“You don’t have to skulk and sneak around,” Cara said to the air.
Titan made his way out of the shrubs once he was sure Chase had left. Pulling his hair back, he assured her he was doing neither. Titan was gathering supplies to make repairs in one of the cabins, at least that’s what he told her. Cara wanted to believe him, but a part of her knew he was spying. While she wanted to scream at him, that he could throw her down, make love to her on the forest floor, and even mark her, she knew that Titan wouldn’t go for it until she was a permanent member of the pack.
“So how or when are you going to decide?” he wondered.
“I’m going to talk to everyone, get a feel for their opinion. I’ll take it from there,” she told him.
“I think you should start with my mother,” he told her.
Cara was in no mood for the intimidating spouse of an alpha, “I was thinking that I’d save her for last.”
“Don’t avoid her. She can sense that and weakness will not be tolerated. I told you that already,” he warned her.
But Cara still didn’t want to tackle the heaviness of a conversation with Titan’s mother, “Well maybe I won’t save her for last, but I certainly don’t want to speak to her without a clear decision as to whether I want to stay or not. Just let me talk to a few of the others and see what their thoughts are. I do have a question for you.”
“What’s that?” he asked moving closer to her.
Their energies clung to one another. Memories of his fingers inside of her made her moist with every step he took closer, but with everything that has happened to her, regarding matters of the heart, there was something she had to know.
“How do you feel about humans? Whole humans and shifters mating?”
Titan moved so close to her that he could lace his fingers between hers. Gazing down into her eyes, he told her, “We had this discussion already. I’d never choose one, let alone choose one over you.”
“What if I decided to leave? What if I wanted you to come with me? We could start a pack on our own,” she blurted out with far too much uncertainty in her voice.
“There’s much more at stake here than just our feelings. Our emotions cannot be the deciding factor in what happens with you. Whatever this is between us, if it’s real, we can be together in a pack or without one, but you don’t have all the answers to your own personal questions. Answer those questions of self first before you try to make me run out on my family,” he smiled.
“I wouldn’t make you run out on them, but it’s nice to know that you’d pick me,” she kissed him gently on the lips.
“I’d like to know that you’d pick me,” he said backing away from her. It was a painful reminder that Titan would never give himself completely to his urges until he knew what her choice was.
“What if I wanted to go? To leave and find my brother?” she asked him.
“No one’s keeping you here, Cara,” he sighed. “I’m not going to beg you to stay. All I will say is that I care about you and I want you. I want us to be more than sneaky kisses in the trees and my cabin. I don’t want to hide, but I don’t want to run away from my pack either. Stop asking me all of these questions when you need to come up with your own answers. This is your life, Cara! The sooner you make up your mind about what you want, the sooner we can all deal with whatever comes after that. But whatever you choose, do it soon. I’m not going to continue to allow your constant disruption to our pack if you’re not staying!”
She could sense the frustration in his voice as she watched him walk away. With so much on her mind, Cara took off in the opposite direction. She found herself at the hot spring where that spark between her and Titan took off. With no one around, she stripped naked and eased herself into the water. It didn’t take long for her to get acclimated to the heat as she thought of memories from her past.
“My, my, my, how we have grown,” Midas sneered toward Cara’s teenage frame. She blushed under his glare as he ran a slender finger around her neck flipping a strand of her hair behind her back. “Your scent is divine, young Cara.”
A part of her could feel his energy was different. While she was too young to realize what it was, she believed she was old enough to know it was love. Refusing to pay attention to the lingering glares, Cara followed him around endlessly. Midas enjoyed every minute of her doting attention. He’d kiss her on the forehead and tell her she’d make a perfect mate one day, never for him, but one day.
But it all came to an abrupt end when Midas decided he’d had his fill of her childish crush. He rejected her in a way that Cara never imagined.
It wasn’t simply walking in on him in bed with another. No, what Midas did to Cara hurt her deeper than that. He summoned her for them to talk. It was only when she arrived that she noticed they wouldn’t be alone. He said it was to let her down easy, but the glee in his eyes after seeing the pain on her face was telling. He marked another while she stood there, tears streaming down her cheeks only to tell her, “You knew I would never mark you. You’re far too young. Way too naive. You did this to yourself.”
Heartbroken and distraught, Cara ran off into the woods to seek refuge and solace. It was when she ran into her brother that she told him what Midas had done. Full of rage and chivalry, Cairo went to battle Midas. It was a tough fight but ended with Midas coming out on top. Not only did he win, but he convinced the alpha and every other member of the pack that Cara put Cairo up to it after he rejected her numerous times. Unfortunately for Cara and her brother, the alpha took Midas’ side. He banished them from their territory and every other pack in the vicinity was put on alert that the brother-sister duo was a lethal pair.
Cara and Cairo roamed the mountain tops looking for a pack only to be turned away at every chance. It wasn’t until they arrived in Myre Falls that they fell in with a pack they could both call home ...
