Cohen

by Emilia Hartley

  And now the scar was in the same place as the wolf’s wound the night before.

  She stared at Nova. Trepidation whispered down her spine. Could he really be the wolf? If he was, that would mean he had been following her for the last ten years. And that he had saved her life. Twice.

  Amara shook her head, trying to dislodge the idea from her thoughts. It was impossible. People didn’t just up and turn into wolves. It didn’t happen. It couldn’t happen. And yet…

  “Nova, wake up.” She shoved him as hard as she could. He grunted. “Nova, damn it, I said wake up!” She pushed him again, this time with enough force that he almost fell off her bed.

  “What? What?” His movements were erratic and jerky as he stumbled to shake the sleep away. Within moments, he was completely alert. His eyes darted back and forth between her, the windows, and the door. “Amara, what is it? Are you okay? Is somebody here? Are they outside?”

  Amara sat there, watching him, as his body tensed and he searched for danger. Her heart sank. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she did. It was true.

  Nova was the wolf.

  “It’s you, isn’t it?” Her voice was barely a whisper, but she knew he’d heard her.

  His entire face went blank, forming an expressionless mask. The guarded look in his eyes was a far cry from the open, fun-loving gaze he’d had all evening.

  Amara wasn’t sure why that scared her more than her recent revelation. But it did.

  “Is what me?”

  Even his tone was flat. Amara cleared her throat. “You’re the wolf. The one that’s been following me all these years.” Silence. “The one that saved my life only two nights ago.”

  For a moment that felt like it spanned decades, Nova sat there. He didn’t say a word. Then, like it was the most rational thing in the world, he reached for his clothes and began tugging on his jeans.

  “Nova.”

  He pulled his shirt over his head and grabbed his shoes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She pursed her lips. She wasn’t sure how she felt about any of this. People didn’t just turn into wolves. They didn’t. Werewolves weren’t real. They just weren’t. “Yes, you do,” she replied. Though the entire situation felt ridiculously surreal, she was glad to hear that her voice was steady and strong.

  Nova glared at her. “No. I don’t.”

  “Then why are you leaving?”

  His hand on the door, Nova stopped. She could see the wheels turning in his head, could see him struggle to decipher what she knew and what she’d guessed. He was trying to figure out the best way to lie to her; she knew he was.

  And still, she waited.

  Finally, after what seemed like hours, he heaved a heavy sigh before sitting next to her on the bed. For a while, he didn’t say anything. He just sat there holding her hand and staring at the door. Though, whether he was thinking someone was going to burst in or he was wanting to run out, she couldn’t say.

  “How did you know?” Though his voice was soft, to Amara it sounded like a canon in the darkness.

  She bit her lip. “Your scar. The one on your hip. I saw it the other night after the attack. The wolf—I mean you—had a bloody gash from here to here.” She demonstrated on her own body. “That, and your eyes,” she admitted. “From the moment you walked into Murphy’s, I knew there was something familiar about you.”

  She turned to face him. This time, she needed to hear the whole truth. She needed to see it. “You were the boy that saved me ten years ago. Weren’t you?” Nova nodded. Amara drew in a sharp breath. She had prepared herself for that answer, but it still felt like a shock. It was one thing to wonder about the impossible, but it was another thing entirely to have the impossible confirmed. “Why?”

  Nova paused for a moment, apparently trying to decide if he was going to answer. “I had to make sure you were safe. You were attacked because of me.” And those dark eyes, the ones that normally looked so strong, were tortured. “The wolves that attacked you…there was no reason for it. It wasn’t your fault. You and your friends were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kal and his friends, they were just trying to provoke the pack into reacting, into protecting our territory, so that their Alpha had an excuse to declare war.”

  Amara’s mind fumbled. Pack. Alpha. Territory, for crying out loud. They really did think like real wolves. How much of Nova was human, and how much was wolf?

