Black Wolf's Revenge (6 page)

He opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t quite seem to pull his gaze away from Lana’s window. She was beating on the glass and screaming for him.

“You look good.” His soft, deep voice caressed her skin as if he’d reached out and touched her.

Tears stung her eyes and she stared at his feet in an effort to get a grip. She hadn’t recovered from their split at all. Forcing herself away from him had hurt worse than she’d even known until this moment. “We can’t do this. It’s not good for her.” She motioned to the truck. “It’s not good for me either.” She shook her head and looked off into the woods. If she looked into his eyes, she’d fold, because he looked as broken as she felt.

He took a step forward. “I heard about the calls from the other packs.”

“It’s none of your business. It’s not your job to worry about us. Not anymore.” The words were bitter against her tongue and she wished they weren’t true. It hurt so bad to be so close to him. Her wolf howled to touch her mate, but she couldn’t be a trophy. A chore. She needed so much more than a marriage of convenience. She wanted love, family, all of it. She wanted a relationship she didn’t have to question the motives behind. And she sure as hell didn’t want to get married to someone because it was the safe thing to do.

He left without another word. Just peeled his gaze from her and walked away. His truck was absent and he strode to the western woods of Dean’s property without a single look back. Maybe he’d parked farther away in the woods so she wouldn’t know he was here, or maybe he was going to Change out of his frustration with her. She couldn’t blame him. She fought the temptation to give in to her wolf and lose her mind to the call of the woods.

He disappeared in the undergrowth like he had never existed at all. Like an apparition that burned its victim with unrelenting loneliness when he left.

She cried in the bathroom until it was time for dinner. That couldn’t happen again if she were to survive severing her heart from him. One encounter with him dragged her to her knees and proved how weak and vulnerable she was.

The full-moon hunt meant escape. Marissa always watched Lana, and for a few hours, Morgan was mostly free from the aching pain that came with being away from Grey. She focused on the physicality of the Change. She wasn’t as fast as the others yet. They always waited on the edge of the grove for her to finish before they hunted as a group. Even if she wasn’t an official member of the pack, the wolves didn’t treat her differently. It probably helped that she wasn’t dominant.

She jogged to Grey’s old changing spot and inhaled as she always did. She’d hoped he changed there and rejuvenated the place with his scent, but no such luck. It had faded with time because he didn’t visit Dean’s much anymore. It was probably her fault, but she couldn’t stand to think too much on it because her tattered heart couldn’t take any more strain. She curled into a ball and imagined him with her as the pain ripped through her body. Safety, her imaginings said. She groaned and bucked backward as fur rippled across her new flesh. Even if she tried to stay quiet, it never worked. The pain was a blinding white light. This was what it must feel like to die.

Seven wolves waited in the clearing. Five gray and two brown. Dean had dark gray points with a cream color underneath. He was the darkest by far, but he wasn’t the dark wolf she searched for. He would never be there.

Brandon, Logan, and Brent scrapped to the side, but upon her arrival, Dean yipped and they stilled. There was a moment of complete silence. The moment of calm that comes right before the flurry of action. And then they were off.

Running as a wolf was freedom. Rachel bumped her side and yelped in excitement, and Brandon nipped at her front legs. She made an excited noise deep in her throat and Dean slowed. He rounded and cocked his head to the side. He mimicked the noise and she rolled over playfully. Brandon clamped his jaws gently over her neck but Dean growled. The noise said he was not in the mood for playing. Dean pitched his head back and howled, and Rachel joined him as his voice lowered. Then others lupine voices rang out. The song seeped into her marrow, filling the empty places that hurt so badly, and she lifted her voice to join them.

They were answered by a lone howl miles away. It was deep and inviting and mournful, like the lonesome whistle of a midnight train.

She took off. Dean barked out a warning behind her but she was already gone. Usually, she obeyed, but Dean wasn’t her alpha, and rules could be bent by an outsider willing to deal with a reprimand later.

