Moon Shine (Takhini Wolves)

by Vivian Arend

  The date with Colin on Monday was very much needed. He seemed strong enough to give her physical relief without her wolf becoming pissed off or bored by a weaker partner.

  Solitude and frustration had become her constant companions, and she didn’t expect that to change. She’d been alone for years, and she always would be alone. Expectations of anything more had long ago been burnt away. Her heart was devoid of all but two things—love for pack.

  And vengeance.

  She bent her head and put her fingers to work composing a reply, the fire burning up her spine balanced evenly with the ice in her soul.

  Evan stared at the computer-shop signage, every nerve in his body on high alert. This neighbourhood wasn’t his usual stomping ground, and a computer store? The last place on earth he’d ever go for shits and giggles.

  But the closer he got to Bytes Unlimited, the more agitated his wolf became. He paused across the street in the shadows to scope the place out. Make sure there wasn’t a hidden assault team from the mysterious Canyon pack waiting in ambush.

  Amy might have thought she was safe, but that didn’t mean her Alpha wasn’t checking up on her. Evan needed to get the woman out of danger, his sensation of uneasiness rising by the second.

  Damn the risk to himself, this was happening now.

  Evan strode across the road, jaywalking between moving vehicles. He was at the door in no time, jerking the glass open. Somewhere deep in the shop, a gentle buzzer sounded.

  From the back of the store, two males turned to face him, welcoming smiles melting into rigid grimaces. Before Evan could say a word, the men vanished.

  Gone. Completely.

  It was like the coolest magic trick imaginable, only Evan was more pissed than impressed. He stepped into the shop and closed the door behind him, glancing past shelves that were loaded with computer thingies and plastic packaging.

  “Hello?” he called into the silence.

  And that’s when it hit him.

  Peaches. Sunshine. The aroma of a wind that had crossed miles of seemingly empty tundra—wilderness at its rawest yet full of hidden life. All mixed up into one unique package.

  It was a full-on dose of the scent he’d caught a hint of nearly two weeks ago. His stomach tightened, his heart rate kicked into overdrive. Instinctively his legs carried him forward as he tracked the scent that grew stronger and stronger.

  His mate.

  His mate had been in the computer shop. More than once. Often enough that as he moved toward the cash register and the counter, his head was so full of her he had to work hard to remain alert.

  What was the deal with the missing staff? Evan kept his gaze moving as he silently padded forward. To one side, he spotted a couple of doors that explained where the men had gone, but not the why.

  Until he hit their scent. Wolves.

  Two unfamiliar wolves who vanished when they spotted him? Had to be Canyon pack. He’d deal with them later, though. Spend a little time explaining he wasn’t the enemy.

  The enticing trail led him to the back of the shop and a narrow set of stairs. He moved like a wolf, noiseless and invisible. Sensing which treads to avoid stepping on to maintain absolute silence.

  Easing his way upward was brutal when everything in him demanded that he run. Rush forward and swoop in on the woman who had to be at the top of the stairs.

  His wolf clawed at him, eager for the hunt. Evan wrestled that part of himself under control for long enough to reach the top landing and step through the doorframe.

  The room was filled with her, the open door pushing her intoxicating scent toward him like a sledgehammer to the brain.

  He got a quick glimpse while she was unaware of his presence. Impressions struck like lightning bolts. Short dark hair worn in a simple style that suited her. Smooth creamy-brown skin, similar in shade to his own.

  Lots of naked skin as she sat behind a desk and stared at her computer, and he wasn’t even going to ask why the hell she was working in the nude because she was his mate, and if she chose to wear nothing but skin for the rest of her life, he was oh-so-fine with that.

  Then she looked up, and their eyes met. Pupils widened against her dark brown irises. Her nostrils flared, and if possible, her eyes widened farther.

  “Amy?” Evan moved cautiously.

  His naked goddess didn’t answer. Just blinked, hard, as if in total shock to see him in her office, which made sense.

