FallFury

by Jaci Burton

  Good thing Shannon was still unconscious. She’d be mortified if she could see him now. A human male with these kinds of injuries would be dead. Teeth marks had dug deeply into his shoulder, down both his arms, the wolves’ claws having ripped away the skin on his back.

  A horror flick couldn’t do a better job of showcasing a victim of a wolf attack. He chuckled at that and stepped into the hot shower, wincing as the spray hit his open wounds.

  Soon, they’d be gone. Restorative processes worked quickly on werewolves. It was just a matter of time, patience and gritting his teeth a lot. Then he’d be good as new.

  Hopefully before Shannon woke.

  * * * * *

  The sound of running water stirred Shannon from her slumber. She burrowed deeper against the sheets of the warm bed.

  Bed?

  She sat up abruptly, realizing it was daylight and she was back in Max’s bedroom.

  But how? Had he found her out in the woods? And what about the wolf? Obviously she wasn’t dead, so the wolf hadn’t killed her. Nor had he hurt Max, who had to have been the one to rescue her.

  She looked down at the bandages on her legs and arms, realizing that Max must have cleaned her up and tended to her wounds. Her heart swelled with the love she couldn’t deny.

  Maybe he was a hard-headed, dominating, overbearing dickhead at times, but she loved him. That in and of itself went a long way to making her think that it was possible they could work things out.

  Slipping out of the bed, she stepped toward the bathroom. She heard the water turn off, meaning Max had finished his shower. Good. She desperately wanted to at least wash her hair. Maybe some plastic wrap around her bandages would do the trick. She was sore, still felt dirty from traipsing through the mud last night, and would love nothing more than to wash the grit from her body.

  After that, she and Max could talk, see if they could come to some sort of agreement on how things were going to work between them.

  Surely they could—

  She gasped when she spotted Max standing naked outside the shower, a towel slung low over his hips. His back was turned to her and she put her hand over her mouth to stifle the scream she wanted to let out.

  His body was destroyed. Angry, open wounds ravaged his body. Gashes so deep that bone was visible. Skin shredded so badly that he’d need grafting.

  And it was everywhere. His torso, back and arms. How was he even standing? He needed to be in a hospital. She’d never seen wounds like that before on a man who was still alive, let along conscious.

  “Oh my God, Max! What happened?”

  He whipped around and his eyes widened. “You’re awake.”

  His ribs were black and blue and bore the same open wounds as his back. She swallowed hard to fight back the nausea and rushed over to him, her arms outstretched. But she stopped, quickly crossing her arms over her chest, not knowing where she could possibly touch him. “What happened to you?”

  He shrugged. “I’m fine. Trust me, these aren’t as bad as they look.”

  Shaking her head, she followed him as he left the bathroom and headed into the bedroom. “Max, stop it! I don’t understand. How can you be standing here, talking to me in a normal voice, when your body is nearly ripped to pieces? Please tell me what happened.”

  But she knew already. He’d come to save her, and the wolf had attacked him. Guilt settled in the pit of her stomach as she realized the havoc she’d created. He was hurt because of her, because instead of staying here last night and fighting it out with him, she’d run.

  His hair fell in unruly black waves over his forehead. Quickly brushing it back with his hand, he said, “We have a lot to talk about. Give me a minute and we’ll sit down and discuss this.”

  “Sit down and discuss? Are you insane? We need to get you to a hospital, now! Those wounds aren’t going to heal on their own.”

  He offered her wry smile. “Yeah, they will. Watch.”

  Stripping the towel away, he stepped in front of the doorway leading to the balcony. Sunlight streamed through and shined on him. This was ridiculous. Was he hoping for a miracle? She was about to turn and run for the phone to call an ambulance when she noticed one of the wounds on his shoulder closing.

  She blinked, certain she imagined what she’d just seen.

  Dear God in heaven. He was healing right before her eyes. The wounds closed, the bruises disappeared, no scars were visible. In less than a minute, he was whole again.

  “What the hell?” She flopped down on the bed, suddenly feeling very lightheaded.

  “I can explain this.” Grabbing for a pair of shorts, he stepped into them and sat next to her on the bed. She half-turned to face him.

  “Explain what? How you healed? Maybe you should start with how you got those injuries in the first place. The wolf did it, didn’t he? The one that sat by the tree with me last night. You showed up, he attacked you, right?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Okay, then tell me how exactly.”

  “I was attacked, but not by the wolf. By wolves. Six of them, to be exact.”

  The six that had attacked her. “How? When? Six wolves followed me into the woods. I ran and tried to get away but couldn’t.”

  He smiled and nodded. “I know.”

  “And then this other wolf…what do you mean, you know?”

  “I know what happened to you last night.”

  “How?”

  “Some of it, I saw. The rest, they told me.”

  Maybe he had a fever. That had to explain his delusion that he could talk to wolves. “They told you.”

  “Yeah.”

  “How? Do you commune with wolves psychically?”

  He arched a brow. “Sort of.”

  She reached out and laid her palm on his forehead, realizing her hand was shaking. “No fever.”

  Max laughed. “I’m fine, Shannon. Really. Now listen closely, because I have a lot to explain to you.”

