Darkest Wolf

by Rebecca Royce

  She shook her head. “Look, Kane.”

  He really wished she wouldn’t use his last name to address him. It reminded him too much of his father. But he had no desire to interrupt her when she talked. Her voice had a lyrical, soothing quality he wanted to listen to for a while.

  “I wasn’t born this ugly. In my normal form I’m not gorgeous, but I’m not grotesque either. People can look at me without wincing. I appreciate you’ve chosen not to flinch or look away. You’re the second wolf today to do so, which is, actually, incredibly kind considering what you all are. But don’t you want to abduct a better-looking person?

  Surely, there can’t be much fun in this.”

  Rex felt dumbfounded. He’d always prided himself on being a smart man. But he couldn’t make head or tails of what she’d just said to him. “Let me see if I can understand what you are saying.”

  She shifted in her seat, and he wished he could trust her so he could untie her wrists.

  “Okay.”

  “People can’t look at you without flinching?”

  “Correct.” She motioned to her face. “Can you blame them?” He ignored her question. “Why is this?”

  “Because of the sores, the puss, the misshapen nose, the way my eyes are narrowed, my stringy hair and the other ways in which I now resemble a stereotypical crone.” She swung her head around to look out the window into the sunset. “And by the way, I take it back. You’re an asshole for making me list all the things wrong with me when you can see them perfectly for yourself.”

  “Witch, I cannot see any of what you described. Do you need what the humans call a psychiatrist? Are you unwell?” He sniffed at the air. She didn’t smell of mental illness.

  Her head turned around, the eyes he could now see had as much gray in them as they did blue stared back at him. “Are you serious or just playing some kind of a game?

  Because I know the wolf earlier could see how horrendous I looked.”

  “You are of petite stature. Your breasts are round and look like they would fill up my hands.” She sucked in her breath as he said his words but he wasn’t done. “You have brownish-blondish hair. I will call it whatever color you would like me to call it. Your eyes are … beautiful. Blue, gray. Your nose is not askew. By contrast, I would call it pert. Your chin is stubborn. All in all, if you were not a witch, I would call you a pixie.” She was silent for two seconds before tears slid down her face. Silent, she did not wipe them away. Neither did she slip into hysterics. “I used to look as you described me.”

  “It’s how you look to me.”

  “How?” She shook her head.

  “I’m your mate. I see you as you are, witch.”

  “My name is Liz. Stop calling me witch.”

  He felt a smile twitch at his mouth. He’d gotten the name. Already, he’d made progress. If only it would be as easy to get her to save his pack.

  Chapter Two

  Elizabeth Willow wondered if she had been dropped on her head. The concussion could at least explain all of the odd things happening. Her day had started out like any other one. She’d endured her servitude to the hell-twins, making sure they ate all their favorite foods before she cleaned up the mess they’d made in their hotel rooms.

  Finally, when they’d had their fill of Virginia Beach, she’d put them in the car, seen to it they had their favorite movies available to watch on DVD, and driven them to New York City. They wanted to see The Lion King on Broadway. Again. Because a thirty-year-old couldn’t see it too many times, could they?

  Now there was this big mess with Rex Kane—not just any wolf but Prince of the Royal Westervelt Wolf Pack—the most famous witch-killing wolves on the planet. She shivered at the thought even as watching Rex’s strong profile gave her goosebumps for very different reasons.

  “Look, Rex, this whole mating thing…”

  He interrupted her. “What about it?” Goddess, he was so prickly. She hadn’t said anything and already he jumped down her throat.

  “I don’t think your being able to see me un-cursed is a reason to feel I’m your mate. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m so glad you can.” So glad she might start bawling at any moment, but he didn’t need to know. “I just think you’d be better off with someone else.” Rex nodded. “I agree.”

  He did? Elizabeth’s treacherous heart fell into her stomach. What was the matter with her? She didn’t want this wolf.

  “But I don’t exactly get a say, so we’ll both just go with it, shall we?” She sat up straighter. “What?”

