Mark of the Wolf

  He continued to move with her until the orgasm passed, leaving her weak and shivering, a pile of nerves and sweat only held up by his arms. She was shaking, unable to control her body and its reaction. His lips grazed her forehead in a gentle kiss, then he kissed the wound on her temple, holding her close.

  “You okay, baby?” he asked after a minute had passed, still holding her shivering body.

  She nodded, unable to get her vocal chords to work. He was smiling that sexy half-smile, looking at her, his eyes impossible to read. Then he lifted her up.

  She expected to be carried across the room, but instead he lifted her and used the bottom of his shirt to wipe at her crotch — she blushed and tried to stop him, but he pushed her hand away. He was up close and personal with her cunt, wiping the excess juice away, cleaning her damp thighs.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice small. Her body was still vibrating with pleasure, with the release. She wanted to purr at the touch of his hands; wanted him to touch her again.

  “Washing you off,” he said, glancing at her face. “You bled.”

  “I-I did?” she asked, flushing in embarrassment.

  He grinned and held up his fingers. She could see the a light stain of blood on them. At least it wasn't as bad as her period. He didn't seem bothered by it — in fact, quite the opposite.

  She looked away from his eyes, then looked back. Told herself that it was stupid to be embarrassed; he had probably been with tons of women. He was obviously very... skilled.

  The pleasure was still swirling around her tired body, but she couldn’t help but feel a strand of guilt. She had always prided herself on not being “easy” with boys… but here she was with a man she’d only known a day, and he had already made her orgasm. Why couldn’t she get her body to act normally around him?

  He finished with the shirt and tore it off over his head, then headed for the bedroom, setting her down on the mattress. He then pulled a large t-shirt out of the dresser and tossed it in her direction. She recognized it for what it was; a sleeping shirt, meant for her to wear.

  She pulled it on, her stomach fluttering as his scent surrounded her. Then he turned out the lights and lay down on the bed next to her, crawling up the sheets until they were lying inches apart. She moved so she could rest against him, feeling that it was stupid now to keep space, especially after what he had just done to her.

  “That was my… uh, first experience,” she said quietly, shyly, not sure what made her say the words.

  “I know,” he replied, and his arm tightened around her, though that was his only response. She felt his fingers travel over her back again, and she knew he was thinking about her scars, about the wounds that must have caused them. She remembered his anger, his threat to her stepfather, and then frowned at the words that had followed them. “Because you’re mine.” What had he meant by that? Perhaps it was just a possessive feeling he was experiencing, but it seemed to carry a meaning that went deeper. She considered asking him, but she was tired of embarrassing situations, and it seemed like an awkward thing to ask. Maybe she was just over analyzing everything.

  She settled down against him, enjoying the feeling of her body against his, and the length of his erection when he threw his big leg across hers. He didn't try to hide it. It dug into the flesh of her thigh just a little, but he didn’t make any move to do anything about it, and she slowly relaxed. She didn’t know what to expect. At any moment he could start touching her again, and she didn’t know how far she would let him go. She didn’t even know if she had a choice anymore – she had been pretty helpless on the couch only a few minutes before. If he touched her now, she would be done for… and her body was still humming.

  But he only drew her close, his breathing steady, his heartbeat under her ear. She liked the warmth of him, his smell, the way he made her feel. Like she was safe.

  She fell asleep easily for the first time in years.

  Chapter 7

  He had his sunglasses on again.

  She was beginning to hate those sunglasses. He was driving casually, one hand on the wheel, the other on her leg, slouching back in the seat. She looked over at him, trying to make eye contact or maybe spark a conversation, but he chose that moment to take a left turn and looked in the opposite direction. She sighed and turned back to the window. Awkward.

