Or, Laurel could be wrong. Daniel could be keeping me close because he knew I hadn't really accepted this as my new life. Either way, I had to take advantage of my chance, which brought me to why I'd agreed to this outing.
I hunched a little, letting an expression of pain spasm on my face.
"What's wrong?" Laurel asked.
"Cramps," I said with another grimace. "I'm getting my period. Could you do me a huge favor? I don't want to embarrass myself by springing a leak while walking back to town. Can you get me some tampons? I'll wait here."
I climbed out of the hot water and sat on one of the large rocks, wrapping a towel around me. Here's hoping the universal sympathy every woman had for that time of the month would result in Laurel doing something stupid.
She gave me such an odd look that I cursed myself for not coming up with a better reason for her to go away. Well, I didn't have much time to think up a clever ploy. But then she smiled.
"Be right back."
Laurel got up, fastened a towel around herself, and walked away. I waited, barely breathing, until she rounded a cabin that took her out of sight, then I bounded up, running flat out of the nearest line of trees.
Chapter Seven
I didn't have shoes on so rocks cut into my feet, but I ignored them. It would only take Laurel ten to fifteen minutes to return. That's all the time I had to get away.
I ran like I was on fire, noting with a growing sense of awareness that I was moving faster than I ever had before. Maybe it was the werewolf curse inside me that would help me get away. Go faster. Head for the mountains. It'll be harder for them to track your scent over all the rock.
The forest was alive with sounds. The cry of birds. The rustling of branches as they rubbed together in the wind. The thuds my feet made on the drying leaves strewn over the uneven ground. That feeling of fright began to lessen, replaced with an inexplicable joy over running as hard and fast as I could. I might be running away from this life, but right now, I felt strong, free, and wild, like the forest itself was spurring my steps. I went faster, forgetting the pain in my feet, until the trees were almost a blur around me. Giddiness bubbled inside me. This felt right. Like I'd been waiting my whole life to run this way.
Something hard collided with me, snatching me up. My heart was already pounding, but it kicked into another gear as I glimpsed who'd grabbed me. Daniel. He whirled me around to face him, those blazing amber eyes pinning me as tightly as his grip did.
"What were you thinking?" he asked, giving me a shake. "You're in a bathing suit and a towel! I should have waited and gone after you tomorrow. Maybe spending the night freezing out here would have knocked some sense into you."
My emotions were on overload from the dizzying adrenaline rush of my escape, the frustration of being caught, and the residual exhilaration of the run. I didn't feel like myself. I felt as if something hiding inside me had finally taken over.
I grabbed Daniel's hair and yanked his head down, slanting my mouth across his. There was a split second where he froze - then his mouth opened, his tongue twisting with mine. His hand tangled in my hair, jerking me closer, while the other hand molded our bodies together. The heat coming from him made me gasp, but I
pressed against him, wanting more of it. He growled, kissing me deeper, harder, unleashing a flood of lust even as it shook me from my earlier recklessness.
If you don't stop now, you'll end up having sex here, on the ground just like the animal you're turning into…
"No!"
I wrenched away, panting. Daniel let me out of his arms, but his hand tightened on my wrist, not letting me get entirely free.
"What's wrong?"
I gave a bark of laughter. "You. Me. Everything."
He pushed his hair out of his face, staring at me with an intensity that made me shiver.
"It's right, even if you don't want to admit it."
My towel had fallen to the ground, leaving me in just the bathing suit. Daniel's eyes slid over me like a rough caress. A tremor ran through me and gooseflesh rippled, as if my skin were trying to arc toward him with a will of its own.
Daniel's grip on my wrist softened to a light stroke of his fingers. "You want me," he said in a low voice. "Why are you pushing me away?"
That stiffened my spine. "Because I can. You've stolen all my other choices, but this one's still mine. And I say no."
He let me go. That warm amber light in his eyes hardened to something darker. He picked up my towel, handed it to me, and turned his back.
