If he’d known the way, he would have stomped off in front of her but was forced to follow her attractive backside instead. His body going crazy as he watched her duck around trees and climb over fallen logs. When they finally came out of the forest into a big clearing, he was scowling and wondering how he was going to make it through the next twenty-four hours.
But the sight of the old mill swept those thoughts away, and he stood staring at the green wonderland they’d stepped into. Everywhere he looked, there was a blanket of green, moss-covered rocks, trees dripping vines, even the old mill, its water wheel still spinning lazily in the stream was covered in green.
“I feel like a fairy might pop out of the bushes at any minute,” he said, looking around him and feeling his earlier irritation drain away.
“Pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Lynette asked, leading him closer to the weathered mill, which sat at the back of the clearing. “The stream begins just a few thousand feet above us in the mountains; that water is just about as pure as you can get.”
He walked over to the waterwheel and watched as the water cascaded out of an opening in the rocks and tumbled down onto it. The wheel creaked and sang as it turned, and the sound had a musical quality that was soothing and energizing all at once. Coming around to the front of the mill, he looked at the old building, marveling that it was still standing.
“Can we go inside?” he asked, imagining what they might find. “Is there still a grinding wheel?”
Lynette shrugged. “I think so, but I don’t think we should go inside,” she said. “Come over here and sit down; the sun is about to go down.”
Derek hesitated, the little boy in him wanting to explore, but then Lynette said, “Don’t you want to hear the legend about this place?”
He looked over at her and then back at the mill. “Sorry, I guess I just got carried away,” he said, still feeling the mill pulling at him, but turning and walking away.
They settled down on a flat rock, the moss beneath them a soft cushion that filled the air with the heavy smell of life. Derek leaned back on his elbows, stretched out his legs, and crossed his ankles, getting comfortable. Looking up at the sky, he realized that it had begun to get dark and that there were beautiful rays of color lighting up the sky just over the highest peaks of the mountains.
He sighed in appreciation and Lynette grinned at him. “I told you it was a great place to watch the sunset,” she said.
“Okay, so you were right on this one,” he said, grinning back at her and feeling the all too familiar desire heating him. “Let’s hear your legend, and it better be believable.”
Lynette grinned at him and nodded, accepting his challenge. “Do you see that clearing next to the mill?” she asked.
Derek looked over to where she was pointing and nodded. “Just imagine a little house there, a snug home that was warm in the winter and cooled by the stream in the summer,” she said, her voice drawing him into the story. “Now imagine a happy young couple making it their home. They were very much in love and excited to start their lives together.”
He tried to resist, to look for holes in her story, just to break the spell that had come over him, but he soon found himself wrapped up in the lives of the people Lynette brought to life with her words. As the story of true love, jealousy, and finally murder unfolded, he could see it in his mind, feel the pain of a love cut short by the mad act of a woman scorned.
“Jess and Lisa, and their unborn child, died in the fire that night, but people say that they’re still here, living the life that was stolen from them,” Lynette said, “and it’s long been believed that if lovers see them, it’s a love that will last for eternity.”
Derek couldn’t help but shiver, her words dying away just as the last rays of light sunk behind the mountains. He looked over to where the cabin had stood, and for a second, he thought he saw a glimmer of light hovering above the ground then the shape of a couple standing with their hands joined.
***Lynette***
Lynette smiled in the darkness, Derek’s silence enough to tell her that she’d captured him with her story. But when she looked over at him, she could see that he was staring at something in the darkness. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but he lifted his hand and pointed toward the mill, where she saw the shadowy figure of a man and woman.
She gasped, unable to move as the figures floated toward them, their forms becoming more distinct as they got closer. Derek scooted closer to Lynette and grabbed her hand, his grip nearly crushing her fingers. “It’s okay; they won’t hurt us,” she whispered, squeezing his hand.
The couple approached them, gliding across the ground, smiles on their faces, raised their clasped hands into the air, bowed to them, then disappeared. Lynette was just as stunned as Derek, wondering if she’d called them to her with her story. But she’d told the story many times, sitting in the same spot, and had never seen Jess and Lisa before.
She looked over at Derek, who was still staring at the empty space in front of them. “Was that believable enough?” she asked, laughing nervously. “It was for me.”
Derek nodded, then looked over at her. “You saw that too, right?”
“Yep,” she said, grinning at him, then getting to her feet. “Do you think they know something we don’t?”
“God, I hope not,” he said, then realized how bad it sounded.
Lynette’s face fell. “Well, I guess that answers any other questions I might have had about you. I thought you enjoyed the kiss as much as I did, but I can see that I was wrong,” she said.
Derek was instantly on his feet. “That’s not what I meant, and I did enjoy kissing you, but don’t you see what a mistake it would be for us to get involved? One of us or both of us would end up getting their heart broken, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I can handle that right now,” he said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
Lynette turned away from him and started walking toward the trail. “We’d better start for camp; it’s late, and we haven’t eaten,” she said, her heart still stinging from his rejection.
“Wait, Lynette, please listen to me,” he said, but she barely heard his words over the sound of the stream.
