Wolf Fire (Warrior Wolves Book 2)

by Christine DePetrillo

Truth be told, Jaemus McAlator was the thing period. At least that was what Nika thought. Each day made her more certain of that. She was falling for him. The Big L word all the way.

  When the bell on the trading post door jingled—as it often did now thanks to Jaemus’s Wolfman—Nika looked up from the handmade wind chimes she’d been unpacking and hanging on a display.

  Ugh. An instant headache birthed itself at the sight of Robert coming in. He didn’t see her right away, and Nika contemplated creeping out the delivery door at the back of the shop, but that would leave the post completely unattended as Carrie and Zavier were both at the theater doing a little landscaping around the space. Nika had begun to look for ways to throw the two teens together whenever she could. Their families might not support their interest in each other, but Nika knew there was potential for something big and right and deep to develop. If she could help that along, she would.

  “Nika?”

  She glanced to that delivery exit, but womanned up instead. She’d been doing a stellar job of avoiding Robert lately because she’d been… otherwise occupied. “Over here.”

  Robert swiveled his head in the direction of her voice. In under ten seconds, he was standing in front of her, lips turned down as she unpacked a windchime.

  “Do people actually want these trinkets?” He batted a hand at the hung chimes, causing a cacophony of jingling.

  Funny how when she gently ran a finger along the hanging metal tubes, the sound was something so pleasing and calming. When Robert touched the chimes, however, the erratic clanging put Nika’s teeth on edge.

  “Well, Robert, considering that in the past week, I’ve reordered and restocked this display twice,” she held up two fingers, “I’d say that yes, people do want these trinkets.”

  Oh, if delivering this news wasn’t ridiculously satisfying, Nika didn’t know what was. Watching Robert’s bushy eyebrows draw together in disapproval rocked too.

  I win, asshole.

  “This can’t last. Soon people will grow tired of your new Wolfman.”

  “See, that’s the thing. Jaemus keeps changing the show a little every time. Guests know they won’t see the exact same show if they come back. So guess what? They keep coming back. I have several families who have returned at least three times to see what the Wolfman will do next. We have regular visitors, Robert. Repeat customers.” The desire to applaud or pump her fist in the air was almost impossible to squelch. “I’ve even had people ask about Wolfman Show T-shirts and other memorabilia.”

  She’d put Zavier on that endeavor, and the kid had come up with at least a dozen phenomenal designs for shirts, hats, magnets, and the like. Nika was investigating companies to make the products and working out the financials.

  Because I have money to invest in new merchandise. Finally. She wasn’t desperate anymore. She was what Tato had always been.

  Successful.

  And she owed so much of that success to Jaemus. Fortunately, she’d made enough in the time he’d worked for her to increase his pay, but he didn’t seem to care about the money one way or the other.

  “Working here has brought me so much more than money, sprite,” he’d said to her yesterday. “You’ve given me a chance to do some good, and I’m happy to do it, but getting to spend time with you is the biggest reward.”

  Sigh. For such a big, alpha-looking man, he often said the sweetest things to her.

  There were a great many things he didn’t say to her, though. Like why he’d shown up in Vermont in the first place, where he’d been before Vermont, what had caused that tension between him and Reardon, why he never answered questions about his Wolfman costume or let her know ahead of time how he’d be changing up the show. She knew little of his past aside from the fact that his mother had been his only parent and not a very good one. She’d finally reviewed his application form last week and the only thing she learned was he’d been a soldier—no big surprise from the looks of him—and he’d apparently served under Reardon. That may have been the source of the distance between the brothers, but again, Nika didn’t have any of the details.

  And she wouldn’t beg for them. Maybe he didn’t tell her for a reason. Maybe some of these topics were difficult to discuss. Painful. Things Jaemus wanted to leave in the past. In regards to the show, perhaps he didn’t know how he’d alter his performance until he suited up, gauged the crowd, and got out there on the stage. Actors had their own processes, right? The way he exercised his craft was his own business.

