Wild: Devils Point Wolves #1 (Mating Season Collection) (5 page)

Her brain hurt. All of this information was sending her into overload. "I need to sit down." She stumbled to the bed and sat down hard, finding it difficult to do or say anything smoothly.

She caught sight of her bandaged wrist and lifted it up. "Am I going to become a werewolf because of this? Is that what all of this is about?"

"It's a definite possibility, You got pretty ill and your fever spiked so you're definitely affected. I'm hoping since you woke up feeling better that it won't go south from here. But turning a human can be complicated. In some cases it only takes a bite and in others it takes a bond to form between shifter and human first."

"Sex," she whispered.

"Sometimes. If a connection is made. It's kind of hard to explain."

"I think I'm getting it. I just don't know what to make of it. Are you saying the wolf who bit me was planning to mate me?"

The dark look that crossed Damien's face startled her. That sense of danger she felt before returned. It made her wonder how ruthless he could be.

"It won't matter after I rip his throat out for hurting you. And he's damn lucky you didn't die last night or I would do worse than put him out of his misery."

Her mouth fell open. The ease at which he talked about violence made her uneasy. "I could have died from just a bite?"

"That's the point of the bond. It makes you more compatible. Without it, anything can happen."

She took a few steps away from him. "I think I need to go home now and take some time to think about all this. And I don't feel very safe on this island at the moment." She turned away and started planning her escape. First she had to find her clothes and shoes. "I need to take Rebel with me."

"I doubt she'll go. She's made a home here. She's connected."

"I hardly consider a long term room in a shabby motel a home. She's been going wild for years now and it's time for her–" she whirled around and faced Damien. "Wait? Are you telling me that she knows about this–uh–werewolf/shapeshifter thing?" It really felt weird to say it out loud.

He nodded, a slight move that seemed reluctant. "She accidentally saw Dante change behind the club a few nights ago."

"So that's why she wasn't at work." It was all starting to make so much more sense.

"And probably why she was at the bottom of a bottle yesterday," he said. “Every human who learns our secret has to deal with it in their own way.”

Jeez. She'd walked–or driven–into one hell of a mess. "All the more reason for me to go home and take my sister with me. She's out of control. I couldn’t stand the thought of her stripping in your club in the first place. That she's surrounded by danger makes it even worse. Why would a werewolf own a place like that anyway? Wouldn't you prefer a job in nature or something? Don't you need to be outside?"

"Great. Now we get to start with the clichés," he laughed. "Faith, you're adorable, but you've got a long way to go before you really understand what we are. We're just as much human as we are wolf, maybe even a little more. So we have hopes and dreams that extend beyond running through the woods all day and hunting prey. Although don't get me wrong, we really love those things too. But my point is, we live semi normal lives and we strive to fit in as much as possible. In order to do that we have to make money to buy land, homes, clothing and more just like everyone else. We even go to school."

"That’s not what I meant. I just thought with a special power everything might be different somehow.” She hesitated. “So your big dream was to own a strip club and peddle naked women to desperate men?"

His eyes shuttered closed for a moment as he took a deep breath. "Club Diablo serves many purposes and the men and women we employ are there because they want to be, not because they were coerced. I'm a little disappointed you feel the need to judge us like that."

Dammit. He was right of course. She had no right to judge anyone. Her life experiences didn't exactly include the best judgement calls. Her freshman year of college had gone pretty wrong. Starting with losing her virginity to a douche bag and then following it up with a string of jerks who she thought would keep her safe while getting into her pants. It had taken getting accidentally drugged at a frat party to wake her up to reality.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm biased. It's not easy to accept my twin actually wants this life. I can't wrap my head around her taking her clothes off every night for any dude with cash in his hand. We're supposed to be connected and I don't feel that at all anymore. Not since..." She let the sentence die. She didn’t want to say it out loud.

"Everyone deals with grief in their own way. Besides, it pays really well. A lot of women like that. They usually save it up quick and then move on."

"Rebel doesn't need money. Our parents left us with a life insurance policy that she refuses to touch.”

"Then talk to her about it. Your acceptance of her choices would probably straighten some things out. She’s dealing with the same hardships you are in her own way."

Faith scrubbed her hands over her face and then looked up at him again. "So what other purpose does Club Diablo serve? You said there were more."

"Well," he hesitated. "Humans have hang ups about sex that wolves don’t. We own most of the island except some acreage owned by the state where the park is. That draws tourists which is okay as long as they don’t stay too long. So an island known for its dirty sex club is a deterrent for humans to settle here. Some still come and go but for the most part our island consists of pack. And thanks to Diego's bright idea a few years back to turn our place into a male strip show on special occasions, we use it during mating season to meet more women in the hopes of finding a mate."

She wrinkled up her nose at that idea. "Cause that's not sketchy at all."

“It's a hell of a lot safer for us to be on home ground during the season. The last thing we need is a horny, needy were roaming random city streets looking for women out of his control without his pack to back him up. That's how rogues happen and pretty girls get bitten on the side of the road."

“Touche.”

He stepped forward and brushed her cheek with his fingers. “You’ll learn. It’s safer when we stick to our pack. Similar to the way you need your twin.”

A shiver worked down her spine as the sensation of his touch ghosted across her skin. He didn’t play fair at all.
 

“I still think I should go home. The smart thing to do would be to consider everything you’ve told me, weigh my options.”

