IceSurrender (2 page)

“I should get a little training in,” Laci said. “I’m still
pretty new at all this werewolf stuff. And fighting in my dire wolf form, I
need all the help I can get.”

Carson nodded, then looked at Ryder. “I guess we’ll head
outside.”

Laci and Carson walked out of the room. Ryder followed
behind them. At the lower level, he went to the living room while the couple
continued on to the glass sliding doors.

Ryder sat on the couch with Wyatt once again propped up
comfortably in the crook of his arm. He turned on the TV. Taylor was going to
be missed. Even though he wasn’t part of their pack, they all considered him a
close friend. It would seem strange to go over to Durlach and Meadow’s place
and not see Taylor around. He was like a permanent fixture there.

He flipped through the channels until he found something he
wanted to watch. A glance down showed Wyatt had fallen asleep. Ryder smiled.
The baby had such a tough life. He got fed, had someone change his diaper and
could nap for as long as he wanted. With the amount of sleep Ryder had been
losing, he would have liked nothing better than to join Wyatt, but he wasn’t
even going to try. For the last few nights, every time he fell asleep he
dreamed about the dark wolves and how if he didn’t gain access to his full
shaman powers the scales would tip in their enemy’s favor.

To be honest, Ryder didn’t know how much more of it he could
take. He already planned to see if he could bring on a vision. Maybe his
ancestor would tell him what he was doing wrong instead of telling him he was
running out of time as he’d been doing.

Ryder rested his head on the back of the couch. The baby let
out a little breathy sigh in his sleep. A picture of Wren rose to the forefront
of his mind, something that seemed to happen more frequently than it had in the
past. He was sorely tempted to ask her if she would be able to “see” what the
hell he was doing wrong, but he was reluctant to do so. It would change how
they interacted with one another. The last thing he wanted was to encourage her
at this stage.

No, he would have to figure this out on his own. No matter
how hard he found it, it was something he was responsible for bringing on.

Wren looked over at the deck when she caught movement out of
the corner of her eye. The first thing she noticed was Ryder was no longer
sitting in the patio chair with the baby. He had to have gone inside when she
wasn’t looking.

She turned her attention back on Ketah as the wolf brother
lunged in for a strike. Wren barely managed to sidestep out of the way before
his sharp teeth came within a mere inch of her neck. She swiped back at him
with one of her front paws, just barely brushing an ear as Ketah ducked out of
the way.

You’re getting faster
, Ketah said telepathically to
her.
We’ll make a real fighter out of you yet.

Maybe if I get good enough I can become the first female
sentinel.

A wolf sister. I like that idea. But aren’t you too busy
trying to make Ryder yours?
Ketah asked with a laugh.

I’ll get him yet. He’s weakening. It’s only a matter of
time before he admits he wants me as much as I want him.

If you do, you’ll be the first woman I’ve seen Ryder with
since he came to take on the role of our shaman.

Wren knew Ryder wasn’t seeing anyone, and he wasn’t having
any one-night stands either. For one thing, he never stayed out overnight.
Plus, Wren always made sure she got a good whiff of him whenever he came home after
being out by himself for a while. He never smelled like a female, which was
good because she didn’t know what she’d do if he ever did. She’d already staked
her claim over him and considered him hers.

Let’s go one more round before we call it quits
, Ketah
said, bringing Wren out of her thoughts.

She gave a nod of her lupine head as she watched him circle
her. Even though she wasn’t a full dire wolf, Wren was stronger than the other
females. She was a mixture of her old timber wolf and the new dire wolf she’d
been turned into. It wasn’t because she was a mixed breed that she had an
advantage over the other women. It was sheer determination to be stronger and
faster. She didn’t work so hard to be able to protect herself. It was all for
Ryder. Until he had his full powers, she would do everything to keep him safe.
His being mortal had her worrying about what would happen to him if he ever had
a run-in with a dark wolf. Yes, he had magic at his call, but he could still be
killed if he couldn’t defend himself.

This time around, Wren went on the attack before Ketah did.
She managed to take him by surprise and ram the side of her body into him,
causing him to stumble. She used that to her advantage and was able to nip him
at the back of his neck before he recovered to gain the upper hand once again.

Haven, who was Ketah’s mate, came up to them already shifted
to her human form. She looked at Ketah. “I’m done for today. How about you?”

Ketah’s body shimmered and blurred as he shifted as well.
“We’re finished. Wren seems to get better with each training session.”

Haven looked at Wren. “At least one of us girls has the
chance to show up the boys.”

Wren took on her human form. “I can only try. I think I’ll
go see where Ryder went with Wyatt.”

