by Kimber White
A muscle jumped in his jaw as he held the rifle in both hands. I sensed at least the direction of this thoughts. Wolfkillers. My father was suggesting we bring Wolfkiller ammo into Derek’s home. I thought he’d protest. But, Derek was nothing if not pragmatic. The simple fact was, even with him, we were vastly outnumbered. As distasteful as it was, we might need Dad’s inventions to even the odds. I reached up, touched his face, and went to the cabinet. I filled my backpack with as many magazines as I could carry. We only had the one vial of antidote. I fingered it, then handed it to Derek.
“Here,” I said. “If anything happens. If we get separated. If God forbid, the Harlans figured out a way to arm those assholes with some of our ammo, you should have this.”
“We won’t” he said, gripping my arm. His fingers seared me, even now sending a flare of desire through me. “Remember, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
I couldn’t help it. We didn’t have time for anything more, and with an audience to boot, I went up on my tiptoes and planted a kiss smack on Derek’s lips.
My father broke our embrace by shoving a set of keys in Derek’s hands. “You take the Hummer. I’ll take yours. Maybe it’ll throw them off a little. Jessa, you’d better let him drive. I’m gonna take a wild guess she’s a better shot.”
Derek gave a begrudging nod. “Don’t have much cause to shoot things when I need to defend myself.”
“Right.” I took the rifle and we headed out into the yard. Howls seemed to come from all directions. Panic flared inside me; only Derek’s steady hand kept my feet moving. We piled into the Hummer. Grammy and Dad got into the pickup parked right behind it. She took the wheel. My father needed to be able to shoot if he had to, and he had a much steadier hand. She opened the cab door and Brutus and Sofie hopped in the backseat.
Derek pulled up alongside my father and rolled down the window. “We need to take different routes. Those wolves can scent Grammy because of her mark. They can scent me because of what I did to Boyd. Their instinct is going to be to come after the biggest threat, me.”
Dad nodded. “I agree. Better to try and throw them off the trail by giving them two of them. We’ll go northwest through Indiana. You take the direct path.”
Derek reached through the window and they shook hands. I never would have believed my father could do it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. “We have friends of the pack that will help us once we cross the Michigan border. As soon as we do, I don’t think the Kentucky boys will keep following. It’s just going to be dicey for the next four or five hours. Don’t stop unless you have to. If you do, make sure it’s somewhere heavily populated. Is there anything back here you want to do something about?”
Dad gave Grammy a look and shot a grim-faced nod toward Derek. “No. Everything that really matters to me is in these two vehicles. You keep my girl safe and you’ll have no trouble from me. Besides, I suppose they’ve got junkyards up in Michigan too.”
Derek laughed and raised his thumb to my Dad. Dad drove around and pulled up tight alongside the open door of the Quonset hut. A lump formed in my throat as I knew his head filled with memories of all the times he spent there with my grandfather. Then, Dad reached into the backpack he had on the seat and pulled out a grenade. Pulling the pin, he tossed it into the open doorway and squealed his tires, putting some distance between the structure and the pickup. Derek was already on the move.
It took a full ten seconds; we had already cleared the north gate when the ground shook with the concussion of the blast and orange flames licked the sky.
“Well, if nothing else, that oughta throw them off the scent for a while,” Derek said, shaking his head. “You all right?” He put a hand on my thigh and shot me a quick look before he put his eyes back on the road.
I couldn’t help it. A genuine laugh bubbled up inside me. “You know? I can’t explain any of it. But, right now, I think I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my whole life.”
Derek brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “I meant what I said. I won’t leave you. I’ll keep you safe. That means the rest of your family too. With my body. With my life. I will not let you come to harm.”
Warmth flowed from his lips into my fingers and flooded through my whole body. My nerve endings seemed to light with fire to match the tongues of flame in the rear window. The fire quickly spread to the closest outbuildings. It would burn fast and hot, leaving nothing behind.
“How long will it take?” I asked, taking my eyes off the flames behind us and focusing on the road ahead.
