Wolves at the Door

by Skye Jones

  It wore no clothes, and its legs were long and powerful. Huge muscles corded its arms, chest, and neck. The damn thing looked like it ate steroids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Eyeing me with its watery brown gaze, it pushed its snout toward me and let out a long, hissing breath.

  The rank odor of stale meat hit me hard, making me gag. It hissed again, eyes flashing angrily at my actions.

  “This mine, my place. You stay. You mine, too now.”

  Oh, not again! What was it with these wolf like creatures? The whole you are mine routine grew old, fast. Although…I’d actually give anything to have Drew here, saying those words to me. And not just because I’d gotten myself into a sticky little situation but because the odd, thirsty yearning still ached deep within me.

  I was becoming sicker, too. Drew might be able to help. Yet, I’d never see him again. This…thing would kill and eat me…or worse.

  Eyes adjusting to the light, I gasped when the space we stood in became clear. Debris lay scattered all around. Pieces of bone and flesh in varying stages of decay lined the mud floor. Feathers were everywhere. It seemed wood pigeon made a regular appearance on Monster Face’s menu. A pile of blankets in one corner appeared to be its sleeping area, and in another sat an odd collection of artifacts. Curiosity getting the better of me, I moved toward them.

  It didn’t try to stop me but instead shadowed my movements, sniffing the air in my wake and smacking its lips together every now and then. All sorts of odd things were piled up against the stone wall. Pictures of women, clearly torn from porn magazines, old perfume bottles, makeup compacts, hairbrushes, and dolls. Lots and lots of dolls. Barbies, Sindys, and others lay among the detritus, their limbs bent at odd angles, their hair matted and dirty.

  Tears spilled over and ran down my face. Abject horror at my situation sank in. Clearly this animal had brought women here before, maybe killed them. Probably defiled them first, and now I suffered in its grasp.

  “You sleep now.” It grabbed my arms and spun me to face it.

  With quick, deft moves, it trussed me up in thick rope that stank of mold and rotten food. Something oily on the surface made it slick and clammy against my skin. Once the creature had me bound, it dragged me across the floor, grazing the skin on the soles of my feet and threw me onto the blankets.

  “You sleep. I hunt. After, we eat and we mate.”

  It bent down, fetid breath brushing over me. Cold eyes regarded mine, and that thick, horrible tongue snaked out. The freak licked a long stripe up my arm and over my shoulder into the crook of my neck. I couldn’t hold in the sob. It pulled away as soon as the sound rang out.

  “Don’t cry.”

  For a moment, I held out hope. If it felt empathy, I might reason with it.

  “Crying bad sound. You keep crying, and I will make you stop. Put cloth in your mouth or cut your tongue out.”

  Shit! So no empathy then. I bit my lips together so hard I tasted blood and tried like hell to contain any noise.

  “Lie down and close eyes.”

  With no choice at all, I did as it said.

  It left the cave, making odd grunting sounds as it went. Once I was sure it had gone, I tried to sit but found myself tied so tight I couldn’t move. Worse, the rope bit into my flesh. If it took its time hunting, I might lose an extremity or two. Maybe I’d be able to wriggle my way out of the cave and away through the woods? I’d move at the pace of a snail, but I might reach somewhere to hide. It might easily sniff me out, though. These men…males…creatures, they were part wolf and surely able to scent their prey. God, I’d become prey!

  Feeling utterly hopeless, and still burning up with the awful, achy need for Drew, I shut my eyes and let the dark take me.

  Chapter Eight

  Warm hands were on me, breath rushed in and out near my ear. I struggled to the surface and pain hit. My whole body ached, my throat raged, and my head screamed. Along with my weird, aching need for Drew, which unbelievably grew stronger, the pain made me weak as a mouse. I could barely lift my head. Where was I?

