by Kimber White
“Bas is hunting,” Luke said. Then he laughed as my stomach growled beneath his fingertips.
“Are you sure I’m not turning were?”
Luke kissed my temple. “You don’t have it in your blood. I’m one hundred percent sure of that now.”
My hand flew to the wound he’d made at the back of my neck. It had already healed over, leaving a half circle of a scar. It pulsed beneath my touch and seemed to stir desire in me again. I remembered what Pat had called it. The Rise. Once Luke marked me, she said I’d need him all the time for a while. I hadn’t fully understood what she meant then, but I did now. I craved his touch now more than ever.
“If you could figure that out with one little nip at the back of my neck, wouldn’t those packs from long ago have known that about the women of Oodena? The council said they believed they could turn those girls into werewolves.” I didn’t want to spoil this moment with memories of the blasted tribal council or my parents’ fate, but I needed to know.
Luke shrugged and rested his chin on the top of my head. “They should have, yes. But, they thought they could bring about the change if enough of them bit the girls and mated with them. They were right that there aren’t many female werewolves around anymore. Nobody knows why.”
Cold dread went through me as I contemplated the horror of what those girls faced. What my mother was supposed to face. In a way, Jesse and Grandpa had saved her from that. My father too. She’d married for love and had me. It was more than the other eight daughters had. Through my grief, I could be grateful for that.
“I love you,” Luke said, sensing the shift in my mood. I knew that was part of the marking too. One of the best parts. Because I could feel his love and concern for me coursing through his own heart. Strong. Solid. Certain. He’d never be able to hide anything he was feeling or thinking from me again. And I couldn’t hide from him either. I knew who he was through and through. He was flawed. I felt the doubt within him, tearing at the edges of his thoughts. I felt the wolf too. Powerful. Virile. Deadly. Hungry. But, I felt the goodness inside of him too. His love for me and Pat. His struggle to do what he thought was right.
I turned in his arms and went up on my tiptoes to kiss him. “You’re a dummy.”
He cocked his head and smiled. “Not what I thought you were going to say.”
“No, I mean it. You’re a dummy. All this time, you’ve tried to push me away or run from me because you thought you were turning into the beast. But, now I feel that inside of you too. You’re even stronger than the wolf is. You need him. But, he needs you more.”
Luke kissed me slow and deep. The wolf reared his head inside of Luke, sending a shudder through the both of us. He’d been quiet until now, but his own rising need to break free and run with Bas would need to be sated, and soon.
“That’s new,” he said as he pulled away.
“What is?”
“That balance. You’re right. I am a dummy. Bas and my mother told me it would be easier if I marked you the way I was supposed to. I thought I’d drag you down, but the opposite is happening. You make it easier for me to be a better man.”
I reached up and tweaked his nose. “When are you going to start believing that you are a good man? And I’m the one that’s now in the best position to know.”
“Mmm. Positions.” Luke growled, and it sent a shiver straight to my sex.
God. I wanted to ask him a thousand questions. But, my own rising need blotted out all reason. I had to have him touching me. I had to have him inside me again.
“Do we have time?” he asked. “When are you supposed to be back at the hospital?”
He was talking. Saying other words but I couldn’t hear it. I slid my hands across his shoulder as he bent his head down to kiss me. We were both hot and sweaty, and again, the frigid wind of the northern Michigan air didn’t affect me at all. Luke was heat and light and everything I needed. We tumbled together back into the house.
“Soon,” I groaned as Luke’s fingers skittered along my ribcage, sending ripples of gooseflesh with them. “But, I think we better make time or they’re going to think I’ve gone rabid or something and strap me to a gurney when I get there. I need you. Like, now.”
And then I learned how Luke could be quick and powerful in a different way. He bent me over what was left of the couch and took me. His skillful fingers drew me to a shattering orgasm in the space of a few seconds as he teased and tweaked my most sensitive spots and plunged himself deep into me again.
“I’m going to need to bite you again,” he whispered against my neck. “Soon and often. But every time I do, you’re going to be even more connected to me.”
