Savage Love

by J. L. Madore

  “It’s a pleasure, Hannah.” Reign took her knuckles to his lips and led the welcome. “I’m sorry we meet under these circumstances.”

  Hannah swallowed, her neck cranked back to meet Reign’s gaze. “I’m sorry. I feel like me calling for Waylon’s help dragged everyone into one heck of a mess.”

  “Nonsense,” Waylon said, joining them with Bree wrapped around his hip. “If you hadn’t called, you’d be dead, and I would never have forgiven myself.”

  A dark-haired man with Gothic style and men’s eyeliner sauntered over to kiss the brunette that arrived with Savage. “We take care of our own, cowgirl. These rogue wolves didn’t understand the whoop-ass they unleashed when they came after you.”

  “Kobi,” Bruin said, lifting his chin. “You’re with me. Follow my vapor.”

  Jade’s brother disappeared and the goth guy, Kobi, was gone the next second.

  “I’m sorry you’re missing your meeting,” she said, touching Waylon’s arm. “But I’m so relieved you’re here.”

  A flash of hurt clouded Savage’s eyes and she felt badly about that. Was it so wrong to take comfort in a friendly face?

  Bree growled, staring at where Hannah’s hand rested on Waylon’s bicep. “Things have changed since the sophomore sock hop, Hannah. Hands off.”

  Cowboy snorted, kissed Hannah’s knuckles, and set her hand on Savage’s arm. “Down, coyote girl. I love how you have no idea about the Human Realm. It’s adorable. Not to worry, Hannah went to all the dances with Jesse Wilton, a local rodeo hero. It wasn’t like that between us, was it, Banana?”

  “No,” Hannah said, trying not to think about all the summer afternoons she’d watched him in the sun, shirtless, bailing hay. “We’re just good friends.”

  “The best,” he said, pulling Bree against his chest and wrapping his arms around her. “Besides, it looks like Hannah roped and tied herself her own bad boy.”

  Savage flashed him a warning. Don’t say it, Waylon.

  Cowboy made a face. “Oh, I’m sayin’ it. You got it bad, Sav. It’s written all over your ugly mug. You’re in luuuurve.”

  “Just her flavor of the week,” Matt snarked from where he sat on the breakfast bar. “Been there, had that, not much to brag about.”

  Savage Flashed from Hannah’s side, appeared across the room long enough to grab Matt, and then they were gone.

  “Ohmigosh,” she said, mortified. “Where’d they go? Shouldn’t someone follow? Track him? Something?”

  “Nah,” Jade said, no alarm marring her beautiful, tanned complexion. “Sav will teach him some manners. He’s far more civilized than people give him credit for. Cowboy, how about wrapping this dog and pony show up so we can get home? My boobs are killing me. I gotsta feed my babies soon, or I’m gonna bust.”

  Waylon laughed and straightened to address the room. “’Kay, so, out of deep respect for Jade’s aching breasts, let’s get this over with.”

  Jade nodded. Reign rolled his eyes, but Hannah could tell he adored them all.

  “Bree, Savage, and I will stay here and sort out this pack bullshit. Everybody else heads home.”

  “Done deal,” Reign said.

  Cowboy knuckle bumped with the massive warrior and turned to Jade. “Hey, Blaze, can I impose upon you to offer Hannah a place to stay while we sort out her farm and insurance and shit? My mate will get territorial if I invite another woman into the Dens. And she bites.”

  Bree punched him in the stomach, and he laughed like he expected it. The laughter in him soothed a worry Hannah had carried inside her for over a decade. He really was happy.

  Jade grabbed her coat from a booth and straightened, shoving her arms in the sleeves. “Of course. If Hannah’s home, Savage is too. Win-win. Happy to have you and Riley both. I’ll let Elora know we’ll have three more for dinner.”

  “Can we make that five?” the brunette asked. “If Savage is home and Kobi’s in Africa, Aust and I would love to join you.”

  Reign nodded. “Elora will love that.”

  Savage Flashed back into the diner and his smug smile raised the hair on her arms. “Where’s Matt?”

