Mountain Wolf's Courage (Daddy Wolves 0f The Wild Series Book 4)

by Serena Meadows

  Chapter Nine

  ***Trevor***

  Trevor carefully avoided Sarah for the rest of the day, a bit embarrassed by the way he’d acted and more than happy to give her some space. He knew that he needed to apologize; he’d let his feelings for Claudia cloud his thinking, let them create something that hadn’t been there. His emotions had been fueled by jealousy, not that it was an excuse for his behavior, but the idea that he was jealous left him a little stunned.

  He’d only met Sarah once if you didn’t count the night he’d covered her up in her sleep, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and it scared him. He’d felt the same way about Claudia, and that had ended badly; he didn’t trust his instincts not to get him in trouble again. Plus, he shouldn’t be thinking about romance; his phone call from Richard had made it abundantly clear that he was losing his patience and he had to come up with something, and soon.

  Sitting by the window watching for her to come out, he listened to Gabe making plans for the column he wanted to write for the newspaper, issuing little murmurs of agreement when needed. As soon as Sarah left for the day, they’d go home for dinner; then after Gabe was in bed, he’d try to find a way into the lodge which had to be the key to Serendipity’s power.

  He wouldn’t be able to go the next night because of the barbeque, and Richard wanted something fast. “Dad, are you listening to me?” Gabe asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

  “I’m sorry, I got sidetracked thinking about something,” he confessed, giving Gabe a lop-sided grin. “You know how we old people are.”

  Gabe sighed. “I asked you if we were going to the barbeque tomorrow night.”

  “Definitely. Jake said I had to be there, so we’re going.”

  Gabe got a funny look on his face. “Ummm, I was wondering if I have to stay with you the whole time,” his son said, clearly a little uncomfortable. “I mean, I will if you don’t want to be alone, but some of the guys are going to meet after we eat and hang out together. They want me to join them.”

  Trevor got up from the window seat and ruffled Gabe’s hair. “I think I can take care of myself for a few hours after we eat if you want to hang out with your friends,” he said.

  Gabe grinned at him. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Now, let’s go home and make some dinner. I’m starving.”

  After they’d eaten and cleaned up the kitchen, Gabe went to his room, and Trevor found himself pacing around the cabin. He was planning to wait until later to try to sneak into the lodge, but there was no reason he couldn’t take a walk around camp in the meantime. When he poked his head into Gabe’s room to tell him he was leaving, his son waved him off, so engrossed in the video game he was playing he didn’t even look up.

  “Lights out at ten, even if I’m not back,” he said, then stood and waited until Gabe looked up.

  “Okay, Dad, I heard you,” he said.

  Satisfied, he headed out the front door and without thinking started for Sarah’s cabin a little further down the road. When he realized what he’d done, he stopped and turned around, but couldn’t help looking over his shoulder at the light glowing in her window and wondering what she was doing right then. Forcing himself to look away, he headed back down the valley, noticing that the lights in the dining hall had gone out.

  When he got to the lodge, there was no one around, so he slipped around the back of the building, noticing that the only light inside came from an emergency exit sign as he went by the windows. He tried the back door, surprised to discover it was unlocked, then stepped inside and let the door shut quietly behind him.

  The lodge felt empty, his breathing the only sound in the darkness, so he crept down the hallway and into the main room. At first, it looked like he’d expected, a vast space with a fireplace at one end and groupings of couches and chairs scattered around the room. But then he saw the walls and froze, his eyes taking in the murals that covered almost three walls of the room.

  Several were illuminated by the glow of the moon, and for a second, he was sure that they danced and moved, but then a cloud covered the moonlight, and the room grew dark. His heart pounding in his chest, a feeling of power filling him, he stood immobile in the middle of the room, not sure what he’d found, but certain it was something important.

  Just as his eyes began to adjust to the darkness, the air around him began to crackle with energy, and his body reacted by releasing a surge of power strong enough, he almost shifted. But just as quickly as the power hit him, it drained away, and Sarah was standing across the room looking at the murals, a paintbrush in her hand. He stumbled back a few steps and let out a little cry of alarm, and she turned to look at him, then disappeared.

  ***Sarah***

  Sarah ripped the page with the sketch of the lodge out of the book, crumpled it into a small ball, then threw it into the fireplace. Looking around for a match, she tried not to think about what just happened, and focused instead on destroying the drawing. When it was finally disappearing in flames, she sank to the floor and watched it burn, trying to make sense of what just happened.

  When she’d finally gotten up the courage to pick the sketchbook up off the floor, it had taken only one breath to find herself standing in the lodge again, but this time she hadn’t been alone. Trevor had been standing in the darkness staring at her, his hazel eyes glowing in the darkness, a feeling of animal power radiating from him. The shock of seeing him must have broken the spell because the next thing she knew, she was standing in her cabin holding the sketchbook, her body throbbing with desire.

  Trying to tell herself that it had all been a dream wasn’t going to work; she’d been wide awake when she’d picked up the sketchbook and had felt herself being transported across the valley this time, her body tingling and power flowing through her veins. When she’d found herself in the lodge, it had felt right, and the need to paint had been flowing through her until she’d seen Trevor.