  So Nika enjoyed the physical intimacy she shared with Jaemus and hoped, in time, other forms of closeness would emerge. She wasn’t in a rush. She had time. She wasn’t going anywhere now that the trading post was doing so well.

  And Jaemus? Well, she hoped he wasn’t going anywhere either.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jaemus threw a stick to Daisy and the dog galloped after it as if it was her life’s mission. She was a sloppy runner, her ears flapping out to her sides, but she never failed to bring that stick back to him and drop it at his feet. Her big eyes pleaded for him to throw it again. And again. And again.

  “We’ve been at this for twenty minutes, pup. You’ve got to be getting tired.” He narrowed his eyes at her.

  A solid tail wag told him she could go all day.

  “Well, I’m getting tired.” He threw the stick again then turned back to the barn to clean up the tools he’d used installing a light fixture in the kitchen.

  Living in Nika’s barn was turning out to be a wonderful idea. Jaemus loved sharing an address with his sprite. Being able to simply knock on her apartment door and invite her down into the barn was… convenient.

  The fact that Nika never turned down such invitations was also a lovely thing.

  He’d had the opportunity to worship every inch of her amazing body, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to repeat the journey over and over again. Each time they made love, he discovered something else he liked about her. How flexible her body was. How long her legs were. How her eyes glinted like dewy sunlit grass when she was aroused. How she made noises that turned him rock hard when he kissed the quartet of freckles on the back of her right thigh.

  How she knew exactly where to touch him to make him forget he’d lost his humanity. At every turn, Nika made him feel more like a man and less like the beast Reardon had turned him into. She was smart and funny and caring, and he... well, he loved her.

  Soul mate.

  He was beginning to think Flidae was right. Nika Skarvinski could be his soul mate, his one true love.

  But what should I do about that?

  Frowning, he stowed his tools then headed for the theater’s dressing room with Daisy trotting alongside him. It was almost show time and that was something he didn’t have any questions about. Playing the Wolfman allowed him to expend the pent up energy he had swirling around inside him since being turned. He didn’t need to shift all the way to wolf in order to find balance, which pleased him greatly. The less time he spent on four legs the better. In fact, since moving into Nika’s barn, he hadn’t shifted to full wolf at all.

  As he approached the dressing room, Daisy let out a low growl and took off like an arrow toward the trading post. Jaemus paused, sniffed the air, and tuned his ears to everything around him. People finding seats on the bleachers made a shuffling and squeaking sound. The pop-pop-pop of the popcorn machine created its own beat. The familiar natural noises of the woods encircled him.

  He was about to ignore Daisy’s crazy antics when he heard it. An agitated male voice followed by an anxious female one.

  Robert Senclair. And he was bothering Nika.

  Hell, no. Not on Jaemus’s watch. His sprite shouldn’t have to deal with a bastard like Senclair. No one should.

  After jogging toward the trading post and entering, Jaemus immediately smelled Robert, a mix of expensive fabrics, tangy and unpleasant cologne, and something mildly minty trying its best to cover up garlic. Following the scent, he found the man pressed against
Nika along the back wall near the wind chime display.

  A growl escaped before Jaemus could stop it. Daisy blew right into intruder-level barking beside him, and in three steps, Jaemus was behind Robert.

  “You’ve got one second to back off her,” he rasped, snapping fingers to make Daisy stop barking. “Fail to comply and things will get ugly.”

  Robert glared over his shoulder, not creating the distance from Nika as requested. “I was here first, Wolfman.”

  Nika’s wide eyes were all the signal Jaemus needed.

  He clamped a hand onto Robert’s shoulder and ripped the man off her with little effort. Robert tried to turn around to face Jaemus, but he wasn’t afforded that chance. Instead, Jaemus pushed Robert into the wall the bastard had been pinning Nika against, taking great pleasure in using his free hand to grind the smaller man’s cheek into the plaster.

  “You may have been here first, but I’m here now. Now is what matters.” Jaemus lowered his head so he could hiss in Robert’s ear. “If you ever put your hands on Nika again, my hands will find their way around your neck where they will squeeze. I will receive endless satisfaction listening to you struggle for air, knowing that you will not get any. Not in time to save you.”