The more Cara reflected on the absurdity of Midas being the one for her, the heavier her eyelids became. Sleep was washing over her in the spring as the heat of the water sang her a sweet lullaby. Forgetting how deep the thing actually went; it wasn’t until she’d begun ingesting water that she realized she’d fallen asleep. Sinking under the surface, panic rushed over her as she struggled to swim toward the bank of the spring.
The soft hands of Anna and Tryx pulling her out of the water calmed her down. Gasping for air, and coughing up as much water as she could. Cara tried her best to get her breathing back under control.
The red faces of Anna and Tryx as they stared down at her naked body for a moment made Cara laugh, but that only brought on another coughing fit.
“What’s the matter with you?” Tryx asked. She was tall, with her blonde hair pulled into a bun and a swimsuit on. She looked good for a mother of three. “You got some kind of death wish? Don’t let the pups see you out here doing stuff like that… first fighting bears, and now what? Seeing how long you can hold your breath? You’ve got be careful, there are young impressionable minds around.”
Cara pulled her clothes on with an apologetic expression across her face, “I’m sorry guys. I got lost in thought. I’ve been trying to make up my mind about staying and I guess, I just… I don’t know what happened.”
Anna stooped down, almost as if to gaze into Cara’s soul with those big doe eyes, “You want to stay, don’t you?”
“I think I do, but there’s so much to consider. And I truly don’t want to come into your pack and disrupt the working order of things. You guys run a really tight ship over here,” she said sitting up.
“Oh goodness, what’s she doing here?!” Shelly whined as she approached them.
“Just leaving,” Cara huffed pushing herself off the ground.
“You don’t have to,” Anna said, “Besides it’s always best to come to the spring with a few buddies anyway. You know? To avoid things like what just happened.”
“What just happened?” Shelly asked perplexed.
“Nothing,” Cara shook her head, “I’m leaving. You guys enjoy.
”
She left them to their spring wondering if her near drowning was some sort of sign to let her past go. It wasn’t rocket science that Midas was a piece of history she hated reliving but her mind refused to let him go. Her eyes searched the trees hoping that she could at least see Cairo. Her brother would know exactly what to say to her.
Shaking away the loneliness threatening to overwhelm her, Cara walked back toward the cabins. The idea of the women in the spring made her wonder who was looking after the pups. Sure enough, when she returned, Nathan and Taylor were chasing the kids around. They’d shift in and out of their wolves while running around the camp. It was a picture-perfect family that Cara suddenly wanted to be a part of. Full of laughter and joy, Cara stood back smiling at the feeling of family amongst them all.
She’d made up her mind that even if she didn’t choose Titan, or if he didn’t mark her, this was a pack she needed to be a part of. The surrogate family was enough for her. It was only in fleeting moments that she thought about Cairo. While she missed her brother dearly, she could picture herself here. This could be her home, so she briskly made her way to Shaw’s cabin to see what she could do to make it official.
Chapter Seven
Cara neared the cabin with her mind made up and her pride in check. She wouldn’t let her ego get in the way of asking for Kristin’s opinion on joining their pack. Her heart thumped loudly as she approached the door ready to knock.
Just before she could step forward, Drew appeared. The middle Finnegan brother was as handsome as his brothers, but far more subdued. His demeanor was different, however, from his usual brooding behavior. There was an air of confidence around him as he walked toward her.
“Hey Drew,” she smiled, “I was just about to go talk to your mother.”
“Before you do that, I think you should come with me on patrol,” he asserted.
“Um, I guess, but can I speak to Kristin first? I really need to talk to her,” she insisted.
“I think you should come out on a patrol with me before you do. It’s only right that you get the full lay of the land before you make any kind of decision and seek out my mother’s advice or approval.”
His reasoning was sound, so she turned away from the cabin and followed Drew toward the outer perimeters of the Finnegan territory. He was calm as he surveyed the land around them. They walked through the trees as Cara kept her eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary. She hadn’t any idea what the pack considered a threat … outside of the obvious.
“Has anything ever happened while you guys were out on patrol?” she asked him, listening to sounds of the forest around them.
Drew chuckled, “You mean other than watching some wolf take on a bear? No, it’s usually pretty quiet out here. We’re too high up and away from everything. Humans come up to hike the trails every once in a while but rarely get near us. There are a few packs in the area but they’re all a few days hike away.”
“So have you visited any other packs?” she wondered.
“I have a few times. Negotiation stuff on my father’s behalf.”
“Sounds like you have a bit of ruthlessness in you. It balls to bargain with wolves.”
Drew smiled, “Is that a trait you like to see in your mate?”
And there it was.
Hurting Drew, his feelings, his ego … it was the last thing Cara wanted to do right before asking his mother her opinion on becoming the newest member of the pack. The questions rolling around in her mind were endless. She wondered what would happen if she and Titan began their relationship and failed. How could she possibly trust another man, another wolf, when they’d all disappointed her?
“I honestly don’t know what I’m looking for in a mate anymore,” she told him. She was going to soften the blow, but being indecisive wasn’t likely to be enough.
“Do you want to know what I want in a mate?” he asked her with a raised eyebrow.
While she wanted to roll her eyes and drop the subject, she indulged him, shaking her head silently.
