by T. S. Joyce
Dalton took a left onto the now familiar turnoff for the cabin that would soon be theirs. “Oh, yeah?”
“I’m making cookies for all my neighbors in honor of warm weather. Little yellow frosted suns.”
“Of course you are.”
“And I’ll be packing up and will be completely boring between that and work. You probably won’t even think about me when you are in the bush with your bachelor clients, drinking beers, cooking out, fishing until your heart’s content.”
“False, I’m going to be one moody asshole out there. I may have to pick a fight with a grizzly just to sate my wolf. I know we’ll have to get used to being apart like Jenner and Lena did, but adjusting will be hard.”
“What time are you leaving tomorrow?”
“Jenner, Chance, and I are meeting Tobias at the runway outside of Galena at eight in the morning.”
“At least you all get to carpool. Or planepool.”
Dalton snorted at her terrible joke and pulled to a stop in front of the cabin. She met him at the front of the truck and followed him inside. It was as warm as she remembered, and the bed called to her weary bones, but when she pulled off her jacket, Dalton’s eyes were steady and hungry on her in the moonlight that filtered through the big window. She giggled and prepared to tease him for his insatiable appetite, but he approached slowly and rested his hands so lightly on her waist she was stunned into silence. His lips were soft as he pressed them onto hers. Angling his head, he brushed his tongue past her lips. She opened for him, but where he usually worked into a frenzy, he ran his knuckles against her cheek and then turned her slowly in his hands until her back was to his chest.
The rustle of fabric sounded, and then his lips were on her neck, softly kneading her sensitive skin just under her ear as his fingertips brushed up under her sweater. He nipped gently at her skin, then eased away just long and far enough to pull her shirt over her head. And then his lips were there again, kissing, sucking, biting until she closed her eyes to the world and relaxed against him. His chest was bare and warm, and his hands glided easily up her ribcage and to her back, where he unsnapped her bra and pushed it from her arms in one smooth motion. As his hands cupped her breasts, she reached behind her head and gripped the back of his neck as he grazed his teeth on her earlobe.
“Dalton,” she whispered.
He smiled against her skin and ran one of his hands down her stomach and into the front of her scrubs. She writhed against his palm as he slid one finger into her and then a second. He was stretching her, preparing her, but he wasn’t rushing or losing control like he usually did. This was different than it had been between them. It was deeper, slower. He was revering her body with every stroke, every kiss.
With his free hand, he unsnapped his jeans and shucked his pants, and she did the same because she needed to feel his skin against hers.
The first stroke of his long shaft along her spine matched the one he gave her with his fingers, and she gasped at how good he felt. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against his erection as he pushed his fingers into her again. Her body tingled with a numbing warmth as he drove her closer to climax.
His arms shook as he rested his forehead against the back of her head and walked them slowly toward the bed. Kate thought he wanted to take her from behind, but he didn’t. Instead, he turned her, cupped her cheeks, and drove his tongue against hers in a slow, sexy rhythm. Pulling her down with him, he sat on the bed as she straddled his lap and pulled her knees tight against his ribs.
When Dalton eased back, she could see it. His wolf was here in the blazing gold of his eyes, but so was Dalton. He was present in his adoring smile. Slowly, she slid over him until he was buried deep inside of her. She gasped his name when he touched her clit. Easing slowly upward, she hugged his shoulders tightly as his lips moved against hers. She was the sand, and he was gentle waves moving against her, and this was what it was all supposed to feel like. Love, safety, devotion.
He cupped his hand around the back of her neck and rolled them over until he was on top of her, never once separating their skin, never letting her go. “I love you so much,” he whispered.
And she knew what he was feeling. She could almost taste his sadness. Could almost feel his desperation to stay near her every second he could before they were parted tomorrow. He moved within her, slowly, drawing out every stroke until she was lost on wave after wave of pleasure. His powerful stomach flexed against hers with every rock of his hips. And just when his body went rigid, he locked gazes with her. Unable to hold back anymore, orgasm pulsed through her body, each growing deeper until she gasped and arched back. Above her, Dalton pushed into her again and let off a soft, sexy huff of breath as his cock throbbed within her. Streams of wet heat shot into her, over and over, as Dalton jerked his hips. Then he closed his eyes.