  He pulled Robert’s head back a little then knocked it into the wall again, making sure his words had sunk in.

  “I’m going to let you go and you’re going to leave. We won’t be seeing you again, will we, Mr. Senclair?”

  Robert shook his head. As much as he could anyway.

  “I’m relieved that we understand each other.” Jaemus let him go.

  Robert made a big show of straightening his polo shirt and smoothing the wisps of hair barely covering the top of his head. With a glance at Nika that Jaemus didn’t like, he marched out of the trading post, but not without Daisy snarling at him again.

  “Are you all right, sprite?” Jaemus gathered Nika in his arms when she ran to him. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” He stepped back and cupped her cheeks, his eyes searching her face for any signs of pain.

  “N-no,” she stammered. “But this time I thought he was going to.” She shuddered in his hold, and that made Jaemus want to run out to the parking lot and use his warrior skills on Robert.

  If only I had my sword…

  He ran a hand over Nika’s hair and rested his chin on the top of her head. “He won’t lay a finger on you, Nika. I’ll see to that.”

  She craned her head back to look into his eyes. “Are you going to follow me around everywhere to make sure Robert stays away?” A shaky smile turned up her lips.

  “Aye, I like that plan.” He kissed her forehead.

  “You’ll get sick of being with me that much.”

  “Doubtful, sprite. Very doubtful.” He teased her lips and the kiss immediately sparked a need to be inside her. “Do you realize that after we’ve spent hours and hours together, when you leave, I instantly want you back beside me?”

  Her features softened, all the panic and fear of Robert gone. “Oh, Jaemus. The things you say.” She traced her fingertip along his lips.

  “The things I say are all true.” He bit her finger, then sucked it into his mouth, running his tongue along its length until Nika closed her beautiful eyes and released a soft moan.

  When she opened her eyes, she slid her hands up his arms and clasped them at the back of his neck. “Want to know something else that’s true?”

  Dropping a kiss on her nose, he nodded.

  Nika’s face grew serious, a screen of uncertainty between them despite how she was pressed up against him. Where was his normally confident sprite?

  “What else is true?” Now he had to know even if he was afraid the truth might not be something he wanted to hear. What if the truth was something about not wanting to be with him anymore? What if the truth was that she knew what he was hiding from her? What if the truth was she knew he was a werewolf and was repulsed by the notion?

  Suddenly, Jaemus’s entire chest ached.

  “I love you.” Nika’s voice was soft, but he’d heard the three words. Three words that erased that ache in his chest as soon as they were uttered.

  His sprite loved him.

  He squeezed his arms around her and probably damn near crushed her, but he couldn’t help himself. “I love you too, Nika. I’ve never loved anyone as I love you.”

  She hugged him as aggressively. “When Brandy found Reardon, I remember her calling him her soul mate. I politely listened to her go on and on about it, but the Inside Me—you know, the one that exists only in my head—rolled her eyes. I didn’t believe such a thing existed. One perfect match? Sounded ridiculous.”

  “But it isn’t, is it? I thought the same, but now… gods be damned, now I don’t think I could bear it if you weren’t mine, sprite.”

  “Don’t worry about that happening, Wolfman. I want to be yours.”

  “Soul mates.” Jaemus cupped Nika’s cheek and poured all his feelings, all of himself, into a deep kiss.

  And if this had been the moment to tell her what he really was, he happily ignored that fact while carrying her off to her office and celebrating their love for each other. There’d be a better time to tell her.

  If he had to tell her at all.

  Twenty minutes later, Jaemus was in wolfman form, chasing Hunty around the theater stage. He’d carefully wrapped his claws around Hunty’s suspenders and was giving them a good yank, careful not to use his full strength and send the other man sprawling back. The audience went hysterical over his antics and he dined on their joviality, loving the roars of laughter and the overflowing bleachers and the discussions these people were sure to have with their friends and family when they left. Discussions that would bring more visitors. Discussions that would continue to make Maple Ridge Trading Post thrive.