  “So, all the attacks, all the sightings in the last several years, those were because of a feud between the two packs?” Nova nodded. Amara thought for a second, considering her next words carefully. “And my father?” Her voice was shaky. Despite the years, it was still filled with pain. “He was, um, killed by wolves when I was twelve. From what I was told, it was pretty gruesome.” She hesitated. “They never let me see the body.”

  Nova’s gaze was sympathetic and a little bit guilty. It was clear he blamed himself for the influence of the wolves in Strathford. “That was Callahan,” he told her gravely. “He’s the Alpha of the Valley Clan—the pack that attacked you. Back then, he wasn’t the Alpha. He was a lieutenant looking to gain power. From what I could gather, your father was an important member of your community, am I right?”

  Amara huffed out a tremulous breath. “Yes. He was on the Council. He would have taken my grandfather’s spot as an elder if he hadn’t already passed away.”

  Nova’s eyes filled with emotions. Amara looked away. If she let herself get caught up in that, if she gave in to the tears that built whenever she talked about her father, she may never stop. Nova squeezed her fingers. “I’m sorry.”

  “Not your fault.”

  “Maybe not. But it was still wolf business interfering with human lives.”

  “The night you were attacked,” Nova continued, his voice strained, “I had just started on patrol. My brother, Nemoy, was with me and we were talking. We should have been paying more attention, I know. But we were kids. We didn’t hear them until it was too late.

  “Amara, I swear to you, we got there as soon as we could. But there were five of them and only two of us. I’m sorry.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m so sorry.”

  Her voice was gentle and kind. “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not.” He shook his head, completely miserable. “It’s not okay. I had one job, and that was to protect you. I failed.”

  A frown creased Amara’s brow and she balled her hands into fists. It wasn’t fair for him to take on the guilt from the attack. Any of them. He’d ben seventeen that night. “It wasn’t your fault,” she told him, glad to find her voice as stern as it was. “You were a kid.”

  “I was a warrior.”

  “You were a kid. You did everything you could. You saved me. Hey, look at me. You saved me. You saved Becca and Zoe, too. And, even though it’s a bit stalkerish, you’ve been protecting me ever since. I would be dead right now if it wasn’t for you.”

  Nova frowned. “You were attacked because of me.”

  “Nonsense.” She waved his protests away. “I was attacked because Kal and his friends are spineless cowards who try to pump themselves up by victimizing little girls and helpless women.”

  Nova’s lips quirked up at the corners. “You don’t look helpless to me.”

  Amara grinned back at him. “Damn straight I’m not helpless. Now will you quit feeling sorry for yourself and get your clothes off so I can have my way with you again?”

  For about three seconds, he just stared at her. Then he blinked.

  And then the clothes came off.

  Amara had never seen a man strip so fast, but damn, did she admire his handiwork. Reaching out, she pulled him down on top of her, pleased to feel the length of his hard body stretch out on top of hers. She could feel him against her leg, already eager to be inside her. Both of them laughing, they disappeared under the covers once more.

  Chapter 13

  A few hours later, Nova let himself out A
mara’s front door. She stood in the doorway behind him, her arm up over her head, leaning against the wooden frame. He had never seen someone look so amazing and sexy in his entire life.

  She was going to be the death of him, he was sure. Ah, but what a way to die.

  Grinning like a fool, he moved in to kiss her, lingering long enough to enjoy the sharp scents of sage, jasmine, and lavender from her lotions and shampoo. He didn’t want to leave. It was like the last ten years without ever speaking to her had melted away and he was once again that seventeen-year-old boy staring down at a beautiful girl he was dying to know.

  But even then, life was complicated.

  Amara wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in close to her. She pressed her lips to the crook of his neck, biting just enough to cause a pin prick of pain.

  Nova groaned against her, burying his face in her hair. It was all he could do to keep from saying “responsibilities be damned,” and dragging her back inside with him. But he had to go. As much as he hated to admit it, he’d been away far too long. By now, Nemoy was bound to be looking for him.

