I had left him breathing, which was more than he deserved.
I had to reach her, to see her, touch her. Even without the scent of blood in my nostrils, every part of me screamed for reassurance that she was okay. Her tracks, broken vegetation and twigs, footprints in the dirt, were enough to show me how hastened her steps had been when she’d fled from me. With the horror I’d seen in her eyes as she looked upon the fight, I knew she could never love my wolf side. Exactly as I had expected, she had been terrified. Who wouldn't be?
She would never accept me after discovering my true nature. The past few days had been a tease of what may have been if I had been a normal man, of how amazing it could have been spending my life with her. I was a fool to get close to her, to let myself think even for a second that a woman like Hailey could love an animal like me. Both parts of me, wolf and man, knew she was the only one for me. My Hailey, my mate. I could settle for no one else, so I would settle for knowing that she was okay. I just had to reach her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hailey
Cold blackness surrounded me. I blinked and turned my head from side to side, trying to see something, anything. I squinted, searching for a glimmer of light to no avail. Deep snarls threatened from the darkness, from where exactly I couldn't tell, but I assumed from the sound that the beast was close by.
I started to walk, arms out in front of me, feeling my way but touching nothing, hoping the growls originated in a different direction. I sensed nothing but the animal. Suddenly something lit ahead, something white. It seemed far away, as I reached forward, gauging its distance with my arms. The light was small at first, but then it grew, like high beams approaching in oncoming traffic. From behind the light came the snarling face of a beast, black holes for eyes, huge teeth dripping blood. The wolf was larger than life, only inches away. My stomach knotted, and my heart raced. I backed away, but I couldn’t look away from the beast. I was terrified it would attack when I turned my back.
Then there was nothing. As quickly as it appeared it was gone. The light dimmed, and I could see hints of trees around me. Golden eyes in the darkness, met mine. Cole's eyes. Hailey. I heard my name in Cole’s voice, and I knew it was over. I was safe.
Sounds of water trickled against rocks, and something splashed within the current. Cold, hard earth pressed beneath me. Light shined through my eyelids, summoning me to wake. Stabbing pain pierced my head as I sat slowly. I forced my eyes open, adjusting to the light of the lantern beside me. Golden eyes watched me from the bank of the stream. Cole stood, naked except for the small blanket he draped from his waist, the blanket I had packed in my basket.
“That wasn't really what I brought the blanket for.” I gave Cole a half smile, disoriented but happy to see him.
“You can have it back if you don't want to share.” He met my smile with a small one of his own.
“Don't tempt me. I might just take you up on it, which would be stupid, because I have a killer headache.”
Concern marred his brow. I took in the whole picture as my brain caught up to my eyes. We were exactly where I had intended to have our picnic, though under significantly different circumstances. The stream was the same place we had frolicked in the water that summer day, before I’d left Sawtooth Peaks. I sat under the same tree that we’d laid our blanket beneath for a meal and our first time. The view was different, lit only by the lantern and the moon. Light glittered off the water dripping down Cole's exquisitely sculpted chest. I watched the droplets trail from his black, wet hair down his thick jawline. Down they slid, across his well-defined neck, collar bones, and tan pecs. My eyes stopped on the red gashes that ripped across his side and abs.
I looked into his golden eyes. “How did you...”
A flash in the back of my head came to me, of those kind, impossibly golden eyes. Ebony fur, the shade of Cole's hair. My hero.
“Are you...was that you?” I watched him, hoping for some clarity. It made no sense. How could that have been Cole in the woods? Did he somehow control that wolf? My head spun. I was so confused.
“Yes.” His stance was firm, distant. His voice was solemn, defeated.
“How?” I asked.
“I'm a shifter, wolf and man.”
What? That made no sense. I felt like I was missing something, that maybe I was still not thinking clearly.
“Am I dreaming still? I bet I'll wake up next to the bar, fainted from what I saw.” The most likely solution was usually the right one.
“What you saw?” Cole looked genuinely confused.
