“So you can…” She chewed on her lip, searching for the right phrasing. “You can control it?”
“Always.” Tyler nodded firmly. “I’m a werewolf, but I’m not a monster. Despite what you’ve seen in movies, my kind aren’t killers. We only fight when it is provoked, like today. I didn’t kill those men. I did what was necessary to protect you and left them. Now, if they come back and keep pressing their luck…”
“Have you killed?”
“No. But if it was my life or theirs …” He shrugged. “And if they try to hurt you, they’re asking for it.”
She set her spoon down. “Why are you protecting me? I’ve brought you nothing but trouble.”
The purring of an engine alerted him to company headed their way. He quickly went to the window and peered through the shades. He recognized Sheriff Casper’s white truck and cursed, looking back down at himself.
“It’s the sheriff. I have to get cleaned up.” He crossed the room to his closet, grabbing a pair of jeans. “Answer the door and act like nothing’s wrong. There was a fight at the bar. A gun went off. Nothing else.”
He closed the closet and ran to the bathroom to wash away the evidence he’d been shot.
FOUR
The last swallow of her soup fell to the bottom of her stomach with a heavy thud as the sheriff pounded on the door.
“Tyler Lowe! It’s Sheriff Casper. You in there?”
With knees knocking together, Kyra did as she’d been instructed, crossing the room to open the door.
The heavyset man frowned as he took her in. Unable to see much of his face behind large sunglasses and a bushy brown mustache, Kyra couldn’t make any assumption of the sheriff’s character. Still, she feared this was going to be a bad visit. Was a visit by a sheriff ever a good one?
“Is Tyler Lowe here?” He looked past her, surveying the cabin interior.
“He’s in the bathroom.”
“And you are?” He stepped inside, uninvited, forcing her to back up before he moved around her, stopping to stand in the middle of the room. “You’re not from around here.”
“No, I’m just passing through,” she answered, unsure how much more she should say.
“Hey Sheriff.” Tyler stepped out of the bathroom clad only in jeans, a towel draped over his shoulder the only thing blocking every inch of his perfectly molded chest. “What’s up?”
“Shower in the middle of dinner?” The sheriff arched a bushy eyebrow. He’d obviously noticed the barely eaten food on the table.
“Yea, well…” Tyler looked pointedly toward her, then the rumpled bed before returning his laughing gaze to the sheriff. “Sometimes you need it mid-dinner.”
Kyra’s cheeks warmed, realizing what he’d insinuated to the sheriff, but she didn’t get angry. The ploy was a smart one. A mid-dinner romp was a better excuse for him to walk out of the bathroom fresh from a shower, than to say the bed was rumpled because he’d been laying in it, recovering, not that long ago and he’d just showered away the crusted blood on him. Her attire of his flannel shirt helped paint that very picture. Besides, men kind of lost focus once sex was brought into the picture. Judging by the smirk on the sheriff’s face, he’d easily bought the excuse and would question the shower no further.
“Well, I won’t keep ya long, but I’d heard there was an altercation at John’s bar and you walked away wounded.” He cocked his head to the side. “You don’t look wounded.”
Tyler spread his arms wide, letting the sheriff see he was completely unmarred. The action gave Kyra something to feast on too. She shook her head, reminded herself now was not the time.
“I’m fine, Sheriff. There was a fight, some guys tried to attack this woman and one had a gun. He didn’t shoot me though, if that’s what you heard. Bashed one of my windows. Pain in the ass to fix, but otherwise, not much happened.”
“Must not have been as big of a fight as I was led to believe. Looks like you didn’t even get scratched.”
“Yea, well, men who need to carry guns are generally pussies,” Tyler said, eyes widening as he looked down at the sheriff’s side, where his gun rested in its holster. “Except the law, of course.”
Kyra covered her mouth with the back of her hand to restrain her laughter as the sheriff grumbled a response, then turned back toward her. “Who’s your friend here?”
