by Amelia Jade
The fog started to blur over his mind as he initiated the change.
“LEX!”
The scream was distant, but easily understandable to his wolf’s ears. The white and gray tufts flicked up and in the direction of the cry. A cold which couldn’t be dissipated by the warmth of the tree he lay upon filtered into his system.
That was Petal’s voice. And she sounded like she was in trouble.
Ignoring his clothes, Lex launched himself from the tree, hitting the ground and accelerating to full speed in the blink of an eye. Mud churned beneath his paws as he shot up through the trees and out into the cleared hillside beyond.
What he saw in front of him made his stomach turn. Petal was backed up against a giant rock outcropping, swinging a branch she’d found somewhere in a large arc in front of her, trying desperately to keep the five wolves that had surrounded her at bay.
Lex noticed the pack was led by the same charcoal beast he’d encountered the day before. He thought he’d driven them off, teaching them a lesson not to mess with him. But obviously they were more stubborn than he’d counted on, and once he’d left the area, they had come back in search of Petal.
I won’t make that mistake twice.
The sounds of his passage were unavoidable. The pack would know he was coming, even with Petal screaming at them. Their hearing was just too good. But he didn’t care. Not only had the alpha disobeyed him, coming back to the area from which he’d driven them, but they had also threatened Petal, instead of coming after him.
Lex snarled a challenge, hoping to distract as many of them as possible. He didn’t want Petal to see this, and if he could get all of their attention, perhaps she could run away, or at least get out of sight. She was tougher than he’d given her credit for if the fresh blood on the alpha was any clue, but she didn’t need to see what was about to happen.
These hills were Lex’s territory. He’d been rather lax in enforcing that claim lately, having thought his reputation preceded him. But apparently a lesson needed to be taught to his wild kin, and the rest of the Underworld as well, if his other suspicions about certain other things were correct. He was going to start here.
The first wolf to turn was one of the smaller females on the outside of the circle. Lex hated himself for what he was about to do, but sometimes when delivering a lesson, the harshest way was best. He leapt onto her back, taking her down and rolling them away from the rest of the pack. Blood filled his mouth as he clamped down on her neck, his preternaturally strong jaws holding her tight despite the violent struggle.
Lex pinned her to the ground, holding her there while she whimpered pitifully. His eyes focused solely on the alpha, though he kept some attention in his brain on the others, in case one of them came after him. The alpha stepped forward, snarling. Lex could smell the connection between the two. This was one of his daughters.
You shouldn’t have come back.
Without taking his eyes off the smoky-colored animal, Lex calmly snapped her neck. The whimpering stopped immediately as the body went still. The alpha barked his anger at Lex, who calmly stood up, blood dripping from his bone-colored teeth as he advanced on the rest of the pack.
None of them flinched, but neither did they respond to his challenge. The remaining four wolves just stood there. The alpha was looking at Lex, but the other three had eyes only for their fallen family member. Lex calmly let his gaze slip from the alpha to the only other female in the pack. His mate. The unspoken threat was clear. If they didn’t leave, she was next.
The alpha shook with fury, growling and snarling, his paws digging deep into the mud. He didn’t want to back down twice to the same lone wolf. But he also had to know on some instinctual level that Lex was beyond any, or all of them.
Lex simply stood and waited, watching all of them. Finally the alpha turned and snarled something at his pack. They too began to turn and head back down the slope. Lex looked over his shoulder at Petal, as if to say “what are you waiting for?” No sooner had he done that than Petal took off, no longer confronted by the wolves. Lex waited until she was gone, then he made his move.
Shooting forward, he was among the pack members before they realized he’d started to move. The alpha and his largest son moved to protect his mate. Unfortunately for them, this was exactly what Lex had planned on. Sometimes it wasn’t fair, having a human-level intellect in the wolf’s body. But if it meant keeping Petal safe, he was going to use every advantage he had.
He angled to the smallest remaining male, likely the youngest out of all of the wolves, including the female he’d already killed. It wasn’t even a contest. The wolf was dead before he hit the ground, most of his throat hanging from one of Lex’s teeth. The coppery metallic tang of blood once again filled his mouth, making his stomach threaten to revolt.
Lex hated the taste of blood. Killing didn’t bother him, not anymore. But one thing he’d never been able to get over was the taste of blood in his mouth after a fresh kill. It still made him want to hurl, even all these years later.
The alpha spun and made a pained-sounding noise as he saw the second of his children lying limply on the ground, having breathed its last breath, hunted its last meal. Lex stood over the dead animal and very calmly spat what had been its throat at the alpha.
Yellow eyes blazed with hatred, narrowing to slits as the charcoal alpha nearly lost control, driven to an uncontrollable rage by Lex’s murder of his offspring.
Too bad. You shouldn’t have threatened my mate. Now get out of my hills.
Lex took a step forward. The female and remaining male visibly flinched. The alpha didn’t, but his noises tapered off. He let out a snarl from his throat, trying to communicate with the wild animal, hoping he got the point to leave and never come back. Otherwise Lex would kill the others, leaving only him alive to live with the hurt.
