by Viola Rivard
Goosebumps spread across the surface of her flesh as she washed up. She toweled herself off, then rinsed and dried her hair before putting on the gown. The socks were cozy, and just what her feet needed. As soon as she was dressed, Sarah hobbled over to the bedding, pulled back the canopy and fell face-first onto the mattress.
* * *
Meadow was waiting when they returned to the den, tapping her slippered foot impatiently as Cain set his son down on the floor. Caim tried to get away but Cain pushed him onto his back with a flick of a paw, lowering his head to lick Caim’s face. His pup protested noisily and kicked at Cain’s snout, but his thumping tail betrayed his excitement.
For a moment, nothing else existed for Cain, and he felt guilty for his earlier resentment towards his responsibilities. No matter how much he had enjoyed his time with Sarah, nothing could compare to being back with his son.
As she was prone to doing, Meadow shattered his peace. “Your female is sleeping in my bed.”
Was no one going to give him a proper greeting?
He stepped back a few paces, bridling his irritation as he shifted into his human form. Caim tried to run off again, but this time Fern blocked his path, scooping him up into her arms.
“She can sleep wherever she pleases,” Cain said, rubbing his jaw to ease the tension.
Meadow gave him a hard look. “So you do not deny that she is your female?”
“Okay, my little vagabond,” Fern said to the pup in her arms. “Let’s go find you something to eat.” She winked at Cain before sauntering away with his son.
Cain stared after them, his mood souring as they disappeared down a passageway. He wanted to spend time with his son, not deal with Meadow. He could not blame her, though. While Cain was not in the habit of answering to anyone, least of all her, he recognized that he owed them all an explanation.
According to what Fern had told him on the way back to the den, he had been gone for over two weeks. While he was gone, she and his brothers had made the decision to move to Greystone after they had caught wind of humans in their hunting grounds. When Cain had not come back after the second week, they had started to speculate that he had been injured, or worse.
It was rare that he was so selfish, and he could scarcely imagine what his pack had been through while he had been mindlessly rutting with Sarah.
Meadow’s shrill voice brought him back to reality. “She claims that she is leaving. Is this true?”
“I have not decided yet,” he said, walking past her. He would have explained the situation to her, but if he did, the whole pack would know before sundown. It was best that he spoke with Sarah before confiding in anyone else.
Meadow fell into step beside him, following him down the passageway. Recognizing that her line of questioning was not bearing any fruit, she switched gears.
“Alder did not hunt before he left. We have nothing to eat.” She paused, and then added, “I would like venison.”
“Then go kill a deer,” Cain said patiently.
“By myself?”
He shook his head at her, his lips twitching. Despite his irritation, there was a familiarity in her obnoxiousness that he found oddly comforting. With everything that had happened in the past few weeks, it was a relief to know that some things did not change.
A pang of longing tightened his gut as Cain caught the scent of his mate. Although he had not yet told her as much, his wolf already considered her to be his and he could not see her any other way.
“I tried to wake her up, but she threw a pillow at me,” Meadow said as they entered her room. Sounding deeply affronted, she said, “Are you laughing?”
Cain raised a hand, signaling for her to lower her voice. Smirking at her, he said, “Go rest in my room for the morning. I will send someone to fetch you when I get back from hunting.”
This seemed to please her, but she didn’t leave right away. She looked back to the bed, frowning. “You said that you would not take another mate.”
“Go get some rest, Meadow.”
When she was gone, Cain walked over to the bed, drawing back the canopy to gaze down at Sarah. She was curled up beneath the blankets, her shapely lips slightly parted as she took in the even breaths of a shallow sleep.
In the large, blended pack that he had grown up in, there had been no shortage of females for a fledgling alpha to partner with. He had never been the type to readily form attachments with any of them, or anyone aside from his family. Six years ago, when he had decided to take Caim’s mother as his mate, he had assumed that the feelings of attachment would come naturally once she was carrying his pup.
They never had.
While he had felt a sense of duty and obligation towards Dawn, he had felt little desire for her beyond the throes of the mating thrall, and they had never come close to anything resembling love.
With Sarah, the physical attraction had been almost immediate. He had tried to deny it for all of a day, and then he had thought of little else but claiming her. Now that the thrall was over, he should have been less affected by her, but where the rampant lust had been, there was now a different desire, one that was wholly new to Cain.
Against his better judgment, Cain lowered himself onto the bed beside her. He placed a hand on her cool skin, running his thumb over her the curve of her cheekbone. It had not been his intention to wake her, and he felt a twinge of guilty pleasure as her eyelids fluttered open.
Chapter 6
“Welcome back,” Sarah said, gazing at him through tired eyes. The warm, affectionate look on his face was startling enough to keep her awake.
“You are the first person to say that to me all morning,” he said wryly.
She smiled at him. “I think I was dreaming about you,” she said, sleepiness making her candid.
He seemed amused by this. “Was it a good dream?”
“They always are.”
“You have had more than one?” he asked, his eyes gleaming.
Sarah was proud of herself for not blushing. She scooted closer to him, placing her head in his lap. “They can’t compare to the real thing.”
