“God, Claire, I want you so much,” he rasps against my shoulder as I fuck him.
“You’ve got me,” I whisper back.
He stiffens and I feel his teeth—er, canines—against my throat. He nips me there without breaking the skin, but I know he wants to bite me. I’m ready for it.
But instead of biting me, he throws his head back and growls out his release. Hot ropes of cum shoot up against my womb, sending me over the edge again. I shudder against him and it seems like we are floating on Cloud 9 in the aftermath.
He pulls me close and whispers, “You, Claire. You are exactly what I want.”
11
Lucas
I don’t want to pull away from her. We’ve been at it all night. But there’s an order down in the town I have to go get. I had ordered new axes a few weeks ago and they were an expensive custom order set. It was a bit of a risk to make that order since it meant that someone with deep pockets ordered them, but no one around me knows of my hobbies.
I consider it a safe move. I’d usually have something like this delivered, but in order to not pick up any attention, I’m going to have to go down there and pick it up or else people will start to question and get nosey.
A town as small as the one down the mountain from me lives on gossip, it’s the only thing they have that keeps the town humming.
They need some fucking cable TV. Anything to keep their noses out of my shit. I already have Sheriff Bailey to be concerned about, and his nose is probably sniffing all over my axes.
“Claire, I need you to stay in the cabin while I’m gone.”
“What? Again?” She perks out of her seat as I stand. “What do you mean? Where are you going?” She places her half eaten plate down on the table and skips after me.
“I’m going down to town to pick up an order of axes. The one I have is rusted from all this damn snow recently. I can’t get a smooth cut on the wood.”
“You cut way too much wood.”
“I like cutting wood. It takes my mind off of other shit I don’t want to deal with.”
Claire follows me into the bedroom and starts digging in a drawer. I look at her and raise an eyebrow.
She’s now donning a short black bob wig I got for her earlier on. I told her it was a disguise if she ever needed to go down into the town…on an emergency.
“No. Hell no. Don’t you see your face plastered on the damn news?” I strip off my earlier shirt and throw on a heavier washed-out flannel.
“Come on, this town only knows what species a tree is. They won’t recognize me.”
“ I call bull shit. These people are so damn nosey they’ll sniff you a mile away.”
Claire throws down her arms and pouts. “Come on, I’ve been up here for nearly two weeks already.”
“You’ll be free in two more.”
“Not funny. I need to see some civilization.” She juts out a hip and throws a hand on top of it. And her eyes…they’re big and sweet, begging to let me cave in on my common sense. I swear, since she’s been here she’s gotten more lean, more muscle that’s giving her more curves. My cock twitches and I turn around to get dressed and keep my dick soft.
I’m already big as fuck down there and don’t need anything puffing out my cock for the whole damn world to see. Next thing I know, the women from the town will be knocking on my door, then they’ll see Claire and I’ll have a huge fucking scandal on my hands.
“Look, Claire. I don’t want you to get hurt or recognized. Safety comes at a price sometimes.”
She drops down on the bed in a defeated look. “Cabin fever is a big price. If it wasn’t for your c—nevermind.” She clasps a hand over her mouth and I bend down to peel it away.
“If it wasn’t for what?” I know what she’s going to say.
But…
I want to hear her say it.
“Nothing.”
She blushes fire engine red and I know what she’s getting at.
"Say it, Claire. If it weren't for my cock, you'd be insane by now."
She nods her head and keeps her eyes shut. Claire is the perfect mix of small and curvy, so I flip her around so her ass is pointed towards me and I spank her tail. She lets out a joyful yelp and waves it at me for another spank.
Fuck.
My cock is going to be rock solid if I don’t get a move on.
"I'll punish you later, promise," I growl, swinging my jacket onto my shoulders and marching out into the living room. The smell of old leather and hard work never gets old to me.
I’m almost to the front door when I hear very small knocking sounds, like someone’s tapping a twig at my front door. I approach the door with caution and look through the peephole.
“Who’s there?”
“Lucas?” a small familiar voice squeaks out.
Fuck. I know that voice.
I swing the door open and I look down to see my half-pint of a younger sister staring up at me with big teary eyes full of glee.
“Lydia? What the hell are you doing up here?” I look around behind her, expecting to see an entourage or some of my pack mates. No one else is with her. I bring her inside quickly and close the door and pull the curtains over the windows. Anyone could’ve followed her here.
Claire comes out of the room, pulling her wig off. “Lucas did someone kn—oh!”
Lydia looks over at Claire and back at me with a devilish smirk. “So you’ve gone missing with a missing girl? You never cease to amaze me, brother.”
“Lydia, what the hell are you doing up here by yourself? Did someone bring you? Who?”
She takes her eyes off of me and looks to the side, bouncing on the side of her foot.
“Lydia, speak!” This rebellious runt, she’s a troublemaker just like me. I love the hell out of her, but she’s gonna have to tell me how she got the hell up this dangerous mountain. I doubt she knows any of the back roads unless she…
The little snake…
Claire comes around and cups Lydia's cheeks. “Hi there, I’m Claire.”
