Wolf in Her Bed

by N. J. Walters

  Remy staggered off, all the while cursing his brother, his son, Travis and even his dead wife. This was all their fault. This beating was the fault of that bitch in North Carolina. If she’d died like she was supposed to, this wouldn’t have happened. But it was Armand’s fault too for sniffing around a human.

  Oh yes, he’d be traveling back there soon, and this time he wouldn’t make any mistakes.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Anny leaned into Armand as they walked toward the main house. He pointed out several robins sitting on a branch and a squirrel racing up a tree trunk. He noted the way she sniffed the air and narrowed her gaze, scanning the area as they walked. She might not be ready to shift into her wolf, but there was no denying the creature was there inside her. Anny was using her newly enhanced senses without even realizing it.

  He enjoyed the short, quiet walk with Anny by his side. The morning was sunny, but there was still some dew on the ground and the surrounding trees. They could have frost any day now. Winter wasn’t far away. He could easily imagine snowy days curled up on the sofa watching movies with her. Or even better, long nights in his bed making love.

  The cabin came into view and Anny’s pace slowed until she finally came to a complete stop. He waited while she studied the building. “It’s nice.”

  He tried to look at it through her eyes, as though it were new. It really was a great house, the logs blending into the wooded surroundings. “It’s about the same size as our place. Two bedrooms and an office. We have three bedrooms with private baths at our house and no office.”

  They took the couple of steps to the porch. He stopped her there. “How many people are inside?” he asked her.

  She looked at him as though he were crazy. “How could I possibly know that?”

  “Close your eyes and concentrate. You’re close enough to smell them. You need to learn to differentiate between scents. That kind of information is invaluable in a fight.”

  She swallowed hard at the reminder of the danger she was in. He hated to bring it up, to make her afraid, but he was more concerned about her learning how to protect herself. “You can do it,” he encouraged. “Just sniff and trust your senses.”

  Anny closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She frowned and her nose wrinkled. He bent down and kissed the tip of her nose and her eyes flew open. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “So, what can you tell me?”

  She sniffed again. “There are four—no, five people inside. I think.” She looked to him for confirmation.

  “You need to trust your instincts, trust your wolf.” He had to get her to accept that her wolf was real. It wasn’t fair to either woman or wolf if she didn’t.

  “Five. There are five people. The same ones I met at your place yesterday.” She cocked her head to one side and sniffed again. “And I think I smell pancakes.”

  Armand chuckled and opened the door. He held it open and motioned Anny inside. She stepped over the threshold, but didn’t go any farther.

  He closed the door, put his hand on the small of her back and urged her toward the dining table at the back of the large open space.

  “Morning.” It was Gwen who stood and rushed toward them. “How are you feeling, Anny?” Gwen took the other woman’s hands in hers and squeezed. Armand was grateful to Gwen for making Anny feel welcome.

  “Better, I think.” Anny smiled back, but he could tell it was forced.

  “Come sit and have something to eat.” Gwen tugged Anny toward the table. Anny glanced over her shoulder at him and he could see the worry in her eyes. He hurried his step until he was right behind her.

  Anny slid onto the empty seat Gwen led her to and he took the one beside her. “Morning.” Armand gave a general greeting to everyone in the room. Louis gave him a wave, Cole glanced up and then went back to eating and Jacque inclined his head.

  Gator stepped out of the kitchen with a platter in his hands. “I have pancakes, plain and blueberry. Take your pick.” He set them in front of Anny.

  She glanced up at Gator. “Thank you.”

  He gave her a grin. “My pleasure.”

  Armand reached for the plate and forked a half-dozen pancakes onto his plate. Then he held the dish out to Anny. “Help yourself.” She put two plain ones on her plate. He wished she’d eat more but didn’t push her. He grabbed the almost empty platter that still had a few pieces of bacon on it and scooped half of it onto her plate. She raised one eyebrow at him but said nothing.

