Animal Desire: A Paranormal Romance (Werewolf and Shapeshifter) (The Animal Sagas)

by Charles, Susan G.

  Ben motioned to the side and the 2 men walked out of earshot of the cabin before Ben gave him more orders about what to do concerning the young girl inside. Once he was sure everything would be taken care of he walked back to his own house alone, dreading the next battle he was sure he was about to have.

  Chapter 7

  Lynda sat in a rocking chair beside the window, her two little ones nursing as she gazed out at the stars. She rocked slowly back and forth, trying to release the fear that she had experienced earlier in the day.

  Ben was taking care of things with Tanis, providing her a comfortable but secure room to sleep in. He had guards on her at all times. He had tried to explain why he would allow such a dangerous person to be near the babies a dozen times, but Lynda still didn’t understand it.

  She had gone to great lengths to protect her own sister, but her sister had not tried to steal her children either. But when she heard the front door of the cabin swing open and then close again, she let her eyes fall shut. She wished she was in bed so that she could pretend to be asleep.

  After a few minutes Ben opened the bedroom door quietly, in case the babies were sleeping, and looked inside. When he saw them suckling he smiled sweetly at Lynda. Lynda did not smile back.

  “Don’t be angry,” Ben pleaded as he walked into the room. He knew already that he was in trouble.

  “Is that a request or a command, Alpha?” she asked him quietly with more than a little attitude. She got up from her seat and gently placed the babies inside their bassinets before turning swiftly to face him.

  “Just who do you think I am?” she asked him in a whisper, the question so full of venom that he was startled by the tone of her voice. He had no idea how to answer her question.

  “I know who you are Lynda,” he said hesitantly.

  “No you don’t,” she snapped, still trying to keep her voice down and her temper in check. “Because if you did, you would know, that if someone tries to steal or hurt my children, that individual is going to pay, and I will be the one to deliver the punishment.”

  “Lynda,” he sighed as he stepped in closer to her. “Please try to understand. Tanis… she was only a baby herself when she disappeared. She told me a little about what had happened to her when I was talking to her just a bit ago. She was abducted… well I call it abducted, but that wasn’t her choice of words.”

  Ben walked even closer to her as he went on, “She never came right out and said it, but I think it was the witch… the witch we dealt with all those months ago. And I think she raised Tanis to be her apprentice. And yes, before you ask, I really feel it was the same witch we dealt with not too long ago… but I can’t prove it.”

  Ben continued on, “Lynda, it’s not who she truly is, since she got lost way back then… she’s never had the chance to become who she truly was going to be.”

  “So that’s an excuse?” Lynda snapped, her anger surfacing once more. Then she quieted down before going on, “That’s an excuse for stealing our babies while they slept?”

  “No,” Ben agreed quietly and as he walked even closer to her and wrapped one arm around her waist.

  Lynda struggled with him a bit before Ben said, “What she did was wrong, and the terror that you felt… that I felt… that the whole pack felt is something that she will have to find a way to make up for.”

  Lynda’s eyes widened, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What do you mean, ‘make up’ for? Benjamin Wilder… you’re not seriously thinking of letting her stay here, are you? Are you?!” Lynda asked breathlessly as she pushed Ben away. “She can’t stay here! It’s not possible.”

  “Lynda, she’s my sister,” Ben slowly reminded her. “She is a part of my family too. And she’s been alone for a very long time. You can’t expect me to abandon her… to turn her away… again.”

  “Yes I can,” Lynda nodded quickly. “She’s a danger…”

  “But she didn’t hurt them,” Ben pointed out. “The twins are fine.”

  “Because we found them first!” Lynda shot back. “Who knows what she planned to do with them? What might have happened to them if we hadn’t found them so fast? There’s nothing good that could come of someone stealing your children.”

  Ben breathed a heavy sigh of frustration. He knew that he was not going to win this battle.

  “People don’t steal children with good thoughts in their mind!” Lynda continued, frustrated that Ben was thinking of keeping the kidnapper of her children around. “You know that as well as I do, Ben!”

