Forbidden Bond: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Silver Moon Wolf Pack Book 1)

by Rae Foxx

  “Okay. I’m in. Let’s rip that traitor to shreds.”

  And the animals were on the ground again, Luke’s arms wrapping around me as he pressed me against him. “I didn’t expect you to be like this. So damned strong, and brave, and fucking fierce.”

  I feigned surprise. “Oh, you wanted a docile mate who prissed around and made cookies?”

  He chuckled, the sound more of a release than anything else. “No. Yes. I don’t know.”

  “What? You can’t handle me?” I asked, pressing my hips against his.

  “Handle you? I don’t think anyone can handle you, Cami. Hell, I’m still in shock over the fact that you’re like me. We’re the same now. No wonder you bit me with no problem. You didn’t know?”

  I thought back, still searching for some kind of minuscule clue from my childhood but came up empty. “No clue at all. But now we know.”

  “We do. That means I don’t have to be as careful with you now.”

  “Does that mean you’ve been holding back on me?”

  18

  Luke

  The longer we waited to serve retribution on Grant, the stronger his Alpha ties with my pack would get. Plus, if I had to guess, he knew we would be coming.

  Training a new wolf to fight takes time, something Grant knows better than anyone. If I could train Cami enough to take him down, we might be able to take him by surprise.

  “Okay, go ahead and shift,” I instructed Cami from across the clearing, the stuffed animals lined up before us. “Let’s see how fast you can transition. I know you were fast yesterday, but that was fueled by adrenaline and instinct. If you can transition fast every time that will give you an upper hand.”

  Cami screwed up her face in confusion, but didn’t say anything as she dug her heels into the dirt and stared at the ground. Her fists were balled up against her thighs, her knees bent as she grunted and groaned.

  She looked constipated.

  “Cami?” I finally asked after watching her struggle for a few minutes.

  She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, the thing is...I can’t.”

  “You can. I know you can. We don’t turn into a wolf one time and then never again.” I grinned at her in what I hoped was a vote of confidence, she scowled back.

  Truth was, I didn’t know what she was going through. I had never met anyone who hadn’t shifted before. Hell, I hadn’t met anyone who didn’t know they were a wolf before they shifted. I was going to have to get creative.

  “You need to focus. Find the wolf inside of you and let it emerge.” It made perfect sense to me, she looked at me like I was crazy.

  “I don’t have a wolf inside of me!” she snapped, hands on her hips. “I mean, I know I do, I just don’t feel anything.”

  “It’s there, baby,” I soothed, dodging the stuffed animals as I rushed back to her, she looked so scared, I couldn’t leave her there. “We will find it okay?”

  “Who knows, maybe I will see Grant and it’ll bust out again and rip his head off before he knows what’s up.” She chuckled, but it was half-hearted. We both knew we couldn’t rely on that if this was going to work.

  “Do you remember when you were a wolf and I talked you through shifting back to human?” I tapped her chin, lifting it to look at me, nearly the same as I had when she was a wolf, and I ruffled my hands through her fur.

  “Yeah.” She blew out a breath, but her reddened cheeks let me know how frustrating this was for her.

  “Same thing. If it makes any sense, just let yourself take a back seat. Ask her mentally to take over and picture the shift in your mind.”

  Cami gave me a look like I was one inch away from insanity, but she didn’t say anything. She went back to her constipation stance with only one glare sent my way.

  Gods above, this female was a sight to see as she strained and grunted while trying to shift. But her wolf never came, not even a sprouting of fur or a claw was to be seen.

  It was painful to watch.

  “New strategy,” I interrupted her, and her shoulders relaxed. “I’m going to shift and speak to your wolf, call her out.”

  “Wait, what? Like, are you going to howl at me or something? Because if I have to learn wolf howl language, I can promise you we don’t have enough time for that.” She crossed her arms over her waist and popped her hip. I couldn’t help but chuckle, even pissed off she was a firecracker.

  Damn. This woman was made for me.