  In a remote village in Syria, nursing a broken nose. He shrugged. What? It’ll do him good to understand what it feels like to be caught up in a war he has nothing to do with.

  “A life lesson in the real world.” Jade laughed, zipped up her coat, and freed her long, red locks. “So, we’ll see you all at dinner. I look forward to having you, Hannah.”

  Hannah’s head spun by the time the majority of Savage’s friends poofed out of the room. Left behind were the angry and frightened faces of friends and neighbors she’d known her entire life.

  “What now, Way—Cowboy? What happens to them?”

  Cowboy shrugged. “What do you think should happen, HB? You’re the one most affected here.”

  She felt bad for them. Whatever happened, it had been the actions of a few, not all. She met Jayne’s worried gaze, where she sat with Sue and Mark Immery, and wished none of this had happened. “They aren’t all bad. Most of them just happen to turn into wolves. Please don’t punish the many for the actions of the few.”

  You realize they kidnapped your sister, tried to kill you three times, and blew up your house, right?

  Savage’s protective fury didn’t surprise her. “The majority of these people know us. I have to believe they didn’t want to hurt Riley or me. Some are hotheads at the best of times, granted, but most are friends . . . at least on my side of things. I just want that to be a consideration.”

  Cowboy exhaled and looked around at the worried faces. “Okay, let’s get a roster of who’s left and maybe you can help me go over it. I have no interest in being their Alpha, but I’ll be damned if I leave them lost and abandoned. Weres are only as strong as their pack.”

  Hannah nodded, relieved and thankful Cowboy was still the boy she knew so long ago. “And I’m so glad you found your pack.”

  It was one of those days that never wanted to end. With my powers unlocked, Hannah’s grief clutched my heart with the same crippling strength as if it were my own. Sifting through the remnants of her family home felt like I was tied down with fire ants gnawing at my groin. Painful. Uncomfortable. And as much as I wanted to yell and flail and fight, there was nothing to be done but endure.

  With heat hemorrhaging from the burnt foundation and the scent of charred wood filling my nostrils, I searched the destruction, fruitlessly trying to salvage some remnant of her life that would soothe her.

  Riley tromped over with a pathetic handful of charred belongings hanging at her side and a scowl on her young face. “This is bullshit. Those wolves should be neutered and strung up and then neutered again.”

  “Language, Ri,” Hannah mumbled.

  “Language my Aunt Fanny. Neutered isn’t a curse word. Besides, between the fire and the water and the snow, our life is wrecked. What’s the sense of standing around? It’s just making you sad. Mom always said, if you’re going through a rough patch, don’t dwell. Get moving, and get clear.”

  Hannah nodded, her tears creating clean tracks in the soot that covered her face. “That was her motto, all right. I thought about that when she first left my dad and me. I guess that approach worked for her.”

  I winced, as Riley took the brunt of the hit. Poor kid. Cowboy was on it. He waved her over to him and Bree. “Ri-ri, come see what we found under this heap of timber. Look.”

  The three of them proceeded to excavate a fire-safe from under the rubble. Hopefully, it was full to bursting with pictures and mementos and other irreplaceables. They exhumed the treasure from the rubble and set it beside an heirloom chair. Hannah’s gran had hand-stitched the needlepoint seat, and it had been their only miraculous save.

  When Hannah’s tears gained ground, she sought shelter in my arms. “Riley’s right. I’m numb, and I can’t breathe. I keep searching for Chief, hoping and hoping not to find him. Can we just go?”

  I nodded and kissed her cheek. With
a whistle to get everyone’s attention, I signaled our retreat for the night.

  An hour later, I sat on the bed of the guest room Jade had set up for Hannah. Fresh from the shower and thankful to have my own clothes on, I waited for her to finish up with the spray revival and face the world. She’d been in there a long time. Like, eons long. Like, something’s very wrong long. But that was the point. Something was very wrong, so I left her to her mourning.

  “Hey,” Riley said, sticking her head in from the hall. “I’m going for the tour with Cowboy. Can you tell Hannah I’ll meet her downstairs at dinner?”

  I raised my hands to check on how she was doing, but she wouldn’t understand. It felt hollow to give her a thumbs up after losing her home and her dog and being kidnapped, but it was what it was.

