Claw Mark

by Lily Harlem

  A low hum to my left seeped into my thoughts. For a second I ignored it, thinking it was my imagination but then the noise turned into a growl—a low, menacing growl that vibrated the air.

  My heart skipped into overdrive and I spun ’round, opening my eyes and letting out a short, sharp scream.

  Standing by the door to the cabin was an enormous black wolf.

  His mouth was wide and snarling, saliva dripped from his canine teeth and his gums were scarlet. His shiny nose was tilted upwards and creased over the muzzle toward his eyes. His eyes, fuck, his eyes were the same stunning amber color as Isaac’s and they narrowed farther as I stared at him.

  My whole body shook. The fright of him suddenly being next to me, so close, was like a punch to my guts. How the hell had he sneaked up on me? He must have slunk silently around the side of the cabin and up the steps.

  I staggered backward. My butt hit the railing. I started to scream or shout or yell for help but nothing came out of my mouth. I was mute with fear.

  He took a step closer.

  I backed up that last half inch.

  Still he kept on coming, enormous feet crunching on the frozen snow.

  I turned, glanced down at the eight- or nine-foot drop and considered jumping.

  But it was too late. He was right next to me. I gasped as his muzzle touched my leg. I waited for those lethal fangs to sink deep. For him to attack, savage me, shake me and go for the kill. My neck. He’d leap upward to my neck; that’s what they did, these animals, I was sure of it.

  I trembled and a sob escaped. He looked up at me and then snuffled and sniffed me some more. Working his way over my lower body, no doubt hunting for a juicy bit to start on.

  Despite the cold, beads of sweat formed on my temple. I sucked in my stomach and gripped the railing tighter.

  He pressed his nose to the juncture of my thighs, over my mound, and breathed deep.

  I staggered and the balancing snow by my hands tumbled around my feet.

  I had to get away.

  Again I glanced at the drop, and then at the tree line. If only Caleb or Isaac were here. Shit. Why had I ever come out of the cabin?

  Chapter Twelve

  There was a sudden flash of gray by the trees.

  Another wolf!

  Fuck! Another wolf was on its way to maul me. It seemed I was going to be quite a feast.

  I tried to move away from the snuffling muzzle that was roaming my abdomen. The creature’s hot, damp breath burned through my clothes and onto my skin and the scent of its fur was pungent and heavy on my nostrils.

  Despair gripped me. What was the point in trying to escape? The whole pack was coming to dine on me. Oh, I was such an idiot and now I was going to die because of my foolishness.

  The beast continued to sniff, prodding its nose at my belly and then dipping to my mound. It growled again and pushed at my flesh through my clothes.

  I yelped and shook. Every muscle in my body was trembling in terror.

  It growled louder and then appeared to sense the approaching wolf. It suddenly stepped backward and stared in the direction of the tree line.

  I too stared at the gray wolf. It was one of the creatures I’d seen before, near the cabin.

  Caleb?

  Whatever or whoever it was, the animal was beautiful, its coat silkier than the black one next to me and the wind stroking over it as it ran, revealing high and powerful shoulders and a large, square skull.

  The black wolf moved away from me to the top of the stairs, its feet dipped into the snow and its nose tilted.

  The gray wolf arrived at the base of the steps and I glanced at the door, wondering if I should attempt a dash for it across the veranda. Perhaps if I slipped off the stupid shoes I’d make it.

  For a moment everything went quiet and still. The gray wolf glanced at me and its eyes narrowed.

  I held in a whimper; it clearly liked the look of me despite the fact there wasn’t much meat on my bones. What if my stupid thoughts about shifters had been all wrong and these were simply two ordinary, hungry wolves? They’d no doubt fight over me, maul and wrestle over each of my limbs and my warm, juicy internal organs.

  I pressed my hand over my mouth as the black wolf rested back, onto its haunches and stood, full stretch, its head almost touching the slim roof that covered the veranda.