“Um, well, we just met…”
“But I’m pleased to meet you,” she jumped in, realizing Tyler had never asked her name. “Kyra Jones.” She extended her hand to the sheriff and he shook it, grip firm.
“You all right, ma’am? Nobody in town bother you, other than those men?”
“No, sir. No one bothered me, and I’m unharmed, thanks to Tyler.”
He nodded. “You ok here? I can take you back to town.”
She cast a glance at Tyler and watched as his chest stayed still. He’d quit breathing, his eyes focused on her, mouth open as if wanting to ask her to not leave, but not brave enough to ask. Or maybe she only hoped for that. “I’m fine here, but thank you. The men who accosted me? Were they arrested?”
“No, ma’am. They were gone by the time I arrived to the bar. I can put an APB out on them if you think they’ll harm you again. Do you know them?”
“No,” she quickly said, not sure why but just knowing she didn’t want to stir up anything. They were gone. That was all that mattered. “I’m fine, there’s no need to bother with all that.”
The sheriff nodded, looked back at Tyler. “All right then. You two…” He gestured toward the table. “… enjoy the rest of your dinner. Sorry to have wasted everyone’s time, most of all mine.”
Tyler saw him to the door and closed it behind him, peering through the peephole. “Thank goodness he didn’t look in the truck. I haven’t cleaned the blood out yet. They’re still out there loose,” he said, turning back toward her. “Would they have returned to your ex?”
“Without me?” Kyra folded her arms, suddenly cold. “Rock would most likely shoot them for failing. No, they’ll keep coming for me. And if they take too long, Rock will send more.”
“Do you have something of his?”
Kyra frowned. “No. Why would you ask me that? I’m not a thief.”
“Didn’t say you were.” Tyler crossed back over to the table. “Come eat before it gets cold. I’m just figuring out the full story here. You’re obviously on the run from him. He’s sent men after you. Either you have a valuable possession of his, know too much about something you shouldn’t, or you are the property he wants back.”
Kyra chuckled mirthlessly as she sank into the seat and grabbed a corn cake. “That’s a way of putting it. I was his property. Whatever Rock wants, Rock gets, and pity the woman who doesn’t reciprocate his desires.”
Tyler’s eyes flashed red, as they had in the truck, startling her. “Did he put his hands on you?”
She nodded, afraid to be anything less than honest. “Your eyes… they’ve turned red twice now.”
He blinked. “Sorry. When Weres get angry, it happens. Nothing makes me angrier than a damn bully. Especially one who’d harm you.”
“But you don’t even know me. You just learned my name a minute ago.”
“Yet I’ve waited my whole life for you.”
“Smooth, Lowe.” Tyler shook his head in disgust as he used a towel to dry the interior of his truck. He’d finally gotten the last drop of blood cleaned up. All that was left to do to fix the truck was take it to Ol’ Man Henry’s repair shop and get the window replaced, which would have to wait until tomorrow when the old man woke up. In the meantime, looked like he was duct-taping plastic over the missing window in case it rained again. And chastising himself.
Kyra had gone quiet after he’d made the stupid comment about waiting all his life for her. He hadn’t meant to say something so pathetically needy, so … borderline desperate. She was human, unused to the concept of soul mates. Sure, humans spoke of soul mates, even wished for them, but they didn’t know soul ma
tes were a real thing for Weres, and that the need to protect their mate was instantaneous.
He stilled. Wait. Kyra was his soul mate, wasn’t she? The instant attraction? The way he felt the emotions and physical aches and pains she felt. The need to destroy anyone who caused her harm. Surely she must be. But she should feel the same for him. That was the way it had always been explained to him.
Yet she still looked at him with uncertainty, she still feared him. Could he be wrong? Maybe he’d been away from his pack too long and was simply yearning for contact with another person. Kyra was an abused woman, frightened and on the run. No wonder she wanted nothing to do with him.
Don’t say that. You’re wonderful. I’m just a mess.
Tyler jerked around, but Kyra wasn’t there. She remained in the cabin. You heard my thoughts?
