Howling at the Moon [The Mystic Museum] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (8 page)

Sven crossed his arms in front of his chest. Jacob sighed. Milo stared at the ceiling.

“We’re going to get nowhere like this.” Carolyn stormed out of the kitchen. “Do what you want to do.” Her angry words rang out just before she slammed the door to her room closed.

“She’s got a temper,” Jacob said, releasing a pent-up breath.

“I’ll say,” Milo agreed, rubbing his hands on his thighs.

Sven smiled. “That she does,” he said.

“You like it. You like her,” Jacob said.

“I never said I didn’t like her.”

“Then what’s the problem? Why won’t you accept her into the pack?” Jacob asked. “If we’re going to create a pack of our own, we need a female. She’s everything we could ask for and more.”

Sven ran his hands over his head. “She’s weak. She won’t be able to protect herself.”

“Then we’ll protect her,” Milo said. “Without her we’re just three males pretending to be a pack.”

“Neither of you knows what it’s like to lose a mate. I do. If we were to lose her, we would be devastated. Her death would more than likely rip us apart.”

“If we don’t choose a mate, there is no future for the pack, there will never be a pack. She can handle us. Look how she just stood up to you. Milo and I need someone, so do you,” Jacob argued.

Sven glared at the two men. “I’ll see you later.” He turned and stormed out of the cabin.

“I don’t think he’s going to change his mind,” Milo said.

“He’s stubborn, but he’ll come around. He thinks he’s looking out for us. He has issues to deal with. I think it’s high time that he does. I’m not giving up.”

“Me, either. She’s really something else. I don’t want to let her go…Damn.” Milo adjusted his crotch. “I can’t think about her without getting hard. Thank God she likes to fuck. Maybe I can get a quickie before I have to leave.”

“I don’t doubt that she’d be willing. Believe me, I’d like to myself. But I think she’s annoyed with you and me for not agreeing with her.”

“I think you’ve got a point.” Milo looked toward her room wistfully. “Maybe later.”

* * * *

Sven stomped through the trees. They had no idea. He was going to protect them if he could. They may hate him for it, but they would get over it. She would get herself killed in these woods. She was a city girl. She’d never even shifted, for God’s sake. The first time that happened to her she was going to turn into a little baby. It took a lot of courage and strength to accept one’s body changing into a wolf. She just didn’t have it in her. He walked on blindly, lost in his thoughts.

A few hours later he found himself at Bear Basin. This was a favorite trek for the hikers. It offered them the opportunity to go off the beaten trail. The underbrush was not too overgrown. Passage through the thick fragrant trees was relatively easy. Pine needles, long discarded by the trees, created a soft brown blanket that muffled his footsteps. He hadn’t been here since the day of his accident. He wondered if Milo or Jacob had checked the area since then. He made his way to the ledge that overlooked Stanton’s Meadow below. He’d seen artists with their easels and paint brushes sit there for hours at a time, trying to catch the beauty the meadow offered. Very few ventured up here. This is where the pack came for the full moon, sometimes all together, sometimes alone. To sit here as one of nature’s creatures, wild and free, was a feeling that could not be captured on canvas or with words. The feeling found its way into one’s soul and changed the way one looked at life. It made life more meaningful, more poignant.

He didn’t know how long he sat there trying to get a handle on his emotions. Carolyn had torn him apart. She’d wormed her way into his heart. It would hurt to watch her walk away, but better that hurt than the devastation of her death. That fear, the fear of his mate dying, crippled him. He looked at it now and realized he had to get past it if the pack was to survive. He knew Jacob and Milo were his family now. He had to think of them and their needs as well as his own. He got up some time later, his heart just as heavy as when he sat down. He stood and stretched his stiff muscles. He took a moment to look westward. The sun was beginning to recede. The beautiful orange and pink that stained the clouds and lit up the sky warmed his heart. This place was filled with beauty and wonder. He loved it. The walk back to the cabin could be dangerous in the dark. “I’d better get a move on,” he said.

