That moment with Rowen was so simple and innocent, I could have stayed there forever if it wasn’t for Gearden walking in, his presence taking over the room, it felt.
I glanced up at him and he held a hand down to me. Seeing that I really didn’t have a choice, there were things that needed to be discussed, more important than the missing pony, so I let him help me up and lead me out. I smiled reassuringly to Jolleen but instead of letting me just pass by, she grabbed me into a tight motherly hug. It was brief, but I felt the support of it, none the less.
He took me to my room, which I silently thanked him for after what happened in his bedroom not forty-five minutes earlier. I let go of his hand and perched at the edge of the bed, muscles tight and headache in full force again.
Instead of sitting with me, he paced a few laps around the carpet before stopping in front of me. His hands hung loose at his sides and he hung his head, looking ashamed.
I studied him for a moment before, finally, I slowly stood again, reaching a hand out to place over his heart. He didn’t look at me though and kept his gaze down. Wolf speak for sorry, I guess.
My other hand went to his warm cheek and I coaxed him to look at me. Finally, his green eyes met mine and I opened our mental connection.
“It’s alright,” I said. “I’m alright.” I studied him, thinking about what the wolf needed as well as the man. “We’re alright.”
There it was. He sighed and his whole body seemed to go lax.
I didn’t want to avoid the topic— well, I did, but I knew that if we didn’t talk about it, we would just be lying to ourselves until we finally did.
“He doesn’t like that I’m taking my time, does he?”
Reluctantly, Gearden shook his head, brushing my hair back to tuck behind my ear as he did. I knew he struggled. Until tonight, I had no idea just how much he struggled to give me time. I may be wolf but I didn’t grow up knowing mine like he or Brianna did. I wondered if I ever will at this point. I was seventeen and I’d never heard from her. What if I wasn’t wolf and Dad had it all wrong. The vampire’s painful touch just a fluke?
I didn’t let myself be naïve though. I knew it was true. All of it. I needed more though. I hope this fae of my dad’s had answers.
“What did your dad say?” I asked him.
“He thinks I’m unstable with the way things are,” he told me, letting me go to sink onto the bed and unlace his boots. A new line had been crossed earlier, in his room, before Ro entered. I felt it, a feeling so deep, it caught my breath when I thought on it.
With his shoes off, he reached behind his head, grabbed his shirt and pulled it off. The action sent butterflies swooping in my belly. He tossed it towards the hamper by the closet and gripped my waist, pulling me closer. As I did, he dragged the other down the back of my thigh and urged it up. Taking his lead, I straddled his hips and sank into his lap. Though a part of me wanted his kiss, a larger part needed his scent. Apparently, so did he. We buried our faces in each other’s necks and rested there for a moment, his hands running up and down my back.
I ruined it though, this perfect moment we were having. “How do we fix you?”
His hands hesitated for a split second before continuing their soothing motions. I took one last pull of his woodsy musk and pulled myself away. He tilted his chin up to watch me. “You can’t just not go to school and hide out here all day,” I told him.
Rather than say anything he searched my face with his mossy greens. “Gearden,” I said out loud. Right away, they zeroed in on mine. “Claim me,” I told him.
The muscles under my hands tensed and his lips parted slightly. I felt my body prepare. Bri wouldn’t talk much about it with me, I could tell it made her uncomfortable, but I gathered that it entailed some sort of biting. It was different from fully mating, which required…well, sex. If he claimed me, it would tell everyone— wolf wise— around me that I belonged to Gearden and it would be a challenge to him should they try to do anything to me. The idea of his fangs puncturing the thin skin of my neck didn’t sit well with my nerves, but I knew it was the only solution. At least a better one than just shutting himself away, which, I knew, would only make his wolf even more crazed, being apart from me for so long.
“No.”
My mind and body froze as I stared at him aghast. “What? Why the hell not?” I demanded.
“I don’t want you to do this because you feel you have to,” he said and lifted my leg off him, nearly tossing me on the bed as he stood up again.
Scrambling up to my knees I huffed at him. “That’s not why—“ He glared at me, halting any argument.
I clammed up for a moment, long enough for him to cross to the door, looking to make an exit.
“Not entirely!” I pleaded. Hand on the knob, he halted.
“I know we’re connected. I…know there’s something deeper inside me that feels you and calls for you.” Even in my mind, my voice cracked with motion.
He dropped his hand from the knob, and it renewed my hope. “When you aren’t beside me, I miss you. I’m restless without you near me, to the point I hate you sometimes.” He looked dubious, but I ignored him.
“I want this, Gearden. Not just for you but to protect us and what we have. I don’t ever want to give it up.”
Something snapped in him, I could see the second it did, his long legs ate the space between us in a couple milliseconds, but I still had time to lift my arms to him. He scooped me up and pressed his mouth to mine, gripping the back of my head with one hand and splaying my bottom with the other. I latched onto him like a koala to a tree and didn’t want to let go for anything. After a few hot, impatient moments, his pace slowed, taking me with him. Gripping my hair firmly, he guided my head to the side, exposing my neck. My breath hitched as nerves got the best of me. I dared not show any hesitation I might have felt, for fear he’d stop, and we’d be back to square one all over again. Waiting for what felt like eons, he finally lightly brushed his lips at my pulse.
