Heart of the Pack

by Jenny Frame

  “Your hazel eyes hold all the colors of the lush forest, your lips and cheeks glow pink with health and vitality, and your smile…your smile would melt a hunter’s heart.”

  The door unlocked and Lena peered around the door. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better. You don’t really think that.”

  She reached around the door and pulled Lena out. “Look into my eyes.” Lena looked up into Caden’s eyes. “A hunter never lies.” She stroked Lena’s cheek with the back of her hand. “You are everything I find attractive in a female, Selena Miller, Goddess of the Moon. You take my breath away.”

  Lena’s lips parted and Caden inched closer to her, but at the last second she lost her nerve and placed a kiss on her cheek. Caden knew if she had kissed her, there would be no going back. She might lose control and show her wolf. That was something she wasn’t ready for, not yet.

  “Let’s go to your father’s party and wow them with your beauty and your pretty new dress. Yes?”

  Lena smiled. “A hunter never lies?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She wiped the last of the tears from her eyes and said, “I’ll need to remember that. Give me a second, and I’ll retouch my makeup. I don’t know if I’ll wow them at the party, but I’ll certainly be proud to go with you, Caden.”

  And I’ll be proud to be with you, my Goddess.

  *

  Lena’s heart started to beat fast as Caden drove her truck up into the large gated property that was her family home.

  She opened her purse and ritually checked her pens before holding her moonstone tightly.

  Caden looked to the side, saw what she was doing, and placed her hand on top of Lena’s and gave it a squeeze. “I’m here. It’ll be okay, I promise.”

  Lena gave her a quick nod, but it didn’t calm her completely.

  They pulled up at the front of the large house, and Caden said, “That is a beautiful home, Lena.”

  “It’s big and luxurious, but it’s not a home. Your den is a home, a simple warm place with nature all around.”

  Caden was surprised that Lena had picked up her use of the word den but was delighted to think Lena thought of it as a home.

  “The only good thing about this house is it was so big, we could live pretty much separate lives. I had my own little places to hide out of the way, until I got my own apartment.”

  Caden didn’t know quite what to say. The way Lena was brought up was the complete antithesis of how the wolf pack worked and brought up cubs. She wanted to give her that. “Let’s go, then. I hope there’s food, by the way. I’m starving.”

  “You’re always hungry, Caden.”

  They both got out and Caden handed her keys to the parking attendant. She put her hand on the small of Lena’s back and guided her up the steps and into the entranceway. “It takes a lot to satisfy a hunter, Goddess of the Moon.”

  Lena clearly felt the heat and the humor of those words, and she nudged Caden with her hip while she giggled. Caden’s plan to distract Lena from her anxiety was working perfectly.

  They stepped into the entrance hallway and were greeted by the staff taking coats and directing guests into the reception room. Caden could see what Lena meant by the house not being a home. The furnishings were rich, the ceilings high, and the rooms large, but there was no warm scent of den, of home. Everything was sterile.

  “There’s my baby elephant.”

  Caden scented Lena’s anxiety start to rise. So this is the woman who makes you feel bad about yourself? Veronica Miller was a small woman, both in height and in body. She was so thin she looked angular, and very unhealthy to Caden’s eyes.

  “Hello, Mother.” Lena received two air-kisses from her mother before she looked to Caden and seemed displeased with what she saw.

  “Introduce me to your friend, Selena.”

  Caden could feel the woman’s disapproval from where she stood.

  “Mother, this is my friend, Caden. She is second-in-command to Ms. Wolfgang at Venator.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Miller.”

  She shook Caden’s hand as if she might catch something. “Yes, I’m sure. Selena, why don’t you go in and see your brothers. I know they were looking forward to seeing you.”

  Lena looked surprised. “They were?”

  *

  Lena was squirming with embarrassment. Since introducing Caden to her brothers and their friend, James Thornton, they had done nothing but tell awful stories from her childhood.

