by Lucy Monroe
He turned to leave.
"Ty!"
He ignored her and walked out of the cabin, glad her naked state would stop her from following him.
She was smart enough to stay inside.
He hoped.
Just in case, he hung around the cabin, watching for a good half hour, but the front door didn’t open and he had to figure she’d stuck with her plan to take a long, hot bath.
***
Frankie watched Ty walk out of the cabin with a sense of disbelief that paralyzed her.
As the door shut she accepted he really was simply going to leave her there...by herself...to wait for rescue. The pain inside of her exploded in a blast of anger so intense, she shook with it. He’d always been so darn pig headed and arrogant, so sure he knew what was right for her.
"Ty McCanlup, you are going to hear about this," she promised the empty cabin in a deadly voice he would have shuddered to hear.
Because he would have known exactly what that voice meant...just how angry she really was. And why would he know it? Because he was her best friend, darn it! And she was his, even if he hadn’t seen fit to tell her he was a werewolf.
She could still hardly take that fact in, but no one except a totally insane person would have walked out the cabin door in these temps unless he was...well a werewolf.
For some reason that acknowledgement cut through both her anger and her pain. Ty was a werewolf and that meant his responses, his motivations, his feelings were going to be different from a simple human. Didn't it?
She started thinking like a woman smart enough to get a degree in veterinary medicine. Looking back over the last day and a half, she remembered more than just his rejections. What about the kisses he'd given her...of his own volition, the day before? The kiss at his house had not been sparked by Olivia's rejection because he hadn't been rejected yet.
He'd been acting possessive.
What did that mean? In the wolf world it would have meant he had a tighter bond with him than simple traveler on the same planet. Male wolves were possessive of their mates, but they hadn't been mated yet. Which meant what? That he'd had those kinds of emotions engaged already? After all, he was more than a wolf, he was a man too.
Capable of feeling things a wolf would only know on an instinctual level.
Ty said he had wanted to marry Olivia, but he didn’t really want her...not like a man should the woman he planned to spend the rest of his life with. He wanted Frankie that way. No chance was hurt pride a strong enough motivator for the kind of lovemaking they had shared. As relatively inexperienced as she was, she still knew that.
And their lovemaking had not been mere animal sex. She had felt too much and so had he. She was fairly certain that his humanity had been fully engaged even if he wanted to blame his wolf's instincts. He’d wanted her with the kind of passion a man in love exhibits. Certainly not a platonic friend, a big brother type or even a casual lover.
He’d marked her, inside and out.
He couldn’t have gone that deep into her soul without letting her into his at least little way too.
He might think he had. He might have convinced himself what they’d shared was nothing more than sex, but the way he’d cuddled her close to his body when they were sleeping was not about nooky. It was about tenderness and intimacy that had nothing to do with putting Tab A into Slot B.
So, why was he so determined to deny the depth of their feelings for each other? Why did he doubt her love for him?
She thought back over their argument, or conversation... Whatever it was. He’d gotten really squirrelly every time the subject of her ex-fiancé came up. Come to think of it, he had been the one to bring the other man into the conversation, along with her other supposed lovers.
Why had he gone off on that whole tangent? She’d sure never given him any reason to believe she had other lovers. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was jealous. And why not? He’d been a virgin...one mating, one mate. It probably chafed him big time she’d shared her body with someone else before him.
Well, he’d have to get over that if he expected her to go through with this mating-marriage thing.
She had a hard time believing that was the only thing that had him so uptight about what had happened between them though.
He had a real thing about being mated to a human, but it couldn’t be because it was a total taboo, or her aunt’s great-grandmother (or whoever it was) could not have mated a human.
One thing was for sure...Ty had a lot of explaining to do when she saw him next. And she was not going to let her fear of him not loving her cloud her ability to reason and process data again.
She stepped into steaming water that filled the old fashioned claw footed tub and sighed with pleasure as she sank up to her chin.
Ty was stubborn, but she could be stubborn too and she knew his weakness...her. Despite his rendition of jerk male of the year just now, he hated to hurt her or see her hurt in any way. That combined with the way he’d made love to her spoke of feelings a lot deeper than friendship.
She soaked in the bath, refilling the hot water twice, until her skin was wrinkly and the lingering aches in her body were gone. She got out and dried off, still a little tender inside, but she couldn’t do anything about that. She wasn’t sure she wanted to.
As frustrated as she was with Ty, she nevertheless experienced a primitive satisfaction at having her body so blatantly impacted by his. It was like the scent she’d woken to that morning. His fragrance on her body. She didn’t remember that from post-coitus with her ex-fiancé.
Maybe it was because Ty was a werewolf. Or maybe it was just because she loved him and was more attuned to him than she'd ever been to anyone else.
Then a thought struck her and her hands stopped in their task of drying her off. She stood in stunned disbelief for several seconds as something that should have concerned her a great deal the night before finally registered.
