Nick sniffed the air, catching a whiff of someone nearby. Then he heard the near silent steps of one of his packmates. His sister.
“Will,” Nick addressed her as he turned to face her. “It’s getting late.” He subtly held his left hand behind his back to keep his Lunas Sigil secret.
“So what? We’re wolves,” she quipped, hands on her defined hips.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m fucking exhausted after skipping an entire night’s worth of sleep.”
Willow shrugged.
“What are you doing?” Nick asked.
“I’m not going out tonight if that’s what you’re asking. I actually came by to ask you what you were doing out.” She walked up to him and offered a sly grin. “You never leave. You’re always too busy being serious and trying to fill Dad’s shoes.”
“Dad was a great wolf,” Nick replied.
“Yeah, but you’re not Dad,” she reminded matter-of-factly. “You should try running the pack the way you want to run it instead of leaving everything to Chris.”
“You already know I don’t run it exactly how Dad did. Maybe I shouldn’t be the Alpha of Blue Pack.”
Willow laughed. “Right, right. Because you’re doing something unforgivable like sneaking out to some clandestine meeting with a rival pack? Or maybe you’re just sleeping with a human woman.”
Nick flinched. He had done nothing of the sort, but just the mention of sleeping with a human woman brought Gwen front and center in his mind. He wondered what she looked like under that ranger uniform of hers. He picked her up. He held her pressed against his chest just over an hour before. He had an idea of her body, but he wanted to see her naked. He wanted to feel her skin on his skin. All the heat rushing through his body was making him hard. If he didn’t give himself away by flinching, he did now.
Willow’s jaw dropped open. “I was only teasing, Nicky!” she exclaimed. “It’s the woman who shares your Lunas Sigil, isn’t it?”
“What are you talking about?” Nick responded, trying to play it off, but he was concerned about how she found out he had a Lunas Sigil. He didn’t tell her about that. She hadn’t seen it.
“Julie told me. Well, a little. She said you accessed Lunas. She wouldn’t tell me much else.”
“Let’s go inside,” Nick muttered as he walked up to the front doors, got his keys out, and let himself and his sister inside. He slammed the door behind them and didn’t bother taking Willow into the sitting room.
“It’s not like that,” Nick said as calmly as he could manage while he and his sister stood in the mansion’s grand foyer. “I’m not sleeping with a human woman.”
Willow threw up her hands. “Yeah, okay, but you’d sure like to!”
He hated that his sister could sense his desire on him. It was perfectly normal, perfectly wolf, but Willow was his baby sister. It fucking bothered him. And it suddenly bothered him immensely how nonchalant her attitude was. Just how many human men had she slept with? Because she must have slept with many. He tried not to think about it, but he wasn’t stupid.
“Willow,” he said, going into overprotective big brother mode, “you don’t actually think sleeping with a human is a good idea, do you?”
She shrugged. “I think it’s just fine. You found your Fated Mate in a human, Nick!”
“She’s not my Fated Mate. Fated Mates don’t exist anymore. No one in our pack has a Fated Mate.” Nick’s heart was constricting in his chest, and it hurt. The fucking symbol on his hand did too. “A ranger, a human woman named Gwen, saved my life because her resolve somehow called to the Moon or something. The Moon sealed a contract that probably transferred some of her life into me or something, and now I have to return the favor or the sigil stays.”
“Saved your life?” Willow questioned.
“Yes,” Nick muttered. “I was ambushed by some Storm Wolves when you were kidnapped and then a couple poachers almost got me. The ranger saved me.”
He walked past his sister, down the hall in between the two flights of stairs and into the guest bathroom where he found more gauze to wrap around his hand so he could hide the pearly skin reflecting the Moon. When he was finished, he looked over his shoulder to see his sister staring at him with the big brown puppy-dog eyes she used to give him when they were kids and she was in need of comfort.
“You’re not allowed to die on me,” she whispered. She walked up to him and squeezed him hard.
He replied quietly, “I’m not going anywhere, Will.” He hugged her back.
“Thanks to that ranger.”