  Greg laughed, and said, “Even funnier than that, do you remember the time we tricked Boom-boom here into thinking she had been picked for the cheerleading team? Mother made her go along, even though she didn’t want to, and the whole football team watched as the head cheerleader said, I don’t think we’ve got any uniforms in whale size.”

  Lena’s hand started to shake with nerves and shame. She heard a growl come from her side and looked up to see Caden’s face incandescent with anger.

  Her brother Tom seemed to pick up on Caden’s fury too. “Caden, why don’t we let my sister talk with Greg and James for a while? Since your business is meat, you’d enjoy talking to Lester Grove. He’s in catering.”

  “I will stay with Lena,” Caden said flatly.

  “Don’t be silly, Selena doesn’t mind, do you, Boom-boom?” Tom said.

  Lena didn’t want Caden to go, but she also didn’t want her to hear how her family spoke to her. She saw already how angry Caden was. “I’ll be fine, Cade. It’s okay.”

  She watched Caden walk off with her brother, and all she could think of was being back in Wolfgang County, away from her family, and safe with Caden.

  *

  Caden soon realized why she was maneuvered over to another group, as she listened to what Lena’s brother was saying to her.

  “Be a good girl. Father and Mother think it’s a good idea that you spend some time with James. He’s a great guy with a glittering career and would be good for you. It’s not as if you have people beating down the door to spend time with you as it is.”

  “But I’m here with my best friend. I can’t just—”

  “You can. She can enjoy the rest of the party. I’m sure she doesn’t often get to enjoy high-caliber events such as this.”

  “You don’t know anything about her, Greg,” Lena said angrily.

  Greg moved closer to his sister and said, “I know enough to realize she is not a lady. Now do what you’re told, Lena, and don’t be a disappointment all your life.”

  Caden’s wolf was furious, and she turned to react when Tom stepped in front to stop her. “Caden? Would you give my sister a minute with my brother alone? They’re discussing family business.”

  Tom handed her a fresh champagne flute with orange juice. She couldn’t embarrass Lena. She had to stay calm and be there to support Lena when she needed it.

  She walked to the buffet and noticed James Thornton farther up at the bar, chatting to someone. Caden decided to listen in and find out what kind of man he was.

  “So, Thornton? Are you back to stay?”

  “Yes, it’s time to settle down and build the most important part of my career.”

  “James Thornton settle down? Now, that I’d love to see. Who’s the girl?”

  James looked across the room to Lena and smiled. His friend did a double take.

  “Selena? You’re going to marry Selena Miller? The girl who thinks numbers are more interesting than people? You can’t be serious. I thought models and actresses were more your type.”

  James smiled slyly. “Of course they are, and they always will be, but I’m not marrying her, I’m marrying this.” James held his hands aloft, indicating their surroundings. “I’ve had to fight for everything I’ve got, Aston. I had scholarships to every school I went to, but now it’s time to have the family backing of someone like the judge. Her father loves me, and taking their slightly odd, chunky, spinster daughter off their hands gets me the keys to the kingdom.”

  Caden’s fu
ry was nearly at boiling point. I’m going to kill him, and I will not make it quick. Keep talking, human.

  Aston raised his champagne glass to James and smiled. “You’re a better man than me, Thornton. To give up all those beautiful women for a lifetime with that little mouse.”

  “I won’t be giving them up. Now, if you excuse me, Aston, I have a mouse to charm.” He walked off in Lena’s direction.

  Caden’s wolf demanded action. She knocked back her glass of orange juice and started to move. But she only got a few steps when she was hit by a wave of dizziness. “What?” Her knees were weakening by the second, and she had no idea what was happening. Caden leaned against the wall, trying to stay on her feet, when Tom came over to her.

  “Feeling all right, Caden?” he asked smugly.

  “Feel dizzy…”

  “Why don’t we get you some fresh air. We don’t want anyone to see you like this. Do we?” Tom escorted her out onto a decked area beside the pool.

  Caden leaned against the wall, breathing heavily and trying to keep control of her wolf, which was rapidly clawing its way toward the surface.