  Then it all rushed back to me. A freight train of horror headed right for me, but I couldn’t stop it. Proverbially tied to the tracks, too sapped to move. The warm hands touching me weren’t welcome or kind, they belonged to…the thing. I shrank away, utterly disgusted with my body for choosing this day to come down with the flu to beat all flus. I wanted to at least put up a token of a fight, to hurt it in some way, but I doubted I’d be able to even lift my arms. I tried briefly, but they didn’t move. Sluggishly, my brain came fully online, and I remembered the ropes binding me. A noise forced its way out of my throat unbidden. It sounded elemental and raw and surprised even me with its strength.

  “Keep her quiet.” A male voice grunted a worried command. Not the monster, this voice came from someone new. And then…

  “Baby? Shush. You need to shush while we get you out of here, okay? We need to get you to our medicine woman. You need help. You’re sick.”

  Drew! I’d recognize his melodic, deep voice anywhere. He’d found me, and I wouldn’t die in this cave along with the rat bones, pigeon feathers, and deformed dolls.

  “Sick. I’m sick. Don’t come near me.” I wanted to warn him, not wanting him getting ill too. My eyes still would not open properly, and as I tried to speak some more, my mouth dropped closed as my head lolled back onto a pair of strong arms.

  “She’s passed out again.” The other male spoke.

  I wanted to cry out. Make it known I heard them, was aware of everything, but my mouth didn’t obey my brain. As if the connection between the two had been severed.

  “She does not understand what is happening. Doesn’t she have any idea of our ways?”

  “I told her, brother.” It was Drew’s voice again. “I don’t think she believed. I told her though, of the mating and the burning. I told her before I took her. She said yes.”

  He did. And I had. I’d said yes. In his mind, I’d said yes to all of it, but I’d only been thinking of the immediate pleasure he could offer me. Now though? Now I wanted him in every way, and I didn’t care about anything else. My body wouldn’t let me. I’d been stripped down to a more animalistic form of myself. Instinct and need and want took precedence over higher brain functions.

  Part of me still screamed out against it all. Argued that I shouldn’t give myself over to the need gripping me. I should get myself strong and leave once more. Only this time not stop until I reached my parents’ home. Yes, it would hurt, but over time, I’d forget and my body would surely forget too. Like a drug addict quitting cold turkey.

  Once he became cleansed from my system, I’d go back to my old, ordered life. Where rational thought, process, and evidence were everything. There was no scientific explanation for the events of the past twenty-four hours. Part of me feared this fact, in and of itself, might be enough to wreck me.

  “But she ran from you. She must have, or he wouldn’t have found her.”

  “Yes, she ran, Jake.” Drew sounded resigned. His next words shocked me to the core. “And when she is well, I will help her leave. She does not want me…does not want this.”

  His companion—Jake—harrumphed. “Very noble. No offense, but I don’t want to be prey to your moods once you commit this act of heroic sacrifice.”

  “It’s not heroic,” Drew snapped. “It’s the only thing I can do. You cannot make something stay when all it wants is to leave. Doesn’t matter if it’s a bird in a cage, a horse…or your mate. When something, someone, wants to be free, you have to let them go. If you don’t, they die, slowly, but surely.”

  “I swear that bird Father kept has changed you into some sort of softhearted fool. Maybe she will die slowly, but you let her go and you are the one who will die. From the inside out.”

  “Rather me than her.” Drew moved away for a moment, and the loss of his warmth next to me sent a shiver through my body. “Help me lift her into the truck. I’ve got all the ropes off.”

  “What will you d
o about Glynn?” Jake’s voice didn’t strain as they lifted me. I still couldn’t open my eyes, but became aware of the moment we left the dank cave when fresh air replaced slimy staleness.

  “I’m going to return here and kill him.”

  They lowered me onto something soft.

  Drew spoke again. “I’m going to ride in back with her. Get us to the village as fast as you can, and text Marissa to be ready. Make sure they’ve fed Sandy, too. She loves her dog.”

  My heart clenched. He’d found and taken care of Sandy.

  He slid in beside me and lifted my head before gently placing it back down on strong thighs. Soft fingers stroked my hair, sifting through the strands, and every now and again picking out bits of debris.

