by Maeve Hart
I got out of the car, taking the small bag of clothing I’d brought from Abbie’s house with me. I’d left her a note letting her know I had to get away by myself for a few days. I also promised to call her soon so she wouldn’t worry. Hopefully, my phone would get a signal in the remote region.
“This way,” Jacques said, pointing to a door.
He led me down a passageway.
“Does this lead to the house?” Dumb question, I realized as soon as I said it. Where else would it lead?
“It does.”
“Any more of these secret passages around the place?”
He chuckled. “It always pays to have an escape route. You never know when one will come in handy.”
That hadn’t exactly answered my question, which led me to believe he didn’t fully trust me. My best guess was he’d have a few secret passageways from the house leading into the forest.
We came to a steel door that slid open as soon as he pressed a button on the wall. When we walked into the living room, I was faced with a crowd of twenty-five to thirty people who all stopped what they were doing and stared at us.
The pack.
Guiding me gently with his hand on my elbow, Jacques and I moved further into the room.
“Everybody, this is Destiny.”
Everyone said hello and I said hello back, nodding and trying to appear not as nervous as I was. I spotted Seamus and noticed he had a black eye and a bruise on the side of his face. Then he turned away from me. Had Jacques done that to him when he had been protecting me?
Jacques named everyone I didn’t know. My mind went blank after the first two people. I was hopeless with names but better with faces.
“Come with me,” he ordered.
He took my bag from me and I followed him out of the living room into an elevator. I was surprised everything was so high tech in the middle of nowhere.
“Don’t be scared,” he whispered as we got into the elevator.
“I’m not scared,” I lied and as I turned around in the elevator, I saw they were all staring at me. When the doors closed, I asked, “Are they the pack?”
“Do you mean are they shifters?”
I nodded.
“They are. You have to watch yourself with some of them. You already know Seamus is not to be trusted and you’ll soon work out the rest of them.”
“I found out the hard way about Seamus.”
“He won’t bother you again.”
The elevator door opened and I stepped out first. It was a huge bedroom with nearly a three hundred and sixty degree view of the forest due to the floor to ceiling windows. This was what I’d seen from the car, but I’d never guessed it would be all one room. I gasped at how breathtakingly stunning the view was as I stood still, looking around.
I walked to the window. “You can see everything from here. It’s magnificent.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“I do.”
He placed my bag on the large bed at the opposite end of the room to the seating area.
“Am I staying here?”
“The safest place for you at night is here with me.”
I stared at him, wondering if he thought something was going to happen between us.
“Don’t worry; I’m not going to force myself on you. But I can’t speak for them down there. You know what animals are like.” He smiled at me and right at that moment I wanted him to hold me in his strong arms.
Did he want me just as much as I wanted him? And if he did, why hadn’t anything happened when I’d slept in his bed?
My heart pounded as our eyes locked. He had to have read my mind, because at that moment he took a step toward me and put his arm around my waist. He pulled me so close that I could scarcely breathe. My breasts were pressed against his hard body, causing my head to swim. He ran a large hand through the length of my hair and then when his hand was back near my head, he gently took hold of my hair and leaned my head back. I had no choice but to look into his eyes.
Everything about him was perfect—his dark eyes, his darker lashes, his perfectly chiseled face with his strong jawline. His mouth came closer to mine and I parted my lips, eyes closed, ready to enjoy the magic moment as his lips met mine. Tingles shot through every inch of my body the second his soft, warm lips made contact. His tongue pushed my lips further apart and began to explore my mouth. My knees nearly gave way with my wanting and I held onto him tighter.
I responded to his tongue’s caresses. He could have had me at that moment and I wouldn’t have stopped him. Against my will, he released me and took a step back to look me up and down, hungry with desire.
Shouting coming from downstairs interrupted our brief moment. It sounded like a brawl had broken out. Then there were bangs like furniture was being tossed about or someone had just been thrown against a wall.
The mood was broken. Jacques rolled his eyes and stepped back. “I’m sorry. I’ll be back in a moment.”
I sat on the bed and thought for a moment about what had nearly happened between us. Was it a good idea to have sex with a man I barely knew? Sure, I’d done it before, but the men in question weren’t complicated like this man was. And, I had to remind myself, he wasn’t a man at all, he was a shifter. Then again, so was I and I still had no idea what that fully meant.
The annoying good girl in my head told me I shouldn’t complicate my new shifter life by having the first shifter who came along. My bad girl screamed at me to go for it. Everything in my body was agreeing with my bad girl. My whole body was pulsating waiting for his return. I wanted to open myself and let him take me however he wanted.
The noises from downstairs had stopped and I hoped that meant he was coming back really soon because I wanted to taste him again. I’d sack the good girl and banish her from my mind forever. What was wrong with living for the moment? If I’d lived for the moment, I wouldn’t have put up with Don’s bullying. I would’ve been brave and told him to go to hell, but I was too afraid to be alone.
