The Wolf Fount (32 page)

C
al slid his arm around Morgan. When she failed to wake, he pulled her into his lap and lifted her legs onto the seat. Once he’d arranged her, he caught Laney watching him in the rearview mirror, her eyes flicking from it to the road. “What?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I can feel you thinking something.”

“I’m wondering exactly how things went down. Walk me through it?”

Amused, he did, and as soon as he’d finished, she asked, “Why didn’t you go wolfman and take Eluf down yourself?”

Cal shrugged. “Thane. It was his right to take that vampire down.”

She smiled. “So you let him beat the shit out of you and Jerome both, just so Thane could have some payback. Nice.”

“Not payback. Personal demon vanquishing,” he corrected. “Eluf has been his boogeyman for far too long.”

Laney pursed her lips. “Were you expecting Morgan to jump back in?”

“No.” Realizing he was stroking Morgan’s hair, Cal forced himself to stop. “Probably should’ve thought of that. She’s impulsive.”

“I’d call it brave. She’s new to our world, and to being a Were. Not fully trained in the use of her wolf shape, much less her others, and yet, she defended Thane. Plus, risked herself again to buy him a little time to finish changing.”

“Careful, it’s beginning to sound like you may admire her.”

“It’s not a bad thing to admire one’s queen. She does cause that same deep-belly watery shiver you do.” Laney shrugged. “Instinctive dominance acknowledgement. I can see why Jana’s afraid of her.”

“But you’re not?” he asked.

“Not right now. I’m better trained, and could take her down, as long as she didn’t resort to command tone. In five or ten years? She may be able to make me piss my pants just by looking at me.”

Laney’s admission startled him. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever been scared of me?” She snorted. Cal persisted. “That was a serious question.”

“Sorry, boss, you’re too much of a known quantity. The only way you’d scare me is if you completely lost your mind.”

He remembered her earlier threat. “You didn’t get shot, did you?”

Laney laughed.

L
ate afternoon sunlight warmed the room. Morgan smiled, her eyes still closed, and ignored the urge to stretch. Doing so would mean disturbing Thane, and in spite of the fact he had an arm under her back, she didn’t want to do that.

The were-liger was curled around her so that her legs were propped over his thighs, his arms around her torso, and his head resting on her chest. She wondered how long they’d been asleep, but didn’t really care. They were safe.

She had the feeling reality would come crashing in all too soon, and didn’t feel up to dealing with it yet. The events of the past few days, of discovering she was a Chimaera on top of the violence, were too much to think about.

Instead, Morgan recalled the conversation she’d had with Brian while waiting for Thane to regain consciousness. Brian was a psychiatrist or at least the closest to that available. He thought, now that Vampzilla was dead, Thane could begin making progress on regaining the ability to speak without self-punishing.

“He’ll need positive reinforcement though.”

“If that’s all he’s needed, why...”

Brian had interrupted her. “It needs to be heavy-handed positive reinforcement. Physical. Most female Weres have an instinctive aversion to Thane. You don’t.”

“Are you saying I should fuck him every time he says something?”

Brian had laughed, resulting in a brief flash of feeling stupid for having asked. But before she could snap at him, he said, “Sure, if the time and place are right and you want to. But I think kissing and other physical affection will work too.”

He’d warned her that it wouldn’t happen overnight, but could take years.

Turning her head, Morgan kissed the top of Thane’s.
Suits me fine
.

The were-liger sighed, snuggling closer. She felt him tense slightly and wake, followed by him lifting his head. “How are you feeling?”

He answered with a smile before turning onto his back and sliding his legs out from beneath hers. Morgan sat up to stretch, freeing his arm. “We’re in California, in case you don’t recognize this place. I get the bathroom first.”

After they’d taken turns using the facilities, she wasn’t surprised when he spoke after sitting on the edge of the bed. “Is Cal here?”

“Yeah, somewhere.” She moved to stand between his knees, and bending, kissed him. “Why?”

“What was that for?”

Brian hadn’t said it was okay to explain, so Morgan grinned and kissed him again. “You just brushed your teeth, your hair’s mussed, and I think you’re cute.”

“Oh. Does Cal know?”

“That I’m a Chimaera? Yeah.” Morgan cupped his face in her hands, so that he had to meet her eyes. “It doesn’t matter, okay? Not where we’re concerned.”

“Morgan,” Thane blinked as she kissed him, and wrapped his hands around her wrists. “It does matter.”

“Do you want me?” His grip tightened as he nodded. She smiled. “Then don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to Calhoun, work something out. Something that doesn’t involve us having to give up each other. I told you, you’re stuck with me.”

If he wanted to protest, she didn’t give him the chance, leaning forward to capture his lips. Thane released her wrists, his hands moving to her shoulders. Dropping hers to his chest, she pushed until he went back, pulling her on top of him.

From there, it was easy to keep him from thinking about anything else.

––––––––

A
few weeks had passed since Morgan had made the trip back New Mexico. Cal had been biding his time, giving her plenty of space. It had also meant staying away from Thane, since she was glued to the were-liger’s side.

Cal didn’t like the fact that he’d managed to alienate the woman who had turned out to be his Chimaera, or the feeling that he was doing the same to Thane. He also didn’t care for the streak of possessiveness that had taken root deep in his soul, during the ride back from Falling Springs. Morgan hadn’t been pleased to wake up in his arms when they had reached the mansion. It had taken every bit of his self-control to release her, and let her hurry away to Thane.