The reason Ty’s scent had been so strong on her that morning was because they hadn’t used condoms when making love. And since her last sexual relationship, her only sexual relationship - no matter what her foolishly jealous lover thought, had ended over two years ago...she wasn’t on the pill.
Doing some quick mental calculations, she realized she was at optimum time to get pregnant.
She sat down on the side of the tub as her legs gave out. That was all she needed, to be pregnant on top of everything else. Not that the idea of having Ty’s baby was all that repellent, but right now she couldn’t decide if she loved him or wanted to kill him.
That was not the kind of dichotomy of feelings a woman should have for the father of her child.
She spent the rest of the afternoon and evening vacillating between hope and terror at the prospect of being pregnant. She couldn’t believe Ty had left her by herself, but then if he was close to the change maybe he didn’t want her to see it.
Maybe it was really gross.
The thought was less than comforting.
She found a pack of cards in a drawer in the kitchen and played several games of Solitaire before going to bed early. Rescue would not be coming tonight and she was still pretty exhausted from her long session of lovemaking with Ty.
***
The brown wolf stood outside the cabin, sniffing the air. He could smell her. So close. He wanted to see her. No lights were on, but then he hadn’t expected there to be. The position of the moon said it was well past midnight.
He’d run with the pack, enjoying their companionship, but he couldn’t stay away from her. She was his mate. It was his job to make sure she was safe. Protected.
He edged toward the window of the bedroom, his silent stealth as much a part of his wolf nature as his instinct to hunt. Once he reached it, he lifted his forepaws to the sill so he could look inside.
His wolf vision could make her out clearly under the quilts. She was curled around the pillow he’d used the night before, her silky brown hair spread across her ow
n pillow.
He wanted to be in there with her.
Needed it.
He had to touch his mate. It was the first time he had ever wanted inside a building during the full moon, but the urge was irresistible. He scratched at the window with his claws.
***
Frankie woke feeling disoriented. Where was she? There were no branches outside her bedroom window, but something was scratching on it. Then she remembered. She wasn’t home in her small apartment in Billings. She was stranded in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere...a cabin that also had no nearby trees.
She looked toward the window and screamed.
Monstrous, gleaming eyes and glowing white, sharp canine teeth in a big hairy head were illuminated by the moonlight reflecting off the snow outside. The head disappeared at the same moment she registered what the monster was.
A wolf.
Her heart beat very fast and she tried to breathe, but her lungs weren’t cooperating.
Was it Ty? It could be another werewolf. According to him, there was an entire pack in the area. How big was a pack? Was it like wolf packs that could vary in size from two to thirty, or did werewolves have even bigger packs?
It could be a regular wolf too.
Oh, man...was the door locked? She thought so, but couldn’t remember. She hadn’t thought of any reason to lock it. After all, who was going to come by? She couldn’t picture a marauding rapist tramping to the cabin in snow shoes.
There was a scratching sound at the front door and then the unmistakable sound of it opening.
She trembled, unsure what to do. If she got up and tried to shut the bedroom door, the wolf would reach her before she reached it. She could run for the bathroom, but again...she didn’t think she could reach it in time. But she couldn’t just stay there like a dolt, waiting to get eaten.
Wolves were hungry in the winter.
Their food source was scarce.
The door shut and her heart leapt into her throat, but then reason asserted itself. Would a wild wolf really take the time to shut the door? For that matter wouldn’t he already be in here, ripping into her throat?
Yuck. Icky imagery. Reminder to self...do not think so much like a vet in the future.
The wolf came to the doorway and stood there, just looking at her. It was a dark color, she thought brown, but although the moonlight was bright, it was dimmer than the sun, or a lantern.
She swallowed. "T-Ty?"
The wolf barked once, but didn’t move.
"Am I safe with you?"
He stepped into the room. Oh, gosh...he was big. Huge. Bigger than any wolf she’d ever seen.
He moved regally, but slowly, like he was afraid of spooking her. His canine head nodded up and down and she realized he was answering her question.
She was safe.
She let out the breath she’d been holding.
"Can I light the lamp?"
He barked once. She took that as a yes and gingerly climbed out of the bed. He didn’t move, but his eyes followed her. Once the lamp was lit, she placed it on the tall dresser, illuminating a fair portion of the room.
He was brown, his coat sleek, but his eyes were Ty’s eyes...Gentian blue. Beautiful.
It was her wolf...the wolf from when she was a fifteen and inside the man she had loved since that age.
CHAPTER SEVEN
She licked her lips. "You’re gorgeous."
He padded forward until his head butted up against her torso. Even after his assurances, standing this close to such a large beast was terrifying. She hadn't been afraid when she was a teen, but then she'd been younger...hadn't studied wolves and their habits so thoroughly.
Now she knew just what one this size was capable of.
He nuzzled against her chest and whined.
Oh, wow.
