“Don’t worry, Sare-bear. I’m not going to leave you again.” I meant what I said, but a ripple of doubt wouldn’t go away. Every day that I was home, I found myself missing Sam and the compound. It was like an empty pit had formed in my stomach that wouldn’t ever be filled. I’d grown used to group dinners, the smell of leather and the roar of Harley engines coming to life before a run.
The night that Mike had taken me home, I’d let my eyes drift closed as I imagined I was riding behind Sam.
Once I’d even gotten in my rental car and driven out of town, heading toward the compound. I stopped myself before I could get to the third exit on the highway. There was no guarantee that I’d be allowed to leave once I drove through the gates and that was a risk I couldn’t take.
We were eating tableside guac and quesadillas at our favorite restaurant, listening to the too-loud music and drinking weak margaritas. I’d been with Sarah every night since I came back into town and drove straight to her house from the exit. She didn’t let me out of her sight for more than the balance of my work day.
That night, I convinced her that I needed to go home and take care of my place. She reluctantly agreed on the condition that I meet her for breakfast. After a hug, she got into the car and drove away. I watched until her taillights faded, then headed for my own vehicle.
Cool night air surrounded me, but felt strangely heavy on my skin, like it a damp cloak wrapped around my shoulders. Alone in the parking lot, a cloud moved over the almost-full moon and left me in shadows. A feeling like someone was watching me—a tingle on my skin— crept over me and I shuddered, moving quickly to the car with my keys in my hand.
Once the engine was running and I was pulling out of the spot, I began to feel safer. Then I looked back and saw a silhouette slip from the shadows and move into the alley. Convinced that it was just a trick of light, I focused on the road.
At home, I walked onto my porch and pulled out my keys to open the house. I was about to slide them into the lock when I heard a voice.
“Ellie.”
I turned to see Sam standing at the base of the steps, staring up at me. “I missed you,” he said.
“What are you doing here? You scared the hell out of me at the restaurant.” I walked away from the door to stare at him. “Did Michael change his mind?”
“No. I just missed you. What restaurant?”
“What do you want me to say, Sam?” Despite my words, butterflies began hula-hooping in my stomach. The sight of him made me feel so good that it was physical.
“Say you’ll come home with me,” he said solemnly.
“I can’t.”
“Then I’ll stay with you.” He walked up onto the porch and examined it, touching the white railing and pushing the swing. “This looks like a nice place to sit.”
“You can’t stay here.”
“You didn’t miss me even a little?” His eyes, limpid pools of gold, were too easy to lose myself in. I looked away.
“You kept me prisoner.”
“I know. It was wrong. But would you have me risk the life of every man, woman and child in the compound?”
Put that way, I felt like I was somehow in the wrong. “No, but I wouldn’t have told.”
“We didn’t know that then.”
“But you do now?”
He nodded.
“I have a life here.”
“You can keep your life.”
“Damn it, Sam.” Anger suddenly overwhelmed me and I pushed past him to the door. “You can’t just show up and tell me these things and think we’re going to be together.”
“Why?”
“Because you take me over. One day as your captive and I’m already thinking about a future with you. With just you. That’s so damn twisted.”
“It’s not,” he argued. “You’re my mate.”
“I’m not a wolf.”
“I am.” We stared at each other, then I turned and unlocked the door. He was right at my heels.
He heard it before I did.
The slightest sound.
Click.
Boom.
Then I was falling, my face slamming against the curio I kept in the entryway for mail and keys. Pain exploded and I felt a bruise bloom across my cheekbone. Sam yelped and then his weight was on me for a split second before he was on his feet, running away from me and into the kitchen.
“Sam,” I screamed, lurching to my feet. My head was in agony and I brought both hands to it and felt blood, sticky against my palm. Stumbling, I moved toward the kitchen then stopped when Sam appeared in the doorway. “What happened?”
“Who was that?” He growled. His face appeared almost lupine in the moonlight streaming through the windows.
“Who?”
“The man who tried to shoot you.”
That’s when he got closer and I saw the wound that bloomed on his torso, running red.
“Are you—?” I didn’t finish the sentence before I passed out.
Eleven
When I woke up, Sam was holding me in his lap, looking anxiously at my face.
“Are you okay?”
“What happened?” Before he could speak, it all rushed back. “You were shot.”
“He was trying for you. I just got in the way first.”
“Oh god, I’m so sorry.” He was shot and I was the one who passed out. “Let me see it. We need to take you to a doctor.”
“You know that’s not going to happen. Madison can patch me up when I get back. A bullet isn’t even going to slow me down much,” he said. “But when I find the fucker, he’s going to pay for putting a hole in this jacket.” He eased off the couch, making sure my head found a pillow and wasn’t jolted. “I’m sorry I threw you like that. I didn’t think I’d be able to get in front of you in time. I’ve never felt like that before.”
“How?”
“Scared.” He shook his head put his palm against my cheek. “Is there anything you want me to pack for you?”
“Pack?”
“You’re my mate. Someone tried to kill you. You’re coming to the compound until I’m convinced that you’re safe.” His tone didn’t leave room for arguing, but I felt my hackles rise.