The howl lingered on the air and she raced against the last note in the direction it came from. Let him sing again. She had to meet that voice. The wolves trailed behind her and she straightened her tail and bolted. Faster and faster, she ran until the forest was a blur. Every footprint was an instinct. Twig, root, leaves, bramble. She missed them all in that body made for the woods.

There he was. As black as the night sky and as silent as a thought. He watched her from the other side the pack’s territory line. His golden eyes seemed to glow against the dark as he watched her. She sidled closer, whining.

Their wolves had never been the problem. They had always been evenly matched and both knew the logic of being together, of wanting each other, devoid of all of the other human emotions and insecurities that come with a relationship.

The noises of the pack slowed behind her, as if they were wary of the barbed-wire fence that served as a separation for the territories. She inched closer on her belly. In that moment, she’d do anything to touch him.

He took off running a short sprint away from the fence and then came back, repeating the gesture again and then again. An invitation. She lay down on her side of the fence, poking her nose through to his. He’d brought her food when she’d first turned, and a cage had separated them just like this.

He touched her nose gently with his own. It wasn’t enough, but it was all they would get. Dean growled behind her. It was time to hunt. She looked between the two dominants, stalling. The black wolf let out a soft growl, but she was already leaving. She didn’t have to listen to everything the alpha said, but if she wanted to run with his pack, she’d better not push it. She looked back once and then disappeared into the brush behind the other wolves.

* * * *

Grey stayed frozen at the fence, breaking apart all over again. Nothing had changed between them, so why did he do that to himself? He kept setting himself up for her to hurt him. Why? He trotted back to the car and Changed in the grass beside the tires. No more. That was enough damage done to him for one night.

Pulling on his jeans, he lay in the bed of his pickup and stared at the stars. The stars out here were radiant. Light pollution didn’t exist out in such remote country. Only an earthbound wolf and an infinite cloudless sky sprinkled with the silver dust of twinkling stars. The man in the moon was his only companion. The moon smiled down on him as if to say everything would be all right. What did he know?

When his muscles were fully recovered from the Change, he climbed into his truck and headed down his winding gravel drive. On the main road, he passed Dean’s property entrance. Morgan’s truck was there as she readied to turn on to the gravel street. She watched him pass with heart-wrenching sadness in her soft, violet eyes. He jerked his gaze away, unable to hold hers. Her silent torment was a knife in him that only served to widen the weeping hole.

A moment with her hadn’t placated him at all. It had only woken the greedy need for more and reminded him of all he had lost.

“Snacks, sippy cup, extra clothes, toys, jacket. Lana?” The sound of Morgan’s voice echoed down the empty hallway as she called for the little girl.

They were so late. She’d told Mom that she would have Lana at her house by five, and it was a quarter after and she still wasn’t out the door.

Lana scuttled around the doorway to the living room, her cheeks covered in magic marker. “I did my make up too,” she chirped happily.

Morgan shifted the overnight bag, her purse and the pink, flower pillow that was trying desperately to escape her grasp. “Wow, baby. It looks… No more makeup until you are twenty, okay?”

She checked her panic. How had Marianna made everything look so easy?
Deep breath.
It wasn’t the end of the world. It was just a little marker. It wasn’t as if she had been bitten by a roving werewolf. That would require panic. She’d just clean it up when they got to Mom’s house.

“Come on, Lana. You ready to go see Grammy?”

Lana rubbed her eyes sleepily. “Hold me.”

“Right.” She readjusted the flailing bags and made room on her hip before she scooped her up.

Keys. Where had she put the blasted keys? Lana had gone limp and Morgan struggled to keep her snuggled to her chest. With both hands full, she pulled the door closed behind her with the toe of her sneaker, but she lost her balance on the welcome mat. Welcome, my ass. She never opened the door for anyone in that neighborhood. She tripped forward and her legs splayed in opposite directions as she tried to right herself. Lana yelped as Morgan landed hard on her backside.

“Son of a…curse word!”

They were already late. Morgan sighed in resignation and lay out on the cracked concrete like a star. What was a couple more minutes?

“Morgan,” the girl whispered. She touched under Morgan’s eyes with her little hands. Purple, frightening eyes.

