“Wait a minute, I thought Alphas were only for wolf packs,” I blurted out.
“You read too much,” he said.
“Maybe so, but am I wrong?”
“We’re a blended family,” he said. “This pack was originally a small pack of wolves. But after their Alpha got killed in a war over this territory, they started taking in other shifters. Strength in numbers, you know? They never could find another Alpha until I came along.”
“So what makes you Alpha?”
“Dominance,” he said. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”
“I suppose so,” I agreed. “But not everything is like it is in books, is it?”
“Definitely not.”
“Then explain to me how you became Alpha.”
“When I first came here, I’d left my family behind in Pigeon Forge to start fresh. There was too much crap going on in my clan. I wanted to live somewhere peaceful and get away from all the fighting,” he explained. “I stumbled across a young wolf shifter getting mauled pretty badly by a group of panthers, so I jumped in and chased ‘em off. That wolf explained their situation – that their whole line was in danger of extinction because of the turf wars and the fact that they’d lost their Alpha. I agreed to stay and help them for a while.”
“So how did you end up as Alpha?”
“There was no one else to do it.”
“You didn’t want to be Alpha?”
“I told you, I left my clan to get away from fighting. It was never what I wanted. But I really grew to love these people. They’re good people. The wolves, the cats, even little Ivy.”
“Ivy?”
“Bless her,” Caleb chuckled. “She’s just a little fox. That’s why she gets bullied so relentlessly around here. She’s too small to defend herself in human form or shifted.”
“But she looks so strong!” I argued.
“She’s a shifter, Penny,” he said. “Of course she’s going to look strong compared to the average human. But to the average shifter? She’s small potatoes. And foxes aren’t particularly aggressive in general.”
“Is she the only fox in your pack?”
“Yep. We have a number of wolves, a handful of bears, a couple of panthers, a tiger, a lion… all strong, aggressive animals. And then there’s Ivy.”
“Poor thing.”
“She’s learning to stand up for herself,” he said. “That’s a good thing… as long as she understands when to back down. She’ll never have dominance in the pack, but she can stop some of the aggression towards her if she’ll start standing up to the bullies.”
“So what are my options, Caleb? You said you can’t let me leave. Does that mean I’m stuck here forever?”
“By pack law, there are three options when a human discovers our secret,” he said. “One, we hold you captive permanently. Two, we kill you.”
“That’s two.”
“Yes.”
“What’s three?”
“I don’t want to discuss it.”
“Caleb, what’s three?”
“It doesn’t matter, because it’s not going to happen.”
“What’s three? Just tell me!”
“Three, you are permanently mated to one of the pack, which would involve you being changed.”
“Changed,” I said. “You mean, changed into a shifter? Is that really possible?”
“It’s possible,” he said. “But it’s intensely painful for humans, and it’s not an option.”
“Well, trust me, I’m not eager to become the lifelong mate of someone I don’t even know.”
“It’s not an option.”
Something about the way he said it really grated on my nerves, and I started to feel annoyed. What exactly did he mean by It’s not an option?
“Why not?” I asked defiantly.
“Because it’s not.”
“Wait a minute,” I argued. “If my only choices are jail, death, or marriage… maybe I’d choose marriage. So why is it not an option?”
“Because there’s no one for you to mate with,” he said in a matter-of-fact kind of way.
“Ivy said there’s a shortage of women up here on the mountain… a shortage of women that shifters find attractive. Was she lying?”
Caleb gritted his teeth for several long moments before saying, “No, she wasn’t lying.”
“Then surely there must be someone in the pack who would…”
“No,” Caleb interrupted me.
“But, if there’s such a shortage of women and…”
“No!” Caleb roared with a ferocity I never would have expected from him as he slammed his fists against the top of the bedside table. The crack of splintering wood set my heart into a state of tachycardia.
“What the hell, Caleb?” I demanded.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, his voice still edgy, but calmer. “I’m sorry about that. I just… I need some air.”
He got up and barged from the room with such haste that he overturned the stool as he brushed past it and he didn’t stop to upright it. All I could do was stare at the ceiling in confusion.
Several moments later, Ivy crept into the room and picked up the stool.
“Everything ok?” she asked cautiously.
“He got really upset at me,” I said, my eyes brimming with tears that I fought to suppress.
“What happened?”
Ivy eased herself onto the stool to listen.
“I know about y’all.”
“What do you mean?” she asked me carefully.
“I know you’re shifters.”
“Shit. Did he tell you?”
“No, I figured it out. But he didn’t deny it.”
“Then you know what that means?”
“Caleb told me. That’s what led to him getting upset. See, he said I have three options. Either I have to stay here forever like I’m a prisoner, or I have to die, or I have to take one of the pack members as a mate.”
“Yeah, those are the three options,” she agreed. “Well, not so much the death one. We don’t really do that anymore. Kinda barbaric.”
“Yeah, no kidding!”