  Yes, he nodded his head with that point. He could command her to obey him, but that was not the kind of marriage they had, and that was certainly not the type of man he was.

  “Fine,” he reluctantly agreed after a few seconds of silence. “If you want me to make her leave, then I will.”

  “I do, that’s exactly what I want if I can’t have what I really want… and thank you” Linda said sternly. “Lock her up in the woods somewhere, I don’t care. You can visit her there anytime that you want to. Feed her there, visit her there… rehabilitate her there… far, far away from our children.”

  “Okay,” he finally agreed as he walked back to her and drew her closer in his arms.

  “Lynda, you know, you and the babies are what’s the most important thing to me.” Ben assured her. “If this is what you need… if this will make you feel more secure, then I will do it to make you happy. Anything for you. You know that right?”

  “Thank you,” Lynda said quietly and then pulled away from him still holding one hand in hers. She climbed into bed, and he climbed in beside her. When she felt his strong arms encircle her she relaxed with the sense of safety that they offered her. She wasn’t sure exactly why – was it the run, the baby-napping or just being a first time mom – but her old friend sleep finally visited her that night and decided to stay around for a while.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning Ben and Lynda slept in just a little past their usual, got ready and went together to the room where Tanis was being kept as soon as Lynda had fed the twins. Sonya was left in charge of the babies once more, as Lynda had come to trust her with them after seeing how protective she was of them throughout last nights ordeal. She knew the kidnapping was in no way her fault.

  It was about a ten minute walk to the place where Tanis was being held from Ben’s home. Lynda noticed as they arrived that the guards posted outside the door by Ben looked as if they were on point, attentive… their eyes vigilant on their surroundings, actively listening and watching everything in the area. Each one nodded their heads slightly in deference to Ben and Lynda as they passed each on the way to the small houses front door.

  Ben walked up the front porch stairs alone, as Lynda waited at the bottom, knocked 3 times on the front door, then opened the door to the small room after a few seconds hesitation and poked his head inside. He wasn’t exactly expecting compliance from the sister he had barely even known. A sister he thought he had lost years ago.

  However, what he was confronted with when he entered the room was much worse than lack of compliance… he didn’t see her so he walked back to the tiny bathroom and knocked on the closed door. No one answered again. “Tanis?” he said hesitantly. “It’s me… Ben.”

  He waited 3 seconds then he turned the knob. She was not in there! So what he found when he went back to the tiny cabin was nothing… but her absence. The room was completely empty. Ben froze in place at the bathroom door.

  “What is it?” Lynda asked in a whisper when he pulled his head back out of the room, his features pale, and his expression serious.

  “She’s not in there,” he said quietly.

  “That’s impossible!” the taller of the 10 guards declared to Ben. “We’ve all been here the entire time.”

  “Well… she got out somehow,” Ben accused them all, then he dismissed them with a sharp order to go and gather a search party.

  Lynda’s heart dropped. She felt her worst fears realized. She had known de
ep down that there was always a dark force out there wanting to hurt her babies, and now it was free once more, to roam and harm as it pleased. She knew they had won over the witch too easily and never felt truly at ease over how easily they had broken the curse. She might even be behind all this! Who knew at this point!

  Ben might call her sister, but Lynda called her monster. Would her babies ever be safe as long as Tanis was free, Lynda wondered? Just how powerful was she, considering that she had escaped a guarded room, completely surrounded by 10 werewolves?

  And did she have help? Did the witch somehow release her during the night by casting a spell on the guards? Or was she just doing this all by herself – or maybe someone all together different was aiding Tanis in her escape? Thousands of questions flooded Lynda’s thoughts.

  Ben shed his shirt in one swift movement. Lynda witnessed the languid ripple of the muscles of his back as his body began the transformation. She could see the fury and the concern contorting his features as his wolf-features were born amidst a snarl of rage. He bolted off across the courtyard of the cabins and was deep into the woods before Lynda could even realize what he was doing. The remaining guards immediately followed Ben’s lead.

