Falling For a Wolf Box Set (BBW Werewolf / Shifter Romance)

by Mac Flynn

  "So you'll let me stay here and not tell anyone about me?" he pleaded.

  I held up a hand. "Um, not so fast. You're still in my dad's barn, and whatever's chasing you might find you here. If you really want to be safe then I suggest you let me take you to the jail," I suggested.

  "No, nowhere but here. I feel-I don't know. I feel like I have to stay here. I'm waiting for something, or someone. Someone's coming." He clutched his head between both hands, slammed shut his eyes, and ground his teeth together. "I have to-I have to do something, or see someone. There's something here I needed to do, but I can't remember what."

  He resembled a mental patient. "Eb, are you sure you don't need taken to the hospital?" I asked him.

  Eb glared at me. "No! No hospital!" he growled.

  "All right, no hospital, no jail, but I'm telling people about you, or at least one person who can help you," I insisted.

  He furrowed his brow. "Who? Who can help me?"

  "A guy I know who might know a little something about what's chasing you, but you have to stay here until he gets back," I ordered him.

  "I can stay here, but I need food. I'm so hungry," he pleaded.

  I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll bring you some food, but stay!"

  I walked back to the house with a little less fear in me and a lot more confusion. Here was Eb alive and well, and terrified out of his mind by a werewolf chasing him. Why any self-respecting werewolf would want him as a meal was beyond me. Maybe his stench insulted its nose. I grabbed the leftovers from the legendary breakfast of yesterday morning and carried a platter of the food to the barn.

  I stood at the bottom of the ladder with a conundrum. "You'd better come down because I can't carry this up," I told him.

  "I'll-I'll come down," he reluctantly agreed. He sidled around the edge of the hay bales and creaked down the ladder. His clothes hung loose on his skeletal frame and his eyes were sunken. They were torn around his arms and legs, and hung like rags to reveal his white skin. He was covered in dirt and straw.

  I handed him the platter. He stuck his face into the food and chewed away like a wild animal. "How long have you been running from that thing?" I asked him.

  He shook his head. "Seems like forever. What day is it?"

  "Monday."

  "About three days, maybe more. I can't remember." He stuffed his face back into the food and munched away.

  I turned away from the appetite-curdling sight and stepped over to the barn door. "Well, you just make yourself comfortable here and I'll keep watch to see if my friend comes." His only reply was louder slopping of food into his mouth.

  I slipped outside and leaned my back against the closed door. "I just had to wish for more trouble on this trip," I muttered to myself.

  I tromped to the house and kept a vigil for any sign of my car.

  Chapter 13

  The promised hour passed, and several more with it. It wasn't until after one when I saw my vehicle bump up the driveway and park in front of the house. They stepped out and over to the open trunk. I threw on my jacket and hurried out intent on scolding the pair for abandoning me. Instead my mom stuffed bags of groceries into my arms and smiled at me.

  "It's so nice of you to come out and help us so quickly, Chrissy," she complimented me.

  I glared at her over the top of the bags. "Why the hell did you leave me behind?"

  My mom turned to me with her lips pursed together. "Christina Monet, didn't I teach you better than to swear like that?"

  "Perhaps we should have given her more warning," Adam spoke up as he retrieved a double amount of groceries from the trunk.

  "We left at nine," Mom pointed out.

  "It would've been nice to have a little more warning," I agreed with him. I turned my angry eyes on Adam. "And your phone's either dead or off because I tried to call you and it didn't go through."

  He raised an eyebrow. "Why did you need to call?"

  My eyes flickered to the barn for a moment and back to Adam. "I found a little mouse I wanted you to take care of."

  "Oh, pish-posh. You can handle a little mouse," my mom argued as she led the way onto the porch. We stepped inside and my mom paused in the hall. The rifle leaned against the wall dividing the hall from the dining room. "And what in the world is that doing out?"

  "I thought it was a big rat, but I was wrong. I guess I overreacted," I replied with another pointed glance at Adam. He slightly inclined his head to show he understood.

