Crying Wolf, Shoot for the Moon, Thrown to the Wolves

by Rochelle Paige

  “Fuck,” he swore, resting his head against mine. “You’re not good for my self-control.”

  I was still trying to catch my breath, so it took me a moment to respond. “Maybe I like making you let go. You’re always so disciplined around everyone else. I like knowing you’re different around me.”

  “They need me to be in control,” he explained. “It’s part of my job, a part of who I am.”

  “But it’s not what I need from you,” I told him. Then I reached up and stroked his face, looking deep into his eyes. “I know you like to be the one in charge of, well, just about everything. And I’m surprisingly okay with that for the most part, considering my past. But I think it’s because you let me see a different side of you. Your vulnerability.”

  “I only have one. You,” he admitted.

  “And knowing I have the power to bring a strong man like you to his knees has done more to build my confidence back up than anything else. You’ve helped piece me back together.”

  “It’s only fair since I’ve been waiting for you to make me whole,” he whispered. “That’s why I wanted the first time I made love to you to be special. Not me taking you rough and fast on my kitchen table, for fuck’s sake.”

  “I liked our quickie on the table,” I reassured him. “But I’m certainly open to you giving slow and gentle in your bed a try too.”

  “You’re on,” he growled before lifting me off the table and marching to his room, where he proceeded to show me that he didn’t need much recovery time.

  Seven

  Hunter

  The following week was fairly quiet. I had the one thing I’d wanted since I’d met Grace—she was finally by my side and in my bed. But that didn’t mean I’d let my guard down—not when she was in danger. It gave me the perfect reason to keep her close. We spent nearly every hour together. I was at the bar for all of her shifts, and the few times I had to leave for pack business, Parker was there to cover her.

  I knew she was worried about her ex because she wasn’t sleeping well and she didn’t argue about being moved into my home. It was a lucky thing too since my home was easily defensible. My pack knew every inch of the woods surrounding the house, and each night, they patrolled the area in wolf form. If Grace’s ex thought he could get close to her there, he was in for a big surprise.

  Keeping her safe wasn’t as easy as it could be, though, because I hadn’t figured out how to tell her about my wolf yet. Her ex had taught her to be wary of men, and I didn’t know how she would react. How ironic was that? The big, bad alpha of the Black River Pack was scared of one little woman. She didn’t even know the power she held over me and the fate of my people. With the next full moon drawing closer, I knew I was running out of time, and I promised myself I would tell her when we got home tonight. Only I didn’t get the chance because hell on Earth visited me as we drove home from the bar.

  One minute, I was listening to my favorite sound in the world—Grace’s laugh—and the next, I was trying to gain control of the truck. In the split second my attention was turned from the road to Grace’s smiling face, someone careened out of nowhere and T-boned us. There had been no warning—just the jarring impact on my side of the truck and the sound of crunching metal. Then the windshield splintered, sending shards of glass everywhere. I threw my arm out in an attempt to brace my mate right before we came to a screeching halt when we slammed into a tree.

  If I weren’t a powerful wolf shifter, the damage from the accident would most likely have killed me. As it was, the harm was bad enough that I had difficulty shaking it off. I did a quick assessment of my injuries: several bones were broken and I had a concussion. The loss of blood was a complication I didn’t need, odds were one of my broken ribs had punctured a lung, and it was difficult to breathe. I needed to shift to speed up the healing process, and I’d never regretted anything more than my decision to hold off telling Grace about my wolf, because now, she was going to see it for herself with no warning.

  First, I needed to make sure she was okay. After pulling off my seat belt, I turned to her seat and my heart dropped upon seeing her closed eyes. I listened carefully, and a wave of overwhelming relief assailed me when I heard the beating of her heart. Several cuts on her face were oozing blood, and her air bag had deployed. I could only hope my arm had been enough to stop the damage the bag could have caused to her small frame.