“Your option is to stay here. Become part of the Devils Point wolves. To leave the safety of the pack makes you fair game to others. You’ve been marked. And even if you don’t fully change, you won’t be fully human either. You’ll be subject to the mating season every year too and the others out there like us will find you. Either way you’ll be forced to choose a mate. It’s in the DNA.”

“I don’t like being told what to do, Damien. I learned that lesson the hard way.”

“Oh make no mistake, the choice is yours. Fate deals you a hand and you can either embrace the gift you’re given or fight your way down a different path. And most wolves will honor that.”

“Most? That doesn’t sound like a choice at all.”

“It’s life. Werewolf or human, we are not created equal and there are assholes in every bunch. Wolves just have that extra animal instinct that drives them during the season.”

“I don’t know what to do here,” she admitted.
 

“I could offer you some incentive to stay.” He smiled down at her, reminding her once again how ridiculously good looking he was when he did that.
 

“I’m listening.” She rubbed her hands on her plump thighs suddenly feeling a bit self conscious.

“I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you. It didn’t matter that you didn’t seem my type or that I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to find a mate. Or that you were too young. You lived inside me as a living, breathing ache. The only thing that saved either of us was the fact you lived far enough away I rarely saw you. It allowed me to keep on going and doing my own thing. Except during mating season.”

Faith didn’t know what to say. She ached right now too. All she could think about was his hands touching her everywhere. Or maybe his lips working their way across all of her most sensitive zones. The fact he stood there in nothing but a pair of black pants unfastened at the waist made it impossible not to think about more

“I do have a nice apartment in a secure building. I feel safe there,” she blurted.

He seemingly ignored her when he spoke again, “Mating season drives an ordinary wolf crazy. But one that knows he has a mate out there goes a little mad.” His fingers trailed down the side of her neck, past her shoulders and down the side of her torso, just grazing the outside of her breast.

“And you think I’m your mate?” She whispered.

“The wolf says so and the more I get to know you I’m inclined to agree.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. They both moaned simultaneously.
 

Everything about him turned her on, even the dangerous wolf she didn’t fully comprehend.
 

“If you don’t want this, you have to stop me. Being here right now hurts me.” Before she formed the question he continued, “Mating season is a bitch. It makes me want to fuck or die. It’s hard to control.”

“That’s not very sexy.”

“Sorry, babe. The wolf says you’re the one, I’m feeling it too and the mark on your wrist makes the need to claim you even more intense.”

Faith couldn’t really argue his point. She’d felt the pull all along, she just wouldn’t admit it. Whether he wanted to call it instinct or she called it lust didn’t really matter. Either way she wanted to give into it.
 

“Take off your pants,” she said.

A look crossed his face and then disappeared just as fast. As did his pants. Quickly followed by his underwear.
 

Tall, muscular and aroused. Holy hell.
 

“Your turn.”

She hesitated for a second, remembering her flaws. A little belly and a few extra pounds didn’t seem so bad until you were standing in front of a perfect specimen. She took a deep breath and lifted the shirt over her head and tossed it to the ground. He seemed to want her flaws and all and who was she to pass up a moment like this for any lame reason.
 

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, why?”

“You’re grinning.” He pulled her closer again and peppered kisses along her shoulders and neck, his fingers brushing the sides of her breasts. “Beautiful,” he whispered, sliding his thumbs across her already tightening nipples.
 

When Damien bent down and tugged one of them with his teeth, the need inside her coalesced, making her pliant and wet.
 

“You probably say that to all the women you’re trying to get in bed.”

He laughed. “It’s no secret I love women. Shifters are sexual creatures. But you, Faith, are extraordinary. You’re the woman made for me and you were made perfectly.”

Oh wow. “That was really good, Damien.” She reached down and wrapped her hand around his cock. And what a hefty beauty it was. “You are about to get very lucky.”

Damien groaned. “Hell yes.” His big hands reached down and cupped her butt and pulled them together as much as he could while her thumb rubbed over his tip.
 

Faith shivered under the onslaught. Coming to this island was starting to not look so bad after all.

“Are you going to bite me tonight?”

Damien pulled back, meeting her gaze. “Do you want me to?”

“You said you’ve wanted me since the day we first met. Is that true?”

He nodded. “More so than you can imagine.”

“I had dreams about you. Some were sexual, but some weren’t. But one night–” she paused, feeling insecure. “One night you bit my neck and told me I belonged to you. It felt so real I tried to call Rebel the next morning to ask about you. That was the first night she didn’t respond to my calls. Three nights later I had to come. For her. And for you.”

“That was the first night of mating season. Things weren’t going so well here. The need for you was so painful I tried to get in my car and drive to Seattle. It took Dante shifting into his wolf to subdue me. That’s when Rebel came out the back door of the club and saw us.”

Faith’s mind reeled from this new information. They were connected long before she got bitten by some half assed wolf. This was real. And she couldn’t wait another minute to have him.

She reached up and pushed his chest as hard as she could. Fortunately, he was caught off balance or he went with it, but either way he tumbled back on the bed and she crawled on top to straddle him. He was perfectly hard and she was seriously ready. She grasped his shaft and lifted over him.
 

Damien grabbed her hips. “I do like a wild woman who isn’t afraid to take what she needs,” he growled.

She leaned forward and kissed his lips. “Good. Because tonight is the night you’re going to bite me. I’m not going to pretend I need time to be sure or second guess my choice until I’m riddled with doubt.
I know
. I claim you as my mate.” She shifted her hips until his tip nestled at her opening. His grip on her hips tightened, keeping them both on the brink.