  Fear was messing with my vision, because for a moment it was as though its fur was shimmering, shaking and then dissolving into thin air. In its place was skin, human skin, a deep shade of tan and still coated in dark hair.

  The wolf’s face had changed too, the long muzzle had shrunk back into a man’s nose, flattish and with wide nostrils, and the snarling lips were now soft and pink. But the eyes, the eyes were still the same wild amber color they’d been before.

  The naked man turned to me, folded his arms and looked me up and down with a stern expression.

  I struggled to stay upright. Shock was blasting through me. I’d thought it, yes. Imagined it many times. But to see an animal shift to human form…that was messing with even my liberated mind.

  “So it’s true,” he said to the gray wolf. “You do have a woman here. Wonders will never cease.”

  The gray wolf took several paces to the right then the left. It turned a circle as though agitated then looked up at me.

  I stared into its blue eyes—eyes that brimmed with intelligence but were also familiar.

  Suddenly the gray wolf, like the black wolf had done moments before, reared up onto its back legs. Again its coat began to fade and flicker and in its place smooth, human skin. All the time it kept its gaze on me, and then its face changed from wolf shape to man shape.

  But not any man.

  Caleb.

  Caleb stood before me in the snow, completely naked, where a wolf had just been.

  “Oh my God,” I managed. I’d been right. There were no doubts to hide behind any longer. No excuse that it was just my imaginings, my vivid, spiraling thoughts whisking me to far-fetched conclusions.

  It was true.

  “Please, Bea, don’t be scared,” Caleb said

  I swallowed, wrapped my arms around myself and shook my head.

  “I’ll explain later,” he went on, “but please, don’t be scared. Aatu won’t hurt you and you know I wouldn’t, ever. Not for anything.”

  “I think you’ll explain to me first,” said the man on the stairs sternly.

  I presumed his name was Aatu though it didn’t seem like introductions were going to be made.

  “Yes, of course, sir.” Caleb reached into one of the storage lockers at the base of the steps and pulled out a pair of faded jeans and heavy brown boots. He quickly pulled them on and ran his hand through his messy hair.

  Aatu, standing just a few feet from me, appeared to have no such intention of clothing himself. “The pack heard a rumor that you had company out here,” he said. “How come you didn’t get word to us?”

  Caleb placed his hands on his hips. “We have the situation under control.”

  Aatu huffed. “Hardly a situation under control. I could smell her a mile away.”

  “She’s not supposed to come out of the cabin.” Caleb frowned at me. “I guess she—”

  “And up close she smells of vampire,” Aatu snapped. “Explain that, Caleb.”

  I gulped. Did I really? After all of this time were Aimery and Ryle still part of me?

  “She was captured by a vampire several miles from here, we saved her.”

  “When?”

  “A few months ago.”

  “And you just kept her here, until now, nearly spring, without bothering to warn us of what had been on our territory.” Aatu appeared incredulous.

  Caleb frowned. “You generally prefer not to hear from us. We were sorting the situation out on our own.”

  Aatu stomped down the steps and jabbed a finger at Caleb’s chest. “Despite what you always think, I came here today to see it you were both okay. Vampire scent has been picked up b
y several of the pack. It’s been many, many moons since they’ve dared approach our den so we knew it was something special they were after for them to be so brazen.” He paused. “They know that if we catch them they’ll be decapitated and burned.”

  Decapitated and burned. I shuddered at the awful image that had been painted in my mind.

  “She is brazen,” Caleb said, “and unfortunately very determined.”

  “She. It’s a female vampire?”

  “Yes, her name is Elfrida.”

  “Ah, fuck.” Aatu stomped on to the snow and paced, his muscles rippling beneath his dark skin and his cock hanging heavily from his mass of pubic hair. “Elfrida, I’ve had a run in with her before, many years ago. She is evil to the core and has no regard for Carlton territory. No regard for anything other than her own bloodthirsty needs.”

  Carlton territory. Aatu was part of the Carlton Pack.