He’s going to do it, I thought, closing my eyes.
He dragged my shirt over my shoulder to give him room and bent in. The next instant I felt white hot pain, right where the muscle and tissue connect to the round of the shoulder. Surprised, I jerked and opened my eyes, only to squeeze them tightly shut again. I decided I didn’t want to look. If I got scared, it’d only make things worse. Rather than bite me at my neck, which I had assumed would be the mark’s location, he’d done it in an area I would be able to hide from others if I wanted to. A bikini and tank top would reveal it for sure, but a regular t-shirt would cover it, at least the most of it, I hoped.
Finally, he pulled back to check his work. I opened my eyes then and watched as he ran a careful finger around the sensitive edges of the mark. Meeting my eyes, he gave me a pleased smile and slowly leaned in to lap at it with his tongue. The motions felt soothing and oddly relieving. I sighed, letting the tension that had built up through it all to bleed out of me. The instant I started to relax, though, another jolt of pain shot through me, this time derived from my neck. I couldn’t help it this time and I cried out, reaching a hand up to grip his hair tightly. I didn’t pull him off, but I probably yanked a few strands loose.
A moment later, he let up and pulled back again. “What the hell was that?” I growled at him.
His eyes flashed, from green to a grayish color before my eyes as he looked down at me. My body went cold as I realized who was at the surface, and it wasn’t Gearden.
“You’re ours now,” the wolf told me. Then, in the next instant, they were back to green. Gearden. Rather than seeming confused like I anticipated, he claimed my lips in a slow dance.
I couldn’t shut off my brain though. What the hell was that? Of course, I knew what it was. The wolf had claimed me as well as Gearden. What didn’t make sense was, from what everyone had told me regarding a claiming, it involved one bite from the man who allowed a small transformation of the fangs for the task. That was it. Not two from two different
entities.
What the hell was going on?
I pretty much passed out a few minutes following that. Next thing I know I wake up and it’s nearly three in the morning. Ignoring the soreness, I felt in my neck and shoulder, I lifted Gearden’s heavy arm from my stomach and quietly padded to the hall bathroom. After using the toilet, I look in the mirror. I can barely make myself out though in the dark. Prepping myself, I flick on the light. Momentarily blinded, I peer at my reflection, pulling my shirt to the side of my shoulder. The pull of my muscles and skin from the moment, has me hissing but I could see it wasn’t as bad as I had expected. The punctures where his fangs broke the skin were closed, already healing and clean. He must have wiped it off after I fell asleep. Still, it would most definitely scar. Mentally, I shrugged. Which, I guess, was the whole point of a claiming mark, to show everyone that you belonged to someone else. Another wolf.
A wolf who has taken to separating his identity from that of his human counterpart. I belonged to a man and a wolf. I don’t believe the wolf saw it any other way.
Carefully, I returned to my room. After I shut the door and turned back to the bed, something in the depths of my stomach pulled taut at the sight of the man sleeping in it. It pulled me in, like I wasn’t already on my way back to him. Like a fishing pole, it was being reeled slowly, drawing me into him. I didn’t fight it, I didn’t want to. Drawing the covers up, I slid in close to him, closer, if that were possible, than we were before I’d left for the bathroom. He sighed and burrowed his face into my neck, replacing his arm back around my waist. My soul sighed in content, recognizing its mate and basking in it.
Chapter Nine
Gearden
As I walked behind Maeleigh to first period, I tried to keep my array of confused thoughts from reaching to her as much as possible. She already kept turning to look at me for reassurance every few minutes. I could only manage the occasional half-smile to keep any questions she had at bay. At least for a little while longer. I don’t think I could get through the day if I had to hash it all out now, at school. My wolf was calmer, thank the goddess, now that she bore my mark. Our marks. Jesus. What happened last night was both exhilarating, claiming her brought a sense of satisfaction and relief. Then, when the wolf forced me to take a back seat in my own mind, it turned to something from a horror movie. My wolf and I were always of a singular mind. Only when in wolf form did my wolf persona come out more, and that was always more of a feeling, a predatory one. Never did he break off and speak as a singular individual. This was what dad had talked about. I didn’t have a clue it could be this serious, though. I thought the threat to Ro was a onetime thing. At least, I’d hoped it was.
Shit.
“Are you coming?” Maeleigh jerked me out of my reverie and I realized she was a few steps in the classroom and I still lingered in the hall at the open door. Shaking myself, I nodded to her and followed her in. We sat down and Bri joined up. She was busier now with homecoming planning and was stealing minutes whenever she could to speak with others on the committee. She had a meeting for the band teacher and football coach after school today and would be riding home with Kennedy. I felt like taking a run but didn’t want to chance giving my wolf an opening to overtake. Damn, what was I going to do?
“About what?” Maeleigh asked. I must have projected that last thought a little too much. I shook myself, trying to fend off any questions and was saved by the teacher starting in on roll call. I tried to pretend I was waiting for my name to avoid her digging for more.
