A huge pressure on his spine compressed his lungs, suffocating him. Then the weight and the wolf disappeared.
Gasping, he shoved up on his hands. A surge of adrenaline rushed through him. But it was more than that. He was no longer alone. Something else was inside him.
The wolf wasn’t gone. The wolf was now a part of him.
Determination gave him strength. He fought hard, toes and fingers digging into the foggy land beneath him, away from the light. On a yell, he catapulted himself back the way he’d come, back to Addie.
****
She was lying with her head on his chest, her tears blinding her, when Billy’s entire body jerked as though it had been jolted with an electrical current. She pushed upright and stared down at him. He was still and quiet. Had she imagined it?
Then his eyes flew open, and he took a huge gasp of air. It was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard.
He was alive. She began to laugh and cry and run her hands over his face, to reassure herself it was really happening. “Can you hear me?” she demanded.
He was having difficulty breathing, and his skin was hot. His fever had spiked again. Determined, she pushed herself up and dragged him back into the stream. He didn’t fight her. No, he used his hands to help propel himself into the water.
“I’ve got you,” she reassured him. Although, it was a toss-up as to which one of them was weaker. She’d spent her reserves and was running on fumes.
He didn’t speak, just kept his gaze locked on her, as if he couldn’t quite believe she was here. “I won’t leave you,” she promised.
He wrapped his fingers around hers, his grip stronger than it should be. “Won’t leave you,” he pledged in return.
Tears of relief flowed down her cheeks. Usually, she’d be ashamed to show such weakness, especially in front of someone she didn’t know well, but this was Billy. The bond between them was strong, created under the direst of circumstances.
He’d almost died because of her. She could never forget that. And he wasn’t likely to.
When morning came, he’d have to leave. She’d help him get back to wherever he’d come from. He had to have a vehicle. Then she’d go home and face her pack on her own.
She shivered and pulled him closer.
But they had until morning. What was left of the night was theirs.
Her wolf began to howl inside her. The creature didn’t want to let him go. Neither did she. But he was human, and her pack would never allow such a thing.
Maybe his pack would. His mother was human and was mated to a wolf.
But no, her family, her pack would never let her go. It was nothing more than wishful thinking. And really, what was she considering? That she’d give up everything she’d ever known for a stranger? Even one who’d saved her life? And that was assuming he even wanted her. Her thoughts were entirely muddled. After everything she’d been through, it was no wonder she wasn’t thinking straight.
They were even now. He’d saved her life and she’d saved his. It would have to be enough.
Neither of them spoke as the sky began to lighten. When the first faint rays of gold began to peek from behind the mountain, he stirred.
The night was over and the morning’s reckoning had arrived.
Her arm around him, she guided him back to the shore, grateful the fever was gone and he was strong enough to help. They stumbled onto the sleeping bag, fatigue making them both clumsy.
Taking her totally off guard, Billy caught her face in his large hands and kissed her.
The water had made her cold. As a werewolf, she could usually regulate her body temperature, but she’d been too weak after everything and was chilled to the bone. Not any longer. The heat from his kiss warmed her from her toes to the top of her head.
It was a soft, gentle kiss, but it packed one heck of a punch.
He leaned back and the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile. “Guess I’m going to live.”
Too overcome to speak, she nodded. Trying to regain her composure, she took a deep breath. Went still. There was an unknown wolf in the area. With her nose stuffy from crying and the rushing water washing away any scent, she hadn’t noticed it before. She surged to her feet, fighting off a wave of dizziness before turning in a circle, trying to locate the source.
“What is it?” he asked, alert and scanning the trees.
“Wolf.” She kept sniffing. The creature was close. Too close. It was impossible, but her nose wasn’t lying. “It’s you.”
Chapter Four
As though some internal button had been pushed, all his senses went on overload. The gentle rush of the stream became a thundering torrent. Goose bumps ran up and down his bare limbs, but he wasn’t cold. The fresh, earthy scent of stream and shoreline filled his nostrils. Unfortunately, so did the smell of damp clothes. Not pleasant.
Everything around him was crisper, sharper. It was as though he’d been seeing the world with rounded edges and blurred lines his entire life, and the truth had finally been revealed. The colors were richer. Even in the dim light of dawn, he could differentiate between the various shades of greens and browns around him.
And then there was Addie.
He’d thought her beautiful before. He’d been wrong, so very wrong. Beautiful was too weak a word. Her hair was a glorious mixture of rich hues of brown, lush and thick. Her skin was luminous. But it was her spirit, her strength that captured him.
She hadn’t left him. More than that, she’d called him back from the brink of death, maybe even from death itself.
“Did I die?”
She nodded and took another step away from him. Her fear hit him with the force of a sledgehammer, the pungent scent of it burning his nostrils.
“I won’t hurt you,” he promised. “I’ll never hurt you.” He wouldn’t allow anyone else to harm her either. Addie belonged to him.
And where the hell had this newfound possessiveness come from?
