Hunter's Heart: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 5) (7 page)

My father opened and closed his mouth, reminding me
of a beached fish gasping for air. But, when my grandmother whistled for him
from the yard, my father narrowed his eyes at me, slung his weapon over his
shoulder, and turned to go.

I turned around and faced Derek.

Chapter Eight

He gripped the bars of the cage; muscles rippled in
his chest as I took a step closer. The air grew thick between us. Hot. His eyes
flashed, this time not from the threat of danger, but because I was close. I
took another step, my chest rising and falling with measured breaths as I tried
to shut out the maddening, summoning rhythm of his heart. One more step and I
would put myself within arm’s reach of him. I took that last step.

Had Derek grabbed me then, I might have tried to
pull away. I’d been this close to him before. Closer. Yet this time, it
mattered more. Grammy told me what he was to me. I didn’t understand it, but I
couldn’t lie to myself. Not anymore. Though I didn’t know what it meant, I knew
it was true, somehow. I was . . . his. Somehow.

But, Derek didn’t grab me. Instead, he took a step
back, giving me space. I curled my fingers around the bars and looked at him.
Really looked at him. Not as prey. Not as the demon I’d been raised to believe
he was. But as a man.

He was beautiful. Every muscle sculpted to perfection,
from the curve of his thigh to the tapered V of his hip where his jeans hung
low. And his chest. A fine dusting of soft, brown curls covered his pecs then
led a trail down. Heat pumped through me, settling low in my core as I followed
that trail with my eyes then blushed to the roots of my hair. I brought my eyes
slowly back up. His neck. Corded, strong. A muscle jumped as he swallowed hard.
Stubble covered his jaw, and his lips had a natural curve as though he
perpetually smirked. I wanted to run my fingers through the thick, soft curls
at the crown of his head and smooth it down and back.

“Derek,” I finally said, gripping the cold steel
bars so tightly I wondered if maybe I could break them.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” he said, his
expression soft, barely more than a whisper. “Not ever.”

“My grandmother.” My words were choked. Hollow. I
didn’t know what to say.

Derek looked down. When he met my eyes again, pain
flashed through his. Regret?

“What happened to your grandmother is
not
how
we do things. That’s the first thing . . . the only thing you need to
understand.”

“How do you
know
what happened to her? How
could you possibly?”

“I recognized her. I knew she was marked. Since
she’s not living with wolves now, I put two and two together. She’s one of the
Odawa, isn’t she? One of the lost girls.”

“Taken by wolves,” I spat. “People like you.”

He shook his head. “No. Not people like me.”

“What do you mean?” Rage bubbled up inside me. For
her. It came unbidden as if pent up in my DNA. Wolves had hurt Grammy. Broken
her. She would never tell me all of it. She didn’t have to.

“We don’t force ourselves on women, Jessa. That’s
not our way. Not in Wild Lake. A wolf protects his mate with his life. So does
his pack.”

I believed him. I didn’t want to admit it. I knew
what my heart told me, but my brain still had so many questions. “I know
exactly what wolves are capable of. This
isn’t
Wild Lake. Werewolves
kill. They hunt. And they kill. There has
never
been a werewolf in
Banchory that wasn’t here to do murder. To people, Derek.”

He flinched. The muscles in his shoulders clenched
and he dropped his head. He took a step forward but still kept his distance
from the bars. He put his hands up in surrender. “Something’s happened down
here. The Kentucky wolves are in trouble. We’ve heard rumors for years. The way
they live, it’s not natural. That many weres controlled by a single Alpha? It’s
driving them mad, I think. A few of them have broken off and tried to make
trouble for us up in Michigan. Drive us off. That’s why I’m here. I was sent to
try and find out what’s going on.”

“Where’s your pack, then? Grammy said it’s not
natural for you to be without them if you’re their Alpha.”

Derek nodded. “She’s right. But I know the rules.
Even stepping foot across the border puts me in violation of our peace treaty
with the Kentucky pack. I didn’t want to put my pack in danger until I had a
better idea of what was going on down here. That’s one reason. The other is for
my
own
protection. The other wolves can sense me alone. But, if I were
traveling with the other four members of my pack, it would put us all in that
much more danger. They’d notice. If I’m by myself, there’s less chance it’s
going to be viewed as an act of open warfare. One wolf could be a mistake. Five
of them is a statement.”

“So what do you want?”

He dropped his shoulders. “I want to know who hired
you to kill me, for starters. Somebody knew I was coming. That means we might
have another traitor in Wild Lake.”

“For starters?”

Derek smiled. “Well, yes, Jessa. But now . . . things
have changed a bit.”

“Because of me.”

“Because of us.”

“What if I don’t want it?”

He took another step forward. I stayed rooted to the
spot with my hands gripping the cage bars as though they kept me from floating
away.

“I told you. We don’t force ourselves on women. And
frankly, we don’t usually have to. What is your heart telling you right now?
Listen to it. Closely.”

I didn’t have to listen closely. It thundered in my
ears like a bass drum. With each step Derek took, the pull between us grew that
much stronger. Undeniable. Kinetic. I knew if he touched me, the world might
become light and stars. I almost couldn’t contain it.

“What does it mean?” My voice wavered.

“What does it feel like?”

I let out a bitter bark of a laugh. “It feels like
you’re inside me. I can’t breathe. I can’t shut it out.”

“Do you want to?”

I couldn’t answer. Not yet. “I don’t know you.”

“Yes, you do. You know everything you need to know
already.”

“No!” Too much. I pushed away from the bars and
paced just like I did back in my trailer. The more agitated I became, the
calmer Derek seemed to get. He just stood in the center of that damn cage with
his hands crossed in front of him, waiting me out.