He’d returned to New Mexico before them, only staying long enough to make certain they and Jerome were well on their way to recovering. His own bruises and cracked ribs had healed after a few hours’ sleep, a perk of being the Fount.

What was currently chapping his ass was the discovery that his once-favorite pastime had lost its luster. Other women no longer held an allure for him. He still flirted with customers because it was part of his bar owner persona, but he hadn’t taken a single woman upstairs.

The kicker of it: he knew it’d be a long time before Morgan would consider sharing his bed again, if she ever did.

Since she hadn’t come rushing to see him the moment after she’d arrived, Cal could only assume that whatever was causing his disinterest in other women wasn’t affecting her.

“Serves you right,” Laney had said, when he’d discussed the matter with her. “You’ve hound dogged around for ages. A period of celibacy won’t kill you.”

“I wanted sympathy.”

“You have hands.”

Cal grinned, shaking his head at the memory of her quip. He was headed downstairs for the night, intending to stay behind the bar to avoid any of his admirers. Barely an hour into his shift, he spotted Morgan and Thane as they walked toward the bar.

They were holding hands, and had the definite look of a couple in love. Cal fought a frown at the pang of jealousy that squeezed his heart.
This is what you get for trying to arrange other people’s lives
.

He waited until Lucas had served them before working his way down the bar. For once, Morgan didn’t greet him with a scowl or curse when he said, “Hello. Good to see you two out.”

“We picked up a case of cabin fever.”

Nodding, Cal decided it was as good a time as any to ask, “Are you up for a talk?”

Morgan met his eyes, hers staying gray-green. She was calm.
Good sign
. “Sure. We should probably do it in private.” She touched Thane’s leg before sliding off her barstool. “I’ll be back in a few.”

He nodded with a brief, faint smile but shot Cal an unreadable look once her back was turned.

It’ll be okay
, Cal signed before following her upstairs, even though he wasn’t certain it would be. Once in his suite, Morgan walked to the window and crossed her arms, leaving him to shut the door.

“The first thing you need to know is that I’m not your Chimaera.”

“You are my Chi...”

She spun around, arms dropping to her sides, to glare at him. “I’m a Chimaera, but I’m not
yours
. I don’t belong to you, Calhoun. I belong to myself.”

He hesitated. He had no one but himself to blame for her antagonism toward him. “Of course you belong to yourself. But that doesn’t negate the fact that you’re a Were, one of my people. Or that you’re a Chimaera. Which does mean you’re my Chimaera, Morgan. I’m the only Fount left.”

Half-turning, she stabbed a finger toward the windows in the direction of the bar. “You see that guy down there?”

He moved closer for a look, though she clearly meant Thane. The were-liger, his shoulders slumped, huddled over the beer bottle he was scraping the label off of. “I see him.”

“If I belong with,” she paused to make certain he’d caught her choice of words, “anyone, I belong with him. I swear I will make your life a living hell if you attempt to separate us. Anything you can think of, I’ll do my damnedest to make more of a nightmare than you can imagine.”

“I have no intention of forcing the two of you apart.”

“Then what the fuck do you want from me?” Morgan stepped back, her fists returning to her hips. “If I weren’t a Chimaera, I’d be nothing at all to you.”

“That’s not true. You’d still be one of my...”

“My, mine. Do you know any other way to describe people? You don’t own anyone, Calhoun. In case you missed the memo, we’re in a new millennium now. I’m a citizen of this country, not a subject of some half-assed werewolf king with a massive case of ownership entitlement.”

Cal blew out a long sigh. So much for her former calmness. “Were society is not a democracy. We were created for a single purpose: to protect this world from predation by vampires. I was changed to be the progenitor and leader of my species, and you were a planned evolution meant to be my partner in that pursuit. A Chimaera is a failsafe, Morgan. A being capable of uniting all Were species under the banner of one Fount if necessary, and darlin’, it’s necessary.”

Suddenly on the floor, her booted foot resting on his crotch, Cal rubbed his jaw. She’d either spent a lot of time training the past few weeks, or anger had fueled her speed and the force of her punch. “Sorry, I forgot you wanted me to stop calling you that.”

“Don’t forget again.” Morgan lifted her boot and stepped back, giving him room to sit up. “I’d love for you to lie awake at night, worrying about what I might do to fuck things up for you. But for some godforsaken reason, Thane loves and trusts you. So do most of the others I’ve met. I question their taste, but I’m not a heartless bitch. I’m not going to throw a bunch of people under the bus just to bust your balls. I’m not going to do anything that might cause Thane to have to choose between us.”

Which implied she didn’t think the were-liger would choose her. Cal nodded, filing that tidbit away. He wasn’t exactly confident Thane would side with him either. “That’s a good starting point for us.”

Morgan snorted. “Don’t get excited. I’m not going to roll over and be your doormat either.”

He climbed to his feet. “I don’t want a doormat as a partner, and you’re the last person I’d expect to be a doormat.”

Her aggressive, angry posture disappeared. “I’ve never been in a position of authority. Never wanted to be. I don’t know what being a Chimaera really means, beyond what’s been said. I don’t know how to use whatever the hell powers I’m supposed to have as one.”

“That makes two of us,” he admitted. “It’s something we’ll have to learn together, Morgan.”

“Don’t hold your breath for sex either. That’s out of the equation.”

Though he’d expected that, Cal wasn’t sure how to respond, considering how that particular subject had a tendency to light her fuse. “Not going to say I’m in favor of that rule, but I will respect it. What other demands do you have?”