“So… what made him so mad?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t get it. I told him I wasn’t really thrilled over the prospect of jail or death, basically. So the only other option was…”
“I get it!” she gasped. “Oh, my god, I get it.”
“What?”
“He likes you.”
“Who?”
“Caleb! Who else?”
“What do you mean?”
“You can’t be that dense,” Ivy groaned. “He got upset because he couldn’t stand the thought of you being mated with anyone else!”
“No… no, that can’t be it.”
“Why not?” Ivy asked. “It makes total sense.”
“First of all, we hardly know each other,” I argued. “And second… well… I can’t think of a second thing. But we hardly know each other.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Ivy said. “Shifters work differently than humans. They’re more animalistic. They can sense compatibility via scent.”
“Ew. Are you saying he smelled me?”
“Basically. He detected your unique pheromones, likely.”
“I have no idea what that means. Ask me the correct ratio of flour, sugar, and butter for shortbread or where foie gras comes from, and I’ve got you covered. But what the hell are pher… phar… whatever?”
“Pheromones are imperceptible to humans, but other animal species can detect them. Actually, humans can perceive them. They just don’t realize it,” Ivy said. “You’ve heard of ‘chemistry’ between people, right? Well, that’s what causes it. If your pheromones are compatible, there’s chemistry.”
“So you’re saying love is basically just science?”
“Not love… just chemistry.”
“There’s a difference?” I asked.
“Don’t ask me! The closest thing I’ve ever been to
‘in love’ was the time I tried dark chocolate fudge in town! I need to go see if your broth is ready. It’s past time for you to eat.”
With that, Ivy got up and left the room, leaving me to mull over everything she’d said. Could it be that Caleb was attracted to me? Surely not. I mean, I was just a chubby girl with plain brown hair and brown eyes. Nothing special. Right?
Then again, if what Ivy said was true and shifter men preferred curvier chicks…
Oh, hell, who was I kidding? It didn’t matter what crazy notions I got into my head that this Adonis might actually be attracted to me… it couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t be.
Chapter Four
I’d been with Caleb’s pack for nearly a month before I could manage to stand up and hobble around a bit. Several of the male pack members had taken to coming by to check on me, and Caleb never showed any signs that it bothered him. I had decided that Ivy was wrong. He wasn’t attracted to me. He just didn’t like the idea of a human coming into their group. That had to be it.
One evening I had gone for a stroll around the den, which is what they called the little pseudo-village they had up on the mountain overlooking Gatlinburg. The view was breathtaking, and I looked down at the town in the valley and watched the tourists… they looked as tiny as ants from my vantage point… as they visited the shops and the aquarium.
I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, and I turned to see one of the pack males standing behind me. He smiled at me warmly, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“How are you feeling, Penny?” he asked. “It’s good to see you up and about.”
“I’m sorry, I seem to have forgotten your name,” I apologized.
“Rusty,” he said, his smile fading slightly.
“Of course,” I said. “Rusty. Now I remember. Sorry, my memory hasn’t been very good since the crash.”
“It’s alright,” Rusty said. “Can I walk with you?”
“I don’t see why not,” I answered.
There was a little path that wound through the den and down the side of the mountain toward a little branch where they collected water. There were no utilities that far up on the mountain, so they lived a very rustic lifestyle that I actually found refreshing.
As we walked, I felt movement behind me, and suddenly Rusty’s arm was draped across my shoulders. I tensed up, but I said nothing. I didn’t want to be rude, but this gesture made me uncomfortable. I’d barely even spoken to Rusty before this.
As we approached the branch, I was relieved to feel his arm moving off my shoulders, but unfortunately the situation grew even more awkward immediately afterward. Rusty pushed me against a tree and pressed his lips against mine.
I pushed against his chest with both hands and tried to twist my head to the side to get away, but my neck was still quite sore, making it nearly impossible to turn my head more than a couple of inches in either direction. His lips were quite insistent, and the harder I struggled, the more he seemed to enjoy it. I closed my eyes and prayed it would be over soon.
I tried to mutter my protestations, but the sound was muffled by his mouth against mine. I was growing angry, and I was just about to bite his lip when I suddenly felt a whoosh of air and Rusty was gone.
I opened my eyes just in time to see Caleb with his hand around Rusty’s throat. He’d pinned him against another tree and Rusty’s feet were dangling several inches off the ground.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Caleb demanded.
“Just being friendly,” Rusty croaked, his eyes bulging and his face turning purple.
“Friendly would be bringing her a bouquet of wildflowers, or holding the door for her, not trying to suck her whole face down your esophagus!” Caleb shouted.
“Sorry,” was all that Rusty could manage to grunt out as he struggled to keep his grip on consciousness.
“If you ever touch her again… if you ever even come within a hundred yards of her again… I’ll kill you,” Caleb snarled. “You got that?”
Rusty nodded weakly, and Caleb released him. Rusty slumped to the ground clutching his throat and wheezing as he tried to catch his breath.
