by Dannika Dark
As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, they hurried out the front door. Cold wind bit against Lorenzo’s bare chest and he clenched his fists.
“I don’t recognize her from any of the neighboring packs, but… Jesus hell, I’m sorry, Enzo.”
“You better pray that she’s a rogue wolf.”
If she belonged to one of the local packs, it could mean trouble. The Packmaster would seek compensation or revenge. Her father or mate had the option of challenging the man who hurt or killed her, and it was a challenge that ended in death.
When they neared the BMW, William popped the trunk. Lorenzo walked behind the car and glared at William. “You locked her in the trunk?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t want to get blood on my seats.”
Lorenzo smacked him hard in the head and raised the trunk lid.
Silver fur. He hadn’t seen many wolves in his lifetime with the purity of this color. Her snout and neck were as white as snow, but the rest of her body was the most elegant shade of silver he’d ever beheld.
Lorenzo’s eyes lowered and spotted the blood on her hindquarters. He bent down and ran his arms beneath her, only slightly rousing her from unconsciousness.
She bared her white teeth.
“Submit, female. I’m here to help.”
With that, a growl escaped and made him chuckle.
“Stubborn bitch,” William remarked. “If she doesn’t shift for you, then we’ll be dealing with a dead body by morning.”
Lorenzo lifted her limp body from the car and shifted her weight in his arms. The wolf cried out in pain and he shushed her. William closed the trunk and they walked together toward the house.
“What happened?” Lorenzo asked.
“I was heading out toward the Weston territory and—”
“Why?”
William coughed into his hand. “You wanted me to find out about that woman, right?”
“By breaking into their house? Fool! One of the men in the pack is a PI, and I can promise you he’s rigged up that house with security alarms. I don’t need such trivial things because I have the numbers to protect this house; they don’t.”
“I used to break into homes for a living. You don’t think I can get past a security checkpoint? Most Packmasters keep their private office on the lower level, and since the pack usually sleeps upstairs, seems the perfect opportunity.”
They climbed the steps and William held open the door. Lorenzo stopped and lowered his voice. “I don’t have time to argue about this. Find out what you can about the woman, but stay off their property. This isn’t like the old world you lived in. If you get caught, you’ll pull my pack down with you.”
Every muscle in Lorenzo’s strong arms turned rock solid as they climbed the stairs. She was a strong female with a lot of muscle tone.
“Anyhow,” William continued in a quiet voice, “she darted out of nowhere. I tried to turn the wheel, but it happened too fast.”
“Did anyone see you?”
“No. I should have left her there, but they might have hired a Chitah to track me down, and then I’d have to trade in my car or get the grill cleaned. It happened on the main road five miles down, not on anyone’s territory. I pissed on top of the spot where I hit her so no one could identify her scent.”
Lorenzo threw him a volcanic glare. “Get out of my sight. Tell no one of this, and keep everyone off my floor. I want complete privacy tonight and tomorrow. If anyone sneaks up there and so much as taps a knuckle on my door, it’s you I’m going to hunt down.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“What I asked. But if someone starts calling around about a missing bitch, I want to know about it before anyone else. Leave us.”
Lorenzo kicked the door shut and laid the wolf down in front of his windows with the scenic view. He knelt before her and summoned all his alpha power, channeling it through his voice. He pinched her ear until her eyes fluttered.
“Shift.”
With absolute grace, the wolf changed form.
Lorenzo fell back, his eyes wide with astonishment. Before him was a woman with all the loveliness of a flower. Her skin was warm like caramel, and he wondered if it tasted as sweet. Long, silky locks of mahogany hair stretched down the feminine curve of her body, covering her secrets like a cloak. She was lying on her back, her left leg slightly bent over the other. This female was no stranger to him. The wolf William had struck down was Ivy.
His eyes focused on her left leg where the skin was still broken and discolored. There was no question she had multiple fractures and possible internal injuries.
“Shift,” he said again in a voice dripping with power.