  Easing back from her, he kissed Amara lightly on the nose. “I really do need to go,” he told her, but even to his own ears, his voice lacked conviction. Suppressing a sigh, he forced himself to take another step toward the sidewalk. Then another. “I’ll swing by the bar soon, okay?”

  Amara’s smile was both shy and sexy at the same time. “I’m holding you to that, handsome.” On the street now, Nova winked back at her, grinning when she blew him a kiss before shutting the door.

  He was in so much trouble. He was the Beta of the Mountain Clan Wolf Pack, and now here he was, walking away from the house of the human woman he had fallen head over heels in love with. What had he done?

  “Fuck,” he muttered into the early morning air.

  “My sentiments exactly.”

  Turning on his heel, Nova watched, stunned, as his older brother—not to mention, his Alpha—materialized out of the shadows.

  Nemoy stood before him, with his arms crossed, dressed in jeans and a heavy coat. He was glaring at him. “Explain yourself, brother.”

  Shit. Nova had enough experience with his brother to recognize an order when he heard one. The problem was, he really didn’t have an explanation. Not even for himself.

  “No.”

  Nemoy raised a brow, his eyes betraying just the hint of surprise within their stony depths. “No? I’m sorry, I must not have heard you right. Did you just fucking say no?”

  Nova could feel the tension rising between them, could feel his Alpha’s wolf form itching to take over and settle the matter per Pack Law. Nemoy was in charge. Every member of the pack knew it. To challenge him was almost certainly a death sentence. And still, Nova stood his ground. “I have no explanation for you, Nemoy. I never have.”

  His brother glared at him. “She’s human.”

  “I’m in love with her.”

  Silence fell between them as they both absorbed the weight and reality of Nova’s words. The tension between the two brothers was palpable. Had they been home, or at least under the cover of trees, they would have been fighting already.

  Nemoy grit his teeth. The vein on his forehead began to throb madly, a sure sign he was agitated. “She’s human.”

  “I’ve never agreed with your prejudice against humans, Nemoy,” Nova said softly. It was essential he kept his temper under control right then. “You know that.”

  “You’ve never violated our laws for a human before, either.”

  “No, I hadn’t,” Nova agreed. He was starting to feel slightly ashamed of himself. It was true, he had never broken Pack Law before. He’d never even considered it. The Pack was his life and always had been. And now here he was, throwing away the rules he had followed for the last twenty-seven years; throwing away his family, his position, for a girl. But Amara wasn’t just any girl. She may not be a wolf, but she was the one he wanted, just the same. Nova shrugged off his brother’s arm. “Things change, Nemoy.”

  “Nova, don’t do this.” Though Nemoy’s actions were hard and controlling, his tone was surprisingly tame. Almost pleading. “Being with a human, even that one, it’s against pack law. They can’t know about us, Nova.”

  Nova frowned. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if the humans knew about the pack. It was common knowledge that they didn’t take to anything different with open arms, and shifters were anything but normal. But Amara hadn’t treated him any differently. In fact, she’d taken it all in stride. It had surprised the hell out of him, to tell the truth. Somehow, he doubted the rest of the town would take so kindly to them.

  “Why are we so scared of humans, Nemoy?”

  As he knew he would, his brother bristled. “We are not scared.”

  “Sure, we are. We live in the woods on our acres of property, isolated from the rest of the population in the area. We don’t come into Strathford to socialize. We only go into town to protect them.” Nova shook his head, dispelling a wry laugh. “We don’t talk to them, Nemoy. We don’t bother to get to know them. They don’t bother to get to know us. There is a very clear divide between them and us, a divide that is going to be our downfall if they ever do find out that there are packs of supernatural people living out in the woods. It will get even more dangerous when they put two and two together and discover that those people shift into wolves. Wolves, I might add, that have been terrorizing this place for the last decade and a half. Don’t you think it would be smarter to quit alienating ourselves from the humans, Nemoy, and try to get to know them instead?”