  They ate in companionable silence with Jacque and Louis chatting about the assignments for the day. They all took turns patrolling the grounds for safety reasons.

  Anny picked at her food at first and slowly began to really eat. She polished off the pancakes and all the bacon. In the meantime, he’d cleared his own plate and gone back for seconds. He’d missed two meals yesterday and was starving.

  Finally, Anny pushed her plate away. As if that was the signal he’d been waiting for, Jacque rested both elbows on the table and leaned forward, his golden-brown gaze directed at Anny. “You’re one of us now.”

  Anny shifted restlessly in her chair. “What exactly does that mean?” He wished he could ease her discomfort, but it was better to get everything out in the open. She had to learn what it meant to be part of a pack. Still, he put his hand on the back of her chair and rubbed his fingers over her nape to let her know he was there for her.

  Gwen spoke up quickly. “I know this is difficult for you. I mean, all these guys—” she motioned with her hand, “—can be intimidating. But you’re different now. You feel like there’s someone else, something else inside you. I understand what you’re going through. I was human like you only a few weeks ago. I was attacked too.”

  He could tell Gwen had piqued Anny’s interest. She sat forward in her chair. “What happened to you?”

  Jacque growled and Anny scooted her chair back so fast it tipped and fell to the floor with a crash. Armand jumped up and caught her shoulders. “It’s okay, Anny. No one here will hurt you.”

  “He growled,” she whispered, jerking her gaze toward Jacque.

  “He can hear you,” Jacque retorted.

  Gwen pushed her chair back and came around the table to take Anny’s hand. “It’s okay. You don’t know any of us other than Armand. You have no reason to trust us, but we only have your best interests at heart.” Gwen tugged Anny toward the living room area. “Come and sit and I’ll answer any questions you have.” Gwen glanced at Armand. “You can stay here with the boys. This is girl talk.”

  Summarily dismissed, Armand nevertheless caught Anny’s gaze and silently questioned if she was all right. She slowly nodded and he righted her chair before sliding back into his own. He knew she was only a few feet away, but he wanted her right beside him. He restrained his possessiveness, knowing if anyone could answer her questions it would be Gwen.

  Anny sat on the large sofa beside Gwen. The other woman was beautiful with her tousled blonde hair and kind blue eyes. Gwen smiled at her as she pulled her knee up onto the sofa and swiveled her body so she was facing Anny. “Don’t mind them.” She gestured to the men in the other part of the room. “They growl a lot, but they’re really great guys.”

  A low growl filled the air and made Anny shiver. It sounded so much like the sound the creature had made before it had attacked her.

  “That’s Jacque. He’s alpha of this pack and takes the job very seriously.”

  Anny decided it was time to take control of the conversation and ask questions. “You said you were human. What happened to you?”

  “They kidnapped me.” Gwen’s smile made Anny wonder if the other woman was teasing her. “Seriously,” Gwen continued. “They did it to protect me, but I wasn’t happy at first.”

  Kidnapped. Anny could barely wrap her head around that one. “Are you all right? Do you need help escaping?” She kept her voice low, hoping the men wouldn’t hear her, but that hope was in vain.

  The growl from the dining area grew louder as Gw
en laughed. “No. I might have taken you up on that offer for the first few days after they brought me here, but I’m very happy to be where I am now. I’m a writer,” Gwen continued. “And I came into possession of information that was dangerous to my continued health.”

  “What information?” Really, the story was fascinating, and Anny found herself eager to know more.

  Gwen leaned in and whispered. “That werewolves really do exist.”

  “Enough.” Jacque’s roar had Anny bolting for the front door. Fear clawed at her as she ripped the door open and raced down the stairs. She hadn’t reached the bottom when strong arms banded around her.

  Anny fought. She screamed and kicked out with her feet. She used her elbows to strike whoever was behind her and clawed at the hands holding her. She was too scared to care who was there. She didn’t trust these wolves, not at all.