  She had woken up with the sound of him in the shower. He hadn’t been singing, which she was guilty of herself on several shower occasions, but he did have the radio on and was playing some kind of classic rock. She had buried her face in his pillow and sniffed it for a long guilty minute, telling herself it was just because she was still tired. Then she had dragged herself to her feet and wobbled out to the living room, careful not to look at the couch from last night. It still brought a blush to her cheeks.

  On the kitchen table was a box of donuts and two giant coffees.

  He stepped out of the shower after that, a towel around his neck and his boxers on, but nothing else. His hair was perfect; wet and tangly, falling around his face in wild tendrils. She had watched him secretly as he had crossed the living room. Then he had thrown the towel down, walked past her, and plucked his own coffee from where it was sitting next to the sink. So much tanned male flesh had made her extremely uncomfortable — and deliciously tingly. She couldn’t help but stare at his large hands as he took the lid off his coffee and started adding sugar. He had black car grease under his nails, permanently pressed into the pads of his fingers. She couldn’t get the memory of last night out of her head.

  Then he had gotten dressed, shooed her into the car, and put on those sunglasses. And there had been silence ever since.

  She sighed as they left the outskirts of Black River and merged onto the highway. Just another three hours to get to Davenport. Great.

  * * * *

  He was pissed, but he wasn’t about to say anything about it. He kept having to grind his teeth together to stop the snarl from appearing on his lips. He knew his silence was bothering her, but he couldn’t help it; it was either be silent, or berate her about not telling him sooner about her stepfather. And it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t, dammit.

  And then he had lost control afterwards. Smooth move there. She'd been confiding in him for the first time, and he had been so angry that the damn wolf had come out, and then he just couldn’t stop himself. Her arousal had been driving him insane for a long time now and he couldn’t control his response anymore. So he had given her the release her body had been begging for, even though he hadn’t allowed himself the same pleasure. He had gained some sort of satisfaction at hearing her cries and knowing he was the first to touch her. That was a good thing. He wanted to take her on a ride.

  But dammit, the scars on her back, the small nicks and marks along her body – it was enough to make his blood boil. And now there she was next to him, curled up in the car seat like a scared puppy, sending him wary glances as though he might bite. He sighed. Sometimes he didn’t know himself.

  “So your Beta friend is in Davenport?” she asked casually, not looking at him.

  “Yeah,” he grunted, moving into the fast lane and hitting the gas. Better to drive fast and get there faster; otherwise he might pull the car over and finish what he had started last night. His hand tightened ever so slightly on her leg.

  He could tell her reaction from the pulse at her neck. Her breath quickened. Her responses were incredibly genuine. It left him feeling mildly better.

  “What’s his name?”

  The name was bitter on his tongue. “Isak.” His old friend, they had been almost inseparable growing up. They had been kept apart since his exile, no contact. It was pack law. He still wasn’t sure if his friend would accept him back or not. Or if he would even go along with the idea. Gareth sighed – what was their idea again? That he challenge Kane? What had this girl done to him? His body was singing with more hormones than a raunchy sixteen-year-old.

  They lapsed back into a tense silence. He wished h
e could tell her that it wasn’t her fault that he was in a bad mood; that he had a lot of stuff on his mind; that a pack challenge was no small feat and if he lost, he would most likely be ripped to shreds – though he knew he was stronger than Kane and losing a second time was a slim chance. But it seemed like a lot of excuses just to fill a stubborn silence. He wanted to make her comfortable, he just didn’t know how.

  They continued driving down the highway.

  * * * *

  It was mid-afternoon by the time they reached Davenport. Maddy was on alert. Her father was very possibly hiding out in this town… but Davenport was such a big place that it was unlikely she would bump into him. Davenport was its own city, sprawling over several business and residential districts, including a casino and strip clubs downtown. It was a dirty, run-down type of place, and she was relieved for Gareth’s company as they exited the car.

  They crossed the gas station lot to the convenience store on the opposite side. There was a group of rough-looking men hanging out in the far corner of the lot, but they looked away when they saw Gareth’s tall, formidable figure. He was wearing a loose gray t-shirt smudged with oil; it did nothing to hide the muscles on his powerful frame.

