Wolf Moon (16 page)

“He
took her,” Marcus continued, answering my unspoken question. “My wife pushed
our six-year-old daughter behind her in an act of protectiveness. He shoved
Miranda away and snatched my daughter from our home. What he did after that, I
have no idea. We haven’t seen or heard anything about her in almost seven
years, so we’ve all come to accept that she’s dead. How she died, we don’t
know, and I don’t think I could handle knowing the truth. He took her as
revenge for us holding him hostage.” Marcus shuddered visibly, and I covered my
mouth. “I’ll admit, I’ve held out hope all these years, even though I’m pretty
sure I know the truth, but when that wolf showed up on our doorstep…”

It
suddenly made sense why Nick was quick to assure Colby that it was a regular
wolf and not anyone they knew. There was always that possibility that it was
her little sister.

Marcus
sighed, sounding weary. “Look, I know he was your brother, but you do need to understand
what he had become. You’ve met a couple of them already, so you know what
they’re capable of.”

A
knot formed in my stomach, and I couldn’t say anything. I only nodded my head
in agreement.

“Very
few of the others know about your familial ties to him, and it’s up to you if
you want them to or not. What he was won’t have any bearing on how they view
you, because they know that what he was and what he did had nothing to do with
his human life.” Marcus continued to gauge my reaction, making sure I was okay
to hear all of this.

“I’m
fine,” I said, my voice quiet.

Marcus
smiled, and then heavy voices and footsteps were heard echoing down to us.
“Sounds like everyone else has found their way back,” he announced. “Why don’t
we go check in?”

I
nodded, taking one last look around the room before heading back upstairs. I’d
just hit the main level when Nick appeared, a smile on his face, a sparkle in
his eyes, and a light sheen of sweat on his brow. He looked exhilarated and
relaxed…but also a little amped.

“Hey,”
he said, sounding a little breathless. “Where’ve you been?”

I
glanced back at Marcus as he showed up right behind me, then back at Nick.
“Downstairs,” I replied vaguely.

“She
found the pit,” Marcus offered up. “We talked about it.”

Nick’s
eyes went wide with concern. “You did?” He looked between Marcus and me. “Everything?”

“Everything
she needed to hear for now.”

“He
told me about what Bobby did when you…” I stopped myself from accusing him of
something I likely would have done also had I been in his shoes. “When he
escaped.”

Nick
glanced at Marcus again. “We good for now?” he asked. “I’d like to talk to
Brooke.”

Marcus
nodded. “We’ll be having an early dinner. Miranda said to be down at three if
you’re going to eat before heading out tonight. Sundown’s at 4:29.”

I
glanced at the clock on my phone and noticed it was already after two in the
afternoon. Just over two hours until I would shift. This both terrified and excited
me. I welcomed the relief that shifting would bring after days of anxiety and
taught muscles, but I still wasn’t used to this part.

The
tightness in my back returned the minute I started thinking about tonight. Nick
noticed and took my hand, leading me through the house and to our room. He
closed the door, and I paced the floor like a caged animal, looking out the
window, wishing I
was
out there now.

“So,
Marcus told you about what Bobby did?”

“Yes.”
I stopped pacing, looking at him sadly. “You could have told me.”

“I
tried.”

Something
about the way he said it reminded me of his conversation with Jackson. Was this
what they were arguing about? Was this what he had been keeping from me? It
would make sense that he would keep Bobby’s involvement in something so
horrific from me. He wanted to protect my memory of my brother, not sully it.

“Losing
Cordy
was hard on the entire Pack. I was new, but
even I felt the sorrow that engulfed them all.”

I
remembered how I felt when Bobby died—or when we
thought
Bobby died—and I could relate to that
all-encompassing grief a family felt when losing a member of it. Then I made
the connection that it was Bobby—the family
I
grieved for—who was responsible for making
this family feel
this way, and I felt dizzy.

