Still waiting in the Tahoe, Phelan barked, standing with his front paws on the door, nose pressed against the window. As soon as Carson opened the truck door, the excited puppy jumped all over him, panting and licking furiously. No matter how often Carson rebuffed him, Phelan never cared. Wiggling his entire small body to match his wagging tail, he leaped on Carson with all the fervor of any well-loved pet greeting a beloved human.
Beloved human. Gathering Phelan to him, the thought shamed Carson. Because letting anyone, even a puppy, get close had terrified him, he had devoted all his energy into pushing the pup away.
As Phelan rained wet doggy kisses all over him, he realized he had a lot to make up for. In more than one way, he would be starting over.
Immediately he took Phelan to the woods. Somehow, he meant to find Brenna.
“Three days my ass,” he told the puppy. He had to see Brenna now, to touch her with his own hands and make certain she was okay.
And he wanted to convince her how much he loved her.
Phelan barked, wanting out of his arms. Gently placing the puppy on the ground, Carson had an idea.
“Phelan.” He put playful urgency in his tone. The puppy cocked his head, listening.
“Where’s Brenna? Find Brenna.”
With a small bark, the puppy took off running.
* * *
She heard them coming long before they neared her hiding place. In her wolf form, every sense became amplified, especially the sharpness of her hearing. So she listened and waited, trying to puzzle out the whys and the hows.
Carson knew what she was. He hadn’t waited, as she’d asked. What had he decided?
First came Phelan, crashing through the forest, a bounding bundle of eagerness and joy. Brenna couldn’t help but smile as only a wolf could.
And behind him, Carson. Moving more slowly, cautiously, though with no less purpose.
Carson. Her smile faded. Heart began to pound. She’d asked for three days. Had he made up his mind to leave so quickly?
Wavering, she stood on shaky legs and moved soundlessly farther into the shadows, where he couldn’t see her.
“Hiding, sis?” Alex’s voice.
She turned, saw her brother standing in his human form and began the change herself. It took only seconds for her to go from wolf to woman and step back into her clothes: then she was able to wrap herself in Alex’s comforting arms and place her head on his broad chest.
“Are you all right?”
“I’ve healed my shoulder wound,” she said. “But my heart? I’m not certain I can heal that.”
“There, there.” He stroked her hair as he’d done so many times before when they were small. “Talk to him, Brenna. Everything will be all right.”
She raised her face to look at her brother’s implacable expression, finding, as always, comfort and strength in his rugged features, so like her own, yet so different. His gaze, full of sympathy, had the inexplicable result of making her want to cry. Even as she thought it, her eyes filled.
“I never cry,” she said, lifting her chin and swiping at her eyes.
“You never did,” Alex agreed. “Even when you were small.”
A tear spilled onto her cheek. “I love him so much.”
The barest of smiles touched Alex’s firm mouth. “Then be yourself. You can’t lose.”
“Be myself?”
“Confident. Daring. Fearless. Don’t lose your tenacity now.”
“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled. “One eye open, remember? Carson saw me change.”
“Mama was talking about our enemies when she told us that, Bren. Keep one eye open for trouble. Trouble, not our mates.”
Mates. Her breath caught at the word. Alex was her twin. He knew. “Do you think he is?”
“Could be.” He lifted one shoulder. “Only you know for sure.”
She registered a certain sadness in her brother’s rugged features. “I heard you were married.”
“Yeah.” For a moment pain shone stark in his face. “I sent her away, made her disappear for her own safety. Once all this is over, I’ll find her and settle things between us.”
He would, too, Brenna knew. Once Alex set his mind to something, he wouldn’t rest until he’d accomplished his goal. She wished him happiness.
Phelan’s tinny bark echoed through the woods, closer.
Alex smiled. “It’s only a matter of time before your pup finds us.”
“Change,” she whispered urgently.
“Brenna…”
With one last desperate look at Alex, Brenna gave herself over to the change. In her wolf form, with her human emotions subjugated, she felt more capable of doing what she had to do.
* * *
Carson saw them first, two immense silver wolves standing in the shadows. When Phelan caught their scent, he hesitated in his stride, whining as he sat back on his haunches. He looked up at Carson as if asking for protection.
“It’s all right, buddy,” Carson said, awkwardly reaching down and scratching the puppy behind the ears. He eyed the magnificent animals. “Just Brenna and Alex, waiting for us.”
The larger of the two wolves glided forward. Phelan scrambled to hide behind Carson’s leg, trembling. The wolf stopped and cocked his head, tongue lolling. Carson could have sworn he was grinning.
Then Carson slid his gaze to the second wolf.
“Brenna.”
At her name she came forward, past the first wolf to halt a few feet from Carson. So close he recognized Brenna’s beloved brown eyes shining in the wolf’s aristocratic face.
Then she changed.
Contrary to the old horror movies, there was nothing brutal or horrific about the transformation. One moment a regal silver wolf stood before him, the next, Brenna’s slender form. The air had seemed to shimmer, her image wavered for an instant, then she was there. Naked, her beauty took his breath away. Then she stepped behind a tree, reappearing in a long, flowing dress.
When she changed to face Carson as a human, so, too, did Alex. Smiling, he dressed, then reached for the surprised Phelan, scooping him up in his arms and crooning wordlessly. He winked at Carson as they walked away.
“You’ve come to say goodbye,” Brenna said, her expression solemn, pain evident in the careful way she enunciated each word.
“No.” He shook his head. “You of all people should know—” Unable to continue, he swallowed. Hard. To try for a second chance at life, at love, was not a thing to be attempted lightly. What he would do if she refused him, he couldn’t contemplate.
Brenna.
When he’d regained his composure, he took one step. Only one. Watching and hoping and praying—yes, praying—she would give him some sort of sign.
“What do you want?” Her features were as blank as her tone. “If it’s absolution, I give it freely.”
“Absolution?” Humbled, he looked away. Then, unable to help himself, he dragged his gaze back to her face.
“For doubting my brother,” she said. What she meant, he knew, was “for doubting me.”
She shrugged, a careless gesture, but he wasn’t fooled. He saw how much she cared in the rigid way she held her slender body, poised as though on the edge of flight.
Or of changing.
He stepped forward again, not stopping until he stood mere inches from her. She lifted her chin, false bravado evidenced by the sheen in her eyes.
“I never doubted you,” he said. Then, wanting to be totally honest, he added, “Maybe in the beginning, a little. But not after that.”
She opened her mouth and closed it.
He moved toward her until his breath mingled with hers. Then he kissed her. Her nose. Her forehead. Her cheeks. And finally her lips.
“I love you.” He whispered the words inside her mouth, knowing she heard them from the way she went utterly, totally still. So he lifted his lips from hers and said them again. “I love you. All of you.”
This time it was she who reached up and pulled his face down to hers. As
she kissed him, he tasted the salt of her tears and knew himself to be the luckiest man in the world.
Still, he had to make certain she understood.
“I can’t do anything as exotic as change into a wolf,” he said, smiling. “But I will cherish you and love you with all of my heart.”
Her eyes were bright with tears and fierce with emotion. With love.
“Wolves mate for life,” she warned him.
He laughed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781459241817
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual works as follows:
THE WOLF PRINCESS
Copyright © 2012 by Karen Whiddon
ONE EYE OPEN
Copyright © 2010 by Karen Whiddon
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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The Wolf Princess: The Wolf PrincessOne Eye Open (The Pack) Page 43
