by Elsa Jade
When they paired as wolves, every cell of his body howled with the thrill. Never, ever, had he been with a woman in both human and wolf form, let alone in the same night. As a wolf, he could unleash his animal side without fear, but it felt right that they’d let their human bodies unite first. Because this was more than a moonlit romp. It was a prelude to something bigger and better. The desert, the night, the stars—all of them leaned in and smiled with that same promise.
Then he and Lana were curled together on the ground, nuzzling their thick necks in a lazy, intimate dance. He lost himself in her, letting the line between their bodies blur. Wolves weren’t big on pillow talk—thank God—but they were masters of the post-coital nuzzle.
Lana’s tongue caressed his ear for long, languid minutes, melting his insides. She was incredible. And she was his. The realization should have ripped through him like a bullet, but it spread slowly, like an oil lamp gradually illuminating the truth. As if it were inevitable, and he’d known all along.
Because everything was clear to him now.
May, all those years ago. The year the pump house burned down. She’d visited the ranch back then. How, why, he didn’t know. The critical thing was the date. That was the first time his father had taken him along to answer a call for help from another wolf pack. Twelve years ago.
He’d come home and caught the faint hint of a scent carried by the wind. He’d lost his heart to a phantom—the one wolf whose scent promised the kind of bond only possible with a destined mate.
Twelve years ago, Lana had visited the ranch, but she’d left before he returned.
The phantom and Lana were one and the same.
He buried his face in her neck, trying to hide the tremble inside.
Chapter Ten
‡
Ty sucked in a long, deep breath. All those years ago, he’d fallen for Lana, even without having a face to put with the scent. These last few days, he’d done it all over again. And now he knew. It had been her all along. Her, only her.
Maybe he wasn’t a faithless bastard like his father, after all.
He could have beat his head against the ground at his own thick-headedness. How could he not have recognized it sooner? Maybe because Lana’s scent had been so faint back then, masked by a thousand desert flowers. And her scent would also have matured over time.
Matured. His mind grabbed at the word. That was it. Lana would have been very young back then; him, too. He had to marvel at it all. Fate had hidden them from each other until they were both ready.
Ready to stand up to the wrath of his father? He wrapped his body tighter around Lana’s. Yes, even that. Just a few years ago, he stood up to his father to refuse an arranged mate. Getting his father to accept a sworn enemy into the pack would be even harder, but the reward would be forever. He’d never let Lana slip away again. Never.
His Dad would just have to suck it up. It was his life, his heart.
No wonder he couldn’t get enough of her. He wasn’t just quenching the thirst of a few days—more than a decade of longing was finally finding relief.
An easy, slow-motion feeling washed over him. For the first time in a long time, he felt like destiny was smiling on him. Soon, he knew, she would let him bite deep and take her as his mate—forever. Knowing Lana, she’d have her own bite ready for him, too. His heart skipped as he imagined their life together, with her filling his heart and his home, always there for him with a soothing touch and a smile that lit the fire of his passion. With her, he could truly live and not simply exist.
When Lana pulled away, he let out a whine of protest until she touched him again—with human hands now, stroking delicately around his ears, from the thick ruff of the base all the way to the razor edges. He found himself humming with pleasure as he looked up at her bare form in the moonlight. Disjointed words flitted through his mind, words like heaven and beautiful and right. Not that words mattered; a wolf didn’t need poetry to celebrate love.
Lana bent low and puffed into his ear, then stood and waited on the top step of the cabin. The moonlight cast her bare body in a pale, mystical light. Did she realize they were destined for each other?
He should tell her immediately about the phantom, about the time he’d spent searching for her. He should explain that fate was on their side. But then again, maybe now was not the time, and God knew speeches were not his forte. No, he’d tell her everything once they were inside. Better yet, he’d wait until sunrise. A new day, a new start. A new life together. They would figure out the details soon enough.