  “I don’t decide who my mate is. Fate decided and my wolf informed me it was you.

  So we’re both going to have to decide why fate thought it was amusing to put us together.”

  “Let me get this straight.” She placed her bound hands on his arm, needing to know she had his full attention. The muscles beneath her fingertips were hard and well defined.

  As fast as she could manage, she let go. “You don’t want to be mated to me?”

  “It’s not a question of want. Did I desire a mate? Yes, of course. Would I have preferred you not to be a witch? Absolutely.”

  “Well, I’m so sorry to disappoint.” Asshole.

  She shifted in her seat again. This van was horribly uncomfortable. She’d spent nights inside of small hotel room closets more comfortable than this hellish vehicle. What was the matter with her? What did she care? He was nothing to her. Less than nothing.

  He was a creature to be deplored, to be destroyed if she could manage it, which, of course, she could not.

  Rex would probably be thrilled to hear the witch he’d been saddled with had little to no power of her own. The freezing spell she’d used on the bitch-twins in the restaurant was about the extent of her abilities these days.

  A thought dawned on her. “What do you mean your wolf told you? You’re the wolf.” Rex’s jaw ticked. “It’s complicated.”

  She bet it was. Narrowing her eyes, it occurred to her this might be the best thing to have happened to her in a while. Drea Dubrese’s coven would love any information she could bring them. Enough intel and she might be able to negotiate the release of her mother and return to her normal appearance. All she had to do was to get this frustrating, gorgeous wolf to tell her the things she needed to know, and then figure out how to get the heck away from him in one piece. “How complicated?” He scratched his head. “We never talk about it to outsiders. Hell, we barely discuss it amongst ourselves.”

  “Am I an outsider? Or am I the woman you want to mate?” She realized how manipulative she was being. Never having done this before, she hoped she didn’t overplay her hand with him. For years, everyone around her had been using this trick to get her to do what they wanted. Surely, she must have some ability to do it on her own.

  “We’re both man and wolf. One of the reasons for not discussing it is people don’t get it, no matter how much we explain.”

  “I’m not just people. As you keep pointing out, I’m a witch. I’m sure I can handle whatever mystics are going on here.” She hoped. Considering she could be walking into a giant disaster…

  “When we’re born…”

  She had to interrupt, which she hated since he’d apparently decided to speak about it and she didn’t want him to change his mind. “We, being wolf-shifters?” He nodded, a piece of his nearly black hair falling into his eyes before he swatted it away. Rex needed a haircut in a major way. It was disturbingly cute.

  “Correct.”

  “Okay.” She leaned back so she could regard him more clearly. “Please go on.”

  “When we’re born, we are just like other humans. We don’t have any particular powers.” He stopped speaking, and she had the feeling he held something back. Still, she didn’t want to push. If she could be patient about the twin situation, she could manage to find a way to handle this too. One way or another, she’d draw the wolf out until she got what she needed.

  He continued. “It’s not until later, puberty usually, our wolves s
how up. It’s like one day they are not there and the next they are sharing our body, in our mind, speaking with us. They are the magic; our human half is around for the ride.” What he said didn’t make one lick of sense. “Where are they before they come to you?”

  Rex shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “Can you talk to it?” Elizabeth’s mind whirled at the world he opened up to her. The wolf came to them in puberty. It was like a magic awakening showing up with age. Did the wolf exist before then? Did their bodies create the wolf? Did…

  Her musings were cut off by his response. “Yes, of course. He badgers me constantly.”

  “You don’t always get along?”

  “No. The wolf-human relationship is not always a harmonious one. In general, we don’t discuss it. Ever. It’s a very private thing.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “But you have to understand about my dual nature. I’m actually two entities in one body. One of us is always fighting for control.”

  “Fighting? Like in a constant war?” Elizabeth had never been so glad to not be a wolf in her life. Well, she’d never wanted to be one but now she really didn’t want to grow fur and walk on all fours. She’d have to be sure to never let Rex bite her. Assuming being bitten turned a person into a wolf. She needed to find out from Rex if the rumors of changing into shifters were, in fact, true.