“You said you loved me,” I said, my voice accusing.
“I do.” He stared at me, still not seeming to understand.
“Then why were you touching her like that? Why did you let her touch you like that?” I continued, hurt as I ran through it again in my head.
“Who? I am really confused here, Hailey.”
“That blond girl.” My voice raised and shook, and tears dripped down my cheeks. My eyes burned. I had cried too many tears for one night, but I couldn't hold them back.
Cole took a step forward, pity in his eyes.
I would not be pitied. “No, don't.”
He stopped his advance, but his sharp eyes showed his desire. I couldn't let him touch me. I needed the space to say what I needed to say. I knew I would lose my nerve as soon as he closed the distance.
“Outside of the bar?” Cole started. “I walked a friend to her car.”
“You’ve slept with her. I could see it all over her. She loves you,” I accused.
“What? We dated a bit, but she wasn't my mate,” he replied evenly.
“Mate?” I asked.
Cole was sitting next to me in the blink of an eye, pulling me close with a massive arm around my shoulder. I didn't know how he moved that quickly. Maybe I was still disoriented. I leaned into his chest, my eyes lingering on his wounds. He tilted my chin up, locking his golden eyes with mine.
“My kind mate for life. We pick one person to cherish, to love, to be our partner for as long as we live. That's it for us.” Cole’s words were sincere. I could see the vulnerability and truth in his eyes.
“So you’re a wolfman, and you don't want to animal-marry her? And does that happen with a bite like in the movies? So you go all animal anytime you want? Or at the full moon? Or what?” My curiosity was taking over the fear and the hurt. Having him so close made me feel a bit better.
A slight curve of his lips showed his amusement, the first sign of enjoying my company for the evening. “I'm a wolf shifter. I was born to two wolf shifter parents. No one bit me. Well,” he looked down at his side and smiled, “a bite didn’t make me into a wolf.”
“Are you okay? We should probably wrap that up and get you to the doctor. Even though there doesn't seem to be nearly enough blood for the size of that wound.” I knew I was rambling, but I couldn't help it.
“I'm fine. I'm a fast healer,” Cole said.
I traced the discolored stripes that decorated his collarbone. “Shifter stuff?” I asked.
He nodded and smiled down at me. “Yep, shifter stuff. I can't believe you aren't bolting. Is it because you're still in shock?”
“I told you, I'm done running.”
He pressed his mouth hard against mine, desperately moving my lips with his. I mirrored his intensity, tasting his mouth on mine, needing physical reassurance that he belonged to me, that we were okay.
He reached around my waist, easily lifting me onto his lap. My legs spread around him, and I locked my ankles behind his back. Grasping his hair, I pulled him close, separating his lips with my tongue. He massaged my tongue with his, pulling my body up against his firm chest.
My nipples hardened at the touch of his muscular pecs, desire pumping through me, a desperate need for him. I needed to feel closer to him. I needed to express my love for him, and feel his love in return. My thighs ached with anticipation.
Fueled by the nostalgia of being where we shared our first time, I wanted to be as close
as two people could be. His huge cock pressed up from beneath me, only the blanket and my wet panties between us. I rocked my hips up and down the length of his huge erection. Cole tore at the front of my jacket, breaking it open without regard for the buttons holding it closed. He gently nibbled my chin, and traced kisses down the side of my neck. He brushed off the shoulder straps of my dress and bra, leaving them dangling at my elbows.
His golden eyes were on fire, a near-orange blaze of animalistic desire. A growl rumbled in his chest, a sexy reminder of the beast inside of the man I loved. His reaction to my body turned me on even more. This amazing creature, this sculpted sex god, wanted my curves as much as I wanted his chiseled lines. He reached behind me, pulling down the top of my dress and unsnapping my bra. My heavy breasts were released into the cold air, nipples hard and desperate to be touched. This was so different from my first time in the summer. It was warm, and we had left our clothes on for fear of being seen. Cole had slipped his hands down and up my dress, but I was never exposed. Life was different now; we were different. I didn’t care if anyone saw us. All that mattered was this moment between the two of us. I rocked against his erection, massaging my clit, sending ribbons of pleasure up throughout my middle.