“Nine hours if we drive straight through. Don’t know how much gas this thing burns through. I’m hoping we won’t have to stop until we’re well past the Michigan line.”
“We’re not driving straight through though are we?” I sensed something in Derek’s voice. He had some other plan.
He shook his head. “No. The packs will expect us to head straight up 75. I can’t trust they don’t have Ohio State Troopers in their pocket down here. I know we do.”
“And you didn’t want my father to know exactly where we’re going.” The reality of that knowledge seeped through me. Derek swore he’d protect me no matter what. “You’re afraid my father might not make it through.”
“I’m guessing Tinker can take care of himself,” Derek reassured me. He squeezed my hand. “I swear to you I wouldn’t have sent him off in the other direction if I didn’t think so. But, just in case, it’s better if he doesn’t know what route I’m taking.”
“In case they get to him. You’re afraid they’ll make him talk.”
“Let’s not worry about that. Trust me, remember?”
Derek pressed his foot to the floor as we hit the highway. So far, there was nothing behind us or in front of us but open road. It would be easy to think we’d already made it to safety. There was no way that pack of wolves could catch up to us on foot. Which meant they never planned to try. A semi came into view around a hairpin curve. My heart stuttered as its headlights flooded over us. The truck laid on his horn. Adrenaline shot through me and I clutched Derek’s hand that much tighter.
“They could be anywhere. Or anyone,” I said. “They’re never going to let us go, are they?”
Lights exploded in my periphery. My heart exploded too. The Hummer’s back end fishtailed. Steel on steel. Safety glass showered over me. Dad was wrong. I should have taken the wheel. Yes, I was a better shot, but when the other car hit us head on, Derek instantly shifted. His wolf covered me as the Hummer slid off the road and down into an embankment.
We landed upside down. Derek leaped through the shattered windshield. My ears rang and thunder filled my senses. I tasted blood in my mouth. Up was down as I reached for the seatbelt latch.
“Derek!” Coughing, I managed to crawl out the shattered side window. I was in a deep ditch, with muddy water at the bottom. Wild grass tickled my nose, but I was whole. I’d bitten my tongue and felt stiffness over my left eye, but nothing seemed broken.
Derek’s wolf stood at the top of the embankment. More headlights flashed and the blaring horn of another semi curved its way around the road, but he didn’t stop. My ankle throbbed as I tried to get my footing and climb up to Derek’s side. A command flooded through me. Not in words. But, I understood.
Stay where you are!
I flattened my body to the ground. Derek’s hind legs were just above me. Another wolf charged him from the left. I saw smoke and mangled wreckage from where he came. The fucker had plowed into us. Now Derek’s wolf and the enemy squared off.
Chapter Fifteen
I slid further down the embankment and back toward the upside down Hummer, my hands searching for the rifle. I found the backpack about a yard away from the vehicle. The rifle was gone. It must have flown out the window when we flipped. I had the wolf whistle, but if I used it, Derek would be affected too.
The enemy wolf attacked. I recognized him as he and Derek rolled end over end, landing in the ditch just a few feet from me. He h
ad red and brown fur, golden eyes, and lethal fangs bared for the kill as he lunged at Derek again. Blood flowed from a gash on Derek’s side. But, I doubted he even felt it yet as adrenaline coursed through him. Derek had the advantage of size if not surprise. The enemy wolf’s movements were desperate, erratic. He was alone.
Derek went in for the kill; clamping his jaws on the other wolf’s neck, he shredded the arteries and veins inside it. When Derek let go, an arc of blood sprayed the grass and part of my hair. But, the wolf was dead.
Derek shifted instantly and came back to me. His heat, my heartbeat, I clung to him, smoothing my hands over his chest, down his back, checking for wounds. My Derek was whole. He was safe. And he’d just saved my life.
“Is it just him? Are there others?” My words tore out of me in a gasp. Hunger rose within me as Derek wrapped his arms around me and helped me. He nodded.
“Yeah. It was just him. He’d been called back. He was heading for the junkyard. Finding us was just dumb luck for him.”