  They entered the store. Maddy headed to the back row to get a bottle of water while Gareth went to the counter to pay for their gas. She felt strange, traveling with him. It wasn’t the kind of traveling one would do with friends, where there was a lot of laughing and general mischief. Their trip here was a serious one, and the tension in the car had lasted the entire time. She wished she knew what to say to make him feel better, or to at least draw him out of his shell, but at the same time, she didn’t want to bug him or act too nosy.

  A door opened along the side of the wall, leading from the bathroom, and a man with dirty brown hair walked out of it, his appearance rough and unkempt. The dark brown eyes flickered over her, and he nodded to another man that had been standing towards the back of the store, one that had thinning blond hair and a dirty tan trench coat. Maddy wrinkled her nose; she doubted they had bathed in the last week.

  Then they started towards her, and the hair rose on her arms. She backed away slightly, unsure of what to do.

  “Hey baby,” he said, his voice cracked and leering. “You new in town?”

  “No,” she said bluntly. She was used to dealing with these kinds of sleaze balls – her father’s friends were the exact same type.

  “Whoa, little girl has a temper,” said the blond one, laughing in a purely mocking way. Then he took a step closer. “We can show you around.”

  “Fuck off,” she said, turning away.

  “Hey, watch it-” the brown-haired one reached forward, his hand landing on her shoulder. He yanked her towards him, and Maddy let out a yelp in surprise.

  A growl issued from behind her — really, a growl? — and suddenly the hand released her. The two men stepped back quickly, and she saw fear flash across their faces. Then Gareth was next to her, pulling her to his side.

  “Settle down, man,” the blond said, holding up his hands in defense. “I didn’t realize she was Marked.” He turned to the other one and hit him in the shoulder. “Jesse you dumbass, what the fuck!”

  “What, me? You’re the one who saw her-”

  “Shut up, man!”

  “Wait,” the blond suddenly said, turning back towards them. His eyes narrowed. “Aren’t you…?”

  “Good, I was hoping to run into you here,” Gareth's voice rumbled behind her. He turned to look at the brown-haired one. “I believe we have some business.”

  The brown-haired wolf nodded, suddenly solemn, then turned and started walking towards the back of the store. Gareth grabbed her wrist harshly and dragged her to in the opposite direction, pulling her from the store almost violently. Fear twisted in Maddy’s gut as he yanked her along behind him, walking quickly and stiffly outside and then around to the back of the building.

  “What? Where are we going-?” she tried to ask, but he just pulled her harder, until he came to an abrupt stop behind the convenience store. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Stay quiet and don’t get in the way,” he told her, a rumble in his throat. He left her there at the rear corner of the store, bordering the alley. She watched, surprised to find that the other two men were already standing there. How had they gotten outside so fast? A back door? And why were they meeting back here – some sort of werewolf etiquette? She wished she understood more of how these things worked.

  The one with the blond hair shoved his hands into his pockets, watching as Gareth approached. “Long time no see, pup. Thought you were supposed to stay in Black River.”

  “Plans changed,” Gareth said, never breaking his pace. It took Maddy a moment to realize that he wasn’t going to stop. She watched as he walked directly up to the other two men, pausing only long enough to say, “I thought I’d have to wait another day at least to do this.”

  Wham!

  Gareth’s fist moved faster than Maddy could see. His whole body swung, and suddenly the blond man was doubling over, wheezing and cussing, and then the other was shoved up against a wall. A knife whipped pressed against his throat. Her eyes widened – she hadn’t known Gareth was armed! His thick arm bulged as he lifted the guy up, pinning him by the neck to the dirty bricks.

  “Give Kane a message for me,” Gareth growled, his voice dark.

  “What?” the wolf barked.

