Rebecca's Wolves (Wolf Masters Book 6) (8 page)

“If I didn’t know better, I would think this was insane. But it’s pretty obvious she belongs to both of us. I can feel the forces of nature pushing us to claim her—together. Do you think Rebecca is able to communicate with us too?”

Rebecca didn’t move. In fact her breathing had evened out in the last several minutes. He knew she wasn’t asleep, but she was relaxing marginally. If either of them were in her head, she would not be so calm.

“Doesn’t seem so. But this is foreign to her. And she’s human.”

“I see that.”
Miles smoothed his fingers over her belly once again, gently so as not to disturb her. She moaned anyway, pressing her front against him.

“Seriously, Miles. You’re starting to piss me off.”

Miles fought to keep from chuckling out loud.
“It’s not my fault you tripped and impaled yourself, dude. I’m just here to rescue your ass.”

“First of all, I did not simply trip and fall, asshole. And second of all, if it weren’t for me getting injured, you wouldn’t even be here to know Rebecca was your mate. So, do me the courtesy of easing back so we might enjoy her together for the first time.”

He had a point.
“She smells so fucking fantastic, and she’s sexy as hell. What does she do when she isn’t nursing? Work out all day?”

“Pretty much. She’s training for a Spartan Race.”

Miles flinched.
“One of those mud things with the obstacles?”

“Yep.”

He rolled his eyes, even though no one could see him.
“Oh, hell no.”

Griffen chuckled into his head.
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s up for debate. She’s a driven and determined soul.”

“How the hell are we going to keep up with that?”

“No clue. But it helps there are two of us now.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better about sharing her sexy body with you?”
Miles stroked her belly beneath her breasts again because he could.

Rebecca inhaled sharply. She wasn’t asleep. Her small hand landed on top of his, her fingers threading in between his huge ones. She tugged as though she could prevent him from stroking the undersides of her breasts.

Miles wasn’t about to release her. He’d never been more comfortable. Even lying on the ground in the cold with his woman fully clothed was a delight. He’d probably expire when he got her naked.

Griffen growled low and deep.
“You want to argue some more about whose mate she is? I thought we covered that when you first arrived. Obviously she belongs to both of us.”

“And you’ve been with her for twenty-four hours already? How did you avoid claiming her?”

Griffen hesitated.
“It wasn’t easy, but somehow I knew it wasn’t the right time.”

Miles grinned.
“You waited for me.”

“Yeah, don’t let it go to your head. It wasn’t as though I knew what I was waiting for.”

“I think she realized we were communicating about her too. We were supposed to be assessing your injury.”

“I can’t help it you got so defensive about her,”
Griffen communicated. He stiffened, his growl turning deeper.

“You okay?” Rebecca lifted her head and leaned closer to her wolf mate. She released Miles’ hand to drape hers once again over Griffen and stroke his fur.

Miles wasn’t sure if he liked being the human behind her or would prefer to be the wolf getting his belly rubbed. Both were equally desirable.

“He’s fine, love.”

She lowered her head back onto Miles’ arm. “How do you know?”

Miles hesitated and then decided it was best to be upfront and honest with her. “I can communicate with him telepathically.”

“Seriously?” She twisted her head to face him. “I mean, I assumed you did so while you were in your other…um…form, but you can do it now?”

“Seems so.”

“Why did you have to switch earlier then?”

“Yeah, big guy. How you going to answer that one?”
Griffen communicated.

“It’s complicated, love.” He kissed her forehead and nudged her to relax back on her side. “Sleep.”

She accepted that response, luckily. “I’m wired, as if I had too much caffeine. And the two of you are suffocating me. I’m definitely not going to get cold. I can’t shut my brain down with both of you touching me.”

“Get used to it, love.”

She sucked in a sharp breath but didn’t respond.

Miles made no move to ease away. Even a bear attack wouldn’t likely cause him to remove himself.

“I am sorry about your leg, man. What happened exactly?”
He decided to change the subject and reengage Griffen to take his mind off Rebecca.

“I don’t know for sure. I took a piss in the woods, and when I turned around, an enormous shadow blocked my view.”

“A shadow?”
Miles stiffened.

“Yeah. If I didn’t know better, I would say it was some sort of omen.”
He chuckled in Miles head.
“Like a demon or something. It even happened right after I told Rebecca about the legend of spirits hovering around the mountain peaks. I was just making conversation. Crazy. If you breathe a word of that to the others, I’ll kick your ass.”

It wasn’t funny, and Miles didn’t laugh.

“What? You’re thinking too hard.”
Griffen lifted his head.

“I don’t think you imagined that.”
Miles met his gaze over their mate.

“Well, I didn’t say I imagined it. I just figured it was a bear or something that blocked my view.”

Miles shook his head
. “Don’t think so. In our culture, it’s not unheard of for such an apparition to appear as a sign, especially near the top of a mountain peak. You said yourself you were familiar with the spirits.”

“A sign of what? Warning? It’s a legend, man. There aren’t really black shadowy specters hanging around in the mountains to scare people.”

Miles shrugged.
“What if there are? Could be a warning. Or perhaps in this case, the spirit brought the three of us together.”

“That’s kind of harsh, don’t you think? I was badly injured.”

“And that brought me to you.”
Miles sighed, trying to decide if he should continue.
“I believe there have been many such sightings by my tribal members lately.”

