by Diana Seere
But uncompromising.
She was grateful he wasn’t flirting the way he usually did. Under the circumstances, she would’ve lost it completely. “Bring me back! Gavin—tell me what’s happening. I don’t understand!”
“Asher is helping Gavin regain his control,” Derry said. His large strides quickly ate up the ground, and soon she could barely hear the growls of the fighting wolves anymore. “Neither will be seriously hurt, don’t worry.”
“Asher’s a—” She couldn’t say it. The shock caught up to her in a rush, and she sagged into Derry’s arms. “Of course he is. You too, I suppose.”
“Not quite,” he said. “But it’s not for me to explain to you.”
She laughed without humor. “I guess Gavin felt the same way.”
“Are you all right? I saw blood.”
“I’m great. Totally great,” she said.
Yeah, right.
There had always been something lurking in the shadows of their relationship, a secret she could almost taste. But Lilah would never in a million years have guessed the guy was secretly a wolf.
Because who the heck would ever consider that? A secret kid, messed up finances, a foot fetish, even an obsession with My Little Pony—those secrets Lilah could wrap her head around.
Being told, “Hey, babe, I’m a werewolf” wasn’t at the top of her list of Things Guys Don’t Tell You Until It’s Too Late.
Nobody’s perfect, right? Even Gavin. Especially Gavin.
He’d never trusted her enough to tell her. He’d let her love him, brought her here to his family, and never told her, never hinted.
But she’d known—something. She’d known he wasn’t part of the world she knew. She’d known their love wasn’t either.
“I want to go home,” she said, drowning in the nightmare. “I want to go home and never come back.”
Derry nodded his huge, shaggy head. “As you wish,” he said with a sigh.
The push of fur and muscle, bone and tooth, was all Gavin had become. Fighting for freedom, he twisted against the familiar wolf’s body, his four powerful legs artful in fighting for space, his mouth fighting for blood.
He was nothing but dark light, blood racing through his legs and neck, muscles charged and instinct his only guide. The pull of teeth on his chest, yanking at his fur but not breaking skin, told him this was no predator as they rolled against saplings and old oaks, backbones halting against thick, jagged rocks.
Yet.
Lilah Lilah Lilah.
He sprang to his feet, mouth open, making no sound. The scent of the wolf against him, smeared into his fur, was his kin. Asher’s eyes met his, fierce and aglow in the inky darkness of the thatch of forest. Gavin did not break the gaze, breathing through it, refusing to back down.
Her blood. He smelled it, mixed with Derry’s scent, the odor maddening as his ears twitched to catch the direction of her movement.
Asher growled in warning as Gavin took one step away, not turning his head.
Blood. Her blood. Webb had attacked her. But the quicksilver taste against his tongue was Webb’s own blood. His mouth was full of it. The bastard had hurt her—meant to take her—and he’d paid.
Would pay more.
Bloodlust filled him and he took his eyes off Asher to watch Edward and the others pulling Webb’s body into the obscure bush. A mindless need to sink fangs into throat and drain the life force from the weaselly man fought with the shred of rational mind he possessed.
An impulse stronger than love surged through his muscles, his breath quickening. He needed to find Webb. Kill him.
Make sure he could never hurt Lilah again.
Lilah Lilah Lilah.
The growl of warning that came from Asher was clear, but Gavin ignored it, taking three steps toward the shuffling crowd as a groan of pain lifted into the air and caught his attention. His paws picked up the vibration of Webb’s pain. Webb was alive. Instinct prevailed. Gavin lunged.
So did Asher.
And this time his brother broke skin.
The searing tear of his own flesh made Gavin’s taste of Webb turn into an afterthought as Asher turned into a predator.
Out for Gavin’s blood.
Worse—intent on his complete submission.
Gavin was tired of submitting. He wanted Lilah, needed Lilah, and by all that was right with the world, he would protect her. Damn the costs.