"I'm not the one who stole your choices. Gabriel did. If you stay in these woods, you'll probably die of exposure. If you don't, then in a week, you'll change, but you won't know how to change back. Eventually you'll go insane, trapped in your new form, controlled by urges you can't imagine. You'll end up mauling whoever you come across, be it man, woman, or child. Then people will hunt you. They'll kill other wolves trying to get to you, but sooner or later, they'll find you. You'll get shot or caught in a trap, but either way, it will be horrible. Walk away now and people are guaranteed to die, including you. Come back with me and no one dies. There's your choice."
"I can get to a doctor, find a cure," I replied stubbornly.
Daniel laughed, but it was harsh. "We've had doctors within the pack try to find a cure for decades. Not for ourselves, but to fix people who've been unwillingly infected, like you. There is no cure, Marlee. If there was, we'd have given it to you already."
Hopelessness crashed over me. "You're telling me I'll never see my family and friends again. You're so willing to do anything for your pack, but you expect me to just forget about anyone who's ever meant anything to me in my life!"
He still didn't turn around. "If you wouldn't have refused to speak to me for days, I'd have told you that you only need to be quarantined for a couple months. Once you've learned control, you can see your family and friends. They can come here, or you can move away. You'd need to live somewhere close to wolves, though, so when you change, you're not running on four legs down a city street attracting unwanted attention."
My brain whirled with this new information. I didn't have to be trapped here forever. I could go home, see my parents, my sister, Brandy, even my nephew again. I could wait it out. Get control. Could I actually learn to live as both a woman and a wolf?
Daniel started walking away, the dried leaves crunching under his feet. I stared after him, not moving. Was he really giving me a choice? If I walked the other way, would he truly not stop me?
I tested it. Turned and walked in the other direction. There wasn't the slightest hesitation in his steps as he kept going. He's tricking you, my cynicism whispered. He'll come back.
I kept walking. So did he. Soon the sounds of Daniel's footsteps began to lessen as we moved further away from each other. After ten minutes, I couldn't hear him at all.
Chapter Eight
Even with the moonlight illuminating the forest, I would have been lost without Daniel's scent. I wasn't used to relying on my sense of smell, but that's exactly what I was doing as I walked back through the woods toward what I thought was the town. In my peripheral vision, hazy flashes of maroon darted by. It had scared me the first few times I saw it, but then I realized what it was. I was seeing the heat living creatures gave off, just like I was looking through an infrared camera.
My sharpened senses made me feel more alive than I ever had. It seemed like I'd been sleepwalking the previous twenty-five years of my life, numbed to all the brilliance of the world around me. Of course, I knew what this was—the wolf in me, getting ready to be freed.
It was the main reason why, after sitting in the forest watching the sun fall and the moon rise, I was walking back to the town. Chosen or not, I was part wolf now. I couldn't go back to my family, friends, or coworkers, not knowing what I was capable of, even if I did make it out of these woods. If the choice was sacrificing
months of my life dealing with the strangest scenario imaginable, versus risking people I l
oved by hoping Daniel was wrong and I wouldn't one day eat them…well, there was no choice. Not in my opinion.
That wasn't the reason my heart started to beat faster when I recognized the man leaning against a tree just outside the limits of the town. All right, I'd had more motivation than just protecting my loved ones by returning. With every step I'd taken away from Daniel, something burning and heavy had settled in my heart. It was as unfamiliar, frightening, and exciting as the other changes I'd experienced this week. How could I care so much after such a short period of time? I'd been with Paul for three years, but hadn't felt the crushing sense of loss at our breakup that I did walking away from Daniel. Was it some supernatural hormone gone haywire? I didn't know. I only knew it was the most real thing I'd ever felt.
"I thought you were letting me go," I said. "Yet here you are, still in the forest instead of in bed at your cabin."