Cole took one breast in his massive hand, fingering my nipple with his strong but gentle thumb and forefinger. While pinching and rolling lightly, he took the other breast in his warm wet mouth, licking, sucking, nibbling.
“Mmm,” I moaned, arching my back to press my breast further onto his mouth. I held onto his hair, pulling him into me.
Noises of my ecstasy increased his ferocity. He worked harder, faster on my nipples. I wasn’t a shy girl anymore; I was a woman that knew what she wanted. And I wasn’t afraid to ask for what I needed. I rubbed my hips into him harder, faster. Pleasure built inside of me, pooling from my aching cleft and pinched nipples into my core. Not much more of this and I would come for sure. I needed him to come with me, to fully connect on a primal and emotional level.
“I need you inside of me,” I gasped.
In a flash he obliged, pulling the blanket out from between us and releasing his massive cock. It was bigger than I remembered, but it had been a long time. He pulled my panties to the side and lifted me easily, rubbing my clit with his wet tip. A growl escaped him, allowing me a peek at his animal side.
“Has it been long for you?” Cole asked.
“Too long. I've been with no one but you.” I hoped he wouldn’t be put off by my lack of experience. I didn’t want him to think less of me.
He kissed me hard in response. “Great answer. I don't want to hurt you.”
I was relieved to hear that.
“I need you. Please,” I begged.
He lowered me gently, pressing his head on my opening. Slowly up and down, he inched deeper with each stroke. It was so much pressure, so intense. He was too big, just like the first time. It felt amazing.
I took a deep breath, filling my nose with the scent of pine. Sounds of moving water echoed in the air. Being here in this place, making love under this tree, the night was exactly the way it was supposed to be.
“You're so tight. God, Hailey, you feel so good.”
“More. Please, more.”
He sped my descent, hastening his entry until I was filled deeper and more fully than I thought possible. I sat on his full length, feeling closer to Cole than I had ever been, loving the way he formed my body to fit him. I pulled my legs under me, along the sides of Cole’s bare thighs. The ground was hard and cold, pine needles and grass poked my exposed skin. So different than when I lay here on my back on a blanket that summer.
I resumed the pace he set, lifting myself up and down his length. Cole’s body showed no effect of the cold air around us. Goosebumps covered my skin as the cold air bit at me. I focused on the warmth of Cole’s touch, on the heat between us. He took one breast back into his hand, the other in his mouth. He rubbed the pad of his thumb on my clit as I rode his huge length.
Ecstasy washed over my entire body, tingling, heightening. I felt my climax building, my body so overwhelmed with sensation. “Yes, yes. Oh, Cole, I love you.”
As I tightened around him, pleasure washed over me in waves and I slowed my pace. Cole took my hips, raising and lowering my body through my climax, extending the length of my pleasure. His abs tightened, and he let me settle on his lap. His warmth filled me as echoes of my climax reverberated through my body.
He leaned back against the big pine tree, and I leaned into his chest, careful not to touch his fresh wounds.
“I love you too, Hailey,” he whispered.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cole
Hailey settled against me while I was still inside of her. We were as close and intimate as two people could be as we rested quietly, enjoying each other’s touch, enjoying the moment. I was finally content. I still couldn't believe she hadn’t run from the truth of me. She knew what I was, and she still wanted me. Hailey saw me as a wolf, saw what I was capable of. She’d asked questions in a calm voice. It was more than I’d expected, more than I’d dared to hope for.
Her finger traced the scars on my chest. “So how exactly does this mating thing work?”
I wanted to share everything with Hailey. I had wanted to protect her from myself, but that wasn’t working out. The more time we spent together, the harder it was to keep her at arm’s length and the harder it was to deny that I needed her to be mine. So I told her what she wanted to know.