  "Well, put it away and for heaven's sake don't leave it out. Some day I think your father's going to try to get that old thing to work and will end up blowing his hand off," she mused.

  It wasn't until after we'd put away the army-supply's worth of food that I got a moment alone with Adam. I led him into the living room while my mom murmured to herself about dinner. "Two hams or one?" she mused.

  Adam lowered his voice so as not to be overheard. "What happened?"

  "I found Eb. He's hiding out in the barn right now," I told him.

  "Alive?"

  "Yeah, but looking pretty bad. He's all thin, so I gave him some food. He chomped it all down like a starving dog. Oh, and don't tell my mom he's out there. He doesn't want anybody but you to know he's hiding out in the barn," I explained.

  "Why is that?"

  I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he's afraid my mom will gossip to the werewolf."

  "What did he say about the werewolf?"

  "He said it was definitely a werewolf that was after him."

  "Does he wish to be taken to the sheriff's office?"

  I shook my head. "No, that's the worst part. He says he'd feel better if he got to stay here. I guess he's afraid or something."

  "We shall ask him this moment what he fears, and learn what we can about this werewolf," Adam suggested.

  We slipped on our coats, and my mom caught us opening the door. "Going out?" she asked us.

  "Just for a-um, a short walk," I told her.

  "Well, don't stay out too late. Ben warned us that another storm was coming," she informed me.

  I frowned at the pair. "You guys went there without me?" I accused them.

  "Only for a small ice cream," Mom defended them.

  "We will be back in a short time," Adam assured her as he escorted me outside.

  "So what else did you guys do in town?" I asked him as we trudged across the barn yard to the closed barn door. They hadn't opened since I last left Eb.

  "Your mother was kind enough to show me some of the small shops," he replied.

  ". . .and?" I persisted.

  "They were very nice."

  My shoulders slumped and I rolled my eyes. "Are you really trying to tell me the only thing you guys did in town was go into the shops and have ice cream without me?"

  "Focus, Chris. We have-" Adam froze in front of the door. His nostrils flared and his eyes dilated. That could mean only one thing-

  "Werewolf?" I guessed.

  "Yes, and very recent." He rushed inside the barn with me at his heels. The rear barn doors were open and the old chain lay broken in the doorway. Adam pushed me behind him and sniffed the air. "The area is safe. The werewolf has left."

  "But what about Eb?" I reminded him. I pushed past his arm and hurried to the bails of hay. "Eb? Eb, you there?" There was no reply. He was gone.

  Adam passed me and strode over to the open door. "The werewolf perhaps carried him off."

  "Perhaps?" I moved to stand beside him and gazed at some tracks in the snow. Werewolf tracks. I gestured to the paw prints. "One pair of tracks, no Eb. How is this a 'perhaps?'"

  "It is very strange. I smell both the man and the wolf in the barn, and the wolf scent that comes into the barn is older than the man scent," he told me.

  I cringed. "So you're telling me the wolf was lying in wait even as I fed the guy?"

  "Yes, and that means the wolf is far more cunning than I feared if it has the patience to wait for its kill to be alone," he told me.

  I rolled
my eyes. "So this werewolf has manners. This isn't exactly the time to be admiring it. We have to go find Eb. He might still be alive," I pointed out.

  "We must proceed with caution or we may suffer the same fate as Eb," he argued.

  I snorted and tugged on his arm to drag him outside and onto the paw trail. "We've got your super-sniffer, your super-strength, and your super-intellect. I've got-" I looked down at my empty hands. "I've got-" I swept my eyes over the barn floor behind Adam and caught sight of a thick piece of board. I snatched it and tapped it into my hand like a bat. "I've got a bat. I think we can handle this one. Besides, maybe it doesn't even know you're here, so we have the element of surprise."

  "Perhaps your judgment is blinded by your need to be a hero," he countered.

  I frowned. "Maybe, but it's one of my neighbors' life on the line, so I'm willing to try to be one. Now you can let me be lunch, or follow me." I turned and waded into the deep snow. The storm from the previous night left another three inches of the fluffy-white evil stuff. It didn't take long for Adam to overtake me and swoop me into his arms. He trudged forward with me against his chest. "Hey! I can walk!"

