Mine Furever

by Bolryder, Terry

  When he heard a knock on his door, he tensed, readying himself for whatever Mattson and his goons wanted to throw at him, but when he didn’t hear any shouting, he realized it wasn’t them at the door.

  He crossed to the door and opened it and was surprised to see April standing outside.

  Her pretty green eyes were lively, and she looked to be nearly shaking with excitement mingled with fear. “I’ve found something, can I come in?”

  He nodded, opening the door to his trailer and hoping no one had seen her come in. She was damp, so he helped her take off her jacket and handed her one of his dry shirts. She took it and pulled it over her head and put her arms through it as she sat on the bench in front of his kitchenette table.

  “Did you walk here?” He folded his arms and leaned against the cabinets.

  She nodded eagerly. There was a slight curl to her dark hair because of the wetness, and he grabbed a clean towel from nearby to dry her off.

  He rubbed it over her hair gently and couldn’t help being attracted to the way she was flushed, whether from the rain or from excitement. “So what did you find?”

  She pushed the towel aside and caught his hand, shaking slightly. “I caught something on the cameras.”

  A small chill went through him as he sat in his recliner facing her and trying to stay calm. “Oh?”

  She nodded avidly. “Wolves, but you were right. Not normal ones. They were… huge.”

  He had to work to keep his jaw from dropping. She’d just stumbled across the worst possible information, and he had no idea how she’d seen shifter wolves at all. The pack here was all supposed to be in human form.

  Then again, he had his own doubts about the howling being done by a rival pack.

  He crossed his legs and merely listened as she went on.

  “Anyway, I rewound, and honestly, they’re closer to the size of small horses than wolves, and it’s one of those discoveries that could change the whole world! It’s…” She thought for a moment. “It’s huge.”

  His mouth opened wordlessly because of all the things he’d thought she would say, that wasn’t one of them. How had someone blown their cover?

  He clenched his jaw, wondering how it was possible. Now there was no way to throw her off the scent, and he’d have to tell her everything, whether he wanted to or not. But it wouldn’t even be safe here because there were wolves waiting all around.

  She stared at him, waiting for his response, and he just sat there, silent, trying to think of a reply.

  Even in the army, he’d never faced a problem this difficult.

  “Tell me,” she said. “Do you know something about this? You do, right? Look, I forgive you for lying or hiding things from me. I know it’s a complicated thing. I mean, you’re hiding these monsters out here. Well, the world would think they are monsters, and—”

  He put up a hand. “Woah, slow down, April. I’m not… I mean… Are you sure your camera is working right? Maybe we should go back and take a look at it.”

  She stopped talking and looked up at him, slightly shocked. “What do you mean? You don’t believe me?”

  He shifted in his chair uncomfortably. “I don’t know.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him, sparks of green in her irises. “You do know. You know exactly what I’m talking about, and that’s why you’ve been squirming in that chair ever since I started talking.”

  He was frozen, more than he’d ever been in the service. Somehow it suddenly felt like everything was crashing around him. His relationship with the pack and trying to protect them, his relationship with his mate once she hated him for not telling her the truth.

  But honestly, he had felt sort of doomed from the beginning. How was this ever supposed to work out?

  “I… Look, April. I have a lot of things to tell you.”

  She sat up, eyeing him suspiciously. “Now? I thought you said my camera wasn’t working.”

  He walked over to the table and slammed a hand down. “This is far more difficult than you presume.”

  She bit her lip at his sharp tone, and he regretted letting his stress take effect on her. “How?”

  He sat on the bench next to her, keeping her from leaving while at the same time making sure they were close enough they could talk without anyone hearing. “I never wanted to keep secrets from you. You weren’t supposed to be my mate.”

  “Your what?” Her skin went a shade paler.

  “Listen, you know those wolves you saw?”

  She nodded.

  “I’m one of them.” He had no way to sugarcoat it and didn’t think the situation could really worsen, so he just said it right out.

  She stared at him, blinking, and then laughed in disbelief, putting a hand over his gently. “Um, Grayson. You’re not a wolf.”

  “But I am,” he said quietly. He let the shift take place, just enough to shift the color of his eyes to the brilliant blue of his wolf’s, and then let them return.

  She jumped back so hard she nearly fell off the bench, and when he reached out to right her, she slapped this hand away, looking scared. “What did you do just then? No, really, what the hell did you just do?”

  He stood, blocking her way to the door so she couldn’t run out, because the last thing he needed was Mattson finding her right now. He stepped forward, regretting that he had to put a hand over her mouth to quiet her down. But if he didn’t, they would both be in danger.

  “Listen, you need to be quiet, or we could both be killed.” Her eyes were wide over his hand. “If I let you go, you promise not to run or scream?”

  She hesitated, her eyes still looking frightened.

  He stroked her hair gently, not letting himself be hurt when she flinched away. “April, you know me. I’ve cared about you almost from the moment we met. I know I’ve kept secrets, but I’m finally going to tell you. If you just let me get it all out, maybe it can all make sense. But you have to be quiet, because these are not things you are supposed to know.”

