Dark Forest (Secret Blood, Book 1) (5 page)

He wasn’t dreaming.

Rose Merrin was putting her clothes back on in his living room. It was a miracle beyond miracles. She was here, in his house, and had just let him totally devour her delicious body.

She jerked her shirt over her head. “My hoodie? Where is my hoodie?”

He handed it to her. There was a logical reason she was starting to freak out. If he panicked, he’d never find out. He calmed himself before asking, “You okay?”

She pulled on the hoodie. “I am fantastic, but…what if he comes back, Aiden? He thinks I’m his mate. Can he make me be his mate if he thinks I am?”

Aiden scratched his shirt-covered chest. While he understood why the threat Julian posed would dominate their conversation, he didn’t like her thinking of the danger so soon after what they’d shared together. He huffed. “He can’t make you do anything.”

She snorted. “He’s a werewolf. He’s probably all territorial, mate for life kind of…” Her eyes went huge. “Wait, that could be you, too.”

“It is me,” he said with a huff. “But we aren’t mated, and sometimes a wolf needs to know when his territory doesn’t want to be his territory.”

She glared at him. “In English this time.”

He chuckled and headed for the kitchen. “Let’s go eat some pie. Grams baked it for me yesterday.”

She followed him. “What exactly does what you just said mean?”

He grabbed plates out of the cabinet, and two forks out of the drawer. “It means the act of having sex doesn’t automatically give me the right to be a jackass about you, and you get a choice in who your mate is, or if you want to be a mate at all.”

Rose got a carton of milk from the fridge. “But you have more of a right to me because we did have sex?” She put the carton on the table. “Where are the cups?”

He pointed at a cabinet on the other side of the sink. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

She got the cups and sat at the table. “So un-complicate it.”

He growled as he cut into the pie. Edith was always making him something because she thought he deserved it for protecting the town. “You smell like mine,” he said, having no idea how to explain all of this without it sounding creepy. “You have for a long time.”

She poured them both a glass of milk. “How many werewolves are there in this town?”

“Only me since my uncle died last year.” He handed her a plate with a slice of pie.

She took a bite of pie. He could almost hear her thinking up questions. She leveled her gaze on him. “Does silver hurt you?”

“Myth.”

“Changing by light of the moon?”

“The need to shift is strongest during a full moon, but we can control it.” The more questions she had, the better. Knowledge was power, and eliminated fear.

“How does the mating part work?” Her green eyes leveled right at his face.

“A bite, or it happens on its own over time.” This was one of the sticky subjects he wasn’t going to shy away from.

“Bite?”

“In the semi-shifted form I bite you, take some of your blood, and…” He shrugged. “That’s how it’s done…unless you want to wait a year or so for the bond to happen through frequent sex.”

“Okay, I need to think about it.” She focused on her pie for a moment. “Does it hurt? Shifting, I mean.”

“No, it’s part of what I am naturally capable of doing,” he said.

She pulled her chair back up to the table. “Childbirth is also natural, but it’s rather painful from what I hear…Oh shit! Aiden! Damn it, we didn’t use a condom.”

“I can’t get or give human diseases,” he said because it made him less of an idiot for forgetting. “I’m sorry, Rose, I—”

“Stop,” she snapped. “You weren’t the only one who forgot it. I need my phone.” She dashed out of the room, and returned a few moments later. “I must have left it at Grams’. We need to go and get it.” She wolfed down her pie and chugged the rest of her milk. “I have an app to chart my cycle. It might be able to make me less neurotic for the next couple of weeks.”

“Want me to drive you?”

“Can we walk? Grams loves to make pies,” she said as if it explained it.

“Of course.” The calorie load in one of Edith’s pies was great for a shifter, but not so much for a human waistline. They would probably be taking many walks if Edith kept them supplied with pie. He wrapped the pie up and put it on the counter, and then put the milk back in the refrigerator. Rose put the dishes in the sink while he walked to the back door and put his shoes on. “You ready?”

She slipped her hand into his as they got out into the back yard. “Okay, so you are not capable of getting a human disease?”