  "As heroic as the picture of your floundering would be, it does not assist us in finding the werewolf and your missing neighbor," he pointed out.

  I folded my arms and glared at him. "Fine, but just remember that I wanted to flounder-er, walk on my own."

  We marched onward on the rescue mission. Adam was fast, but our prey was either faster or had a far greater headstart then we imagined. We reached the edge of the trees and the snow patches were more shallow, but Adam paused at the tree line. He tilted his head up and sniffed.

  "The werewolf has a two-hour head start," he told me.

  "Well, put me down and we can move faster. Eb may be skinny, but he was probably thrashing and yelling, so I bet they couldn't get too far too fast," I argued.

  Adam frowned. "Did you hear any noise during the time you last saw Eb, and when your mother and I returned?"

  I paused and furrowed my brow. "Now that you think of it, no, but I wasn't really listening for anything. I was watching the road, and sometimes I went upstairs to my bedroom, and that's at the back of the house. Why? You think maybe Eb was knocked out?"

  He shook his head. "I cannot figure this strange puzzle. Since that is the case, we must press on. Perhaps there will be answers to my questions farther up the trail."

  Adam set me down and we hurried through the trees. The beast had followed one of the familiar paths until two miles in when it took a sharp right that arced backwards into a rougher patch of the woods. The walking trail disappeared and I had a hard time pushing through the brambles.

  The weather also took a turn for the worse. The storm Ben warned about gathered above us and in another hour a light snow began to fall. The wind picked up and kicked the soft white fluff into our faces. I shivered and tucked my coat closer around myself. The cold chilled me to the bone and my boots weren't doing a good job of keeping the snow from my socks. They were soaked, and my pants were likewise wet. The worst part was even if we turned around at that moment it would have taken two hours to return.

  "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," I muttered to myself.

  Adam stopped and pressed his lips together. "Unfortunately, I must concur," he replied.

  I snorted. "This definitely isn't one of my brighter-" I took a step forward and all of my foot disappeared into a rabbit's den. My other leg collapsed beneath the sudden fall and I fell face-first into a pile of snow and bushes. I sat up and sputtered. My mouth was full of snow, my face was wet, and I was cold. "Okay, let's just say I was an idiot for suggesting this and go-ah-go-achoo!" The sneeze whipped my head back and I cringed. "Go back right now before I catch my death of cold." Adam pulled me from the hole and scooped me into his arms. I shivered and snuggled close to him. He opened his coat and a puff of fur pushed through his shirt and pressed against me. "What would I do without your fur?" I teased.

  He didn't like. Rather, his eyes scrutinized my face with concern. "I should have come alone," he whispered.

  I snorted. "And I would have followed you even if you'd tied the barn around me."

  That got a little bit of a smile from him. "Let us return home."

  Chapter 14

  I don't remember much of the return, or the following day. My little cold that developed on the trail turned out to be a fever. I do remember arriving at the house because I'd never seen my parents so ashen-faced. By the time we arrived the storm was in full force and battered our bodies without remorse.

  My parents met us on the porch, and I smiled at them. "Hi, Mom, hi, Dad," I weakly greeted them.

  One look at me and my mom gasped. Dad hurried forward to take me, but Adam gently pushed past him. "I will take her upstairs. Please get some hot water and quilts for her," Adam commanded them.

  "Of course," Mom agreed.

  Dad followed us upstairs and Adam helped me pull off most of my clothes. In any ordinary time I would have been embarrassed for my dad to see me in such undress, but at that moment I was too feverish to care. "What happened? Where have you been?" he questioned us.

  "We followed tracks into the woods and the storm came upon us," Adam explained.

  Dad frowned and I saw his hands balled into quivering fists at his sides. "You and that stupid obsession with that wolf, is that it? You think it's important enough to get my daughter sick?"

  Adam helped me beneath my blankets and turned to my father. His eyes stared directly into those of my father and even Adam's face looked a little pale. "No, sir, I don't, and I will do everything in my power to see she is soon well. Is there a doctor that can be called?"

