Savage Moon: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 4) (10 page)

Chapter
Fourteen

Wolves heal as fast as bears, it seems. And thank
God for it. Alec slept for two days straight, but when he woke, the ugly gash
along his side closed, leaving nothing behind except for two thin, marbled
lines across his right hip. The gashes on his chest scarred worse, and I
wondered if that was a bear thing. But he was safe and whole save for a few
more dents.

Harold seemed particularly relieved to know Alec’s
strength came back. They shared something special between them. Harold’s
sightless eyes glistened as Alec took his first steps out of the bed. But, he
quickly stiffened and pointed to his own battle scars and called Alec a pussy
for even wincing. It got a hearty laugh out of Alec and the two men looped arms
and headed down to the barn.

“I just need a little air,” Alec said as he passed
me in the hall and kissed me. “Will you be okay up here by yourself while
Harold and I catch up on old times?”

I hadn’t left Alec’s side in two days, preferring a
pallet on the floor next to him rather than a bed of my own. When I got too far
away from him, I thought I could feel the faint echo of Kane’s pulse. But Alec
drowned all of that out. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who needed time and
space to heal.

“She won’t be by herself,” Pat came out of the
kitchen and pulled an apron over her head. She tossed me a kitchen towel as she
reached back and tied the strings around her waist. “How are you with a rolling
pin? Pot pie tonight, and we make our own crust around here.”

I caught the towel and smiled. My heart tripped in
my chest. Though Pat’s eyes were kind, I had a feeling she wanted something
more from me than my baking skills. I’d avoided the talk she wanted to have,
but knew it was long past time. She had questions. But, so did I.

“Go on. But be careful,” I called to Alec and
Harold. But they were already out the back door.

Pat’s kitchen was a wonder of hanging copper pots
and counter space. She put me to work with the rolling pin, flattening a large
wad of gooey dough for her pie crust. She stirred the vegetables in a huge
stock pot on the stove that looked big enough to climb in. I kneaded the dough
after she showed me how, her small, plump hands a blur of motion and flour
dust. Then, I set to work, rolling back and forth, muscling the dough into
shape.

“Good for your back,” she said, wiping a spot of
powder from her nose with her shoulder.

“Kneading dough? Feels more like a workout.”

“The rolling pin. Have your man do that to you after
a long work day. Heaven.”

I laughed. “Never thought of that. I’ll have to try
it sometime.”

“Good. Just wash the pin when you’re done.” She shot
me a wink and dipped her ladle back into the pot.

“You settling in okay, honey?”

I froze mid-roll and then slid up on the wooden
stool near the counter. I set the rolling pin down and wiped my hands on the
apron Pat loaned me.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ve been here for three days.
Barged in on your home. And you took me in. You’ve made me feel like I belong
here. Or at least like you don’t mind having me. And I know that’s got to maybe
complicate things for you.”

Pat smoothed her hands down her own apron and sat on
a stool opposite me. She had kind eyes and deep creases in her face. She had to
be somebody’s badass grandma, and it occurred to me just then that I wished she
were mine. It was just a flash of thought, but it left an ache in my heart for
the family I
did
have.

“Well, Alec told me a little bit about the fix
you’re in, but I did want to hear it from you. That said, I figure a lot of
it’s none of my damn business and you’ve been through a lot. So, we’ve got time
to get to know each other first. Maybe not a lot, but some.”

I nodded. “I appreciate that. But, I’m thinking me
hiding out under your roof makes it a little more than your damn business.”

She set her hands on her knees and pulled a loose thread
from her flower patterned skirt. “And what’s Alec told you about me?”

I shrugged. “He said you could offer us sanctuary.
And that I could trust you.”

“And what do
you
think?”

“I want to. And being here, it’s the first time I’ve
been able to catch my breath in a very long time.”

“You know, what Kane did. If you don’t mind me
bringing it up. Alec told me that part of the story. Marking you without your
permission, that’s not how Wild Lake wolves operate. Between that and your
background, I’m surprised you let Alec near you.”

“My background?” I felt the hair on the back of my
neck rise. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Alec telling Pat or anyone about my family
if that’s what he’d done. It was no secret, but like Pat said, I had a lot of
reason to mistrust.

“Alec only told me about your problems with Kane.
The rest I figured out by myself. It wasn’t hard the second I took one look at
you.”

I reared back. Pat’s cool, green eyes seemed to see
right through me. But her face was soft and earnest and she reached across the
counter and laid a gentle hand over mine. “You’re Caleb’s daughter.”

“You know him?”

She smiled. “Well of course, honey. I’ve lived in
Wild Lake my whole life too. So that’s over half a century longer than you
have. I’ve known the bear Lords forever. I even went to school with Caleb’s
father, your grandpa Nate.”

I blinked hard and swallowed past a lump in my
throat. “I never knew him. Or any of my family besides my father and brother.”

“Well, of course you didn’t. They passed on before
you were born. Caleb’s lost so much in his life. He doesn’t think he’s strong,
but he is. You know, you remind me so much of her.”

I didn’t want to ask. I was afraid the answer might
hurt too much. But, when I looked up, Pat smiled at me and made me feel safe.
“You knew my mother?”

She nodded. I’d seen the fierce side of Pat Bonner
when she hauled my wounded wolf out of that kayak. She’d taken me in without
hesitation, knowing Kane’s fury might rain down on her at any time now. But
now, I saw her soft side in her twinkling eyes and warm smile.

“Sure, honey.” Her voice was a gentle whisper. “I
knew Sarah. She even worked for us for a little while. She was good with the
horses and taught some of the kids around here how to ride. She had friends
among the wolves here. Hell, she even dated one of them. It wasn’t serious. And
she wasn’t more than sixteen. Broke his heart, though. But, the minute she laid
eyes on Caleb, that was the end of that.”

