Escaping Monsters: A Reverse Harem Wolf Shifter Romance (Grayhaven Book 1)

by Rita Stradling

  “Of course,” Ace said. “I’m not thinking straight. I’ve heard demons talk about their hell hounds before. Almost all humanoid creatures keep some sort of pet.”

  “We don’t,” Jasper said.

  “Sure we do…” Declan said as he reached out and rubbed Chad’s head, “We have our pet wolf Chad over here—” Declan cut off in a laugh as Chad nipped his hand.

  It was a quick bite that didn’t break the skin, not a challenge, but a less dominant wolf telling his superior to fuck off.

  Ace covered his mouth and chuckled into his hand, which made Chad glower across the bed. “Honestly, that opens up a whole list of possibilities—I have to do some more research.”

  Without saying another word, Ace rushed from the room. The other men all stayed, clearly deep in thought.

  “You’re the local expert on magical animals, Lucas,” Jasper said as he leaned back against the wall. “How likely is it that Teagan can reason with one?”

  Lucas sighed and set down my foot. “I hate to say this, but, unlikely. Magical animals are, in essence, animals with magical abilities. From what I’ve seen, domesticated animals can learn to follow commands, but that’s usually the limitation of communication. Even with feral wolves, whom we can communicate with in a base way, it would be difficult to communicate such a nuanced message.”

  I nodded. “And, if I summoned the memory eater while I was with Oliver, and the memory eater wiped my mind, I’d be at Oliver’s mercy.”

  “It was a good idea. We just need to come up with more of them,” Jasper said, and he sounded like he truly meant it rather than he was patronizing me. It didn’t stop the bitter edge of disappointment slicing through my hope.

  With a sigh, Jasper kicked off the wall. “Alright, food is ready—it’s been an hour, so it should be. Hopefully, I didn’t burn the thing.”

  Chad hopped up and dashed over Declan and me, racing for the kitchen.

  “That’s two of you,” Jasper growled. “Deck, Lucas, get out of here. If you wouldn’t mind setting the table, it would be appreciated.”

  Declan squeezed me tight, kissed my hair, and set me down on the mattress, and Lucas gave me a reassuring smile as they headed for the door.

  “I guess a magical memory eater was too easy.” Feeling a little self-conscious, I crawled to the edge of the bed and crossed the room to Jasper. “Did you want to talk to me?”

  His blue gaze fell to the floor and then rose to meet my eyes. “I wanted to ask you a question.”

  “Okay.”

  “When I decide that there is no other option but kill Oliver Hunt, do you want me to tell you, or do you want me to never mention it again?” Jasper asked.

  The answer came automatically. “I’d rather know than wonder—always.”

  It would probably inevitably come to that, but I was hoping that some other magical solution would present itself first.

  Jasper kicked off the wall and came to stand over me. He inspected my face closely, and there was puzzlement in his blue gaze. “Sometimes… I have a hard time understanding why people act the way they do. Like now, I can’t understand why you’d want to keep this man alive while he’s a direct threat to you and the pack. Do you feel guilty?”

  I shook my head.

  “You broke a bottle and held it to my throat, and you carry a gun with silver ammo.”

  “I did.”

  The werewolf world was brutal. I had no delusions about that. Oliver had invaded Jasper’s territory and attempted to kidnap Jasper’s mate. No werewolf alive would deny that Jasper had every right to kill Oliver, and on top of all that, Oliver was a piece of shit asshole.

  I gripped my hands into fists. And for just a moment, I wanted to tell Jasper the horrific truth. My hands would never come clean from all of the blood I was forced to spill. There was only one thing that I could say that was true, “There have been too many deaths in my life.”

  Jasper didn’t look like he understood me any better, but he nodded. “I’m going to eat out there with the pack. Do you want to join us? I could bring you a plate in here if you want some time alone. Maybe we’ve been crowding you.”

  I shook my head. “I’ve felt so desperately alone for so long that being with you guys… it’s wonderful. I’d much rather join you guys for dinner. Just give me a minute.”

  Jasper's hands raised, and he cupped my cheeks. His thumb brushed over my chin. “Sometimes, I think more like a wolf than a human. I don’t want to frighten you.”