  Maybe she sensed my disappointment, or saw my desire to connect. Either way, when she came in and wrapped her arms around my neck, I latched on for the hug.

  “Thank you for saving us. And for bringing us here. And for loving Hannah. She’s been sad for a long time. She hasn’t said anything, but I can tell you hurt her the first time around. Don’t do that again, okay?”

  I squeezed her tight and then pulled back drawing an X over my chest. Cross my heart.

  As Riley headed out, I thought about Jade’s offer to help work on my vocal cords. Could I speak again? I was pretty sure all I’d have to do is ask Castian, and it would be done. Taking the easy way out had never been my thing. Besides, if Riley learned to sign, she could talk to both me and Coal. Then, everyone I cared about was accessible. Maybe I didn’t need to change everything all at once.

  I laid back on the bed and closed my eyes. It had been a long time since I considered the future. It had never been about what I wanted from it but what I thought I deserved.

  I never imagined I deserved much.

  When my twin stole my powers and doubled his strength, I felt like the destruction Abaddon and the Scourge caused was my fault. I felt like a failure. Unworthy of love and a happy ending because people suffered.

  Hannah spun me around.

  Hannah was my muse. My mate. My love. My life.

  Drifting off in a half-daze, I recognized the power she held over me. I worked with magical people every day, and not one of them held me in thrall or altered my course or turned my life into knots like Hannah.

  She was beautiful . . . strong . . . feisty . . .

  Warm lips on the scar crossing my throat woke me from a dream I didn’t want to slip away. My heart stilled for half a beat until the fog cleared. Hannah, naked and straddled over my hips, undid my belt, her gaze soft and sad.

  “I need you.”

  I broke from the kiss to check the door. Closed.

  “Everything hurts.” She tugged my shirt free from my jeans and shoved it up and over my head.

  Puffy red eyes, her hair towel dried and unbrushed, her shoulders curled with exhaustion. I was speechless. My poor, beautiful Hannah.

  “I can’t breathe. Please, make it stop for a while.”

  Anything. Everything. If Hannah wanted for anything, I wanted to be her go-to guy. Rolling her to the side, I grabbed the condoms from my pocket, pulled my pants past my hips, and saw-kicked them until they flopped on the floor.

  The heated, hungry sex we had over the past three days was great, but this is what I wanted.

  Time to reacquaint ourselves.

  Touching more than her curves.

  Trusting me to fend off the world when things hit home.

  Rolling her onto her back, I followed the momentum and caged her beneath the shelter of my body. Pressed into the mattress, with her arms around my neck, and her legs parted enough to cradle my hips, she stole the last of my self-preservation.

  I bit my lip instead of mouthing the words burning my tongue. She didn’t want declarations of love from me.

  Show, don’t tell, right?”

  Making love to Hannah—truly out-of-body tending to her soul—was the single-most enlightening honor I ever experienced. Trapped in the dark, fighting shadows, Hannah showed me the glimmer of something different three years ago. Secrets kept me at a distance then. Now, she knew everything about me, my life, and my world. All I had to do was convince her to open up to me again.

  Hannah’s hips rose up, urging me to get out of my head and inside her. Ripping the foil square with my teeth, I freed the condom and held it up for her to claim. She had a thing for rolling them on, and I wouldn’t deprive her of even that pleasure.

  Slowly, the tip of my erection slid into place and I sheathed myself in her body. I let out a ragged breath.

  Heaven. This was my heaven.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  By dawn the next morning, we were mucking stalls, slugging feed, and getting things done. Being in the barn, breathing Hannah’s bizarre scents of comfort, and drowning her thoughts with the constant droning bellows of cattle, seemed more therapeutic than anything I’d done for her up to that point . . . well, maybe not anything.

  I earned my nom de guerre last night.

  After taking her, fresh from the shower, we’d spent an hour at dinner making nice with my family, and then retired for an endless session of healing, tears, and the kind of sex that branded two people. Somewhere on the tender flesh of her heart, I was certain I left my mark.

  She asked me for sex. I gave her much more.