  Gareth didn’t say a word, but suddenly the brown-haired wolf was screaming, cussing in pain. Her eyes dropped to where he clutched his leg. The knife was now sticking out of his skin, rammed all the way up to the hilt into his flesh, blood soaking his pants. Gareth dropped him to the ground.

  Maddy felt abruptly sick.

  Gareth turned to the other and showed his teeth, and the blond backed off fast, cussing and still holding his gut. “Fuck, man!” he yelled. “What the fuck is your problem?”

  Gareth took a step forward, his intimidating presence pushing the man back further. “You’re the one who touched her,” he growled. “Do you deny my right to retaliate?”

  “It was an accident, man....”

  Gareth was already turning away from them, his whole body tense, obviously still angry. Maddy watched in shock, confused and numb, unable to process what she had just seen. Then he grabbed her arm, more gently this time, and led her away. Back to the car. The two men were stumbling and cussing behind them, but not following.

  The moment Maddy was in the car, she whirled on him, frightened and more than a little panicky. She didn’t bother to hide her outrage. “And just what was that?” she demanded, hating the shrill tone of her voice. “You just shoved a knife through a guy’s fucking leg!”

  “It was necessary,” Gareth muttered. He turned on the car and pulled away from the station. They bounced down the curb and onto the main street.

  Maddy glared. “Necessary? Are you kidding me? That was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen!” And I’ve seen a lot, her mind murmured. She thought back to the words that were said inside the store. “And what do they mean, ‘Marked’? What do I have to do with any of this? And why did those other wolves attack my house?” She glared harder as he made a nonchalant turn around a corner. “Don’t you dare ignore me, Gareth!”

  “It was a step in issuing the challenge,” Gareth said. His sunglasses were still on so it was impossible to know what he was thinking. “I attacked his Beta. Now Kane knows we’re here. Everything is in motion.”

  “Alright, but what about me? What does all of this have to do with me?” Her eyes narrowed when he didn’t respond right away. “Gareth… they said Marked.”

  The car suddenly came to a stop, and Maddy was jerked slightly against her seatbelt. She looked around, realizing that they were parked in a shallow alley next to a low, dirty building. A dumpster was only a few feet in front of them.

  He turned to look at her. His presence filled the entire car, crowding her in, making her regret her hasty words.
He leaned forward and she huddled back against the car door. His expression was blank behind the dark shades.

  Then he reached forward a hand, slowly so she wouldn’t flinch, and gently pinched her lower lip. “I Marked you that day we kissed,” he murmured. “My blood with your blood.” Her lips burned at his touch, and her mouth went dry. She remembered the light nip of his teeth. Her tongue darted out before she could stop it, touching the place where the cut still existed. It touched his finger instead.

  He smiled in that slow, sexy way of his. “To a werewolf, a Mark is an important thing. It means you’re mine.”

  Her eyes widened slightly. “You mean… when you said….” Her mind turned to their intimate moments of the night before, and she blushed. “That’s what you were referring to?”

  He nodded, still serious. “Wolves mate for life. Kane’s people must have seen the Mark on you and tried to kill you, in case I planned on starting a new pack. That’s another reason why I’m here — to make sure they leave you alone.”

  Suddenly Maddy felt a little dizzy. More werewolf stuff that she didn’t know about, and she was caught in the middle. “But why me?” she asked dazedly. “Why did you Mark me?”

  He paused for a long moment, as though considering his words.

  * * * *

  Gareth studied her closely. He had wondered when this conversation would happen and how she would respond. In truth, he had been hoping it would come a bit later. At least after tonight. After he was able to secure Isak’s support and maybe even set up the formal fight with Kane. But he couldn’t lie to her – only to protect her, but never to her face.

  He couldn’t tell her everything, not yet. She would never go along with it. A stab of guilt hit him when he thought of the things she would have to endure before this whole process was over. But the choice was out of both of their hands, now. There were rules that had to be followed. Rituals that needed completing. Werewolves weren’t human, after all; the feral world was governed by different laws.