  I licked my lips. “You don’t scare me, Jasper.”

  I was the one who scared myself because it was so very easy to end a life—messy, but easy. The knife slips in, the screaming ends, and the spark of life flickers out. Then one was over, and one was forever shattered.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I threw myself into work for the next two days. There wasn’t much else to do in the firehouse while the men did their various jobs, and I knew that leaving my small fortress would be unnecessarily putting the men in danger.

  Declan and Chad had appointed themselves my night guards, and for the third morning in a row, I woke sprawled across Declan’s chest, with our blankets thrown off. Even though the room was cool, sweat clung to my skin and that was one hundred percent because of the massive gray wolf leaning into my side.

  “Even though it’s the last thing I want to do, I need to move you, my sexy Cherry,” Declan whispered as he wrapped an arm around me and gently rolled me on the bed.

  “It’s Saturday…” I mumbled. “Don’t you get a morning off?”

  “If I leave my traps open, I can,” Declan said as he scooted to the side of the bed.

  Chad made a low grunt and settled closer to me, but I was already sweaty, so I crawled after Declan. He sat at the edge of the bed, shoving his feet into his boots.

  I draped my arms over his shoulders and muttered. “How about Monday morning we sleep in together?”

  He hummed in agreement and rubbed my arm. “Did I tell you that I even like the smell of your morning breath?”

  I covered my mouth and laughed through my fingers. “Now I know you’re lying.”

  He wrapped his hands around the back of my knees and stood, pulling me into a piggyback. “Okay, that one was a small lie, but every other time was the truth.” Declan crossed to the bathroom and turned around to set my butt on the counter, before spinning to face me. “Do you want to brush each other’s teeth, or each our own?”

  I covered my face and shook my head. “Declan, I’m way too tired to come up with a response to that.”

  He scooted between my legs, nudging my knees apart with his hips. “Then just open wide, I’ll do the work.”

  That statement could be taken dirty, and with Declan, I never knew for sure. But when I peeked through my fingers, Declan was indeed, holding my toothbrush at the ready.

  I rolled my eyes as I took it from him and started to brush my teeth. “I think I can manage.”

  Declan leaned past me, loaded his brush and smiled as he cleaned his teeth above me. It was strangely intimate, and as I stared up at the big guy while toothbrush foam formed in his mouth, I couldn’t help but think what a damn shame it was that I missed out on ten years with Declan.

  I leaned over the sink and rinsed out my mouth as he did the same. Then I reached up and ran my hands over his shoulders. “Is this the Declan way of saying that you want a good morning kiss?”

  “I’d love a good morning fuck, Cherry, but we don’t have time…” He made an exaggerated surprised expression. “Oh, did you say kiss?” Declan leaned in, grinning wolfishly at me. “But you’re so tiny, I can’t reach your lips.” Declan lifted me off the counter and as I was only wearing another one of his oversize t-shirts and a pair of lacy underwear, the big guy was unabashedly cupping my mostly bare ass. His lips came down on mine, and I wrapped around him like a koala as I opened my mouth for him. My lips tingled as I tasted his peppermint mouth and sucked on his minty lips.

  When I broke o
ff our kiss for air, I admitted, “Maybe Monday morning, I could have a good morning kiss and a good morning fuck, too, Declan…”

  Heat flushed up my face. “Damnit, Declan, this is a little embarrassing, but I just realized that I didn’t know your last name.”

  “Connor,” Declan said. “That’s my real last name, but in town, we all just go by Wolf. You can too, you know.”

  “So, Wolf isn’t Lucas’ last name?”

  “I’m not sure the old man even remembers his human last name,” Declan said with a mischievous little grin.

  “Lucas isn’t old.” I rolled my eyes. “He’s a silver fox, and he’s barely silver at that, Declan Connor.”

  “I bet I could take you on a better date than the silver fox could—it would be more fun at any rate.”

  A surge of excitement bubbled up in me. That was right. Today was Saturday, aka, the day of my date with Lucas.

