by Jules Tyler
“Oh Candi, you have to stop thinking about that day, honey. It’s not healthy. It’s been ten years now, and look at the beautiful badass animal you’ve become. You handled that transition better than anyone else would’ve in your situation. You may be submissive, but you are strong,” Alicia said, grabbing Candace’s wrist and turning it over in her hand to make her read the tattoo on her arm. “Though she be small, she is fierce. Those words are you to a T and don’t you forget it.”
“I know, I know. It’s just easy to forget sometimes,” Candace giggled.
“And I will always be here to remind you when you do.” Alicia pulled her in for a hug. “It was nice to run with you and Okami again this morning.”
Candace exhaled a sigh of relief as she squeezed her friend harder, “I missed you.”
“I know,” Alicia smiled as she released Candace from their embrace. “I think it’s time for you to meet the rest of the crew. You need to get familiar with everyone. Just do me one favor, okay?”
“What’s that?” Candace asked as she waived for Okami to follow them out the door. “Keep Elijah at arms length, okay?” Alicia stared at her friend with a straight face that told her she was being serious.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because he has a tendency to be a player and a compulsive flirt. I don’t want you getting your heart caught up in him only to have your heart broken,” Alicia explained.
“You know I don’t operate like that,” Candace frowned, more concerned that her friend thought even for a minute that she would fawn over someone’s kind and flirtatious words.
“I know, I just want to make sure I warn you. Male wolves tend to cling to anything with two legs and some lady bits when they start looking for their intended, and I don’t want to see you fall for him only to have your heart ripped out. I’m saying this because I care about you and I care about him. Please just save yourself the heartache and don’t go there okay?” Alicia’s eyes filled with concern for her friend.
Candace rolled her eyes, “You know you can’t protect me forever, right?”
“You’re right. But I can damn sure do my best to try, can’t I?” Alicia teased as they walked out the door towards the cabin that Alicia had told her earlier belonged to McKinzy and Adrian, “Now brace yourself, because the guys can be a lot to take in and so can Isabelle. McKinzy is the only one who really has a level head in there right now.”
“That’s surprising given the circumstances.”
Alicia shrugged, “She’s full of surprises. Never underestimate this woman; she is stronger and wiser than you’d think.”
Opening the door, Alicia guestered for Candace to go ahead of her into the stranger’s home. Stopping at the table as she looked around at the new faces, she felt as though she already knew these people. The two blonde men sitting on either side of the blonde woman on the furthest couch looked friendly enough; the woman between them looked slightly intimidating though. Casting her eyes over to the other couch where Duke was sitting, she made note of the dominance wafting off of the dark haired woman and who Candace assumed was her mate by the way he had his arm draped protectively around her waist. Candace motioned for Okami to sit next to her as she pulled out a chair at the table and cast her eyes down in respect to the others in the room.
“You don’t have to do that, sweets. I know who you are. Alicia has told me all about you. Duke was just filling us in on how you ended up up here,” McKinzy said softly to her, trying to encourage her to find her strength in a room full of shifters more dominant than herself.
“She has?” Candace asked, bringing her eyes up to hold McKinzy’s gaze with her own. “Sure has. I have a feeling we are going to be fast friends.” McKinzy smiled just as the door flew open.
“Sorry I’m late, boss! Got distracted trying to make myself a BLT and didn’t realize what time it was! I brought you one though to make up for it,” Elijah shouted as he stumbled across the threshold and shut the door.
“It’s fine, Elijah. We were just getting to know our new friend, Candace. I heard you met last night.” McKinzy excused his tardiness with a roll of her eyes, “Now about that BLT; is there devil spit on there or is it just a pile of tastiness?”
“Devil spit?” Candace whispered to Alicia.
“She has a thing about mayo,” Alicia giggled.
“No, I did not put any of your so called jizz juice on your sandwich. I didn’t want to risk you trying to eat me instead.” Elijah smiled confidently as he handed over the paper-towel wrapped sandwich.