The couple smiled as Wren turned and walked away. She left
the others outside and went into the house. She followed the sound of the TV to
the living room and found Ryder asleep, sitting up on the couch with Wyatt
securely tucked in his arms, napping.

She walked quietly into the room and came to stand in front
of Ryder. It was the first time she’d seen him sleeping. He usually did that
behind his locked bedroom door. It showed how tired he must be to have fallen
asleep there.

Wren ran her gaze over his face, soaking up his native good
looks. She loved his long black hair and itched to sink her fingers into it.
From the few times Ryder let her touch it, she knew it was silky soft. And his
slim, muscular body made her want to run her fingertips over every inch of him.

Ryder’s brows furrowed and he let out a pained-sounding
groan. His body stiffened as well, as if he were having a bad dream. Wren sat
on the couch beside him and placed her hand on his arm, thinking to wake him.

The simple touch had a vision forming in Wren’s mind. It took
her a few seconds to realize it wasn’t one of her normal ones where she could
see the future. It was as if she were seeing Ryder’s dream, was in it with him.
What tipped her off was the scenery that wasn’t true to life. In some places it
was distorted, the trees loomed bigger and menacing.

It didn’t take her long to find Ryder surrounded by four
dark wolves. He was frantically murmuring spells that didn’t appear to have any
effect over the ones who closed in on him.

Having no idea if she would be able to do anything since
this was Ryder’s dream, Wren shifted to her mixed dire wolf form within the
scene. All her training came to the forefront of her mind as she went on the
attack. The first dark wolf she totally took by surprise. Using that advantage,
she knocked him to the ground and grabbed the back of his neck in her strong
jaws. A jerk of her head and she snapped it. In real life that would have only
put the dark wolf out of commission for a few seconds. But in this dream world,
he disappeared.

Wren didn’t waste any time in dealing with the others who
threatened Ryder. She ended up with a few bite and claw marks in the end, which
healed in seconds, but she sent each of the dark wolves away. Out of breath,
she looked up at Ryder to see him watching her with a look of disbelief on his
face.

“Wren?”

The sound of her name had the dream landscape melting away
and then Wren found herself back in her body. She focused on Ryder and saw he
was awake, staring at her intently.

“How did you do that?” Ryder asked. “How did you share my
dream?”

Wren shrugged. “I don’t know. All I did was touch you. You
looked as if you were having a bad dream so I only thought to wake you.”

“You fought the dark wolves and defeated them,” Ryder said,
sounding as if he still couldn’t believe what she’d done.

“I wasn’t sure if I could at first. I figured if I was there
I might as well do something about them. You make it sound as if you’ve had
this dream before.”

“I have. Several times, in fact. I can’t defeat them. My
magic never works.”

Before Wren could reply to that, Cassidy came into the room.
“There you are,” she said as she took Wyatt from Ryder and kissed the baby’s
cheek. “Was he good for you?”

Ryder nodded. “Yes, except for making a stinky present for
me in his diaper.”

Cassidy grimaced. “Do I have to make sure there will be no
leakages?”

“You can if you want, but I think I got it right this time.”

“Then you’re getting better.”

Cassidy walked out of the room with the baby cuddled close.
Wren sighed inside. She wanted what her alpha’s mate had. She wanted Ryder as
hers, and his child in her arms. She’d been alone for too long. Being half
mortal, she’d never grown up in a werewolf pack. Her father was a lone wolf who
preferred to be on his own. She hadn’t seen much of him when she’d been growing
up. Since her mother had died from cancer a few years before, she’d had no one
to call family until the sentinels had taken her into their pack.

Ryder stood and headed for the entrance to the living room.
Wren stood as well. If she didn’t say something he’d do his best to avoid her.
It was time to put an end to that.

“Ryder, wait,” Wren said as she closed the distance between
them.

“What?” He turned to face her.

“Are the bad dreams what are keeping you up at night?”

“Partly.” He sighed. “Okay, mostly.”

“So they’re to blame for making you miss out on the sleep
you need. Maybe that’s what’s holding you back from gaining your full powers.
The lack of rest is messing with your mind.”

Ryder sighed again, looking impatient. “Where are you going
with this, Wren?”

“Let me sleep in your bed with you. I can make the bad
dreams go away, defeat the dark wolves that plague your rest.”

“We don’t know if you can do it again. It could have just
been some kind of fluke.”

“And we won’t know for sure until we try. Maybe my being
psychic is what makes the connection. Plus, we don’t know if I could have done
this all along. I’ve never been anywhere near you while you slept until now.”

“I don’t know if that would be such a good idea.”

“One night. We’ll try it for one night. If I can’t help with
the bad dreams, then I’ll go back to sleeping on the couch. And if it does
work, you’ll be better rested.”