Then they fell. He was right—I wasn’t safe. If I’d gone through the door alone, chances are I’d be a corpse instead of complaining about relocation. More than that, though, being with him again was intoxicating. His scent, his touch, they were drugs. I was about to relapse. It was time to accept it.
“No argument?”
“No,” I said. “If you fill a backpack with clothes for me, I’ll call work and say that I have a family emergency.”
He walked to the stairs and started to climb, then turned back. “We’re going to keep you safe,” he promised. I remembered the first night we’d met, when he’d promised the same in a guttural, primitive voice…and I believed him.
The medicine I took helped my head to feel more human and I was able to enjoy the sensation of being wrapped around Sam while he carefully steered his motorcycle down the highway. I tried to ask whether he was going so slow on my behalf—Michael had been much faster—but he couldn’t hear me over the sound of the wind.
We reached the compound when the first rays of light kissed the horizon. No one was outside except the guards who stood at the gates. They waved us through and we went directly to his house. Once the door closed behind us, he laced his fingers with mine, led me to his room and laid a cover over me. He whispered that he was going to pull out the bullet in the bathroom. I tried to ask to go with him, but he just kissed me softly and I fell asleep.
The next morning, he was gone. The door was wide open and I was unencumbered. Looking in the mirror, I winced at the purple stain spread across my cheek. Not flattering. Not exactly how you want the guy who took a bullet for you to see you the next morning.
Sighing, I picked up my mobile and called Sarah. She balked at skipping breakfast, but when I assured her I was in the clutches of a sexy guy, concern
changed to excitement. We hung up and I promised I’d see her soon. Next I called work and confirmed that I could use sick days for awhile—luckily I had years of them built up.
Not finding Sam, I stepped in the shower and washed off, then got out and changed into jeans and a t-shirt. Slipping on tennis shoes, I walked across the compound to the clubhouse where I found Madison reading a thick book, idly turning pages with one hand and using the other to sip her coffee.
“Any more caffeine?” I asked.
“Oh god,” Madison jumped up and came to me. “Your face.”
“It looks worse than it feels.” Or, at least, that’s what I was trying to convince myself.
“Let me take a look at it.” She ran her fingers gently over the bone, then looked into my eyes. “At least your pupils look good,” she said. “I don’t know what Sam was thinking to let you go to sleep without medical attention.”
“I stayed up watching her all night to make sure she was breathing just fine,” Sam said, coming out of the meeting room with a few other club members and walking over to me. He slung an arm over my shoulders. “Was only gone for 5 minutes.” He kissed my cheek. “I just told the guys what happened.”
“Don’t worry, Eleanor,” said Mike. “We keep every member of our pack safe.”
I wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “Um, I see.”
He smiled gently. “You’re one of us now.”
“Since when?”
“Since you accepted Sam’s invitation to come home.” Madison grinned at me and it was as if the earth imperceptibly shifted. One moment I was me and the next I was meandSam. Us. A unit. I had a home with the man who was standing behind me, his teeth bared in a grin.
And I’d accepted it, because they’d accepted me. He said I could leave the compound, which meant I could still have margarita nights with Sarah, continue designing medications and actually shop for my own clothes. But at night, I’d come home and cuddle up with Sam, hike in the woods that ringed the buildings, or go to another potluck with the pack.
My immediate instinct was to deny what I felt, but I’d been doing that for too long. He’d saved my life more than once. When he wouldn’t let me go, I’d felt betrayed—but now I understood why he had to do it.
I’d do it too, to protect him.
“Sam has some business he needs to see to in town,” Mike said, stepping forward and wrapping his arm around Madison, who leaned into him with her face against the soft black leather of his jacket. “We need to do the official inspection and vote on your patching.”
“What do you mean?” I cut a glance to Sam and saw that he looked uncomfortable, was shifting his weight from one foot to another.
Madison spoke, her soft voice soothing. “Mike has to examine your commitment and ask for the opinions of the other members. It’s just some speeches, some questions. It’s really more of a formality than anything else. Then the patched members of the Howlers will vote on whether you can wear Sam’s property patch.”
“What?” Property?
“You’re his mate—there’s no debating that—but you’re also his ol’ lady, like I’m Mike’s. That’s why my club jacket says ‘Property of Michael.’ It lets people know.”
Even having an inkling of what it meant, the idea of being called someone’s property was less than appealing. I’d spent my entire life making sure I was my own person. Strong, independent and free—which I guess I had to be after my parents died, because none of the foster parents or group homes that had me really wanted me. I looked at Sam and he smiled gently at me. I wondered whether he understood my internal struggle.
Madison did. She walked over, laid a hand on my arm and continued speaking. “It may seem strange to people outside the club. Property isn’t a bad thing, though. It doesn’t make you any less you. It just means that you’re his woman and anyone who fucks with you is taking on all of us.” The guys surrounding us nodded at her statement, and my hackles lowered a little.
Sam kissed the top of my head, then pulled away. “I’ll see you tonight, sexy.”
“Where are you going?”