“Oh, God. Yes. I want that.”
For now, he just gave me a little nip. But, it worked on me like an exclamation point to the orgasm I had just crested. It was my turn to growl.
“How am I going to be able to think straight if you’re not right next to me?” I said later as I got dressed. Luke slid his arms around my waist and kissed my shoulder as he followed me back out to the kitchen. He’d done his best to set it to rights, but the table was ruined.
“Just don’t stay away too long. Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“I do. But it’s better if you don’t. I’m going to have to find a way to explain all of this to Grandpa. The doctor said he needs to stay calm as much as possible. This one’s gonna be a doozy.”
“He’ll come around,” Luke said as he slid his own jeans back on. “He and the rest of that council just need to be reminded who their allies are. Wild Lake is responsible for saving them from themselves. We’ve shed plenty of our own pack blood driving their enemies away.”
“You know, I think most of them already know that. Of the nine, there are just three of them that seem to be a poison on that council. And I may have taken care of the Karrows.” I’d explained to Luke my suspicions about Beau’s motivation with my grandfather’s land. Luke confirmed I was right. He said he’d sensed the copper deposits himself when he crossed the boundaries on a hunt many times over the years.
“Anyway,” I said as I twisted my hair into a ponytail. “That doesn’t change the fact that Grandpa’s broke and the house is about to go into foreclosure.”
“Don’t worry about that. I can loan you whatever you need to pay off that note.”
“Hmm.” I positively purred as Luke drew me close and kissed my neck again. “Taking care of Grandpa is a full-time job. I had a lot of anger about him sending me away. But, that’s all gone now. I understand why he did it. He’s lost so much. But, we still have time together. We can bring each other peace. After that, who knows? I’ll find a job. Go to school. Your offer to bail me out is tempting, but I need to figure out a way to repay you. I haven’t worked since I came back here.”
Luke ran his tongue along the column of my throat. “I can think of a few ways. And it doesn’t matter. Everything I have belongs to you now too. You’re part of Wild Lake as much as I am. You take on one of us, you get the whole lot. Which is good for you and bad for anyone who ever tries to hurt you again. I mean it. If Beau Karrow or any of the rest of them so much as breathes heavy in your direction . . .”
I twisted out of his arms and grabbed my keys from the wall. “They won’t. They’ve had their say. Asher’s gone and the Kentucky packs are too. You said so yourself. They are a bunch of old men with old stories and superstitions. It’s time for this town to move on for good. And it goes both ways. I’m a Redbird, and this is my town too. If we’re lucky, Grandpa’s got a good year or two left. Once he’s gone, I’m the Redbird that will sit on that council. You’re mine, and they are going to have to accept that or we move on.”
“We can, you know. I can take you anywhere you want to go.”
I reached up and cradled his strong jaw with my palm. “I know. But I’m done running, and I want you to be too. And Oodena is home for me. I’m not going to let a couple of rotten apples in the barrel drive me away. Your place is here. N
ear Wild Lake and your mother. I know it. You forget that I can feel it in your heart now just as if it were mine.”
Luke took my hand and kissed my palm, then pressed it against the center of his chest just above his heart. Mine beat in time with his now and forever. “It is yours.”
I smiled at him and turned to go. My phone vibrated in my purse and I felt a flutter of fear, hoping it wasn’t anything bad about Grandpa. I slid it out of the side pocket and a new worry snaked through my heart. Randall Crow’s number popped up. Luke cocked his head to the side and his brow furrowed with a question. I put up a finger to silence him as I put the phone to my ear. I barely said more than hello before Randall’s tired voice spilled out.
“I’m so sorry. We all are. Tamryn, I wish you’d come to us with your suspicions sooner.”
“What do you mean?”
“About Beau. We did some investigating. It was rather easy, and I’m sick we didn’t catch it before. Rory Blackstone did some digging. You know he runs the bank.”
“I do. Mr. Crow, what are you talking about?”