  “Stay in the fresh air and I’m sure you’ll feel better soon.”

  He turned to walk away, but Caden grabbed him by his shirtfront. “What was in that orange juice?”

  Tom smiled. “Just some vodka to loosen you up…well, maybe a lot of vodka.”

  Caden fell to her knees. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

  He laughed. “Can’t even handle one drink?”

  Tom straightened his tie and smoothed down his suit. “Perhaps you’ll stay away from my sister now, you disgusting pervert.”

  He went back to join the party without a second look.

  Caden tried to keep calm. The vodka would wear off, in time. It was what the humans would see in that time that worried her. Alcohol would lower her control over her wolf, and even one glass would have a disabling effect on her. But who knew how much vodka Tom had put in her drink.

  She crawled over to the side of the pool and splashed water on her face. Her initial dizziness was lessening, but her wolf was at the surface, about to pounce into a shift. She tried to force her wolf back, but when she looked down at her hands, her claws were already lengthening.

  Caden was startled by the sound of the doors to the deck area. She managed to get on her feet and hide around the corner of the building. Then she stopped dead when she scented Lena.

  Her mate.

  *

  “James, I need to find my friend. I don’t need air.” Lena was pulled out of the house unwillingly by her brother’s friend.

  “I only want to speak to you alone, Boom-boom.”

  “Please don’t call me that, James. Just let me go and find Caden. My arm is aching and I just want to go home.” Lena felt herself backed up against the wall.

  James held her hand tightly, not in the gentle, loving way Caden did, but in a forceful aggressive way. “Why? We’ve always called you that. It’s a term of endearment.”

  Lena felt suffocated. James was smiling, and trying to be charming, but it felt wrong to Lena. His intentions seemed wrong. “It isn’t, James. It never was. It was a name that you, Greg, and Tom used to torment me.”

  James raised his hand to try and stroke Lena’s face, but she pulled her head away. “What do you want with me?”

  He gave her an insincere smile and said, “I think we should start spending some time together, get to know each other better.”

  Lena was astonished. “What? Why would you possibly want to get to know me better, James?”

  “Oh, because I think it’s time I settled down. Stop playing around and build my career with a loving family behind me. Your family.”

  Everything about this situation was wrong. She wanted to be at home, with Caden, in Wolfgang County. “I don’t—”

  He placed a finger to her lips and said in the gentlest voice he could muster, “Shh. You don’t have to understand, just take it from me. You will be the perfect little wife for me, Selena. I know you have your strange ideas and ways of doing things, but I can—”

  “James, what is wrong with you? I don’t want to marry you. I don’t love you.”

  “Marriages are about more than love, Selena, but believe me, once I spend time with you, you will love me. Your mother and father think it’s a good idea, your brothers think it’s a good idea, and you will too.”

  Lena was horrified. “This was a setup. You all planned this. You want my father and mother’s money and influence, and they get their spinster daughter off their hands. Is that how it is?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Selena. I know you’re a little…different, but don’t get hysterical. Everything will be okay.”

  He closed the distance between them, and Lena started to breathe heavily in panic. James apparently took this as a sign of excitement and said, “Just relax. I’ve never had any complaints.”

  He placed a cold, hard kiss on her lips. Lena froze like stone, but in an instant he was smacked away from her and knocked to the floor.

  “What the…?” James shouted from the floor.

  When Lena came to her senses, she saw a wild-looking Caden standing over James. Her suit jacket and vest were gone, and her shirt was ripped apart.

  “Cade?”

  James touched his face and found blood starting to drip from his face. “What have you done to me?” He scrambled to his feet shouting, “You fucking bitch.”

  His words were brought to an abrupt end when Caden lifted him clean off his feet by his neck.

  “Caden? No!” Lena ran to them and realized Caden was unaware of her as she snarled and growled at her opponent. She’d known Caden was strong, but this wasn’t human strength. Her eyes went wide when she saw Caden’s fingers had changed into claws of some kind. “Caden, what are you?”