  A knock at the door jerked her from her thoughts, startling her and making her jump, and it was no surprise to find Trevor on the other side when she opened it. “What are you doing here?” she asked, striking first.

  “What were you doing in the lodge?” he countered. “As soon as you saw me, you disappeared, so I’m assuming that you’re a witch. What were you going to do with that paintbrush you were holding?”

  Sarah stared at him for a second, considering her options, then decided the truth was her only choice, or at least some of the truth. So, she pushed him out onto the porch. “I’m going to tell you the truth, but you have to promise not to tell anyone,” she said.

  Trevor studied her for a second, then said, “Okay, I promise.”

  She sat down in one of the lounge chairs, pulled her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. “The truth is I don’t know what I was doing there, and I don’t remember having a paintbrush in my hand,” she said.

  A look of disbelief appeared on his face. “You’re telling me that you just popped over to the lodge and popped back and don’t know why.”

  “It happened last night too,” she said, wishing now that she’d saved the sketch. “I drew a sketch of the lodge, and I know this is going to sound strange, but when I looked at it, I was suddenly there.”

  “Let me see this sketch,” he demanded.

  Sarah was beginning to regret telling him the truth, didn’t like the tone of his voice, or the way he was looking at her. “I can’t. I burned it, I didn’t want it to happen again,” she said, getting to her feet. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m tired, and I have a riding lesson in the morning.”

  Trevor got to his feet and blocked her path. “Are you sure that’s all there is?” he asked, grabbing her arm when she tried to get past him.

  She turned and faced him, feeling her anger beginning to build. “Let go of me,” she said, looking down at her arm where his hand gripped her firmly. “I’ve told you everything I know. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

  Her words seemed to deflate him. �
��I thought you had the answer,” he said, stepping back from her.

  “The answer to what?” she asked, knowing she should just go inside but unable to leave when he looked so upset.

  For a second, he looked like he was going to answer her, but then he said, “It’s nothing you need to worry about. I guess I should let you get to bed.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, wondering when she’d gone from being mad at him to being worried about him.

  He shrugged. “I’ll figure it out,” he said, then started for the steps but stopped and turned back to her. “By the way, I’m sorry about what I said today. It was a stupid thing to say. I’m sure you’re not like that. I was projecting someone else on you.”

  “That’s okay. I might have overreacted a little, but you have to understand that people see me and expect me to act a certain way,” she said.

  Trevor came back over to her. “I’m sorry if I was behaving like one of those people today. I promise it will never happen again,” he said. “I understand now that just because men act like that around you that doesn’t mean you’re enjoying the attention.”

  Sarah felt her heart melt a little. “I hate it; everyone looks at what’s on the outside, and never even bothers to see what’s on the inside.”

  “Well, I’d like to find out what’s on the inside if you’ll give me the chance,” Trevor said, then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  The kiss was so unexpected that it took her by surprise, and at first, she didn’t stop him, but then she realized what she was doing and pushed him away. “I should have known that you were like all the rest of them,” she said, then pushed past him and walked into the cabin, slamming the door behind her.

  Chapter Ten

  ***Trevor***

  Trevor was smiling as he walked home, not the least bit sorry that he’d kissed Sarah as it had been the best few seconds he’d experienced in a long time, and he was already thinking about doing it again. He knew it was going to take a lot to get himself back in her good graces after that, but he didn’t care; for just a second, she’d responded to him, and he’d felt the possibility of something wonderful between them.

  He didn’t know where the feeling came from, or why he could trust it, but knew that he could. As he walked along the rutted road to his cabin, he decided that the night hadn’t been a total waste; he’d discovered that there was magic in Serendipity and that his love life might not be quite as over as he’d thought it was. Tonight, he’d have something to tell Richard, and hopefully that would keep him off his back for a while.

  But as he dialed the number, he knew that he didn’t want to mention Sarah to Richard, so when it came to the part in his story when she appeared, he simply said that someone came in and he had to leave. It was as close to the truth as he was willing to go and Richard seemed satisfied that he’d found something, even if only a vague sense of magic.

  “I knew there was something in there they didn’t want me to see,” Richard said. “You have to get back inside and find out where it’s coming from.”

  “It’s going to be a couple of days before I can get back in without being seen,” Trevor said. “There’s a barbeque tomorrow tonight, so I won’t be able to call you until after. It will be the soonest I can try.”

  “That’s not soon enough. I need that magic, and I need it fast,” Richard said, his voice taking on a hard edge.

  Taking a deep breath, he said, “This is the best I can do; if I get caught sneaking around in the lodge, you won’t be getting anything.”

  After a long uncomfortable silence, Richard said, “Fine but I still expect a phone call tomorrow night. Use your time wisely, Trevor; it’s running out fast.”

  He was a bit shaken after the call, but pushed Richard out of his mind, checked on Gabe, who was fast asleep, and headed for bed himself. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his mind to slow down, and after tossing and turning for a while, he got back out of bed. Dressed only in his pajama bottoms, he opened the door and stepped out onto the deck and looked up at the stars shining in the night sky.