* * * *

Carolyn paced the kitchen. Something was wrong. The men weren’t due back for a while, yet she had a gnawing ache in her heart and her stomach that wouldn’t settle down. She stepped onto the porch. Purple was being added to the beautiful orange and pink in the clouds stretching out above her. She breathed deeply, trying to calm her tattered emotions.

Something in the air alerted her. She breathed again, concentrating on the smells wafting on the breeze. A few short little sniffs and she recognized it. It was Sven. She waited expecting to see him come through the trees any moment. His scent disappeared. Something was definitely wrong, she thought. She stepped off the porch, sniffing every few steps. She followed her nose. Sometimes she lost the scent, but she continued looking, and then she would catch it again. She continued up the winding trail until she heard a voice. Sven was cursing.

She saw him on the ground, once again at the bottom of an embankment. She scrambled toward him. On the way down she spotted his radio. She grabbed it and continued on her way, sliding as she tried to keep her balance. She came skidding to a halt not far from him.

He turned his head toward her. Relief and then anger flashed across his chiseled features. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to stay at the cabin. You could get hurt.”

“Me?” Her eyes raked his body as she spoke. “This comes from the man at the bottom of a ravine for the second time in about a week. I don’t think you’re in a position to—” She dropped to her knees. “Oh my God.” The words rode on a tortured breath.

“I’m glad you found the radio. Give it to me.” He took the radio from her limp hands.

As he radioed Jacob and Milo, she looked at his bloodied foot. Thank God he was wearing good, thick boots. The steel trap surely would have broken his bones otherwise. It may have done that anyway. She just hoped the boot had protected him somehow. She sat there on her heels, waiting for Sven to finish.

“They’ll be here soon,” he said. He laid the radio at his side.

“Does it hurt?” She scrunched her forehead. She already knew the answer.

“That’s an understatement.” He pinned her with his gaze.

“Is it broken?” She reached to touch it.

“Don’t,” he warned.

“I was afraid of that.” She sat back on her heels again.

“How did you find me?” he asked after a few awkward minutes.

She smiled, quite pleased with herself. “I followed my nose.”

“You said you’ve never shifted.” He gave her a strange look. “That’s unusual.”

“Maybe I’m more in touch with the savage beast inside of me than you think I am.” She tried to lighten the stress between them.

“Apparently you are.” His look said he thought something else entirely.

“Well, maybe it’s not so savage.”

Now he smiled. “At least you’re smart enough to know that.” He turned his head as if listening.

“What is it?”

“Shhh.” He put his fingers to his lips. “Do you hear that?” he whispered.

She tilted her head and listened. She thought she heard voices. “It’s not Jacob or Milo,” she said.

“I know that, but how do you know it?” He looked at her intently.

“It doesn’t smell like them,” she said in a matter-of-fact manner.

“The wolf is coming forward in you,” he said. He sounded surprised.

“I thought so. I feel different lately.” She looked at him, daring him to disagree.

The voices became louder.

“Maybe they can help. Over here! Down here!” she called, trying to get the strangers’ attention.

“Quiet!” Sven hissed a warning. “You don’t want their help.”

“Why?” she asked, just a little confused.

“Well, look at what we have here,” one of the voices said from above.

Sven reached for his gun. His holster was empty. “Fuck.”

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“My gun, I don’t have my gun,” he whispered.

“What do you need your gun for?”

“For them.” He motioned his head toward the two men sliding down the embankment.

Now she smelled them. “But they are shifters. Won’t they help?”

“They’re renegades, very nasty renegades.” He struggled to free himself from the trap.

“Stop, you’re going to hurt yourself.” She tried to still his hands.

“They’re going to hurt us, and by that I mean you.”

“Why?”

“Because they can. It’s who they are.”

“So you know them?”

“In a manner of speaking. I should have known I’d find them when I wasn’t prepared.” His look told her he was very upset and very angry. He pulled frantically at the trap.

The men skidded to a halt and stood a few feet from them. “Look who it is, Jake.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. It’s the ranger, ain’t it, Henry?” Jake asked.

“He’s been looking for us for a long time,” Henry said.

“Yeah, ever since we took care of his mate, he’s had it in for us.” Jake snickered.

“I guess we pissed him off pretty good that day, didn’t we?” Henry nodded his head. He looked like one of the toy dogs in the car window.

