Werewolf Rage Book #2 in the Taming The Wolf Series
Read Werewolf Rage Book #2 in the Taming The Wolf Series Online
Authors: Katie Lee O'Guinn
Werewolf Rage
Book 2 in the Taming the Wolf series
By Katie Lee O’Guinn
To my beautiful children - This one’s for yo
u
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owner.
Table of Contents
Chapter 14 – A Change of Heart
Sneak Peek at Book 3 Werewolf Revenge
Ava ran through the forest, glad to get a little exercise in.
With all of the meetings she’d been at lately, she could feel herself getting stiff and weak. And in a town like Paskell, you were just asking for trouble if you weren’t in top shape. She leaped over a dead tree trunk and felt the wind rush over her body as if it was running with her. She grinned and shouted to the sky her joy. She pushed herself to move faster and jump further. She wanted to hear her muscles sing.
Ava slowed down as she came to the lake where she’d first met Cyrus months ago. Cyrus was her mate now and just the thought of him made her feel happy and warm. She slowed down to a walk and paused as she smelled the distinctive scents of pine trees, water and sky.
And just a hint of blood. She swiveled her head back and forth trying to pin point the scent and stared at the vacation cottage where all the murders had taken place last year. Her father, Harry Paskell had been called in by Tobias Carlston to help investigate the murders. The answer he’d found wasn’t the one anyone had wanted to hear.
Hybrids
. Hybrids were an abomination in everyone’s mind. A creature created by mating a human werewolf to a real wolf. The result was a creature insane with the desire to kill. An animal so merciless they were hunted down and destroyed at all costs. Ava shivered remembering the hybrids climbing the tree to get to her on her grandfather’s orders.
She closed her eyes and sighed, trying to let all the fear, anger and bitterness go.
Ava made her way down to the edge of the water and stared across the lake as she remembered all of the events of the past few months. Her life had changed completely. At the beginning of summer, she’d been an innocent girl excited to go to college. Now, with summer almost over, she was a woman who had chosen a man to love and a town to change. It wasn’t going to be easy. Changing ingrained archaic views of women and their role in the town of Paskell wasn’t going to happen overnight. But it
was
going to happen. After her father had won the challenge and taken over the right to rule the people, Cyrus and her father and so many others were doing everything they could to bring peace and equality to Paskell. Now if Paskell would just accept it, life would be just about perfect.
Ava sniffed the air and smelled a new scent. She stared at a clump of trees and bushes about 300 feet away and narrowed her eyes.
She was a little paranoid these days and even the slightest bump in her senses had her on edge. Cyrus assured her she would relax eventually, but now that she’d experienced being kidnapped and hunted by hybrids, who could blame her for being cautious?
“There you are! You’re getting faster.”
Ava smiled and turned around to see Cyrus walking toward her. His icy blue eyes always seemed to look right into her. Within seconds he was standing in front of her, crouching down and rubbing his hands over her back.
“You are the most beautiful wolf I’ve ever seen,” he whispered in a soft voice.
Ava closed her eyes in pleasure but then moved away from him. She moved as if to leap straight up in the air, but in mid leap, she flowed into her human form, a tall woman with long, wavy dark blond hair and warm brown eyes. She turned around and stepped into her mate’s arms, relaxing as she felt his strength surround her, bringing her close.
“Either I’m getting faster or you’re getting slower,” she murmured, grinning up into his face.
Cyrus laughed and then leaned down to kiss her, taking his time about it. She pulled away after a few minutes and shook her head at him.
“You remember the rules, don’t you?” she asked with a teasing lilt to her voice.
Cyrus frowned as she stepped out of his arms. “I’m not likely to forget with you reminding me every day, am I?” he asked testily running his hands through his glossy brown hair that hung almost to his collar now.
Ava laughed and then ran forward, sprinting as fast as she could before leaping into the air and doing a triple front hand spring.