Wren met Ryder’s gaze as he stared at her. She could tell he
was wavering. She honestly wanted to help him and wasn’t going to deny the fact
she’d jump at any chance to get into his bed.

“Okay, you win,” he finally said. “Only because the lack of
sleep is getting to me, and you may be right that it could be hindering me from
gaining my full powers. We’ll try it tonight, and as you said, if it doesn’t
work, you’re back to sleeping on the couch.”

Wren forced herself not to jump up and down while she pumped
her fist into the air. This was the most she’d gotten out of Ryder since she’d
made her intentions clear to him.

Instead of doing what she really wanted to, she nodded.
“Deal. And if it does work, I’ll sleep with you from now on.” She thought she
saw a flash of heat in Ryder’s eyes before he blinked and it was gone. Maybe
she was getting to him after all.

Ryder cleared his throat, but his voice had a gruffness to
it when he spoke. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. And to make it clear, it
would be only sleeping going on, nothing else. And you’ll stick to your own
side of the bed.”

“Fine, only sleeping, but that last part won’t work. I
didn’t get into your dream until I touched you. I’ll have to have some contact
with you.”

“I guess if that’s what it will take, you can touch me.”

Ryder said the words as if he were in pain. Wren couldn’t
tell if it was because he disliked the idea of her touching him or whether he
liked it. She figured she’d find out tonight.

She smiled. “Who knows, maybe you’ll enjoy it.”

Ryder quickly changed the subject. “I’m hungry. I think I’ll
go look for something to snack on.”

Wren shook her head as he turned and walked down the hallway
toward the kitchen. Once he disappeared from sight, she did her silent little
dance and fist pumping. Score one for her. She’d take all the victories she
could get. She also prayed like hell she’d be able to get into Ryder’s dreams
tonight. She needed to be able to sleep next to him in the same bed. It would
help to bring them closer. He might have said no sex would be involved, but
that didn’t mean she couldn’t work on driving him a little crazy and see where
that led.

* * * * *

Ryder still couldn’t believe he’d actually agreed to Wren
sleeping in his bedroom, in his bed, with him. It was going to be pure,
unadulterated torture. He lusted after her now, but having her beside him all
night would make it worse. He should have outright told her no. The only thing
that had stopped him from doing that was what had happened in his dream.

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep on the couch. While he was
watching the baby sleep in his arms, his eyes had started to droop. It had been
all he could do to keep them open. Ryder had known the lack of sleep was
catching up to him. He couldn’t remember the last night he’d settled his mind
enough to actually fall asleep or slept without being awoken at least twice
with bad dreams.

It hadn’t taken long for the dream about the dark wolves
surrounding him, and his powers not working to defeat them, to surface. Usually
he woke up just as they all lunged at the same time toward him, their jaws wide
open as their sharp teeth headed for his throat.

Wren appearing in his dream had surprised him. Ryder had
been even more surprised when she had shifted to her wolf form and taken out
the enemy one by one taken out the enemy. He’d said her name, which brought him
instantly awake to find her actually sitting beside him on the couch with her
hand on his arm. She’d had a faraway look on her face before she’d appeared to
come back to herself.

Ryder had to wonder if her ability to get into his head like
that did come from the fact she was gifted in her own way. Her mortal mother
had been psychic and had passed her talent on to her daughter. There was Wren’s
werewolf side, which added a small spark of magic to it. Then there was the
fact she’d been turned by one of the wolf brothers, giving her the ability to
communicate telepathically while in wolf form. Right now she was the only one
of her kind—a turned werewolf, a mixture of the first of werewolf kind and
their descendants.

After getting something to eat, Ryder had escaped to his
room to think over what had happened between him and Wren. He could admit he
was hiding from her. Thoughts of her spending the night with him led to
thoughts of what she’d look like naked. He’d had to beat a hasty retreat, using
the need for a snack as an excuse, once she’d talked about sleeping with him
all the time. His damn cock had instantly gotten hard, which happened more
frequently now when he was around Wren.

He looked at his bedside clock and saw it was almost time
for dinner. He had to go downstairs. They always ate that meal together as a pack,
even having Carson, Laci, Durlach and Meadow joining them at least three times
a week. If he didn’t go downstairs someone was bound to come up looking for
him. And that someone would inevitably end up being Wren.

Ryder went downstairs and headed to the living room, the
packs’ favorite gathering place. Sure enough, everyone was there. He was the
last one to show up. He stepped into the room and saw Durlach and Meadow had
arrived. The wolf brother’s mate sat beside him on the couch, looking sad. Even
her eyes were a bit red from crying. Obviously, Taylor had left in the end.
Ryder soon heard he was correct in his assumption.