Derek stepped back and licked the blood from his lips. He inspected the cheetah, making sure he and the boar were out of commission, and then he made his way over to Willow. She was testing her paw, placing it on the ground and taking a few steps. She seemed mostly all right, but she was favoring it. She stood still when Derek came up to her. He put his nose down to her paw, sniffing the injury and gently pressing his wet black nose against it. She would be fine. Lucky for that boar. If he had shattered her paw, Derek would have gone over to finish him off.
Derek lifted his head up. Willow turned to him and licked his nose, wiping away some of the blood from his cuts there. Then she licked his other scratch, the one under his left eye. He let her do it once, but when she was about to lick him again, he growled, baring his teeth and drawing his ears back. Willow backed off, but she growled back at him, mirroring his aggressive stance.
She walked past him, glancing at the two shifters. It seemed she felt the same way about them as he did. She had no desire to finish them off. Thanks to their shifter healing, it looked like the two of them would pull through. After finishing her inspection, she walked back to Derek and nudged his flank. He was about to growl at her again, but she tilted her head in the direction of a forest far off in the distance. He could barely make it out. She wanted him to follow her. Her entrancing amber eyes were beseeching.
The mark on the back of Derek’s neck burned as if telling him to follow her. There was a calmness inside of him when she was near, a security. Something in him said she was safe. Besides, what was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t go back for his bike. He was lucky he ended up with only having to take down two of Erin’s bodyguards.
Willow’s scent was getting to him again now that the adrenaline had died down. She smelled too damn good, too damn ready. It was like she was in a constant state of arousal. He wondered if that was normal for female wolf shifters or if something else was going on. It was calling to instincts inside of him he hadn’t experienced before, the kind of instincts that would drive him to bite her—claim her?—to never let her go.
He shook his head. He had never fucked in his wolf body for many reasons, but he was sorely tempted to right now. It wasn’t weird. He was a wolf. Willow was a wolf…
Okay, he felt it was weird. He had lived life mostly as a human. He was used to human things. Not wolf things. His wolf side was never nurtured by other wolves, so he knew what he knew by instinct.
What was he thinking anyway? He was never going to fuck Willow ever again. There was no fucking way after what happened earlier. And he was certainly never going to fuck as a wolf. That meant no condoms. He wasn’t going there.
No matter how hard it was to resist Willow, he would do it. He had to.
Willow yipped softly. She was watching him with those amber eyes. The look she gave him made him warm all over. She started walking and looked back at him when he hadn’t followed. She yipped again.
Fuck.
He gave in.
He trotted over to her. The slight wag of her tail and the added sweetness in her scent told him she was pleased.
He didn’t know what was happening to him. He never thought he would do something like this, and he couldn’t explain why he was doing it.
Instinct. He blamed instinct. It was fucking him over tonight.
Willow led at an easy run, slightly favoring her paw. Derek followed her into uncharted territories. He didn’t know how this could end well.
Chapter 7
THE MOON MADE A mistake. He was trouble. Willow’s mate was in some kind of crazy trouble. He was being chased by zombie shifters. They were blitzed out of their goddamn minds.
She said the Moon made a mistake, but there she was licking and worrying over him like a lovesick pup. She was angry at herself for acting like that. She wasn’t ready to give up on this thing the Moon tied her into, but that didn’t mean she was ready to forgive Derek for what he said to her. Her frustration made the pain in her paw all but disappear, but there was one source of discomfort that she couldn’t forget. Her Lunas Sigil.
Willow glanced behind to see Derek keeping right on her heels. They had been running in their wolf bodies all damn night. At least they were finally inside Blue Forest. Moonwatch wasn’t too much farther away.
She didn’t know why she kept looking back. It was like she expected Derek to take off at any moment or something. Or maybe she liked the way his green eyes always met hers. It sent tingles through her body. It gave her the energy to keep running even though she was exhausted.
