Howl (Winter Pass Wolves Book 1)

by Wood, Vivian

  His teeth left her flesh, but the connection stayed. Penny wished she had words for what was happening, but she was too overwhelmed, too sated.

  Harlan’s touch gentled, and he pulled free from her body. When he released her hips, Penny collapsed, her legs too shaky to hold her weight.

  Harlan gave a huff of amusement and laid out on the pallet, pulling her close. Penny thought she should say something, acknowledge the importance of the moment. She felt branded by him, changed in some fundamental way. All the things she’d worried about felt so far away in that moment, unreal and unimportant.

  Her eyelids closed of their own volition, and Penny slept.

  Chapter Seven

  Harlan stood on the veranda of Winter Pass’s main lodge, staring out into the bright, snowy landscape. He’d awakened with Penny in his arms, horror filling him when he saw bruises on her hips, an angry red bite mark on her neck. He remembered bits and pieces of the night prior, most of it revolving around protecting Penny.

  Then he’d undone all his own work by giving in to the demands of his wolf and fucking her senseless, giving himself the best fucking release of his entire life.

  …moments before he’d sunk his teeth into her neck, releasing some kind of awe-inspiring and terrifying wolf juju. Even now, though Penny wasn’t standing beside him, he could feel her.

  Worse than shackling Penny to his sorry ass, he’d probably turned her. It took Harlan a couple of days between Chase’s bite and his first shift, but Harlan couldn’t see any way that Penny wasn’t about to go full wolf sometime during this full moon.

  So Harlan was hiding out here on the veranda, freezing his ass off since all he wore was one of the sleeping bags that Penny had gathered for her makeshift bed. He swore aloud, furious at himself for being such a complete asshole.

  “Talking to yourself?”

  Harlan turned to find Penny walking out toward him, holding a flashlight and the gun case he’d given her.

  “Ah,” Harlan said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Something like that.”

  How the hell could he even begin to apologize to her? How did one apologize for basically ruining someone else’s life?

  “We should go back to the cabin,” Penny said, frowning at Harlan’s bare feet. “You’re going to catch a nasty cold like that.”

  Harlan sighed.

  “Wolves have super immune systems. I haven’t gotten sick since the day I was bitten,” he said, shrugging a shoulder.

  Penny’s brows rose.

  “Good to know there are perks.” She paused. “I mean… I assume… You bit me during the full moon. I’m going to turn, right?”

  Harlan blew out a breath, then gave a slow nod.

  “Kay.” Penny smiled at him, then nodded toward the cabin. “You ready?”

  Harlan followed her to his cabin, trying to ignore the numbness spreading through his bare feet as he tread over the snow. He was far more interested in Penny’s reaction. Surely finding out you were about to become a damn werewolf should be more… traumatic?

  Or maybe this was the manifestation of trauma, her lack of response? Harlan shook his head, confused. When he looked up, Penny held the door open for him, shooing him inside.

  “Where do you keep your towels?” she asked.

  “Hall closet,” Harlan mumbled. All three that he owned, anyway. Harlan wasn’t big on owning… stuff.

  That would have to change, now that he had Penny to care for. She was an amazing lady who deserved as much stuff as she wanted. Harlan went into the bedroom and pulled on a set of USMC sweats, then settled on the couch.

  Penny had made herself at home, putting on the kettle. She seemed to be sorting through her own thoughts, so Harlan let her work in silence. After a few minutes, she brought him a steaming-hot damp towel and a cup of tea.

  “The towel’s for your feet,” she said, lips lifting at the corners. “And the tea will warm you from the inside out.”

  She took the armchair, sipping her own cup of tea. Harlan propped his feet up on the couch, wrapping his feet in the towel, and sighed with relief. The warm towel felt amazing, the tea soothing.

  And here he was, the last fucker in the world who deserved Penny’s pampering.

  “Penny… I’m sorry,” Harlan said, feeling tense.

  Penny glanced at him and pursed her lips, canting her head curiously.

  “Yeah?” she asked. “You regret it?”