She was unconscious, and he needed to rouse her. Lorenzo patted her cheek with his hand. When she didn’t move, he pinched her arm forcefully.
With lightning speed, her arm flew out and she slapped him in the face. As soon as the crack sounded, he pulled back her eyelids. “Shift!”
In a fluid movement of ancient magic, she changed back into wolf form. The process of shifting to heal could be exhausting, so he knew with each time, she would fall deeper into a slumber. Lorenzo quickly assessed her leg. His fingers glided along her soft fur, searching for breaks. Too much time had passed in transporting her here.
He repeated the command, his own hair falling forward as he leaned over the wolf and whispered against her large ear.
This time when she changed, he was so close that his mouth brushed against her soft cheek. Something awakened within him—a flood of desire, an urge to protect, and a foreign feeling he couldn’t name.
He rolled the young woman on her right side. To his relief, the gash had almost sealed, leaving only a series of dark bruises. There was no way to tell if she had internal injuries, so he went through the process three more times until she fell into a deep sleep. That was the best he could do.
Lorenzo rose to his feet and approached the fireplace on the left side of his bed. After a few minutes, he had a strong fire going. He lifted the young woman and placed her on the bearskin rug close to the heat, covering her with a fur blanket.
The bed would hide her if anyone walked in, but to be on the safe side, he locked the door. The wall to the left of the fireplace extended forward, boxing her in and making it the warmest spot in his room.
He sat in a chair by that wall, looking at the elegant mane of hair spread across the fur. It felt as if he were privy to a secret that no one else had seen. The only thing visible beneath all that fur was Ivy’s unblemished face.
She had regal Native American features, but he could tell she was of mixed descent. Her hollow cheeks appeared softer as she slept. Ivy’s lips were lush, and combined with the intellect behind her eyes, it made her a striking woman.
But her eyes were closed, and her black lashes fanned downward.
Lorenzo widened his legs and dragged his gaze to the fire. He couldn’t hand her over to Cole in this condition; he was certain Cole would seek more than compensation. They’d once been rivals in their youth. Because Lexi was related to Lorenzo by blood and they were neighbors, he’d had to make peace with the Weston pack, but he and Austin were neither friend nor foe.
She moaned, moving her head to the side and nestling her face against the fur.
His captive.
Chapter 6
In a dreamlike state, I recalled someone holding my head up and warm broth sliding down my throat. I coughed a few times and shoved the dream away, thinking I must have fallen asleep away from my dreamcatcher.
Voices tumbled into my dream from a distance, and I barely heard them, as if they were lost in the wind.
“Did you get her to shift?”
“She’s recovering. What’s the word among the packs?”
A throat cleared. “I don’t think you’re going to like this. She belongs to Austin Cole. He’s been scouting for her all day and put the word out. That’s all I’ve heard.”
“Clearly I’m aware of whose pack the w
oman belongs to, now that I’ve seen her face. That’s Ivy.”
“Oh, shit.”
“Do not speak of this to anyone inside or outside this pack, and keep everyone off my floor. I need time to consider how to handle this delicate situation.”
“Why don’t you just dump her off somewhere while she’s still unconscious? I’m serious! She won’t remember—”
A door slammed and pulled me from my sleep. I rubbed my eyes, feeling my body surrounded by something soft and heavy. Crackling noises sounded on my right, along with an insistent heat that warmed my cheeks. My entire body felt weighted to the ground, and it took every ounce of effort to open my eyes.
When I did, the light from a fireplace pierced my eyes like spears. I straightened my head and looked up at the ceiling. Above and behind me I noted a bed, and at my feet was a leather chair in front of a dark wall. Fur surrounded me from top to bottom.
I furrowed my brow, trying to recall my last memory. I’d been talking to Fox and then my wolf shifted and lunged at him. He also shifted, and after that, everything went dark. I closed my eyes, puzzled by my surroundings.
