First Bite (The Dark Wolf Series) (20 page)

Mate. Ours.

Neva stopped dead in the middle of reading a package of granola bars.
No
, she said to her wolf.
We had sex. That doesn’t mean
we’re automatically mates.
She sensed confusion from her animal persona—and from herself as well. She’d never indulged in gratuitous sex before. It wasn’t really in her nature, so why was she trying to pretend that’s all it was? Of course, a lot of things had happened in that forest bower that she hadn’t thought were in her nature. She’d felt incredibly wild and free, and yet deeply intimate. She’d chalked it up to being a new werewolf. Now she wondered: Had she really hitchhiked out of there to flee Meredith, or to run away from Travis? And to avoid what sex with him might mean for their relationship?

Oh no. She’d used the
R
word. Not out loud, but she’d
thought
it, dammit. She didn’t have a
relationship
with Travis, did she? Wasn’t she just a pain in his ass until he was satisfied she’d been properly introduced to the Changeling world? Hadn’t it been his plan all along to leave her after that? Plans could change, though. So could hearts. She’d told herself repeatedly that her feelings for Travis were perfectly normal, red-blooded attraction to a big, strong, good-looking man. Emphasis on
normal
.

Now, however…if it wasn’t love, it was suspiciously close to it. And Neva didn’t know if that was good or bad or both. Pairing up with a werewolf had certainly never been in her plans. Of course, neither had becoming a werewolf herself. So if she really did have feelings for the guy, what was she doing alone in a truck stop, miles down the road?

The pain in her head erupted so violently that at first she thought she was having a stroke. It took her to her knees, gasping for air and holding her skull with both hands in case it blew apart. Travis’s voice echoed loudly in every cell of her body—

And then it was gone. Just
gone
.

Shaking, sweating, she allowed herself to be helped to her feet by a purple-uniformed waitress and a trucker with a long, braided beard. “I’m okay,” Neva said, although she wasn’t convinced of
it herself. “Just a sudden migraine—makes me lose my balance sometimes. It’s already fading.”

“You better sit down for a bit, hon.” The waitress guided her to a booth and held her arm until she was settled in. “My cousin Ethan gets those, says they’re a real bugger. Now can I bring you something, or do you want to lie down for a while? I got my RV out back if you need some peace and quiet. It ain’t tidy, but it’s clean.”

“Thanks, that’s really kind of you. I just need a glass of milk, and maybe some aspirin. I’ll be okay if I just sit still.” At least Neva sincerely hoped that was the case. At least the pain was gone—except for a residual ache as if she’d been banging her head on the nearest wall. “I guess I probably should eat, too.” She thanked all her stars that she had a well-washed twenty in her pocket, courtesy of her jeans’ previous owner.

The waitress smiled and left her a menu. Neva could hardly read it. Not because there was anything wrong with her eyes, but because it was pretty damn distracting to get a full-volume warning from somebody inside your brain.
Stay away from here.
Away from where? Tough to tell when she didn’t know where the hell the guy was. She didn’t know which bothered her more: the way he was able to connect with her so suddenly or the fact that his voice cut off so abruptly. Was he in trouble? What should she do now?

The waitress zoomed by and left a tall glass of milk and a small blister package of aspirin. “It’s off the shelf in the store. Just pay Raymond at the till before you leave, hon,” she called over her shoulder as she filled coffee cups at another table.

When the woman returned, Neva ordered the double bacon cheeseburger special with fries
and
onion rings, plus a milkshake. The waitress’s eyebrows rose, but she didn’t say a word as she wrote up the order and headed for the kitchen.

Stay away from here.
Travis’s words had been clear but not the meaning. Where the hell was
here
? Was it wherever he had disappeared to in such a hurry? Or was it the last place he’d seen Neva? Jeez, what if Meredith’s gang had tracked them to their little love nest in the pines? That idea repelled Neva on several levels—it seemed like a violation to have their enemies trampling on the grass where she and Travis had come together so powerfully. A soft clenching at her core let her know that her body hadn’t forgotten a single detail of that encounter.

The waitress brought her order just as Neva sighed heavily, and mistook the sound for approval.

“Looks good, don’t it, hon? My husband, Carl, he’s the cook, and he does a fine job, if I do say so. Lots of truckers come here just for his burgers. But if you have room afterward, you have simply
got
to try his rhubarb pie.”

“Thanks,” Neva said as the waitress breezed off to another table. She picked up the monstrous burger with both hands. She didn’t know if there’d be any room for the pie afterward, but she was definitely going to devour every last grease-soaked calorie of the food before her. Not because she was starving (although she was) and not because she didn’t know where her next meal was coming from (she didn’t). She was going to eat this so her inner wolf was fully fueled, and
then
she was going to go looking for Travis.

Naked, Meredith inspected her image in the full-length mirror and noted with satisfaction that her skin was once again perfect in every way. The wounds she’d received from the golden wolf had vanished into nothingness as soon as she’d resumed her shapely human form. She drew a finger around one breast idly as
she considered her newest prize, currently locked in a basement cell. The big werewolf’s color wasn’t the only unique thing about him. He was a true shape-shifter, born to a dual existence. Nearly every creature in her pack had been human until she made them otherwise. Those few she hadn’t Changed herself, the werewolves she’d recruited here and there, had been transformed by someone else.

Just as she had been.

Meredith had traveled the country, studying magic in New England, New Orleans, and the American Southwest, experimenting and blending, until she’d developed a discipline that was uniquely hers. That was when she’d decided it was long past time to visit Europe in hopes of adding something new to her already formidable skills. But
new
didn’t begin to describe what an attraction spell brought within her reach. Andrei de la Ronde was thin, white-haired, and quiet, easily mistaken for an aged librarian rather than the wealthy and powerful man he was. But that wasn’t all that swam beneath the surface. If it wasn’t for the psychic discernment she’d cultivated since childhood, she might have missed the shining blue aura that marked him as an honest-to-god werewolf.