She saw him rub the back of his neck, and thought, with no small amount of self-satisfaction, that she had embarrassed the alpha.
“How is Snow?” he asked, fingering a lock of her hair.
Sarah watched him, trying to gauge his expression. “Haven’t you gone to see her?”
“I wanted to check on you first,” he said, bringing the lock up to his nose. “You smell clean.”
She blurted, “Is she your daughter?”
Cain glanced at her face, looking surprised. “No.” She relaxed a little, though she wasn’t sure why. Cain added, “But I do have a son.”
Now he was watching her, and she didn’t have to feign acceptance. She had expected him to be a father, not just from the conversations they’d had surrounding the subject, but also because there was something about his patient, mature demeanor that had given it away.
“Is he the one you went looking for?”
Cain nodded. “Caim has the tendency to go off on his own.”
“You must have been really worried about him while you were gone,” she said sincerely.
“He is very brave and independent,” he said, his eyes softening. “But he is too young to understand how dangerous our world is.”
It was unexpectedly intimate, hearing him talk about his son. While they were traveling together, there had been too many immediate concerns for either of them to really open up to the other about their personal lives. Sarah decided that she liked this side of him.
“I can’t imagine how hard it must be to raise a child out here,” she said. His handsome features tightened, and she could tell that she had struck a nerve. Hastily changing the subject, she said, “That reminds me, I didn’t tell you about Snow.”
She kept the blankets wrapped securely around her as she sat up to face him. “I’m pretty sure she has asthma. It’s pretty common where I’m from, but I get the im
pression it’s unusual for werewolves?”
“We do not get sick,” Cain said, echoing Clover’s earlier words. “A pup may get a cold once or twice, but I have never seen one become ill as often as Snow.” He grimaced, then added, “At least none that have survived.”
Hesitantly, she asked, “Do a lot of pups die?”
“No, at least not in my pack. But it was common when I was younger. My father had a lot of pups, more than he had any business having,” he said, his eyes darkening. “When pups like Snow were born, sickly ones that could not shift, they always died.”
“That’s awful,” she said, feeling queasy at the thought. Cain nodded his agreement.
Returning to the pertinent subject, she said, “Well, I think she’ll be okay. What she really needs is to see a doctor, but seeing as that’s not an option, you’ll just have to manage her symptoms and hope she grows out of it.”
He cocked his head. “Is that possible?”
“Mmhm. Kids her age grow out of asthma all the time.”
Cain smiled at her, flashing white teeth and sharp canines. She looked down at the blankets, swallowing hard as her heart fluttered.
Pretending to be intrigued by a loose thread, she said, “I was thinking, seeing as how no one here really understands how to manage her asthma, I could stay a little longer, maybe like a couple weeks or something, just to help out.”
Sarah felt his hand on the back of her neck, and when she looked back up, he was still smiling. “You would do that? What about your family?”
“I think my trip to see Mom is already a bust. If I stay two more weeks, I’ll probably miss a few days of class, but I think this is more important. Helping Snow, that is.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “I would be in your debt, Sarah.”
Oh, man, she loved it when he said her name.
“It’s really the least I can do,” she said, unable to look away from his golden eyes. “If it weren’t for you, I’d probably still be wandering around the mountain right now.”
He gave her a sly look. “Presuming you had not starved, frozen to death, been eaten by bears, or drowned in a river.”
She jabbed a finger in his side. “Hey, let’s not forget, you’re the one who wanted to cross the Log of Doom…”
The rest of her protest died in her throat as Cain brought his lips down on hers. They were hot, firm, and moved with consummate skill, making her shiver in pleasure. She held onto his hair as he lowered her onto the bed, the weight of his heavy body bearing down on her.
In spite of her soreness, Sarah’s nerve endings flared to life beneath him. Her hands ran over his hard, corded muscles, fingernails raking over his tough skin. He uttered a sound into her mouth, part satisfied male and part hungry wolf, before pressing his impressive erection against her.
When he didn’t start tearing her clothes off, Sarah decided to help him. She tried squirming out of her gown, which now felt unbearably constricting. Cain chuckled against her mouth before pulling his head back.
“You are not ready,” he said in a chiding tone.
Sarah crinkled her nose at him. “I think I’ll be the judge of that.”
In response, Cain slipped a hand under her gown, moving it between her legs. She bit down on her bottom lip, grinning in anticipation as his fingers slipped past her curls to brush against the nub of her sex. And then he pinched her.
“Ow!” she shrieked, wriggling away from him. “What the heck did you do that for?”
“You are not ready,” he repeated.
“Not for pinching,” she grumbled. “You could be gentle.”
Cain leaned over, pressing her back onto the bed. Candlelight danced in his golden eyes. “I do not do gentle,” he purred. “There will be plenty of time for this later, after you have recovered.”
He looked far too pleased that he had screwed her into disrepair, and she wanted to smack the smug look off his face. But then he kissed her again, and she was pretty sure the man could solve any problem with his lips.
Cain lingered for a few more minutes before leaving with a whispered command for her to sleep. After he’d gotten her so worked up, sleep seemed like an impossible task. She lay awake for a while, still smelling his scent beside her and still seeing him each time she closed her eyes.