“The Yobuka? Or the entire reservation?”

“The Yobuka. As far as I know, just my tribe. Those of us who live in the northern quadrant of the reservation and are shifters. The other tribes on the reservation do not have the ability to shift.”

“And you think it’s the Yobuka who are seeing these dark shadowy things?”
Griffen asked.

Miles smiled.
“Look, I’m not saying for sure. I have no way of knowing. Just an idea. We need to head for the reservation first thing in the morning.”

“And why would we do that?”

“Trust me. We need to speak to my grandmother. She will know more.”

•●•

When Griffen opened his eyes, he was confused for several seconds. He was in wolf form. He rarely slept in wolf form. And a human was snuggled up to him, her face resting on his chest, her arm wrapped around his middle.

Rebecca.

He would gladly stay right where he was for eternity if it meant keeping her in that spot.

No such luck, however. Rebecca stirred. She lifted her face off his chest and then pulled herself to a sitting position. Her expression was difficult to read as she met his gaze. “So it wasn’t a dream,” she whispered.

Miles was no longer next to her, but he materialized quickly. “How’s the leg?” he asked as he squatted beside Rebecca, wrapping his arms around her to lean into Griffen’s line of sight.

“Seems good. I’ll live.”

“Great. I’d like to get going as soon as possible.” He handed Rebecca something. “Eat this. Glad you carry more than one.”

She twisted in his arms, her face suddenly bright red. She lifted her chin over his shoulder to peer behind him. “Where is everyone?”

“They left already.”

“What?” The alarm in her voice was unmistakable. “Sharon wouldn’t leave me.”

Miles grinned at her. “Trust me. She didn’t want to. Took some convincing.” He tugged her closer in his embrace as Griffen pulled himself upright and tested his hind leg. It was sore. He knew the damage had been extensive for it not to heal by morning. Hell, he’d seen the blood with his own eyes. There was no doubt he’d have scars.

“Why?” Rebecca asked.

Miles took the protein bar from her hands and opened it, setting it back in her palm. “Eat.”

She glanced at the bar and then back at him.

“Yeah. I’m not sure she’s used to being told what to do,”
Griffen communicated to Miles.

Miles rolled his eyes. “Listen, love, we have quite a hike this morning back to my truck. I drove as far as I could, but we still have to hike back to it. You need the energy.”

She took a bite. “Fine, but tell me why we separated.”

“We’re going a different direction than them. And they have a long hike ahead of them. Ten miles back to the cars.” Miles nodded in the opposite direction. “We’re heading that way. It’s half that far to my truck.”

Griffen watched as Rebecca took another bite. Her brow was furrowed. “Wouldn’t it have been better for me to go with the others?”

He flinched, not the least bit sorry his friend and now mate had to field all the questions.

Miles visibly swallowed. “They were covering most of the ground in wolf form, love.” He brushed a loose lock of her thick gorgeous hair off her face.

“I would have slowed them down,” she muttered. Then she lifted her gaze. “I’m going to slow you down.”

Miles nodded at Griffen. “Not with gimpy here. He’s got to make his way out on three legs with a limp.”

Rebecca turned toward Griffen and set her hand on his head, rubbing it through his fur. “Are you sure he’s okay?”

“Says he is.”

“Right.” She jerked her hand back. “Forgot about your whole telecommunicating thing. That’s weird.”

“Weirder than the fact we’re wolf shifters?” Miles chuckled.

“Well, no. Guess not.” She glanced down at his hands wrapped around her middle.

Griffen was tired of watching the display.

“You’re constantly touching me.”

“I like touching you.” Miles leaned in and kissed her neck. “You smell fantastic.”

She flinched, her gaze landing on Griffen, who fought the urge to lay his teeth into his friend.
“You’re confusing the fuck out of her. Stop it.”

“What does Griffen think about you touching me?” She spoke to Miles, but her eyes were locked on Griffen’s.

He didn’t know what to do, so he leaned his head down and nuzzled her chin.

“He likes touching you too.”

Griffen groaned in Miles’ head.

Miles squeezed Rebecca. “Sorry. I’m not playing nice. I promise we’ll explain all this to you as soon as possible. Let’s get down the mountain and deal with one thing at a time. It’s not fair of me to speak for Griffen.”

Rebecca squirmed and pushed at Miles until she broke free. She jumped to her feet. “Explain what? All of this is just weird. On so many levels. This entire thing is strange. I need sleep. Or maybe I have been asleep for two nights.”

“Good dream? Or bad dream?” Miles asked with a grin.

She threw her wrapper at him and stuffed the rest of her bar in her mouth. As she stomped toward the edge of the trees, Miles called after her. “Stay close enough I can see you, Rebecca.”

“What is your brilliant plan now, stud?”
Griffen asked. He’d give anything to shift and face his mate in human form, but he knew it wasn’t safe yet. He needed a few more hours in wolf form.

“Head to my house. Then find my grandmother.”

“And why are we looking for your grandmother?”

Miles grabbed his pack and Rebecca’s, pulled them closer, and stuffed their belongings inside.

“She’s a shaman. A medicine woman.” Miles didn’t meet Griffen’s gaze. He looked over his shoulder repeatedly to make sure Rebecca was okay, but he didn’t look at Griffen.