Bound to the Pack (Bound to the Pack, #1) (7 page)

“Are you implying that you wish to
be
with me?” The emphasis made it clear that he didn’t just mean being with him on this ridiculous chase.

“Yes.” The word escaped me before I could even think the question over.

He nodded, but didn’t seem any less tense, his stare still mesmerizing me.

“I still don’t know anything about you though, Liam. That has to change...” I stopped as he held up a hand.

“If you wish to be with me and we are to continue on together into the reservation, there is information about it all that you will be expected to know. This is your final chance to leave all as it is and return to your life. If you choose to pursue this, understand that once told you will be watched closely. If this knowledge passes your lips you will be punished. Severely. You must answer truthfully, now, before all of nature.”

The weight of his words settled around me, but had little effect. How could I have come this far without any answers and say no, now, on the verge of getting them? Besides, what did I have in my life now? A broken heart on the mend? A best friend, apparently full of secrets, who was on the run from... something? An almost obsessive need to clean? The decision was an easy one to make.

“Tell me.”

His posture relaxed some, though he was still clearly tense. “I’ve never had to explain this before. Please, allow me to gather my thoughts.”

He walked past me, past the fire, and bent down to pick up an animal pelt that had been lying on the ground. How many times had I walked past that exact spot without noticing it?

Crouching down by the fire, he began removing spit after spit, sliding the cooked meat off onto the fleshy side of the pelt. He shook his head from time to time, clearly arguing with himself.

When all the spits were cleared he stood, pushing the dirt surrounding the pit onto the coals as he had with the previous fire. “It would likely be best if I just begin by showing you.”

He started to take off his shirt.

Why does he even bother wearing one? He’s in and out of it every time the wind changes. Tossing the shirt aside he unbuttoned his jeans and looked at me with eyes full of worry.

“Oh. Oh God, Liam, I don’t need...”

With a quick series of pops his jeans slipped off the hind quarters of the massive wolf I had just seen a few hours before. My scream was utterly silent.

Hitting the ground as I fainted was only slightly louder.

Liam

T
hat could have gone better.

Back in human form, I dressed quickly after checking on Jen, wondering again why I hadn’t simply left her here last night. Having to slow myself down to her pace would make catching up to Kristen nearly impossible, though I wasn’t about to give up. They could have already been caught by a passing patrol.

Stupid, but I’ve made my decision.
My eyes sought out her prone form.
And she has made hers.

She was beginning to stir, so I stepped back slightly to give her space as she regained consciousness. The last thing she needed right now was to come to with me looming right over her. She caught sight of me and, her eyes widening in fear, scrambled away.

Holding up my hands defensively, I let her calm her breathing and absorb what she had just seen. I drew in her scent, smelling the rapid flickering of emotions that passed through her. Disbelief, anger, fear, curiosity, worry, and finally settling on confusion.

“What... what
was
that? What are you? A werewolf?” Her worried grin said that it was a joke she didn’t believe.

“Yes.”

The grin slid from her face and she regarded me blankly. “But... the full moon isn’t for a few days. Right? This doesn’t make sense.” I could smell panic beginning to well up within her as she continued. “This can’t be real... can it!?”

“The full moon is tomorrow night, it has no bearing on our ability to shift, though certain ceremonies require it. And I assure you, it is very real.” I lowered my hands slowly, now that the initial shock was over she was handling this far better than I could have hoped for. She was talking, not running.

She looked up at me, thoughts racing through her mind, emotions roiling within her. “Wait... is Kris? What exactly are we trying to
stop
?”

Her use of ‘we’ eased more of my concern. She seemed to be starting to accept what she had just seen and was still thinking of us as a pair. “Kris is a ‘werewolf’ as well, yes, though the proper way to refer to us is ‘shifters.’ We are trying to stop her from bonding with Troy.”

“Bonding? Troy is a were... one of you, too?”

Anger flared within me, causing a flash of fear to come from her. I calmed myself with some difficulty. “No. He is from a tribe of cougars. He is stepping well above his station with his pursuit of Kristen. He was exiled from his own tribe, but I’ve been unable to discover why. Bonding is a similar rite to your marriages, only far, far stronger.” He shook his head. “Kris should know better than to do this.”

“Were... cougar? There are different kinds of... you?”

“Shifter. And obviously.” It was difficult to keep my voice level, being lumped together with the likes of Troy.

Her eyes burned with anger. “It might be
obvious
to you, but I only just learned about all of this, what, five minutes ago!?”

Realizing this would be a long conversation and a waste of time, I picked up the bundled venison and stepped towards her, extending my hand. She hesitated for a moment, thinking through everything that had happened over the night, then accepted my help in standing.

Good, this may just work out after all.

Turning, I set off towards the game trail I had caught Kris’s scent on earlier.

A
s I brushed myself off and began following Liam into the woods I realized that, somehow, I was no longer afraid. I was angry. A little at him and a little at myself but, surprisingly, the vast majority of it was directed towards Kristen.

Was I so closed minded and blind that this was always right there under my nose and I just hadn’t been able to see it? Should I have seen it?

We’d been friends, best friends, since junior high. Never, not once over all these years had Kris even mentioned this. How could she have kept this a secret from me for so long?

She’s going to get an earful when I see her.

I was about to ask Liam why Kris had never talked to me about any of this, when he began talking. “There is a shifter form of all mammals, save for apes and humans. We have never been able to determine why that is, it has always been so. It simply
is
. Perhaps at some point in the distant past there may have been an ability for you to shift to ape and vice versa, but you lost your connection to nature. The theory is only philosophical, our scholars have found nothing concrete. Apes now are one with nature, but in all the world humans are the true oddities. Forcing the land to bend to their will instead of finding their place within it.”