  She’d try to sit still for his explanation. Then she’d call a doctor or take him to the ER. Whatever happened to him last night affected his brain. Although that didn’t explain the devastating wounds healing as if by magic. This was all so confusing!

  “Last night, you ran from a half-dozen wolves. You ran into a lone wolf who then fought with the other six.”

  Her pulse began to race. “How did you know that?”

  He reached for her hand, his thumb gliding over her wrist. “Because I was there.”

  She searched his face, looking for a glassy-eyed stare, anything that would make this seem like some kind of dream. Maybe they were connected and he’d read her mind, pulled her memories. Hell, anything was possible.

  “I don’t understand. What do you mean you were there?”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t put it together yet.”

  “Put what together?” As soon as she said the words, something flashed in her mind. No, it couldn’t be. Too farfetched. Too ridiculous.

  “How could I be there to see it last night, Shannon? Search your heart. You know the answer; you’re just refusing to see it.”

  How could she think straight when his thumb caressed the inside of her wrist, massaging her frenetic pulse? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You were there, so were the six wolves. Who else?”

  “Just the gray…” No. He was insane.

  “The gray wolf? Yes. The one who approached you, then went around you to fight with the others. Do you know who the gray wolf is, Shannon?”

  “No!” She wrenched her arm away from his grasp and stood, hugging her arms around her middle, refusing to put to words what ran through her mind. “That’s not possible!”

  He stood and approached her, reaching for her hands. She backed away and he dropped his hands at his side. “I’m surprised that you’d be so shocked, considering the magic you and your family possess.”

  She didn’t want to believe what her mind told her was true, and yet the evidence stared her in th
e face. “You were outside my condo that night.”

  He nodded. “Yes. I followed you.”

  “Why?”

  “Your scent called to me. I’ve wanted you as my mate from the first moment I saw your picture in a magazine.”

  She stared at him, open-mouthed. “What?”

  His lips curled in a smile that made his face look boyish. How could this handsome man be the snarling wolf she’d seen last night?

  “I felt a connection to you even then. After I met you, it became even stronger. I’ve come to Louisiana to set up my own pack, Shannon. I come from a very long line of Devlin wolves, and we’re branching out. That’s why I’m here. To start my own pack. I’ve already chosen my mate.”

  This was all too much to process. She didn’t understand it, had more questions than she could possibly ask him at one time. “Mate?”

  “Yes. Why do you think I wanted you to move in after last night? We’re mated, Shannon. You’re already mine. You can’t escape that. It’s your destiny.”

  Confusion turned to a burning anger. Anger that he didn’t tell her what he was before he took her to bed. Rage at once again being told what was expected of her because of destiny.

  She’d never let her family tell her what to do, and she’d sure as hell not be led around by Max.

  “Listen to me very carefully, Max. I am not your destiny. I am no man’s destiny. I make my own choices about what men I want to be with. You will never decide for me. My family won’t decide for me. No one will decide for me.”

  “Shannon, I understand your—”

  “You don’t understand a damn thing! All you understand is what you want, when you want it and how you want it. You want me, but that’s all I’ve ever heard from you. You’ve decided I’m your mate, that I should move in with you, but have you ever once asked what I want? No, you haven’t. I’m sick of you and everyone else telling me what I should do and how I should feel!”

  She knew she was nearly hysterical, but she couldn’t help it. The last twenty-four hours had been too much to bear. She needed space, time and she needed to get the hell out of here and away from Max. Her feelings for him ran the gamut from gratitude that he saved her life at the risk of his own, to profound anger that he continued to tell her what to do.

  He held out his hand to her. “Shannon, if you’ll just let me explain…”

  She backed away from his outstretched arm. “Don’t touch me! I don’t want to hear it, Max. The fact that you’re this…this creature instead of a man…it sickens me. To think I had sex with an animal!!”

  His face paled, his jaw clenched tight. He breathed in and out rapidly through his nose, and she knew he was holding his temper in check.

  He was pissed. Good. She needed him to be, needed to strike out and hurt him to get him to back away, to quit giving her that sympathetic look that made her want to melt into his arms, to hold him close and never let go.

  Because she finally realized that loving Max would mean giving up her soul, her very freedom. And that she wouldn’t do.

  Her heart wrenched at the hurt she saw in his eyes, but she steeled herself to ignore it. She had to. Self-preservation won out and she’d do whatever she had to do to get him to back off.

  She marched into his closet and grabbed a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Granted, they were way too large but she had no clothes to wear. “I’m calling my sister to come and get me. I’ll wait downstairs. Do not come near me, and do not attempt to talk to me. I want nothing to do with you, Max. I’m disgusted by what you are, and I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  Before she lost her nerve, before she looked into his eyes and once again saw the pain she knew she’d put there, she turned and hurried downstairs.

  After calling Kaitlyn, grateful to realize the phones now worked, she stepped outside on the porch and paced. A hundred times she wanted to go back inside, fling herself into Max’s arms and beg his forgiveness for hurting him, for lying to him.

  But she couldn’t do it. She had to stand firm. If loving him meant losing herself in the process, then it wasn’t love. It would never work between them.