  “We can speak to each other while in wolf form,” I explained it as simply as I could, knowing that it was going to sound crazy. “It’s part of the mating bond with wolves, and now that you can shift, I should be able to communicate with your wolf and get her to show her pretty face.”

  She dipped her chin and gave me her trademark sassy smile. I grinned, already knowing what was coming.

  “Oh, so you love me for my pretty wolf. I see how it is. Go on, then. Flirt with my wolf. See if you can get her to come play.”

  Instead of boosting her ego with a compliment to her human side, I blew her a kiss and shifted in place. Her eyes widened as my wolf emerged, the shock and awe at seeing the creature emerged evident.

  No wonder she was having trouble shifting, it was all still new and frightening.

  ‘Hello beautiful, mate. Come to me. Show yourself. I know you’re in there. Let me see you.’ I tried to push some of my natural power as a born Alpha into my voice, trying to coax my wolf mate.

  But there was no answer.

  “Stop, this isn’t working,” Cami said, her voice strained. I almost shifted back, until the sound of muscles and tendons splitting caught my ears. She winced, her body shaking as she asked me to stop again.

  Except she wasn’t asking me to stop, she was asking her wolf.

  She was fighting the change.

  ‘Stop fighting, Cami.’ I whispered into her mind, hoping that Cami could hear me. Her body relaxed, her eyes lifting to mine. ‘Let it happen. It’s okay.’.

  Her eyes were scared as she exhaled with a shake, and then she closed her eyes, and her wolf burst from her.

  It was as quick as it was the first time. Her wolf ripped from her, emerging in a quick snap. I had never seen anyone shift so fast, especially after she fought so hard against it.

  Her amber fur rippled in the breeze, her bright eyes looking into mine as her ears twitched.

  My mate was equally gorgeous in both forms.

  ‘Can you hear me now?’

  Her wolf twitched as she jumped, her wolf eyes widening. ‘Holy shit! I can hear you!’

  My wolf jumped too; her excitement was contagious. ‘Good, now shift back.’

  Her wolf bared its teeth at me. ‘The fuck? I got this way and now you want me to go back?’

  I chuckled, weird wheezing rattling my wolf's throat.

  ‘You need to get used to shifting on the fly, Cami. You need to be comfortable with shifting without so much work, but mostly without my help. If you can master that, it will make your fight against Grant that much easier.’ I stepped to her, nuzzling her muzzle with mine as I tried to reassure her the ways wolves knew best, with physical contact. ‘You can do this. You and your wolf are two companions sharing the same being. Converse with her. Come into a balance with her so that shifting is as easy as breathing.’

  ‘You sound like Mr. Miyagi, but okay. Let’s try this.’

  She caught on quick despite her bout of trouble before. Her first shift back to human was troublesome, but after that, she was going in and out as quickly as I could snap. Before the sun peaked in the sky, she was shifting back and forth, wolf to human, flawlessly, maybe even better than me. I couldn’t help but be amazed.

  ‘Okay, what else?’ She asked, going back to wolf as I laid on my belly and watched her in awe. ‘I’m ready to kick Grant’s ass.’

  ‘Okay, here we go!’ I didn’t give her any warning, I rounded her as I would an enemy, looking for an opportunity to strike. The hairs on the back of her neck raised in warning as she went in
to a defensive pose, ready to fight me. She watched me as though she was a predator, stalking my every move. She had an instinct. Perfect.

  When I moved to strike, she darted right out of my way. Not only did she move, but she struck back fast. She missed.

  ‘Shit!’

  ‘That was close.’ I wasn’t even sugar-coating it. God, she was amazing. ‘This shouldn’t be too bad. I have a few moves that I know will get you the win. Grant has his weak spots, same as everyone. Lucky for us, I know what they are.’

  ‘Okay, so what do I go for? Is it his balls? Oh wait, that wouldn’t work, we already know he doesn’t have any of those.’

  ‘Please stay away from Grant’s balls…’ I tried not to laugh, but it was pointless. ‘Go for his hind legs. Neck. Stomach. But those are also the places we defend the best. For Grant, his left shoulder is weak, it's an old injury and he always protects it. So if you feign there, you should be able to take a bite out of the right side of his neck. But you have to watch...’

