Sworn to the Wolf (11 page)

“No one is going to beat you. You’re doing a good enough job yourself. Once she talks to Kari, hopefully she’ll understand and forgive you. Hell, one of my Pack nearly killed my wife and she forgave me. It wasn’t on purpose and you didn’t do it in anger. It’s a ripped shirt and a red mark that doesn’t even look like it’ll bruise. The damage is inside. That’s slower to heal than a bruise.” Andreas scrubbed his hands over his face.

“Kari had no right to promise to let her leave.” Laurent’s wolf was restless and possessive, trying to fight to the surface to keep Rain any way it had to.

“Kari is your Alpha. She has every right. You can’t win this fight by forcing her to stay here while she’s terrified,” Andreas said.

“Oh is that so? Hmm, let’s see, Andreas, and how did Kari come to be here? Did you let her go when she asked?” Laurent snarled.

“No, it was different, she had been bitten. Plus aren’t
you
the one who told me to be honest with her about everything?”

“You wouldn’t have let her leave after she transformed even if she wanted to.”

Andreas sighed. “You’re right. You’d better hope that Kari can talk her into staying.”

Kari settled Rain on the couch. Anna came out looking worried, bringing a pot of hot chocolate and placing it on the low table before the two women.

“I know you’re shocked by what he’s told you but can I show you something?” Kari asked softly.

Rain nodded. Kari called out, “Phillip? Can you come in here please? I think that this could all be taken care of with a little demonstration.”

Phillip came into the room and smiled softly at Rain. “Rain, I need to take my clothing off, all right?”

“For what? Just what sort of demonstration do you have in mind?” Rain sputtered and moved away from them.

Kari laughed and said softly, “I was this difficult too. Just wait a moment, all right? Plus, well, Phillip is pretty nice to look at when he’s naked.”

Rain stared at Phillip as he disrobed, arms across her chest. Her heart thudded in her chest and she felt like she’d pass out from the stress of the entire day. Still it was apparent that Laurent wasn’t the only above average-sized man staying at Star Lake Lodge.

Phillip got to all fours and stretched, the air around him seemed to ripple and shimmer, Rain blinked in disbelief as a huge reddish-gold coated wolf trotted over to her and pressed his nose into her palm. She ran her hands through the soft fur in amazement.

“Holy shit. I’m going to stroke out now,” she whispered. “It’s true?”

Kari smiled at her. “No stroking out. Take a deep breath and get yourself together. Yes, we’re all werewolves. Laurent was
just
running tonight. I’ve known Laurent for four years. He’s intensely loyal and honorable. He would not cheat on you, least of all with Paloma. He loves you. Werewolves are far stronger than humans and when Laurent saw you so afraid and panicked his wolf tried to take over to protect you. When he reached out he grabbed your shirt and it ripped. He would not hurt you on purpose. He even managed, at a time of high stress, to rein it in to protect you from any real physical harm.”

Rain looked down at the ripped sleeve and saw the red mark he’d left was already nearly gone. While she’d been afraid of all he’d said it was more that she thought he was crazy and a cheater than her being afraid he’d actually hurt her. The realization was a huge relief.

For long quiet moments Rain continued to think, trying to process it all, absently stroking the fur of the wolf at her side that would have easily stood four feet high. “He’s so beautiful,” she murmured, nuzzling her face into Phillip’s soft fur. He rumbled his approval and licked her face.

“Yes, I’ve never seen another wolf with a coat like his. They’re all this big though, except for me, I’m smaller. Can you understand why Laurent hesitated to tell you? It’s not something easy to believe. I know.”

“How do you know?”

Kari sighed. “I was walking to my car after leaving a nightclub and I was attacked by what I thought was a dog. It turns out that it was a wolf, a werewolf, and Andreas’s cousin Michael. They took me to the hospital and my doctor turned out to be a Pack member. Anyway, they saw that I was manifesting symptoms of the change and they brought me here. I was
so
not happy. They kept me locked up after I refused to believe any of their werewolf nonsense. Heck, they even told me I was their queen! I escaped my second night and almost got to town when someone stopped to help me, turned out it was Ryan and he brought me back here. I was livid.” She laughed at the memory.