After ten minutes, he was back and I was ready for him. Ready to taste his lips and have his hands running over my naked body.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said, sitting on the bed beside me.
I sensed immediately that his mood had changed. Nothing was going to happen now. Damn!
“What happened?”
“Two of them were having a fight.”
“What about?”
“One of the women. If you haven’t noticed, we’ve got more men than women and now there are two men who want the same woman. The woman, Kylie, suggested sharing and one of the men didn’t like that. That’s when an argument broke out.”
“Oh.” Was sharing an accepted thing amongst the group? That just wasn’t my scene. My good girl was right about waiting. If I’d had sex with him, all common sense would’ve left my head and I would’ve fallen deeply in love with him. I was strictly a one-man woman and that would never change.
“You don’t approve?”
“I don’t like sharing. I was an only child,” I said to make light of the fact I was a prude deep down. “Do you share the women?” I had to know.
He chuckled. “No. I will only have sex with my shifter mate, but I can’t force my views on the pack. Mostly they’re monogamous.”
I frowned, wondering if he meant there were some who were monogamous, or they were only that way most of the time. “You can’t tell me you’re a virgin.”
“No, I’m definitely not, but I intend to mate for life. I’ve been looking for my mate and I’ve found you.”
I gulped. “Me?”
He nodded. “I’m not rushing you. I want you to learn about everything and make sure you want to be here first.”
First? I was pleased he didn’t just want me for a fling, but how long was I going to have to wait?
I looked around the room, trying to take in his words. The sexual tension was still in the air—at least for me. I sprang to my feet and walked up and down by the windows, pleased he
wanted me for more than a casual fling. I was sure that’s what he’d meant.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s a lot to take in and the people down there scare me.”
“You can’t let them know that. They’ll sense it.”
He stood up, took hold of me, and pulled me back to sit beside him on the bed. I had to allow him into my world. That was the quickest way we’d get to know one another, and if I let him into mine, I was sure he’d reciprocate. “I grew up seeing and hearing things most people don’t believe in, but I knew they were true because I had experienced them. I’ve seen my grandmother bring her dog back to life after she found him in the morning dead and stiff. She brought him back to life.”
“You saw it?”
“I was staying with her and saw it with my own eyes. He coughed and spluttered and I saw him expand as his lungs and body filled with oxygen. His flattened body rounded with life. Herb only lived another few days—”
“Did you say Herb?”
“Yes. Herb only lived another five days, but he was a fair age. She’d done what most people consider impossible—she’d raised the dead. I was there to witness it. I’ve also seen people who were about to go bankrupt suddenly win the lottery thanks to Granny, and wandering husbands come back to their wives and change their philandering ways.” A giggle erupted from me. “They’re my grandmother’s words—philandering ways. She says most of the work she does is for love.” I stared at the floor, wondering whether it was bamboo or some kind of wood I wasn’t familiar with.
“Herb was my grandfather’s name.”
I jerked my head up and stared at him. “Your shifter grandfather?”
“Yes. His name was Herbert.”
I frowned. “Do you think Granny named her dog after him? I thought she named him that because she works with herbs.”
“I’m sure that’s it. She was using herbs all the time, as you say.”
Now I felt uncomfortable. Why would Granny name her dog after her enemy? I babbled on to take my mind off the weirdness I felt in the air. “I can’t deny my Granny is amazing at what she does. I’ve seen people healed of sicknesses too, but I don’t know about the dark side. She’s brought harm to people when their enemies simply paid her to create disaster. I mean, why would she do that without hearing both sides?”
“She’s a witch, not a judge of morals.”
“Even so it just seems wrong to me. I don’t like it.” Even though I’d seen her cause harm to people, I’d never thought she was capable of doing that to someone close to me like Don. She’d never liked him, but it should’ve been enough that I had.
We sat on the bed and I talked about my family, but Jacques never said anything about his. That night, he kept me away from the pack and we had dinner in his bedroom. He told me a little about the compound his house sat in the middle of. There were armed guards who patrolled the perimeter and security drones overhead. I also found out none of his pack worked for him, except the one I’d already met at the penthouse who had been wearing the suit. The others had various jobs and some of them were unemployed and stayed at the compound helping out.
Jacques went on to tell me Seamus was a constant threat to him and that meant that if there were any danger at the compound it would most likely stem from him. I made sure to remember everything he told me in case I needed the information later.
After one of the men had come to the bedroom to collect our dishes and had left, I stared into the night through the windows.
“It’s okay. No one outside can see in.”
I swung around. “Really?”
He nodded.
As I looked up at the full moon, I said under my breath, “Under the full moon the walls are the ninth week.”
Jacques grabbed my arm and turned me to face him. “What did you just say?”
I was shocked he’d handled me so harshly. Gone was the gentle caress of hours ago. “Um, just something my grandmother said once.”
“Under the full moon the walls are the what?”