He sensed it then, the other inside him. The wolf he’d seen in his vision or near-death experience, or whatever the hell it had been, was still with him.
The wolf was what had allowed him to live, to come back. He didn’t understand any of this, but that didn’t matter. The only thing that did was that he was here and he was alive.
“Addie.” He held out his hand, hoping she’d take it. She shook her head and took another step away. It was killing him to watch her distance herself from him. Probably not the best choice of words after what he’d just survived.
“You saved my life,” he reminded her. She needed to understand he would never harm her, that she could trust him.
“I had to.” She swallowed heavily, making her slender throat ripple. She was naked and shivering. He wasn’t sure if it was from fear or cold, but he did know he didn’t like seeing her in distress.
“I know.” He patted the slightly damp sleeping bag. “Come and sit. Please,” he added. One of his shirts lay on the ground. It smelled like her, so he knew she’d worn it. He picked it up and held it out to her.
She edged closer, snatched it from his hand, and tugged it on. As much as he liked seeing her naked, he also liked seeing her wrapped in a piece of his clothing. She was wary of him now. Not that he blamed her. He wasn’t quite sure what he was, but he was no longer fully human.
He wrapped his arms around his bent knees and peered at the sunrise, trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible. “I never expected to see that again.” He pointed to the sun slowly rising in the eastern sky. “It’s beautiful.”
She tentatively sat down beside him, but he sensed her nervousness. Not that he could blame her. He’d basically come back from the dead, very changed from what he’d been before. Humans normally didn’t survive werewolf bites. It was so rare it was considered myth by most. Yet, here he was.
What neither of them knew yet was just how far the change went.
“I love the early morning,” she whispered. “It’s so quiet.” The offering was a balm to h
is soul.
“I like sharing it with you.” He turned from nature’s glorious show and faced her. “Thank you for saving my life.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. He was glad his knees were bent, because he was suddenly sporting an erection. Guess that really proved he wasn’t dead.
“We need to get going,” she pointed out. “I’m not sure if Simon and Jude will come back this morning.”
“Why didn’t anyone come looking for you last night?” He would have expected someone from her pack to come searching.
She shrugged. “I told Momma I was heading out for a run, but not where or who I was going with. I thought I’d be home in time for supper. If they bothered to ask Jude or Simon, maybe they lied and said I’d decided to spend the night in the woods. I have no idea.”
“Is that normal?” His tone was sharper than he’d expected. Damn, he was being a hypocrite seeing as though he’d planned to spend the night in the woods by himself.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she began, her tone brusque. He almost smiled, liking that she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. “But no, it’s not normal. I don’t like to worry my parents, and my daddy doesn’t like me out on my own.” She sighed and pushed her damp hair over her shoulder. “Too many single males in the pack want a mate.”
“And you don’t want them.” He knew that as certain as he was sitting here. If she’d set her sights on a male wolf, she be mated by now.
“I’ve known them all my life. I like a lot of them, but as friends. You don’t know how difficult it is to be expected to mate when you don’t want to.”
A quick laugh escaped him, making her frown. “I’m not laughing at you. It’s just I have the opposite problem. I want someone special in my life, but I can’t bring a human who knows nothing of wolves into the pack.”
Addie smiled and her entire face brightened. “Yeah, that would be a problem. We’re just a couple of misfits.” She got to her feet and staggered. He was beside her, his arm around her waist before he was conscious of moving. He was much, much faster than he’d been only yesterday. But he was also getting more tired with each passing second.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded.
“What could possibly be wrong?” Her wry reply made him feel sheepish. It was a silly question, considering all she’d been through. “Other than being chased for hours,” she continued, “being attacked and saving you. You know, just a normal day.”
“You haven’t eaten, have you?” His stomach growled. He was suddenly starving.
“No.”
He looked around. “Where is my gear?” He had a vague memory of wood smoke and a fire.
“Back at the cave. Come on.” She motioned toward a split in the trees.
“Give me a second.” Not willing to try to put his jeans on over damp underwear, he shucked them.
She yelped and abruptly turned her back.
He couldn’t help but grin as he pulled on his jeans and shoved his feet into his socks and boots. When he was dressed, he rolled the sleeping bag and grabbed his underwear off the ground. His chest was wrapped in wet gauze, and his shoulder was bandaged with the remains of a shirt. He didn’t bother removing them in case they were still doing him some good.
“This way,” she told him and began to trudge uphill. She wasn’t wearing any shoes. She wasn’t wearing anything but one of his shirts.
“Shit.”
She spun around, totally alert and ready to defend herself. Her gaze tracked all around. “What? What’s wrong?”
“You’re barefoot. Let me carry you.”
She looked at him as though he’d lost his mind. He suspected she might be right, at least when it came to dealing with her. He was besieged with all sorts of emotions and impulses every time he looked at her. Without bothering to reply, she began walking again, leaving him to trail behind.
He didn’t like seeing her bare feet hit the cold, hard ground. Yes, she was a werewolf, wouldn’t really feel the chill or sustain an injury, but that didn’t stop it from bothering him. He was too smart to just pick her up and carry her. She’d fight him. Worse, she’d lose some trust in him.