  James struggled and made choking noises as he dangled two feet in the air. “Do not touch my mate,” Caden roared.

  All Lena could do was use her instincts. She held on to Caden’s free arm and stroked it tenderly. “Caden? Let him go. He’s not going to hurt me, not now that you’re here.”

  Caden turned her head to look at Lena, but didn’t release James.

  “Please, Caden. My arm hurts, I want to go home. Home with you.”

  Her words seemed to get through, because James fell to the floor like a stone, gasping for air, and rubbing his neck. “You—I’m going to sue you for every dime you’ve got, you filthy animal.”

  Caden’s face contorted to her wolven features and she let out a roar. Standing behind her, all Lena saw was James fainting in fear.

  “Are you all right?” Lena asked.

  Caden turned and stalked toward her.

  Lena reached out her hand and touched Caden’s chest. “What happened to you? You look…”

  “I’m better now.”

  Caden had her in the same spot James had, but this time, she didn’t feel panicked or trapped. She felt excited, and a little scared. Caden’s raw sensuality and power called to her and had fueled her fantasies since she met her.

  Caden rumbled a growl as she rubbed her face all around Lena’s neck and cheeks.

  Lena wasn’t sure what was happening, but all she wanted was for Caden to touch her more. “Cade—”

  She was silenced with a kiss. Lena had imagined what it would feel like to be kissed by Caden, but nothing prepared her for the reality of it. Every cell in her body felt alive with electricity and arousal, and she completely forgot she was standing outside her parents’ home, with James unconscious with fright.

  The kiss became deeper, and just as Lena thought Caden would take her where she stood, she pulled away from Lena, and snarled, “Mine.”

  Caden looked at her like a wild predator about to strike its prey, and strike she did. She attacked Lena’s neck, at first with kisses and nips that made Lena want more, and then it became different.

  The alcohol wasn’t the only thing that was making it hard for Caden
to control her wolf. The taste and scent of Lena’s arousal were more powerful than any alcoholic drink. She wanted to take, to possess, to mark Lena as her own. The urge was unstoppable, and she kissed and licked around Lena’s neck.

  The taste of Lena’s neck made her dizzy and she wanted more. Bite, bite, her wolf demanded, and the moans and noises that were coming from Lena were making it all the more difficult to resist.

  Saliva filled her mouth, and her fangs shifted. Even though her wolf was in control, somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she shouldn’t bite, only mark. Her sharp fangs drew two bloody lines down Lena’s neck. The taste of blood swirled around her mouth.

  Caden pulled back and howled to the sky, proclaiming Lena hers to the world.

  Lena’s eyes were closed, and she absorbed the sensations Caden was giving her. She felt the scratching nip to her neck and gasped. It was both painful and pleasurable at the same time.

  Her eyes opened slowly, and what she saw chilled her to the bone—Caden howling to the sky, with blood dripping off two wolflike fangs.

  Lena immediately touched her neck and found her hand painted with the evidence of her blood. “Caden. What have you done?”

  Caden stopped her howl and looked down at Lena with the yellow eyes that haunted her, and all at once, the clues that had been given to her since coming to Wolfgang County fell into place. The inhuman strength and speed, the reverence for the wolf, Caden’s way of talking, the animalistic view of life, and all her dreams. They all pointed to one thing.

  “You,” she shouted. “It’s been you all along. Right from the start. You’re the wolf from my dreams.”

  Caden cocked her head to the side, her wolf puzzled by her mate’s reaction. “You’re mine. My mate.”

  “No, I’m not your mate. You’ve deceived me since the moment we met.” Lena pushed Caden back by the chest, and she growled. “Get away from me, Caden. What kind of monster are you?”

  Those words seemed to hit Caden like a sword to her guts. She began to shrink away from Lena, looking rejected. Lena saw the hurt she had caused and immediately felt bad for what she had said. She reached out to Caden, but she pulled away and ran, leaping the high wall that ran around the grounds of the Miller estate in one jump.