“Don’t go talking about this ranger or this Lunas business to anyone else in the pack. Got it?”
“Whatever you say, Alpha.” She rubbed her face into his chest playfully. “Is she hot?”
Nick grabbed Willow’s shoulders and forced her away from him. She grinned up at him. His little sister was an imp.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s hot or not. You’re such a sap, Will.”
She backed away from him and flitted down the hall to the study she and Nick used to play in as pups. Nick followed after her as she took a seat at a desk. This was the room where Nick went when he needed to be away from everything. It was the smallest room in the mansion and it was decorated only with the fancy woodwork. It could have been considered plain compared to the rest of the mansion.
“So what’s your type?” Willow asked as she wheeled across the plastic mat underneath her mobile chair. “A nice ass is a requirement, right? Guys like a nice ass.”
“Damn it, Will,” Nick growled as he caught the back of her chair to keep her from rolling around in it like a pup. “She’s a human. A human.”
Willow looked up and over her shoulder to see her brother’s face. She searched his eyes, and he looked back at her unblinking. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore, and he didn’t want to discuss his type with his sister. Especially because it was shamefully everything about the human woman named Gwen. Everything about her was perfect for him.
Twisting around in the seat even more so Willow could place her hand on top of his left hand, the hand with the Lunas Sigil, she asked, “Why does that matter, Nicky? There’s nothing wrong with her being human.”
His sister and the history keeper were the oddballs in the pack. That was for sure. Why neither of them seemed to see a problem with this was beyond him.
“Tell that to Chris,” Nick replied, “Or anyone else in the pack who isn’t Julie.”
She brushed her fingers across his skin, catching the pearly gleam of the Moon Mark.
“It sure is pretty,” she remarked. “What do you think it means? You accessing Lunas. Julie thinks it’s a good sign.”
“Julie is overly optimistic.”
“And you’re overly pessimistic.”
“It doesn’t change anything,” Nick established. “We’re the last wolves. We have to own that like Dad and Mom wanted, like the rest of the pack want.”
“Fuck that. I’m going to keep going out at night, and I’m going to keep seeing humans,” Willow stated.
Nick shook his head. “Go home, Will. I’m going to bed.”
She hopped up from the chair and slugged his arm. “Yeah, okay. You get some sleep while I go out for a night of fun.”
Nick wondered if she was saying that to taunt him. Earlier she said she wasn’t going out, but he was too tired to fight about it. “Fine, but be careful. There are poachers out there.”
“I’m not going to shift so poachers aren’t a problem,” she announced with a sassy sway of her hips as she left the study and held her hand up in a wave. “Night, bro!”
Then Nick was alone.
Maybe he should have stopped her, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Since he took care of Storm Pack and since he knew she wasn’t going to be shifting, he didn’t see her in any kind of danger. Besides, Alpha or not, his sister wouldn’t have listened to him anyway. He could use his dominance and try to force her into submission. He was strong enough to do that,
but that would break her, and he didn’t want her to go through being broken again. She never quite healed after her break with Casey. At least Willow seemed happy in the life she had chosen. Maybe one day she’d become a lone wolf, like Casey, and leave the pack for a different life or even a human. Would he hate her for it? He didn’t think so.
Fated Mates. Nick didn’t think the Moon had marked him because Gwen was his Fated Mate. As far as he and Julie could tell, he and Gwen held an unbreakable contract, but it had nothing to do with being Fated Mates. She saved his life, and now he had to save hers. Of course Willow jumped to the conclusion of them being Fated Mates. She wanted one so badly it didn’t matter that Gwen was a human. Willow wanted to believe she would find her Fated Mate in a human. There weren’t any wolves around that could be her Fated Mate. Casey wouldn’t have left if they were Fated Mates.
If the Moon intended Gwen as Nick’s mate, it truly had forsaken the Wolf. If he mated with a human, the chances of him having any pups would be zero as far as he knew.