Daniel turned. He was still too far away for me to see his expression, but his voice sounded raw. "I was letting you go, but no wolf can sleep while his mate is in danger."
Mate. Such a primitive word, and so possessive. All things considered, we barely knew each other. Why wasn't I uneasy at hearing it? Why did warmth spread over me, even as I was shivering in the cold night air?
I swallowed. "How can you be sure?"
He was at my side in the next heartbeat, enfolding me in his arms, his body heat almost searing my skin.
"I knew it as soon as I smelled your scent," he said, low and rough. "I told you, that's how it is with wolves. That day with Gabriel—I wasn't tracking him. He and the others had masked their scents so I wouldn't be able to trace them. But I found them anyway because I'd been tracking you."
This was overwhelming. I shuddered even as I leaned in closer to him. "Daniel, everything has happened so fast…"
He caressed my face. "Don't judge by that. Breathe me in. Tell me what you feel."
I inhaled near his neck, absorbing the mix of wood smoke, cinnamon, and musk that made up his scent.
Contentment battled with lust inside me. I wanted to throw Daniel to the forest floor, rub my body all over his, claim his flesh as my own, and then hold him and never let go.
"I feel more than I have a right to," was what I said, voice shaky.
He bent so that his lips were almost brushing mine. "I give you the right. I want you to claim me as yours."
And I wanted to be claimed. That was the truth of it. Whether it was me or the wolf inside who'd made this decision, I didn't know. But I felt it through every fiber of me.
I'd asked Daniel days ago if it was him I was talking to or the wolf. It's both, he'd said. Always. I hadn't understood then, but I did now. The wolf didn't feel like it was a separate entity from me anymore; it was me, but without all my fears, doubts, or hesitations. The wolf was me stripped of all my pretense, and it knew, unequivocally, that Daniel was mine.
And so did I.
"Take me home," I whispered. It was an invitation and a promise. I wasn't giving up my family or my friends, but I'd first learn to live in harmony with the wolf in me, and I'd do it here, with the help of my mate.
Daniel picked me up and carried me to his cabin. I was smiling the whole way.
THE END
About the author: Jeaniene is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Night Huntress series and the Night Huntress World novels. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to fourteen different countries. Jeaniene lives in Florida with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she swears like a sailor, rarely cooks, and always sleeps in on the weekends. Jeaniene and Matthew are the proud parents of Gypsy, their very spoiled dog who believes Jeaniene’s only purpose in life is to cater to her.
Find out more about Jeaniene at her website: http://jeanienefrost.com
In Sheep's Clothing
Meljean Brook
Five years ago, Emma Cooper would have thought a blown tire in the middle of a blizzard was bad. But bad was the small, spiked metal ball her fingers found embedded in the rubber—and worse was the truck, its headlights on bright, pulling off the two-lane highway and onto the shoulder twenty yards behind her Jeep.
The tire iron in her hands rattled against the one lug nut she'd had time to crack loose. She hadn't even raised the jack yet; it lay on the icy asphalt behind the flat front tire.
No, not much time had passed at all. He must have been waiting off the road for her to drive by, his truck concealed by the dark and the snow.
Don't panic, Emma told herself, and pulled in a long breath between her chattering teeth. Now was definitely not the time to panic.
Still gripping the tire iron, Emma rose from her crouch. The rattling rumble of his diesel motor cut off. The pounding of her heart filled the sudden, snow-muffled silence.
Stay calm. She tugged open the front door of her Jeep, slid into the driver's seat, and hit the locks.
Emma had been living in Seattle the past five years, but she'd kept up on the local news. In the last eighteen months, four vehicles—each with flat tires—had been found abandoned on this rural stretch of an Oregon highway. Each time, searchers recovered the body of a woman from the surrounding woods. Each woman had been raped and strangled.
The truck door slammed shut. Oh, God. She squinted against the glare of headlights in the rearview mirror, but couldn't see anything. With her right hand, she rummaged blindly through her purse on the passenger seat and found her cell phone.