  He lifted a hand to reassure her—

  She bolted. Twirled and shot through the open door, naked skin transforming in a flash to midnight-black fur.

  He cursed even as he leapt after her, scrambling onto the balcony. The lithe body of a wolf ran full-out down a narrow ledge on the side of the building. Evan stripped his clothes off as quickly as he could, but she’d already hit the ground before he was able to make the shift.

  Chasing her wasn’t a good idea. She’d obviously been shocked enough to flee, and having an Alpha on her tail wasn’t a very nice thing to do to any wolf, especially to one who was afraid.

  But hell if he could let his mate get away again.

  She wasn’t thinking. Wasn’t plotting. Wasn’t doing anything but trying to get the hell away from him.

  How had Evan found her? Amy twisted between the trees, ducked under a low bush. She considered doubling back to hide her trail in case he chose to follow her, but that would take time she didn’t have. Her best bet was to lose him in the distance before he was able to track her.

  She knew these paths, heading north and east on the straightest route possible to the bridge over the river.

  Once on the other side, she had a dozen places where she could vanish. Even as she considered her options, she chastised herself.

  How had everything gone wrong in just the past few hours?

  Her wolf wasn’t cooperating either. The edge of adrenaline she usually got while running was dull this time, as if her wolf had a different agenda. Two parts in one whole, she was the wolf and the wolf was her, but the human mind and the animal’s could and did disagree about what they thought was important.

  Now was not the time for a lengthy internal self-debate.

  Muscles burning with exertion, she tore up the trail, cutting into a clearing where she could choose one of four escapes. She headed to the right in the hopes of disappearing when she was tackled to the ground by the weight of a far heavier wolf.

  Her first response of panic was washed away by an entirely new emotion as she slipped from under him and whirled to face him.

  Evan’s scent wrapped around her, and for a second she froze in utter shock. Comprehension slid in and ensnared her in its icy realization.

  Oh, no. No. No. No.

  He was not her mate. Amy snarled because she couldn’t let loose the howl of frustration and fury she wanted to give voice to. Not without baring her throat, and that was one thing she would never willingly do. She’d never give him a chance to see her defenseless.

  Evan sat back on his haunches, head tilted to the side like a puppy. Confusion at her growled response was written into his posture.

  Had he known they were mates? Amy wondered.

  Frustration filled her, yes, but even stronger was bewilderment, and sorrow, then all-out emotional-anger hit, and she did the only thing she could think of to stop herself from leaping at him and swiping her claws across his defenseless throat.

  She shifted, letting her rage escape in a shout. “Damn you, Evan Stone. Damn you to hell.”

  He was on his feet seconds later, his muscular human form so pleasing to the eye and such a knife to her heart. “Amy? What’s wrong?”

  She planted her fists on her hips and stared about four inches over his head, fighting for control. In her worst nightmares she could never have imagined this. “Everything is wrong. Everything. Oh my God, you’re my mate.”

/>   The final word escaped in a choking gasp, and her guts twisted as if someone had reached inside her, wrapped their fingers around her heart and were slowly tearing it out.

  She folded her arms around her torso and held on tight in the hopes of stabilizing her shaking world.

  He didn’t try to touch her, which was good. He looked, though. Looked as if his heart was breaking as well, and it was beyond annoying that she instantly cared what she’d said had hurt him. She should have been rejoicing, but instead the conflict threatened to rip her in two.

  “This is wrong. All wrong.” Amy swallowed hard, fighting tears of anger. Fighting the need to lash out and plant a fist into that perfectly formed muscular six-pack.

  He shook his head. “I don’t understand what’s upset you, but we’re mates. We can fix it. We can fix it together, Amy. I know we can.”

  She took a deep breath and ignored the tone in his voice, the one that was oh-so-reasonable and oh-so-logical, because this had nothing to do with reason or logic, and everything to do with pain and sorrow. “You can’t be my mate. It’s impossible,” she whispered vehemently.