“Smart move.” Adrian laughed.
“Now, let’s get to introductions,” McKinzy instructed around a mouthful, pointing to herself as she swallowed. “I’m McKinzy, I’m the warden up here. Not that I get to do much these days because Adrian won’t stop hovering over me. Between getting attacked and being knocked up, apparently I’m incapable of running a camp on my own.”
Adrian guffawed, “Woman, you’re carrying my cubs; of course I’m going to tend to you. I’m Adrian by the way, in case you haven’t caught on already.”
“Oh, hell no. There is no plural. I am not having multiples of you! Only one, Adrian Brenton. Don’t make eat you for giving me more than that,” McKinzy argued as she swallowed the last bite of the sandwich.
The blonde woman dressed in all black and combat boots shook her head at McKinzy and Adrian’s argument before speaking, “I’m Isabelle, I used to work on the task force with Duke and Alicia.”
“She’s a crazy stalker bitch too. Will come find out where you live and everything,” one of the blonde titans complained before continuing, “I’m Jasper. My cousin, Desmond, and I run the watch tower. Seems more important now with everything going on.”
Candace gave a polite wave at the other titan as he nodded his acknowledgment before Isabelle and Jasper burst into an argument over whether or not she was a stalker. Desmond just held a finger to his lips, signalling to Candace not to ask any questions.
“Guess that just leaves me. We met last night; my name is Elijah. I patrol the border of the camp these days and make sure nothing gets through while we are awake. Obviously I’m not doing a very good job since you managed to get past me last night.” Elijah smiled, not quite meeting Candace’s eyes as he introduced himself.
“You do just fine, I’m sure. I’m just light footed and quick. Maybe while I’m here I can help you out. Three sets of eyes are better than one.” Candace smiled shyly, trying to make him feel better. Something niggling in the back of her mind made her feel like she had to make him happy, which confused her since this man was a complete stranger.
“I don’t know, a human out there doesn’t seem like a good idea,” Elijah pondered, eyes filling with a look of melancholy.
“But I…” Candace began to argue as McKinzy and Alicia shook their heads slightly at her, warning her off from telling everyone she had a wolf in her middle. One of the few fortunate things about her wolf is, since she was naturally submissive because of the way she was given to Candace, no one could ever smell the fur tucked inside of her. They always could smell some form of forest on her. Typically though, they assumed she was a hiker instead of a wolf shifter. This had been a blessing in disguise in so many ways she couldn’t even count them.
Elijah raised an eyebrow in confusion before deciding to let it go, “So is there anything special you’re needing from me today, boss? Just trying to figure out if I need to do anything before I start in on the patrol.”
McKinzy tapped her finger against her chin a couple of times, deep in thought, “No, I don’t believe so. Go ahead and get started. If I need anything, I’ll send one of the boys after you.”
Elijah’s eyes flicked over to Candace before he turned on his heel and walked out the door. Candace let her eyes follow his powerful legs as he strode out the door. She had no doubt that he could outrun anything that tried to cross his path. He looked like a true wolf in man’s clothing.
“Easy love, you’re drooling,” Duke w
inked at her.
“Am not.” Candace swiped the back of her hand across her lips defensively.
“Just teasing you darlin’. It’s what I’m good at.” He smiled.
“Alright ya’ll. We best be getting on with the day. I think I’ve let you sit on your lazy asses long enough the past few weeks. We need to at least pretend to do our jobs,” McKinzy sighed as she shoved off of the couch to go through away her sandwich wrappings in the garbage.
“Yes, ma’am.” All of the men nodded in unison before filing out.
McKinzy nodded affirmatively as she watched them go before planting a kiss on Adrian’s lips and patting him on the behind, “That means you too, mister. You’ve been fawning over me since you scented my pregnancy. Go run the show out there. The girls will take care of me from here, okay?”
Adrian poked his lip out in a pout before turning to follow the men, “Fine. Only because I don’t want you to try and eat me though.”