  “Rua,” he whispered, low and soft. “You will get well, and when you are healed, you will be free. I set you free, my Red.”

  If before I’d only ached and yearned in some physical way for him, in that moment I fell for him on a deeper level. I didn’t want to be free. I realized it with shocking clarity. Yet, I didn’t tell him. Could barely draw enough breath in and out to keep myself conscious, never mind to talk. But oh, how I needed to tell him. I didn’t want to go; I wanted to stay. To see where this led.

  I must have dozed off for a short while, but the truck coming to a jerky stop jolted me awake. This time, my eyes actually opened when I fluttered my lids. Drew looked down at me and a huge smile split his face when he saw me looking back up at him.

  “You are safe, Red.” He stroked my hair once more. “Our medicine woman is going to try to heal you. She’ll cure the burning, without mating you to me. There is a way, she says. Then you can go.” He frowned. “But you are not safe in your little cottage. The rogue, Glynn, he might find you again. Others might, too. I am so sorry, Red, but your time researching this area has come to an end.”

  “Don’t want to leave.” I managed to force out between dry, swollen lips. God, but I needed a drink.

  “I know.” He frowned. “And I am sorry you cannot stay, but it is not safe for you there. Not till Glynn is taken care of.” He carried me through a small village full of different shaped, wooden houses set in a clearing.

  “No. Don’t want to leave…you.” I barely managed to force the words out, my throat ached so badly.

  He stopped walking and held very still as he looked down at me. His arms tightened around me, hard and tense. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I don’t want to leave you. It hurts.”

  “Red, the pain…it is the burning. It’s what happens to a human if we mate, but you can be cured of it. Then you can leave without the fever and the pain.”

  I wanted so badly to close my eyes and rest my head on his broad shoulder, but I needed to make him understand. “I don’t want to leave you, because it hurts my heart.” I placed my palm over his soft shirt and felt his heart pounding under my fingers. “I want to be with you. To try this.”

  His eyes lit as I spoke and a grin began to tug at his exquisite mouth.

  I hadn’t finished yet, though. “But there need to be some rules.”

  “Rules?” He arched one perfect eyebrow.

  “I need to be able to go see my parents and family at times—and I want to keep researching. I can’t say it is forever with us. Not yet. But I want to stay, to try.”

  He didn’t even hesitate. “Done. We have money. You can set up your own research foundation.”

  “I think…I think I might like to research you…your kind. Not to put it out there, I know I can’t do that, but it will be the most fascinating work I’ve ever done.”

  “This work you speak of would help my people, I think. It would be a good thing. You could work with our medicine woman. Maybe even research why we birth so few females? But you will live with me? Stay with me?”

  “Yes,” I answered simply. God help me, I’d lost my mind.

  He gave a whoop of joy then and spun me around, laughing. I giggled along, but it trailed off into a sickly cough. He stopped spinning and looked at me, concern pooling in his blue eyes.

  “Come. We need to do the ceremony to stop the burning. Only this time, it will be the mating ceremony, not the one with the medicine woman that I thought you would want. This ceremony is the better one.” He flashed another full-on grin before striding purposefully toward the largest round house in the middle of the clearing.

  Once inside, my heart hammered hard in my chest, and I wanted to take back everything I’d said. About a hundred or so people stood about, and every single one turned and stared as Drew brought me into the round hall. I couldn’t help but be terrified. The eyes watching me belonged to an entirely different species. A supernatural species most humans believed to be nothing more than a myth. I’d shared that belief until a short while ago.

  “Do not be afraid, my Red,” Drew murmured in my ear. “I am the son of their leader, their next leader-in-waiting, and an alpha. You are to be my mate. This makes you an alpha, too. You will lead these people with me one day…if you stay. If this works. And it will.” He grinned. “And they will accept and respect you. You have nothing to fear from them.”

  The ceremony passed very much like a wedding ceremony in some ways. Vows were made, kisses were exchanged, people applauded. Of course, most humans don’t slit their wrists and let their blood mingle into a glass and then drink it down. But Drew insisted it was the only way to completely tie us and stop the burning fever.