“Get out of here!” Caleb yelled, and Rusty sprang to his feet and disappeared. Caleb turned to me and asked, “Are you ok?”
“I am now,” I answered.
“Why did you let him put his arm around you?” Caleb demanded.
“What?” I asked.
“He had his arm around you the whole way down the path,” Caleb said. “And you let him!”
“I… I didn’t want to be rude,” I explained.
“I hardly think it would have been rude to simply tell him you didn’t want him to do that,” Caleb said.
“I just… I thought…”
“Don’t let it happen again,” Caleb said, and he turned to walk away.
My blood began to boil, and I reached out and snatched his arm.
“Wait just a minute!” I snapped as he turned to face me. “How the hell did you know he had his arm around me the whole way? Were you spying on me?”
“I was watching over your safety,” Caleb said coolly. “And it’s a good thing I was, considering what just happened.”
Caleb shrugged his arm away from me and turned to walk away.
“And how dare you tell me to not let it happen again!” I called after him. “Who do you think you are?”
He turned toward me with a look of pure vitriol on his face, and he approached me with such purpose that I almost felt frightened. I began to back away as he approached me further.
“Don’t forget that I saved your life,” Caleb warned me. “Don’t forget that I’ve spent every waking moment for the last month watching over you. Don’t forget that I’ve poured every ounce of my blood, sweat and tears into caring for your every need all this time.”
I bumped into the tree that Rusty had pinned me to and Caleb came to a stop just in front of me. He leaned in close… so close I could feel his warm breath against my face.
“And don’t forget that I didn’t have to do any of this,” he snarled. “I could have just left you in that plane wreckage and you’d have bled to death in a few hours. That is, if a pack of coyotes didn’t find you first.”
I shuddered, and then I jutted my chin out defiantly and said, “Oh? Then why didn’t you just leave me there?”
“Maybe I should have,” he spat at me.
His words stung me so deeply that I drew my hand back to slap him across the face. But as I brought my hand toward him, he caught my wrist and pulled it across my body, locking it in place as he pressed his body against me.
I looked up into his eyes, and my heart beat erratically. I could feel it thumping all the way in my throat, and I swallowed several times in an attempt to clear my airway.
“Never, ever try that again,” he warned me.
“I wish you had left me to die!” I suddenly cried out as tears began to obstruct my view. “You should have left me!”
In an instant, his lips closed over mine. I fought to break away from him, but he released my wrist and took my face in his hands. His tongue pried my lips apart, and my hands instinctively lifted to his chest, where they rested for a moment before sliding up to tangle into his hair. He slid his hands down my neck and then over my shoulders, down my back, and he grasped my ass, lifting me upward. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he pinned me more firmly against the trunk of the tree.
His kiss was deep and searching. I heard a moan within his throat as he kissed me with some sort of desperate passion, and one which I must admit that I returned in equal measure. The urgency in his kiss fueled something in me. It ignited a spark that I’d long since forgotten existed.
The moment I felt the hardness of his erection pressing between my legs, I went weak. Warmth began to build in the area where it rested, flooding my body, my mind, and even my heart with feelings I had never known.
“Caleb,” I whispered as I pulled away for a breath.
Caleb froze. His
hazel eyes sparkled with life, but it quickly faded. I watched the light go out, and he slowly lowered my feet to the ground. He turned without a word and began to walk away.
“Why didn’t you just leave me?” I called after him, tears of confusion clouding my vision.
He paused, and then turned toward me to say, “I’ll never leave you.”
With that, he tuned and walked away, and I let him.
To say that I was confused was an understatement of epic proportions. I was beyond confused. One moment he was saving me. The next moment he was angry at me. Then he was kissing me. Then he was walking away. He said he’d never leave me, but that’s exactly what he just did.
What…
The…
Hell?
I leaned back against the tree and sighed heavily. My eyes spotted the flurry of tourist activity in the town below, and I thought for a brief moment about fleeing. I could probably make it to town before I was even missed. Then I could hitch a ride to Pigeon Forge and hop a bus to Charleston. It would be so easy.
Only it wasn’t.
I just couldn’t make myself leave. I tried to tell myself it was because they’d only track me down and drag me back, but the truth was, I didn’t want to leave.
Chapter Five
As autumn approached, it became harder for me to explain to my mother why I was still in Gatlinburg whenever she called. I’d been at the den for most of the summer, though Caleb had hardly spoken to me since the incident by the brook.
I’d grown used to the awkward silences. Mostly. It was tolerable, I suppose, given the alternative. Sure, I could have tried to run away. But something wouldn’t let me. I couldn’t even entertain the thought. Despite the uncomfortable tension between us, I couldn’t leave him.
One evening, as the first chill of autumn set in, some of the pack members gathered around a bonfire to enjoy the fresh air. I was sitting on the outskirts of the gathering when Ivy approached me.
“Mind if I join you?” she asked.
Heart Of The Bear (Appalachian Shifters #1) Page 3