He sensed hesitation, then she whispered into his mind. I heard you earlier in the truck, and I think you heard me. I don’t understand this. I feel you. I hear your words. I know you’re good, that you’d do anything in your power to protect me, but I’m scared. This can’t be real.
Tyler dropped the towel onto the seat and slammed the truck door shut. He’d cover the window later. Right now, Kyra was all that mattered.
He entered the cabin to find her lying on her side in his bed, head propped with her hand, his shirt barely covering her. “Hey.”
“Hey.” She smiled. “This is weird.”
“Talking to each other that way?”
“Feeling this way. I don’t know you, but…”
“You do.”
Her forehead creased as she considered that. “Yeah. I do. I think. Or I should. Why is that?”
He closed the cabin door and crossed over to the bed to sit on the side of it, facing away. If he looked at her too long, knowing only his shirt covered her, the shirt wouldn’t stay on her much longer. “It’s hard to explain. Well, it’s not that hard to explain, really, but it may be hard for you to understand. It’s a Were thing.”
“Tell me.”
“I believe we’re soul mates and the White Wolf has brought us together.” He allowed himself to turn toward her to take in her reaction. She stared back at him, brow scrunched in confusion.
“It may sound crazy, but there is a wolf that watches over all the packs. The White Wolf, the only white werewolf. My pack had been dying out, the result of us simply not breeding enough. It’s not that we weren’t trying. New Weres simply weren’t being born. We even had a pack leader who, for a time, forced all unmated Weres to breed every full moon, trying to increase our numbers.” Bile rose in his throat. “That was when I left the pack. Weres are very sexual by nature, but everyone likes to have a choice. Anyway, he was killed by the current pack leader, who has abolished that ruling. Now, Weres are as free as they ever were. But there was still the issue of us dying out.”
“Werewolves are going extinct?” Kyra asked.
“No.” Tyler grinned. “Our particular pack was just dwindling, but the whispers I’ve been hearing suggest there have been a lot of soul mates taking the vow lately. Soul mates have a higher chance of producing offspring since they are paired together by fate. The White Wolf has been appearing to bless many of these unions, insinuating she’s working some kind of magic to increase the numbers of wolves meeting their soul mates. I believe she brought you to me. She’s the reason you ran out of gas and found the bar.”
Kyra shook her head. “That’s…”
“Crazy?”
“Well, kind of.”
Tyler sighed. “You hear my thoughts, Kyra. Only soul mates do that. It’s the most sure fire way of knowing who your soul mate is before the vow is ripped from you.”
“Ripped.” She sat up. “That sounds painful. What exactly is this vow?”
“The Moon Vow.” He slid closer to her. “It’s a vow that you take together during the week of the full moon, bonding you together for life. You can’t choose to take it or deny it, though, which is why I said it is ripped from you. A part of your soul literally joins with your mate, uniting you as one.”
A tear fell from her eye and Tyler wiped it away. “What’s wrong? Are you upset that I’m your soul mate?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s just that what you said … that kind of vow … it sounds so beautiful. After what I’ve been through in my past, the men I’ve known, I’d given up on ever being loved like that.”
“Well, it’s time to believe again,” Tyler ordered, leaning in, “because I feel it with every fiber of my being. You are my soul mate and I’m going to love you just like that.”
It was insane, he knew, to say these things, having just met but the moon vow was a real, sacred act and he’d felt it from the moment she’d walked into the bar. She was his. He was hers. When the moon ripped the vows from them, she’d know it with all her heart, but in the meantime he planned on doing his best to show her a sneak peek of what would be.
He kissed the lips he’d been fantasizing about since the moment he first laid eyes on them.
Kyra lost herself in the taste of Tyler’s passionate kiss. Demanding, but not brutal, he lowered her until she lay flat on her back. No need to use his hands to do so, his skilled tongue applied just the right amount of pressure to make her follow his every move.
But use his hands, he did, sliding them under her borrowed shirt to trace her curves. She pressed her body against his hands, welcoming his exploration. Craving it.
