Reclaiming the Wolf (Cascade Shifters Book 1)

by Jessie Donovan

  Sy’s hand stopped caressing her, but only to wrap his arms around her and hug her tight. He kissed the top of her head and said, “Do you want to see your present now?”

  She wanted to scream, “No!” and simply lie against his chest all night. Maybe even sleep in his arms, but it was too soon for her to make any claim on him. While his body obviously wanted her, she wasn’t quite sure about his heart.

  Kaya brushed her hand through the hair on his chest and forced herself to not act as if the sex had been anything more mutual orgasms. Keeping her voice light, she said, “As long as it’s not a dog muzzle, then I suppose so.”

  She loved hearing the rumble inside his chest as he laughed. “No, as much as it’d be handy to have, it’s not a muzzle.” He lightly tapped her ass. “But in order for me to get it, you need to get up. Strong as I am, I don’t think I can manage to keep us joined as I stand up, walk across the room, and search through my bag.”

  Smiling, she pushed up until she could meet his eyes. “What, you’re not invincible anymore? I seem to remember a teenage boy telling me he could do anything as long as he got a little creative.”

  Sy grinned and the sight warmed her heart. “That teenage boy was a dumbass. It took him a long time to realize it.”

  She laughed. “Good to see the man version of him can admit it.”

  She moved to stand up but Sy kept his arms wrapped around her. “How about a kiss as a reward?”

  “For telling me what I already knew?”

  “Is that a no? Then in that case...”

  He tickled her sides and Kaya couldn’t stop laughing. “Stop it...Sylas...”

  He stopped and took her lips in a rough, possessive kiss. When he pulled away, he lightly slapped her ass again and released his hold on her. “Stand up before I change my mind and keep you in my lap all night long.”

  She almost said that was what she wanted too, but she’d been hurt once before by this male and she didn’t want it to happen again. Until she was sure of Sy’s intentions and ability to withstand the scrutiny of a cross-species pairing, she would keep her deepest growing desire—for Sylas to be her mate, to help with her loneliness, and to always stand by her side—to herself.

  She stood up and placed her hands on her hips. “Okay, so where’s my present?”

  ~~~

  Missing Kaya’s weight and heat on his lap, Sy wanted nothing more than to go over and haul her back, but he wasn’t about to be selfish. As a teenager, he had always taken what he wanted and never really considered Kaya’s needs until she had mentioned them. If he was to ever show he was worthy of being her mate, then he needed to show her how he’d really changed.

  He’d made a good start with supporting her earlier by doing her errands, but it wasn’t enough. He needed her to be able to trust him with her heart. One way to do that was to please her wolf and get it on his side.

  Ignoring his cock’s desire to toss Kaya down and fuck her again, he moved across the room and took out a small paper bag from his satchel. He held it out. “Here.”

  She walked over and took the bag. Looking inside, she frowned. “Is this a dog collar?”

  “Yes, but look under the collar.”

  She darted a “look” at him before reaching into the bag and pulling out the cell phone placed inside a belt clip.

  Sy said, “If we set the phone to vibrate, attached the heavy-duty clip to the collar, and then put the collar around your neck in wolf form, you’ll always know when someone’s trying to get a hold of you. Then it’s just a matter of shifting, removing the collar, and making the call. I already took the liberty of informing Erika, Kian, and some of the others about the new number to call if you don’t answer your usual cell number.”

  She stared at the collar and phone in her hands, and he started to wonder if he’d done something wrong. “Kaya? You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to. It was just a spur of the moment idea so I could run with you, but I can stay human and handle the calls while you run, if you’d rather do that.”

  Kaya rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “No, no, it’s thoughtful of you, Sy. It’s so simple, but it never would’ve crossed my mind to do something like this.”

  He hugged her tight against his body, loving the way she fit against him. “Oh, I think I know how you can thank me later.”

  She looked up. “Sylas.”

  He grinned and she smiled back at him. He was tempted to tease her some more, but he glanced at the clock on the far wall and noticed the time. “If you want to go for a run, Kaya, we need to leave. Go clean-up and be ready in five minutes.”

  She gave him a squeeze. “Yes, sir.”

  She released her hold and headed for the bedroom. He watched her tight, round ass until it disappeared behind the bathroom door.

  Now that Kaya had accepted his gift, his cougar was anxious to come out to play too. His cat remembered what it’d been like before and was more than ready to tangle with the wolf, like in the old days, and see what new tricks she had up her sleeve.

  ~~~

  In wolf form, Kaya waited patiently as Sy secured the collar-slash-phone contraption around her neck. The instant he was done, she ran to the side of the clearing and then sniffed the bushes and flowers around the edges to see what she could find.

  She’d missed the chance to be outside and do something as simple as run in her wolf form. She wasn’t a cat shifter, but if she had been, she’d be purring right about now.

  Sy was still squatting on his haunches in human form with a smile on his face as he watched her dart around. Running back over to him, she licked his face in gratitude for bringing her here to a shifter-designated forest across the lake from Seattle. He laughed, and then scratched her jaw with one hand and behind her ear with the other. Since it was just Sy here with her, she let her tongue loll out in contentment.

