The Shadow Wolf

by Bonnie Vanak

  Silence fell in the car for a few minutes, interrupted by Jillian’s quivering voice.

  “Why do they hate us so much, Megan? We never would have hurt him, but they always want to hurt us.”

  “I don’t know, honey. I honestly don’t know.”

  Anger burned through him as he caught sight of the frightened twins.

  “I just wanted to know where Disney’s World was. Was that wrong? Maybe Mickey doesn’t like Shadows, either.” Jenny seemed on the verge of crying.

  “I bet Mickey does,” he assured her.

  Gabriel’s chest felt hollow. It wasn’t Jenny’s fault, but his. He should have ensured he and Megan were alone when he had revealed his real identity. He’d been open and honest and now look at them. Their lives at risk because he’d been careless.

  Just like he’d been with Simone and Amelia.

  Now he stood to lose two more innocents and Megan for the same reason.

  Not on my damn watch, he thought in sudden rage.

  “If you see anything suspicious, let me know,” he told her, glancing at the green sign in the distance.

  “What about the car? He has a description.”

  “I cloaked it with my magick.” Gabriel gestured to the side mirror. “Look outside.”

  Instead of a white minivan, their vehicle appeared as a gleaming black Mercedes. Megan glanced at him with respect.

  “Are we being followed?” she asked.

  “We will be. Every Enforcer south of Canada will be chasing us now.”

  “Because of the bounty on our heads?”

  “Because of the bounty on mine. You and the twins would bring in only six figures. An Enforcer who turns traitor is worth three times that amount.” His jaw tightened. “And then they get to watch the show.”

  “The show…oh God!”

  He yanked a blind over the sudden mental image of the council’s warden with the castration instrument in his hands. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m not used to someone being inside my head yet.”

  His reassuring smile didn’t ease the strain on her paling face. “Don’t worry, darling, I’ve got a cast iron hide too tough for any of them, and I’m fast. If they ever did catch me, I’d trade them my recipe for Magma Sauce for my jewels. Fair trade, I’d say.”

  “How can you joke about something so serious?” she whispered.

  His guts clenched as he shuttered his mind. Because I can’t afford to let you inside me, and see what I’m really feeling. “I never joke about trading my recipes,” he said mildly.

  From the backseat, Jenny spoke in a small voice. “Gabriel, Megan, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I told that man. I didn’t mean to, it just came out. I didn’t mean to get us in trouble.”

  In the rearview mirror he saw Jillian hug her sister. Both twins looked ashen, tears shimmering in their blue eyes.

  He eased the van onto the shoulder, put it into Park. The jocularity was gone. These were children, needing massive reassurance. Their lives had turned around in the space of a few days, they were hunted like animals and now they depended on him. His guts twisted. But he had to soothe their fears.

  “Listen Jenny. It wasn’t your fault. Understand? Some Draicon get scared of Shadows because they don’t understand, or they’re afraid of what they can do. They’ll use what you tell them against you, but it is not your fault.”

  “Just like it wasn’t your fault when Amelia got hurt?” Jillian whispered.

  Clenching his fists, he stared at her. Finally he muttered, “Not the same.”

  “There are people out there who don’t like you, Jilly and Jenny. They want to see you gone because you’re different. Even Draicon, with all the powers and shape-shifting, fear what’s different, what they don’t understand and can’t control. Sometimes telling the truth isn’t a good idea because they can use your honesty against you.”

  “Then it’s okay to lie?” Jillian asked.

  Megan sucked in a breath.

  “Not exactly.” He chose his words with care. “It means not telling the full truth to people you don’t know, like that man back at the gas station. You know how when you first met me, you didn’t know me and thought I’d hurt you? You didn’t tell me much of anything, did you?”

  Jillian looked thoughtful. “Megan doesn’t like to lie and hates us to lie, too. But she did dye our hair so we could hide from people. I guess that’s the same as hiding.”

  “Hiding only until we reach a safe place,” Megan interjected.