“Good man. Go take care of the boys and make sure they stay out of trouble. We’ll be here if you need us.” McKinzy winked before waving her hands in a shooing motion.
“Nice to meet you, Candace!” Adrian called over his shoulder as he went trotting up the trail after the other men.
“So is this really the prison camp? It seems so tame compared to what I was expecting,” Candace inquired, sitting back in her seat.
Isabelle and McKinzy laughed, which only confused Candace more. She cast a glance at Alicia, who was also laughing.
“Was it something I said?”
McKinzy stopped laughing and gave a polite smile, “It’s okay, you had the same feelings about this place as I did. Sure, there’s real criminals up here, but mostly this place has become a safe haven for rogue shifters that the government has threatened to put down because they’re ‘problem shifters’. It’s more like running a summer camp for unruly teenagers than an actual prison.”
“So the men up here are okay? I don’t have to worry about being eaten or attacked?” Isabelle laughed again, “Trust me sweetheart, the only kind of eating or attacking these guys do up here will be on the food in the mess hall. Just make sure you don’t end up out there alone; we can’t guarantee they won’t try to jump your bones. Other than the three of us, there hasn’t been a woman up here ever.”
“Note to self: take a travel buddy,” Candace murmured.
Alicia nodded before standing to walk towards the room at the end of the hallway, “Exactly. Now let’s get to work, there’s still too many questions and not enough answers.”
Chapter Eight
Elijah kicked a rock distractedly as his thoughts drifted back to Candace. She really was a beautiful woman. Sexy, voluptuous curves, deep brown eyes that sparkled when she looked happy, waves of hair so dark it was almost black; she was perfect. He needed her to be his, this much he knew for certain. The question still remained though, how was he going to convince not only her and everyone else, but also himself, that she was his intended and it would last. Ever since Duke had told him to stay away, it was like his wolf has stood up straight, handed off whatever beer he’d be hypothetically drinking, and said, Hold my beer and watch this.
He hadn’t wanted anything so bad before: not a woman, not sleep, not even food. It was like she was the air he needed to finally breathe without struggling. It concerned him how badly he needed her, especially because he hadn’t had a conversation with her, other than the one last night where he threatened to eat her if she lied. Oh but I bet she’d taste better than the sweetest
Georgia peaches.
Elijah stooped over and picked up a rock before throwing it as hard as he could at a tree down the path in front of him. Why couldn’t things ever be simple in his life? Sure he could smile and laugh and make everyone think he was just some good time Charlie, but all he wanted was to feel loved and accepted. Now that Alicia and McKinzy were up here, it only amplified the problem because now he had to watch his friends be happy while he got left behind. Toss poor Candace into the mix and he had a recipe for either the tastiest cake or a big explosive disaster.
You need to prove to her you aren’t the playboy everyone else thinks you are. We have to show her that we will care about her. She is our intended, I promise you that.
“Crazy asshole,” Elijah muttered as he padded down the perimeter of the camp, forcing his eyes to look at his surroundings and stay focused on the task at hand.
“Okami! Come! Okami! Oh for fuck sakes, dog, we just went for a run this morning. Do we really need to play a game of chase now?” Candace’s soft voice carried on the wind behind Elijah. Turning around, he only had a few seconds to brace himself for the husky to jump head-on into his chest and catch him as they both fell to the ground.
Candace ran up next to Elijah and pushed Okami off of him before sticking her hand out to pull him to his feet, “Oh my god, I am so sorry, Elijah. I don’t know what got into him. We were walking back to Duke and Alicia’s and all of a sudden, he was running off out here. It doesn’t help that huskies are assholes and don’t have a drive to please their owners. I knew I should have gotten a golden retriever instead. Are you okay?”
Elijah felt his hand turn to what felt like melted chocolate as their hands wrapped around each other, “Yeah, I’ll be okay. I just didn’t expect a wrestling match this morning is all.”
