a little for the weakness. He looked past the mace at me with something close to contempt.

  “I’m sorry it happened this way. I didn’t want it to, I swear.” He glanced down the alley, then back at me. “Sonya, please, come with me and I’ll explain everything.”

  Straightening, he adjusted the erection pushing against the fly of his jeans, as if I weren’t pointing mace at his half-naked body. The front step swam a bit. Damn, how deep had he bitten into me? I pressed one hand to the wound and kept the mace trained on him with the other. Freaked out and feeling exposed, I wanted nothing more than to dig my keys out of my jeans pocket and open my apartment door, but I didn’t dare. Dropping my guard even a little wasn’t an option.