Crow took a series of maddening breaths. “There are some documents. Some withdrawals. It seems last year Wyatt signed a power of attorney over to Beau. Did you know anything about that?”
“I did not.” My blood started to heat again, and it was getting harder to breathe. Concerned, Luke came behind me and put a hand on my arm.
“Oh, Tamryn. You have to believe we didn’t see it coming. I want to believe Gerard didn’t know anything about it. He swears up and down he didn’t.”
“Spit it out, Mr. Crow. What did Beau do?”
“It looks like he drained Wyatt’s accounts.”
“How much money are you talking about?”
“Tens of thousands. Oh, God. Probably hundreds of thousands. With your permission, I can get my lawyer to speak with you. Help you figure out what Beau might have done with all that money.”
I clenched my fist so hard I drew blood in my palm. Luke stepped in front of me, and my own rising rage was having an amplified effect on him. He was about to shift right there in the kitchen.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ll take the number for that lawyer. Where’s Beau now?”
“There’s gonna be an arrest warrant issued. Tamryn, if this is all true, and it’s really looking like it is, Beau’s going to jail.”
Randall said other things, but I’d heard enough. I hung up and did my best to explain everything to Luke as calmly as I could.
“Just stay here, and wait for me,” I said, as soon as I was sure Luke wasn’t about to give in to the red rage of his wolf and rip Beau to pieces. “I want to kill him myself, but that’s the last thing we need if we’re going to have peace in this town between you and the council.”
Luke nodded, but his eyes were full-on wolf. “Well, I need to go kill something.”
“Right. I can sense that. I’ll be all right. You go ahead and find Bas. Take it out on a whitetail deer or something.”
He snorted by way of an answer, already peeling off his shirt and getting ready to shift. God, how I wanted to stay and watch him. But, I’d delayed my trip to the hospital long enough. I saw just a flash of silver as Luke went out the back door and darted across the clearing to the tree line. His howl cut through the air and heated my blood.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The next day, Grandpa was ready to go home. Randall and Rory had already filled him in on most of what they suspected about Beau. Grandpa took it in stride. He had renewed color in his cheeks and a spring in his step. Luke wanted to come with me to pick him up, but I convinced him we were going to have to ease Grandpa into the idea of Luke. Rory and Randall already knew, and I hoped I could count on them as allies.
“Buckets, you’re looking prettier than I’ve ever seen you!” he said as he sat on the edge of his hospital bed and I helped him button his shirt.
He’d been more clear-headed since after his procedure. Stronger. Part of it was because of the care he’d received, but it wasn’t all of it. I told Grandpa about what happened with the council. I told him I knew about Grandma Jesse and my parents. Though I knew it wasn’t his burden to shoulder, I’d forgiven him. A new peace seemed to settle in his heart along with the pacemaker.
Once we finished the paperwork and headed out of the lobby, I looped my arm under his and helped him walk across the street to the Jeep. It seemed half the town had come outside to wish Grandpa well. I had wanted to pull the car up to the hospital doors, but Grandpa insisted on taking a stroll through the town square. The fresh air and warmth of the people of Oodena seemed to work on him to improve his health just as much as his new pacemaker and the ghosts of the past we’d finally laid to rest.
“Thanks, but that might be your painkillers talking.”
“Nah. It’s like your hair is shinier. Your eyes are brighter.”
I smiled up at him. He wasn’t wrong. Since Luke had marked me, I’d noticed the same thing. I deposited Grandpa in the car and was about to walk to the other side when I realized I was missing my purse.
“Shoot! Ugh. Can you just hang on a second? Let me run back up the lobby. I left it on the receptionist’s desk when I was filling out those last forms, I think.”
Lloyd and Verna Crow were heading straight for us. Verna beamed. Her arms were laden with bakery boxes filled, no doubt, with fresh treats Grandpa shouldn’t be eating. I gave them a little salute and hurried back across the street. I could hear Verna’s bright voice as she hugged Grandpa and made small talk.