  Men generally ran out of steam. With Hannah, I never did. She sought me out in her half-sleep, finding my naked body in the sheets over and over again through the night. Each time, I soothed her aches and sated her needs without question, complaint, or hesitation.

  I was engaged—truly vested in winning her back. Whatever walls and safety nets had separated us the first time around were blown to rubble gone. I cast a side-eyed glance to check on her from where I was patching a wood rail that got snapped in yesterday’s fight.

  She caught me looking at her and smiled. “You swing a nine-pound hammer like nobody’s business, you know that?”

  Yeah, I did. My dedication to mend what had been damaged went far beyond a broken pen rail. I finished with another few nails and realized she was still checking me out. Setting my tools down, I raised my hands. Do you need something, doc?

  In my mind, she smiled and said something sexy like “Just you,” but in reality, she shook her head. It was coming, though. I could feel it. Her growing need to lean on me wasn’t only because life had worn her thin.

  Yes, she needed the support, but when I opened my arms, she came forward as if drawn in like steel to a super-magnet. I would hold her for as long as it took.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked the message, and then handed it to her so she could read the screen. “What does Waylon mean, HB is all good?”

  Cowboy caught the ranch up at the bank and paid for next month. My finger on her lip contained the burst of her protest. I told him you wouldn’t be cool with that. He said, if you insist, you can pay him back once the insurance is settled and you and Riley have decided how you want to proceed.

  “I insist. We’re not a charity.”

  No one thinks that.

  “I don’t want his money.”

  I sighed, but it was nothing I hadn’t expected. I would have done it myself but Cowboy seized the pack accounts under his father’s name and used those. He’s not out of pocket, and you can’t deny those wolves owe you for pain and suffering.

  Even so, I knew she wouldn’t take what wasn’t hers. “When the insurance is settled, I’m paying him back. The pack families will need it to rebuild.”

  I shrugged. That was between her and Cowboy now. I’d play it her way, no matter what came next.

  “Okay, let’s go outside, and see what they’ve managed to salvage. I’m tired of the cold and want to explore your mountain more. Was Aust serious when he said he needed to introduce us to the wolves of Haven?”

  I flipped the metal gate latch, securing the pen, and patted the cow that bleated. Finished with the cattle, we headed out
to the horse stalls. Aust’s wolves are part of our first level security. They aren’t like Werewolves. They are forest wolves that Aust and Zo communicate with. I promise you’ll be safe, and Riley will get a kick out of it.

  Riley would get a kick out of anything Aust said or did, with or without wolves. The Highborne seemed to have stolen her heart over one family dinner. Then again, Aust had one of the gentlest souls I’d ever come across.

  “Okay, let’s get this over with, and we’ll go meet the wolves.”

  Waylon, Bree, and Zophia, had escorted us to the farm earlier and, while the two of us took care of chores, the support team dealt with the snow-dusted smolders of her life.

  With my gloved fingers linked with hers, Hannah seemed to steel herself for the breath-sucking gut punch of looking at the rubble of her family home.

  I felt her grief hit as sharply as it had yesterday.

  “Hannah, come see what we did, sweetheart.” Cowboy waved her over to where he and Zophia were salvaging.

  She strode forward, determination in every stride. “I heard what you did and I’m paying you back. Don’t even think of fighting me on it.”

  Cowboy hugged her as they met up and waved her rant away. Excitement sparked in his eyes and wind lifted his flaxen hair. “Yeah, yeah. Whatevs. Just know there’s no rush. My pack and my parents owe you that much.”

  She stepped back and sighed. “You look so much like your mother and brother, it amazes me. Except, you have a genuine playfulness that nobody in your pack or family have.”

  I felt how that weighed her heart down.

  “Don’t be sad on my account, sweetheart. Everything worked out exactly as it was meant to, thanks to you.” He waited until that sank in, then shook her arm and pointed toward the truck. “Wait until you see what Zo did.”

  She followed his line of sight to the furniture and boxes stacked in the back of her old, beater truck. The slipper chair from beside her bed. A pine dough box. Her washstand. All her most cherished pieces in pristine condition. “What? I don’t understand. What’s in the boxes?”