She didn’t wait for him, the tears spilling down her cheeks too embarrassing to let him see, and it wasn’t long before she left him behind. Trying not to feel guilty for leaving him on his own in the darkness, she wound her way down to the pool and then waited until she heard him behind her. She didn’t know why she was worrying about him finding his way back; he was a shifter, should have been able to follow her scent even in his human form, but still, she waited until he was closer before starting for camp again.
Her hurt had cooled by the time she left the sound of the stream behind, slowly replaced by anger that Derek could so easily throw away what they might share. As innocent as she might be, even she knew that there was something powerful between them, something that should be explored, and that they’d both regret it for the rest of their lives if they walked away from each other.
She was so busy thinking of all the things she’d say to Derek when he finally made it back to camp that she didn’t notice the bear standing on its back legs eating the fish she’d caught earlier that afternoon. His rumbling growl didn’t penetrate until she was only a few feet away from him, and they came face to face. She froze, holding back the scream that threatened to erupt from her mouth, then tried to back away, but the bear growled, and she froze again.
Her mind seemed to have frozen with her brain, and she couldn’t think of a single spell to protect herself. Then to her horror, she heard Derek shouting her name, and the sound of his footsteps getting closer.
“Derek, stay back,” she hissed through clenched teeth, afraid to make too much noise.
She was still hoping that it would take the fish and go away, but then the bear raised its nose in the air and began to sniff. Loud snuffling sounds that made her cringe, and then it crashed down onto all four
s and began to pace around the camp, its nose in the air. She heard soft growls coming from deep in its throat and tried to warn Derek again.
“Derek, there’s a bear in camp; don’t come any closer,” she yelled, the bear’s attention off her and on whatever he smelled.
It hit her then that the bear was smelling Derek, detecting his animal side in the air, and recognizing a predator like himself. Before she could shout another warning, Derek walked into camp and the bear zeroed in on him, its hackles raising, a deep growl erupting from its chest.
Horrified, she watched as the bear charged Derek, reaching him in only a few seconds then wrapping his huge paws around him and throwing him to the ground. Finally freed of her fear, she screamed and ran over to where the bear and Derek were wrestling around on the ground, feeling helpless. Then a spell popped into her head, and she quickly recited it, giving Derek just enough extra strength to throw the bear off.
Chapter Ten
***Derek***
Derek felt a burst of power fill him and didn’t question where it came from, simply used it to throw the snarling bear across the camp. It landed in a heap, but was instantly on its feet, angrier than before, and ready to charge him again. Pain radiated from his abdomen where the bear had slashed him open, and the feel of blood, sticky and warm as it ran down his stomach, awakened something primal inside him.
He felt the tingle and burst of power that signaled a shift coming, and he rode the feeling, letting his pain and anger fuel his magic. In the blink of an eye, he was looking out of a wolf’s eyes, power flowing through him, every sense intensified. The bear rose up on its hind legs and let out a roar that shook the trees around him, but Derek was no longer scared.
Snarling at the bear, his huge white teeth glimmering in the moonlight, he took several steps toward it, then sprang, hitting it squarely in the chest and knocking it to the ground. It only took one bite of his massive jaws and a single shake of his powerful head to break the bear’s neck, and it went limp on the ground. Standing over it, his chest heaving with the effort of killing it, anger still pumping through him, he wasn’t aware of the blood slowly dripping onto the bear from his wound.
“Derek,” Lynette whispered, and he turned and snarled at her, his body still ready for a fight. But she didn’t move. Instead, she continued to repeat his name until the anger began to drain away.
Feeling the shift beginning to fade, he concentrated on her eyes, then with a painful burst of energy, he was back in his human form. He stumbled back away from the bear, his abdomen burning, blood still dripping from the wound, and collapsed onto the ground. Lynette rushed to his side, knelt down next to him, and gently moved his hands from where they’d been covering the wound.
“Oh, my God, Derek, you’re hurt,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You have to shift back and heal yourself.”
He shook his head. “I can’t...I can’t control myself when I shift,” he managed to gasp through the pain. “I might hurt you.”
“But if you don’t shift, you will die; this wound is bad,” she pleaded. “I can’t heal something like this, Derek. You’re going to have to do it.”
He looked over at the dead bear, the smell of blood making his body tingle and vibrate. “Get me away from that bear; leave me someplace by myself,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “Drag me if you have to; just get me away from here.”
Lynette sat back on her heels, looked over at the bear, and then down at Derek. “Hold on; let me see if I can help a little bit and then we’ll move you,” she said, then took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
She began to murmur a spell, the words unintelligible to him, but he felt a warmth spreading through him, and the pain began to fade. When she was finished, the wound had stopped bleeding, and he was able to slowly get to his feet with Lynette’s help.
“Can you ride?” she asked, helping him take a few shaky steps. “We need to get you to the mill, and that spell I used won’t last long.”
Derek shook his head. “Just get me away from here and leave me alone.”
Lynette shook her head. “That’s not going to happen, so I’d suggest you start walking,” she said, pulling him gently forward.