She takes Claire's hands off her cheeks and shakes one like a proper young lady. “I know that. You’re all over the news. I’m Lydia, his younger sister.”
Claire smiles brightly. “Cool, you take after him a lot I see.”
Lydia snorts and nods her head in agreement.
Claire squints. “Are you…?”
Lydia nods shyly. “It’s not secret. I am my brother’s little sister. I shift too.”
“Lydia. How’d you get up here?” I ask again, breaking the warm bonding moment between them.
“Luc, you already know I’m into all this detective stuff. I want to be pack enforcer one day.”
“Like hell, you’re not,” I declare. I don’t want my little sister hunting down bad guys.
“A cop, then? Maybe?” she says meekly.
I give her an I-don’t-think-so glare. I know she’s eager to get on with her life and gain her independence, but she’s my little sister. I’m supposed to be the one protecting her.
“Anyway, brother. I know what I’m doing. I didn’t come out here unprotected.” Lydia drops her backpack and unloads what she’s been carrying.
Which includes one of my custom Glock 17s.
I snatch it away and give the rest of her collection a look over.
Yeah, she was taught well.
“Now how’d you find me?”
Claire is still staring in disbelief from the gun. I have no lack of confidence when it comes to Lydia's shooting ability. I taught her myself. It didn’t even seem out of the ordinary that she wanted to fight crime.
"Well, I hacked your computer and found out your passwords and stuff. So I started digging to see if you had any small traces of planning something." Lydia crosses her arms and triumphantly rolls her head. "And of course you did. With more digging and financial records, I saw an order for some new axes."
Claire pursed her lips and glared at me.
Lydia grinned smugly and continued, “Sooo….
I remember your fascination with mountains from all the pictures you had in your office. I was even able to get the locations of all of them. You had a few pictures of one particular mountain. Then I dug some more and looks like you went and bought a whole lot of acres out here recently. Deed hasn’t even been filed with the courthouse yet, but I found the bill of sale on your external hard drive. You left it at home.”
My mouth drops. I’m floored by the amount of effort my sis took to find me.
Lydia's face is gleaming while she gives us the full rundown on how she found me. I’m proud and nervous as fuck right now.
“Did anyone else know about what you were doing?”
“Nope. Not even your right hand man—Ben. Plus, no one ever pays attention to what I’m doing. Even so, I kept my traces clean. I didn’t tell any of the guys, and I left before our alpha could ask any questions about what was going on with our family. Most of the time, dad thought I was away having a shopping spree ordering all these reports online. Or so I made them think…”
I rub my forehead, feeling the heat from the friction of my weathered out palms. A small reminder of why I need better axes.
“Lydia, you’re in so much trouble…” I sigh and place a hand on her shoulder.
“But you went missing and you didn’t tell me anything! What was I supposed to do? Lie down and think the worse? No! Absolutely not!” Lydia stomps her small foot down onto the wooden floor of the cabin. It shakes under her wraith.
"Lydia, of course, I couldn't tell you. But now that you're here, I'm dropping you back down to the nearest bus station and sending your ass home. You can't be up here."
I pick up the gun I took away from her backpack. "And you're not taking this with you either."
“Sheesh, take all the fun why don’t you.” Lydia pouts and goes to sit on one of the sofas in the living room that’s nestled around the burning fireplace.
I glance at Claire who’s still processing Lydia's determination and skill. She’s in awe, I can tell. That’s what happens when you have Zander blood coursing through your veins. You’re smart as fuck and you find your answers.
“Claire, I need to pick the axes up and bring them back. Please watch after Lydia while I’m gone. I’ll bring back a bus ticket. When I come back, I’ll take her to the bus station and you can come along.”
Claire's face brightens. “Sure. No problem. She’s something else, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. Maybe too much. She’ll quiz the fuck out of you too. Watch what you tell her.”
I don’t miss the way the eager smile fades away from Claire’s face when I warn her about Lydia’s detective skills.
One of these days, I’m going to find out what she’s been hiding from me.
12
Claire
Lydia is everything anyone could hope for in a little sister. Smart, cunning, and rebellious. We had a lot of fun before Lucas came back to show us his axes and bring Lydia down into Clover Valley.
The drive takes long, and Lydia is mostly silent in the back seat on her phone. As we get closer, I can smell the engines of the buses and see them pull out and come in as groups of people come pouring out of the station.
“Lydia, you’re going to get on the bus. Don’t try any tricks, okay?” Lucas says, giving her a stern look through the rearview mirror. Lydia pouts and agrees to return home.
"I don't know why I can't just stay with you and Claire. She's nice, unlike all the other women."
I can see Lucas's small peek of embarrassment. Not like he’s gonna be a virgin too. He’s a nice looking man, and I’m sure he’s been through many women. Hell, I’m gonna be one of them too.
Because soon I have to go too, just like Lydia.
Lucas parks the truck in front of an old brick station where families are hugging each other goodbye and others with hugs of hellos.
Lydia pops out the truck and Lucas emerges like a giant out of a cave. For me, it takes a little getting used to. There's still some slush around, so my boots are slippery and I hold onto the loop on the ridge of the car door, so I don't go busting my ass on the wet pavement.