  Miraculously, once I’d taken a drink of our mixed blood, I immediately began to feel better. My head cleared, my throat stopped aching, and the fever receded. Drew turned to me and told me I was still free to go, thought maybe I’d want to again now that my head didn’t suffer the effects of such a high temperature. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to be with him, by his side. Insane as it might be, I’d fallen head over heels in lust—and something more, deeper, for my wolf-man in little more than twenty-four hours. He did explain all over again how it came from our being true mates, fated to be together, and my empathine nature. But none of that mattered to me. It didn’t make sense and never would to my scientific mind. Instead of worrying over it, I chose to let it go. I’d take my time and let myself explore these feelings, see if a deep and abiding commitment grew from them.

  Right then, I simply wanted to be carried over the threshold of my new home and made love to by my mate.

  Chapter Nine

  Drew kicked the door of his home open with me still in his arms. My wrist draped around his neck, loose and relaxed. I didn’t need to cling on as he held me sure and strong.

  I looked around my new home. Holy fuck! My new home. Had I really said I would give this a go? My emotions were up and down, see-sawing all over the place. Elation one moment, utter terror the next. I knew I didn’t want to leave, wanted to give this a go, but my levelheaded mind also understood it was nuts.

  Love is a strong word and my feelings for Drew obviously couldn’t be love. Not this early, but they were something powerful and elemental. Like wild rapids, they flowed through me and made rational decision making an impossibility. I told myself I’d give this a month, and let my head have its analytical way out, but my heart, body and soul have their needs met by more time with Drew.

  “Welcome to my home…our home.”

  I pulled back, looked at Drew, and smiled at the flush on his cheeks. Ah, so my tough wolf man could blush!

  He let me down and I really looked at the space. It was lovely. The whole of the interior glowed with a cozy warmth from the wood of the walls. A large, leather sofa dominated the main living area. Off to one side a lovely, open kitchen contained an Aga and a huge table. Old fashioned brass candlesticks stood either end of it, and an oil cloth covered the surface, patterned with apples.

  Behind the sofa, a spiral wooden staircase wound its way up to a balcony that ran the length of the upstairs. I could just make out doors leading off from the landing area.

  I glanced at Drew and he followed where my gaze had been, and t
hen gave a cocky grin that shot heat straight to my core. “Our bedroom is up there. Do you want to go and see it or do you need something to eat? A rest? You’ve been through so much.”

  Chivalry suited him, but right now I wanted…needed, his more animalistic side.

  “Take me to your boudoir!” I fluttered my eyelashes at him, but he only stared at me, brows drawn together. Clearly, the joke went right over his head. Yeah, my wolf man didn’t get human jokes.

  My feet left the ground as he hoisted me up into his arms once more and ascended the spiral staircase, sure footed and confident. At the top, he turned right and walked along the balcony landing, ignoring the first door. Reaching the second door, he pushed it open and walked us into the room.

  I had a mere moment to look around before I flew through the air to land with a soft thwack on a high bed.

  “Oh, my God!” My hand went to my mouth. The room astounded me with its fairy tale vibe. The bed I sat on was a four poster. From the wooden posts trailed gauze curtains, billowing in the breeze from the open window.

  He frowned at the curtains on the bed, then his face broke into a grin. “Anna.”

  “Sorry?” He’d lost me.

  “Anna, one of our females, a good friend. She did this.” He trailed his hands through the light fabric.

  “So it wasn’t like this before?”

  “Nope. Just a plain old four poster. She must have brought these cushions, too.” He pointed to the pale gold cushions adorning the bed.

  I realized that the bed contrasted somewhat with the simple masculinity of the rest of the room. A leather sofa sat under the picture window and a stunning dresser ran along the back wall. A simple, double wardrobe completed the bedroom furniture.

  “I like the bed, but I like the room how you did it, too. It’s more my thing. I’m not…I’m not very girly.”

  He put on knee on the bed and leaned over me. “You’re all woman to me, and I like the way you are.”

  “You don’t really know me.”