But they’d only gone a few steps when the pain began to return, and he knew that he was going to shift. “Lynette, you have to get away. I don’t want to hurt you,” he pleaded.
“I’m not leaving you alone,” she said, then took both his hands in hers. “Derek, I need you to close your eyes and hold onto me. I’m going to try something.”
The wolf inside him was clamoring to get out, all his instincts crying for a shift to save his life, but he closed his eyes and held onto Lynette’s hands with the last of his energy. When she began reciting another spell and his body began to hum, he took a deep breath and tried to block out everything but the feeling of her hands in his.
His body began to grow warm, and his head began to feel light, then he was suddenly weightless, floating. But almost as soon as the feeling began to get comfortable, the weight came back, along with the pain. Through the searing pain, he felt the wooden floor beneath him and heard the musical sound of the water wheel as it turned in the stream.
Lynette ripped open his shirt, whispering a spell under her breath, but stopped and gasped when she saw the wound. She tore off her shirt and gently dabbed at the wound, wincing when he cried out in pain, then threw the shirt down and looked at the wound again.
“It’s too deep for me to heal,” she said, leaning up on her knees to look into his eyes. “You have to shift and heal yourself.”
Derek shook his head. “I can’t control myself when I shift,” he said, the words barely a whisper. “I might hurt you.”
Lynette smiled down at him. “Sweetheart, I don’t think you’re in any condition to hurt me. Besides, I’m a witch; I can defend myself,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Please shift, Derek. I just found you, and I don’t want to lose you.”
Derek closed his eyes, feeling the life drain out of him, and knew that Lynette was right, but he was still scared. Then he felt one of her tears fall on his cheek, and a comforting warmth spread through him. When the second one fell, the feeling grew stronger, and deep inside, he knew that he’d never hurt Lynette.
***Lynette***
Lynette was past the point of caring if Derek saw her cry and desperate for a way to save him, but she knew that it was up to him, that the only magic that could heal the wound was his own. She laid her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat getting fainter, and fainter, then finally stop.
“Don’t die, Derek,” she sobbed, her tears soaking his chest.
But then he took a deep, shuddering breath, and she felt the silky smoothness of fur under her cheek. She sat up, still sobbing, to find Derek’s eyes looking at her from the body of a giant white wolf, but they were full of fear and panic. He thrashed his head a couple of times, forcing her to slide back a few feet, then lay still, his eyes still full of anguish.
“It’s okay, Derek; you’re fine. Don’t fight it; just let it take over,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm. “You’re a shifter, Derek, a giant white wolf, but that doesn’t mean you’re evil or cursed. Stop fighting your power, and you’ll be able to command it.”
Derek thrashed around again, then lay still, his eyes closed. When he opened them, they were calmer, and she heard the whisper of his voice in her head. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Just relax,” she said, sucking in huge breaths of air and nearly laughing with relief. “Your body knows what to do, but you have to let it.”
“Don’t leave me,” he whispered, then closed his eyes again.
Lynette reached out and stroked his face. “I’m going to do a healing spell to help you now,” she said, beginning to recite a cadence that made a bright light appear around the white wolf and the woman lying on the mill floor.
With each new beat of Derek’s heart, she felt him growing stronger, felt his magic
flowing through him, and the healing spell mending the damage the bear had done. Deep inside him, she felt the cells growing, his body repairing and she gave him as much of her magic as she could, until exhausted, she fell into a deep sleep.
The dark hours of the night passed as Lynette slept, and Derek healed, but neither knew that as they lay there, a pair of spirits watched them. They smiled at one another often, remembering the joy of young love, and hoped that the bonds that had kept them tied to the place they loved so much were finally beginning to loosen.
“Soon, my love, we’ll be free,” Jess said to Lisa as the sun began to lighten the eastern sky.
“Do you think the time has finally come?” she asked, her voice full of awe.
Jess nodded. “We’ve waited for a long time, my love,” he said. “But the time is near. They’ll watch out for this place, take care of it for us.”
Lynette woke to the feel of Derek’s wiry chest hair under her cheek and sat up, panicked. But then he opened his eyes and smiled at her, and she couldn’t stop the burst of laughter that exploded out of her. “Oh my god, you’re okay,” she said, sitting up on her knees and grabbing his face.
She kissed his nose, then his forehead, then both cheeks, and finally his mouth, laughing with joy the entire time. When she finally pulled back and looked at him, her face still filled with a huge smile, he looked a little shocked, but then a grin spread across his face.
“I guess I didn’t die after all,” he said, “but then again, this might be heaven.”
This time her kiss landed squarely on his mouth and the groan that came from deep in his throat sent chills of pleasure over her body. When she pulled away and grinned down at him, he said, “It must be heaven.”
“Nope, I couldn’t let you go yet,” she said, feeling embarrassed but unable to stop herself. “I thought I was going to lose you last night.”
“Well, thanks to you, it doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I wouldn’t have made it without you, Lynette.”
Daddy Wolves of the Wild Prequel Page 6