“I’m okay. I just got scared you were going to get hurt is all.” She stroked the girl’s dark hair. “Your momma was always so much better at this stuff.”

“I miss Mommy.”

“You and me both, kiddo. Come on.”

She hauled them both upright again and trekked to the truck parked by the curb. The bags hung awkwardly and bumped her hips every time she took a step, but who was going to care? No one was watching.

A tiny scent settled itself into the blackest and loneliest part of her. She jerked her head and sniffed.

How long had Grey been sitting there, watching them from his truck? She frowned at the unwelcome mortification. Of course he saw her fall. That was the perfect end to the day.

She buckled Lana up and pressed her favorite book into her hand. She shut the door gently and jogged over to his truck. “What are you doing here, Greyson?” she asked as he rolled down his window. Full name. Burn.

“Keeping you and the kid safe,” he answered. He took off his sunglasses and revealed crystal-blue eyes. He arched his eyebrows and waited.

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve got it covered,” she said, patting the door frame twice before she turned.

“I’m still going to be coming around from time to time,” he said, just loud enough for her to hear.

Couldn’t he see how torn up she was to see him? Couldn’t he understand her need for space? She straightened her spine and glared. “I’m going to call the police.”

“Morgan, I know you think I’m trying to make your life miserable, but I’m not. You think I want to be here watching you move on and seeing how much you dislike me with all of the dirty looks? I really don’t, but I would do anything to keep you and Lana safe. I’ll never try to talk to you, or try to see Lana, or try to interfere with your life. You have made it clear you don’t want that. But until the danger blows over, you get your own pet guard wolf. It’s that or move to pack property where you won’t have to deal with me anymore. Either way, you have to know this is the best way to keep Lana safe.”

Oh, that was a low blow. Bring Lana’s safety up and she would buckle. It was irritating how well he knew her. “Fine. No interfering.”

“Fine,” he growled.

* * * *

Three weeks had passed with no danger to Morgan and Lana. Most of him was relieved, but Wolf had only given in to sitting in a car for hours a day doing nothing because he thought there was a chance of killing someone. Sometimes it was hard compromising with a monster.

The cabin was finished. He and Marissa jokingly called it the Crawford Pack Cabin, because it was just Grey in the sprawling house. It had only been finished for a few weeks, but Marissa had already picked out a room and had not so subtly circled furniture she wanted for it out of a catalog. He’d get her room all fixed up for her birthday. He’d have talk to Dean about it first, but if she wanted a room, she could have one. She was over there all of the time anyway. Even if their wolves disagreed, Dean was a confident man and a stalwart leader. He would surely see the advantage to giving Marissa her own space away from Logan and Brandon. It didn’t take much to see the girl was happier and more relaxed with an escape.

Movement caught his eye in the direction of Morgan’s house, and he tossed the book he’d been reading into the passenger seat. She sprinted toward him with panic-stricken features. He threw open the door before she even reached him. “What’s happened?”

“Lana. I went to take the laundry upstairs and I heard something. When I came out, she was gone. I can’t find her anywhere, and I smell something. Someone has been in the house. Multiple someones, but I had the doors locked. They must have found the spare key. And I tried to Change but I can’t--”

She wasn’t even finished talking before he was Changing. He pushed it as she shielded his body as best she could with hers. Sure, his windows were tinted, but it would still look odd if someone saw her talking to a man one minute and a dog the next.

As he finished the last of it, she opened the door to let him out. She bolted for the house while he tried to keep up with her on wobbly legs.

She opened the door and he raced past her legs, picking up a thick scent right away. Werewolf. Morgan must be too new to be able to decipher the difference between human and wolf. Two fresh trails snaked through the house, beginning at the back door where the spare key was indeed still in the doorknob. Wolf followed it into the living room where bright colored crayons were scattered all over the floor and a coloring book lay open on the edge of the coffee table. The room stunk of unfamiliar werewolf.

He raced out the back door as she opened it and he turned and growled once.
Stay here
, he seemed to say.