Mate. He liked the sound of it. He liked the thought of Gwen being his mate—and it was very wrong. Just thinking about her got him hot and bothered. He’d think about her and jerk off in the shower if he thought it would help any, but he was pretty sure that it would make things worse. Maybe this was what he got for being surrounded by older wolves his entire life. Now that he found someone who spoke to him physically, he was going out of control.
“Focus,” he hissed.
He needed to talk to Julie again. He needed to tell her he couldn’t break the magic binding him and Gwen. There had to be something somewhere in all of her history knowledge that could spare him from the continuous torture of bearing the mark that was burning his hand again. He needed to forget Gwen as soon as possible. Then things would go back to normal. He would be Alpha of a dwindling and depressed pack.
Did he want that?
CHAPTER 8
WHEN GWEN FINALLY SPOTTED some farmhouses in the distance, she knew she had hit Moonwatch. The place really was spread out. And small. It was very small. It didn’t look like the people who lived there were hurting for money though. There was a fucking mansion that stuck out in the distance, and the farmhouses weren’t small either. There was a section of the town where buildings stood more closely together where she thought she could see a small school, a grocery store, a cafe and other buildings besides houses. It was not a bad place to live if you didn’t mind the bare minimum. And that they were probably wolves.
She drove past large farmhouses on her way to the buildings closer together. She saw a sign for a cafe and decided that was where she’d go. She hit gravel road at one point, while passing by farmhouses. Though they were large and must have cost a fair amount of money, they seemed empty somehow. Maybe it was the lack of animals she saw outside. Maybe it was the fact the big houses had to have a lot of empty and lonely space. Gwen had been brought up in a modest house, a cozy house, where she saw her parents often. She preferred that or the small cabin she basically lived in these days in Blue Forest. She had enough space for shelter, but it wasn’t big enough to feel empty. If she needed space, she could always go into the forest. That kind of life suited her. She liked protecting the forest. She liked being on her own surrounded by nature. Her parents worried she would be lonely doing what she did, but she wasn’t. She had always felt more comfortable around animals than people.
A bit of relief settled her nerves when she spotted some people coming in and out of the cafe. There were cars in the parking lot too, probably from people who owned the farms on the outskirts. It was literally a handful of people she saw though. Moonwatch was an empty place. It felt much emptier than Blue Forest.
Gwen parked her sunny Jeep in the cafe’s parking lot and hopped out a moment later. She smiled when an older woman passed by her, but she didn’t get a smile in return. She did get stared at. Shrugging it off, Gwen entered the cafe. It was a big place for how small the town was, just like all the other buildings she had seen. And like the other buildings she had seen, this one had a polished woodsy feel. A ritzy country style. The cafe was built with burgundy colored wood, and the lights hanging from the ceiling had glass covers that looked like they were hand made. Everything was intricately crafted and unique. She had never seen anything like it. She especially liked the wolves she saw in the corners of the cafe, made out of the same burgundy wood. The wolves’ eyes gleamed like the glass covering the lights, a bright amber.
Gwen stooped down in front of one of the wooden wolves and patted its head. It looked like it could jump to life at any moment. Whoever made this had skill and knew wolves. No doubt about that.
When Gwen stood up, she noticed the cafe was silent. She didn’t hear a sound aside from the ambiance of the room. She caught a few heads hastily turning away from her. Did she stand out that much? She wasn’t wearing her ranger uniform today. She was in a plain halter top, jeans, and boots. Her long brown hair was down for once, hanging to the middle of her back. She didn’t bother with makeup. It was never her thing.
Maybe she stunk. She took a discreet sniff under her armpit, but nope, she hadn’t forgotten deodorant. Were they all wolves? Did they know she wasn’t a wolf? She never felt like she fit in with other people, but she didn’t remember ever being singled out like this. She had acquaintances in school and stuff. She wasn’t isolated. She glanced around the room and noticed that everyone in the cafe was over fifty as far as she could tell, except for her and some other young-looking woman behind the cash register. That woman was a stunning beauty. She had curves for days, curly white-blond hair that was either meticulously maintained or it was completely natural, and her eyes were a dark, warm brown with a hint of that same amber color in the glass eyes of the wooden wolves adorning the cafe.