When I opened them, I gasped. Lorenzo Church towered over me, standing on my left side. He didn’t have on a shirt, and his arms were folded, pushing out his tight muscles. Then I felt my nakedness beneath the blanket.
His long hair draped across both shoulders as he looked down at me with dark eyes. “Why do women always get the wrong idea?”
“My clothes…” I tried to finish my sentence, but my voice was raspy.
“I’m used to women coming into my bed without clothes, so I’m afraid I cannot help if you’ve misplaced them. Do you recall what happened?”
I shook my head, struggling to sit up. “No.”
In a heartbeat, he fell on his knees and pushed me down. “Stay still. Your injuries are severe. It’s too soon for you to move around. You’ve been asleep all day,” he said, pinching my chin. “I forced your wolf to shift many times, so rest or you’ll anger the spirit wolf. I’ll move you to the bed later, but keep your body straight and still. You’ll shift after you eat.”
“I can’t lie here on the floor like one of your ornamental rugs.”
His eyes glittered when he smiled. Lorenzo had a broad mouth that I shouldn’t have been eyeing so closely. “You’re a sight prettier than the musty old pelt you’re lying on.”
“I see you’ve spared no expense in offering the finest for your guests.” I rubbed my eyes, still trying to get my bearings. “I’m still confused. How did I get here?”
“One of my men… found you along the road. Hit by a car.”
I furrowed my brows. “I trust I’m safe in the care of a Packmaster, but don’t fill my ears with lies. No one pulls over for roadkill.”
His boisterous laugh filled the room. Lorenzo stood up and moved out of sight. “Roadkill indeed.”
He returned with a bottle of water and I wet my parched throat.
“Thank you,” I whispered. My body prickled as the muscles began to awaken, and a dull ache radiated across my left leg and hip. When I tried to bend my knee, shooting pain lanced up my side and I hissed.
“What did I tell you about lying still, stubborn wolf?” Lorenzo moved away and sat in the weathered chair by my feet. “My grandmother used to say healing magic could be broken if you didn’t respect it. Think of children who skin their knees. The wounds scab up, but if they quickly bend their knee or run too soon, it will bleed again and never heal.”
“Your grandmother was wise,” I said. “It’s unfortunate you didn’t inherit more from her side.”
“I see your wild wolf is awake.”
I pulled my hair away from my body and tried to situate myself. “I only meant a wiser man would place an injured person in a soft bed. The floor does nothing for my back.”
“Perhaps I didn’t want dog hair on my sheets.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t allow so many naked women in your bed.”
The wood crackled in the fireplace just as fiercely as the tension between us.
“Can I bring you pain medicine?”
I rubbed my eyes. “Maybe later. I don’t want to go back to sleep right away.”
Lorenzo shifted in his chair, but I couldn’t see him without pressing my chin against my chest. Then I reached behind me and bunched up some of the blanket behind my head like a pillow.
He tilted his head to the side and stared at me so hotly that I felt feverish. “You don’t sleep peacefully. Several times you called out.”
“Do you have a dreamcatcher?”
He steepled his fingers in front of his face. “That’s superstition.”
“And what would your grandmother say about that?”
He lowered his hands, and that’s when I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Lorenzo must have cared for me the previous night and into the day. He’d nourished me with soup, helped me to shift, and now I felt guilty for my sharp tongue. To my left, a row of tall windows spanned the length of the room. It looked like the last light of sunset had been extinguished not long ago.
“You should get some rest, Lorenzo.”
“Sleep is not something I require.”
I smiled beneath the blanket. “Whatever you say, Thunder Wolf.”
His left pec twitched when he reached up and swept his hair away from his face. “Is that the name you’ve chosen to call me?”
“Perhaps Thunder for short then? It suits you. The only time I’ve ever heard so much rumbling is during a storm.”
“You should have met my grandmother.”
I laughed and immediately regretted it when the pain in my side gripped me like an iron claw. “Maybe you should call a Relic,” I said, out of breath, cold sweat touching my brow.