  “Anny. Chère. You’re safe. I’ve got you.” Finally, the words penetrated and she went limp. Armand had her. She trusted him. And if she couldn’t, she might as well be dead because there was no way she could fight or outrun all of them. She should have stood her ground instead of running. She was ashamed of her cowardice. She excused it by telling herself that anyone in her situation would have freaked out. She’d already been attacked by a werewolf and knew what they were capable of.

  When she stopped fighting, Armand slowly released her and turned her to face him. The others were standing on the porch behind him, all of them watching her with varying degrees of annoyance and pity in their eyes.

  It was Jacque who broke away from the rest and prowled toward her and Armand. And that was the right word to use. He moved like a giant predator, stealthy and quiet. He stopped beside them and sighed. “I did not mean to frighten you. I know you have little reason to trust our kind, but you are our kind now. Like it or not, you are a werewolf. The wolf that now lives inside you saved your life. Whether you can shift or not, I don’t know. Time will tell. But you are under the protection of this pack.”

  Anny’s heart was beating a mile a minute, but she forced herself to project an image of calm. Not that she could truly fool any of them, not with their enhanced senses, but it was important for her to try. She’d already made an idiot of herself.

  “I’m sorry if I insulted you.” It was time to pull up her big-girl panties and take control of herself and the situation. “I reacted on instinct.”

  One corner of Jacque’s mouth kicked upward. He really was a handsome devil with his shaggy brown hair and rock-hard body. “It’s not a bad thing to listen to your instincts. But you have to learn to be smart too. Running without a plan will only get you killed.”

  She frowned even though she knew he was right. Beside her, Armand stirred. She sensed his growing anger with his friend. Anny reached her hand out and gripped his arm. The last thing she needed was for the two men to start fighting. That would really freak her out.

  Armand’s hand slid up to cover hers. He pulled her fingers away from his arm and linked their hands together. He gave her a reassuring squeeze, and she found herself relaxing slightly.

  Gwen strolled over to stand beside her husband. “Come back inside. We’ll have coffee and talk more. Just the two of us.”

  Anny wondered how the other woman got the nerve to order these guys around. She didn’t seem intimidated or frightened at all. “I’d like that.” She wanted to learn all about the other woman and her experience.

  Gwen motioned her forward and Anny followed. Armand slowly released his hold on her until their hands disengaged. She immediately felt the loss of his warmth and presence. She felt suddenly alone.

  The notion stiffened her spine. She was alone. Oh, they might say she was part of this pack, but she wasn’t, not really. In the end, she couldn’t count on anyone but herself.

  While she loved being with Armand and had feelings for him, she didn’t quite trust his feelings for her. Everyone she’d ever cared about in her life had left her. She’d never truly known the love of her parents. They’d fed and clothed her but done little else, too caught up in each other and their own lives. Her two serious boyfriends had found it easy to leave her. The only one she’d ever been able to depend on was her friend, Sue.

  Jacque stopped them when they were on the porch. “Wait. Anny needs to see us all in wolf form so she knows what we look like.” He removed his shirt and then casually stripped off his jeans.

  Holy crap. The guy was naked in front of her. Anny glanced away. Her cheeks heated and she knew they had to be red. Were all werewolves so darn muscular and well endowed? Funny how she could intellectually acknowledge Jacque was an incredibly good-looking man, when he did nothing for her personally. No tingles. Nothing.

  When she looked back, the man was already shifting. His bones snapped, elongated and reformed. Fur-covered skin and the entire shape of his face changed. Only the golden eyes remained the same. A huge wolf stood before her, his coat every color of brown from bronze to chocolate.

  “That’s my man.” Anny could hear the pride in Gwen’s voice.

  The other men drifted out of sight and she was thankful for it. The only man she wanted to see naked was Armand. A few seconds later, three wolves appeared. She stumbled back a step before stopping herself. She studied the impressive group and thought she could tell them apart.

  She moved to the edge of the step and pointed. “Cole is the big one with the blond patches. Gator is all black.” She could sense the energy vibrating through him. He might be in wolf form, but he was still very like his human self. “The one that looks most like Jacque is Louis.”