For now, though, he would let go and slide into this glorious feast of the senses. He indulged in a long, wolf stretch, hips up and back, shoulders low. He shifted back into his human body as he stepped toward the porch, barely registering the flash of pain that accompanied the change. Still tingling, he tucked his face alongside her cheek, his chest pressed to her breast. Heaven, indeed.
“Sorry,” he murmured.
“You’re apologizing?” she said, waiting for the punchline.
He worked his jaw a little, summoning words. “It was supposed to be slow and…what was it?”
She cupped his face with both hands and kissed him deep. “Sensual,” she murmured, illustrating with her tongue. Jesus, did she have a way with that word.
Slow. Sensual.
Hell, it was worth a try.
*
Lana was sweating despite the chilly night air. She had to chuckle at herself. So much for not acting like a bitch in heat.
She sighed, inside and out, and her wolf nodded smugly. Okay, she admitted to the beast, you were right. If she hadn’t pushed Ty, this might not have happened.
She and Ty belonged together. It was impossible to deny, given the way every electron in her body seemed aligned to Ty’s magnetic north. She let herself glow in the thought for a moment before anxiety butted into her thoughts like a snorting bull. What if she was wrong? What if she was over-interpreting their connection? She took a deep breath of desert air, and though it was dry, it went down smooth and easy. Somehow, it didn’t feel like their first night together. No, this had to be right.
Her pulse was racing even now. Just looking at him did that to her. She nearly let out a giggle. Like most wolves, she had a few wild, full moon nights to her credit, but never anything quite like this. To begin with, she’d always kept her two sides apart, human and wolf. But with Ty, she’d crossed over and back, seamlessly. Human, wolf, human. With him, it was one and the same. Her wolf had never demanded anything beyond physical thrills, but now she was howling crazy ballads of love and belonging—and her human side was humming the very same tune.
She steadied herself against a thick beam of the cabin and looked down across the valley. The deep porch would be as inviting in the heat of the day as it was now. The breeze was stronger up here in the hills, and the rest of the world seemed far, far away.
Ty stepped close, and she couldn’t wait to have him again. On her, in her. All over. Every inch of her body yearned for his touch. “This place is beautiful,” she whispered into his lips.
“You’re beautiful,” he growled.
She chuckled. “You’re purring, wolf.”
“Nmmm,” he murmured, and the sound reverberated in her ear. “Wolves don’t purr.”
“This one does.”
“Then you’re the one doing it to me.” He kissed her purposefully, like he was working his way down a wish list. The next kiss went deeper, promising drawn-out sex that would leave no stone unturned.
As if I have any of those left, she laughed to herself.
Is that a dare?
She didn’t know what stunned her more—the easy way they could communicate or the playful twinkle in his eyes. Somehow, she’d never imagined connecting that particular adjective with Ty. Him, playful?
Dare taken, he nodded through the next kiss.
He led her into the cabin, kissed her and deposited her gently on the massive bed, then padded away. Lana heard a drawer slide,
the scratch of a match. A faint glow flickered over Ty’s cheeks, then licked blue across the wick of a lantern. She quivered when he blew out the match, the circle of his mouth sending a thrill straight to her core. Playful wasn’t the word for him, now. Sensual was more like it. The man was true to his word.
The lantern revealed a small, simple cabin. Overhead, the open rafters hung with wispy reminders of years past. A masculine hideaway that didn’t hold a female scent. Not a trace.
“My brother and I built this place,” he said, circling the bed with the lantern, his cock erect.
She rolled, following him with her eyes, transfixed by the light and the sight of his body. She wanted to mark him the way he’d marked her, rubbing against him until his scent was indistinguishable from hers.
Ty set the lantern down amidst a clutch of devil’s claws on the bedside table, then settled along her body, matching their lengths. His eyes met hers from behind long, dark lashes that contradicted his rougher edges. Starting slowly, he rubbed her shoulder in circles until she cooed in delight.