  There was a hint of sadness in her words, which only confused him more.

  “Not… the good parts, no. But turning you, yeah. Of course I regret that. I don’t know… I don’t think I can ever make that up to you.”

  Penny set her teacup aside, brushing two fingertips over the bite mark on her neck.

  “This is pretty serious, huh?” she mused.

  Harlan blew out a breath and nodded.

  “I think so, yeah. I mean, I don’t know that much about this part, but I think the mark is binding in some way. Like… I won’t be able to… I won’t find another woman, ever.”

  Harlan dropped his head, rubbing his face. This wasn’t going very well.

  “I let my wolf take control. I didn’t think about… I would never want to take you away from your own life, I swear. I didn’t mean to trap you here, Penny.” He looked up at her, nearly pleading, though he didn’t deserve her forgiveness. “I swear I’ll build a better cabin. Your own cabin, if you want that—”

  “Harlan,” Penny said, raising a hand to stop him. “I consented to this. You know that, right?”

  Harlan’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. A note of disbelief sounded in his brain, then an avalanche of relief. She’d known what was happening… It didn’t absolve him, but it made the knot in his stomach loosen a fraction.

  “If anything,” Penny continued, her amusement souring a little, “I took advantage of you. You clearly weren’t in control of yourself last night, and I… encouraged you. I wanted you.”

  She blushed hard after that, which roused his wolf’s interest. Harlan almost rolled his eyes at his wolf’s one-track mind. Then again, Penny was looking and smelling pretty amazing just now…

  Down, boy.

  “Penny, you couldn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to do,” Harlan said, giving her a stern look to cover his raging libido.

  “Yeah, well. You’re stuck with a jobless art teacher with no romance skills,” Penny lamented. “I think you got the short end of the stick here.”

  Harlan scoffed.

  “You think the damaged ex-soldier turned werewolf is the winner in this equation? You’re crazy. I ruined your life, Penny. You can’t ever go back to the city, back to teaching and living normally.”

  “Harlan, I don’t have anything to go back to!” Penny insisted, narrowing her gaze.

  Harlan paused.

  “Are we really arguing about who’s stuck with who?” he asked, then chuckled.

  “Well… I guess not.” Penny heaved a sigh. “I guess if you were going to bite some random girl, it might as well be someone without a life, huh?”

  Harlan’s smile vanished.

  “You know that you’re not random, right? Wolves find their mates through fate, nothing less,” he informed her.

  Penny grunted, looking skeptical.

  “I don’t believe that for a second,” she said. “Otherwise, why pair the two of us?”

  Harlan shot her a disbelieving look. He folded up the towel draped over his feet then rose, walking over and holding out a hand to her. Penny took it, hesitant, and let Harlan pull her up.

  “Gee, I don’t know, Penny. Maybe because you’re beautiful and smart and kind?” Harlan said, wrapping an arm around her waist and gazing down at her. When she snorted, he gave her a squeeze. “I’m serious. Just because some other guy was too much of a tool to see how great you are doesn’t make it untrue.”

  Penny’s expression shifted, a little hope flaring there.

  “You mean it?” she asked softly.

  “Hell
yes I mean it,” Harlan said.

  He kissed her, long and hard and demanding, not letting go until she was breathless. Her arms twined around his neck, her body pressed so sweetly against his. Harlan couldn’t help but lose himself for a minute, his brain filling with ideas of how nicely they could finish this embrace… in his bedroom. When Penny broke the kiss, staring up at him with wide eyes, her lips swollen, Harlan’s heart gave a funny flutter in his chest.

  “I’m not sure what all this mate stuff means, but I’m glad you’re the one to help me figure it out,” Harlan told her.

  Tears glistened in Penny’s eyes. She laid her head on his chest and hugged him fiercely, and Harlan thought he would burst from the swell of happiness that filled him. He hadn’t felt this way in… well, ever.

  He’d never been this happy. Penny was some kind of fucking miracle in his crappy life, and he was going to do his best to make sure she was every bit as happy as he was.