  The slamming of a car door drew my attention away from Grace. A low growl emerged from deep in my throat, and my wolf came close enough to the surface I could feel his fur brushing against my skin. It was a warning: danger was near.

  Grace’s safety was my first concern, so I snapped off her seat belt and reached over her to shove the passenger’s door open. Once I’d scooped her up and was cradling her in my arms, I climbed out of the car. Pain racked my body, and my head was swimming.

  I could hear footsteps as someone slowly made their way to the truck. The tree line was too far away for me to make it while carrying Grace in my current condition. I had no choice—I needed to let my wolf out and I needed to do it now.

  Kneeling on the ground, I peered under the truck and saw only one person approaching us. I made a snap decision and gently rolled Grace under the truck. Hopefully, it would provide her with enough shelter if things went horribly wrong. As the footsteps drew closer, I traced her cheek with my fingertips before pulling away and ripping off my clothes. Power surged through my body and the beast inside was set free, hungry for revenge against those who dared harm his mate.

  The blond man who crept quietly around the truck wasn’t expecting to encounter a giant, black wolf as he stalked Grace. I recognized him instantly from Grace’s description and the photos Spencer had shared with me. Odds were Sam had been hoping that the accident was going to incapacitate me so I would be out of the picture. Luckily for me, the bastard was out of luck. Karma was a bitch to assholes, and he certainly deserved what was coming.

  “Holy shit,” he whispered. His eyes opened wide in fear and the coward stopped dead in his tracks. Then he glanced down and his eyes darted to Grace’s still form.

  Growling threateningly, I moved between him and Grace. When I bared my teeth, the smell of urine drifted my way. The little bastard had no problem hitting defenseless women, but when faced with a real threat, he pissed his pants.

  I watched out of lupine eyes as he slowly began to back away from us, his hands raised in the air in a gesture of defeat. But I wasn’t satisfied with his submissive behavior or the fear in his eyes. My wolf wanted to rip his throat out for what he had put Grace through. In our animal form, shifters felt everything more acutely. Harnessing my rage would be nearly impossible, but first, he needed to understand why he was going to die. My shift had done its job and my body had been healing at a startling rate due to the additional surge of adrenaline my anger had sent through my bloodstream.

  Reaching for control, I soothed the beast with the promise of retribution for our mate before transforming back into my human form. Sam dropped to his knees before me in shock. He was trembling and sobbing by this point. Standing naked before him, my rage bubbled at the thought of Grace cowering from him in the past.

  “Oh my god,” he was chanting under his breath. “This isn’t real. It can’t be real.”

  I chuckled darkly, but there was no mistaking the lack of humor in my tone. “Don’t worry. You won’t remember any of this in a few minutes.”

  Hope leapt in his eyes as he misunderstood what I was saying. “You can wipe my memory?” he gasped.

  I shook my head as I narrowed the distance between us. “No, there won’t be any need for that even if I could. You’ll be dead.”

  “Please,” he begged. “Just let me go. I swear I won’t tell and I’ll never come back.”

  “And why should I do that? If I kill you, then I get the same results since you wouldn’t be able to tell and you wouldn’t bother us again either. Killing you means I’d have the added benefit of not having to worry about you goin
g back on your word.”

  “But Grace,” he babbled. “She’d never forgive you for killing me.”

  I laughed at his feeble attempt to use Grace as a shield. “Do you really think Grace cares if you live or die? You hurt her, threatened her, stalked her, and could have killed her yourself tonight.”

  Spencer and several other members of my pack drew near and howled into the night. They must have arrived at the house and realized something had gone wrong when Grace and I didn’t arrive on time. Sam’s head jerked as he looked around us in the direction of their howls. Then he swiveled back to me and his terror showed in his eyes.

  “Grace is soft,” he argued. “She wouldn’t be able to live with my death on her conscience.”

  “Not if she never knew,” I pointed out, nodding in her direction. “She’s breathing but not awake right now. I could rip your throat out and feed you to my wolves before she ever knew anything happened. All she needs to know is that we were just in a car accident.”