“How do you know all of that?”
Panting, Derek tapped his temple. “I got a read on him just before I killed him.” Derek’s eyes still glowed bright, his wolf still simmering below the surface. An answering heat flared in me. Primal. Ready to erupt.
“Derek.”
Heat settled between my legs. I pulsed for him. It could be adrenaline, the heat of battle fought so close to me. But I knew this was something else. Something I needed more than the air filling my lungs with each heavy breath.
“If you’d sent me on with my father. If you hadn’t been with me when the wolf found me.”
“I was,” he said. “Come on. I’ve got to try to get the Hummer back on its wheels. More might be coming. I don’t know if he had a chance to signal before I killed him. Either way, they know he’s dead.”
“No,” I said, still gasping for air. “Derek.” My skin ignited from his touch. A tremor ran through Derek, and I know he felt it too. His hand went to the back of my neck. Pleasure flooded through me at his touch.
“I need you,” I said. “Before they come back. When they come back. I need to already be yours.”
The moment I gave voice to the fear, it flared inside me, drowning out everything else. With absolute clarity, I knew what would happen if the other wolves ever came back and separated me from Derek. They would mark me. They would take me back to the Chief Pack just like they had my grandmother. I would rather die than let that happen.
A vein jumped in Derek’s temple. His eyes stayed luminous gold as he looked at me. Amid the chaos, his luscious mouth curved into a smile and he growled.
“Come on,” he said. “We’re out in the open here. I don’t sense any other wolves nearby, but if they come in a vehicle, I won’t have enough lead time before they’re on us. Can you walk?”
“If you help me, I can fly,” I said. I grabbed the backpack. We took a few stumbling steps through the brush. Derek found the AR-15 laying on its side about ten yards away. He grabbed it and hooked his hand beneath my arm, half lifting me as he climbed out of the ditch.
There were woods up ahead. Farmland further to the east. We ran. I took two faltering steps then Derek lifted me off the ground. He ran with me over his shoulder, carrying me caveman style as he headed for the tree line. His powerful legs picked up speed, making the ground blur.
Ten yards. Twenty. One hundred. He went deep into the thickest part of the woods until the tall maples and pines formed a natural canopy, shading us from the sunlight. Then, he set me down on a fallen log. He moved his hands over my body, testing my joints, caring for me like I did for his.
“I’m all right,” I whispered, sliding my fingers over the curve of his skull. He was on his knees before me. When he looked up at me, my heart cracked.
I hadn’t thought it would be like this. In truth, I don’t know what I thought it would be like. Derek said he wanted to wait until I was sure. Until the time was right. Here we were in the middle of nowhere with wolves after us from all sides. And yet, it seemed perfect.
“I’m sure,” I said before he could even ask. I set down the backpack and pulled my hair to the side. “I never want to be without you again. And if this is what our lives will be like, I want to be connected to you. I want them to know you’re mine and I’m yours.”
Derek growled. His skin rolled as he struggled to keep his beast in check. It was almost too much for him. The thrill of the kill still rushed through his veins. Here, in the wild, it would have been so easy for him to give into it. I wanted him too. I wanted all of him. The wolf. The man. The beast.
He didn’t have to tell me what to do. My body already knew. I stood up. For an instant, Derek knelt before me as I threaded my hands through his hair he looked up at me. I never knew a man could look so tender and wild in the same moment. But, my Derek did.
I peeled my shirt off over my head, wincing from the stiffness in my shoulder. Just a pulled muscle. Nothing broken. Cool air hit my breasts, pebbling my nipples. Derek reached up and rolled his thumbs over them, stretching them both to peaks. I slid my pants down and kicked out of my boots. I stood before him then, naked, ready, alone in those woods with shards of sunlight stabbing through the trees as dawn broke again.
I went to my hands and knees, sinking into the mossy grass and fallen leaves. The dewy scent of wildflowers and crisp air filled my nostrils. Derek let out a low growl that skittered across my flesh. I stretched out before him, spreading my knees as he rose behind me. From the corner of my eye, I watched him stroke himself. I trembled.