There was another reason she kept looking back. She was worried about those zombie shifters. If they had good noses, they’d be able to track Willow and Derek back to Moonwatch. At least in Moonwatch they had a bunch of other wolves for backup. Still, she didn’t like bringing trouble home, but she didn’t have anywhere else to go. If Derek was going to get attacked again, by more shifters like the ones she spied on as she had shadowed Derek clear back at the hotel, then they would be in trouble. She would be anyway. Derek was crazy strong. He knew how to put those shifters down even though they didn’t appear to feel any pain.
She couldn’t lie about how much his strength impressed her. It also made her jealous. She was the one who swooped in. She should have been the one to save the day, but all she did was buy Derek some time. She supposed that was something.
The worst part about everything that was going on was the ache in her body, her need for Derek. Being in heat sucked balls. She couldn’t stop thinking about him naked and hovering over her, the feeling of his skin on hers. If nothing else, the Moon had picked her one hot as fuck Fated Mate. Wolf, human, it didn’t matter. He made her melt. His own arousal was impossible for her to miss. They had a physical chemistry that was like no other.
She shouldn’t have wanted it, and it should have been the last thing on her mind, but she needed to be with Derek again. She needed to feel him on her, inside of her. Apparently, that need eclipsed the memory of the pain she had experienced when he sunk his teeth into her. Her wound had finally healed over too. It was strange. When it decided to heal, it did it quickly. Her paw was fine too. Maybe she had joined healing with Derek now. The scratches on his face were already looking pretty good. It wasn’t impossible. Gwen and Nick had combined healing. In the beginning, their Lunas Sigil was only about healing because it appeared when Gwen had saved Nick’s life. Nick hadn’t claimed Gwen until later.
No, the bite didn’t bother Willow at all anymore. It was what Derek had said to her. He had broken her poor and abused romantic heart. She thought she’d find her Fated Mate and that would be that, but no. She told herself this wasn’t over, that she wouldn’t let Derek simply leave, but that didn’t stop her from asking why. It didn’t stop her from wondering if this would actually work out. It didn’t stop her heart from breaking.
By the time the forest was clearing and the little town of Moonwatch could be seen, Willow was spent. She was winded, hungry, tired, and fed up. She howled for her brother when she was certain he would hear her. When she cleared the tree line, she collapsed onto the ground. She couldn’t take another step. They had run for miles on end. Her body was shaking from the exertion.
Derek stood next to her, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he heavily panted. She could sense his unease as he stood there. He wasn’t going to plop down and rest like she was. He grew tenser with the movement from farmhouses in the distance. The dark figures of Blue Wolves were making their way to them. The sun hadn’t come up yet, so it was still dark—not that it mattered with their heightened vision.
Willow rested her head on her paws as she looked out at the silhouettes. The first two she saw clearly were her brother and his mate. Nick was wearing nothing but his damn boxers. Gwen had a robe wrapped around her and some blankets in hand. The scent in the air was sour. Willow’s distressed howl must have worried them terribly. They weren’t expecting her back yet. She hadn’t called. She wasn’t in her Thunderbird.
Derek stepp
ed behind Willow. His ears were back, white teeth bared, and bright green eyes alert. Willow chuffed, trying to reassure him. He couldn’t run away now after coming this far with her. He relaxed a bit. At least, he didn’t look like he was going to tear out the throat of the first creature to come his way.
Willow’s tail started to wag when her brother was standing in front of her. She barked at him. He took one whiff of the air and had a strange look on his face. Then he glanced at Derek. He must have figured out Willow was in heat. It was a hard thing to hide among other wolves. Nick returned his gaze to Willow, staring at the back of her neck. He growled as his fury grew rapidly and more wolves started to gather. Casey and his family were among them too. Willow looked away from them just as soon as she had spotted them. It was too painful.
“You better shift right now and tell me what the fuck is going on before I lose it,” Nick ordered.
