Caged Wolf (Wolves of Willow Bend Book 2) (18 page)

He accepted it on one condition—he wouldn’t begin fully until Vivian’s turn finished. The Alpha agreed. For her part, Vivian had taken the time for a dozen long, intense conversations with Alexis Clayborne and her mother Tiffany Huston. Both women had been human, both mated wolves. Tiffany chose her change and Alexis had it thrust upon her by pregnancy. Neither regretted their decision.

Both understood her trepidation and worry.

All of these thoughts cascaded through her mind at A.J.’s question. “I’m okay,” she said, though her skin seemed to itch everywhere and an unsettled sensation invaded her limbs. Two weeks before, she’d told him yes. Told him she would let him make her a wolf. Every night since, he’d made love to her, possessed her with such mindless pleasure, she barely felt the sting of his bite. Each time he bit down on the juncture between her shoulder and neck, bliss exploded through her.

The change, it seemed, never happened all at once nor was it certain. Every change was different, every couple different. Mason had taken to stopping by each day. In part, Vivian knew, to check on her and also to sit and discuss his plans with A.J..  The two had become fast friends. “Has Mason gone home?”

“No,” A.J. said, surprising her with the answer. “He’s going to hang out this evening. Alexis is with her mom and brother tonight while Ryan is in Chicago.” He continued to massage her back, the gentle caresses soothing the ever-expanding ache in her muscles.

“And you left him to entertain himself?” She couldn’t deny a sense of delight at the idea of A.J. putting her first.

“Someday you will stop being surprised that I want to take care of my mate,” he growled close to her ear, then pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“I hope not.” She smiled against the sheets. She couldn’t even lift her head. Despite the health of everyone around her, she’d gotten sick. Not a brain tumor, thankfully, because she hadn’t had a single fugue since their moment in the woods. Along with her appetite, her strength had returned and she’d never felt better in her life until the last three days.

“Why is that?” The bed dipped as he settled alongside her and pressed his face against her neck.

“Because, every morning when I wake up and you’re there, I’m thrilled all over again. Whenever you choose me over your parents or your brothers or your Alpha, it’s…it’s flattering and heart wrenching and makes me feel special. I like feeling special.”

He chuckled, then stroked her hair away from her face. She cracked an eyelid open to find him gazing at her with indulgence. “You are special and you do the same thing for me.”

“I don’t have anyone to blow off for you.” She had no job for the pack or anyone relying on her for anything. After canceling her stay at the Arizona facility and a long afternoon discussion with Nathanial, she’d picked up with her work while A.J. shaped their lives.

“You gave up everything for me.” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. Lips still against her skin, he gave her a gentle bite and her whole body fluttered at the contact. “You gave yourself to me and you came here to start over, to build a life with me. You
chose
me.”

The wonder in his voice wrapped around her heart and she smiled. “You’re pretty damn special, you know?”

“Only because you show me every time you look at me, reach for me, or touch me. Mating…I always thought I knew what it meant,” he said, continuing to pet her. Every gliding touch of his hand down her overheated flesh helped with the disquiet and agitation churning within. “I’d look at my parents, and think, it means you can finish each other’s sentences. That you always know where the other is or what they are thinking. That you—won some kind of genetic compatibility lotto. It sounds really stupid because I didn’t know anything.”

“We’re different from your parents?” Was it because she was human? Or maybe it was her fever talking. She had the damn flu. Really, the flu. It was so unfair.

“Of course we are. That’s the part I didn’t understand. Mating is different for everyone. For some, it completes them. For others, it enhances who they are. For others, it opens a door to who they’ve always been.” He braced his head on a hand and traced a pattern along her shoulder until he reached the bite mark he’d renewed at every opportunity. The flesh ached, but it didn’t hurt at all. If anything, tingles spread though her and her body softened.

Desire for him was even stronger than the fever.

“You make me whole,” she said, still turning over in her mind what he’d told her. “Like the piece I was always missing, but didn’t realize wasn’t there.”

“Exactly.” His voice lowered, his tone becoming far more intimate and it was one she only ever heard him use with her. “You open doors in me. The world isn’t a simple place, not really, but with you…I can handle anything, I know it.”