  I showed her what I meant, and she was able to replicate it easily. She wasn’t the best fighter, I had to admit, but there was a rawness to her actions that would serve her well. If she relied on that, she would be fine.

  Hours later, we lay sweaty and heaving in the evening sun, we had only been in this forest one day, and my mate had become a raw fighting machine. I had tried to teach her all I could but in doing so had learned more about myself. I was out of practice and that was completely my fault. Maybe Grant had a point. I had been so focused on finding Cami that I had neglected myself. Neglected my pack.

  Never again. I only needed to learn that lesson once.

  “What now?” Cami leaned against me, putting her head on my shoulder.

  “You and I go after them. We have to get past the guards--beeline for the...Grant and take him down.”

  She blew out a breath. “I’ll kill him for trying to take what is ours.”

  “We’ll take him down together.”

  19

  Cami

  Luke had insisted that the best way to get into the pack lands was in our wolf forms. Seeing as I hadn’t been in my wolf form for longer than a day, I had to believe him. Even though trekking the entire way through the forest seemed like overkill.

  Except, as it turned out, he was right. Not really much of a shocker there.

  My wolf knew what to do. She padded through the undergrowth like a graceful hunter, avoiding branches darting through narrow passages, all while hearing every snap of limb and crackle of leaves. She anticipated the wind as it blew through her fur. It was like I had another personality inside me, a hiking, nature type girl, but times nineteen thousand.

  Those superpowers that Luke had talked about were no joke.

  Not only could I hear everything, but I could also see everything even though it was the middle of the night and blacker than Satan’s asshole out here. I bit a leaf and purposefully pushed against a twig, listening to every fiber of the thing cracking, then turned to a low hoot of an owl that was fifty, no, fifty-seven yards away.

  I bounced on my paws and broke another twig. This was fun!

  ‘You’re having too much fun for someone trying to go into battle.’ Luke mind-spoke to me. Didn’t know whether or not that was the technical term for it, but that’s what I was going to call it.

  ‘I’m not looking forward to the battle, but I have to admit, this part is okay.’ I bounced ahead, cracking at least five more twigs. It’s a good thing that wolves can’t laugh, or I’d be cackling like a witch.

  ‘Stop!’ Luke’s voice cracked in my head and I froze like I was some kind of cartoon character, tail straight, paws and legs all disjointed as I struggled to keep my balance.

  Luke sped right by me, his wolf an elegant stream-lined mass as he skidded to a halt near a huge oak tree.

  ‘Smell that?’ he asked as I caught my balance and raced to where he was. The scents of other wolves along with food and everyday scents filled my nose. Laundry detergent. Soap. Gasoline. Food.

  ‘We’re at the pack lands?’

  ‘Yes. See, he’s got guards everywhere.’

  I moved closer to him, our giant wolves hiding behind a large bush of scrub oak. I could barely make out the guards Luke was talking about, but I could smell them. Not only were there guards at the entrance, but now there were guards at every ten feet or so.

  ‘That fucker sure is paranoid,’ I whispered to Luke who stood close to me as though I might bolt into action without him.

  The thought had crossed my mind. In my mind, everyone left in the pack, except for Luke’s parents and sister, who had committed the crime of betrayal against my mate. I knew there was some level of rock and hard place with these hierarchy wolf things but damn it. Luke was the true Alpha. Even I knew that.

  ‘He is. Always has been. But it’s normal to be paranoid when you’re after what belongs to someone else,’ Luke chuckled in my head and I gave him a big wolfy eye-roll, which only turned his chuckle into a bellow, even his wolf hissed out a weird laugh of a sound. ‘Now, remember what we talked about. I will challenge Grant; he will probably come up with some asinine reason why I can’t fight him, and we are going to let him think I will go along with him. But when he comes after you, and he will, then you shift and take him down as we talked about. Shift fast, bite down. You’re quick, he won’t be expecting it.’