His head dug into Asher’s ribs and twisted as his haunches propelled him into a midair corkscrew that forced Asher a foot away, giving Gavin the time to growl and snap.
Go away. You’re not my target.
But you are mine, his brother’s voice echoed in his head. You need to stop. Now.
Gavin’s eyes narrowed, taking in the bright light, spotting Webb through the trees. Edward carried him easily over his shoulder, headed for one of the small guesthouses. A thin stream of the injured man’s blood bloomed down Edward’s shirt. Nose tipped up to the dark sky, Gavin could smell the fear, the bloodshed, the frustrated sexual need in the man.
Rage rippled through him, making him shudder.
Asher’s gaze never relented.
You’re endangering us all, Asher communicated, fangs bared. Of all the Stanton brothers, he resembled their father the most. The sudden flash of memory made Gavin’s defiance stronger.
I’m saving Lilah.
Then where is she? Asher challenged. You’ve lost control.
The ringing in his ears turned into a rush, like the sudden squall on a bay that rips out anchors and capsizes a fisherman’s boat, destroying the thin thread that attached Gavin to reality. Her scent faded, replaced by Webb’s blood, and then—nothing.
He was feral.
With a roar, Gavin went for the throat, Asher’s feet swift and graceful, dodging the move.
You’ve lost her.
Asher’s voice was pure madness as Gavin’s muscles and sinew tightened against skin and sleek fur, his eyes wider than the moon, all impulse directed at stopping that tone.
You’ve lost her.
All he had done tonight had been for her, and as Asher’s nails ripped down his hind legs, body covering his, the two in an agonized embrace, he felt his body fly up into the air, then slam down, hard, head bashing against rock.
The night faded.
The voice disappeared.
Hope died.
Chapter 16
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Derry asked.
Lilah stared out the window of the private jet, her purse in her lap, her hand already clutching the keys to her apartment. They’d just landed outside Boston, and the dawn sky was streaked an angry, violent pink. “I’m sure,” she said grimly.
“We can fly back right now, just so you know.”
“Thank you,” she said, “but no.”
Derry hadn’t left her side for a moment. He’d brought her blankets and pillows for the red-eye flight east. Offered herbal tea, coffee, and whiskey. Made jokes and fallen silent. He’d been a gentleman.
Far more so than his brother had been.
“Are you like—can you—do you—you said you’re not quite—” she’d stammered when they’d first gotten on the plane. Her inquiry was obvious even if she couldn’t find the right words.
Derry had ducked the question. “I am very sorry, but I think Gavin’s the one to tell you all about it.”
Remembering the exchange as she got up from her seat to get off the plane, Lilah felt a wave of fresh anger.
Yes, Gavin had been the one to tell her.
And he hadn’t.
A wolf! He’d become a wolf, right before her eyes. For the past several hours, she’d relived the memory of the sight of his white teeth in the moonlight, the sound of his ferocious growl, the sixth sense that told her she could still hear him, still understand him, still feel him, even in his wild form.
She’d tried to say good-bye to Derry at the airport, but he insisted she take the Stanton limo with him. Gavin’s driver, Manny
, who’d been so sweet and talented with her laundry weeks earlier, now shared a look with Derry she couldn’t read. They weren’t happy about bringing her home but didn’t seem angry with her. On the contrary, they were both warm, attentive, and gracious.
Derry rode with her in the cavernous backseat. He sat across from her, staring at her as he scratched his fingernails across his knees. When she refused a shot of breakfast scotch, he knocked it back himself.
“He loves you, you know,” he choked out.
“He lied to me.”
“He was afraid to tell you,” Derry said.
“I was a fool to trust him,” she replied. Billionaire werewolf. True love. Turned out the first one was more believable.
“He was afraid you’d leave him,” Derry went on. He poured himself another drink and met her gaze over the rim. “And you did.”
“He lied to me.” Lilah didn’t expect him to understand. Had Gavin ever said, By the way, I’m not a werewolf? No. It wasn’t that kind of lie. It was a lie of omission. An omission that included his truest self.