Candace gave a shy smile, “Thanks for understanding. I honestly don’t understand this dog sometimes. Usually he is so well behaved, and then at the drop of a hat, he can be a royal asshole.”
“Eh, dogs are dogs. None of them listen very good to be honest,” Elijah shrugged. “Hey, did you say his name is Okami?”
Candace nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked up at him, “Yeah. It’s weird, I know.”
“Doesn’t that mean wolf in Japanese?”
She blushed, “Yes, it does. It’s a long story.”
“I see…” Elijah trailed off.
Looking down at their still connected hands, Candace stared. Neither of them had bothered to release their hold on the other’s hand. Nothing had felt so natural. Looking into her eyes, trying to decide whether or not to kiss her, Elijah searched her eyes for hesitation. Elijah began to lean forward into her lips as she released his hand and took a step back.
“What are you doing?”
“Umm… Nothing. Sorry.” Elijah looked away, trying to fight the embarrassment he was feeling from being rejected.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to go there, Elijah. I’ve only been here a night and already I’ve heard stories about you. I don’t need that kind of noise in my life. I like it just the way it is.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Elijah asked, mouth drawing down in a frown.
“I don’t need someone who is going to treat me like I’m just the new, fancy toy that their parents got them for Christmas. I don’t want to be played with for five minutes before being tossed aside for something better,” Candace explained before grabbing Okami by the collar. “C’mon, Okami. I need a shower.”
Elijah watched dumbstruck as they walked away from him and back towards the cabins. “Well Wolf, we certainly have our work cut out for us, don’t we? Let’s get to work.”
Chapter Nine
What did you go and do that for?
“You’ve heard everyone. Intended or not, whatever that means, he’s not for us, you crazy bitch,” Candace muttered to the wolf in her head.
People can change.
“I don’t give two shits. I’m not about to go chasing after someone who clearly thinks with his boner and not his brain. Did you see the way he looked at me? Like this was some sort of game of cat and mouse. I don’t know about you, but I’m not out to make myself the mouse in this game.”
Okay, so we be the cat. But not really a cat, cats stink.
“We. Are. Not. Chasing. Him. We don’t need to get involved with a man like that. Besides, he’s younger than us anyways,” Candace countered. God, he
r wolf could be stubborn when she set her sights on something. This was not a fight Candace wanted her to win, but fighting the intended bond only made things worse, from what Alicia had explained when they were younger.
Can’t keep fighting me forever. We need a mate.
“We’ve done fine all this time, why now?” Candace sighed.
Because he’s our intended. You need to just give him a chance and stop being stubborn. Candace curled her lip up in a snarl. Giving people a chance wasn’t something she was good at. She liked things just so. She was a creature of habit. Trusting people was not her strong suit, rightfully so. The last time she trusted a stranger, she woke up soaked in blood with a wolf in her middle. Talk about rude awakenings.
If you hadn’t trusted the prick that turned you, you would still be the same weak human you used to be. Look at how much stronger you are with me in the picture. We could be a force to be reckoned with if you would grow a pair and embrace who you’re supposed to be. Stop being scared. Be brave!
“I hate it when you’re right,” Candace sighed.
Always am.
“Do you usually make it a habit to talk to yourself?” A masculine voice asked from behind her.
Turning around, Candace looked over the man standing in front of her. Tall frame, blonde hair, muscular, built like a beast; this was one of the blonde heathens.
“I’m sorry, I know you introduced yourself this morning, but I am terrible with names.” Candace looked down at her feet where Okami sat next to her.
“My name is Desmond. You don’t need to look down. There’s no need to posture to my bear; he won’t hurt women.” He smiled politely.
“I don’t normally talk to myself.” Candace chewed her lip nervously. People made her nervous. Big men with bears in their middle made her as anxious as a bunny on open season day.
“I see.” Desmond raised an eyebrow at her.
Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she excused herself, “I need to get a shower. I better go.”
