My Heart's Passion

Rutledge Werewolves:

My Heart’s Passion

Elizabeth Lapthorne

Prologue

Wednesday

“Are you sure you and Dominic don’t mind?”

Mary laughed huskily.

“Chloe darling, I’m still feeling like a newlywed, even after six months. The last place Dominic and I want is to be within spitting distance of his nieces, nephews, and siblings. They’re a great bunch, and we certainly love them to bits, but someone is always dropping around, interrupting us at delicate moments to have a chat with us, or to play a game of Chase or something. We’re only going away for four and a half days, and we’re only renting a cabin thirty miles on the other side of the park—but trust me, no one is going to disturb us and we can have some fun before bub arrives and we
can’t
make polite or even half-believable excuses anymore.”

Chloe grinned. “One last fuck-fest before you become responsible adults, hmm?”

Mary laughed. “Who said anything about being responsible, Chlo? I’m only talking about having a baby—not starting a career in politics or something.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and heard an answering snicker from the other end of the line. They might be on opposite sides of the state, but Chloe shared a special closeness with her cousin. They were best friends as well as family.

“Anyway,” Mary continued, “I think you’ll enjoy the break—after six months of standing in as a high school teacher anyone would need a break. Just don’t complain to me when all the rugrats over here insist you play games with them. They’re darling children—but they’ll drive you nuts if you let them.”

“I think I can handle a handful of overenthusiastic kids after subbing for six months and coping with thirty junior high teenagers in a cooking class. As long as the kids don’t start a food fight, we’ll get along just fine.”

“A long weekend away, hopefully hidden in the cabin, might give you the time you need to think about where you want to go now.”

Chloe sighed. “Mar, please don’t start on that again. You know I don’t want to study anymore.”

Chloe’s refusal to keep a steady job, what she liked to refer to as her “itchy feet” was a running joke between the two of them. She couldn’t bear the thought of bogging herself down in more studies. Instead, she had taken the first available job after graduating high school.

Moving from job to job, Mary had shown constant astonishment at her innate skill to pick up jobs with ease, and then finding something different to do.

“Well, some time out in the cabin might be helpful to you. Take a break and you can think about things and read to your heart’s content. I’ve already mailed you the keys, so we’ll leave very early tomorrow morning. You can move in anytime after about eleven tomorrow morning. Those keys should arrive first thing tomorrow morning, and once they arrive you can start that awful drive. Don’t forget Dominic, the lazy ass, hasn’t fixed the lock as of yet. It might stick a little, so don’t be afraid to jiggle the key. He swears to have it fixed by the time we leave, but I’m not holding my breath. Oh, and one more thing—”

“Mmmm?”

“Be careful in the woods Thursday night. It’s the full moon.”

“Oh. Right. Sure.”

Chloe wasn’t really sure what more to say. She believed Mary, who insisted Dominic was a werewolf. Yet at the same time, she didn’t believe her. It was rather confusing and she didn’t think about it much. Mary had assured her they weren’t the werewolves of movies—insane killers and feasters of flesh. But rather, insisted they were mostly normal men, who happened to turn into wolves and run around in the huge national park on the evenings of the full moon.

Chloe didn’t like to think of it any more than she wanted to think about Dominic’s brother, Samuel. She had been Mary’s bridesmaid, and Samuel had been the groomsman. She had spent most of the wedding avoiding the drop-dead handsome man.

It had been the strangest feeling, walking down the aisle ahead of Mary, feeling proud and sad at the same time. She was overjoyed for Mary finally finding the love she deserved. Yet, having her brother and cousin moving to the other side of the state to be with this family had made her feel slightly odd.

She was happy for them, but sad at the same time. She wasn’t sure what she thought of the large, boisterous family. She certainly liked them, but also resented them slightly. That resentment ate at her and made her feel awful and mean.

She had been determined to like and get to know the family her cousin was marrying into, and had been doing an admirable job—until she had met the elusive Samuel. Standing next to Dominic, in a navy blue suit just like his brothers, he had taken her breath away.

Taller by a few inches than Dominic, he was lean and athletically muscled. His shoulder-length hair had been restrained into a short ponytail. Staring at him, he made her heart stutter out an unusual rhythm, and, temporarily, she wondered if she would faint from lack of oxygen.