  Thrive for Nika.

  Jaemus would do anything to make Nika happy. If prancing around a woodland stage in wolfman form made her business a success, he’d do it. If threatening Robert Senclair kept her safe from the bastard’s nonsense, he’d do that too. If threats weren’t enough, Jaemus would take it to the next level. He’d used his warrior skills to gain riches. Using them to defend Nika, however, was a much better cause.

  Aye, it is, warrior wolf, Flidae whispered in his head. I would consider it doing something worthy…

  Jaemus let Huntsman’s suspenders snap to the man’s back as he considered Flidae’s words.

  I don’t want to go back to Ireland. He hoped Flidae could hear him. Would hear him. He and Nika had professed their love for each other, their desire to be together. He couldn’t leave now. He didn’t want to leave ever. Being with Nika made him forget he wasn’t from her time. He’d made himself at home here.

  With her.

  I decide your fate, warrior wolf. I alone.

  But Reardon had been allowed to stay.

  Not without a fight, Jaemus McAlator. Not without proving his place was with his mate.

  So there was hope, and he would latch onto that hope with everything he had.

  The audience had grown quiet as he’d stopped his performance to discuss his fate with the Celtic goddess invading his head. Small children in the front row looked at him with wide eyes, waiting for his next actions.

  Right. He had a show to finish here. Finish for Nika. His soul mate. That, above all else, had to drive everything he did.

  He grabbed Red Riding Hood’s cloak. With a slight tug, it fell free of Red and Jaemus put it on, pretending to struggle with it and the fact that it was many sizes too small for him. When he’d gotten the scrap of red velvet wrapped around his head and shoulders, he twitched his whiskers and put his claws on his hips, trying to impersonate a woman. He tiptoed over to Hunty and ran a gnarled hand over the man’s biceps, looking as if he were impressed.

  Fortunately, Red and Hunty had become masterful improvisers, able to jump right in to whatever Jaemus threw at them. Red stomped her feet and folded her arms across her chest as if she were jealous of
Wolfman.

  As the audience chuckled again, Jaemus felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned away from Hunty, Red wagged a finger at him. “Go find someone your own size, hairball. The huntsman is mine.”

  A roar of laughter erupted from the bleachers and the show was back on track. Jaemus finished up with his usual flair, Red and Hunty making it easy for him to toy with the audience.

  As the visitors cleared out after the show, Jaemus headed for the dressing room. A scent reached him, however, making him stop and scan the dispersing crowd.

  At the fringe, Robert stood, hands in his pockets. When Jaemus started for him, the man joined the crowd and headed toward the parking lot.

  Jaemus couldn’t go after the man in wolfman form. It would draw too much attention and he couldn’t be sure his humanity was strong enough in a half-man, half-wolf state of being. He had things he wanted to do to Robert Senclair and none of them were civilized.

  Instead, Jaemus kept his sharp eyes focused on the man in his fancy shoes as he climbed into his fancy car—both far too fancy for Vermont dirt roads—and left the Maple Ridge Trading Post parking lot.

  The urge to see Nika made Jaemus head to the dressing room, shift back to human, and run up to the trading post. If he found out Robert had been harassing her while he was doing The Wolfman Show, he’d make good on his promise to squeeze the life out of the bastard.

  ****

  “If Robert comes in, call me. I’ll be next door at the sanctuary,” Nika said to Zavier and Carrie. Yesterday, Jaemus had gotten rid of Robert, but he also told her the jackass had been hanging around during The Wolfman Show even after Jaemus’s threat. He hadn’t come back to the post, but Nika didn’t trust the idiot to stay away for good. Considering that most of the town would be at Silver Moon Wolf Sanctuary’s Annual Growls and Grub Picnic, Nika wanted to make sure her two dedicated teen employees had a way to contact her should Robert get incredibly stupid.

  “Don’t worry about anything,” Carrie said. “Go have fun with your boyfriend.” She waggled her eyebrows as she emphasized the word.