  “Which is necessary when lives are at stake,” he countered.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “But between people who are supposed to be close, there should be only honesty. No secrets. Aren’t you the same with your family?”

  Gabriel narrowed his gaze. “My family is my own business.”

  “And so is mine. The twins are my family and they need to know the truth about us, Gabriel.”

  Shock filled him as she told the girls Gabriel was her destined mate. He wanted to hit his head against the steering wheel.

  Was that necessary? he asked her mentally.

  I told you, honesty is best with those close to me. I won’t keep this a secret from them.

  The twins looked delighted, then confused as he grunted and pulled back onto the road. He read the tension radiating in the van. Destined mates, but not happy about it.

  Wasn’t he a great role model?

  To ease the friction, he broke into a Cajun song, coaxing the twins to sing along. When he finished, Megan angled him a curious look.

  “Sissy told me a little about Cajun Draicon. They were like us, forced to leave their homes in the north because they were driven out. My family was originally from Maine, but we moved to Shadow Island when I was very young because other Draicon made things difficult for my parents.”

  He glanced at the mirror to see if anyone was following. Not yet.

  “How old are you?” she asked.

  “Over a hundred.”

  “You’re very experienced at shifting. I only shifted a few times into a wolf. It seems to come easily to you, like that day at the dock. How do you manage?”

  He answered with a grunt.

  Megan put her hand on his arm. He tensed at the softness of her palm, the temptation to cave into the wolf’s howling lust to possess her in the flesh.

  “Sometimes I wish I could blend in better, like a Normal. Like you do. Maybe then they wouldn’t hunt me like I’m an animal. What kind of life is it for the girls? When every one of the Draicon race seems to hate them just for being Shadow? I don’t want them to learn to hate back, Gabriel.”

  “I know,” he quietly agreed. “Don’t fret yourself, chère. They will not be outcast any longer. I’ll set them up with a family who loves little ones, no matter where they come from.”

  “They’ve been through too much. They need stability and guidance.”

  “They need love and acceptance more, not treated like animals and caged just because they’re different.” His fingers gripped the wheel.

  Megan stole a glance at him. “You sound as if you’re talking about yourself.”

  He shrugged. “I come from a good family. Long line of proud Cajuns. My granny taught me to cook good food and my Paw Paw, my grandfather, taught me to play the fiddle. My family is close to me.”

  Even if they are afraid of me sometimes…

  “I want the same for the girls. I have to believe someone will want them, even if they are Shadow.”

  Gabriel tilted down his hat on his brow, caught sight of the backseat. Jillian hugged her sister for comfort. The girls seemed so young and fragile, just like Amelia.

  And he had to get them to a safe place before they got caught.

  As he pulled into the next lane, he caught a fleeting thought from Megan. It clenched his guts.

  What secret from your past are you hiding, Gabriel? Can you ever trust me to tell me what’s really going on?

  Chapter 8

  Even though her insides quivered, Megan resolved to
put on a brave front.

  Gabriel had doubled back on their trail and now they headed north on the Florida Turnpike. But he said little about their destination.

  He’d been terse since pulling off the road. She felt the cold distance grow between them, as if he desired acres of space inside the car’s tight confines.

  How could he expect them to be lovers if she knew nothing about him? He was reluctant to even tell her his age.

  “One hundred ninety-one,” he said.

  Megan shot him an accusing look. “You were prowling in my mind again.”

  He shook his head. “No, darling, your question about my age was so loud, it was like a shout in my mind. Had I known you had a hang up about my age, I’d have told you sooner.” A slow, sexy wink. “How do you feel about older men?”

  She smiled, glad he broke the ice. Draicon wolves aged very slowly. Gabriel was in his twenties by human standards. “As long as they’re under 900, I’m fine.” She studied his long, leanly muscled body, wondering how many women he’d slept with.

  “None quite as young as you,” he said, smiling at the telltale flush spreading over her cheeks. “I once liked older women.”