  “I’m a cop!” he cried. “You kill me and my fellow officers will come looking. They’ll hunt you down for being a cop-killer and you’ll face the death penalty.”

  “And that’s where you fucked up, because they don’t know where you are, do they? As far as anyone at your department thinks, you’re out of town because of a family emergency. Who knows how long you’d have to be gone before anyone begins to search for you?”

  Spencer howled again as they circled the site of the accident. I raised my hand, signaling to my pack that I had everything under control. Whatever happened next was on me. Sam was Grace’s problem. As her mate, it was my responsibility—and pleasure—to take care of him for her.

  As I lowered my hand, Sam’s arm crept behind his back. Then he whipped a gun out from behind his back, and the decision of what to do about him was taken from me. I couldn’t risk a bullet hitting Grace. The truck offered her some protection, but even if the wound wasn’t fatal, she wouldn’t heal as quickly as I would. He could do serious damage to her.

  I dove for Sam, transforming into my wolf in midair. Before he had a chance to pull the trigger, I bit down on his arm and shook. As soon as the weapon dropped to the ground, I went for his throat. One clamp of my powerful jaws and his neck snapped. Then I released him and his dead body dropped to the ground.

  Spencer approached slowly, already changed back to his human form. Standing naked with my brother over the dead body of my mate’s ex-boyfriend had to be one of the most surreal moments of my life.

  “You did the right thing,” he reassured me. “He was the kind of guy who never would have given up on hunting Grace.”

  “Schutz unter allen Umständen,” I muttered—the oath our father had taught us as children about protecting our mates.

  Spencer clamped his hand on my shoulder and nodded towards my truck. “Get Grace home safely. We’ll take care of this for you.”

  “You know your brother really loves you when he’s willing to get rid of the dead body for you,” I joked lamely.

  “I’m not just your brother—I’m also your beta. And it’s my privilege to help our alpha protect the pack. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time we’ve had to do something like this and it probably won’t be the last.”

  “Life as a shifter is never easy, is it?” I asked.

  “Nothing worth having ever is,” he said as he hefted the body over his shoulder.

  “Make sure there’s no trace he was here,” I reminded him as he loaded Sam’s body into the car he’d used to hit us.

  “I know what I’m doing,” he grumbled. “Besides, I’m the sheriff, so if anyone was going to investigate this crime, it would be me, so we’re fine even if they somehow manage to trace him here.”

  I heard Grace groan and turned to see her eyes fluttering open. Then I flung open the door of my to grab the gym bag I kept there for when I needed clothes in a hurry and threw on a pair of running pants. The remaining wolves melted into the woods, and Spencer started the engine and took off as quickly as possible.

  “What happened?” Grace muttered in a low tone.

  I gently slid her out from under the car and leaned over her to make sure she was okay. “We were in an accident. Don’t move. The ambulance should be here soon.”

  “I’m fine,” she complained. “I don’t want to go to the hospital.”

  I heard the sirens in the distance as I kneeled down next to her. “They’re going to check you out, and if they say you need a trip to the hospital, then that’s where we’re going.”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “I don’t have any serious injuries. Just a few scratches,” I assured her.

  “But where’s your shirt?” she asked as the ambulance arrived, Parker pulling up right behind them.

  “Torn in the wreck and I used it to clean up some of the blood,” I said, explaining it away.

  The paramedics checked us both over. They wanted to take Grace to the hospital, and I insisted on riding with her. The trip to the emergency room was relatively quick and she was discharged into my care with a concussion. By the time we made it back to my house, she’d fallen asleep in the passenger’s seat, so I carried her into the house and got her settled in my bed in her nightgown of choice—one of my shirts.

  “What a strange night,” she murmured. “Thanks for taking such good care of me.”

  “Always, Gracie-mine,” I promised as I climbed into bed beside her.

  “I could have lost you tonight. In the blink of an eye, my whole world would have changed,” she whispered.