She had it so bad for him, and Sarah knew that another two weeks would only complicate things further. She had been through worse, though. At least this time, she’d be the one walking away.
Chapter 7
The candles were still burning when Sarah woke a short while later. Although she hadn’t rested for long, she felt much more energized than she had the previous morning. She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
A black shadow stood behind the canopy, and Sarah froze when she caught sight of it, her heart skipping a beat. Nervously, she squinted, bringing the shade into focus.
A wolf, about the size of her cousin’s golden retriever, sat upright next to her mattress, its eyes burning into hers.
Sarah held its gaze, and once she was confident that her voice wouldn’t tremble, she said, “Hello there.”
The wolf tilted its head, amber eyes catching the light. It considered her, then it moved closer, its nose brushing up against the filmy canopy. After a brief moment of indecision, Sarah reached out, touching its nose through the sheer fabric. It was cool and damp.
Abruptly, the wolf turned its head towards the doorway, its ears standing at attention. She heard the slap of bare feet on stone, before a girl rounded the corner. Sarah couldn’t make out her features, but she could see long blonde hair and a green dress.
“Caim!” she hissed. “You are not supposed to be in here.”
Sarah looked back at the wolf, her eyes widening. Cain’s son. She opened her mouth to tell the girl it was okay, but before she could get a word out, the wolf had darted from the room, the wind tossing the canopy the only sign that he had been there.
The girl padded over to the mattress, pressing her face against the curtain. “I am sorry about him. Caim is spoiled. He does not think that the rules apply to him.”
Upon closer inspection, Sarah could see that she looked to be around ten or eleven. She was very cute, and seemed to be making an effort to hide her own curiosity.
“Most little boys don’t,” Sarah said, giving her a conspiratorial wink. “I’m Sarah.”
The girl took this as an invitation to crawl under the canopy, and Sarah moved to make room for her to sit.
“I know. My name is Lotus. You are very pretty.”
Sarah laughed, brushing back her hair self-consciously. “I think I’m going to like you, Lotus.”
Lotus turned her face up, smiling. “That is good. I was worried you would not like me. Cain’s last mate did not like me.” Looking alarmed, she said, “You won’t tell Cain I was here, right?”
Sarah shook her head, too busy contemplating what Lotus had said about Cain’s previous mate to correct the girl on her assumption.
“That is good as well. Cain told the pups to stay away from you while you slept. But you’re not sleeping anymore. Plus, I am not a pup. I am a juvenile.”
“I see,” Sarah said, suppressing a grin. She liked the way Lotus spoke so matter-of-factly about everything. “Say, do you think you could take me to check on Snow?”
She had thought about the little girl while tossing and turning earlier, wondering whether Clover had kept her word to watch over Snow, or if she was back in that cramped room all by herself.
“Sure,” Lotus said, standing up and holding out her hand. “I’ll show you the way.”
The trip back to Snow’s room was much less daunting with Lotus holding Sarah’s hand. When they entered the room, Snow was sitting up on the blankets, holding a threadbare ragdoll in her small lap. Her face lit up at the sight of Sarah.
“I thought I’d find you alone,” Sarah said in a mirthless tone. She crouched down next to Snow, placing a hand on her back. “How are you feeling?”
&
nbsp; Lotus came up alongside them. “Snow doesn’t talk,” she informed.
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk to her,” Sarah replied lightly. “Where is everyone else?”
“Alder and Hale are still gone. Clover, Fern, and Meadow are in the moon room. Cain and my sisters went out to hunt.”
Sarah grabbed Snow’s inhaler, dropping it into a wide pocket before picking the child up. Much like her doll, Snow offered no resistance, laying her head in the crook of Sarah’s neck as she melded herself to Sarah’s body.
Why everyone seemed to think it was okay to leave such a sweet little girl—or any child her age—alone was a mystery.
“How many sisters do you have?” Sarah asked Lotus, rubbing Snow’s back.
“Two.”
Sarah did a mental count, her brow furrowing. “And that’s your whole pack?” She hadn’t thought it would be so small.
“There is also Caim and Sable, but they are pups,” Lotus said.
“I see,” Sarah said again. “Well, how about we head to the moon room, then?” She gave Snow a sideways glance. “Maybe we can rustle up some grub.”
As they headed for the door, Lotus told her, “If you enjoy bugs, you will like Fern’s cooking.”
Chapter 8
The moon room was a spacious cavern that reminded Sarah of the central room in the other den she had seen. It was circular in shape, with a large fire pit dug into the center of the room. The ceiling was unique in that it was formed by two large slabs of granite that rested against one another, making up only half of a roof. The other half of the room was open to the sky, and afternoon sunlight poured into the room.
According to the chatty Lotus, Greystone was their summer den. They typically traveled there in late spring, staying until mid-autumn, when they would return to their primary den, Hillside. During the summers, the wolves would spend their nights eating and socializing in the moon room. Since arriving a little over a week ago, they had spent their afternoons in the moon room, retiring to their respective rooms once night fell and the cold settled in.