He stared into my eyes with an intensity that frightened me. Why hadn’t I closed my mouth?
Chapter 20
“Ninth week. I think that’s what she said.”
“Are you certain?”
“I’m pretty sure. I’m surprised I even remembered it. I didn’t think it meant anything. Does it?”
“It’s a key. I asked you if the shifter said anything to her before she killed him.”
“You think he told her that?”
He nodded. “She wouldn’t have known what it meant.”
“What does it mean?”
He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous for you to know. You must forget what you heard—all of it.”
“Do the people downstairs know who my grandmother is?”
He nodded. “They know,” he said. “We’re gathering and reinforcing our ranks. My grandfather’s followers went underground when he was killed and now I’m of age, I’m taking back control.”
“It sounds like you’re going to go to war or something.”
He turned me back to look out the window, leaving an arm around my waist. Now becoming the tender man I hoped he was, he breathed the words softly on my neck. “Only if we have to.”
I hoped by ‘we’ he wasn’t including me, but right now I was in his arms and loving the moment.
We both looked up into the darkness, staring at the full moon hanging low in the sky. There were no clouds and I could see that the stars were brighter here than in the city, and there seemed to be more of them.
“Are you ready?”
“What’s going to happen?” I asked.
“We’re going to run with the pack.”
I was excited but scared. “Will I be safe?”
“Stay by me.”
With his arm still around me, he guided me to the elevator. When we walked into the living room, I was surprised it was empty.
I looked up at him. “Where is everyone?”
“Gone already.”
“Doesn’t the pack stick together?”
“They won’t be far away.”
We had only gotten a few yards outside when he ordered, “Take off your clothes.”
I was a little shocked, but then I saw he was taking his off, so I did the same. We were both naked with our clothes at our feet.
Rather than look at me, he closed his eyes and said, “Now allow yourself to change.”
“How?”
“Close your eyes and will your body to change.”
My grandmother had said magic was mostly about intention. This wasn’t magic, but I guessed it was similar and I was certain I had to intend for my body to change.
Soon, I felt the familiar pains down my back as I’d felt before when I’d changed. This time I felt myself grow as though I was transforming in slow motion. My body changed into a different form, the hair sprouted out of my skin, my face elongated, and my teeth grew. When I open my eyes, I was on all fours, and there was a black wolf patiently standing next to me.
He paced into the woods and I followed. Since he’d been calling me his mate I wondered if we would have sex and, if so, in what form would we do it—wolf form or human? I hadn’t been able to get lovemaking off my mind since I’d been alone in the bedroom with him.
He took off bounding.
I followed after him, not wanting to be left behind. I ran through the trees that rose tall out of the earth, and when he disappeared into the darkness of the undergrowth I followed, breathing in the scent of dead leaves, moss, and tree-bark. In a clearing, he jumped onto the tall trunk of a fallen tree and waited until I caught up with him. I stopped. Looking up at him, I wasn’t sure if I could jump so high on the trunk to join him, but I sensed him telling me I could do it. I took some paces back and leaped up, surprised to find that I made the jump with relative ease. Jacques was happy when I joined him. When he jumped down and began to run again I followed.
Chapter 21
I hadn�
�t noticed it before when I’d changed, but now I noticed my senses were heightened. I could smell the pack, so I knew they were around somewhere. Not only that, I detected the aroma of something I knew by instinct was a fresh kill not too far away. Beneath my feet, I smelled dead grass and young grass at the same time.
The hoot of an owl overhead startled me, and I stopped still with fright. Leaves rustled behind me and I smelled a familiar wolf. I turned and saw Seamus. Jacques leaped from out of the darkness to stand next to me.
Seamus looked at us before he turned and sprinted to join the others. I saw the pack in the distance and I wanted to join them. I looked at Jacques and as if reading my mind, he set off after them. This time he stayed with me rather than running ahead. Soon we were running with the pack.
When I smelled water, I realized I was parched. Making a detour, I headed to the stream and lapped the water. Nips at my heels sent me running back to the pack while being pushed along by a wolf’s nose. One glance around confirmed it was Jacques and he was directing me back to the group. I’d had my mind on thirst rather than being aware of my surroundings.
As though he sensed danger, Jacques rounded everyone up and we headed back to the compound.
When I reached my pile of clothing near the house, I stopped while the other wolves ran past me. We were back inside the safety of the fenced compound and I was relieved. Jacques, still in black wolf form, walked toward me. I saw him start to change and I looked away and allowed myself to change also.
Once I had my clothes on I heard Jacques say, “How was it for you?”
I looked over and saw him zipping his jeans. “It was amazing. I’ve never felt like that before. I could see and feel and hear so much more. I’ve missed out on so much already.”
“By being human, you mean?”
“Yes.”
He gently placed a hand on my shoulder. “Come on; let’s join the others.”
We walked back inside, into the main living area. There were several couches against the wall, a snooker table, a poker table, and a huge TV that took up one of the walls.