“You feel like . . . like. I don’t know!” I flapped
my hands in front of me. Still, Derek didn’t move.

“Yes, you do. Say it.”

I let my breath out hard, like I was bracing to do a
dead lift. I paced more. “I can’t. I can’t even think it.”

“Yes. You can.”

“Fine!” I whirled on him. I stormed up to the cage,
getting just an inch from the bars, though I wouldn’t touch them again. “You
feel like . . . like
mine
!”

When Derek smiled, my heart imploded. I wanted him.
God. I
wanted
him. He was right. Goddammit. He was right. And smug. And
standing there watching me spin myself into the ground. All I wanted to do was
touch him. Have him touch me. Kiss him. Throw myself at him. My nerves lit with
wildfire, sending waves of desire through me. This was elemental, instinctual.

“I don’t even know you.” I said it again, meaning to
shout it, but it came out as a whisper as I brought my hands up and gripped
those bars again.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“Why didn’t you tell me
this
?” I waved my
hand in the space between us. “You knew, didn’t you? From the very beginning.
You looked at me. Your eyes did that . . . that wolf thing. You
knew
.”

“Didn’t you?”

“No!”

He smiled again. He still hadn’t moved from that
same spot at the center of the cage.

“Okay, yes. There was something. I’m not . . . well
. . . I’m not that bad a shot.”

He laughed.

“Why didn’t you
tell
me?” I asked again.

Derek finally took a step forward. But, just a step.
He didn’t come close enough to touch me. “Well, the thing is, Jessa. You
shot
me!”

I opened my mouth then clamped it shut, realizing as
an afterthought I must have looked just like my father. I started to pace.
“Well.”

“Well what?”

“Well,” I turned on him and crossed my arms in front
of me. “Well. I’m sorry.”

He took another step forward. “Thanks. It means a
lot.”

“Now you’re just being sarcastic.”

“No. It really does. Are you thinking of shooting me
again?”

“Constantly.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it.”

I pressed my forehead against the bars. “Tell me
what it means. This mate thing.”

“You belong to me. If . . . you want to.”

“Grammy has a bite mark on her neck. She called it
an Alpha’s mark. You would do that? If . . . if I let you.”

“Maybe.”

“Why maybe?”

“It’s a big responsibility. Maybe I wouldn’t want
the hassle.”

“You’re teasing me again.”

“A little.”

“That’s how she knew you were an Alpha. If I let you
bite me, would it make this feeling go away? You know. The part where I can
feel your heartbeat. At least, I think that’s what I’m feeling.”

“No. It would make that even stronger. But, you’d
want it. It would become part of you.”

“Tethered. That’s what Grammy said. She was tethered
to the Alpha who did it to her until the bastard finally died. Killed by
another wolf who wanted to take his spot.”

“That’s generally how that happens, yes. With Alphas,
I mean. Not with marking. Again. Can’t stress enough. Consensual, Jessa.”

“Good. What about you? Is that why you have those
scars on your face?” I drew three fingers down my own temple, simulating the
wound Derek bore.

He nodded. “Yes. This happened when I became an
Alpha. I challenged my pack leader, and it got a little intense.”

“You killed him.”

“I did. But it wasn’t brutal. Well, I mean . . . sure
it was. But, it was meant to be. He was older. His time had come. More
importantly,
my
time had come. It was noble. It was natural.”

“A mercy killing?”

“Yeah. Except for the part where he tried to rip my
face off.”

I wanted to touch it. The urge to curve my fingers
around Derek’s face took my breath away. I couldn’t stand
not
touching
him. Noble. Natural. Oh, God.

“You have four other wolves in your pack?” I tried
to steady my erratic pulse. A shadow came over me. Not a shadow. Something
warm. As if Derek reached out and put an arm around me. His even heartbeat
stilled mine, making me calm.

“Yes,” he said. “Adam, Cameron, Owen, and Steven.
Owen is my brother. The others grew up with me. There were more. The old guard
from the pack leader I took over from. But, they’re all gone now.”

“You live together?”

“We hunt together. We fight together. We’re
connected. But no, we don’t live together.”

“Do they know about . . . uh . . . what I did to
you?”

“I haven’t exactly had a chance to text them or
anything.”

“Oh. I just thought, uh, you said you’re connected.”

“They’re six hundred miles away. There’s connected,
and then there’s connected.”

“Oh. Okay, good. I don’t suppose they’re going to
like me much considering I shot their Alpha.”

“They’ll get over it.” Derek’s eyes danced with
mirth as he took another step toward the bars. I gripped them tighter but
didn’t move. My words became a barrier as much as the cage bars did. A shield.
With each step he took, with each steady beat of his heart, a different kind of
wall disintegrated.

“Jessa,” he said, his voice soft but commanding.

“What?”

“Come here.”

“I’m right here.”

“Are you going to let me out of this cage anytime
soon?”

“That depends. At the moment, I think if I did my
father would probably put another bullet through you. And let’s be honest. This
time it would probably kill you.”

I said it as a joke, but the instant I did, terror
tore through me. God. The idea of losing him. If I hadn’t been holding on, I
might have dropped to the ground then and there.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “Give me a chance
to talk to your father. I need his help, anyway.”

“You’re not getting better, are you? The toxin.”

Derek’s eyes went dark for a moment. “Well, I don’t
feel like I’m going to pass out. I feel stronger. But my wolf is still . . . stuck.
It’s not very pleasant.”

“God. Derek. I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t know.
I thought . . .”

“Shh. No more apologies. I won’t hold your past
prejudices against all werewolves and your trigger finger against you; you
won’t hold me responsible for what happened to your grandmother or anything the
Kentucky wolves have done. I can make you this promise though. If you want it .
. . I’ll lay my life down for you. For her too. That’s what fated mates really
means, Jessa.”