  Dad shook his head. "Not with this storm. They'd probably run off the road and into a ditch."

  "Then we must care for her ourselves, and after she is well I will gladly accept any punishing words, or physical actions, you wish to bestow on me."

  My dad scrutinized Adam's face, and after a long pause he sighed. His balled hands loosened and he ran a hand through his hair. He looked down at me and his face aged twenty years. "Damn it."

  "Don't swear in the house, Ralph," Mom scolded as she flew into the room. She juggled a pile of quilts in her arms, and atop those were a hot pan of water and medicine from the bathroom, all of which was deposited on the floor beside the bed. "Besides, Adam's right. You can have your fist fight later. Right now we need to get Chrissy better."

  "All right, but this doesn't let you off," Dad warned Adam.

  Adam bowed his head, and helped my mom stuff more quilts over me. The heat relaxed my chilled body and I drifted off into sleep. The next day was like a dream. My parents and Adam sat in a chair beside my bed, and outside the storm waxed and waned with my fever. The weather was inconsistent enough to keep a doctor from coming, but their care and my mom's homemade chicken soup was enough to revive me.

  It was a few minutes before sunset when I opened my eyes and really saw the room for the first time in twenty-four hours. The time was hard to tell because the outside world was dark and gray in a decent imitation of the midnight hour. My dad sat beside me reading a book on how to build jet engines. "Please tell me you're not going to do that," I croaked.

  He started and his head whipped to me. A smile brightened his morose face and he closed the book. "I don't think your mother would let me," he pointed out. He stood, set the book on the chair, and took a seat on the bed beside me. "How are you feeling?"

  "Fine." I shifted and my muscles ached. "A little sore, but I think I can get up." I tried to sit up, but my dad gently pushed me back down.

  "Not until I know you're better," he insisted. My dad laid a hand on my forehead, then got a thermometer and stuck it in my mouth. He looked at the reading and his smile widened. "Well, it looks like your fever's gone."

  "So I can get up now?" I pleaded.

  "No."

  "Oh, come on. I'm just fine. See?" I sat up and, though I was weak, I didn't feel bad. "I'm as s
trong as a racehorse."

  "If that racehorse had a bad case of the cramps," he teased.

  "Hardy-har-har. Don't you have anything better to do than to harass your patient?" I asked him.

  He pondered my suggestion for a moment. "Well, I now have my chance to have a fist fight with you boyfriend."

  My face fell, and I leaned forward to grab one of his hands. "You shouldn't blame Adam. I'm the one who-" He held up his hand.

  "I know, Adam told me the whole story. Well, actually, he told your mother the whole story, and she chewed me out for thinking him guilty when I should have been wanting to scold you for being such an idiot," he scolded me.

  I snorted and gestured down at myself. "Say it all you want. It's a little hard for me to argue against it."

  "You're an idiot, or perhaps a super-idiot. We shall call you an uber-idiot," he suggested.

  My face fell and I playfully glared at him. "Thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot better."

  "Now that you're feeling better I'll alert the other doctors and get you some food," he replied. He stood and reluctantly let his hand slip from mine. His shining eyes looked down on me and his smile was bittersweet. "You really scared your old man there."

  I smiled back, and tears threatened to slip from my eyes. "I'll try not to do it again."

  He snorted. "That's a promise I don't expect you to keep, but I'll be right back."

  Dad left, and I sighed and leaned back against the mess of pillows behind me. My moment of peace lasted a full ten seconds before my window beside the bed opened. The wind and snow swept into the room and I watched in amazement as Eb crawled over the sill and dropped onto the floor. He was in worse shape than before with his ragged clothes more ragged, and his face more gaunt. There were blood stains on his hands, and his rags were likewise spotted with the life fluid.

  "Eb, what the hell happened to you? How did you escape the werewolf?" I questioned him as he hurriedly shut the window behind himself.

  He crawled over to the bed and clung to the sheets like a man drowning. His eyes flitted over the room and his hands quivered. "T-the beast! It's coming again! I can feel it!" he whispered.