“Anyway, Skye changed for me, to prove what they’d been saying was true. A few days later I transformed at the full moon and, true to their word, I am indeed the
reine du loup
, the werewolf queen and the female Alpha to Andreas’s male Alpha. I was destined to be with him. When I accepted that I realized that I had loved Andreas from the first moment I saw him. I’ve never been happier in my life, Rain. This Pack is my family and it will be your family too if you just give us a chance.”

“Wait, you
were
human? Being bitten changes humans into werewolves? Were all of your children bit then?”

“Yes, I was human and I was bitten and transformed. Some shifters are born that way. In fact, all male Alphas of Clans are natural wolves. They’re the strongest in each Pack. Laurent, Andreas, Skye and Phillip are all natural wolves, as are the children. Tomas, Andreas’s father, was the Clan Alpha before Andreas, and his father before that and so on for generations.”

“How can I be Laurent’s Mate if I’m human?”

“At some point in your family tree, you’ve got wolves in your family genetic code. It means you’re able to change safely. Being bitten is hard on humans, many don’t survive. Those who’ve got wolves in their family are able to survive the change and many are able to bear children. Before you ask, we know this because when you licked the page you wrote your phone number on you left your DNA and we have a pretty sophisticated records system.”

“Oh this is fucking freaky. Are you telling me that Laurent plans to turn me into a werewolf? Was he even planning to ask me?”

Phillip put his face on her legs and whined a bit, sensing her distress.

“I’m sure he was going to ask you but yes, being his Mate would mean that he would change you. Hopefully you’d agree to live up here, Laurent is Andreas’s Third in command. He’s very high up in Pack hierarchy, he needs to be where Andreas is.”

Rain stood and turned as Laurent came into the room.

“Baby. I see that Phillip has transformed for you. Do you believe me now when I tell you I wasn’t with Paloma?”

She took a step back. “Yes.”

“Why do you cringe away from me? I am so terribly sorry that I hurt you. Did it bruise? Oh god, please tell me it didn’t.”

She pulled her sleeve up and showed him the place on her arm, where the mark was finally gone. “No. The mark is gone.”

“Thank god.” He sighed in obvious relief. “We have much greater strength than humans do, I got scared that I was going to lose you and I forgot that for a moment. When you transform you’ll be as strong as I am.”

“When I transform? You know, you might try actually
asking
me things. Who do you think you are? You don’t have the right to simply make choices for me. I just met you! You push your way into my life, declare that you love me and bring me up here. Surprise, you spring a slutty ex-girlfriend and the fact that you’re a werewolf on me. It’s a bit much, you know.”

“I’m your Mate, I will do what I have to to keep you safe,” he growled and Phillip bumped him with his large body.

Kari looked at Laurent. “Human women are not as malleable as shifter females. You can’t just order them around.”

Laurent sighed and tried to ignore Andreas’s amused glance. “Rain, love, I’m sorry for assuming. I just want you to be safe. I want us to be together. The change will give you more strength, more speed and agility. It’ll protect you better against anything that may come up, like your father or his men. And she’s not my ex anything, nor did I spring her on you.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “We’re meant to be together, surely you can’t deny that.”

“I’m not going to discuss her one second further!” Rain’s voice rose and Laurent heard the strain there. She was close to losing it again. “I don’t know what to think. I’m in over my head and I have to have some space to work through it.”

“What does that mean?” Laurent asked suspiciously.

“It means I want to go home, back to Seattle. I want you to give me time and space to work this all through. I need to think and I can’t do it with you around.”

Kari sighed softly and Andreas grabbed Rain’s hand. “Why don’t you stay here for a while? I promise that we’ll give you space.”

“I want to work. I have a life, in case anyone here actually cares about what
I
want and need. I have a gallery show to prepare for. I have rent to pay, a job.”

Phillip had loped over to his clothes and transformed back into human form. “Rain, your father has started to look for you. It’s not safe.”

She turned to look at Laurent. “He has? Did you know that?”

“Yes. That’s why it’s imperative that you stay here where I can protect you.”