  “That’s right.” Armand came to stand beside her. “These men, these wolves will protect you.” He studied her face and sighed. “In time you’ll come to trust them. To trust me.”

  Anny didn’t know what to say to that. She knew he was hurt, but she couldn’t just blindly trust him or any of them. “I’m sorry.” There wasn’t much else to say.

  He shook his head and calmly stripped off his shirt. He leaned inward and kissed her lips, softly at first and then with growing possession. He gave a low growl, the one that made her nipples tighten and her pussy ache. Funny, when Jacque growled she wanted to run away. When Armand growled she wanted to get as close as she could.

  He kicked off his shoes and shucked his jeans. Naked, he stood proudly before her. Anny didn’t dare look at Gwen, afraid she might want to scratch the other woman’s eyes out for staring at her man. Her man. That was how she thought of Armand.

  He shifted into a wolf and stood before her. She reached out and touched him, her fingers barely grazing his head when he whirled and raced into the wood. She curled her fingers inward, holding on to the sensation of his fur against her skin.

  Gwen touched her lightly on the shoulder. “Come inside. We’ll clean up from breakfast and have another cup of coffee. I’ll answer any questions you might have.”

  Armand raced through the woods, trying to outrun all his doubts. Trees flew by. The ground was soft beneath his feet. Dead leaves and moss made for a soft carpet. The air was crisp even though the sun was shining. Usually, he loved running more than anything. It had always been his escape from life, his freedom from everything he couldn’t change.

  It wasn’t working this time.

  Anny didn’t trust his pack, didn’t trust him. He knew it was unfair to expect it after such a short time. Still, it made his chest ache and his heart heavy.

  He veered to the right and began to circle back. As much as he wanted to continue to run, his instincts wouldn’t allow him to leave his mate unprotected. Gator and Cole flanked him. He could always depend on his friends, his packmates. He could sense Jacque and Louis closer to the cabin and knew they’d protected both women while he’d been trying to outrun his demons.

  Anny had never had that. From what little he knew about her—which wasn’t nearly as much as he wanted—she only had one good friend. She wasn’t close to her family at all. That was sad. He knew it was also the reason she had such
a hard time trusting anyone. Of course, the fact that his sire had attacked her didn’t help matters either.

  He’d just have to be patient a while longer.

  He shifted and walked toward the porch. The women were inside talking. He’d leave them to it. If there was anyone who could help Anny understand things, it was Gwen. He dressed slowly, pulling on his jeans and shirt. Both Gator and Cole were dressed and standing beside him. Jacque and Louis had gone off to patrol the grounds.

  Gator slapped him on the back. “Anything I can do to help, man, just let me know.”

  Armand turned to his friend and his smile was genuine. “Now that you mention it, there is one thing.”

  Dishes done and breakfast cleared away, the women sat at the table with coffee mugs in front of them. “So you were kidnapped,” Anny prompted.

  Gwen grinned. “Yeah. I wasn’t happy, but I quickly realized they’d done it to protect me from their former pack, who would kill me if they found me.”

  Anny tensed and forced herself to relax. “Obviously, it didn’t work if you were attacked.”

  Gwen picked up her mug and sipped her coffee before continuing. “Even then they did their best to keep me safe. They were outnumbered but they kept fighting. One of their enemies found me.”

  Anny reached out and touched the other woman’s hand in sympathy. “You were attacked.”

  Gwen nodded. “I almost died. Hell, I did die.”

  “Me too.”

  “Look.” Gwen put her mug down, her expression intent. “You can either accept the fact that you somehow survived something that would kill about ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent of the population and that it changed you or you can live in denial. Either way won’t change the fact that you’re a werewolf now. You can feel the wolf’s presence inside you, can’t you?”

  Anny nodded.

  “And you can trust me when I tell you that all these men are willing to die to protect you, especially Armand.”