  The radio near the door crackled, and Harlan groaned. The happy-making was going to have to start tonight, after he’d informed Paxton and Chase of last night’s events.

  They were not going to be thrilled, to say the least.

  “I have to go talk to the guys,” Harlan said, easing back from Penny.

  “Sure, okay,” Penny said with a shrug, but he saw a flash of worry in her eyes.

  “It’s going to be fine. Let me deal with them. In the meantime…” Harlan went over to the hall closet and flipped some switches and scooped up his laptop. “I thought you could start looking for some stuff online to make your life here a little more comfortable. We can go back to get your stuff from the city when you’re ready, but until then you’ll need… well, I don’t even know.”

  “Oh, Harlan…” Penny said, nibbling her lip. “I don’t have my purse with me. Even if I did—”

  Harlan cut her off with a laugh.

  “I forget, you don’t know much about me or the Triad. We’re what you would call very sharp investors… A lot of futures trading and well-timed sales.”

  Penny gave him a curious look.

  “Yeah,” Harlan drawled. “Suffice it to say you don’t need to buy anything for yourself. Hell, you don’t ever have to work again unless you want to. And when you’re ready, we’re going to build ourselves a nice big house to live in.”

  “Wh… I don’t… Where are we building this house, exactly?” Penny started to look a little overwhelmed.

  “Here, maybe. Or wherever you want to go,” Harlan said with a shrug. “We can talk about it when I get back. I got some nice steaks, I could maybe make you dinner. Kind of like a date?”

  Penny laughed, settling into Harlan’s armchair.

  “That sounds really nice,” she said.

  “Don’t go anywhere,” Harlan said, giving her a wink. “I’ll be back in less than an hour.”

  Grabbing his jacket, Harlan steeled himself for the argument ahead.

  Chapter Eight

  When Harlan was gone for more than the hour he’d promised, Penny started to worry. At the two hour mark, she put on her cold-weather gear and waded out into the snow, noting that the sun was packing it down a little and she should be able to get her stuff out of her car soon.

  She approached the main lodge, frowning when she saw four big black pickup trucks pulled up there, snow chains on their tires. It had only been a couple of hours since she’d left the lodge this morning, and there hadn’t been any trucks around then. Plus there were four trucks and only three guys living at Winter Pass… the math wasn’t right.

  Then she heard voices, far too many to be just Harlan, Chase, and Paxton. Creeping up the lodge’s back steps, Penny pressed herself against the building and snuck around the veranda until she was close to the voices. When she chanced a glance around the corner, she saw that three of the trucks were backed up into a semicircle, their beds holding three massive, gleaming metal cages.

  Three silver cages… holding three snarling wolves. Even from a distance, she could sense Harlan’s presence, and she thought he might hurt in some way.

  She blinked, realizing that she could make out the smallest details of everything around. As she scoped out the seven men in white camo, she could see the freckles on the back one man’s hand as he stood and smoked, chatting with the others.

  What was that about? They were hundreds of yards away, but she could see… everything.

  Shaking herself, she tried to focus, tune out the suddenly-loud sound of their voices, the grating worry she felt as the wolves snarled and snapped in their cages. Penny checked to see if any of them had guns in hand. No one held one, but she saw a couple of weapons holstered at the mens’ waists.

  The wind picked up for a moment, and the wolves went quiet for several beats before starting again, louder this time. Penny was pretty sure that they could smell her, knew she was close by.

  Then the wind’s direction shifted again, blowing straight at Penny. Only half aware of her actions, she lifted her nose and sucked in a breath. The metallic tang of blood hit her senses, with an underlying musk that she knew all too well.

  Harlan.

  She didn’t stop to wonder how she knew. She didn’t do anything, actually. She stood for a moment, thinking about Harlan, red blooming in her field of vision as she considered that the only decent, loving man she’d ever met was being hunted, had even been trapped and wounded by these… murderers.

  They weren’t just going to hurt him. These smug assholes were going to kill Harlan. Her man. Her mate.