“Club stuff,” he said evasively. In my time staying with him, I’d learned that some Howlers information was always going to be off-limits to me. Only werewolves were eligible for real patched membership and there were no female werewolves. So I waved at him and watched his beautiful butt saunter out of the door.
“I have some business I need to take care of,” said Mike, looking at Madison. “Why don’t we do the inspection before dinner? The other members should be back from their forest run by then.”
“The full moon is in three days,” Madison reminded him. “Are you going to stay home or go to the woods?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “It depends on how Sam’s business goes.” I wanted to ask what they were talking about, but I decided to let it go even though it irked me that Madison was in on it. I guess wearing a property patch comes with certain benefits.
“Come on,” she said to me. “We have the whole day. I’m not allowed to take you off the compound until they know who attacked you, but you haven’t met everyone yet either.”
I followed her into the sunshine, girding my loins for a day of meet-and-greets.
That night I stood before the club, ready to be judged. It kind of felt like waiting to be picked for a sports team in high school—I was nervous and I definitely wasn’t the most popular one in the room. Some of the members of the club still seemed apprehensive about me, which didn’t bode well for being voted in.
Between meeting her friends, Madison had assured me that it couldn’t possibly go wrong. Since I was Sam’s mate, I was pretty much guaranteed entry. “It’s more difficult for the women who aren’t mated,” she explained.
“Not all the women are?”
“No.” She looked out into the forest. “I’m not, to be honest. Mike and I met through Sam. It wasn’t an instinct thing. We actually got to know each other when he enrolled in a business management class to be near me.”
“He went to college?”
“Just a few classes. He wanted to make sure he understood money well enough to manage it for everyone here. The presidency wasn’t the position he expected to move into. He thought he’d be the treasurer.”
“What happened?”
“Jagger left.”
“He was supposed to be the president?”
“It seemed logical. Then our last alpha banished him.”
“How did you find out Mike was a werewolf?”
“He told me. Wasn’t ever his intention to wed a woman from the outside. Most of the wolves mate or marry a girl who was raised in a wolf community with a wolf father—it’s just easier that way and god knows there’s enough of them.”
“How many?”
“Thousands.” It was hard for me to imagine secret enclaves of biker wolves living all across the world, but, then, I’d never known about Howlers until a man had shifted right in front of me.
Now I thought about those thousands of women and wondered why more of the club members weren’t married. I’d spent enough time at dinners and around the compound to know each man before me and who he lived with. Most lived alone.
Mike raised his hand and the noise level in the room dropped to zero. “Before we start our meeting, we have an important topic to discuss. Sam has called Eleanor his mate and she has accepted his pledge and decided to call the compound home.” Some of the men whose faces were stern softened a little at his words. “We need to examine her and make her membership in our community official. Once it is, we protect her as a member of this pack. Will anyone speak for her?”
My body flushed hot and I looked at my feet. I didn’t know most of the wolves in the club very well—mostly just faces and names—and if Mike had been planning on speaking for me, he wouldn’t have asked.
“I will.” The voice that spoke was tired, but strong. I looked to a corner of the room and saw Matt rise from his chair with difficulty. “Her ski
ll with medicines, fast thinking and courage saved my life. I wouldn’t be alive without her. She would be a strong member of the community and a good way to begin tying ourselves back into the world. I’d be proud to call her my sister and affirm her commitment to our brother.” He sat back down. My eyes misted with tears when they met his and he smiled.
Another man spoke about the strength of mated wolves and the power it would bring to their pack. Another said that he hadn’t known me long, but respected that I hadn’t told anyone about them during my time back at home. Once all who chose to speak had their say, Mike stood and walked over to me. He clasped my arms with his hands.
“Will you protect our secret with your life?”
“Yes.”
“Will you put your pack above all others?”
I thought of Sarah, then mentally shuffled her into my personal pack so that I could answer honestly. “Yes.”
“Will you aid your brothers and sisters in times of need?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s call a vote.” Mike turned to the rest of the members. “Will Eleanor be allowed to wear Sam’s patch and the patch of the Howlers?”
It was unanimous. I was in.
Before I left the meeting room, each member gave me a gruff pat on the head, hug or smile. I felt warm, like my skin was glowing with a slight sunburn. They had all accepted me. I was one of them now.
Madison was waiting outside with some of the other women, prepared with coffee, hugs and a black leather jacket of my own. While we waited for the meeting to end so that we could all enjoy dinner together, they worked on attaching my patches. The moon with a single eye—the sign of the Howlers—stretched across the back, ringed with the words “Property of Sam.”
By the time the men came out of the back, we’d set up the dishes that everyone had prepared. Since the women of the pack had cooked, the prospects got the night off from their duties.
I was halfway through a piece of tender ranch chicken, laughing at something Matt said, when Sam stalked through the door. The ominous look on his face crumbled when he saw me sitting near his brothers, wearing his jacket. His eyes sharpened, focused first on the slim-cut leather that hugged my skin, then traveled up and down my body, taking in every curve and hollow.
KEEPING YOU: Howlers Motorcycle Club 1: A Werewolf Shifter Paranormal Motorcycle Club Romance Page 6