They reached her run-down apartment just as the garbage trucks were roaring slowly down the street. It was still very early. She wondered if Jess was awake. What day was it? At the ranch, she’d lost track of time. Tuesday, she realized. It was Tuesday. Jess had the late shift Monday nights, so she’d be wiped out, sleeping in...
Manny opened the door, and she got out, Derry right close behind, his eyes darting as if on the hunt for something. “I’ll see you up to your door,” Derry said in his most formal British accent.
“Not nec—”
Derry lifted her suitcases out of the trunk as if they were no heavier than cucumber sandwiches. “Quite necessary. I might even borrow Manny’s firearm to brave the journey.” Shaking his head as he glanced up and down the street, he led the way to the gated door, brow furrowed, ears perked.
She unlocked it and trudged upstairs with him at her heels.
“I’ll come in and make sure you’re safe,” Derry said at her apartment door, his body suddenly tense. “You live alone, and the apartment could be unsafe.”
“No, I don’t. My sister lives here.”
One eyebrow arched. “Sister?” His eyes flashed with emotion, nose tipped up, his features broadening with a sensual leer, then folding in to stately composure. “You both share this tiny space?”
“Yes.” She didn’t have the energy to defend her life.
“Surely I must meet her,” he insisted, sniffing the room, pupils dilating. “I insist. Your safety is of utmost importance.”
“No, Derry—but thank you.” This time she was firm, and he gave her a sad smile before departing down the stairs, his heavy tread surprisingly quiet.
She exhaled and went in, glad she’d finally gotten rid of him. She appreciated his kindness but needed to be alone. For all his size and gregarious charm, Derry was entirely too much like Gavin. Another man who was used to always getting his own way.
Although she tried to be quiet, Jess shot up in her bed when Lilah dragged in the second suitcase and bolted the door. Smoky raced over, his entire little body going into spasms of delight as he bounced around her feet.
“You’re early,” Jess said, rubbing her face. “What happened? Are you all right? Something bad happened, didn’t it?” Jess looked out the window, and Lilah saw the red lights of the limo fade out as Manny drove Derry away.
Picking up Smoky for a much-needed cuddle, Lilah asked, “Why would you think that?”
“Because you were sleeping with that guy and it was his ranch and things went south and they fired you, right?”
Lilah collapsed onto the thirdhand sofa, Smoky in her arms. While he licked her face, a broken spring jabbed her in the shoulder blade, right through her sweater.
As sharp as a wolf’s teeth, she thought.
She’d signed more than one nondisclosure agreement, but right then she didn’t give a fuck. “Right except for the firing part,” Lilah said, closing her eyes. Would she cry?
No, not yet. She was too angry.
And a little freaked out. Yes, she was a little freaked out. He’d turned into a wolf, after all.
“You’re bleeding.” Jess ran over and grabbed her hand. The cut from falling during Webb’s assault had ripped open when she lifted the suitcase.
If she weren’t a broken shell of her former self, Lilah would’ve laughed at how similar Jess sounded to Gavin the night before. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. We’re going to wash this right now.” Doctor Jess hopped up, ran to the bathroom, and returned with their first-aid kit. She confiscated Smoky, relocating him to the floor, and studied Lilah’s hand. “There’s dirt in the wound. Tell me why there’s so much dirt in the wound.” Her voice was low and tense.
“Gavin, that’s the rich guy with the limo and palatial luxury ranch, the one that I was sleeping with, he rescued me from a drunk bastard who got me alone in the woods.” Lilah heard herself speak and wondered how Jess would take the rest of the story.
“Oh, that’s good. About the rich guy, I mean. Not about the drunk bastard.”
“Yeah. That part was good.”
“So you came home because you were upset?” Jess asked.
“No, I came home because of what happened next. Well, actually, it was more of a during. During the rescuing, I mean.”
“Gavin did something?”