  “No,” she whispered, her words carried away on the breeze.

  Somewhere deep inside her body, something dark was clawing its way to the surface, fighting for release. It smelled the blood, knew the scent of its mate.

  Howled for vengeance.

  Then Penny felt a flash of blinding pain, and her whole world went dark.

  Chapter Nine

  Penny’s eyes opened. She shivered. It was cold outside. She was naked.

  She stirred, gradually growing aware that she lay in the snow. She crawled onto all fours. A glimpse down at her hands and thighs showed that she was covered in dark, icy red.

  Blood.

  She heard a soft chuffing sound. She looked up to find Harlan in his wolf form, pacing his cage. He whined, scratching at the bars, then backing away.

  Penny forced herself to get up. Staggered over to the cage. Pried the door open with shaking fingers, ignoring the searing burn of the silver where it touched her flesh.

  The wolf sprung free from the cage, jumping down from the truck bed and nuzzling her hip. She sensed he was concerned.

  Penny let her eyelids close again. Her body fell, but she wasn’t awake to feel herself hit the ground.

  “Penny.”

  Warmth. She burrowed into the comforting sensation, not ready to wake.

  “Penny?”

  That sound… she loved that sound. That voice was important…

  Harlan. It was Harlan’s voice.

  Penny peeled her eyelids open. She was wrapped up in Harlan’s blankets, lying on his bed. Harlan himself was staring down at her, his brow creased with worry.

  “Mmmf,” was all Penny could manage.

  “I need you to eat or drink something,” Harlan said. “Here, let’s get you sitting up.”

  He slid an arm behind Penny’s neck and helped her lean forward so that he could stuff some pillows behind her back. Just that little movement made every single muscle in Penny’s body scream for mercy.

  “What…” she mumbled, unsure why she felt so terrible.

  “Have a sip of water, okay?” Harlan said.

  Penny sipped from the straw he offered, then settled back with a sigh.

  “You’ve been out for a couple of days straight,” Harlan informed her. “It’s like that, after the first shift. At least it was for me.”

  “First shift?” Penny squinted at him, her brain stuffed with fuzzy cotton balls.

  “Into a wolf.”

  Harlan gave
her another concerned glance.

  “Ohhhh,” Penny said, giving a jerky nod. “The blood… the snow… Oh god, I killed them, didn’t I?”

  “You saved us,” Harlan told her. “And I’m pretty sure you only killed one of them. The rest climbed into a Humvee and got the hell out of there.”

  Penny cringed.

  “Am I a monster?” she asked, afraid what Harlan would say. She didn’t even remember the shift or anything she’d done, but he had every right to be disgusted with her. After all, she’d killed someone. In ice-cold blood, if she remembered correctly.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Harlan said. He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “You only did what I wished I could do. You protected your mate. If I’d been the one to see you locked in a cage, wounded, I would have done a hell of a lot worse.”

  “You’re not mad? You’re not going to like… kick me to the curb?” Penny asked, dumbfounded.

  “Would you have done that to me?” Harlan asked, easing back to look at her.

  “Of course not!”

  “Well, I guess I’m going to have to keep you, then.” Harlan gave her a gentle, teasing smile.

  “Oh.” Relief flooded Penny’s chest.

  “You don’t mind that, do you? Being kept?” Harlan asked, arching a brow.

  A slow smile spread over Penny’s lips.

  “I can’t say that I do, as long as you’re my keeper,” she told Harlan.

  Before she could say more, Harlan kissed her, long and sweet. In that moment, Penny was pretty sure she was the luckiest lady werewolf on the planet.

  She threw her arms around her mate, knowing that fate had indeed blessed her.

  Chapter Ten

  “Shit.”

  Paxton looked up at Chase, who was sitting in the chair across from his, enjoying the surprisingly warm winter morning weather as they sat on the main lodge’s porch. Chase was sifting through a pile of unopened mail, opening letters as he drank a cup of coffee.

  “What?” Pax asked, sipping his own cup of coffee as he eyed Chase.