And when the last of their aftershocks had faded away, he pulled the comforter over them and held her close, his thrumming pulse steady against her cheek as she drifted off into a beautiful, bottomless sleep, safe and warm in the arms of the man who held her heart.
Chapter Fourteen
“Hey, Kate, do you have a second?” Janice asked. “I really need to talk to you.”
Kate frowned at the open door to room 101. She had a patient waiting on the release paperwork she held in her hands. He was newly stitched and bandaged after a nasty fall off a ladder where his arm had landed on a knife he’d been using to dig a nail out of rotted wooden siding. He was one of those grizzly mountain men who hated town and especially hated hospitals, and if she was being honest, she couldn’t wait to get the grumpy old cuss out of here.
But Janice looked twitchy, and her voice had been tainted with worry.
“What’s wrong?” Kate asked, approaching the check-in desk.
Janice shoved her glasses farther up her nose and cast a quick look around, then slid a folded piece of paper over the counter toward Kate. “Someone brought this for you.”
Kate set her clipboard down and unfolded the letter.
Katherine Hawke,
You should leave. Leave here, leave Alaska. You’re in way over your head. This isn’t a threat. It’s a warning.
Dread froze her in place as she read each terrifying word a second time. There was no signature, and she didn’t recognize the handwriting. It was in all capital letters, dark ink scribbled onto the white paper like the author had stabbed each letter. She would blame Vega for this, but she saw his handwriting every day, and this wasn’t it. Not even close.
“I read that,” Janice said in a frightened whisper. “Kate, that sounds bad. What are you into, child?”
“Janice, who gave this to you?”
“A tall man came in here about fifteen minutes ago, looking around, real rangy. He was older, maybe in his fifties or early sixties, but built like a brick house. Silver hair, matching beard, but there was something strange about his face.”
Leaning closer, Kate asked, “What was it?”
“Long scars down one cheek, like he’d been clawed by an animal. By a bear maybe.”
Claw marks? She didn’t know anyone who fit that description. Why would a complete stranger come in here and give her this ominous warning? She would’ve pretended this was meant for someone else if her danged name wasn’t scribbled across that first line.
“Thanks, Janice,” she said, troubled to her bones as she folded the paper and stuck it in the front pocket of her scrubs.
In a daze, she checked out her patient, had him sign his release forms, told him what to look for and how to care for his wound, then advised him to use a suitable tool, not a knife, on nails in the future. He’d grumbled his thanks and escaped the room before she could even put the paperwork back in order.
She missed Dalton. There it was. If he was here, he would know what to do with this stupid note and hug her and make her feel safe again. But he was out guiding a tour, and even if he called her from a satellite phone, was it fair of her to tell him about the not
e? What could he do about it from the wilderness except worry about her? He’d had enough trouble saying goodbye when she’d gone with him to the airstrip outside of Galena. Tobias Silver had grown impatient with how long Dalton had stalled loading up, and this note wasn’t going to help his protective instincts at all.
Lost in the sea of her churning thoughts, she turned in her paperwork to Janice and made her way into the supply room to grab clean sheets and hand sanitizer to refill the empty dispenser on the wall of room 101.
The door opened and closed behind her, and Kate smiled to herself. Lacy always snuck in here after her to gossip when she had a break between patients.
“Did you get a love note from your pet monster?” Dr. Vega asked, his voice edged with fury.
“That’s none of your business,” she said, turning slowly. She put the folded sheets in front of her like a shield.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Dalton is my business.”
“No, he’s really not, and this is completely inappropriate behavior, Dr. Vega. You can’t keep approaching me like this.” She made to leave, but he stepped in front of the door. His dark eyes looked insane right now, and he’d shaved his thinning hair off completely, making him look more intimidating somehow. “Move.”