And quite frankly, he wasn’t sure he could manage. His earlier surge of energy was dissipating. He needed food and rest. He could get the first but not the second. They couldn’t afford to hang around. It was only a matter of time before someone in her pack, whether it was her father or Simon, came looking for her.
He didn’t want to act all overbearing. That’s what most male wolves would do. And he wasn’t totally like them. He’d been human his entire life. He was more now, but he wouldn’t allow whatever had happened to him to turn him into someone he wasn’t comfortable with.
She was wary around him, skittish. He was now the thing she most feared—a male werewolf of mating age. Well, maybe not a full werewolf. Hell, he had no idea what he was—a half-breed of some kind, a full werewolf. It wasn’t something that had been talked about at home. There’d been no need. The women who’d been changed due to a bite were simply part of the pack.
He’d figure it out. He had a protective steak, but that wasn’t new. He’d always been that way. What he wouldn’t become was domineering or dictatorial. His human father had been too much like that.
He caught the scent of burned wood. They were close to their destination. He needed to start paying attention to his surroundings. The second he did, everything became sharper. The rustle off to his left was a fox crouching in the bush. Two squirrels perched on a branch above him. An owl was tucked into the hollow of another.
He turned in a wide circle, seeing the world as he never truly had before. The forest had always seemed peaceful. And it was, but there was a constant stream of movement and noise as the inhabitants went about their business.
“Anything wrong?”
He shook his head. Everything was finally right. “No. I’ve just never seen the world as clearly as I do now.” He didn’t quite know how to explain it. She’d always seen the world in this way, but it was all new to him.
“We’re here,” she announced, even though it wasn’t necessary. The charred remains of wood and the acrid smell in the air were like a beacon.
He went straight to his knapsack and pulled out what food was in there. There wasn’t much, as he hadn’t planned to stay longer than a couple of days. He had beef jerky, a huge bag of trail mix, energy bars, and a dozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“You need to eat,” he told her. He opened the sandwiches and handed one to her. As starving as he was, there was no way he could eat until she did. He just … couldn’t. There was something inside of him compelling him to see to Addie’s well-being first. He wanted—no, needed—to take care of her.
“Thanks. You have something, too. You need the calories to build up your strength.”
He knew she was right, so he took one and began to chow down. The peanut butter tasted a hundred times better, and it had already been his favorite. He was also very glad everything was organic, no chemicals. His taste buds were as sensitive as the rest of his senses.
She glanced nervously off in the distance as she chewed. “We can eat and walk at the same time. You need to get back to your vehicle before anyone else shows.”
Anyone being Simon and whoever else he might bring along. Or maybe she didn’t want her father to find them together. That didn’t sit well with him, but he understood her reasoning. He was a stranger. And until a few hours ago, he’d been totally human.
While he was stronger, he wasn’t stupid enough to believe he could take on a full-blooded werewolf or two on his own. And if Simon came back, he’d be coming to kill Billy and possibly force Addie to mate.
He wasn’t about to let that happen. “Let’s go.” She might not know it yet, but he was going to take her home with him. The Salvation Pack wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her. She’d saved his life.
His alpha would see it that way. There was no wolf stronger or more protective than Jacq
ue LaForge, and Billy might have been human when he’d stepped foot in these woods, but he was considered a member of the pack.
They owed Addie. He owed her.
But more than that, he wasn’t ready to let her go.
He gathered everything and repacked his knapsack, ignoring the overwhelming urge to just lie down and sleep. Even with the food, his energy was beginning to ebb. “I have extra socks in my bag if you want to wear them.”
She shook her head. “I prefer barefoot.” Her werewolf heritage made her more surefooted. Socks would only hinder her, but he still didn’t want her to be cold.
“If you change your mind, let me know.” He stowed everything, tied the sleeping bag onto his pack, and slung it over his shoulders. He’d run out of shirts to wear. Simon had destroyed one. Addie had used another as bandages, and she was wearing the last one. That was okay with him. He’d had a sweater at some point, but he had no idea where it was. Not that it mattered. He didn’t find it particularly cold.
“What about your wounds?” she asked.
He wasn’t quite ready to speak about what had occurred. Was still trying to process and understand everything that had happened to him. As unreal as it might seem, the big wolf he’d seen when he’d died was crouched inside, a permanent part of him.
“No time,” he told her. He held out his hand and waited. “Let’s go.”
****
I shouldn’t take his hand. It was broad and tanned and strong. And far too appealing. Better for her to refuse it and assert her independence.
With his fever gone, Billy should have been weak, unable to walk and move around so easily. He also should’ve been in acute pain. His injuries had been extensive.
Instead, he was up and moving with a fluid grace he hadn’t possessed before. She’d seen him sniff the air, the way he’d tracked the animals hiding in the trees. Whatever had happened to him, he was no longer fully human.
Wolf in the Woods Page 4