  He dropped his hands to pat her sides and said, “Now, go for a run, Kaya-love. We should probably head back in about an hour to make sure you have enough time to go over your researchers’ files and get some sleep before your meeting in the morning.”

  She looked at him and let out a yip. When he shook his head and said, “I don’t speak wolf,” she grabbed the hem of his shirt with her teeth and tugged, hoping he’d understand what she wanted.

  He pet her head and said, “Do you want the cougar to come out to play?” She barked again, and he stood up. “Okay, but just don’t expect me to behave like one of your wolves. Us cats like to be sneaky rather than confrontational.”

  She gave a low growl and he laughed. “Okay, okay. I’ll admit that some cats can be confrontational.”

  He tugged off his shirt and she sat down on her haunches. She wanted to watch him shift.

  Once Sy stood unabashedly naked under the moon, he closed his eyes in concentration, which was a display of trust she didn’t miss.

  His body started to change shape as his arms elongated into paws, his head morphed into a feline head with large teeth, and a long, tan tail grew out of his backside. Within seconds, a large male cougar with a tan coat, green eyes, and a pink nose covered in dark spots stood in front of her. He let out a “cougar-chirp” that sounded like a big cat’s meow and she charged at him, anxious to play.

  She managed to tumble him to the ground, but he outweighed her and easily regained the upper hand. He’d nearly pinned her to the ground when she escaped and darted to the far side of the clearing. She barked and took off into the woods.

  As Sy chased her, Kaya felt some of the weight she’d been carrying on her shoulders disappear. To be able to run in her wolf-form was a special kind of joy that she’d been denying too much as of late.

  There might be a possible threat to her clan, but thanks to Sy and his little contraption around her neck, she was able to take a brief break to unwind and get her mind ready for tomorrow. And she could do it all while still being available to her clan if they needed her.

  Erika had tried hard to take care of her
over the last three years since Kaya had become clan leader, but Kaya had still outranked her. Erika could never truly make her do anything, but Sylas Murray was outside her pack structure, and he damn well knew it. He wasn’t afraid to push her to do something she would’ve brushed aside as unimportant, such as letting her wolf free, when in reality, it was extremely important to her mental health and her ability to face tough situations.

  As they chased and tumbled over the next hour, playing the most juvenile of shifter games, Kaya was happier than she’d been in a long time. If things went well tomorrow at Markgen, and her clan was protected, she decided to risk her heart again with Sy and see what happened.

  She’d never met anyone like him, and she doubted she’d ever do so again.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next morning, Sy stretched out his muscles in his cougar form. First he reached out with his front paws and extended his claws. Then he half stood to stretch his hind legs and claws. After a long yawn, he blinked his eyes and jumped down from his bed to check on Kaya. He’d very nearly curled up against her back in his cougar form, but he had finally decided not to so she could get some sleep. If he had entered her bedroom and lain on her bed, the temptation to shift back into a man and take her again, this time to savor every inch of her body, would’ve been too great.

  As a shifter male, his restraint only went so far.

  He stopped to peek into Kaya’s room, but it was empty. Since he didn’t hear any sounds coming from her attached bathroom, he went to the kitchen. It was also empty, but the smell of brewed coffee told him Kaya had been here already. He spotted the message scribbled on the white board on the fridge. I left early. I’ll call you when I’m done with my meeting.

  He knew Kaya had a job to do, but he felt a little pang of disappointment at knowing she’d already gone.

  Still, she had an entire clan’s future riding on her back and she couldn’t always do what she wanted. After working for years with his brother, Kian, he knew that better than most.

  Sy gave one last cat stretch before he imagined his paws becoming arms, his teeth receding, and his tail merging back into his spine. The familiar flash of pleasure and pain coursed through his body before he was human again.

  After pouring his coffee, he booted up his laptop. He had some clan stuff to do before his visit with DS Engineering’s branch office later today, but he had fifteen or twenty minutes to work on his surprise for Kaya.

  Just as he opened up his document on his computer, his cell phone rang. He reached across the table, glanced at the screen to see it was Erika from GreyFire and tapped the receive button. “Yes?”

  “Kaya’s in her meeting, isn’t she?”

  “She’s not here and she left a note saying she was going to it. Why?”

  “I can’t get a hold of her, and I really need to.”

  Sy didn’t like the desperation in Erika’s voice. While he was technically an outsider, he decided to ask, “What’s wrong?”

  She paused, and he thought she wasn’t going to answer, but then she let out a breath and said, “I don’t think I should tell you, but since Kaya told me to call you if I can’t get a hold of her this morning, I have no choice.”

  He’d think about the importance of that statement later. For now, he fell back on his training in both the army and as his brother’s second. He steeled his voice and said, “Then tell me.”

  She huffed a little into the phone, but he knew she’d give in rather than disobey her clan leader. “Several of our clan members have started showing symptoms similar to the infected wolf-shifters.”

  “How many?”

  “Five so far, but it won’t be long before their families and friends start displaying the same symptoms since the virus is airborne in living wolf-shifters.”