  “What’s going on?” Sonya asked as she came running up behind Lynda. She had heard the alpha’s snarl, as had every other member of the Strongheart pack. It summoned them no matter what activity they were engaged in. Several of the men had already transformed as they ran off into the woods after Ben.

  “He’s gone off to find her,” Lynda spoke in a whisper, her voice trembling at the thought.

  Already she was unable to grasp just how powerful Tanis was, Ben hadn’t known her since she was a young girl. How could he know what to expect when hunting her down? What if she got the upper hand on him? If she was willing to steal babies, if she could disappear from a guarded house… then she would probably be willing to cross any line.

  Lynda was torn, as she wanted to go after him, but she couldn’t imagine leaving the twins again. So she hurried back to the cabin with Sonya right there on her heels. Clay, looking a little bit uncomfortable, was hovering over the bassinets right where Sonya had left him. Lynda breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the twins were safe with Clay.

  “I need to go to Ben,” Clay said, antsy from being forced to wait for so long.

  “Be careful,” Sonya said swiftly, for the first time showing some serious concern.

  Clay looked deeply into her eyes, his casual smile reminding her of just how easily he could set her at ease. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back,” he assured her with a quick kiss on the lips and a fast hug. As Clay began to move past Lynda she caught him by the elbow.

  Clay glanced at her sharply, his eyes lowered slightly in deference. “Don’t let her hurt him,” she whispered to Clay in a commanding tone.

  Clay boldly met her eyes with determination. “Don’t worry, I won’t,” he assured her, and then took off through the front door of the cabin.

  Lynda walked to the window near the bassinets and looked out through it as she folded her arms across her stomach. She hadn’t felt so vulnerable and terrified since Sonya had been abducted. Ben was gone again and she wasn’t sure that he knew what he was getting into any more than she did. She was worried beyond belief.

  The warmth of her sister’s hands curved over her tired shoulders. “It’s going to be okay Lynda,” she murmured, trying to calm her sister. “Clay and Ben can handle this, they can handle anything.”

  Lynda ground her teeth, crossed her arms again and set her jaw as she stared hard out the window. She was used to handling things herself. If there was a problem, normally she was the one to fix it. Now things were a little different, and adjusting to that was still rather difficult for her.

  “I just wish I could be out there with him,” Lynda admitted in a nearly strangled voice. Even as the words left her lips the babies began to fuss.

  Lynda smiled affectionately at each one as she quickly wiped tears from her eyes. They had such similar features, and both looked remarkably like her. But she could already see their different personalities forming. One was fiery and demanding, much like Sonya had been as a child, the other was less likely to shriek and scream, but was always watching. His gaze seemed to take in every nuance of the world around him, absorbing with very little reaction.

  Sonya swept the baby girl up into her arms, and Lynda picked up her son. She walked to the window with the baby boy and cradled him in her arms. “Don’t worry little ones,” she said, talking to both babies. “Daddy will come home soon.”

  Chapter 9

  Out in the woods Ben was moving so swiftly that he didn’t even bother to dodge the low hanging branches and rough bushes. He felt them bury beneath his fur and tear into his skin, but he ignored the pain. His mind was on one thing only. Tanis. As he ran he heard the howls behind him that signaled the approach of several members of his pack. He appreciated their loyalty, but he wished they would be silent for once and had stayed behind.

  One of the biggest dilemmas with finding Tanis was that he had never seen her in her wolf form. She had been too young to fully transform when she went missing. All he remembered of her really was her ivory hair and startling blue eyes. Instead, he knew he would have to rely on his sense of smell to dictate which wolf she was if she had indeed transformed into wolf form.

  As he broke through the hedges into a clearing that shimmered in the morning sunlight, dew still clinging to the long blades of grass, he was suddenly assaulted by the memory of the last moment he had seen Tanis as a child. She had been the one to run off from him as they explored the woods that summer day. She had been the one to ignore his calls as she traipsed off into the woods. It was a moment of his life that he had never forgotten.