Andrei hadn’t known a thing about Meredith’s talents and abilities, of course. Only that a striking blonde American appeared on his arm at a party and dazzled him with a whispered invitation. She’d learned a lot that first night in his arms. One: werewolves had incredible stamina—even if their human side appeared long in the fang. Sex created energy, and energy powered enchantments. This was a union that could fuel far greater spells than she had been able to accomplish with mere human males.

Two: Andrei was wealthier than most small countries, and he moved in powerful circles. There was very little knowledge
and very few places he could not help her to access. And three: he was single, his wife having died some years back. There were no children, no exes, no relatives,
nobody
with whom she’d have to share all that money and power once she got her hands on it.

As always, Meredith carefully weighed effort against reward. She had no love for him, of course, but Andrei was remarkably easy to tolerate because he made few demands. It took very little to keep him happy, and he was a busy man, so she’d have ample time to pursue her one true love, which was magic. So really, the decision was a no-brainer. Once made, it was a simple matter to convince him that he wanted to marry her. She thought about weaving a potent little truth spell to make him reveal his lupine nature to her, but it proved unnecessary. He volunteered the information on his own—and, right on cue, she announced that she loved him anyway. The results were classic. Just like the old beauty and the beast story…

They wed according to her plan, traveled around the world according to her whim, and took up their main residence in Monaco, according to her taste. She thought she had it all.
And then he told her the rest of the story.
There was a way for beauty to become a beast as well! Shape-shifting spells were the most difficult to master in any magic culture—and to be able to change form at a moment’s notice was beyond anything she’d ever read about in the most ancient of grimoires. And there was one more incredible perk: werewolves were extremely long-lived. While Andrei appeared to be in his seventies, in reality, he had already surpassed the life spans of several humans combined. With virtual immortality, what levels of power and spell craft might Meredith be able to reach?

Her generous new husband handed it all to her by simply biting her little finger. Dear Andrei—he actually shed a tear when he did it, fearing he might hurt his fair-haired girl, as he called
her. Really, it was rather a shame that he was killed by a wild animal less than a year later…

Meredith sighed and turned her attention to her newest toy. The golden wolf was the first natural werewolf she’d met since Andrei—and a much more impressive specimen than her husband had been. Curious, she wanted to see the massive creature’s human side. She’d tried to order the animal out of the way, like a lion tamer driving a wild beast back. Her magic was stronger than any whip and chair, yet the tawny animal did not budge. Instead, she could feel the great wolf calmly testing her, studying her. She was accustomed to instilling fear in others, but this creature regarded her with calculation instead of terror. And for the briefest of moments she’d felt a tiny thrill of fear herself—

She, Meredith de la Ronde, who feared no one.

To her surprise, it was exciting. She watched in the mirror as her nipples became erect, just from the memory of that brief flicker of fright. Her fingers brushed over them ever so lightly, and with lightning quickness, the delicate nerve endings fired the sensations through her entire body. Moisture appeared between her legs at once, and she scented the warm tang of her own arousal.

Interesting.

The wolfen persona had not fled, but departed from her view as casually as if it had turned its back on her and sauntered away. The message was very clear: not only did the animal have no fear of her, it was wholly confident that she would not harm the human that the wolf was leaving in its place. In its vivid eyes had been the promise of sudden and immediate retribution. Meredith chose to be amused by its threat. She would teach the foolish creature some respect—and fear—later.

While the werewolf’s lupine form had been interesting, its human side was nothing short of fascinating to her. Andrei’s fine features had seemed rather elegant, but this male? Definitely
mountain-man material. Not only was he physically strong, but she’d admired the mental power he’d mustered to try and warn Geneva. None of Meredith’s pack was so adept at telepathic communication, a frustrating lack when she wanted reports from the field. Was the ability more pronounced in a natural werewolf? And his force of will was evident when fighting against the spell that was dragging him into unconsciousness. The spell won, of course.
Magic always wins. And so do I.

Someday Geneva was going to concede that fact. Someday soon the stupid little bitch was going to be on her hands and knees before Meredith, admitting at last that her big sister was superior in every possible way, and confessing her utter and complete loyalty. And then she would receive the opportunity to prove that devotion by facilitating Meredith’s greatest magical accomplishment.

But right now, she had to find the brat.

All the trackers had been able to glean was that Geneva had gotten into a vehicle headed east. The scrying bowl had shown only the interior of an unknown truck stop, which was no help at all—they all looked alike. Meredith moved from the mirror to one of the glass walls overlooking the ocean. She adored the view. There was a forest of redwoods on three sides of the property, a paradise of delights when she ran on four legs. But it wasn’t enough, nothing she had was enough compared to the powerful magic she craved. And she would have it, with or without her sister’s cooperation.

Effort versus reward.
Meredith had spent far too much time on her troublesome sister already. There was work demanding her attention in her spell room, crafts and incantations waiting to be finished, including her beloved pet project. Fortunately, although she’d been enraged by the discovery at the time, the unmistakable scents of recent sex and bonding in the pine grove
had an upside: any further labor to capture Geneva was unnecessary. She couldn’t imagine why Geneva had left the scene—the pair shouldn’t have been out of reach of each other, never mind out of sight—but it made absolutely no difference. Even if Geneva hadn’t been a willing participant, the brat’s inner wolf would be drawn back to its new mate, whether she liked it or not.