“I reckon so. She was a nice piece. She was so tight, and I don’t care what you say, she didn’t fight all that hard,” Jake said. His eyes were riveted on Sven, testing his reaction.

Sven growled. He yanked at the trap. “I’m going to kill you,” he raged. He stood up and lunged for the men. They moved out of his reach and laughed.

“I can’t see how you’re going to do that,” Henry said. Bending forward, he put his hands on his thighs.

“He sure knows how to pick his women. Looks like he found himself a new mate. Smells like she’s in heat, too,” Jake said. He sniffed the air. “Oh yeah, she’s got it bad.”

Carolyn listened to the two men Sven said were renegades. They were two of the nastiest men she’d ever run into. Sven was right. They definitely weren’t going to help. Sven was so angry she could feel it warming the air around them. She supposed she should be scared out of her wits, but she was more concerned for Sven than for herself.

“We can help her out with that,” Henry said. His nose wrinkled as he sniffed the air.

“You bet we can. Come on over here, little lady. We can give you what you need,” Jake taunted.

“Leave her alone,” Sven yelled. “Stay behind me, Carolyn,” he ordered as he yanked her behind him.

“You don’t want to do that, do you, Carolyn?” Jake’s voice was sickeningly sweet. “I’ve got something here you’re going to like.” He grabbed his crotch and made a vulgar movement. “Yeah, it’s getting ready for you right now.” He rubbed his growing bulge.

“Me, too, I’m getting hard remembering the last one. This one might even be better. She looks like she’s afraid. I like them when they’re afraid.”

“Bastard,” Carolyn whispered.
These pieces of shit want to rape me.

Sven tugged at the chain anchoring the trap into the ground. “I’m going to kill you,” he threatened.

“Not today.” Jake laughed.

“Yeah…not today,” Henry agreed as he moved toward Carolyn.

“Stay away from me,” Carolyn warned.

“I don’t think I can,” Henry said. “I’ve got me a big problem here.” His hands squeezed his crotch. “I need some relief.”

“That’s it, Henry. You go get her for us.” Jake urged Henry on.

Henry took another step.

“Stay away,” Carolyn repeated.

“Yeah, she looks good and scared. She’s gonna be sweet.” Henry licked his lips, taking another step.

This wasn’t happening. She’d just decided to make big changes in her life. She wasn’t about to let these two assholes mess it up for her. She growled. It was an actual growl, an angry, threatening growl. Before she knew what was happening, she shifted into a wolf.

“Well, look at that. Carolyn wants it doggie style,” Henry said. “I do believe I can oblige her.” He shifted and continued to move toward Carolyn.

“Doggie style sounds good to me, too,” Jake said. He shifted and joined Henry as he moved toward Carolyn.

Carolyn had never been so angry in her life. She was going to rip them to shreds. She moved away from Sven. She heard him frantically pulling on the chain and screaming her name.

Her two attackers stood before her. She growled and bared her teeth.
Come and get me, you motherfuckers. You don’t know who you’re messing with
. The deep rumble in her throat filled her with strength. She would take care of Henry first. He was the smaller of the two. She would latch onto his throat and rip it open so fast he wouldn’t know what hit him. They thought she was weak. They thought she was afraid. She would have the element of surprise on her side. She moved forward one very slow step at a time. She watched their every move. She wouldn’t let either of them get behind her. She stared them down. She snarled her warning. She felt like they were laughing at her. It was now or never. She leaped through the air. She sank her teeth into the soft underside of Henry’s neck. Her jaw clenched tight, and she held on for dear life. He jerked away from her attack in surprise. His strength aided her in her assault. She spit the hairy chunk of flesh from her mouth. She watched Henry collapse. His blood stained the earth. She focused her attention onto Jake. Jake backed up. He growled, and then leapt for her. She watched him as if in slow motion. His body was stretched. His teeth were bared in a vicious sneer. The sound he made was the most frightening thing she’d ever heard. Fear gripped her heart. She was going to die. Sven was right. They were right. She was weak. She may be weak, but she wouldn’t give up without a fight. She leapt up to meet the oncoming assault.