  She took a deep breath, nodded against his hand, and her eyes relaxed slightly. She did know him. She did trust him, at least somewhat.

  He lowered his hand, bracing himself as she took a deep breath.

  But she didn’t scream. Instead, she took a seat on his recliner, curling up in a ball, her chin on her knees as she watched him avidly.

  “I…” He scratched his head. “I’m something like a werewolf…”

  “Wait, like you shift with the full moon?”

  He gave her a bitter smile. “No. I don’t lose my human form with the moon. I don’t have one true form. I’m half wolf and half man, and both are a huge part of who I am. Though the wolf has been quieter since I lost my pack.”

  She pursed her lips. “So your family…”

  “The pack disbanded while I was serving in the military to try and support them. I should never have left. I came back only to shallow graves.”

  She was quiet as he talked, her eyes full of sadness for him. Sadness he didn’t want.

  “Listen, April, when I came out here with Garrett—that’s my friend and boss—I never meant to stay here. But I found this pack, and they needed my help. And I thought maybe if I helped them, it would be like saving my pack. But it isn’t.”

  She stared at him. “Why?”

  “Because I found something that means more to me than any pack does, and it has put me in a bad place. Because I was only supposed to be distracting you, but while I was working, my wolf fell in love.”

  “Is that what you mean by mate?”

  He nodded. “I resisted at first because I didn’t know my mate could be human. But honestly, there was a pull in my heart from the moment you walked into my life.”

  She swallowed awkwardly, tucking dark hair behind her ear. “This is a lot to process. I mean, I’ve been having fun with you, but—”

  He leaned back against the cabinets, looking at the ceiling before turning his gaze back on her. “It’s more than that, isn’t it? Have you ever let so
meone come on trips with you before? Have you ever let someone ravish you in a spring before? Or under the stars? Do you let just anyone get away with asking you to stop your research?”

  “Of course not, but—”

  He stepped forward, taking her hand and holding it to his heart before pressing a kiss to it. “Every day, the urge to be with you gets stronger, yet every day, things get worse around here.”

  “Why?” She blinked. “What, so everyone here is a werewolf, too?”

  “Shifters,” Grayson said. “We’re animal and human at the same time, and we have to keep that hidden from the human world. This pack is obviously bad at it, and that’s why you’ve been getting reports.”

  “Weird that no one mentioned the size of them,” April murmured, looking like even her considerable brain was struggling with all of this new information. “Wait… so… it’s not a wolf pack. It’s just some humans?”

  “It might not be this pack of shifters. It might be someone from up north. But either way, what you saw was not wolves. Not regular ones. Shifters could tear you apart with one swipe of their claw. That’s why I’ve been so worried about you.”

  She sighed, looking down at her hands, which fell into her lap as she lowered her knees to the ground slowly. “So why now? Why are you telling me now? Are you trying to distract me from what I’ve discovered?” Her gaze darkened. “That’s why you were assigned to me, isn’t it? You were supposed to throw me off the scent. That’s why you asked me to stop my research.”

  “That’s not fair,” Grayson said. “I did all of this because I was worried about you, because I couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to you, not because I cared for this pack.”

  “But you do care for this pack.”

  “Of course, but not enough to harm you. Or trick you.”

  She stood, looking angrier by the second. “But you have tricked me. You knew all along I was looking for nothing. You must have thought it was hilarious as I tracked your kind while you were right there beside me.”

  “I told you it’s because I care—”

  “Right, right, you cared instantly about the little nerd researcher. You didn’t like me when you first met me, but you realized you had to keep me out of everyone’s way.”

  “I was trying to protect you.”

  She put a hand up, looking pained. “I don’t know what to believe from you anymore, Grayson. I would have thought you were someone honest. And yeah, I get why you can’t tell me you’re a wolf. But you let me just make a fool of myself when you could have stopped me.”

  “Could I?” Grayson said, letting his voice rise slightly. “Could I really have stopped you? You were going to do whatever you wanted. What I asked of you meant nothing compared to your research.”

  “For your information, I had already decided to get your opinion on what to do. I wasn’t planning to bring the world down on this pack if you didn’t want me to. Now that I know they are humans, that’s obviously different.”

  She was practically yelling now, and he moved forward to cover her mouth.

  “April, they aren’t human. Not really. And they’ll kill you if they find out you know what they are. There are rules to our world. People aren’t supposed to find us. There are ways that our kind deals with those who do, and there are even more powerful beings who deal with us when we incorrectly expose ourselves to the human world.”

  She pulled his hand away from her mouth, and he let her. She was his mate, and he couldn’t force anything she didn’t want. “So what, now they’re going to kill me?”

  “Of course not. I wouldn’t let them. As I said, you’re my mate—”

  “What the hell does that mean? Does it mean you sex me up and follow me around to protect shifter kind? Does it mean you say a bunch of nice things, always showing up to distract me? Have you been sabotaging my cameras, too?”

  He grabbed her hand and pulled her against him. “You know I wouldn’t do that. And you’re being too loud.”