  “Did you find any connections between the five infected shifters?”

  “Yes. They all work as cleaners for the research labs. If that wasn’t enough, they haven’t seen one of their co-workers since the infected wolf pup disappeared. The woman’s name is Jenna and she recently lost her pup to an accident. If she decided to use this new one to replace it, she’s probably already attached and would most likely forfeit her life before giving up the infected child.”

  Just as he’d suggested earlier. “Okay, so we have a suspect, which is great, but what about a cure? Have your researchers been able to use the cougar-shifter blood to concoct something?”

  “I hadn’t gotten that far yet. But yes, they’ve narrowed down some of the cougar-shifter antibodies that offer protection against the virus. This morning a test on some samples was promising, but not yet definitive. It could be weeks before they have something they can be sure will kill or protect against the virus.”

  They didn’t have weeks.

  But then Sy had an idea. “Medical research is not my strong point, so shoot me down if need be, but what about transfusing a cougar-shifter’s blood into one of the wolves? Would that offer the necessary protection since none of the cougar-shifters have shown symptoms despite direct contact with the infected?”

  “Giving a wolf-shifter cougar blood is risky. From past experiments, we know it could kill them.”

  “Well, all of the infected will die anyway. You should at least give them the option.”

  The line went silent again. He hated having conversations over the phone. At least face-to-face he could read facial cues and body language. His inner cougar wanted to assess where Erika was on the dominance scale so the cat could plan his attack.

  Thankfully, Erika’s voice came back on the line before he snapped at her. “Fine. I have no idea if it’ll work or not, but I’ll consult with some of our specialists and if they think it may have a positive effect, then we’ll give the infected people the option.”

  “Good. Does my brother know about the pup’s disappearance?”

  Erika sounded irritated when she replied. “Of course he does. Look, I’m only talking with you because Kaya said I had to do it. You really don’t have any sway over what happens within GreyFire, so stop pretending you do.”

  His instincts told him she wasn’t telling the whole truth. “What did Kaya say exactly? And don’t lie, as you know as well as I do that she won’t tolerate it.”

  Erika growled. “Cougar, you’re pushing my limits.”

  “Just tell me, wolf.”

  “Fine. She declared a temporary power share with you.”

  Sy blinked, not expecting that answer. When a clan leader declared a power share it meant the person they shared it with could make decisions on behalf of the clan if they became incapacitated.

  Frankly, he couldn’t believe Kaya had done it since it was a tremendous responsibility. The fact she had, told him volumes about how she was starting to see him.

  Although, truth be told, Sy had a small niggling that she’d done it to ensure the truce between GreyFire and DarkStalker would continue to grow closer in the future. Not everyone shared Kaya’s vision on the three shifter clans of the Cascade Mountains working together.

  Of course, he doubted he’d ever need to use the power share to take charge. Kaya would be back later today.

  He said, “Okay, then. For now, you’re right; you don’t have to listen to me. But you do have to keep me in the loop until Kaya checks in. If anything—anything at all—happens, let me know.”

  There was a pause before Erika said, “You’re sleeping with her again, aren’t you?”

  His inner cougar growled. “That is Kaya’s business and has nothing to do with the situation in your clan. Go talk with your specialists about the cougar-shifter blood transfusions before the infected get any sicker.”

  He clicked off his phone before Erika could argue any further. He doubted if he was a wolf-shifter she would’ve held the same reservations about Kaya declaring a power share with him. And right now, he didn’t have time for that species-bias bullshit.

  He glanced at the clock on his computer. Damn, the call with Erika had taken up his free time.
If he was going to make his eleven a.m. appointment, he needed to start getting ready.

  Sy headed for his room. If the blood transfusions worked, that would buy both the GreyFire researchers and Kaya some time.

  He really hoped Dave succeeded in hacking into Markgen’s network and discovering something that would lead them to a cure. True, finding incriminating evidence might lead to Kaya sneaking into Markgen and putting her life in danger, but he knew he couldn’t stop her. One of the reasons he cared for Kaya was because of her take-charge attitude and her ability to follow through.

  He really hoped she asked for his help. He wanted to support her, but he couldn’t be a submissive male who did whatever she asked. He wanted to be able to act on something without forever checking in with her. A break-in to Markgen might force him to share that fact sooner rather than later.

  But he only wanted to help Kaya because if anything happened to the GreyFire wolves, it would destroy the woman he was starting to care for again and that thought made his cougar snarl. Both Sy and his cat wanted her to be happy.

  And they would do anything to make that happen, provided they could do it together as a team.

  ~~~

  Kaya sat inside Markgen’s main building at a long conference table inside one of the meeting rooms, her two GreyFire researchers on either side of her. Security for the parking lot and the main building had been much laxer than she’d anticipated. Of course, that made her a little nervous. Anytime something was too easy, there always seemed to be a catch.

  While her inner wolf paced inside her head, Kaya kept up her cool, collected mien; her black pantsuit and hair pulled into a bun screamed business professional. Since too many people liked to dismiss shifters as animals, over the years Kaya had learned that a good suit and heels could unsettle a human just as much as baring her teeth.