Truth was, I didn’t have anything more to give myself, much less for her. I needed to talk to someone who knew more. Dad had only heard stories. A wolf going feral like mine, hasn’t happened since the old wars. It’s how our people were discovered by humans. Berserkers, they called them. Those who broke from pack and stopped at nothing to find and protect their mates. War seemed to cause something in the human side of us, forcing the wolf to overtake their minds. They were a crucial part in the winning of the wars, willing to go above and beyond to cut down the enemy, to protect their mate.
But there was no war, Maeleigh wasn’t being threatened. At least, not immediately. Was I so weak that the kidnapping alone had broken me enough for the wolf to dominate? It was dangerous. I was dangerous.
“What’s going on with you, Gear?” Ro asked me. We sat at the lunch table, surrounded by our friends and family: pack. The morning had gone in a blur of mechanical motions. I could tell Maeleigh wanted to talk about it, but I could also tell she didn’t know how to start. She’d have to wait, unfortunately.
Looking at Ro, I confided in my brother, “I don’t know, man. I don’t know.”
Ro looked at Maeleigh contemplating before looking back at me. “You’re not feral.” He told me, and I scoffed. The fact that he knew what I was already thinking made his statement a little less believable.
“Thanks, but you and I both know something isn’t right with me,” I told him. “It wanted to tear your throat out last night. I wanted to tear your throat out. And you only walked in the room. What if you’d touched her?” The idea had the air in my lungs shuddering out. My own brother wasn’t safe from me.
“You wouldn’t have. Even your wolf would have recognized me as a non-threat. Eventually,” he argued. He was always a quiet one, but spoke when it mattered, and I appreciated his words now.
Just then, I felt Maeleigh’s hand slip over to grip my thigh, giving it a small reassuring squeeze. Reaching down, I took her hand in mine and held tight.
Suddenly, Ro leaned in close, his voice even lower. “Maybe the fae knows something?”
Snapping my head around, I pinned him with an accusatory glare. “What?”
Maeleigh’s hand twitched in mine and I could tell she picked up on my agitation.
Ro wasn’t bothered by it, though. “This all has to be connected. Maeleigh’s encounter with the vampire. Learning she’s got both wolf and Druid in her. All around the same time that your wolf decides to do a solo act.”
Digesting his words, I glanced at Maeleigh, who was trying to pretend not to pay any attention to what Ro was saying. I was sure she was picking up on bits and pieces. I would tell her later what was said, but I appreciated her giving us privacy now.
“It’s too much of a coincidence,” he concluded.
I didn’t answer him, but he had my mind whirling at the idea. If that were the case, that all these things had something to do with one another, then what the hell did it all mean? Again, the feeling that Benjamin Thompson wasn’t telling all that he knew set my back teeth on edge.
Ro left me alone after that. Maybe he could see that I was holding on by a thin thread as it was and felt it safe to give me some space. Thank god Maeleigh was already doing just that. She was amazing.
I thanked the goddess she was sent here, in my path, in the first place. I don’t imagine I would have ever found her in California. Lycan tended to stay close to their original pack. Even if one decided to mate, or marry if you will, someone from another pack, it’s territory would more than likely be nearby.
After school, Maeleigh’s dad was in the parking lot again. And, again, Ro didn’t take to his presence very well. His reaction outweighed mine in that moment, which was surprisingly refreshing. Bristling, we walked as one towards her dad.
He signed something to her, a hopeful expression on his face.
She didn’t entertain him in keeping their discussion private. Instead she spoke out loud while she signed. “You could call me, you know.”
Of course, he did.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t answer,” came his dejected reply. I rolled my eyes internally.
She didn’t respond to the comment and just waited for him to move on and tell us what he came here for.
Taking her hint, he turned all business when he looked at me and said, “I’ve spoken to the fae, Alstahr.”
“And?” I asked.
“He can meet tonight. At nine o’clock.”
I nod
ded and looked at Maeleigh, waiting to see if she wanted to say something more to her dad before we walked to my car.
She didn’t though. Without a second glance, she walked around him and headed to the Jeep.
Bri looked at him though. Briefly, I caught a look of sympathy on her face when she did. My beta had a soft spot for my mate’s father. At least she kept it to herself and didn’t say anything to Maeleigh. She needed time to work things out on her own about her dad.
At the house, I flopped on my bed and the girls had a snack in the kitchen. Lost in my thoughts, I drifted off.
“She’s ours,” a voice echoed.
I stood in a place void of color, but all my senses were in tuned to my surroundings. It smelled of moss and damp soil and the sound of running water somewhere in the distance echoed in the air.
“Who’s there?” I cautiously called out.
“We made it so,” came the voice again.
“Show yourself!”
The second I made the demand, a wolf appeared at my feet. The top of its head reached my abdomen, which he would readily tear open with the large, razor sharp teeth set in its open maw.
It was me. Or, rather, my wolf.
As I stared at it, still trying to wrap my head around it, the voice came again. “We don’t have to fear losing her again.”
I peered at it. “The claiming?”
The mention of it caused the animal to excitedly tap its paws on the empty ground, answer enough.
The Chase: Book 2 in The Hunt Series Page 4