  “How old were you when you lost…” Her voice dropped. “You know, your first.”

  “Nineteen.”

  “So young. And she was older?”

  He fell silent a moment, then said, “She was ninety-five.”

  Judging from his darkened expression, it was not a fond memory. “That makes her a cougar, not a wolf.”

  A low chuckle sounded from beneath the tilted hat. “Were you in love with her?”

  A brief nod. Megan pressed on.

  “What happened?”

  She caught a flash of thought. Tamara saw my dark side.

  Then he took back his hat, settled it squarely atop his head and tilted down the brim. Megan glanced out the window at the image of their car. Gabriel seemed to expel no energy holding up the illusion. His magick was powerful.

  And dark, he’d hinted. She had no more answers than she’d had before.

  Why did Gabriel insist he’d killed Amelia? What had he done?

  An hour later, Megan drifted into a doze as the twins chattered, absorbed in their game of reading weathered billboards on Florida’s Turnpike.

  “Look, Gabriel! Disney! Mickey Mouse,” Jennifer pointed.

  “Sorry, darling, maybe next time,” he told her. “Right now we have to get you to a safe house.”

  “Is this a magick car that will fly us there?” Jillian asked.

  If only, he thought. He accelerated and rubbed his right temple with his knuckles. A minute ago, he’d tried contacting Martin. Still no answer, but this time the answering machine picked up with a message stating Martin was away on a business trip and would return in two weeks.

  Gabriel had hung up. Martin seldom made business trips.

  Still, it was plausible. Martin’s was not a safe house, but a backup known only to Gabriel. When something went wrong, the escaped Shadows went to Martin.

  Maybe he should leave them with Martin until he could find them safe passage. Every instinct urged him to stick close to their side. Yet how could he guarantee their safety? Their welfare came before all else.

  His didn’t matter as much. He’d be willing to take risks alone, but not with them.

  Beside him, Megan whimpered in her sleep. Gabriel touched her arm. She awoke with a small cry that twisted his heart.

  “You were having a nightmare, darling. Bad one?”

  She rubbed her eyes. “The same I’ve had for years. It’s nothing.”

  “Tell me,” he urged.

  “It’s nothing.”

  Gabriel felt a small disappointment when she closed herself off. Maybe she was still too afraid. “You’re safe with me,” he assured her in a quiet voice.

  Megan gave him a sweet smile. “Thanks for not invading my mind and waking me up the old-fashioned way.”

  Her honest gratitude lowered the defenses he used to shield himself against the world. Alarmed, he hid behind a cocky grin. “The old-fashioned way would be either through sex or an alarm clock.”

  Heat suffused her cheeks, making them a delicate pink. Megan looked deliciously sexy, the blue of her eyes soft and welcoming. His gaze slid downward to her lips. A mouth sultry and lush enough to tempt a eunuch.

  Which is what he’d become if the council discovered his true nature. The council didn’t want to strip his gene pool for helping escapees. No one ever trusted his kind around women. He was far too lethal.

  Megan tucked her feet beneath her. The move only made him think of how limber she was, and how flexible she’d be with those long, supple legs wrapped about his waist….

  “Can we take a break and get out?” she asked.

  He headed for the next exit. Gabriel turned down a country road. He parked the car, and he and Megan got out. She turned her sun-kissed face upward like a flower seeking warmth. Life sparkled in her blue eyes.

  “I want to shift into my wolf form.”

  Her abrupt confession startled him. “It’s too dangerous to shift here.”

  “There’s no one around.”

  “There could be. It’s too risky here, Megan. Why the sudden urge?”

  She bit the sweet, tempting curve of her bottom lip. “It’s been a long, long time and I’m not sure I remember how to become a wolf. I have this crazy need to run as one, to be free and unrestricted. Be free to be myself instead of having to conform to rules and regulations slapped on my people to keep us in place. Too long I’ve lived in a cage of restrictions. You couldn’t understand that.”