“Wait, there are werescholars?” In spite of everything else this ridiculous night, this was the craziest.

“Shifter. Of course, why wouldn’t there be?”

“I don’t know, I just thought...” I trailed off.

He stopped walking and turned to regard me. “That we would be savages? Monsters?”

My question, or more probably my tone, had offended him. “I don’t know anything except superstition.” I glanced over at him, but had trouble meeting his eyes. “Human superstition.”

“Then you will have much to learn. I will do my best to educate you as we attempt to stop Kris.” He turned back to the trail and set off again.

Sighing at the pace he demanded, I increased my own, a sudden realization coming to me. “At least now I know why you talk so weird!” Though Kris never had. Why does every answer bring more questions?

He looked at me, then back to the trail we were following, without commenting.

My legs were already starting to burn.

****

T
his was the longest day of my life.

Liam set a pace I could barely keep up with, though he was clearly trying to stay at a speed I could handle. We stopped infrequently for short rests, mostly at streams to refill the water bottles I continually seemed to be draining. My legs were on fire, even the light weight of the backpack had felt like an anchor pulling me down before he had taken it from me hours ago, slinging it over his shoulder beside the pelt with his own provisions.

We ate the meat, venison apparently, while we walked. I offered some of the snacks I had in the pack to him, but after a sniff at each he shook his head.

“That isn’t food,” he said simply.

He talked to me constantly throughout the day, teaching me about the secret world everyone but me seemed to have known about. I learned of the different tribes from all over the world, how they were made of different clans, and that the clans were composed of different packs.

“The clans are groups of the various shifter types. The tribe here is mostly bear, deer, and moose. Though there are representatives of all that find this area their natural home. We wolves have only recently returned and as of yet we don’t have a very strong presence. Clans are made of multiple packs, each led by an alpha. I will be given permission soon to start my own pack,” he swelled with pride.

I learned of the clan councils, made of each pack’s alphas, that controlled the day to day matters. There was also a council of elders that directed the tribe as a whole which was made up from the oldest alpha from each clan. More disturbingly, I learned that there were shifters in every aspect of human life. Doctors, police, bus drivers, politicians, even accountants.

“And retail too... Kristen.” It hurt to think she had kept something as massive as this a secret from me, but I was also starting to see why she had.

“Yes. She was always fascinated by human fashion and requested the position. It made sense since human fashion changes seem to occur every other week or faster. Kristen did her job well, making sure we all blended in whenever one of us needed to come down to the town for one reason or another.”

Looking at his massive form, taking in his gorgeous features, I smiled. “You’d stand out no matter what you wore.”

His return smile made my heart miss a few beats.

For my part I did my best to keep up with him as we followed the trails up into bigger and bigger hills.

Just what I needed, more hills.

The constant flow of information from Liam definitely helped. It was amazing. Delivered with the soothing rumble of his voice, I often forgot how sore I was becoming. I was surprisingly relaxed around him, even knowing he’s a
werewolf
. He hadn’t tried to maul me, he’d only tried to seduce me. Tried? Definitely succeeded, there.

My mind drifted to an entirely different type of mauling and I watched him as he spoke ahead of me. Taking in his broad shoulders, sure strides, and raw masculinity fantasies began to play through my mind, far more real now that it seemed likely they could come true. Thoughts of how easily he could sweep me off my feet, taking me in his arms. Slowly, aggressively, doing exactly as he pleased. Exactly what I wanted.

Last night could have gone so very differently. I closed my eyes and for a brief moment I could feel his hand on my breast again, causing my nipples to harden, and I could feel his cock pressing against my thighs...

Oh god. I wanted to be taken right then.

T
his was the longest day of my life.

The scent of Jen’s arousal had been washing over me for what felt like an eternity. It came every time the wind blew from behind us, carrying her scent to surround me tantalizingly. There had been a section of trail we had walked for the better part of an hour where the wind had never ceased alerting me to her readiness.

It had nearly been my undoing.

What type of hypocrite would I be to take her as my mate without first getting approval? I’ve already started and clearly she is willing.

Distractingly so.

I kept talking. Partly to educate her, but mostly to distract myself from her presence. It was futile.

Night comes early in the hills and though I could have easily shifted to navigate the terrain without fear, she could not. I wouldn’t risk her injuring herself.

Fortunately it was a clear night, the nearly full moon seeming as bright as the sun, which helped her see without needing the flashlight. If she had needed it, it could have given our position away easily to anyone looking.

We had to continue well into the night in order to close the distance between us and our quarry. When I finally reached an area I felt would make a suitable camp, Jen collapsed, curling into herself, all sense of readiness replaced by exhaustion.

The wolf wanted me to take her right then, anyway. Thankfully I was still able to control the urges.

“There will be no fire tonight. I will wake you early. We’ve made up some ground but if we are to have any hope of catching them, we must leave as early as possible. Sleep now.”

I didn’t mention that Kristen and Troy had most likely already made their way to the sacred site. They didn’t have a human slowing them down and would have both shifted and ran to make it there.

Hopefully a patrol had caught them.

Hopefully a patrol wouldn’t catch us.

Glancing down, I wasn’t surprised to see her fast asleep on the ground, half covered by her blanket. Covering her up, I marveled at how confusing my life had become in just a few days.

I turned and walked away, needing to shift. I had to be able to see if I could find my sister’s trail. I needed to know exactly how far behind them we were and if there was still any hope of getting to them in time.

I also needed to make sure no patrols stumbled over the vulnerable human behind me.

Jen

I
t was still pitch black when Liam’s soft touch and low voice woke me.

“We must leave now. I have found their scent on a trail ahead. We’re lucky, they’ve been taking their time.”