Derek growled back, his lips curled up to show his deadly canines. They were much more impressive than Nick’s since Derek was in wolf form and Nick was in human form. The show of aggression made Nick angrier. Wolf form or not, Nick had a stronger presence. He was Alpha of Blue Pack after all, while Derek was a lone wolf alpha.
“Why the fuck is your scent all over my sister?” Nick snarled. He knew why, but he was pissed about it.
Even though she was spent, Willow stood up and began to shift. The last thing she wanted was for Derek and her brother to fight. The dull aching pains in her body temporarily grew worse as her body underwent the stress of change. Gwen was there with a blanket when Willow was standing on her own two feet again. If there had been only wolves in Moonwatch, no one would have batted an eye at the nudity, but for the sake of Casey’s family, Willow assumed, they were making an effort on human modesty.
“I said to shift,” Nick demanded as Derek remained defensive in his wolf body.
Derek growled again. His defiance was proof of his stupid alphaness. Nick could make most wolves bend by the weight of his authority alone, but it didn’t seem to have an effect on Derek.
“Derek,” Willow pleaded, “just shift. It’s fine.”
Derek stopped growling as he glanced at Willow as if to ask her if everything really was fine. Willow matched his gaze. Surprisingly, that was all it took. He began to shift. The crackling of bones filled the air as his form changed and his midnight black fur receded. Soon he was standing on two feet again. Gwen held out a blanket to him. He hesitated but ended up taking it and wrapping it around his naked form. His dick was fully erect—Willow couldn’t help but notice. It seemed her being in heat was as big of a pain in the ass for him as it was for her. Good. He deserved to hurt over something after what he said to her.
“So?” Nick said expectantly. “Will, what’s going on?”
Where was she supposed to start? So much had happened in one night. She stared at her feet. She was sick to her stomach with all her twisted up emotions. The pain. The ache.
Nick growled when he no doubt sensed all of the confusion inside of her. “What the fuck did you do to my sister?!” he shouted at Derek.
He was going to jump on Derek and ask questions later, but Gwen grabbed his arm. “Nick, let’s listen to what they have to say. Just give Willow a moment to gather her thoughts.”
Derek was stiff at Willow’s side. He was ready to leap into action. He wouldn’t take his eyes off Nick, the biggest threat to him. He didn’t pay anyone else any mind.
“This is Derek Myers,” Willow blurted. Then she mumbled, “If that’s his real name.” She cleared her throat. “He’s a lone wolf who’s in some trouble. He was being chased by some crazy zombie shifters. I guess because he made some human woman mad by stealing from her.”
Derek frowned. Yes, Willow had heard everything. Whether her mate liked it or not.
“The shifters work for this woman, but I think she did something to them. They don’t seem to feel pain. I haven’t heard one talk. It’s like they’re set on one mode and one mode only: what that woman tells them to do.”
“This woman sounds like a shifter collector,” Casey spoke up.
Willow forced herself to look at him, the wolf she had been in love with for years. God, looking at him was so damn painful.
“That sounds fucking great,” Nick said dryly. “You can tell me all about ‘shifter collectors’ later, Casey. But right now, I want to know why you have blood on the back of your neck, Willow. I want to know why yours and Derek’s scents are combined.” He took in a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did he claim you?”
Her brother was lost in denial. He already knew the answers to those questions. She was in denial too. Willow went back to staring at her feet.
“This is all, I dunno, fascinating or whatever,” Derek finally spoke, “but I think it’s time for me to go.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Nick growled.
Derek growled back. “You can’t keep me here, asshole.”
The two alphas were back to baring their teeth and oozing nonstop aggression. They were going to rip into each other if someone didn’t separate them. Willow knew she should have said something, but she couldn’t bring herself to. All she wanted to do at that moment was cry. She had had enough. She wanted to crawl into her bed, get some sleep, and try for a better tomorrow when she woke up. Unfortunately, going to sleep wasn’t going to solve any of her problems, but how was she supposed to keep two alphas in check? She had already tried and now they were right back on the verge of tearing out each other’s throats.
“Please,” she whispered, too drained to do or say anything else.