“For a wolf, you’re pretty damn good at sensual,” she sighed, combing her fingers through his hair and finding it dewy with sweat.
“You define sensual,” he murmured, letting his stubble scour her breast.
She was getting sucked in way over her head. But oh, it felt good. Never mind the thing about a feud. So her mother had been with Ty’s father, once upon a time. Weird, but okay, everyone had a past. That their fathers had gone from friends to sworn enemies had nothing to do with her love for Ty.
Yes, love. She loved him. She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but destiny’s kind of chemistry wasn’t something you could analyze in a lab. It was the way it was. When the time came, she and Ty would face his father together and show him they were serious.
The question was, would the man listen? And what about the rest of the pack? Who would they side with?
The questions bumped uneasily through her mind. Maybe she was getting ahead of herself. It wasn’t like Ty had declared any feelings for her, after all. From the moment she’d first kissed him, everything had started rolling out of control, faster and faster. So fast that she worried about destiny falling behind. She was a passenger on a runaway train about to jump its tracks and the conductor was nowhere in sight. All she could do was hang on to the wild ride and hope that momentum would carry them through.
Ty’s lips closed around her nipple then, pushing away her anxious thoughts. Though her vision only registered shades of yellow-gray in the lantern light, she’d never felt so immersed in sensation. Ty’s breath at her breast, the honeydew of his tongue. The feel of his short, silky hair between her fingers. A trace of wolf stayed with the man, together with the scent of sage, earthy and fresh. She wanted to memorize every heartbeat of this night. The tickle when he reached the top of her thigh, the heady bubble of pleasure when his fingers slipped inside.
Slow and sensual. The man was a natural.
When their bodies locked together at last, their movements were unrushed, like the long days of summer. They swayed in a gradual escalation of motion and sensation that brought them to their highest peak yet. It wasn’t cliffy or steep like those that had topped their earlier rounds, but rather a smooth, round dome with views all around—a panorama of the past, the present, even a hint of a promising future. When they both came in the very same breath, the climax didn’t push them blindly off the heights but sent them into a long, easy slide into a new valley. A secret Eden no one but them was allowed to enter.
A place called home, where their souls joined as one.
Afterwards, she stroked Ty’s chest until the tight cords of muscle eased into slumber. It was deep in the night. The moon was in the west, a few hours away from setting. She felt so warm next to Ty, so secure. And yet this man was so much more than just raw, gritty power. He’d revealed an incredibly tender side, too, stroking her long after the act, the motion seeming to soothe him as much as it did her.
She looked back on the night, trying to make sense of her feelings. The first time, in the truck, had been all about lust. Outside the cabin—that was thrill with an undercurrent of possession. But this last round? This gloriously soft, silky sex? That went deeper.
She wondered what emotions they might cycle through if they kept this up. Admiration? Respect? Love? Or just bitter disappointment. Even regret.
She rested her chin on Ty’s chest and watched him sleep, her fingers tracing the curves of his shoulder. She wanted to etch every detail of this beautiful night into her memory. Just in case.
*
Ty floated through the night, plastered to Lana as if someone had brushed her with glue, then pressed her to him. Except that person was himself, architect of his own predicament. He wanted to relish this short peace, this calm before the storm, yet something nagged at him, even in sleep. He tried swatting it away. Why leave this perfect spot he’d found somewhere between her left breast and hip?
But Lana was nudging him. “Ty, someone’s coming,” she whispered, her muscles wound tight.
His left ear flicked at the sound of an engine. Then came a squeak of brakes, the creak of a chassis, and the thump of a door closing. He stretched slowly, then sat up with a jolt, sniffing. Had he really slept so soundly that he’d missed someone’s approach?
He sniffed again and cursed. “Cody.” Why the fool was coming to the cabin to disturb the most glorious sleep of his life was a mystery to his hazy mind. But two things were very, very clear in the dusty pink of the pre-dawn sky. He was keeping this woman forever, and he was going to kill his brother.