Contrary to public opinion, Lex knew full well that the wild wolves could feel the pain of losing a family member, and that they would mourn their fallen ones later that night. But they would mourn them somewhere else. Not here. That was his command.
Lex took another step forward.
The alpha gave one last snarl, then reluctantly dropped his head and turned it to the side, exposing his neck as he backed away, his mate and remaining son already heading back down the mountain at a quick lope.
Lex snarled and flicked his head after the retreating pair. The alpha spun and raced after them. When he got to them the trio picked up speed and disappeared into the forest shortly thereafter, angling hard to the east, headed out of Lex’s hills. He made a mental note to track them after he got Petal back to safety. Not because he feared they might come back, but because he wanted to know what—or who—had urged them to enter his territory in the first place.
He stood like that, lips pulled back, eyes wide and scanning slowly from left to right for several long minutes, giving the wolves plenty of time to head on out. Then, with one long last look behind him at where Petal had disappeared back up the hill, he darted forward, wishing not for the first time that he didn’t have to strip every time he changed. But the transformation never applied to clothes, which meant that if he wanted to show up dressed, he needed to go get his clothes first, then go get Petal.
After all, showing up naked might just freak her out even more. She was going to be stressed enough; a naked giant trying to hold her and soothe her probably wasn’t the best thing for her just then. He reached the log, still lamenting the fact that he had to leave her alone, changed, donned his clothes, and raced back up the hill in human form as fast as he could.
Petal needed him, and by all that was powerful he was going to show up.
12. Return to the Cave
Petal
She didn’t know where she was. All that was clear was that she was alone and at the mercy of whoever found her first. Her feet hurt and she was tired of running. Her outfit was ruined, her hair an absolute tangled mess. At least she hadn’t been wearing some of her favorite shoes, opting t
o have left them at home. Small miracles, though maybe the wolf would have choked on the heels.
She had found another set of rocks, making her way up onto them, hoping against hope they were too steep for the wolves to reach her when they came back. There was no doubt in her mind. It might be the pack, or it might be the lone hunter who had driven them off, perhaps in hopes of taking her down himself. But there was no doubt in her mind that she was going to die on this mountain, mauled to death by a beast she hadn’t realized still existed this far south.
“Petal?”
The word had barely reached her ears before she slid down the rocks and launched herself at the owner of the smooth tenor.
“Lex!” she shouted with relief as his strong arms swept her out of midair, one of them around her back, the other under her legs, holding her tight to him.
“Hi,” he said softly. “Are you all right?”
“No,” she said fearfully, looking behind him. “We need to go. Now.”
“What, why?”
“There are wolves around here, Lex. Huge ones. They tried to eat me once already, but then another wolf came in and fought them off, ‘cause he wanted to have me all to himself. I’m sure he wanted to eat me.”
Lex stumbled and started to make what sounded like choking noises for several moments. Petal slipped from his arms and pounded him on the back until he waved that he was all right.
“I’m fine,” he croaked a second later, managing to stand upright. His face was still a little red.
If the situation had been different, Petal would have sworn he’d been trying to cover up laughter. But perhaps he was just realizing how dire things really were, with the wolves and the fact that they were lost.
“I’m sorry,” she said, starting to cry, and hating herself for it. She’d managed to avoid doing that all this time, only to lose it now, when Lex finally returned.
“Sorry for what?” He pulled her tight to his chest.
“Leaving the cave. Getting us lost. Attracting the wolves. For forcing myself on you.”
Lex jerked again, but she was too busy sobbing into his shoulder to really notice.
“You didn’t do that,” he assured her. “Trust me. We’re fine. Yes, you should have stayed in the cave like I told you. But we’re not lost, and I don’t think the wolves will be a problem anymore.” There was a long pause. “And you definitely didn’t force yourself on me. I can promise you that.”
She sniffled, trying to slow her breathing so she could get it under control. “What do you mean we’re not lost?”
“Exactly what I said. We’re not lost.”
“But…”
“Petal, it’s fine,” he said, squeezing her tightly. “I’m here now, and we can head back up to the cave. Help should be here in a few hours. We’ll be back in Surrey by nightfall. This I promise.”
“Really?” Relief bubbled in her as she looked up at Lex.
“Really.”
“Oh thank goodness.” Her knees trembled slightly and he reached forward and swept her back into his arms with casual ease.
Muscles in his arms stood out, feeling like solid iron under his clothing as she marveled at his strength. She’d never really noticed just how strong he was before. But now with firsthand experience, she felt like she was truly seeing Lex for the first time. Without her “corporate executive blinders.” Petal was recognizing him as a true human being, and a pretty amazing one at that.
But her fear didn’t dissipate instantly.
“What about the wolves?”
She watched his lips quirk, curling slightly upward before he killed the look entirely. “I think we’ll be okay. Especially once we reach the cave and get back inside. They won’t come after us if they smell fire.”
“Okay.” Petal took him at his word as he guided them up the hill, seeming to know exactly where they were headed. “You’re good at finding your way up here,” she remarked after a bit, still safely ensconced in his arms.