Quickly snapping back to reality, she continued to her designated spot a little faster than the priest had asked. Watching Mary walk down the aisle, her face alight, looking beautiful in her wedding gown, Chloe forgot Samuel and concentrated on her cousin.

The rest of the afternoon, however, hadn’t been so easy. Samuel hadn’t been an easy man to ignore, sadly for her peace of mind. They had politely conversed through a number of light, noncommittal subjects such as the weather, and didn’t Mary look stunning, throughout the small reception.

Yet the underlying sexual tension between them had been almost impossible to ignore. She was sure he felt it too—yet when he made no mention of it, she stubbornly refused to bring it up either.

Chloe had quickly left the following morning after helping Mary pack for her brief honeymoon. She had been trying desperately not to think of Samuel ever since.

Somewhere inside her, she was honest enough to acknowledge that part of the reason she accepted Mary’s invitation to spend the extended weekend in the cabin was the potential to meet up with Samuel again—maybe to try and sort out the strange chemistry between them.

Chloe had no intention of fucking him out of her system—look where that had got Mary! Married to the man.

Yet for six interminable months as she taught twelve and thirteen year old children to bake cookies and muffins, and safely use an oven and burners, the wretched man had hovered around the edges of her thoughts, teasing her at odd moments and causing more than a few nights of intensely erotic dreams and consequential early morning cold showers.

More and more she had found herself thinking of him last thing at night and would wake up with him on her mind early in the morning.

It was slowly driving her insane and ruining her for other men. She had finally had enough. She didn’t have a particular plan, but her plans rarely panned out anyway. She would simply wing it, like so much of her life.

“Helloooo, you still there? Have you even heard a word I’ve said?”

Chloe cleared her throat.

“Umm…sorry. I was zoning.”

Mary sighed.

“Just remember to be careful driving over, okay? Go grab a pen and paper, brat, I’ll give you detailed, explicit instructions so even you couldn’t get lost.”

Laughing, Chloe stretched for the pen and pad of paper she always kept near the phone. If nothing else, four days in the secluded cabin would be perfect for her to catch up on her reading. Her pile of books to-be-read had dramatically increased over the last six months, threatening to take over her small room.

Jotting down directions and odds and ends she thought of to pack, Chloe smiled at her cousin’s thoughtfulness. Even if she didn’t manage to talk to Samuel, an extended weekend of rest and contemplation was exactly what she needed to recharge her batteries.

Chapter One

Late Thursday Evening

Chloe had been driving for what felt like years—or weeks at the very least. Her eyes were gritty, her arms and legs ached from being cramped in her small car for hours and hours with only toilet breaks. She desperately wished for a decently cooked meal, and not drive-thru rubbish.

Ten minutes ago she had just turned onto the gravel road her directions stated ran past the outskirts of the park. From what Mary said, ten miles up this main road was the turnoff to Artemais and William’s house. About a mile before that was a much smaller dirt track leading to a narrow, winding road that split. Left was to Dominic’s cabin, right was to his brother, Samuel’s cabin.

The throbbing ache behind Chloe’s eyes grew worse as she strained to catch a glimpse of a sign. Sighing, she pulled her small car over off the road. With one thing after another, it had taken her forever to get on the road. It would be beyond stupid if she crashed her car into a tree less than ten miles from her destination.

It was already past
midnight
, another twenty minutes to stretch her legs and relieve herself wasn’t going to make much difference. Besides, her needs had passed beyond urgent about an hour back.

The full moon hung so low and bright in the sky she decided not to take her flashlight with her. Pulling her huge coat from the backseat, she locked the car and looked left and right. The woods were far more dense on the left. Knowing she would only be going fifty feet or so into them, she wrapped herself up in her coat and headed towards them, eager for
any
sort of break to stop the monotony of simply driving along the road.

When her small car was only just barely out of sight, she stopped and looked around the moonlit woods. It truly was beautiful. The moonlight and stars above glowed down onto the earth, as if bathing it in its safety and care. The forest felt alive. Small animals made noises, owls hooted, and Chloe could almost feel the tension and life hidden beneath the surface.

Smiling, she stretched her legs and rubbed her eyes, taking a few more steps into the woods, being careful not to stray too far.

Maybe ten, maybe fifteen minutes later as many of the kinks as she could fix had left her legs. At least her more immediate problem of her filled bladder was also taken care of.