  “I’m starting to get suspicious that the twinkle in your gaze isn’t for me, Cherry,” Declan said, and there was a trace of annoyance in his voice, but he mostly sounded like he was kidding.

  “I am excited about the date.” Leaning in, I gave Declan another light peck. “If you want to take me out, Declan, you’re just going to have to pluck up the courage and ask me.”

  “Oh, no, I’m not wanting to bring you on some old man date, when I take you out, it will be the best night of your life. You’ll forget all other dates ever happened.”

  “That’s quite a declaration.” Laughing, I set my feet back on the ground, heading over for my jeans, which I’d folded on top of the counter.

  “It’s not only a declaration, it’s a promise,” Declan said as he followed me.

  “I’m going to go grab some coffee,” I said to Declan.

  He gave me an exaggerated scowl “You think I don’t know why you’re rushing off to the coffee maker, Cherry, but I know. Oh, I know.”

  I wriggled into my jeans and crossed back to the hulking, tatted goofball. Leaning in, I gave Declan one more quick kiss. “I want to catch Lucas before he goes to work and ask him about our date. Don’t get jealous and force him out of the room, okay?”

  “Who’s jealous?” Declan rubbed his buzzed hair. “I mean, how many women are even into good looking, well-built, middle-aged doctors who love reading and animals and helping people with no thought to themself… that’s not even a thing.”

  “I’m perfectly capable of being into all of him and all of you too, Declan,” I said. “You guys are the ones who told me I was all of your mates.”

  “That may be true…” Declan held up his hands. “However, it doesn’t mean that I won’t take you on a date that makes you forget that Lucas ever got there first… or that he took you out at all.”

  I sighed and patted Declan’s cheek. “I don’t want to miss Lucas, so I’m going to head out to the living room.”

  My heart did a little flip as I found Lucas already standing by the kitchen island. He was facing the burbling coffeemaker, and the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air.

  He looked back over his shoulder at me and shot me a smile. “You’re up early.”

  “I wanted to catch you before you were off to work.” Butterflies took flight in my stomach as I leaned into the counter next to him, and he pivoted to hand me a cup of coffee. Our fingers just barely brushed as I took the mug from him, and even that light touch had my heart skipping. My crush on the reserved older veterinarian was growing every day, so much so, I was starting to feel a little embarrassed about it.

  “I seem to remember that we were going on a date tonight, and I need to confess that I haven’t been able to get a dress yet.”

  Lucas’ smile faded. “About that…”

  Seeing his expression, my butterflies died a quick and swift death. I nodded.

  “I really want to take you out on a date, Teagan, but not if it risks your safety,” Lucas said the words gently, but firmly.

  “Yeah, of course.” Tears formed in my eyes, and I blinked them away rapidly. It felt so ridiculous to feel upset about Lucas canceling our date with everything that was going on, but I hadn’t let myself get excited about anything for so long, and I really wanted to spend an evening with the veterinarian. I tried to laugh. “I was being silly.”

  “Hey.” Lucas set down his coffee mug and reached for my hand. When I wrapped my fingers around his, he squeezed gently. “There’s good news though. Jasper dropped by early this morning, and he says he has an update for all of us. All he would tell me is that Oliver Hunt is alive and in Grayhaven, but he might be less of a problem for us.”

  “Jasper is coming back this morning to update us?” I asked because Jasper had pretty much vanished off the planet. The only trace of him I saw was the money that kept appearing in my bag.

  A scraping sounded at the door downstairs, and there was a quiet thud before Jasper walked out of the stairwell completely naked.

  I had already seen Jasper’s body in the darkness of the forest and up close when we slept together, but seeing every inch of him in all his scarred and beautiful glory was something else entirely. Jasper’s blue eyes met mine, and he looked me over quickly before pacing into his room and emerging a minute later with a pair of jeans. Chad and Declan were close behind him as if called.

  “Where’s Ace?” Declan asked as he glanced around.

  “He should be here at any moment. I couldn’t give him a ride home, so he spent the night at the bar with a stack of books doing some research.” Jasper crossed the room and leaned into the counter beside me. His hands wrapped around my mug, and he raised it to his lips and took a sip before setting it down.