  Now he had to make a choice. Should he follow on after his wayward sister, or should he return to the pack to get help. He had been told never to go so deep into the woods. So he followed the rules, and he went back for help. And Tanis was never seen again. And that was all those years ago. If only he had followed her way back then, maybe he would have been able to protect her from the fate that befell her.

  Then, just across the clearing… he caught sight of an ivory glimmer. Was it… yes, it seemed to be a wolf curled up in the tall grass. He drew closer cautiously as he was well aware that it could be a trick. The wolf did not seem to be moving. Quietly he approached her. When he was just beside her he could see the crimson of her blood spilling across the purest white fur he had ever seen in a wolf. Her blue eyes were half-shut amidst a quiet whimper.

  “Tanis,” Ben growled as he walked in a slow circle around her. He sniffed at her wound, assessing the severity of it. It was a deep cut into her side that she was bleeding fairly profusely from. He knew she wouldn’t have long if the wound wasn’t treated.

  “Just go,” Tanis grunted out, her body shuddering with pain. “Just let me die in peace.”

  “No,” Ben replied and lowered his nose to hers. His eyes gazed deeply into the pain-filled spheres that were the only thing familiar about the woman and wolf his younger sister had grown into. “Don’t worry. I’m never going to leave you alone again, Tanis.”

  As the other wolves caught up with him a few transformed into humans. One gathered thick grass and leaves to staunch the wound with. The other two gently lifted Tanis’s body up off of the ground. Ben watched as they carried her back through the woods. Clay fell into step beside Ben as he caught up with the others.

  “What happened to her? Do you think she’ll survive?” Clay asked Ben in a gentle but curious tone. But as soon as he asked it he thought to himself, would it be so devastating if the she-wolf who had abducted the Alpha’s children perished?

  “She’s already died once, and returned to me,” Ben replied his voice calm, hiding his true emotions. “I’ll not let her die again.”

  Tanis was taken to a private cabin that was used for medical treatment of the Strongheart clan. Ben summoned Mistress Harlayne, a
RN and natural healer too, to come and take care of her. He stayed with her until he had seen the cut tended to, then left her to sleep as she was given a heavy sedative. Hours later he returned to his own cabin to find Lynda still holding their son, and Sonya just setting his daughter back into her bassinet.

  “Did you find her?” Lynda asked nervously as she turned to face him. Then she gasped when she saw the blood flecked on his skin. “Are you hurt? Did she hurt you?”

  “Me? No… I’m not hurt” Ben replied quickly as he reached for his son. Lynda handed him gently over to Ben. “I found her,” he said quietly as he looked down into his son’s watchful eyes and smiled.

  “And?” Lynda pressed him, searching his gaze for the truth. “So what happened? Did anyone get hurt? Is she… dead?”

  “No, she’s recovering from a wound,” he replied without looking up at Lynda, bouncing his son in his arms.

  “She’s what! You mean… you brought her back here again?” Lynda asked him incredulously. “Couldn’t you just leave her out there for the wild to take care of?”

  Ben looked at her, his gaze filled with guarded anger. “No more than you could avoid marrying me for the sake of saving Sonya,” Ben pointed out his eyes flashing slightly. “There will be no discussion on this Lynda. I failed her once, I’ll not fail her again.”

  “But… but what about me… and your children?” Lynda fired back as Sonya ducked out of the bedroom to give them some privacy. “Are you going to fail us by letting someone as dangerous as Tanis live amidst us?”

  “No discussion,” Ben repeated, his voice gaining a sense of authority that he rarely wielded on Lynda. “If she so much as looks the wrong way at you and the twins, then I will take care if it,” he assured her. “But until then, we’re going to be the family she never had the chance to have.”

  Lynda was fuming as Ben laid his son back in the bassinet beside his sister. Her desire to protect her children was much stronger than her desire to present an obedient nature to her mate and alpha. Ben might be the Alpha of the Strongheart pack, but Lynda had always been, and would always be, the alpha of her family. She would do whatever it took to make sure that her family was safe. And you could count on that. Tanis or no Tanis!