  I gave him a look; it was all too complicated. I still didn’t understand why I couldn’t challenge him outright. There had to be some kind of masculinity thing there, but I wasn’t going to touch it.

  ‘And what if he doesn’t come after me? Do I challenge him then?’ I had asked this question before, and Luke gave me a disparaging look before turning to hunt one of the guard wolves that was moving closer to our hiding place.

  ‘He has to initiate the fight with you. If you challenge him…’ he sighed, his shoulders shaking as he prepared to pounce at the guard.

  ‘If I challenge him, what?’

  ‘You’ll see. Now, I’m going to take down Eddie over there. He’s our easiest target. Used to be one of my best guards, but he’s weak in hand to hand fighting.’

  ‘What do I do?’ I peered around the bush to one of the beefier guards, already planning on how to dig into those gorged calves with my canines.

  ‘Follow me after Eddie is down. I want you to save your strength. Follow me quietly. We’ll go right into Grant’s house--well, my house.’

  I nodded once. As much as I wanted to fight, he was probably right. I didn’t have enough practice as a wolf to know what I was doing anyway.

  Luke’s wolf nuzzled my own before he turned, slinking through the scrub oak to belly crawl down the small hill to where Eddie had turned to pace in the opposite direction. Luke jumped onto his back, teeth over the poor wolf's neck as he dragged him into another bank of scrub oak.

  My entire body shook, the hairs on the back of my neck bristling with what I had witnessed. I couldn’t tell if Eddie was dead or not, and part of me didn’t care. I had been too worried about Luke during his last fight to truly appreciate how quick and skilled he was.

  It was kind of creepy.

  Awesome and creepy.

  ‘Okay. Come on.’ I followed Luke’s command and sped down the hill, my attempt and copying Luke’s belly crawl turning into a roll with my paws in the air.

  Yeah, I still had a long way to go.

  ‘Graceful,’ Luke chuckled, and I gave him the best glare I could muster before following Luke through the dark and to the house I had only spent a few precious days in.

  With stealth footsteps we breezed around the tree line that surrounded the cabins, Luke only had to take down one more of Grant’s guards before the back porch of Luke’s house emerged, every light in the house was on.

  That didn’t seem like a good sign.

  ‘That’s Trevor.’ Luke whispered, inclining his muzzle to the lone man who stood on the back porch of the house.

  Following Luke, we both shifted bac
k to human and walked up the back steps of the porch hand in hand. Trevor was smiling, clearly glad to see us, except the closer we got the more forced the smile looked. The more panicked his eyes became.

  “Hello Trevor,” Luke began, his voice hard. “We’re here to take back what belongs to us.”

  Trevor’s eyes shifted to me and then back to Luke. “I know. And please forgive me, Luke. You know how it is.”

  “I do,” Luke said, pulling me to a stop at the base of the porch, his hand tightening around mine. “Do what you need to do.”

  Luke’s words sunk into my chest and Trevor put both fingers in his mouth and blew, whistling for someone. He backed up and looked down as the new Alpha flung open the back door, Michelle on his heels.

  “You are quicker than I expected,” Grant mused, his eyes bloodshot, his smile wider and more wicked than I remembered. “Although I have no idea why you came back. You will still lose.”

  20

  Luke

  “I came back for my pack,” I answered Grant with a growl, standing my ground, not willing to give up an inch of it. I looked inside the house briefly, needing to know if more of Grant’s cronies were inside but instead chuckled at the fact that he had rearranged the furniture.

  He worked fast. I would give him that.

  But it would take a lot more than moving things around to change what was and try to erase all remains of the knowledge that I was the Alpha and he had won by forfeit only.

  Bastard would pay for the trick he pulled.

  “Your pack? Your pack?” Grant’s voice tapered up in volume with each word, Michelle’s smile spreading even as Trevor winced and cowered under his control. Grant could raise his voice all he wanted, but it didn’t contain an ounce of power. That was reserved for the true Alpha.

  “Yes. Mine,” I puffed out my chest, eyes focused on the cheating bastard as I raised my voice, letting my presence be known to every shifter in our pack. If I was going to do this, I was going to do this the right way.