Odd. She’d never yearned like this before. Sex was a bartering tool, a way to appease a man to escape his wrath. She felt the familiar burn of tears behind her eyes, pitying herself for having grown so jaded, to have allowed bad people to make her feel so worthless that she would view something as personal and special as sex as just a means to an end.
Then Tyler was parting her shirt and they were chest to chest, two heartbeats melding together as one and everything felt right. There would be no more pity, no more regrets about wasted years. She was right where she was supposed to be, in the right time and place. With the right man.
“Don’t go any further.”
Tyler stilled, then rose above her, propped on his elbows. A mixture of confusion and concern swirled in his green eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just…” Kyra paused, trying to formulate all she felt into words. “I’ve never had a man really care about me. Really care. They’ve lusted and they’ve wanted, but they’ve never cared.”
She rebuttoned the shirt he’d so recently parted and placed her hand over his rapidly beating heart. “I believe you care, I feel it so deep inside… but I’ve been fooled before. I need to know that you care, to be able to hold on to that as fact.”
“I don’t understand.” He shook his head. “You’re my soul mate. There’s no greater proof than that.”
“The vow you told me about hasn’t been ripped out of us yet. I believe you’re the man I was meant to be with, a good man … and a good man would wait. I’ve had sex before. I’ve had men desire me, want me. The things I haven’t had from any other man are love, respect, and honor. If I’m your soul mate, if I’m the one you’ve been waiting for, give me these things.”
He frowned. “This is the human equivalent of asking me to wait until the honeymoon, isn’t it?”
The hope warming Kyra’s chest a moment before frosted into the cold agony of a shattered dream. “I take it that’s a deal-breaker? Not worth the wait.”
Tyler’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he laughed. “Oh, sweetheart, you’re definitely going to be worth the wait, and it’d take a lot more than that to get rid of me. Just don’t expect me to be overjoyed waiting on the vow.”
He pushed off of the bed. “And don’t expect me to lay next to you all night without things happening. I assume you had clothes in your car?”
Kyra sat up, perplexed by his quick acceptance of her request. “I had some.”
“I’ll drive back down to your car and get your things. I have every intention of never letting you go, Ky
ra, but this isn’t the town for our kind of relationship. I was just here for a short time anyway. We might as well head out tonight. Was there somewhere specific you were headed before you ran out of gas or do you trust me enough to go where I lead?”
Blinking, still reeling over the fact he’d so easily accepted the fact she wanted to put off sex until they’d exchanged the vow, she shrugged. “I didn’t really have a destination. I just wanted to go somewhere far.”
“How about Vermont? That’s where my pack is.”
Speechless, figuring meeting his pack was the equivalent to taking her home to meet his parents, she simply nodded.
“Good. I’ll be back with your things. We’ll just leave the car behind since the truck is all we’ll need.” He crossed the floor and opened the front door.
“Oh, and quit looking so shocked,” he threw over his shoulder. “You had my respect from the moment I first laid eyes on you, love is a given with the fact you’re my soul mate, and as for honoring you by waiting until the vow has been exchanged to claim your body… If that’s what you need to feel honored, then that’s what you’ll get. I’m not the men of your past, I’m the man of your forever. Get used to being treated well as I don’t plan on treating you any way less.”
Kyra stared dumbfounded at the door long after it closed, replaying his words over in her mind until a tear rolled down her cheek. He was too good. She’d never had a man like that look twice at her. Why would Tyler? Because of some vow they hadn’t yet exchanged? What if he was wrong? What if it wasn’t set in motion and she did something stupid to alter the path he thought fate, or this white wolf, had put them on together.
The front door splintered, crashing under the assault of Rock’s men, disrupting her thoughts.
FIVE
Kyra screamed, jumping off of the bed as the men entered the cabin, followed by the overweight redneck who’d hit on her earlier at the bar. The two thugs were bruised and scraped, both sporting black eyes and what she assumed to be broken noses, but it appeared they hadn’t wasted much time recovering from the beating they’d been dealt earlier.
Moonlit Protector (Moonlit Novella #3) Page 3