My purse was right where I left it and I ran back out of the lobby. There was no need to rush. From across the street, I could see a small crowd had formed a semi-circle around Grandpa’s car. It seemed he had a veritable entourage of well-wishers. I pushed the button for the crossing single, shook my head, and smiled.
As the light changed, I stepped off the curb. Strong hands came around my upper arms from behind and pulled me back into the shadow of the building. Beau smashed me against the wall and hovered over me. He was dirty, with days’ worth of dark stubble shadowing his face. My heart hammered in my chest. I called out a warning with my mind, and already I could hear Luke’s answer.
Stay calm. Stay breathing. I’ll kill him.
“You’ll never belong here,” he said. “Everyone in this town can look at you and smile. They can pretend you’re one of them, but you aren’t. You’re like your mother and your grandmother.”
I raised a brow. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Now get out of my way before you do something stupid that will get you killed.”
“You gonna call to your wolf lover? You think that’s going to make me stop? I don’t care about dying, Tamryn. Not anymore. You got them all to turn on me. Even my own father. It won’t matter, though. Your Wendigo can tear me apart. I want him to. That way everyone here can see him for what he really is. And you’ll still be dead.”
My blood ran cold. He wasn’t bluffing. I could almost appreciate the simple perfection of his plan if he hadn’t pulled his right hand out of his coat pocket. I wanted to look into his eyes and say something that might still his hand. But, it turns out when you’re staring down the barrel of a handgun, words can fail you.
Luke was fast. Luke was strong. But even he couldn’t outrun a bullet from a gun pointed an inch away from me. Over Beau’s shoulder, I could see some of the townspeople had started to notice me against the brick wall as Beau hovered over me. They couldn’t see the gun, but Oodena was Oodena and news traveled fast. Everyone knew what Beau had done.
Grandpa saw it too. He rose slowly out of the front seat of the car and started to walk across the street. Verna had a hand on his sleeve, but he shook her off. No, I thought. Not like this. Don’t let Grandpa have to witness another woman he loves die in the streets at his feet.
Two streaks of lightening came from two directions then halted. One red, one silver. My heart thundered in my ears as Luke and Bas’s wolves stood shoulder to shoulder and slowly covered the distance between
us.
There would be death today in the Oodena town square. One way or the other.
Beau sensed the movement behind him. He threw an arm out, and grabbing me by the neck, he turned me, pressing the barrel of the gun to my temple. Then, he pulled it away and waved it toward the crowd.
Steady.
I don’t know if it was my thoughts or Luke’s. I tried to focus only on him. He took slow steps, his teeth bared. It must have been my words because Luke’s eyes grew dark. The man was buried deep inside of him, and all I sensed was the beast.
“Let her go.” Grandpa spoke first. He waved a crooked finger at Beau. Verna reached out for him again.
“I’m saving her,” Beau said. “Don’t you see that? Don’t all of you see that? Are you all going to stand by and let another one of our daughters lay with another wolf? Look at him. He’s a monster. He’s a Tully. He’s going to tear her apart just like all the others. I can end it now and save her the pain.”
Gerard, Randall, and Rory Blackstone hustled down the street. Gerard’s eyes filled with pain when he saw Beau for the first time. I imagined he had tried to deny it. Now, there was no doubt who his son was and what he was willing to do.
Unless I refused to let it happen.
Beau’s movements became erratic as he waved the gun at the crowd, then pressed it to my head. I waited. Locking eyes with Luke, I willed him to stay still. Bas kept to Luke’s right, waiting for a cue to move. For now, he seemed content letting Luke take the lead.
When Beau moved his arm and pointed the pistol at Luke’s head, I moved. He held me in an arm bar across my chest, but I felt his muscles go slack just for a second. I dropped to my knees with as much force and speed as my body could manage.
It was enough.
The instant I got clear and Beau had his gun pointed away from me, Luke struck. He launched himself off his back legs and arced through the air, landing hard on Beau’s chest and driving him to the pavement face down. Bas came beside him and tore into Beau’s right arm just above the wrist. The gun fell out of his hand, and I dove for it, kicking it out of his reach.