“You knew that and you didn’t tell me?”

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, which was probably standing up by now from the number of times he’d repeated the gesture. “I knew you were upset and that you’d be safe here. I was going to tell you later today, after breakfast.”

She shook her head. “You just can’t seem to lie to me enough, can you? I begged you to tell me what you were hiding earlier tonight, remember? You said to my face and through the door that you weren’t hiding anything. You made me feel like I was going crazy for suspecting you! You knew that I ran from a system that made choices for women without consulting them and you did the exact same thing. I’m going back to Seattle. If one of you won’t give me a ride I’ll walk.”

“I’ll take you,” Laurent said sadly. He hoped he could change her mind on the long drive back.

“Fine.” She turned back to Kari. “Thank you for your kindness.”

“Please come back soon. Don’t let this one thing make you give up the love of your life.” Kari hugged her tightly. “If I had done that I’d be so lonely now. I know it’s scary but listen to your heart.”

Andreas hugged her next. “Please come back soon. You’re welcome here any time. You’re one of our family now. Laurent loves you, he’s a good man, give him a chance. We all make mistakes.”

She turned and walked out of the lodge and got into the truck. Skye brought her stuff from the cabin and loaded it in for her, patting her hand. “Please don’t turn your back on him,” he murmured and walked back to the porch, touching Laurent’s shoulder as he walked past.

* * *

The ride back to the city was quiet. Laurent had tried to take her hand but she moved farther away from him. She couldn’t believe that he’d lied to her. He was making plans to turn her into a fucking werewolf and had just assumed she’d be all for it. He was a werewolf! Holy cow. And he knew her father was looking for her and didn’t tell her. Such total disregard for her feelings on big decisions irked her and pushed all her buttons.

“Won’t you stay at the Pack apartment? You’re safer there. You can work all you like.”

“No.”

“Baby, won’t you forgive me? I did what I did to protect you. Yes, I’m sorry, I realize now that it was wrong and that I should have told you. But I did it because I love you and I didn’t want to hurt you.” Laurent felt like he had something stuck in his throat. The last time he’d been this miserable was when his mother had died.

“I need some time to think. I need to work through this all, on my own.”

“I can help you.”

“In the past not even week, I met a man and fell in love with him, I found out that he’s a
werewolf
, not to mention finding out that such things exist to begin with. I tell the first person in a year the truth about my family. I also find out, via a third party, that my father is looking for me. I find out that you knew these things and didn’t tell me, and that you want to turn me into a werewolf and hadn’t even consulted me. Give a girl a break.” She sighed.

“You love me?” Laurent asked softly.

“Yes. But you know, love isn’t always enough. I cannot, no, I
will not
live a life where someone else makes decisions for me.”

“Rain, I love you so much. Don’t shut me out.” His heart was breaking. To have found his Mate after forty-four years and then have her turn away from him was excruciatingly painful. Knowing he was a big part of why was even worse.

Rain turned toward him. “I’m not shutting you out, even though I’m not sure I shouldn’t just run as fast as I can from you and my father and all of this. I’m asking you for some space to think about things.”

“You aren’t breaking it off with me?”

“No. I just need some time. I’ll call you when I’m ready. I just plan to work and build up my body of paintings. I
need
to work, I
need
to think. I can’t do that with you around. You’re so big, you make me want to forget about things and just be naked and let you do whatever you want. It’s disconcerting.”

Laurent smiled and the squeezing pressure on his heart eased. “Baby, you belong naked with me doing whatever I want to please you. We’re meant to be together. You know that.” He pulled up in front of her house and turned off the ignition.

“I know a few things, yes. That, strange as it sounds and feels, I love you and that it feels so right to be with you. I also know that you’ve totally rolled over my life and you seem to do whatever you want without regard to my opinion on the matter. I can’t reconcile those things.”

Laurent slid across the seat to get closer to her. “I can’t say I’ll always be the best at seeking your input. I’m sorry, I’m a male werewolf. We’re not designed that way. I can promise you that I love and respect you and that I will always try to consult you and listen to you. You are not my pet, you’re my Mate, my equal. I just want to protect you.”