“Oh, yeah. But I can’t tell you about it. You wouldn’t believe it.” Lilah pulled her hand free and stood up before Jess could apply the bandage. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Jess jumped up. “You are not! First you’re going to tell me what happened.”
“How’s Mom? I thought I’d go see her today.”
“She seems fine. She insisted I not visit yet because she had somebody else drive her home and stay overnight,” Jess said. “But stop trying to change the subject. What happened?”
“Jess, really, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try me.” Jess looked increasingly alarmed, and Lilah couldn’t blame her. Not one bit.
“You’re taking human biology right now, aren’t you?”
Jess crossed her arms over her chest, pushing up the breasts that were even bigger than Lilah’s. “What does that have to do with it?”
“And biochemistry, right? I see the textbooks lying around.”
“Stop trying to change the—”
“I’m not,” Lilah said. “It is the subject. You won’t believe what I saw because of what you know is impossible. Except it isn’t. And somehow... ” she trailed off, her thoughts drifting to remember a pair of soulful blue eyes, “I always knew.”
“Knew what?” Jess moved closer. “Just go ahead and tell me. You’re going to do it anyway. Get it over with.”
Lilah suddenly felt very, very tired. Three nights of poor or no sleep slammed into her, like one wolf into another wolf, fighting in the Montana woods...
An exhausted giggle rose up in her chest. “He’s a werewolf. My billionaire lover, Gavin Stanton. He turned into a wolf. And so did his brother. He’s also a werewolf and maybe a billionaire too, though I’m not sure about that. And there’s two more brothers but I didn’t see them turn into anything except nice guys, which they were already. I don’t know if they’re billionaires. Why not?”
“You’re delirious.” Jess put one hand on her shoulder and the other on her forehead. “I don’t feel a fever, but we should get you in bed.”
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” Lilah said.
The fact that he could not smell her told him he was in human form. The throbbing skull pain signaled that he was, in fact, awake. The raw feeling along his calves and forearms was familiar and told him his growing memory that filled in like an inkblot on parchment was correct. He and Asher had fought to the point of blood.
His heart told him Lilah was not here.
Opening his eyes and seeing Asher glaring at him told him that he would prefer to both be in wolf f
orm and return to sleep.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Asher barked.
“Is today a preseason game? The Boston Bruins are—”
“Jesus, Gavin,” Asher snapped, hand shaking. His older brother’s hands were a family joke, long surgeon’s fingers as steady as a glacier.
Gavin’s sight pinpointed, blood on alert.
“You joke about hockey at a time like this?” Asher added.
“Where is she?” Gavin said in a low voice. He concentrated his inner pulse, listening for her.
Radio silence.
Lilah, he thought. Lilah.
Nothing.
“She’s gone,” Asher said. Although Gavin knew the answer, it made a ball of keening twist inside him, like barbed wire making its way from his throat to his guts. He looked down at his belly, grimacing in pain. Long scratches marred the skin along his navel, and the steady throb of puncture wounds and torn flesh near his kidneys and about his collarbone were reminders of last.... night? Was it just last night?
“Where is she?” he asked, words hard to form. He sniffed the air, as if that would work. As if his puny human nose could accomplish anything.
“Gone. She left.”
“You made her go?” Gavin growled.
Asher sighed, that damn shaking hand running through his thick, long hair. “No. She chose to leave.” Asher’s brows met in consternation. “Insisted. As soon as she saw you attack Webb.”
Fuck.
“She saw me. Saw me shift.”
“Indeed.”
Gavin blinked hard, yearning to erase and reboot the night. A stream of words filled his head, an explanation for why he’d needed to rescue her, how Webb attacked her and was in the process of—
“Did she say anything?”
“Just that she wanted to leave and never come back.”
“You’re lying,” he hissed, the sound like torn paper in his throat. Leaping to his feet, he saw he wore pajama pants, a thick white bandage at his hip. The gauze was dotted with dried blood.