To her surprise and relief, Derek backed down. She could tell he was reluctant to. It was probably in his best interest to chill out though. He did have an entire wolf pack in front of him. He was strong, but not that strong. It seemed he knew how to use his head a little. Not everything could be solved with brawn and violence.
“You and I are going to have a talk,” Nick told Derek. “Casey, you’re coming too.”
Willow could sense Derek’s apprehension, but he didn’t let it show. She hoped he’d be able to keep himself in check while he was with her brother. And Casey. She wasn’t going to count on it though. Alpha wolves didn’t typically get along because they were too damn headstrong. They’d likely have to fight it out at some point. It was stupid in Willow’s opinion, but she wasn’t going to be a peacekeeper anymore. She would let her brother take care of things from here. She trusted him. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. That meant Derek was safe.
She had taken care of her Fated Mate.
The mate who didn’t want her.
Willow made the mistake of watching Casey as he walked with Nick and Derek to the Alpha Den. He had this look on his face, a look of pity. It made her so angry. She resumed staring at her feet below. She didn’t know how much longer she would be able to hold herself together.
Gwen wrapped her warm arms around Willow. “Let’s get you home.”
Willow nodded. She was afraid that if she spoke her voice would betray her by shaking.
“I’m coming too,” Julie said as she stepped out of the Blue Pack spectators.
Willow kept her gaze down as both she-wolves guided her home. The whole pack had probably seen everything that had happened. Not that it mattered. Secrets within a pack were hard to keep and usually a bad idea anyway. They were a pack for a reason. They were there to support each other.
So why was Casey and his family still here? They weren’t her packmates. Willow wished they would leave already.
When Willow arrived at her home, she cleaned up the dried blood on her neck and got dressed in her comfiest pink sweats and a tank top. She met Julie and Gwen in her living room after that, joining them on her large wood-framed couch. Their concern was palpable.
“Do you want to talk?” Gwen asked soothingly. Willow swore Gwen already had that motherly tone down. She wasn’t even close to having her pup, but that was Gwen. She was pretty perfect. And a strange
alpha. She was an alpha wolf too, but there was no fighting among her and Nick. Probably because of the whole Fated Mate thing, but Gwen was also the calm authoritative type of alpha whereas Nick and Derek were the volatile type.
Willow glanced at Julie. She wanted to be mad at the fifty-eight-year-old wolf for welcoming her son back with open arms. She knew it was petty, but she felt it anyway. All this time Casey had been gone, Willow and Julie had eased each other’s pain. Now he was back, and Willow didn’t know how to talk to Julie anymore. Not after she saw how Julie had hugged her son. She was so readily able to forgive him. She was happy and relieved to have him home.
“Do you want me to leave?” Julie asked. Pack Bonds were strong, stronger than they had ever been for Blue Pack since Nick and Gwen mated. Julie could sense what Willow was feeling.
Willow shook her head. She wasn’t going to estrange Julie for something her son did. She wasn’t going to allow herself to be that petty.
Taking a deep breath, Willow said, “Derek claimed me. The Moon wanted us together tonight. I think that’s why I’m in heat… Because Derek didn’t want this. He didn’t want to be my mate. He didn’t even know what he did when he claimed me. He said he’s been a wolf for years, but he’s obviously never had any other wolves in his life before. He doesn’t know the first thing about being a wolf. Not really.” She wiped at her eyes, refusing to let tears fall. “He said he doesn’t want me. He said he isn’t the Fated Mate I’ve been looking for. He totally dismissed me, and then he fucking left me. I couldn’t let it end like that. I ended up following him and helped save his dumb ass.”
She couldn’t stop the tears. How could Derek have hurt her this badly when they had just met? Was it because of her own delusions? Was Derek right? Was Nick right about her being a hopeless romantic after all? But Nick found his Fated Mate. Willow knew she couldn’t be wrong.
Her Fierce Wolf (Marked By The Moon Book 2) Page 7