Drew took a deep breath, “Of course I’d want her to be beautiful. I’d need for her to listen and to obey the command of her alpha. I want her to be able to defend herself, our home, and our children. She should know how to hunt and our sex life is going to be spectacular.”
Cara couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “Have you told your parents any of this?”
“No!” he turned away from her, “They wouldn’t get it.”
“Why not? Of everyone you know, they should get it the most. I’m no expert, but I can tell that’s wrong,” she laughed, “While your mate is hunting, cooking, taking care of you and your children, all while defending your lair from all the evils of the world, what do you plan on doing?”
“Well, she won’t be defending the home by herself. I’ll be the protector and I’ll also be out expanding our land, picking up territory after territory so we have the space we need to grow our pack. One day I plan on having the largest pack outside of the Council.”
“Lofty goals you got there. But I wish you luck on them, and I hope you find the right girl to take that journey with you,” she tossed in for good measure. It was a subtle hint, but a hint she hoped he’d get.
While she wasn’t sure if she was clear enough with Drew to make him understand she didn’t have the slightest interest in being his marital sex slave, it didn’t stop him from talking her ear off trying to make what he said okay. It wasn’t. She didn’t know any woman or wolf in their right mind who’d tolerate that kind of behavior. Perhaps there was someone out there who’d break him into reality. The woman who could do that would be a modern marvel.
They continued their tour around the perimeter of the territory. It was all beginning to blur for Cara. Boredom was settling in. Until she picked up a scent in the air. Inhaling deep, it was faint but yet, still familiar. Looking around, she turned in different directions to see if there was something noticeable that would reveal the origin of the odor.
“You smell that?” she asked Drew.
He spotted something on the ground. Kneeling down he ran his fingers over the dirt, picked it up and let it sift through his fingers. The scent was there too.
“Yeah, I think you should head back to the cabins. Tell Nathan and Perry to get out here. Northeast quadrant, sector,” he stood up gazed at the sky and then around him, “Sector 5. There may be some new wolves but it’s not a lot.”
“All it took was one to get into it with my old pack,” she sighed looking around. Cara wrapped her arms around herself as if a chill ran over her body.
Drew walked toward her, rubbing her shoulders he told her, “Everything is going to be fine. They could just be passing through. The trail is faint but I don’t want to leave anything up to chance. Do you know the way back?”
“Yeah, I can manage,” she told him.
“Good, I’d hate to think of you being lost out here or something. I’m looking forward to us getting to know each other, more intimately,” the deepened tone of his voice let her know exactly where his mind was headed.
“Drew,” she couldn’t hold back anymore, “Drew please understand that I don’t want to hurt you. I love that you’re so passionate about what you want. That's a great thing all of you Finnegan boys have in common. But because I’m not decided, I don’t want you waiting around for me. I have so many of my own issues, hang-ups and baggage to deal with that I wouldn’t feel right saddling anybody with that until I got a handle on it myself.”
“Hmm, any chance if you felt something magnetic toward a potential mate you would change your mind?” he asked reluctantly.
“I’d throw my problems on my mate in a heartbeat because when the love is true, you can help each other get through just about anything together. But I won’t know that until I feel it. The bond I share with my mate has to be ... ,” she lost her train of thought as the scent hit her again. It was so familiar it began to distract her.
“I get it,” Drew told her, “You
sound just like Titan. But go ahead. Tell the guys to get out here. Be careful.”
Cara did just that, turning around she began the hike back toward the compound. It didn’t take her long and she didn’t have as much trouble getting back as she thought she would. She was learning the forest. Every tree’s distinctive bark pattern gave her an idea of exactly where she was. It was another reason for her to stay.
Walking into the cabins, she headed back toward Anna’s cabin where she last saw the guys running around with the pups. Taylor was the only wolf there.
“Hey, Taylor?” his energy made her wonder about how he felt. The stoic glare in his eyes refused to reveal anything much more than contempt.
“What do you want?” he asked her snidely.
“I was just out on patrol with Drew-”
He scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Does Titan know that?”
Cara let the remark roll off her as she told him, “I was out on patrol when we picked up the scent of some other wolves. He said it doesn’t seem like much but just to be sure he wanted Nathan and Perry to head out to the northeast quadrant.”
“Sector?” the irritation in his voice was surprising.
“Five,” she said flatly.
“Fine,” he murmured as he took off running. He howled and barked toward the other cabins. Soon two other wolves were by his side as they headed back in the direction Cara had just come from.
“I wonder if they all feel like him and Shelly?” she spoke aloud but it was to herself. Cara never had any intention on someone answering her.
Turning around, however, Kristin stood there with a warm smile on her face, “They don’t all feel like them, but they will have questions. We all do.”
“I’m ready to answer whatever you’d like to know,” Cara said.
Kristin nodded, “Of course you are. You’d like to mate with Titan. You don’t have to disagree with me. And you don’t have to say anything. I know my son and I can see it in your eyes when you two are near each other. It’s a look I know all too well.”
The Wolf's Temptation (Alpha Wolves of Myre Falls Book 2) Page 14