  Taking long slow deep breaths of the cool night air, he tried to empty his mind, shutting out all his worries until all that was left was Sarah. A bit surprised to still find her there, he let the memory of her lips pressed against his surface, relived the kiss as his body finally began to relax. But it wasn’t long before a different kind of tension began to spread through his body, and he knew he had to stop his wild imaginings.

  Much more relaxed, he went back inside and climbed into bed and let his mind wander back to Sarah. It wasn’t long before he drifted off to a deep sleep filled with dreams about them together, dreams that filled him with a kind of warmth he’d never felt before. When the sun woke him in the early morning hours, he tried to hold onto the dreams, but reality swept them away, leaving only a subtle feeling of warmth deep inside him.

  He went to the kitchen to start breakfast only to find that there wasn’t much food left in the cabin. So, he woke Gabe, who readily agreed on breakfast at the dining hall, and they were on their way, both still a little groggy but ready to start the day. Even that early, they found the dining hall busy, but Jake and Marley were seated over in one corner and waved them over.

  “Good morning! You two are up and about early,” Marley said when they sat down.

  “Dad forgot to get food for the cabin,” Gabe said, then dug into his breakfast.

  “I’ve been a little bit busy,” he said, glaring at his son. “I’ll stop by the store today.”

  Gabe shrugged his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter to me; this food is better than what you cook anyway,” he said.

  “Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” Trevor said, and everyone laughed.

  When the laughter had died down, Jake asked, “Are you going to take a riding lesson this morning? It might be a good idea to get it done now.”

  “You could take a lesson with me,” Gabe said, brimming with excitement. “You said you would, remember?”

  Trevor looked at his son. “No, I said I’d go riding with you,” he said, then turned to Jake. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll be okay. It’s been a few years since I’ve ridden, but I’m sure it will come back to me.”

  “You know how to ride?” Gabe asked, his mouth full of food.

  “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” he said, then nodded. “I grew up on my grandparents’ farm in Tennessee. I rode almost every day.”

  “You never told me that,” Gabe said. “You never talk about growing up at all.”

  “I hate to interrupt,” Jake said, “but we’ve got to get to the barn.”

  After they left, Gabe looked over at him and asked, “Why don’t you talk about your childhood? Was it terrible or something?”

  It took him a second to answer. “No, it wasn’t terrible; it was actually pretty good. But your mother was embarrassed by the way I grew up; she didn’t want her rich friends to know she married a farm boy, so we just never talked about it. My grandparents died right after I met your mother, so it was easier to go along with her and pretend I came from somewhere else.”

  Gabe studied him for a long time, then said, “I’m sorry, Dad.”

  “It’s okay; that was a long time ago,” he said, realizing that his son was stronger than he thought.

  “Did you really ride a horse every day?” Gabe asked, a look of disbelief on his face.

  “Well, maybe not every day,” he said, then began to talk about something he’d locked away long ago.

  ***Sarah***

  Sarah pushed the hair out of her eyes, put her foot in the stirrup, and swung up into the saddle, feeling slightly ridiculous. The horse took her weight, then took a few steps backward, making her want to scream, but she held it back by holding her breath and closing her eyes instead.

  “You can open your eyes now,” a voice she didn’t want to hear said.

  When she slowly opened her eyes, she saw Trevor grinning at h
er from only a few feet away and wondered where he’d come from. “What are you doing here?” she asked, grabbing onto the saddle when the horse shifted again. “Go away.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m just dropping Gabe off for his lesson, but I have to say, for a beginner, that was a pretty smooth mount,” Trevor said, still grinning at her.

  She managed to keep the scowl on her face even though inside, her heart was going crazy and a thrill had stolen her breath when Trevor’s blue eyes met hers. Wishing she could turn the horse and gallop away, she tried to get herself under control, and it wasn’t going well when, to her relief, Jake came out of the barn.

  “Well, it’s about time you showed up,” he said when he saw Trevor. “Did you change your mind about the riding lesson?”

  Sarah cringed, then relaxed when she remembered he’d only been dropping Gabe off. But then to her horror, he looked over at her and said, “You know, now that I think about it, maybe I could use a little refresher course.”

  “Great, the more, the merrier,” Jake said, beaming at Trevor. “Go on inside the barn and find Jordan; she’ll get you fixed up. We’re only going to ride a mile or so, but that should be enough of a refresher it sounds like.”

  Sarah saw the amusement suddenly disappear from Trevor’s face replaced by a wary look. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to make a bunch of work for someone,” he said. “Maybe I’ll just wait and come back when you’re done with the lesson.”

  “Nonsense, we saddled some extra horses today, so there should be one for you all ready to go,” Jake said, waving away Trevor’s objection.

  When Trevor turned and reluctantly went into the barn, Sarah couldn’t help but wonder what had suddenly changed his mood. But then the horse shifted under her again, and she made herself focus on the animal underneath her. It was going to be a long morning if she couldn’t ignore Trevor and the way he made her body go crazy any time he was around. She was an adult and should be able to control those impulses better.