“It's a bite mark. A shifter bites here.” I touched the base of her neck along the collarbone. “Hard enough to scar. Then everyone knows that he or she is taken. No one else can place a claim, or do that person any harm without incurring the wrath of the mate. One of the few offenses that can rightfully lead to one shifter killing another.”
“Can shifters mate with regular humans?” Her eyes showed vulnerability and hope as they sparkled in the lantern light. Regular humans. I loved seeing the situation through her eyes. Regular made it seem like she was somehow less for being human, but she was so much more than any woman I had ever met, wolf or human.
“Yes,” I replied. My wolf urged me to do so whenever we were close, and to go to her when we weren’t.
“Can you have babies with a human?” she asked.
I looked into Hailey’s beautiful blue eyes. I had thought she wouldn’t accept me and here she was asking about babies. I answered with full disclosure.
“Yes, but being half shifter would mean some might have the ability to shift and some might not. They would be called cubs, and would likely be born as a litter. Are you thinking of staying in this for the long haul?” I asked. The more I explained, the more hopeful I became. She took everything in stride. My Hailey was always proving her strength to me.
“Could be. Just collecting information for now.” She smiled at me smugly, like she could consider alternatives while I still filled her.
“You should really spend some time thinking about what it means to be with someone like me. Tying yourself down, giving up a normal life to have cubs with a shifter. There’s more danger involved than you or your children deserve: defending territories, belonging to a pack. Being a member of a pack comes with responsibilities. I may have to leave for extended periods or do things that you wouldn’t like. You would have to accept all of this as a part of life. During the first full moon after our children’s eighteenth birthdays they would shift for the first time. Puberty is rough for all teenagers. It’s an even harder time for shifters,” I said.
“Like you had a hard time?” she asked.
“My father was alpha of our pack. He was ambushed by a group of rival wolves from another pack when he was out camping alone with his mate. They killed him to make our pack vulnerable, and her because she was there.”
“I'm so sorry,” she replied. She looked thoughtful for a moment then asked, “Zaria wasn’t John’s mate?”
“No, but she certainly must have been interested. She never t
old me so, but she still hung around him after he took a different mate, and didn’t choose a mate of her own until my father died. There was no shortage of suitors. If she wasn’t still clinging to the hope of being with him, then she wouldn’t have a reason to hate Lance so much,” I explained. “She’s been cold to him since he was a child. Soon after my mother got pregnant with me, my father mated Emma. She got pregnant right away, which is why my birthday and Lance’s are only two weeks apart.”
“I can see why your mother would be resentful,” Hailey said.
“Of Emma, sure. But Zaria knew she wasn’t his mate. And it’s no excuse to treat Lance like shit for twenty-two years.”
“And how do you feel about it?” Hailey asked.
“My father was good to me. He treated Lance and me the same. I never felt that he favored either of us over the other,” I answered.
“Good,” she said.
“After our father died, Lance and I both shifted for the first time on the night of the first full moon that followed. The first full moon after our eighteenth birthdays. It was horrible. Our father wasn't there to lead us, and we were scared and confused. When my wolf took over, I tore apart the closest thing to me—Lance.”
“It wasn't your fault.” Hailey looked up at me with warmth and understanding.
“It was. He nearly died. After that, I couldn't be near you. I couldn't risk hurting you,” I continued, wanting to share the whole truth with her. I wanted to share everything with her.
“Oh, Cole, I'm sure he understands. It wasn't your fault. I'm sorry I left, I should have been here for you,” Hailey said.
“I made sure you weren't. I could have killed you, Hailey,” I said. “I had to be alone. And Lance is fine. I tried to keep him at arm's length, but he wouldn't have it. We only grew closer once I came to terms with what I am and accepted that the beast is a part of me. I learned to control when I shift, and how to maintain that control in wolf form. There are some wolves that don’t have that control, that let the beast rule them.”
Werewolves & Whiskers: Sawtooth Peaks Wolf Shifter Romance Box Set Page 8