  “It starts out war-like. At least it did for me. I’m not sure what it’s like for everyone else. Like I said, we don’t talk about it.” He sighed. “For me it calmed down after a time.

  Mostly.”

  The car suddenly jerked to the right. With her hands not free to brace herself, she slammed against the window. Stars passed in front of her eyes. She wasn’t sure what happened. Maybe she lost consciousness. When the world righted itself, she only knew she wanted to vomit.

  Moving, but not of her volition, she realized she was being carted in Rex’s arms again. “What happened?” She wanted to close her eyes but she also didn’t want to.

  Nausea was too close to the surface. Any second, she might throw up. “Were we in a car accident?”

  “Not exactly.” Rex sounded hoarse. He stopped moving and leaned her up against something. She wasn’t sure what it was—everything felt sort of … hazy.

  “Where are we?”

  “About fifty yards from the van. It rolled over.”

  It had? She had no memory of any of it. How hard had she hit her head? She tried to sit up.

  “Don’t sit up, little human.” He touched her head, and she flinched. Rex had come back into focus, sort of. Now she could see two of him. Two dark figures who were so staggeringly handsome they might take her breath away were he not a wolf. She blinked.

  What the hell was wrong with her? She had no business finding Rex Kane attractive in any way.

  “Now I’m a human?” She tried to laugh. “I thought I was a witch.”

  “You’re both, as you know. They’re not mutually exclusive and we are not in a position to argue semantics at the moment.”

  “What is happening?” Everything felt so fuzzy…

  Rex growled. “How many fingers do I have up?”

  His hand swayed for a moment before righting itself. “Four.”

  “Wrong answer.” He cursed, using a string of words she’d never heard put together before. The foul language seemed wrong coming out of his mouth. He’d been so formal.

  Wow, he must really be stressed. “I hate to move you but we don’t have a choice.”

  “It might help if I knew what was going on?”

  “I might believe you if you weren’t slurring your words together.” He hoisted her forward. Or, at least it felt like he did. He might have gently moved her, but from her vantage point it certainly seemed like Rex moved her abruptly over his shoulder. “I won’t leave you here.”

  She groaned.

  “Elizabeth?”

  “What?”

  “You zoned out on me there. Stay awake.”

  She had? “Seriously, Rex, what happened? We had a car accident?”

  “Our car was jolted. I’m not sure exactly what happened. But it feels like witch crap to me, which is not surprising considering Dad’s had his coven after us for forty-some-odd years now.”

  “No.” She shook her head, which was a mistake. “No witches would ever help a wolf. This is the work of the bitch-twins.”

  “I assume you are referring to the two ladies we left frozen on the floor.” From the clenched sound of his voice she could tell he wasn’t happy. “What is bothering you? My swearing or what they’ve potentially done?” He walked fast, turning deeper into the woods. Pretty soon she wouldn’t be able to hear the highway at all.

  “Because I’d like to point out you just cursed a ton a few minutes ago.” Rex laughed, a sort of rumbling sound. It made her smile, which, in turn, made her head hurt worse. “Fair enough, but for the record, one, I was annoyed thinking the two witches might have gotten the jump on us and, two, I cursed hours ago, not minutes. It concerns me a great deal you are losing so much time.”

  “Are you some kind of doctor?”

  He shook his head. “No. But I’m going to get you to one.”

  “Was anyone besides me hurt when we crashed?”

  “No. I managed to get the car to the side before it flipped over.” He adjusted her slightly on his shoulder, and she wondered if he had started to get tired of carrying her.

  Earlier he’d claimed he could carry three times his weight, but surely he must get tired after a while. “Why would the twins be trying to kill us?”

  “Not us, although I am sure they’d be thrilled to take you out in the process, me.

  They’re coming after me because you hauled me out of the diner and away from them where I am supposed to be. Leaving them is a death sentence for me and my entire family.”