  Stunned, Nemoy just stared at him, his face unreadable. They only emotion Nova could even ascertain was the anger in his brother’s dark eyes. Whatever he thought of Nova’s little speech, he wasn’t prone to share any time soon.

  Nemoy glared at him. “You can’t tell the girl, Nova.”

  Nova smirked. “She already knows.”

  Watching his brother process that one statement was like watching a volcano explode. “Damn it, Nova!” he shouted. Pushing away from him, he started to pace. “That is our number one rule. Don’t tell the fucking humans! What the hell were you thinking?”

  Lifting his shoulders in a noncommittal shrug, Nova simply watched him. “I didn’t tell her.”

  “What?”

  “She figured it out. The other night, when Kal and his buddy went after her, I got hurt. She saw it. Last night,” Nova grinned at the memory, “she saw it again. She’s a smart woman, Nemoy. She can put two and two together.”

  The two men glared at each other, neither one daring to make the first move. Finally, Nemoy huffed out a frustrated breath. He scrubbed a hand over his face, then shoved one pointed finger into Nova’s chest. “She doesn’t tell a damn soul, you got it?”

  Surprised, Nova’s eyebrows shot into his hairline.

  “This is important, Nova.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I got it. But to be honest, I don’t get it.”

  Nemoy turned away from him and resumed his pacing. “Look, Nova, I’m not blind. I know you’ve been in love with that girl since you saved her.” Stopping, he turned to look at him, understanding written across his face. “Now that you have her, I can’t take her away. You’re my brother. Just…just make sure she doesn’t tell anyone.” He held out his hand. “Deal?”

  Nova couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He just stared.

  “Nova?”

  Shaking his head, Nova fought to think clearly. Then he shook his brother’s hand, a grin sliding across his face. “Yeah. Uh, yeah. Deal.”

  Chapter 14

  The next two weeks went by like a dream for Amara. She couldn’t remember ever being so happy in her life. Her nights with Nova were…magical. They were made even more so by the fact that there were no secrets between them.

  The life of the pack was fascinating. She found herself stocking up on books about wolves and their behavior. She had raided the New Age section
at the bookstore and purchased nearly every book on lycanthropes, werewolves, and shifters she could find. Between those and picking Nova’s brain about anything relating to either subject, she was on her way to becoming an expert. She wasn’t sure why, but the idea thrilled her.

  Pushing open the back door to Murphy’s, Amara shouldered her way into the storage room with a crate of alcohol on her hip. Things were finally getting back to normal with her and Mitch. Neither one of them approved of who the other was dating, but they were finally back to their weekly pasta and wine nights. It was glorious.

  Amara set the crate down and began unloading the bottles. The bar was packed tonight. Mitch had finally listened to her about the karaoke night. He’d bet her twenty bucks they wouldn’t draw in a crowd. He’d lost. She chuckled to herself. She didn’t know why he’d been so against the idea. Mitch loved Karaoke. She supposed he thought he was going to make a fool of himself. Which, she conceded, was entirely possible. Still, it would be entertaining.

  A knock on the back door made her look up. The door opened and Nova peered in. Even through his thin, long-sleeved shirt, she could see his well-defined muscles. She could stare at him all day.

  “Hey you,” she said by way of greeting. She set a bottle of vodka on the shelf and stood. Stepping inside, Nova shut the door behind him and crossed the room. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist, pulling her to him. Amara giggled, threading her arms through his and around his back. She tipped her face up to his, pleased when he pressed his lips to hers.

  She loved the way he felt against her. The way he always tasted of peppermint and smelled like pine trees. It was hard for her to believe they had only been seeing each other for a couple weeks. It felt like she’d known Nova Lowery for years.

  “I thought you were busy tonight?” Once again, she went back to the crate. When it was empty, she grabbed the bottles she needed to go back out front.