She was considered an exceptional gymnast and had been headed on her way to the Olympics before she had decided she wanted out of the lime light. She still couldn’t regret her decision.
Cyrus walked over to her, smiling.
“Maybe we should renegotiate the rules?”
Ava stretched up with her hands to the sky and then twisted to the side and down, limbering up.
“If you didn’t like the rules, why did you agree to them?” she asked in a reasonable tone she knew would irritate him.
Cyrus narrowed his eyes at her and leaned
his long powerful body against a large boulder as he watched her stretch. “You know why I agreed to them. You didn’t give me a choice,” he said, sounding annoyed.
Ava stopped stretching and bit her lip as she walked over to where he was leaning against the boulder.
She walked into his arms and put hers around his neck.
“Are the rules really that bad?” she asked softly, kissing his cheek and then his chin.
Cyrus’s blue eyes glinted down at her suspiciously. “Yeah Ava. They are. Rule number one, a long courtship. Rule number two, no wedding until you’re twenty. Rule number three, I keep my hands to myself.”
Ava grinned up into his seething blue eyes.
“But just think what I agreed to in return? Do you want to back out?” she asked, already knowing what his answer would be.
Cyrus pulled away from her and walked to the water, shoving his hands in his jeans and staring moodily at the water.
“It seemed fair at the time. Plus it was the only way I could get you to agree to be safe.”
Ava walked up behind Cyrus and put her arms around his waist as she leaned her head against his back.
She felt the tension in his body and shoulders relax almost immediately and smiled.
“I’m sorry you feel like I’m being cruel to you, but I’m doing what I feel is right.
I’ll be twenty in a year and a half
. I’m too young Cyrus
. I don’t want to be a married teenager. There’s just so much I need to learn and do before I become someone’s wife.”
Cyrus put his hand over hers.
“You wouldn’t be just someone’s wife. You’d be
my
wife.”
Ava grinned against Cyrus’s back and knew they would never agree on this subject.
“You’re too busy as it is right now helping my dad and everyone else change the town. You spend more time with my father than me,” she said sounding irritated.
Cyrus sighed and turned around to hold her in his arms.
“I’m doing everything I can to make this town a place that
my wife
and my future daughters will feel safe living in. I’m doing this for you. I just think that since our time together is so precious and since we love each other, . . .” he said, letting his sentence fade away as he began kissing the side of her neck.
Ava pushed him away, growling softly in irritation.
“I’m eighteen Cyrus. If you love me, you’ll love me enough to wait.”
Cyrus closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers.
“I love you Ava. If you asked me to wait for ten years, I would. It doesn’t mean I like it though,” he said.
Ava laughed and pushed up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
“I love you too. Now, enough of this. We’re supposed to be on a date. You said we were going to . . .” she paused and then turned her head to look intently at the clump of trees that had bothered her before. There was someone there watching her. She could smell it.
Cyrus turned to stare at the trees too, his face turning hard and his muscles clenching in his arms.
“Remember what you agreed to?” Cyrus said softly.
Ava nodded silently and moved back as Cyrus stood in front of her.
She’d agreed to never put herself in danger and to always take precautions. She hadn’t been the only one traumatized when she’d been kidnapped and hunted. Cyrus was very overprotective of her now. Ava swallowed as she watched two wolves, one black and the other a reddish brown move slowly toward them.
Ava reached out and put her hand on Cyrus’s arm.
“Cyrus, do you recognize them?”
Cyrus shook his head slightly, not saying anything.
“Stay here,” he murmured and moved forward toward the wolves.
Ava bit her lip and flexed her fingers.
If Cyrus needed back up against these two strange wolves, she’d have to change quickly into her wolf form. But even then, she might be more of a hindrance than a help. Cyrus would be so worried about protecting her, that he wouldn’t bother protecting himself.
Cyrus must have sensed her adrenaline pumping because he glanced at her quickly with a warning frown before turning back to the wolves.