Her eyelids were so heavy. “Do you want to know something weird?”

“Sure.”

She was so hot and a part of her wished he wouldn’t stay so close because his natural body temperature seemed higher than hers, but she didn’t want him to move an inch. “I had a dream the other night about running in the woods. Only instead of running away, I was running toward something. It was weird. I could swear I’d been in those woods before and I think I was chasing someone or something.”

“Yeah?”

A wolf. A ruddy red wolf. With her eyes closed, she could almost see the animal, only this time she wasn’t running. The she-wolf turned to face her. Her eyes were the color of copper and her fur seemed almost tipped in gold. “Yeah,” she whispered. “She’s so—” She imagined reaching out to touch her and a convulsion hit. Her whole body bowed and the pain skating over her nerves felt like she’d been dropped into a fire.

“Go with it, baby.” A.J.’s voice cut through the violence pummeling her body. “Let go, reach for her.”

Trusting him at his word, she reached for the wolf and heard, more than felt, her body snapping. Ecstasy chased agony through her system, and fear curdled her stomach.

“You’re okay, Vivian. You’re okay. You can do this.” His constant support eased the fear cramping her insides and one moment she was flat on her face and the next she rocketed to her feet—all four of them. Trembling from head to toe, she tried to make sense of it all and stepped forward only to sprawl as her legs gave out.

Hands caught her sides and then helped steady her as she fought her way back to her feet. Swinging her head around, she caught a familiar scent and then A.J. was there. The smile on his face bloomed in her heart.

“Hey there,” he said, running his hand over her head and then down her sides. The contact felt good and strange. No sweat slicked her body, and she flexed her claws.

Claws.

Dumbfounded, Vivian turned her attention down to her feet. She had paws. Twisting away from A.J. she leapt off the bed and skidded across the wooden floor, sliding until she thumped into the wall.

“Easy, baby.” He’d followed her, but let her right herself this time. She swayed like a drunken sailor, but made her legs work and headed for the bathroom. They had a full-length mirror, at least she thought they did. A.J.’s warm, masculine scent was everywhere, deep amber with notes of pine and something she couldn’t quite define, other than
him
.

Her claws clicked against the tile until she stood in front of the floor to ceiling mirror and stared. The ruddy red wolf with its copper eyes stared back at her. Her mouth fell open. A.J. appeared in the mirror and he knelt next to her. Slowly, he laid a deliberate hand against the back of her neck.

“Beautiful,” he said. His pleasure flooded her and she wagged her tail. Oh, God. She had a tail. Turning, she tried to see it and ended up spinning in three circles until A.J.’s laughter punctured her distraction.

A different scent drifted into the room. One that didn’t belong, and she went from trying to catch her tail to cutting between A.J. and the door.
Who the hell was in their room?
 

“Is she all right?” Mason’s voice announced his presence and the man himself followed. Power rolled off him, power she recognized and a part of her wanted to bow to it, but she refused to do so when A.J. was still human and behind her. For his part, Mason simply raised his eyebrows. “Well, hello there.”

“She’s doing great. I’m not sure how much she’s processing at the moment.” Indulgence, not worry softened his tone. “Maybe tonight’s not the best night for this.”

“There’s never a better time.” Mason said, and slowly squatted until he locked gazes with her. She fought to hold it, but couldn’t and with a whimper she dropped her gaze to his feet. Surging back, she raised her head and lost the stare battle again. “It’s okay little one, you’re safe here.” Then his hand was on her head, and she shivered. The world sparkled and a thousand scents assaulted her, then retreated. “You’re home.”

“And you’re mine,” A.J. added, covering Mason’s hand with his.

“Welcome to the Willow Bend pack.” Mason’s voice was inside her and around her, and then outside the windows a wolf song rose. Her trembling ceased and she raised her head to answer the howl.

The men laughed and A.J. nuzzled her. “Come on, sweetheart. Time to run.”

Run?
Excitement threaded her veins. They were going to run. Together. In the woods. She followed both out of the room and, though the stairs proved a challenge, neither hurried her or gave her a hard time. Outside, a dozen other wolves waited for her. The scents were overwhelming, but one by one she began to pick them out. A.J.’s brothers rubbed against her, then his parents and even his sister. Even Emma was there—the healer turned out to be a beautiful sable colored wolf. Only A.J. and Mason remained human.