“Not until you listen to reason.” He reached forward as if he was going to stroke her cheek, and she flinched away from him. “Pretty angel, fallen from heaven to play with demons. You remind me of my daughter sometimes, Kate. She’s about your age. Pretty, good head on her shoulders. She’s smart, though. Smarter than you.” His voice had gone dreamy, and this was the first she’d ever even heard of his daughter. “Doesn’t it bother you that you are nothing to them? You’re collateral damage. A womb. Your boyfriend isn’t here anymore, is he?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do! He’s gone off to Silver Summit, leaving you unprotected. You aren’t one of them. He tainted you and left you here, and now I can’t fucking stand to look at you. All I want is to work in peace, but you’re here reminding me of them. You’re such a disappointment.”
Fear pounded through her veins with every beat of her heart, and she sidled along the wall as he approached with slow, calculated steps.
She was trapped in here with a psychopath!
“Lacy!” she screamed. “Janice!”
“Oh,” he said, frowning. “Don’t taint them, too.”
With a screech, she threw the sheets at his face and bolted for the door. Just as her hand landed on the knob, Dr. Vega jerked her back by the arm, and in desperation to escape, she reared back and slapped him across the face. There was a moment of stunned silence, and she used it. She twisted the knob and bolted out into the hallway.
Janice was already running toward her, panic in her eyes. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing,” Dr. Vega said, his cheek red from her palm as he came out of the supply room looking completely calm. “She’s just feeling hysterical right now.”
Kate was pressed against the opposite wall of the hallway. Her entire body shook relentlessly as she heaved breath.
“Kate?” Janice asked. Her face said she didn’t believe a word Dr. Vega had said.
Kate’s voice was gone. Her throat tightened around her words, forcing them back down as she struggled for breath and made her way down the wall, farther away from Dr. Vega.
“What did you do to her?” Janice yelled.
“He grabbed me,” Kate choked out. “I want to report him.”
“Hell yeah, we’re reporting this shit,” Janice gritted out, grabbing her wrist. “You’ve lost your mind, Dr. Vega. We’ve put up with a lot over the years, but you won’t get away with this.”
“Kate,” Dr. Vega called. “Kate! Think about what you’re doing. I hold all the cards. I have the power! Me! Kate!” His shoes squeaked across the tile floors behind them. “She slapped me, Janice. She slapped my face. She attacked me. I’m going to report you, Kate. You stupid, fucking, traitor bitch. I’m going to report you! You’ll be fired for what you did to me!”
“Don’t listen to him,” Janice said, tugging Kate behind the check-in desk. She punched a trio of numbers on the phone and said, “Don’t you come another step, you old fool. You’re in deep enough. I’m calling the police.”
Dr. Vega was still coming, so Kate lurched forward and pulled out the pocket knife she kept in her purse. “Don’t you come another step closer. I mean it.”
Dr. Vega paced in front of the counter, and now two patients were peeking out of their rooms. Lacy was trying to usher them back inside, and when Dr. Vega started walking toward her, she ran inside room 102 with a patient and closed the door.
Yelling a terrifying sound of pure rage, Dr. Vega tried to pry the door open.
“Lacy, don’t let him in!” Kate screamed.
Janice was talking low into the phone, telling the dispatcher what was happening. With a look of pure, red-faced fury, Dr. Vega strode back toward them and took a stack of clipboards off the counter, then chucked them at Kate. She took a metal clip edge in the temple and cried out as she stumbled backward. But when her vision cleared, Dr. Vega was running out of the front exit.
Janice shot Kate a terrified look, but she didn’t stop murmuring her account of what was happening into the phone.
Sirens sounded in the distance, and Lacy was suddenly there, murmuring words that made no sense as she probed Kate’s throbbing temple. Kate’s cheek was warm, and stunned, she dragged her gaze from the exit where Dr. Vega had disappeared to the white tile beneath her. Drops of red made tiny splat sounds right beside her sneakers.