When I tried to turn toward him, Derek put a firm but gentle hand on the back of my neck to keep me in position. Heat flared in my core. I was wet. Ready. Gushing for him and he had barely touched me. Every cell in my body tuned to his. I locked my elbows and angled myself for him.
Derek slid a slow finger between my legs, coaxing open my already swollen folds. I dripped for him, making him growl all the more. He put a steadying hand on my hip and pressed me further down until my chin rested on my hands. Oh, God. I wanted this. Spread before him on all fours, in ultimate submission. Nothing else mattered. Nothing. Just Derek and me and the urge pulsing deep inside of me.
Derek moved behind me, walking around me in a circle so he could take in the view of me, kneeling prone for him. I wanted him to. I wanted him to see what he did to me. All for him. When he moved in front of me, I brought myself slowly up. His cock bobbed before me. I swear, it had grown in size since the last time we fucked. I knew it had. Because this was different. This wasn’t just sex. This was a marriage of sorts. Mating. I reached forward and gently closed my fingers around his shaft. I brought him into my mouth.
Derek tasted hard and sweet. I lapped at him. His eyes flashed as he laced his fingers through my hair. Then, he threw his head back as I serviced him. It was everything. I never wanted to stop. If only we could stay here in these woods forever. In that moment it was all I wanted to be.
I felt Derek’s balls hitch and he let out another low growl. A few seconds more and he wouldn’t be able to control himself. Oh, I wanted that. I wanted him to spill his seed for me and let me take it all. And he would, but he had other plans first.
Derek moved behind me again. On instinct, I brought myself back down, resting my chin on my hands. He pressed the head of his cock against my slick opening. I throbbed open for him. I would have begged, but the air left my lungs. Derek edged himself inside of me, stretching me wide. He filled me. Completed me. Sheathed himself deep. Then, he started to thrust.
I dug my hands into the fresh earth, bracing for the delicious onslaught of his rhythm. He braced one hand on my hip, the other on my shoulder, bringing me up off my hands. I arched my back and moved with him. My own cries of pleasure rising to join the low growls he made.
“I love you,” he whispered over and over with each thrust.
“Love,” I said. “God. Yes. Derek. I love you!”
On and on he went. I took it all. Wave after wave of ecstasy and
desire washed over me. I coated him with my juices. The world became the sound of the pleasure we took from each other. The slick wetness of his thrusts, my staggered breaths. I felt him grow even thicker inside of me. Derek reached me in places I never knew were there. It was just the two of us. No witness to this claiming save for the trees above. Derek was king of this forest; all other creatures made themselves scarce.
Then, my pleasure reached its apex. I felt Derek stiffen even more inside of me. I felt his fullness against me and knew he couldn’t hold on for much longer either. He didn’t have to tell me what to do. I arched my back again and pulled my hair to the side. The flesh pulsed at the base of my neck in time with the center of pleasure between my legs.
Derek leaned forward. His breath blew hot against my neck, sending shivers down my spine. He licked me once. “Yes!” I said. But Derek didn’t need words to know.
My choice. My desire. My Alpha.
He sank his teeth into the base of my neck. A flash of pain, then warmth spread through me, blossoming down to my toes. He licked me again, sealing the wound he’d made.
I came. Thundering. Crashing. I cried out, unable to contain the sensation. Stars seem to explode out of my pores. Derek juttered inside me and filled me with his hot seed as he bit me once again.
Perfect. Unity. Mine.
It happened in an instant. One heartbeat we were two people. The next, we were one. Derek’s heart filled me as he withdrew and cradled me against him. I could hear him. Not just his pulse, but his feelings. Love. Tenderness. Concern. Desire. Always desire. And I shared it. Every last bit of it. Until that moment, I never knew how alone I’d been.
But now, we had each other.
“Is it always like that?” I asked, when I found the strength to form words again.
“I don’t know,” he laughed softly. “I told you. I’ve never taken a mate before. And I don’t intend to take another one.”