  Of course he is.

  Aatu turned to me. “Elfrida is also on the high council; she could have any human. What is so special about her?” He pointed at me.

  “She’s has rare blood, Bombay. Elfrida considers it a delicacy.”

  Aatu shook his head and sighed. “Yes, I’ve heard of it before. It’s been the cause of many disputes and the subject of radical Ancient Order laws.”

  I stared at Aatu as he rubbed his jawline and frowned. It seemed he knew an awful lot about the vampire race I both loved and feared.

  “Elfrida must be caught,” Aatu said. “Caught and disposed of. She’s got murder on her mind and a taste for your visitor. I fear she will stop at nothing.” He frowned. “Which makes me fear for you two, choosing to live here and not with the pack.”

  “We prefer it, you know we do.” Caleb came up the steps, turned at the top and gestured to the mountains in the distance. “And yes, Elfrida will be caught. Isaac is out there now, doing just that, hunting for her. When he finds her, he’ll kill her, rip her head from her neck and turn her to ash.”

  “Isaac has always liked to think he needs only himself in battle, but Elfrida is not to be underestimated.” Aatu thumped his hand into his palm. “I will round up more warriors and send them out to help him. We will find her before the thaw and destroy her.” Aatu looked up at me. “And until then, Miss, you’d do well to stay on the right side of that threshold. She’ll smell you from the mountaintops and steal you away before you can blink.”

  He turned suddenly, leaped into the air as though about to dive into the snow, and then shifted into his wolf shape and raced ’round the side of the cabin. He left behind a puff of snow glittering in the freezing air and a new set of tracks.

  I was dumbstruck again by the vision of a man changing into a wolf, but only for a moment because then my sense of survival came rushing back.

  I kicked off the high-heeled shoes and dashed to the open door of the cabin. Caleb hadn’t even moved when I slammed it shut. Damn, what was I going to do? What had only been a suspicion had been true. Shifters were real and part of my life.

  My world had completely left the tracks. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.

  Vampires with murder on their mind. Wolves that can shift into humans.

  I stepped back from the door and stared at it as though it might come alive and chase me. I pressed my hands to my chest and watched the door handle rattle. But I’d slipped the lock and Caleb, or wolf-man, or whatever he was, couldn’t get in.

  “Bea, open the door,” he shouted gruffly.

  “No, no, go away…” I stammered.

  “Let me explain.”

  “Explain what? That you’re half-wolf, half-man? I can see that for myself.”

  “Yes, come on. Let me in.”

  “It makes no sense, you can’t be real.”

  The door rattled some more. “You know damn well I’m real, we spent the night in bed together, that felt real enough, didn’t it?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. Please leave me alone.”

  The door shook and then a bang rattled around the cabin. I guessed Caleb had either kicked it or rammed his shoulder against it.

  I should let him in. I knew I should. This was Caleb, gentle, caring Caleb.

  But I couldn’t. I was too scared. Too overwhelmed with what I’d seen and what I’d had confirmed.

  I turned and dashed to my bedroom, threw myself on the bed and cried fiery tears of fear, confusion and despair. My chest ached and my body felt both burning hot and freezing cold. My feet stung as blood rushed back to my cold extremities.

  An enormous thump and a gust of cool air told me that Caleb had made light work of the door. I wasn’t surprised, the guy was brimming with brute strength.

  “Ah, fuck,” I heard him say and then another bang and heavy footsteps filtered toward me.

  What would he do? Would he be furious with me for locking him out, for running away, going outside? I had no idea. My brain was struggling to keep up. And who was Aatu, and why did Caleb call him sir?

  “Bea, please, there is no need for these tears, not over this.”

  Caleb was next to me, his voice by my ear and his hand resting on my back. “Please don’t cry,” he whispered. “I can’t bear to see you sad. We’ve had enough of that now.”

  He was so kind and tender that I cried all the more.