“No.” They headed for the path leading to Edith’s cottage.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I just didn’t think. It’s you, and you’re safe, and you’re Aiden, and I feel like a complete idiot.”

He rubbed his thumb over her hand. “We’re in the same boat, Rose. We’ll handle it, whatever happens.”

“I didn’t think you’d leave me stranded,” Rose said. “I just…I never forget precautions.”

“Rose, let’s go check out your app, and then we can freak out if it tells you something you don’t want to hear.”

A smile lit her face. She wrapped both of her arms around his, and held on to his hand as they walked. Being with her was wonderful. Even in this quiet moment where neither felt the need to talk. The strain of earlier was gone. She was going to accept him as a werewolf. They just had to work out the complications humans put into everything. For the first time he had hope he wasn’t facing his future alone.

Edith was in the side yard working in her herb garden when they exited the woods. She slowly stood as they got closer. “What are you two doing here?”

“I forgot my phone,” Rose said.

“Ah, yes, you have an unhealthy attachment to technology, dear.” Edith walked only as far as the corner of the porch. “It’s on the kitchen table.”

“Thanks, Grams.” She leaned up. “Keep her company,” she said and then kissed his cheek before going into the house. She returned a few moments later with relief on her face.

Edith narrowed her gaze on Aiden. “I am sure I don’t want to know about this sudden visit.” She looked at her watch. “I have plants to tend, and you two have a car to pick up.”

Rose walked to Edith and gave her a hug and kiss. “Let us know if you need help with anything.”

“I always do, dear. Now go on. I’d rather not have a werewolves fighting in the yard and tearing up my garden.”

“I love you,” Rose said.

“Of course you do.” Edith winked. “Love you, too, brat. Now get out of here or you’re going to miss getting your car, and Clyde will probably charge you an extra day for storage.”

“Later, Grams,” Aiden said. That old woman held a special place in his heart. When he didn’t have a pack, and the town hated him, Edith had been the one person who befriended him.

“Take care of her, Aiden.”

“I will.”

Rose wrapped her hand around his as they walked back in the direction they came from.

She leaned into his side. “We dodged a bullet.” She stuck her phone in his face so he could see. “See the purple tulip? It says I don’t ovulate for another seven days. There is no way I can get pregnant today.”

He studied the image for a moment. The tulip was on the twenty-seventh day of the month, and today was the twentieth. “Wonderful.”

“You don’t sound wonderful, what’s wrong?”

He leaned down and brushed his mouth over hers. “I want kids someday.”

“Ah.” She wrapped her arms tight around him. “So do I. But we have lots of time to work out all those details once Julian is no longer a problem.”

He wrapped his hand around hers and tugged her into motion. “I’ll take care of Julian. I think working on those little details might be a good idea.”

“My brain can only process so much at one time,” she said. “I want to enjoy this with you, and I do not want to be rushed. Let’s have fun with the live-in dating phase, and we’ll get to the rest of it.”

Aiden stopped walking. His heart pounded. “Did you just say what I hope you did?”

“I think I did.” She tugged him back into motion. “I need time to settle. It’s been that way since Mom and Dad died.”

“Take all the time you need,” he murmured. His arm tightened around her. He enjoyed just being with her. Humans didn’t understand the importance of being in a moment. Memories faded, and the future was yet to come. Now was the most important place, and he was finally sharing his moments with the one person he always wanted with him.

When they got back to the house, he noticed something was wrong. “Rose, why don’t you go in and get your purse.” He handed her the keys out of his pocket. “I forgot to take care of something. It will be just a minute.”

“Okay.” She leaned up.

He lowered his head to brush a kiss over her mouth. “Anything weird goes on, scream. I’ll be there.”

“Got it,” she said as she walked into the house.

Aiden walked to the side of the porch where a long, shallow, white box sat. It stank of Julian. This was what the asshole had been doing. Aiden picked up the box. There was a card taped to the front.

He read it.

A little gift to show you what will happen if I can’t have what I want…

Aiden opened the box. Rage boiled in his blood. Wrapped in black tissue paper was a single dead red rose.