Cody came crashing up the path to warn them of his approach, then cleared his throat on the stoop for two long minutes before finally calling through the open door. “Uh, Ty?”
He let his growl fill the still cabin. “It better be damn important.”
“It is, it is.” Cody’s voice barely trusted itself past the door frame. “Sorry!”
You better be. He rolled away from Lana and pushed himself up, feeling heavy and spent. Pack business, always pack business. He covered the distance to the door slowly and leaned a weary shoulder against the frame.
Cody’s hands tunneled into his pockets like maybe if he bored deep enough, the rest of him could hide in there, too. Yeah, he knew just how pissed Ty was. Good.
Still, the reason for his brother’s visit couldn’t be good. He raised a hand to scratch at his ear, but stopped halfway as Lana’s soft step resonated through the floorboards. He couldn’t suppress a twinge when her naked body tucked behind his, soothing and inquiring at the same time. Her fingers intertwined with his, giving them something much better to do that maul his own skin. He felt a new rush, one that had nothing to do with taking her back to bed. She was offering him all her inner strength and encouragement. He imagined facing his duties with that kind of support. Jesus, how different his life would be.
It wasn’t that he minded what he had to do. Hell, he lived for it, but he longed for more. Love. Companionship. Comfort. The words came rolling through his mind, all by themselves. Lana could give him all that, and more. She would shore him up, not weaken him. She could stand up to his power without fading away. With her, he could carve out a small space for his soul within the demands of the alpha role. Hope straightened his shoulders, even as they struggled under the implied threat weighing down the air.
“Good morning, Cody,” Lana murmured, peeking out from beside his shoulder. He curled a possessive arm backwards, just in case his little brother didn’t get the message.
Cody shifted back. Way back. Message received. “Morning.” He tipped his hat with that boyish smile that managed to melt just about every female.
Lana showed no reaction. She just nodded, sending a wave of satisfaction through him. A feeling that faded with Cody’s next words.
“We got trouble, Ty.”
Chapter Eleven
‡
Lana parked Cody’s truck in its usual spot, just inside the r
anch gate. Back at the cabin, Ty had kissed her goodbye before going off with his brother to examine the scene of what appeared to be another rogue incursion. It was a hurried kiss full of unspoken promises—all but the one she’d managed to extract before he left.
“Promise me you won’t run off to fight without me.” Her voice wavered as she tugged him close.
Ty’s eyes were darker than ever as he pulled back to study her closely. “Lana,” he started, reluctance weighing on his lips.
She tightened her grip on the front of his shirt. “Promise!” She let her expression say the rest. That she was damn good in a fight. That she’d fought off rogues before. That she’d do anything for him, and anything to gain the respect she deserved in his pack.
His eyes searched hers a moment longer before he nodded, then pulled her into a last embrace. One that spun her dizzy inside, even though his lips were the only things moving.
When Ty broke away and drove off with Cody, she could practically see the burden of responsibility clamp down on his shoulders. She kicked at the dirt, then drove back home to the ranch. Alone.
Wait. Home?
She decided not to examine that one just now. She had enough on her mind. Enough to give the steering wheel a frustrated punch after parking the car. Damn it, she could help! Back in the Berkshires, she fought on the front line alongside her brothers. None of this women-stay-back-at-the-ranch nonsense. She and Ty could fight together through any obstacle the outside world could conjure: fathers, feuds, rogues. They’d conquer it all together, or die trying.
But this wasn’t her pack, no matter how much her heart leaped at the notion. One night with the alpha—no matter how delicious—hardly qualified her for special privileges. She knew she’d have to tread very carefully. She and Ty would have to face his father soon, and it wouldn’t be pretty. The thought had her hugging Ty’s shirt more closely around her as she stamped over to the guest house. She took a quick shower, deep in thought, then headed over for breakfast with her grandmother and Jean.