“Lydia, if anyone asks—”
“I’ll tell them I went to Nova Babe's. It’s one of those vogue fashion stores a few miles from the city. I’ll go by and pick up something to keep the cover.”
Lucas smiles and rustles her dark brown hair.
“Jeez, you know I hate it when you do that.” Lydia looks over at me and then at her wrist. “Claire,” she says, coming over to me. “I want you to have this.” She takes off the golden bracelet and hands it to me.
"Thank you, Lydia. I'll always keep it safe."
She throws her head back and laughs. "I hope so because I want it back. When Lucas returns, you have to come with him. You have to."
I clutch the bracelet and stay silent. I can’t even lie to her right now. She’s been through enough.
The driver to one of the buses jumps onto the intercom and announces the schedules. “Schedule 1099 en route to Rockford is leaving in five minutes! Get your tickets out and make sure your bags are tagged.”
“That’s you.” Lucas brings her to the door where people are lining up and wishes her a good trip.
“See you soon. Promise,” Lucas whispers.
“I hope so. I miss you.”
It's Lydia's turn to go through the door and she gives Lucas a big hug with a few mixed sniffles. She smothers me in an embrace too and reminds me about the bracelet.
She’ll get it back. I’ll just have to give it to Lucas before I leave.
"See you, kiddo," Lucas says, showing the driver her ticket and watching her disappear onto the bus.
“I know that was hard for you,” I say to Lucas who has a pained look on his face. I guess all of his past isn’t as bad as I thought if he has people like Lydia around.
“Yeah. She’s the only family worth a damn to me. My father’s a cold-hearted prick. My brothers aren’t any better.”
The bus pulls off and we see Lydia in the window waving as it drives away.
I can’t keep running forever. I think I’ve found myself.
When this month is up. I’m going to return. I’m going to fight.
13
Claire
On the way home, I have a thousand thoughts tumbling in the back of my mind. It’s not fair that I have to leave my comfort zone all because my step-mother thinks she can make choices for me.
I can’t allow her to do that.
I can’t marry that man for her… Nigel is only good for one thing, and that’s abusing a woman. I remember those times he’d yell at me, or lurch like he wanted to smack the living daylights out of me.
But he didn’t. That doesn’t mean he won’t in the future.
The word marry in the same thought as Nigel makes my stomach sour over in vengeance.
Nigel tells me all the time that I’m young and stupid and that he’ll teach me how to grow up and be rich so I can make millionaires of dollars a year just like him. He was a friend of my late father who died in a car accident when I was sixteen—right at the height of my gymnast career. I had only lost my mother the year before that to cancer. We just kept getting blow after blow. My dad remarried pretty quickly, which broke my heart, but I guess he was lonely. He married the maid who’d been working for us for the past three years.
So yeah…the maid is now my stepmother, but I didn’t always hate her. She stepped in when my family needed it, taking me to practice meets and making sure I had everything I needed for my competitions. She knew how much gymnastics and performing meant to me. Then, my dad started cheating on her and she got bitter. Fast forward to now, my dad is gone and has left everything to her. She’s even my legal guardian and the holder of my trust fund. I can’t get it unless I do what she says. She claims that my dad took a lot of money from her, gambling their combined income away. She expects me to pay for my father’s sins. That’s where Nigel comes in. Nigel needs a young trophy wife to keep up his image, and i
f I marry him, he’ll pay off every last one of my father’s debts, including the one he racked up with my stepmother.
When they both called me down for dinner one night and laid the paperwork out in front of me proposing the idea, I was stunned. I ran out of the house and stayed with some friends for a few days. At my competitions, I couldn’t concentrate, I couldn’t perform. I slipped up, fell off a high beam and injured my knee. I haven’t been able to compete since. While backed into a corner and on bedrest, I agreed to Nigel and my stepmother’s deal.
With my stepmother needing funds to pay for her ongoing chemo treatments, she says I have no choice but to help her. It's my father's fault she has no money to pay for her healthcare. She's a heartless bitch, but I hate the disease that's ruining her body more than I hate her. I fucking hate cancer.
So, I’m torn. I just want to start my life over.
“Something’s wrong.” Lucas keeps his eyes on the road, but all his energy is being directed at me. I feel it, surrounding me, demanding the truth out of me.
“Oh, don’t worry about it—”
Police lights glare in the mirrors and I glance back to see a police truck right on our heels. He speeds up and turns on his siren loud.
Lucas looks and grunts. “Fucking piece of shit,” he hisses under his breath.
“Should I be worried?”
“Just sit back, act normal, and stay quiet. This man is nothing but a fucking bastard.”
Apparently, Lucas has some issues with the cop following us.
The door to the police cruiser slams shut as the man approaches us with caution. My throat is tense and dry from the fear that he might just recognize me. Even though I have my wig and fake reading glasses on, I still feel exposed.
The cop knocks on the window and Lucas lowers it down.
“Sheriff.”
“Dane.”
Whoa, that’s not Lucas's name. But I’m not surprised he’s using a fake one. The only thing that worries me is that he’s using a fake name with a Sheriff.
What the Wolf Wants: Howls Romance Page 7