“Fated mates,” I whispered.

Pat nodded.

“I never knew her. She died when . . . She died having
me.”

Pat squeezed my hand. “What all do you know about
Sarah, honey? What did your father tell you?”

I shook my head. “He never talks about her. I think
it hurts him too much. I’ve never even seen a picture of her. I don’t even know
what she looked like.”

Pat let out a sigh and her eyes grew heavy. “Honey,
you don’t need a picture to know what Sarah looked like. You just need a
mirror.”

My heart thundered in my chest, and a single tear
fell down my cheek. Pat put a hand on the counter and pushed herself up. She
went to a roll top desk in the hallway and rummaged through an old cigar box.
She took something out of it and clutched it to her breast.

I couldn’t breathe. Pat came back and sat on the
stool opposite me and held out her hand. In it, she had a photograph. With
shaking fingers, I took it from her. The face in the picture looked just like
my own.

My mother.

Her dark, straight hair hung almost to her waist and
blew back a little at the temples from the wind. With her hands on her tanned thighs
she leaned forward. Something off camera made her brown eyes shine and she
laughed, showing a row of blinding white teeth. She wore a red t-shirt tucked into
cutoff denim shorts. She was vibrant, young, alive.  And Pat was right. She
looked exactly like me. So much so it startled me and made my heart pound. To
the left of the frame a young man sat in the grass watching her with wonder
making his own dark eyes shine.

My father.

He looked happy, with his own head thrown back in
laughter. It shook me to my core that I’d never seen him like this. Young.
Handsome. Relaxed. He never smiled.

“They were sure something,” Pat said. “She smoothed
his rough edges. He made her feel safe. You know, she’d lost her own mother
when she was little too. Car accident, I think.”

“I didn’t know that.” I held the picture close to my
heart, as if I could connect to her more somehow that way.

“You keep that.”

“Thank you.” I swallowed hard.

“She knew you were a girl. And she named you before
you were born. Did you know that?”

I shook my head. This hurt. It stung. It got hard to
breathe, but I wanted to hear more.
Needed
to hear it.

“Sarah was special. She wasn’t a shifter. But I
think she always knew she was destined to live among them. It was natural for
her. She reminded me a little bit of me. I’ve always been drawn to them too.
Mated with two of them back in my day. Not at the same time, mind you. Although
that’s allowed, you know. And oh, boy, I bet that can be fun.”

She shot me a wink, and for a second I thought she
was kidding. I blushed as a dark passion rose within me. But, that wasn’t a
life for me. Still, a secret part of me envied the woman who could.

 “My son is a wolf shifter. Luke. He’s off on his
own now, but he’s always close by. When I was about your age, my father made a
pact with the wolves. We owed them my brother’s life. He was wounded in the
pack wars long ago, but the Wild Lake wolves saved him. Ever since then, my
home has been a sanctuary for all the packs that live in Michigan. That’s why
you’re safe here, for now. I’m sad to say they’ve needed neutral ground like
this. A place they can come to settle their disputes and put their territorial
nature aside at least as long as it takes to work their shit out.”

“Has Kane . . . does he know I’m here?”

Pat shrugged. “I expect he’ll figure it out pretty
soon if he hasn’t already.”

I shuddered and Pat came to me. She put a motherly
arm around my shoulder. “I said you’re safe here. And you are. Kane can’t just
march in here and drag you off by your hair. Not unless he wants all the Wild
Lake packs coming down on his head. It’s pack law.”

“Pack law. I’ve had my fill of pack law. Alec says
Kane’s got a claim on me because of it. You know how much that sickens me?”

“I know, honey. But what about the claim you have?”

I put my hand over hers on my shoulder and looked up
at her. Pat came around in front of me and sat back down on her stool.

“You mean Alec?”

She nodded.

“He wants to mark me. I told him no.”

“Well, I know that had to tear you up. But you stick
to your guns. You’ve had enough shifters trying to tell you what to do without
asking you.”

“Oh, he asked me. He swore he’d never do it unless I
was sure it’s what I wanted.”

“Good.”

“But he said if he does it, he could break Kane’s
hold over me.”

She nodded again. “Yes indeed. But there’s a price
to that.”

“He’ll have to kill him. And he’ll have to go
through Kane’s pack to do it. Which would be suicide. He can’t defeat six on
his own.”

“That’s the gist of it, yes.”

“Can’t the rest of the wolves help him though? Even
the odds?”

Pat raised a brow and blew out a breath that made a
wiry strand of her hair flap. “Taking out another Alpha is tricky business. You
kill him, you’ve got the rest of his pack on your ass. Cut off one head and
another rises to take its place. Unless you become the head. Kill the Alpha, make
the rest of the pack submit. Only a natural Alpha can do that.”

“And Alec’s not an Alpha.” It seemed incongruous to
say it. My Alec. Big. Strong. Virile. Everything about him screamed Alpha to
me. And yet, Bas was his Alpha.

Pat shrugged. “That’s a bigger conversation. Pack
politics are complicated.”

“God. It’s so much easier with bears.”

“Is it? Maybe so. Maybe not. Things are sure stirred
up around here, that’s plain. Bears’ll keep to themselves until someone crosses
one of their own. The minute they band together, there’s hell to pay. Luckily,
they’ve stayed out of wolf business. At least, until now they have.”

I swallowed hard. What she really meant was until I
came along. My fault. I couldn’t help thinking it. If only I hadn’t been so
headstrong and foolish. If only I’d listened to my father and stayed far away
from Kane.

Pat put one hand on her hip and tapped the picture
of my mother I’d left on the table.

“Sarah had something, you know. Not a shifter. But
she had a little bit of something special. Her own magic. I don’t know. Maybe
she was part witch or gypsy. Something. She was a seer.”