It had been years since she'd dialed the number, but she still knew it by heart. Nathan Forrester answered on the third ring. She spoke over his sleep-roughened greeting.
"Hey, Sheriff Studly." Emma could see the dark figure in her side mirror now. The silhouetted shape was tall, and wearing a thick coat and a cowboy hat. She couldn't tell if he carried a gun. "I'm on the side of the highway with a flat tire, and I could really, really use a lift."
"Emma? Oh, Christ. Emma, listen—don't accept any help."
"I didn't plan on it." She stared at the mirror. He'd walked half the distance to her Jeep. Her fingers tightened on the tire iron, her nails drawing blood from the heel of her palm. Stay calm. "But I think he plans to offer help anyway."
She heard Nathan swearing and running across a wooden floor. "Where are you? You still have your Jeep?"
"About ten miles before the Bluffs turnoff. And, yes. I still have it."
"Okay, Emma, I'm on my way, but you've got to drive. Stay in low gear. The flat tire will pull hard at your steering wheel, but your Jeep will go. So you start it now and get the hell out of there."
Emma jammed the phone between her cheek and shoulder, turned the ignition key. The engine fired up. A shadow darkened her window.
She looked over just he swung her jack through the glass.
* * *
It was worse than the others had been—the window shattered, the door hanging open, blood splashed in the snow. Gun in hand, Nathan jumped from his Blazer, his unlaced boots skidding on the icy road. He slid into the side of the Jeep, glanced inside.
The seats were empty.
The breath he drew to roar her name felt like the first he'd pulled into his aching chest since he'd heard the breaking glass and her aborted shriek.
"Emma!"
The echo faded, leaving the whisper of falling snow and the low growl of his truck engine. A trail of blood and thrashed snow led behind the Jeep. Nathan followed it, the freezing air biting at his face, his uncovered ears.
From the pine trees alongside the road came the snap of a breaking branch. Nathan swung around, scanning the night. The light from the half-moon barely pierced the tree line, and the shadows between the pines danced in the flashing red and blue lights from his truck. His muscles tensed; something was moving through the woods, its eyes reflecting the strobe lights like a cat's. He aimed his flashlight, switched it on.
The high-powered light flooded Emma's pale face before her hand flew up, shielding her eyes.
Oh, thank God. Thank God. His k
nees almost gave out, but through some miracle, he remained standing. He skimmed the light down her body, and his heart lurched. Blood stained her sweater and jeans. He pushed into the snow drift on the highway shoulder, began to wade toward her. "Are you hurt?"
"No." She lowered her hand. Her voice was steady. "He's gone. Toward Pine Bluffs."
And must have turned down a side road. Nathan hadn't met anyone on his way here. "Is that his blood or yours?"
"His. I panicked and bit him." Her head tilted back as he drew closer, and he could see the trail of blood under her jaw, the faint smear on her chin.
"Good," he murmured, and lifted his cold hand to her warm cheek, gently turning her face. A livid bump had formed beneath the short dark hair; the skin was broken.
"Biting him was not good, Nathan. Not good at all." She sighed, then winced when he brushed his thumb over the bump. "He whacked me with the jack."
Hit in the head with a jack, and she was still upright? There was no chance that that was going to last; she must be running on pure adrenalin. He slipped his arm around her shoulders, turned toward the road. "Let's get you back to town."
Back. Finally. But he hadn't imagined her return would be like this.
And God only knew why she'd left in the first place.
* * *
Emma waited in Nathan's truck while he spoke with the deputy who pulled in behind him a few minutes later. She warmed her hands in front of the heater as Nathan grabbed her suitcases from the back of her Jeep. Melting snow darkened his brown hair to black, and plastered the short strands to his forehead. He'd come without a hat, without tying his boots, without changing out of his checkered flannel pajama pants. He'd remembered to button his sheepskin jacket over his bare chest only after Deputy Osborne had arrived.