  Gabriel swallowed hard. She was adventurous and brave, and comfortable in her own skin. His skin, wolf or otherwise, felt stretched tight over bone.

  “I understand more than you think. I know all about cages and restrictions. When we get to our destination, there’s a big backyard where you can shape-shift. Shifting will come back to you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “You can run free and wild and never stop.”

  She stretched her arms and the move shifted her shirt upward. He caught a glimpse of pale, creamy flesh on her belly. Suddenly he wanted her hot and naked beneath him. With considerable effort, Gabriel suppressed the beast that demanded he exercise his masculine rights as a bonded Draicon.

  “Why are you looking at me like that? What are you thinking about?”

  He glanced into the backseat. The twins had stopped watching the movie and were dozing off. “You. What I want to do with you,” he said softly.

  A pink flush ignited her cheeks. “What do you want, Gabriel?”

  Gabriel touched her cheek. Thought about how she’d look beneath him as he took her, her lovely blue eyes dazed with passion, her soft curves pressed against his hard body.

  “Right now all I can think about is getting you naked.”

  Megan moistened her lips as a pulse beat wildly at the base of her throat. His body tightened as he stared at her wet, delectable mouth.

  “H-here?” Her melodious voice dropped to a sultry whisper. “What would you do?”

  He could scent her arousal and it inflamed his own. “I’d put my mouth between your legs. I can’t wait to have the taste of you beneath my tongue. I’d make you beg me to stop, chère. Beg me because you couldn’t handle it anymore.”

  This was dangerous, this little fantasy. It invoked an image of her spreading out her arms in welcome for him and watching the dazed pleasure on her face as he brought her to orgasm.

  “Oh!”

  “I’d take it real slow, and gentle, and let you know what passion is. Kisses all over your sweet skin, marking every inch of you so you’ll know you are mine and you’ll never forget your first time. Then…when I was sure you were ready, I’d…”

  His voice trailed off. Gabriel bit back a moan as she unbuttoned his shirt and slid her palm over his bare skin. The feel of her hand across the thick muscles of his chest made his body clench.

/>   She snatched off his hat and hooked her hands through his thick hair as he pulled her into his arms. Warmth spread through him as he kissed her deeply, her mouth parting as she returned his passion. His tongue stroked long and deep, letting her know what lay ahead, mimicking how his body would thrust into hers.

  When they broke apart, her cheeks flushed and her eyes darkened with need. He ran a thumb tenderly over her jaw.

  “We need to get going, darling. As much as I want to stay here, and finish this.”

  “Can’t we stay here? It feels safe and no one’s following us.”

  He smiled in understanding, smoothing back her hair. Megan’s mouth was pouty and swollen from his hungry kiss. “Not now, chère. It’s too risky. When the time is right, I’ll make you mine.”

  If only he dared trust her, she wouldn’t race away screaming once she knew all his secrets.

  Chapter 9

  The deep-seated desire between them didn’t mean more openness on Gabriel’s part. She couldn’t even get him to tell her the full truth about where they were going.

  The GPS device chimed their location. Megan turned her attention from the electronic map and gave him an accusing look.

  “You said we were headed to Orlando. Why are we going west toward Tampa?”

  He inclined his head at the still-sleeping girls. “We were headed to Orlando. That’s the truth. I didn’t want the twins to know our exact location. Just in case they told someone by accident like they did at the gas station. Safer that way.”

  “I get it. Now can you tell me where we’re going?”

  He pressed a button on the GPS. “A little town called Burnside. Martin’s new safe house is there. Not far from the Orlando safe house.”

  “New house?”

  “I move him around as needed. Less chance of someone fishing out the location.”

  “I thought there was only one refuge in Central Florida,” she told him.

  “No one knows about Martin except me. It’s a refuge of last resort.” His jaw tightened. “The Orlando house may have been compromised.”

  “How? I thought the network was foolproof. Who would have betrayed us?”