  “You really expect me to believe in wolf people? How am I supposed to buy that?”

  He held up one hand, letting the claws there slowly extend as her eyes went wide.

  “Holy shit, what the hell are you?” She wasn’t taking this well, and he saw her grasping for the door handle behind her as she backed away from him.

  He retracted his claws. “I would never hurt you!”

  “How am I supposed to know that? You’re… you’re… You aren’t what I thought you were!”

  “You still know me,” he said, feeling hurt that his revelation could change things so much. “April, I love you.”

  She closed her eyes and tears welled there, and he wanted nothing more than to wipe them away. But she pushed at his chest, and he had to release her. “I… This is a lot to think about. I need to go… somewhere.”

  “You can’t. You won’t be safe. Not if they find out that you know.”

  “How will they find out? Will you tell them?” She paced in front of his door. “Oh my God, I’ve wasted my research time. I came so far for this, and not only are there no wolves, but I let myself get caught up in something dangerous. I’m such an idiot.”

  “You aren’t,” he said. “It’s an odd situation. I know. But it doesn’t have to be a bad one. You know what I am now. We can run, and—”

  She turned to face him. “You would do that? What about the pack? What about—”

  He froze, hearing the pitter patter of light footsteps going away from the trailer. He shot to the window and pulled up the curtain to see Candace there, running swiftly away.

  Had she heard everything? If she had, then the pack would soon know.

  “Shit,” Grayson said, slumping slightly.

  “What?”

  “It appears someone in the pack was spying on us.”

  April’s lips quivered. “What?”

  “Someone was listening. Soon the whole pack will know, and we’ll be in danger.”

  She dropped into his recliner and curled up in a ball. “Just a few minutes ago, I was so happy. I thought I had discovered something amazing. I thought I was falling in love…” She flushed as she looked up at him, and despite the betrayal in her eyes, a part of him was still overjoyed that she could even say the word love.

  Perhaps there was still hope.

  “But I don’t understand. If I’m human and you’re… And I’m not supposed to know…”

  “Only our mates can know.”

  “Ah, so I… If I’m your mate…” She still looked like she was in shock, slightly pale, hands shaking.

  “You are,” he said. “As in you’re my soulmate. The one person who is right for me. But it’s still your choice if you want to be with me. I know it isn’t what you probably pictured before.”

  “So you’re a wolf. You look like those wolves on my camera?”

  “Probably.” He nodded.

  She sighed. “I don’t know what to think about it.” Her eyes met his tentatively. “You’re amazing, Grayson. The best person I’ve met. And I love wolves, but… you aren’t either wolf or human. You’re something else, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to figure it out.”

  “It just takes time,” he said, taking a step closer to her. “This was unexpected to me, too. I never thought I would have to explain it to a human. But honestly, I’m glad it’s you. I’d go through everything I went through up to this point just to find you. You’re it for me, April. Say you’re willing to work through this, and I can face anything to stay by your side.”

  She opened her mouth hesitantly, about to answer, just as loud pounding started against the door.

  More pounding started along the sides, rocking the trailer, and April looked up at Grayson in shock.

  “We know you’ve got the human in there!” a voice called.

  “We know you told her! Traitor!”

  Grayson felt the wolf taking control inside him. His mate was shocked, panicked, and he was the only one who could defend her.


  “What are they going to do?” April asked, looking shaky. “God, will they eat us?”

  He laughed bitterly, knowing that was at least one thing he could reassure her about. “No. We don’t eat humans.” He frowned. “But if you’re a threat to the pack, they might want to kill you just the same.”

  She bit down on her lower lip, and he went over to her, cupping her chin.

  “I’ve wanted to protect you from the moment I met you, and I’m not stopping now.”

  “Grayson, get your ass out here and bring the human, or we’ll just go in and get her, too.”

  Grayson put his hand in hers, grasping tightly. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise you that.”

  Then he opened the door and led the way down the steps, surveying the crowd around him.

  It was even worse than he’d expected. A full mob of people at his door, some of them half feral, ready to shift.

  And his fragile human mate just behind him.

  He had no more excuses, no way to play either side or make peace here. The only thing left was the truth and a confrontation, and he would do his best with both.

  As pack enforcers stepped forward to escort them, Grayson pushed his way through, making sure no one could touch his mate.

  “We’ll go to the alpha on our own,” he said fiercely. “Anyone who touches April is going to die.”

  Some of the wolves stepped back warily, and Grayson passed through the opening in the crowd to make his way to the trailer of the wolf who would decide their fate.

  Chapter 16

  April still felt like she was in a dream she couldn’t wake up from as Grayson pulled her toward a beat-up trailer that was bigger than the others but in no better shape.

  The crowd of… humans that were actually shifter wolves, she guessed, followed along behind them, murmuring and shouting insults at different intervals.

  She held on to Grayson’s arm because his strength was still comforting, even if she’d just found out he was lying to her all along.

  There was still too much to process. First, there was the fact that Grayson had known about the wolves all along and tried to hide them from her while pretending to help. Then there was the fact that he had apparently been assigned to distract her.