  “Everything okay?” he asked me. When I nodded, he looked between the members of his pack before focusing back on me. “Oliver Hunt was just imprisoned by the demons, and they’re deciding on what they are going to do with him. Even though I informed the demons that Oliver had a track record of violence toward women, they still allowed him to pay for the room by feeding their succubuses in private. The demon I talked to wouldn’t tell me what Oliver did to the succubus, but from their reaction, it was extremely violent. They’ve taken him into their compound off the fairgrounds and say that we likely won’t see Oliver Hunt again.” Jasper sighed. “I’m not convinced, but they haven’t moved him in six hours. We’ll monitor the compound in rotating shifts until the demons confirm that Oliver is dead.”

  Lucas and Declan seemed to know exactly what to do, because they moved into action, both of them jogging in separate directions. Chad hunkered down at my feet. Within minutes, it was only Jasper, me, and the wolf, standing in the kitchen.

  Jasper reached over and took another sip of my coffee as his gaze fixed steadily on me. “Ace tells me that you’ve discovered quite a fae problem.”

  I reached to the chain around my neck and pulled out the iron necklace. “I’m sorry to say, but you have a little more than a problem. About half of your maintenance tools have been replaced with twigs and berries, and that’s not even your biggest problem. The fae replaced the leaf-springs on your firetruck with actual leaves, so even if you had enough gasoline to drive to the fire, your vehicle has no suspension underneath it. Also, I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of fae creature living in your refrigerator—but I haven’t been fast enough to catch them. Ace says there’s a method to keep them out of your house, but you won’t do it.”

  “If the fae can’t get to our house, they can’t tell us about their fires, and before we know it, the whole city burns.” Jasper’s eyes slipped closed as he spoke.

  “You look like you’re ready to pass out. When’s the last time you slept?” I reached out and grabbed his hand, and Jasper immediately wrapped his fingers around mine.

  “Tuesday night. Lucas said I needed to pass out before I go into recovery myself.” His words came out measured.

  “Better listen to the doctor, then…” I tugged on Jasper’s hand and led him toward his room, and he went with me with eyes half-closed. Jas
per sat on the bed.

  “Sweet dreams, Alpha.” I stepped before him and kissed the top of his head. “Thank you for doing so much to protect me, Jasper.”

  The werewolf alpha leaned in and nuzzled his head against my stomach. “I didn’t protect you for three thousand six hundred fifty-two days.”

  “That…” I paused to chew on my lip. I was going to tell Jasper that it wasn’t his responsibility to protect me, but, somehow, I knew that nothing I could say would convince him of that. Instead, I said, “Those years happened, and they’re gone. I’m trying to live in today and look forward to life tomorrow, and today…” I ran my fingers through his dark hair, “Today, I appreciate the hell out of you for protecting me.”

  He gazed up at me with heavy-lidded eyes. “I appreciate the fuck out of you trusting me to protect you.”

  “And now, I’m going to protect you by insisting you go to sleep before you go into recovery and end up saying embarrassing shit like I did.”

  “I think you already know that there isn’t a moment that passes where I don’t want to be buried deep inside you, Mate.” As he spoke, he laid back across the bed and let his eyes slip closed.

  I leaned over him and gave his lips a soft kiss. “See you when you wake up, Jasper.”

  He hummed, and a smile tilted up the side of his full lips. The alpha murmured something unintelligible, and then his breaths evened out.

  As I turned away, a strange, giddy feeling swelled up in me, and I realized I was happy. Not only was I happy, but I felt hope. My hand had mostly healed, and I had a thousand dollars cash, on hand, but somehow, I didn’t want to run.

  The moment I stepped out of the bedroom, a giant wolf bounded up and collided with my legs, almost knocking me over.

  “Holy shit, Chad,” I said through a laugh.

  He wiped his jaw along my knee as I headed back toward the kitchen.

  “I guess we should make something to eat and then get to work,” I said as I scratched behind his ears. My last two days were spent with Chad in his wolf form, working down a list that Jasper gave me of the supplies the fire station needed for their upcoming summer. The wolf had managed to help me find everything I’d asked for, even with our limited communication.