  “It’s true. You sense it. Can taste it on the air.” Evan inched closer. Only one step, but enough she shot out a hand to warn him off. “Why are you denying it?”

  She pulled back her shoulders and lifted her chin. Stiffened her spine to brace against the coming battle. His dark eyes were pools she could fall into, but that way led to madness and regret. “I have to deny it. I can’t be mates with the man who killed my brother.”

  Chapter Five

  Evan’s ears rang with her accusation. “What?”

  There was no mistaking Amy’s full-out conviction in the verbal grenade she’d tossed. Only she didn’t go on to explain the impossible statement. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest again and looked around warily.

  The list of what Evan wanted was pretty basic. He wanted to take his mate, find out what she was talking about and make things right. He needed her to look at him with something other than an ice-cold glare.

  He needed to touch her. To hold her. To make her his, but none of those things could happen until they’d put this insanity behind them.

  And he doubted they could figure it out here and now. Not in the middle of the woods. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted interrupted, and it really wasn’t something he wanted to get into while naked.

  “Amy. Look at me.”

  She twitched but glanced his way.

  “We need to talk.”

  “Right now talking is the last thing on my agenda. Kicking your spleen through your back would make me happier.” Every muscle in her body had gone taut.

  A body that was exactly the kind he wanted to lick and explore until she screamed in ecstasy. There was no way to avoid admiring her nakedness as his wolf’s mating urge flashed to maximum, but he forced his human side to the foreground, shoving all baser instincts aside. “You’ve had a shock. So have I. I had no idea my contact in the Canyon pack was my mate.”

  “You poor thing.” Bitter laughter escaped, and she paced away, her hips swaying as she stomped across the forest floor. She lifted her hands, fisted palms pressed to her temples. “My God, my brain is going to explode. And my heart.”

  One hand dropped to her chest, utter agony on her face as she half curled into a ball.

  Evan was going to break in two if they didn’t do something soon. “I can’t make it better until you tell me what’s wrong.”

  “Maybe you can never make it better.” Amy whirled on him. “Damn you. And damn you, fate. This isn’t some cosmic joke, because I’m not laughing.”

  Her last words were shouted heavenward, her fists clenched tight at her sides.

  “Calm down.” Evan pushed out the words accompanied by a nonverbal command. Hysterics weren’t the solution, and while the last thing he wanted was to overpower his mate with the mystical side of his wolf, using some of his power seemed his only choice.

  What he got was an instant backlash. She lunged at him, an undersized ball of fury and energy. Evan ducked her swing but still ended up on his ass on the ground, Amy looming over him like an avenging vigilante. “Don’t you dare try that on me.” Her words a whisper of fury.

  The power of her wolf side had literally knocked his feet from under him. “Holy shit.”

  She backed away, light on her feet, hands rising to a defensive position. “Did you expect your mate would be some wimpy, quiet woman who’d roll over when you told her to?”

  To be honest, he hadn’t really thought it through that hard, but she was right.

  And more than that, if he actually turned on his brain instead of allowing shock to rule his actions, he knew what she needed, crazy as it seemed.

  They needed to talk, but first she had to get her rage under control. Evan rocked to a standing position and looked her over. Testing her signals, reading her body language. There was too much aggression and fury to deal with in any other way than the good old wolf one. “You want to hit me? Go on. Try—”

  Her foot made contact with his chest before he’d finished speaking, the powerful blow rocking him backwards as he worked to remain on his feet. She retreated so quickly his grasping fingers slicked over her skin.

  Amy watched cautiously from a few feet away, circling to one side. Intoxicating power rolled off her, and his wolf all but howled with excitement.

  She was so strong, his mate. Together, they’d have the ability to do so much for the pack. But here and now, it wasn’t about the others. It was about her, and him, and somehow getting past the enormous roadblock she’d thrown between them.

  Evan held back as she darted forward, taking the blow to his torso. She growled. Struck him again, this time knuckles rasping hard against his jaw, snapping his head. He raised a block between them, but refused to actually hit her.