  “What?” He roared so loud she wondered if the entire state could hear him. “You should have said something, Elizabeth.”

  “It’s Liz. Everyone calls me Liz.”

  “You are not a Liz. Elizabeth suits you better.”

  “Said from a guy who is named Rex like a dog? My uncle had a dog named Rex.

  You would think, as a canine, you’d be called something else.” He groaned. “You are tiresome. My real name is Randolph, but I’ve been called Rex now for so long I’m not sure I would answer to Randolph if you used my full name.”

  “Does anyone call you Randy?” She realized this was a completely asinine conversation, but what was she supposed to discuss with the crazy wolf who claimed she was his mate while he carted her, probably concussed self, around the woods in New Jersey? The weather?

  “Never.” From the tone of his voice she didn’t think it would be a good idea for her to try to be the first to call him Randy. She might have whacked her head but she hadn’t lost her mind.

  “Hey, Rex-y, I have a thought.” She kicked her legs until he stopped moving. She wanted him to listen to her. Finally, when he stopped walking, and she felt certain she had his attention, she spoke again. “I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this earlier—well actually I am but…”

  He interrupted her. “Is there a point you’d like to make or are you just kicking me and rambling for the fun of it?”

  She narrowed her eyes. If she weren’t afraid he’d drop her onto the ground, she’d whack him hard. “Well, once upon a time, before my magic went mostly away, I could have healed myself. Perhaps I can make it slightly better. Give us some more time to run from the twins.”

  “I am not running from anything.” He set her down onto the ground, squatting next to her. She could see his nearly black eyes staring at her in the light of the moon. If she’d been a romantic girl, she might have sighed. But unfortunately she’d been born to be sensible.

  “What would you call what we’re currently doing?” She reached out to steady the world by touching his arm. When this was over, she’d never again choose to ride a roller coaster. Not when she knew the universe c
ould spin like this on its own.

  “I would call this getting you some help. Two miles more in the direction we’re walking.” He pointed with his hand, but she didn’t follow where he indicated. It would require her to move her head. “Is a hospital. We’re hoofing it.”

  “Hoofing it implies horses, doesn’t it? Not disgusting wolves?” Rex rolled his eyes for just a second before seriousness returned to his gaze. Goddess forbid wolf-boy actually smiled.

  “I have some questions.”

  She had assumed he would. The real decision would come in how she chose to tell him and how much she held back. At the moment, however, even if she could fix her head a bit with magic, she would still be dependent on his good graces. For a while, at least. “Go ahead.”

  “First.” He waved his hand. “Do your magic thing.”

  “My magic thing?”

  “Elizabeth, have you become a parrot? Fix yourself.”

  “I’m only going to be able to make this moderately better.”

  “Fine.” He nodded. “You’re a bad witch. I get it. Do your thing. Now.”

  “I’m a lousy witch now; I didn’t used to be so powerless.” Rex stood up and walked away from her. “Listen to my words very carefully, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. All I want in the universe, at the moment, is for you to do whatever it is you kicked me to tell me you could do. Are you capable of performing the task or not?”

  “I am.” But if she’d been in any condition better than one she was in she would keep annoying him just for the fun of seeing him get so worked up. It had been a long time since she’d had this much control over her own life. It was too bad her head hurt and she couldn’t enjoy it. She closed her eyes.

  “Elizabeth.” Rex’s voice pushed at her like an explosion going off.

  Opening one eyelid, she glared at him. “What?”

  “You closed your eyes. I thought you were passing out.” Lifting the other eyelid, she shaded her eyes from the brutal light of the moon.

  Really, when had the night ever been so bright? “You thought yelling at me was the appropriate way to get me to stop passing out?” Liz shook her head. He was a character; she’d give him credit for being different. If they both managed to live through this time she would certainly never forget him. “I wasn’t going to faint. I have to close my eyes to do this type of spell. If I’m not centered, there is no way this is going to work.” There was slim to little chance it would work even if she managed to connect to nature properly. The powers controlling these things had long since stopped letting her tap into their eternal spirit.