  “I know it’s scary, but I’m right here with you, Grace,” I assured her.

  “Make me feel alive, Hunter,” she demanded as she pulled my head down.

  She wiggled out of my shirt, and I pinched one of her nipples between my thumb and forefinger and rolled it around until she was writhing beneath me.

  “Hunter,” she gasped, opening her legs and wrapping them around my waist.

  I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth and her hips twitched in response. I could feel her wet heat, and my cock jumped as a spot of pre-come dripped from the tip. When I felt her hands tugging at my pants, I switched my attention to the other side and sucked until the tip of her nipple touched the roof of my mouth.

  “I need to lick you, suck you, devour you,” I growled as I swept her panties down her legs and pushed them apart.

  I held her in place as I kissed my way down her body. Brushing my lips lightly over her clit, I teased her by blowing hot air onto her damp flesh. Her delicious scent of arousal grew stronger, and I gave in to my need and flattened my tongue over her pussy lips, tasting her wetness.

  “Hunter, please take me now,” she begged, writhing in my hold.

  I felt her hands fist in my hair before she tugged, trying to dislodge me. I wasn’t ready to give up her taste yet, so I lifted her legs higher and spread her open with my fingers. Her hands loosened and she moaned when I flicked her clit. Letting go of her legs, I slipped my fingers through her wet folds and sank two inside her.

  “Need to make you come first with my mouth,” I rasped, pumping my fingers inside her pussy and alternating between sucking her clit into my mouth and flicking it with my tongue.

  Her walls clenched against my fingers, so I hooked my fingers and rubbed against the spongy area that was sure to make her come. Her hips surged up and she screamed out my name, her pussy pulsing around my fingers.

  “Ich beanspruche dich als meine Gefährtin, von jetzt an bis in alle Ewigkeit,” I growled as I sank into her in one long stroke, uttering the words that would tie me to her forever.

  Light burst behind my eyes and all of my senses expanded. My cock was sheathed in her wetness, her pussy so tight around me that I could feel each beat of her heart. I held still, fighting for control as the urge to mark her pounded through me.

  “So good,” she whispered huskily.

  “Need to fuck you now,” I warned since this wasn’t going to be gentle.
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br />   Wrapping my hands around her wrists, I lifted her hands above her head. I clasped them in one fist and brought my other hand down to hook her leg and lift it higher around my waist. With her body wide open to mine, I hammered into her over and over again. Her body was shuddering underneath me, and her eyes were glazed over with passion. The need to dominate drove me, and I set about a punishing pace of strokes that bottomed out each time, the tip of my cock bumping against her cervix. I needed to come inside her, fill her with my seed.

  “Won’t last much longer,” I warned when I felt a tingling begin at the base of my spine.

  “Now,” she groaned, and her pussy clenched, gripping my cock with each pulse and sending me over the edge as she screamed out my name.

  I planted my cock deep as my climax roared through me, stronger than anything I’d ever felt before. My heart thundered in my chest and a growl erupted from my throat. I buried my head in a pillow to muffle the sound, not wanting to scare Grace, my beautiful mate who deserved to know about the side of myself I’d kept hidden from her.

  I gathered her in my arms and kissed the top of her head. “Grace,” I whispered, tilting her head up so I could look her in her eyes while I tried to find the right words to explain my wolf to a woman who didn’t know shifters even existed, but she’d already fallen asleep.

  She just snuggled deeper into my arms and sighed deeply, a smile on her beautiful face. Curling my arm tightly around her, I knew things weren’t settled between us. I wasn’t sure how much she had even seen tonight, and there hadn’t been enough time for her to fully process what had happened. But the uncertainty didn’t stop the low growl of contentment that rolled up my chest. She loved me enough to be here right now, and that was enough for me. I’d find a way to convince her to accept my mark. I had to.

  Eight

  Grace

  I woke up screaming, terrified of the images invading my dreams: shattering glass, blood flowing, wolves howling. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, and my head was pounding.