  “Come here,” he said, scooping me up against his body. “Shh, now, please,” he murmured into my hair.

  I buried my face into the groove between his chest and his arm. How could I have been scared of him? Locked him out of his own home? His warm skin and male scent were so comforting. He still felt like the same man I’d cuddled up with last night, who’d held me and been compassionate and sweet. Knowing the truth about him didn’t change that.

  “But, Caleb,” I managed, my lips moving against his skin and my wet cheek bunching against his hard body. “I…I don’t understand. I mean I did think, wonder, but to see it, to see you change…”

  “I don’t expect you to understand it all, at least not until I’ve had a chance to explain.”

  I looked up at him through my tear-blurred eyes. “So please, tell me, because I’m really struggling to cope with the fact that I’ve been living with two wolves who are part of the Carlton Pack, my husbands’ sworn enemies.” I paused. “I presume Isaac can, like you, turn into one whenever he wants to.”

  Caleb smiled. “Yes, he can, you know he can.” He paused. “And you’ve seen him.”

  “The red wolf?” I asked.

  “Yes, he’s beautiful, isn’t he?”

  “But, how, why?” I didn’t know where to start.

  “We’re both from the Carlton Pack. We were born into it and born this way.”

  “As half-man, half-wolf?”

  “We prefer the term shifters. We can shift between either body, depending on what our needs are.”

  I relaxed a little. The conversation that had been bubbling beneath the surface was finally being played out. “And why would you need to be a wolf? Why not a hawk or a lion or something…?”

  He laughed and his mirth jostled me in his arms. “Hell, why wouldn’t I want to be a wolf? When I’m a wolf I have a heightened sense of smell, vision and taste. The cold doesn’t bother me at all, in fact I love it and I can run like the wind, fight in a way that makes all other beasts fear me and most of all I become one with nature, with my surroundings, I need nothing when I am in wolf-form. I’m strong and self-sufficient. A force to be reckoned with.”

  “So why do you even bother with this?” I pushed away and stroked my hand down his chest. “Your human body?”

  “Because being human gives me so much too.”

  “Like what?”

  “Language.”

  “And what else?” I stared at his mouth and watched his lips move as he spoke. He had soft, pliant lips that knew how to kiss so well. It was a fascinating concept to think they could also become a wolf’s lips covering huge canine teeth.

  “Love,” he said, “an enormo
us capacity for love. So big that it can overrule all instincts and sense at times.”

  “So the wolf you doesn’t love Isaac?”

  “No, that’s not what I mean at all. The wolf me loves Isaac very much, but the human me, well, I can really show him how much I love him, and him me.” He reached out and pushed my hair behind my ears. “In small every day, caring gestures and in wild moments when passion and desire consumes us.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips over mine. “Please just accept us, Bea. Nothing has changed between us now that you know. Now that you’ve seen.”

  “It’s a lot to take in.” I curled my hands over his strong forearms and imagined the gray wolf as the same being.

  “You were married to two vampires, Bea. Your capacity for understanding and tolerance of more than just humans existing in the world is greater than most.”

  “Yes, you’re right, but…”

  “Would you have preferred us to tell you that first night?”

  “Er, no… I guess not.”

  “It would have scared you. At least this way, you’ve come to know us and our ways gradually. You can also be confident with the fact that we will never hurt you. In fact, we want to kill Elfrida so that you can go and get on with your life. See your father and your friends again. Perhaps go back to living in London.”

  I nodded and felt my eyes mist again. “Yes, I want that too, eventually.”

  He smiled gently. “Eventually, yes, until that time though our home is your home and we’ve made a promise to protect you no matter what.”

  “Thank you. And I’m sorry, I just—”

  He interrupted me with a kiss. A sweet, open-mouthed kiss that made me feel once again that Caleb was the answer to my pain.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Well, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  I snapped away from Caleb at the sound of Isaac’s voice. My lips were moist from our kiss and I was still clinging onto his arm. It was a pretty damning situation to be caught in.