“Thanks. I’ve been living up in these hills since I was a pup. You get used to it eventually; your brain just starts to know where to go.”
Petal thought about pushing him further. It was obvious he wasn’t telling her the entire truth, that he was holding some sort of knowledge back from her. He’d saved her, however, and if her savior wanted to keep a few secrets to himself, then who was she to judge?
“A pup? What are you, a dog?” Something came to her. “Wolves have pups too, don’t they? Are you like them? A wolf pup?” she teased.
Lex laughed. “Yeah, something like that.”
“You know, one of those wolves, the lone male who fought the others…he gave me a really weird look after he killed the first one.”
“How did you know it was a male?” His face was etched with confusion.
Petal smirked. “Uh, I looked between his legs? It was fairly obvious. I was terrified, but not blind.”
Lex stumbled, fell forward, spun, and came to an abrupt halt with his back against a boulder, Petal shaking in his arms from the sudden movement.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Maybe I should walk.”
Without waiting for permission she jumped out of his hands.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
Petal was shocked to see his cheeks were red with embarrassment. It was an uneven slope. There was nothing to be ashamed about slipping on some loose rocks. What the hell had gotten into Lex anyway? Did he have a problem with the fact that male wolves had junk, and that this one’s had been rather noticeable and prominent, even to her terrified eyes?
“It’s okay. But pull yourself together! Let’s get back to the cave.”
“Right.” He stood up straight and started to walk uphill, waiting for her to come alongside him.
The rest of the walk was done in silence, but every so often she caught Lex shaking his head, as if having an argument with himself that he disagreed about. What an odd person. Still, she’d learned a lot about him, his personality, and his skills over the past two days. He was a formidable person, someone she was very glad to have met. While she wasn’t keen on getting into incidents like this one, if Petal had to do it again, she would choose Lex to be there with her.
“After you,” he said as they reached a familiar-looking spot on the hillside.
It was different without the snow, but she saw the cave opening anyway. Petal started forward, then stopped fifteen feet or so from the entrance, looking around and then down at the ground. “Is it safe?”
Lex came up alongside her, listened to her question and then nodded, proceeding ahead to check out the cave.
Moments later his voice echoed up through the opening. “All clear.”
She scurried inside, ducking low. The rock walls which had felt so threatening earlier in the day now wrapped around her like a safety blanket. Petal wanted to cry again, but she couldn’t. Not this time. She found the flat spot and laid out the blanket before stretching herself out over it, ignoring the unevenness of the floor.
Her brain was just about to announce that it was the comfiest thing she’d felt in hours, until Lex joined her, his body providing a warm and soft pillow next to her. Before she knew it, Petal was resting her head on his chest, one strong arm draped over her shoulder and down her back to hold her close, while the other reached up to gently stroke the mass of unruly hair from her face.
Petal lay still, unsure of how to react. The sudden closeness between them was not something she’d seen coming, nor had she expected it from him. After all, she was the corporate bitch that had essentially gotten him into this situation in the first place. She knew enough about his woodsman skills now to know that Lex could have probably made it back to Surrey within hours of the storm, if he hadn’t been burdened down by her.
Why would he show any interest in her? The answer was: he wasn’t. This was just a way to help her relax, to come down from the adrenaline high after her encounter with the wolves. That was what made the most sense. It was purely a calming tactic,
designed to get her to fall asleep as soon as possible.
The thing was, Petal wasn’t tired at all.
13. Life Reaffirmation
Petal
“You know,” she said aloud, letting her mind wander freely, speak as it would and dictate the conversation naturally, without any self-imposed rigidity behind it.
Lex grunted softly before speaking. “I know a few things. Not what you were trying to say, but I mean, I took basic arithmetic in school.”
What a ridiculous statement. She giggled. “Did you now? So if I tell you that Johnny had three apples, and I ate two of them, you’d be able to tell me how many he had left?”
“Of course. Not that the questions were ever that simple. You forgot the fees paid to the lunch bully, his own personal stash of apples that he grew in the backyard, and of course him sharing with the pretty girl. All of which resulted in him losing all his apples.”
Petal snorted. It was true, those stupid questions always had ridiculous parts to them.
“And if you ask real nice like,” he continued softly, “I can even do the multiplication tables.”
“No,” she gasped. “You don’t say?”
“Scout’s promise.” He held up his free hand, middle finger bent over his index.
She frowned. “I…umm, I don’t think that’s the Scout’s promise,” she said at last, struggling to contain her laughter.
Lex stared at his hand for a moment. “Well, that would explain a lot.”
Now she laughed. His sense of humor was so oddball, yet somehow she was always smiling or laughing at it. Maybe it just went to show that she was a bit of a goof herself? Petal wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t about to complain over it either.
Finally she shook her head and inhaled, calming the giggles for the moment. “What I was going to say was thank you.” Her head tilted up so she could look him in the eyes.
“For what? I don’t have any apples.”
“Oh for…” She elbowed him, not bothering to hold back. “For saving my life, you jerk.”