  Knowing it didn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks, nor did it stem the anguish threatening to tear her up inside.

  Kaitlyn pulled into the driveway and she hurried into the car, slamming it shut.

  “Just drive,” she said, noting Kaitlyn’s concerned expression. “Don’t ask, because I’m not going to tell you anything right now. I just want to go home.”

  As Kaitlyn nodded and drove away, Shannon had the feeling that she wasn’t going home at all.

  She’d just left home.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Max paced the confines of the back porch, stepping up to the screen to look out over the water, then beginning his walk from one end to the other again. He felt caged, frustrated, desperate to take a run into the woods, but knowing it wouldn’t help.

  Shannon wouldn’t take his calls, wouldn’t see him, wouldn’t speak to him. She hadn’t shown up at work, and it wasn’t like she was required to be there. The ad campaigns and press releases were finished. Now they just waited for the grand opening, so there really was nothing urgent that required her attention there.

  How could he talk to her, to explain how he felt, if she wouldn’t see him?

  Alphas did not beg. It wasn’t in his nature to lie down on his back and bare his vulnerable belly to anyone, especially a female.

  Besides, Shannon had made it quite clear that she was disgusted with what he was. He sure hadn’t counted on that reaction from her. Maybe he’d been too confident that she cared enough about him, wanted him enough, that it wouldn’t matter what he was, especially in light of the fact that she possessed magic of her own.

  So now what? What did an alpha werewolf do when he finds his mate, falls in love, but she doesn’t return his feelings? It wasn’t like he could go pick another. The thought of doing that left him empty. He’d already mated with Shannon. They were bonded. In a werewolf’s world, that meant for life. His blood was inside her now. Hell, for that matter, his pup could be growing inside her, too. And he’d be damned if he’d allow her to raise his child without his presence. Or, God forbid, raise his child with another man.

  Over his dead body.

  Shit. He’d handled this whole thing badly. He should have told her about who he was before they made love, before they bonded. He should have waited to touch her, to taste her, until he was certain she’d accept him.

  One helluva predicament.

  His hearing picked up a car coming up the drive, his heart pounding at the thought that it might be Shannon. He stepped inside and went out the front door, disappointment racing through him as he saw Aidan step out.

  “Hey there,” Aidan said, waving an envelope in front of him. “Thought you might want to see the press releases that are going out next week.”

  Max had left the office early today, tired of wandering around aimlessly, unable to concentrate on work, and waiting to see if Shannon would show up. He pasted on a smile and said, “Thanks. Have time for a beer?”

  Aidan bounded up the stairs and grinned. “Always have time for a beer.”

  After grabbing a couple bottles from the refrigerator, Max led Aidan out onto the back porch. They sat in the chairs and Max scanned the press release. “Looks good. I’d say we’re ready to roll.”

  “Yeah, I think so too.”

  They both stared outside for a few minutes, drinking their beer in silence.

  “You’ve got to give her a little time,” Aidan finally said.

  Max looked at him. “I don’t think time is going to help much.”

  Aidan’s mouth curved in a half-smile. “You’d be surprised. I know my sister. She’s stubborn. Damned stubborn.”

  Max took a long swallow of his beer and nodded. “Don’t I know it.” It was one of the things he loved best about her.

  “She also loves you.”

  Arching a brow, Max asked, �
��How do you know that?”

  “We’re connected. All of us. Not mind readers, but we can feel each other’s emotions. She’s miserable right now.”

  Great. Misery that he’d caused. That should endear him to her even more. “I never meant to hurt her.”

  “I know that. If I wasn’t certain of that fact, I’d be here to kick your ass, not share a beer with you.”

  Max laughed, understanding that sentiment. He’d do the same thing if anyone hurt his sister. “So now what do I do?”

  Aidan shrugged and finished his beer. “Wish I could tell you. I had enough trouble trying to figure out what to do about Lissa. I finally had to swallow my pride, smack myself upside the head and find her. I was going to tell her I loved her and keep telling her until she believed me.”

  “If only that would work in this case.”

  “All you can do is try. Granted, my relationship with Lissa isn’t like yours with Shannon. You bring a little something ‘extra’ to the relationship that she’ll have to deal with.”

  Max was taken aback. Did everyone know about him? “How did you know?”

  Aidan grinned. “Mom told us the other day, after Kaitlyn explained that Shannon was a mess. She also warned us to stay out of it and let you two settle your differences by yourselves.”

  He made a note to thank Angelina for that. “Do you have any reservations about it?”

  “Nah. If Shannon agrees to it and it doesn’t hurt her, then what you two do and what powers you possess are your own business. I have enough of my own to deal with as it is,” he said, winking.

  “Thanks.” Max shook Aidan’s hand and walked him to the door.

  “I hate to sound corny and all,” Aidan said, “But you really have to dig deep and search your heart. You’ll know what to do.”

  He nodded and watched as Aidan drove away, then went outside and walked to the edge of the water, staring into the murky depth as if they could provide the answer he sought.

  Search his heart? He already knew what he wanted. He wanted Shannon. He loved her, needed her, and wanted her for his mate, by his side forever. But going to her and telling her that wouldn’t convince her.