Dalton wasn’t the monster.
Dr. Vega was.
Chapter Fifteen
Kate hated moving. Oh sure, she was beyond excited to be in the cabin, but the actual act of moving was a pain in the butt. Add to that three stitches for the cut in her hairline and pain medicine that made her a little groggy, and today wasn’t her favorite.
“Is anyone else coming to help?” Nicole asked as she patted down another strip of masking tape over a full box.
“No. I asked Avril to come, but she declined the invite.”
“Your sister?”
“Yeah. Her husband helped me when I moved into this place, and I thought I could take them out to dinner after we were done. It would be a good excuse to spend some time together, but when I told Avril about moving in with Dalton, she called this ‘just another bad decision in a string of many.’”
“Geez,” Nicole muttered. “She sounds charming.”
Fina twitched in her sleep in the portable swing, and they both went still and quiet, waiting for her to wake up. When she didn’t, Nicole grabbed a marker and wrote Kitchen on the box.
“Thank goodness for you and Link,” Kate said, feeling emotional. “I would be doing this all by myself if you hadn’t offered to help.”
Link was a quiet sort of man, but from the kitchen where he was wrapping plates in thick moving paper, he said, “We’re glad to help. It’s not every day we get a new pack member, and you are doing more for us than you know.”
Kate lowered a heavily wrapped flower vase into a box. “What do you mean?”
Link gave her a look over his shoulder. His eyes were so light gray it had been unsettling at first, but now she was growing used to him.
“I mean you’re giving my wolves a reason to come home.”
She dipped her gaze shyly as warmth flooded her cheeks. It was nice to feel a little needed.
“This wasn’t much of a pack before you came along,” Nicole admitted.
“Dalton told me he kept himself distanced.”
“Yeah, but packs are tricky. One unhappy wolf, and everyone feels it. Deeply. I think Chance wanted us all to be closer like Link did, but Dalton was hurting and kept everyone separate.”
“It feels right now,” Link said, his back to them as though he was talking more to himself.
“It does to me, too,” Nicole sai
d, her marked cheek stretching with a grin. “Plus now I’m not the only human.”
Kate took the tape Nicole offered and fiddled with the sticky edge. “Sometimes this all feels so fast. I mean, when I’m with Dalton, I feel so certain. There is no hesitation, no fear. But he’s been gone almost a week now, and every day he’s away, these stupid little insecurities creep in.”
“Like what?”
“Like am I rushing this? I was really hurt by my ex, and then by Miller. My boss is being horrible to me about my relationship with Dalton, and my sister thinks every decision I make is wrong. I keep thinking maybe I’m desperate for someone to love me properly, you know? But then I close my eyes and think of how I feel around Dalton, and then I think my insecurities are stupid because he’s everything I could’ve ever dreamed of in a man. In a partner. In a best friend. It’s this vicious loop, over and over, making me second-guess everything.”
“Kate, that’s not stupid. That’s natural. It’s different for Link and Dalton. Hell, it’ll be different for Chance if he ever settles down with a human. But for us, we’re not only humans, we’re women. We feel deeply, analyze everything, and when our mates aren’t around to remind us how loved we are, it’s easy to slip into old insecurities.”
Link pulled a box off the counter and set it on the floor by the front door. “For you it feels fast, but I assure you, for Dalton, time is dragging. Our animals have a lot of say in the decisions we make. Maybe if Dalton was human, he would need months, even years, to decide if you’re the one he wants. But it’s not like that for werewolves. For any shifters, really. The animal can see you. Can sense the good in you. Can tell you’re compatible almost immediately. It was the same for me. I obsessed over Nicole, brought her fish and dead rabbits as gifts while I was a wolf, but she didn’t understand my need to be around her and to take care of her. I could see it was confusing for her, even scared her sometimes, but I was driven to keep doing it, anyway.”
“Dead rabbits?”