When the others began to yip and play and darted toward the woods, she glanced at A.J.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’re going with you.” He grinned. “I wouldn’t miss your first run for all the world.”

He was going, as a human?

“Don’t look at me like that. Tonight, it’s all about you. I want to be here to answer your questions.” He walked toward the woods, his expression so filled with joy it made her heart beat faster. The wolves called from ahead, but Mason and A.J. kept pace with her and she trotted forward a few steps before she turned back toward them.

“She wants her mate to run with her,” Mason said. “Trust me, I can handle the questions. Go, play with her.”

A.J. frowned, and she worried her mate would deny her. “Would you let someone else answer your mate’s questions?”

Instead of being offended, their Alpha looked thoughtful. She couldn’t quite sort out the scents of their emotions, so she focused on their body language. “Trust has to begin somewhere. She’s ours, A.J.. My pack, my wolf, just like you are.”

Her mate thrust his hand through his hair and looked at their Alpha. He and Mason were friends, but a part of him had been reticent to trust fully. Though it hadn’t been Mason who’d left him behind, A.J. had been burned and badly. All of these feelings crested in her mate before they washed away.

Slowly, deliberately, he bowed his head and, taking her cue from her mate, she bowed hers. “Thank you, Mason,” A.J. murmured. “Give me a moment, beautiful, and I’ll join you to run.”

A fresh wave of excitement burst through her and she yipped. A.J. wasted no time discarding his clothes and then he was on four legs. He rubbed along her side and bumped his nose to hers. No more cages. No more loss. No more being alone.

Never in a million years could she have imagined this moment, and so lost in him she forgot to worry about anything. With Mason on their heels, they dashed into the woods and she let go of worries, exulting in the feeling of pack, Alpha, and best of all—mate.

Coming next in the Wolves of Willow Bend

Wolf Claim

Gillian Whitford, darling of Willow Bend, brings out the protective instincts in all the dominants, but none more so than Owen Chase, the pack’s Hunter. A loner by nature and calling, Owen spends less time with his pack mates and more time on the borders of their land. Not even the change in the Alpha and the swearing of a new oath kept him around long.

Winds of change still drift through Willow Bend as they adjust to their new Alpha. When the Hudson River pack requests a fill in healer to replace their own, Gillian, journeymen apprentice to their Pack healer, is the obvious choice to help. Owen forbids her to accept, but the sweet natured wolf rebukes his selfishness and volunteers anyway.

Risking a challenge, Owen faces off against his Alpha to appeal her decision and finds himself charged with her safety. Now, the loner will be escorting one of his pack’s most precious into foreign lands. He’s all that stands between her and a dozen potential threats…and if he doesn’t stake his claim, he may lose more than his heart.

The following is an unedited sneak peek!

Streams of sunlight raked through the clouds offering a tentative promise to the end of four straight days of torrential downpours. Owen parked across the street and down a couple of hours from the Alpha’s place. Christina Tate, the house’s owner glanced out her window and he raised his hand in greeting, then nodded to his truck. Though Mrs. Tate was one of the oldest wolves in the pack, and a natural submissive, Owen had no problem asking for her permission to leave his vehicle parked in front of her house.

It was polite. Mason Clayborne’s driveway was full and three more cars occupied spaces right in front of his place. A meeting of the Willow Bend council—Mason’s council—meant everyone who could be there, had already arrived. Mrs. Tate gave him a benevolent smile and nodded. She retreated from watching the street, probably to watch one of her shows or work on some project for one of her fifteen grandchildren. The Tates were a huge family within the pack and had it been earlier in the day, he wouldn’t have been surprised to see the youngest pups out running and playing.

Ryan Huston, the pack attorney and their current Alpha’s father-in-law, pulled in to park right behind Owen. His spotless, dark blue Lexus a powerful counterpoint to Owen’s muddy, beat up Ford. The attorney had taken the time to change before the meeting, wearing jeans and a t-shirt rather than the three thousand dollar suits he normally sported.