  “Stop pulling your punches,” she demanded, the command whipping him with enough compulsion his head lifted. “You think you can tame me? You’re not worth tak—”

  The move felt so wrong, but he did it anyway because it seemed his only option. He pivoted and slapped a hand downward as she aimed a blow at his kidneys. Wrapped his fingers around her fist and pulled, twisting her off balance and tumbling them both off their feet. He made sure he brought her over him, preventing her from smacking hard against the ground.

  Instead every inch connected, naked skin to naked skin. Amy’s face hung over his, and those enormous eyes of hers were wolf-wild and needy. She might be fighting their mating, but her wolf was on board. Sexual tension ensnared them in a tight embrace the second before she tore her hands free and slammed rock-solid fists against his chest.

  Evan rolled, pinning her to the grassy ground. A second later his hands held her wrists firmly on either side of her head, his legs locking her lower body in one spot.

  A low rumble escaped her throat as his hips settled over hers. “Get off me,” she commanded.

  “No.” He lowered his head, and with his nose tight against her throat, took a deep, deep breath.

  An entire evening spent getting inebriated was nothing compared to taking a single shot, one hundred proof, of his mate. She filled his senses and made his body ache with unanswered need. He stayed there for a good minute, forcing her to breathe him in. Her squirming protests died away. Every attempt she made to buck him off just rubbed them together intimately, and she stopped, a shiver rolling over her from top to bottom.

  “Damn you, Evan,” she repeated, but this time it wasn’t so much a curse as a cry. Aching and raw, and he pressed up on his arms, separating their torsos far enough he could stare into her eyes.

  All that was there was hopelessness and fear.

  “I’ll make it right,” he promised. The words were softly spoken but clear as they cut though the quiet of the wilderness. “I swear I will. I don’t understand yet, but
I swear I’ll find a way to prove I’m worthy to be your mate. Give me that chance.”

  A single tear trickled from the corner of her eye. “I’ve hated you for so long. And I hate myself for how easily my body wants to accept you as my mate.”

  “Don’t hate yourself. It’s your wolf. She knows we belong together, and that we can do this. She senses it, even if your human side is hurting too much to hear.”

  “I kind of hate her right now as well,” Amy whispered, her eyes focused on his so intensely he was in danger of burning up.

  Evan released her right hand and stroked her face with his knuckles, wiping away the streak of moisture that had trickled down her cheek. “No matter how long it takes for us to figure things out, we’ll take it. I won’t let you go.”

  She closed her eyes, body shaking under him. He matched her breathing, synchronizing their motions. Silently stroking her with the affection of his other side while holding the wolf at bay.

  “Give me a chance,” he repeated. Damn near begged if he was honest.

  Finally her tension melted away and she softened under him. He waited, barely breathing. Even without moving, their desire heightened, an edge of fire that was a constant presence between mates.

  The temptation to taste her lips was there, but that was his wolf side urging him on. That side could willingly roll over, ignore her fears and anger, and convince her to satisfy the physical craving that rose like molten lava.

  If they gave in to their animalistic desires, she’d be a willing participant. She’d take him into her body, accept him, but hate him later. His human side knew this, and the wolf unhappily acknowledged his guidance and retreated.

  Evan rolled them partway again, rising to his feet and bringing her with him. “We need to go somewhere private to talk.”

  Amy brushed leaves from her backside as she sighed heavily, then nodded. “I don’t want to, but yes, I suppose so.”

  He risked it. Caught her fingers in his and tugged her to face him. A wild crackle of attraction passed between them.

  “Somewhere safe. Somewhere we won’t be interrupted, and where I’m not worried about your Alpha charging in.” She opened her mouth, but he cut her off before she could give him some smart-ass comment about not needing to worry. He fucking needed this. “I’ll deal with Sam later. This isn’t about our packs, it’s about us. I’ll call my Beta, you talk to whoever you need to at the computer store. The world won’t explode if we’re gone for twenty-four hours.”