Rose returned to find Aiden clutching a box, and in his semi-shift. If she hadn’t seen the claws on his hand, she wouldn’t have known. In this state he looked exactly like her Aiden, only with the addition of fangs and claws, like a realistic Halloween costume. She stood in the door, not sure if she should go to him, or let him settle down first. “Aiden?”

He smashed the lid back onto the box. “Get in the truck.”

She started to argue, but decided against it. She locked the door. Keeping an eye on him, she hurried to his truck and got inside. He stared down at the box as if deciding if he’d destroy it or not. He shook his head several times, and when he turned to come to the truck, Rose could no longer see his fangs.

He tossed the box behind the seat before he got into the driver’s side and put out his hand.

She dropped the keys into it. “What is that?”

“A warning.” His growl nearly matched the roar of the truck coming to life. “I know this goes against everything you know and do as a human, but until Julian is gone, you can’t be without me.”

Rose let out a shuddering breath as her head bobbed. “All right…Kiera…do you think…”

“Probably dead,” Aiden said. “He’s moved on to you. I need to talk to Sheriff Jones while we are in town.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Her protective instincts flared. “We need to keep you as far away from this as possible, or at least the appearance of it.”

He let out what she was coming to think of as a wolf huff. “He knows,” Aiden said in a soft rumble. “It’s why I am not in jail, but he can’t help protect my secret if I don’t attempt to follow human rules.”

“Who else knows?” She tried not to be jealous, but he claimed to have a thing for her for years. How could he tell other people and not her? She willed it back, and waited for his answer.

He backed out of the driveway. “Grams, the mayor, Doc Hanover, and Deputy Sheriff Swanson.”

See?
That wasn’t so bad. Grams knew because she’d seen it, and it made sense for those who did know to know. At least in regards to keeping Aiden out of jail for protecting people from vampires and…She cringed. “What else do you protect the town from?”

“Rogue shifters…other supernatural threats.” He glanced at her. “Not everything supernatural is bad. We’re just a little scarier when we cross the line from mostly law-abiding to criminal.”

“Mostly?” Whether it was the sound of his voice, or just needing to chatter to keep the fear from creeping in, she didn’t know, but she wanted to keep him talking.

“I read somewhere everyone commits three felonies a day.” The corner of his mouth slid up on the side.

The fear eased back. “What are you legally allowed to do about Julian?”

Aiden pulled on his chin. “Once I get a confirmation that the death was committed by Julian, I will be free to…” His jaw worked, and a deep growl vibrated in his chest. “It becomes a High Council issue. Indiscriminately murdering humans will earn Julian a death sentence. I won’t have a choice.”

Realization hit about what he wasn’t saying. She twisted in the seat and pressed her back against the door. “You’re going to kill him?”

“I’ll have no…” He didn’t finish. Instead, he pulled off on the side of the road. He sat, staring at the steering wheel for a long moment before he turned to look at her. “I wish I could say I don’t want to be the one to have to do it, but he’s hunting you, Rose, probably killed Kiera. That makes it my right and duty to put him down. He’s risking exposing us all, and killing innocent humans.”

“What about…” The question dropped off as the answer came. Jail might cause more death, and make an even greater risk of exposure. “There is no shape-shifter jail.”

“No,” Aiden confirmed as he pulled back onto the road. “He knows the laws. He wouldn’t have tried to throw the Wolf Council in my face about you if he didn’t.”

Rose absorbed this as fast as she could, but she was still about a million steps behind where she needed to be. “What are the laws about me?”

“The same basic rights any female shifter has, and the stipulations surrounding all humans. You can accept or reject someone who claims mating rights. You have to earn a right to our secrets, or carefully be watched if you accidently discover us.”

“Do I want to know what happens if they don’t think they can trust me?”

“There are other…” His brow furrowed. “I am not even sure what to call other supernaturals. The words we use are more regional than anything else, but I guess fae works as well as to cover the rest of them, and is just as accurate. Ghosts are supernatural, but not under rule of the High Council. Anyway, if you can’t be trusted, they will have someone
help
you forget what you know.”

“Okay, so there is a Wolf Council, and High Council, and all these entities make rules?” She shifted back the right way on her seat and pulled out her tablet to type notes.