Lorenzo knelt between me and the fireplace and pulled at the blanket.
“No!”
“How do you expect me to examine your injury if you’ve suddenly gone bashful? Nudity means nothing to me.”
I gripped the blanket angrily. “Well it means a little something to me. You’re not my pack, I’m helpless and under your care, we’re alone, and—”
He leaned so close that our noses touched. When he spoke, his voice was rich and full-bodied. “I have no intention of putting a mark on your purity. But I can’t help if you don’t cooperate. I don’t trust Relics. Healers or not, a Relic turned his back on my mother and let her die.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“A man doesn’t forgive a thing like that. I’ve treated a lot of injuries in my time, and my grandmother taught me enough healing magic to get by.”
“Are you going to smoke a pipe?”
“Maybe,” he said in a smoky voice, his breath warming my lips. “I put some herbs in your soup and that needs time.”
His hair created a dark veil around us and I lost myself in his eyes. “Okay.”
Without so much as moving his face, he pulled the fur away from my left side. My entire left leg and hip were exposed, cooled by the air.
I softly gasped when his warm hand gently covered my hip, his fingers splayed. It traveled down, curving beneath my leg and moving back up again, as if he were stroking me.
“Your skin still feels hot to the touch in some spots. I can feel a knot in two places where I know you’re still bruised. Where else does it hurt?”
“My side.”
His hand slid above my hip, searing my flesh. “Here?”
My face flushed and a ripple of desire swept over me. I licked my lips, which drew his eyes downward. “No, higher.”
Lorenzo’s eyes hooded and he moved his hand just below my ribcage. “Here?”
“Yes,” I breathed.
“You have a muscle in there that connects to your leg, just above your pelvis. You’re sure it’s not your stomach?”
“I don’t know. You won’t let me skip around the room.”
He gave me a predatory smile. “Can I touch you there?”
Why did those words falling
from his lips arouse me like they did? My body warmed in places I hadn’t expected.
“Let me touch you, Ivy. I’m going to press down and you tell me if there is pain.”
His hand spread over my stomach and he pushed around with the tips of his fingers.
“How does that feel?”
I snorted. “Let me poke you in the gut and you tell me how that feels.”
Goodness, his hand on my flesh was like nothing I’d ever known, summoning the woman within me to respond. There were unfamiliar feelings I couldn’t process rising to the surface, so I pushed at his shoulder. “That’s enough.”
Lorenzo sat up and flipped the cover over me without stealing a glance. “I want you to shift again,” he said impassively.
“I just woke up. Please, maybe I can have something to eat and—”
He patted my cheek with the stroke of his hand. “Shift, nashoba.”
***
Lorenzo managed to nod off for a couple of hours after Ivy’s wolf had attacked him. Getting her to shift was simple; keeping her calm proved difficult. Her wolf finally submitted, realizing she had no chance fighting an alpha, but she was confused, injured, and in an unfamiliar place. Once she changed back, he covered her up and stoked the fire, deciding to relocate her to the bed in the morning.
He could still feel her skin beneath his hand as if it had left an imprint. It wasn’t until afterward that he grew hard thinking about the sensuousness of her curves beneath his fingertips. It was a thought he’d pushed away during his examination because a female in distress did not arouse him. He’d taken care not to frighten her or cause her undue stress—something he could see would occur if he had looked upon her naked body. Not an uncommon reaction for an inexperienced woman.
Ivy was fortunate that William hadn’t killed her. If he had left her on the road, she would have died. Shifters weren’t immortal, but they could heal through shifting. Some injuries required more time since the healing magic weakened with each shift. Rest was critical.
It was early evening and Lorenzo decided to make an appearance downstairs, so he slipped on a black tank top and headed out. When he reached the bottom of the stairs and looked to the right, several games of mahjong and dominoes were underway in the family room. He kept game tables against the wall between chairs to encourage the pack to be social with one another.