Gwen startled when the woman suddenly slammed her hands down on the counter in front of her, causing a few ceramic glasses to shake. Gwen worried they’d fall to the ground and shatter. Luckily, they didn’t. But that woman had her sights on Gwen. She stared at her unblinking as she came out from behind the counter and right up to Gwen. Feeling threatened, Gwen backed away, but the woman was fast. She grabbed Gwen’s arm and dragged her out of the cafe before she could protest.
“What the hell?” Gwen managed to say when they were outside of the cafe and she was able to dig her heals into the grass. She yanked her arm away from the blonde and watched her guardedly. She was damn strong. Gwen was too shocked to react. She knew how to defend herself, but you wouldn’t have known it at that moment.
The blonde grinned. “Sorry. It was too stuffy in there.” Her eyes moved down Gwen’s right arm to her hand.
Subconsciously, Gwen grabbed her hand as if to conceal the mark there. She didn’t know why she did it. Maybe she shouldn’t have come. Did the mark mean something bad? Why did her wolfman want to get rid of it so badly? Other than it feeling strange at times, it didn’t seem to do much besides look kind of like the moon.
Gwen took in the area around her. She and the blonde were the only two outside right now, but they were standing in front of the cafe doors. The blonde tilted her head. “Let’s go somewhere a little more private. Then we can talk.”
Gwen had half a mind to tell her no, but when she looked behind her again, through the glass in the door, she saw every pair of eyes in there staring back at her. She quickly turned back around and started walking. The blonde matched her pace. Gwen stopped walking when they were at the end of the small parking lot.
“Why were they all staring at me?” she asked guardedly.
The blonde shrugged. “We’re not used to strangers.” Her eyes fell to Gwen’s right hand again.
Gwen hid her hand behind her back. “Look, I don’t know why you dragged me out here, so can I get some sort of explanation at least?”
The blonde’s brown amber eyes sparkled. “I want to know what it feels like.”
“What it feels like?”
The blonde pointed to Gwen. “You’re hand. But wow
, I’m being rude.” She held out her hand to shake. “I’m Willow Sipe.”
Gwen raised an eyebrow, but she decided to shake the odd woman’s hand. “Gwen,” she replied. When she tried to pull her hand back, Willow held on with an iron grip. She definitely had to be a wolf if her wolfman's strength was anything to go by. Based on build and muscle mass, Gwen should have been the one with more raw strength between the two women.
Willow’s brown eyes seemed to lighten up, becoming a little more amber as she turned Gwen’s hand to reveal the back.
“It’s beautiful. Your Lunas Sigil, I mean,” she said.
“My what?”
“This mark. Didn’t my brother explain anything?”
“Y-your brother?” Was Willow talking about the same wolfman Gwen was hoping to run into?
“Forget it,” Willow said with a shake of her head. “Of course he didn’t tell you.”
“I’m open to answers,” Gwen replied hastily.
Willow beamed. “Great! I’ll hop in my Thunderbird and you can follow me to Julie’s house. She’ll be able to tell you everything a lot better than I could. I’m still an apprentice history keeper after all.”
Gwen nodded her head, pretending she knew what Willow was talking about. The women traveled back to the other end of the cafe’s parking lot. Gwen climbed into her yellow Jeep and Willow climbed into her turquoise Thunderbird. The people here definitely had money. Willow’s Thunderbird reiterated that.
Gwen figured this was safe enough. If Willow led her someplace shady, she could just drive away before getting into any trouble. She only had her gun when she was on the job, otherwise she relied on her physical strength and knowledge of self-defense. Even if she always carried her gun, she wouldn’t have taken it today. It would have sent a hostile message and she didn’t want that. Unfortunately, hostility was what she was getting from the residents. She reminded herself to be cautious. Her wolfman made all common sense fly out the window and bringing a gun seemed like a stupid idea. Maybe that was still true, but she needed to at least try to be the sensible human being she knew she was. Even if that wolfman made her wet by the way he looked at her.
Her Brave Wolf (Marked By The Moon Book 1) Page 7