The wolves stopped about ten feet in front of Cyrus and then stood up on their hind legs. Ava blinked in surprise as the wolves turned into a woman and a man right before her eyes. They flowed so smoothly from wolf to human that if she had blinked she would have missed it. She’d never seen a change so fast.
Cyrus nodded his head politely at the two strangers.
“Hi there. I’m Cyrus Carlston and this is my mate, Ava Paskell.”
The woman smiled in an open friendly way that had Ava immediately relaxing.
“My name is Perry Jansen and this is my younger brother, Cole Jansen. We’ve come from Tanner’s Landing for a visit. Our aunt and uncle live on the outskirts of Paskell. The Vanier’s. Do you know them?” she asked putting a hand on her brother’s shoulder.
Cyrus relaxed and smiled as he walked forward to offer his hand first to Perry and then to her
brother. “Of course I know Joan and Bill. Welcome.”
Ava breathed a sigh of relief. Perry was tall like most werewolves and was probably at least six feet. She had long light red hair and pale, clear green eyes. She was striking looking and could have been anywhere from twenty to forty. She looked young, but there was something in her eyes that looked older and tired somehow.
Cole on the other hand was his sister’s polar opposite.
Where she was pale, he was dark. He was slightly taller than Cyrus and just as bulky. He had shaggy black hair and wing like eyebrows hovering over the same eyes as his sister. Even though they were opposites in coloring, their eyes and their features were similar. Ava glanced away as she realized she’d been idly thinking how handsome Cole was. He was staring back at her with a friendly smile, but there was something at the back of his eyes that made her want to look away. It went a little further than friendly interest. She just hoped Cyrus hadn’t noticed.
As soon as she’d thought it in her mind though, Cyrus turned his head and looked at her.
She smiled innocently back at him but he narrowed his eyes at her before turning back to the newcomers.
“You’re almost there. Paskell is just a fifteen or twenty minute run north east of here.
We just ran down ourselves so I can’t offer you a drive up the canyon.”
Perry smiled and nodded,
“We visited Paskell about ten years ago for a couple weeks. We know our way. We just wanted to look at the lake before we head up. We have a lot of good memories of canoeing here don’t we Cole?” she asked, glancing at her brother.
Cyrus and Ava looked at Cole expectantly.
He looked at Ava before nodding silently. Cyrus stared hard at Cole for a moment before looking back to Perry. “If you get lost, just send up a howl and we’ll find you. I’m sure we’ll see you around town while you’re here,” Cyrus said politely and then reached back for Ava’s hand.
Perry nodded her head and then smiled at Ava.
“I look forward to it,” she said and walked toward the forest.
Cole paused before following his sister.
“I’ll see you around,” he said with a wink at Ava and then walked off.
Ava tilted her head and looked after Perry and Cole with a frown on her face.
“I could swear that man just flirted with me,” she said when they were out of hearing range.
Cyrus snorted and shook his head as he turned around and looked at her.
“And to think I was hoping life would calm down.”
Ava laughed and pushed his hair out of his eyes.
“I can handle a flirty werewolf. Don’t worry about me,” she said.
Cyrus raised an eyebrow.
“
Mm hmm
,”
Ava opened her mouth in mock offense.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Cyrus smiled crookedly down at Ava.
“It means that everyone in Canada knows by now that we’re changing the rules in Paskell. Women have every right a man does now. No woman has to be mated to anyone she doesn’t want to be mated to.”
Ava frowned. “
So?
What does that have to do with me?”
Cyrus sighed and looked away from Ava toward the spot where the two werewolves had disappeared.
“It means that my telling them you’re my mate doesn’t mean anything to Cole. It means that until we’re married, any man who feels like it can try and change your mind. And if I’m not mistaken, Cole means to try.”
Ava grimaced and looked at her feet, feeling a blush move its way up her face.
“How could you get all of that from just one smile and a wink? I think you’re jumping to conclusions sweetie.”