She tentatively reached around and patted him, then buried her hand in the fur of his neck. He turned his head and licked her wrist. Tears filled her eyes. She didn’t know why, just that she was moved unbearably by her wolf’s presence in the house...his desire to be with her.
She leaned down and kissed his muzzle. He licked her face, his tongue warm and gentle.
She smiled. "I wish you could talk right now."
I do too. The voice was in her head, but it was Ty’s voice. No doubt about it.
"Ty?"
He looked at her, his eyes questioning.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, but did you just talk in my head?"
You heard me?
"Yes." The tears spilled over. "This is so strange, but special too. Can all mates hear each other?"
No.
"Why can I hear you?"
Because you are meant to.
She laughed at that.
It’s hot in here.
"If you will wear a fur coat inside, what can you expect?"
A rumble sounded in his throat, almost like a laugh.
"Do you want me to open a window?" His wolf instincts would probably like the sense of easy escape that would give as well as the drop in room temperature it would bring.
He barked once.
She went over and did as she’d offered, opening it wide and letting in freezing air that made her lungs tight.
She scooted over to the door and shut it as well as the one to the bathroom, so the rest of the cabin’s temperature wouldn’t drop significantly. Her entire body was shivering by the time she reached the bed. She dove under the quilts and shook, despite their added warmth.
You are cold.
"A little."
I can keep you warm. He waited, as if he needed her permission to get close.
"Okay," she said softly.
He bounded onto the bed, his move powerful, but graceful. He lay down beside her. Cuddle up to me.
She did, sighing with pleasure as heat emanated from his body to her immediately. "This is nice."
He licked the side of her face. Yes, it is.
The sound of barking outside the cabin startled her and once again, her body jolted into fight or flight mode.
Don’t be afraid, my mate. It’s only my parents and Duke.
"Do they know about us?"
I told Duke. He must have told Dad and he would have told Mom, no question.
"Are they angry?"
I don’t know. I can’t talk with my parents in wolf form.
"But Duke can?"
Only with Dad.
"This is all pretty confusing."
I’ll explain it all to you.
A large silver wolf’s head appeared in the window, his forepaws on the sill.
She moved closer to Ty, fear a metallic taste in her mouth.
Duke told me to tell you to relax. He’s already hunted and he’s not hungry anymore.
"Thanks a lot. That’s not all that funny."
The wolf in the window growled at her and she turned her face into Ty’s fur.
He’s just cranky. The growl meant nothing.
She lifted her head and glared at her future brother-in-law. "Stop trying to scare me, or I’m going to shoot you with a tranquilizer gun on the next full moon and dose you for worms."
That strange rumbling sound vibrated in Ty’s throat again and Duke barked in obvious censure before disappearing out of the window.
"He’s so surly."
He has reason.
"What did Marigold do?"
I’ll tell you later. First, tell me how you’re feeling.
"Nice and snuggly with you beside me."
I meant from our lovemaking. You were sore.
She blushed at the reminder and hid her face against his fur. She liked the feeling of the soft pelt against her skin and she nuzzled him. "I’m better."
An almost purring sound rumbled in his chest. Good. Moonset is in less than four hours.
"Is that when you return to your human form?"
Yes.
"And you want to make love?" She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she wasn't as averse to the idea a
s she'd been right after their talk anyway.
Very much. I missed out on the kill in our hunt because I kept thinking about it...about you. I wanted...needed to be with you.
He talked about making a kill like it was so natural and for him it would be, she supposed. But was that so different from the men she'd known growing up who went hunting every season and weren't happy unless they came home with a deer or elk for their trouble?
Her own uncle had gone camping with his friends every year and brought home more than one trophy. But for wolves, hunting was also a way of establishing a wolf's role amidst his peers. It was more than sport, it was necessity...and Ty had missed out on the most important part...for her.
"Funny, that doesn’t sound like it’s just sex for you. Not unless you’re no more controlled than a horny adolescent."
He growled, the sound rumbling through his huge wolf's body and she grinned, but he couldn’t see it because she was still nuzzling him with her face.
She yawned, the adrenalin rush draining from her body, leaving her exhausted. Now that Ty was back, she felt safe and her sleep up to now had been fitful.
Sleep. I will stay with you.
"Will you be here when I wake up?"
Yes. Duke is taking care of the truck and they’ll come for us later today.
"Will you wake me up so I can watch you change?"
You want to see it?
"Of course." She leaned back so she could look in his animal-human eyes. "You can’t seriously think I would want to miss it."
It’s not anything special to watch. It just happens.
She shook her head. "Your view of interesting and mine don’t match obviously."
Okay. I’ll wake you.
"Promise?"
Yes.
She snuggled down beside him. "Is it gross?"
No.
"Good."
You’d want to watch just the same, though wouldn’t you?
"What do you think? I’m a vet, just like you...gross is part of our job."
He nuzzled her and it felt really nice.
"You came back just to be with me?"
Yes.
"That’s nice."
You are my mate. It is my duty to protect you.