“I
can’t believe he would hurt a little girl,” I mumbled, my vision darkening
around the edges before I sat in one of the chairs by the window. Nick knelt
before me, taking my hands in his, grounding me. When my vision cleared again,
I held his gaze. “Marcus said you were hurt that night.” I shook my head,
wanting to deny the claim, but Nick confirmed it with a nod, and I was
crestfallen. “He was your
best friend
.”

“And
he played that for everything it was worth,” Nick said sadly. “Made me think he
wasn’t like the rest of them, and I was so new that I took the bait. I let him
out, and he wasted no time trying to escape.”

“Y-you
were cut,” I whispered, clenching his hands in mine. “Where?”

Nick
pulled one of his hands free and pointed to a spot on his stomach, near his
bellybutton. I’d seen his roadmap of scars several times at this point, but for
some reason, I needed to see this particular scar again. I stood, pulling Nick
to his feet, and I gripped the hem of his shirt in my hands.

“Brooke,
what are you doing?”

The
tempo of his heart picked up as I raised his shirt slowly, and my breathing
increased along with it. He lifted his arms above his head as I slipped his
shirt off and located the scar immediately.

“This
one?” I asked, glancing up at Nick through my eyelashes. Warmth spread through
my body, thick and comforting. It infused the air with sweetness as I traced
the scar with my fingertip. Nick’s stomach quivered and his breath stuttered
slightly. My fingers moved over his skin, over the contours of his sculpted
body, and as they did, his hands trailed up and down my arms, making my own
heart race.

Something
between us shifted in an instant, and this was no longer about what happened to
him all those years ago. This was desire, but not that sweet and innocent
desire one usually felt. This was primal and urgent…animalistic.

Like the other day in the shower, only stronger.

I
tipped my head back to look him in the eye, and all I saw was hunger. All I
felt
was hunger.

Before
I could even take another breath, Nick’s lips were on mine. The gentle
restraint he’d shown over the last few days melted away as his strong hands ensnared
my waist and pulled me roughly against him. I gasped upon contact, but it
turned to a breathy moan as his hands travelled down my body and cupped my ass,
lifting me off the ground. To balance myself in his arms, I wrapped my legs
around his waist and let him carry me toward the bed where he threw me down and
hovered over me.

He
pushed his hips forward as his lips glided over my jaw and down my neck. When
his right hand slid down over my shirt and cupped my breast, I arched my body
against his, reveling in the way he made me feel. While his lips were soft
against my skin, his stubble was rough. It was a delicious contrast of sensations,
and it made me light-headed.

Nick
inhaled sharply, lifting his face from my neck and shook his head. “I’m sorry,”
he whispered, but before I could ask what for, he tore my shirt open and continued
to kiss his way down my body.

“Always
a gentleman,” I breathed, reaching down and running my fingers through his
thick hair on his descent.

A low growling chuckle
rippled through him, vibrating against the skin of my stomach and deep into my
bones as he looked up at me. “There’s nothing gentlemanly about what I’m going
to do to you.”

His confession made my
toes curl, and a tiny spark ignited the fuse within me. The heat travelled
outward in every direction all at once, consuming everything in its path and
raising the temperature beneath my skin.

Everything about this
encounter was intense; each and every one of my heightened senses was being
utilized. The heady scent of our combined lust was intoxicating, forcing the
rest of the world to slip away as we got lost in it. I licked my lips, tasting
Nick on my tongue, and my body buzzed as I felt his hands roam over every curve
of my body. Hearing his low moans was beyond words, but the intensity of his
eyes as we momentarily held each other’s gaze made me tremble.

I would go as far as to
say this was infinitely better than the shower we shared the other day.

“How much of this is
you?” he asked breathlessly, confusing me at first.

“Huh?” I panted.

“I want to know if you
want this, or if it’s because of the moon.” He paused. “After what happened a
few days ago, I don’t want to screw this up. I want you, Brooke, but I need to
be sure you want the same thing.”

I recognized my desire
for him as a little from both columns. While I’d wanted things between us to
heat up lately, I could tell that something else was amplifying my hunger for
him again. It made me insatiable, pushing me to take the plunge.

“It’s a little of both,”
I confessed, my voice soft and breathy. “Is that enough?”

Nick smiled, moving back
up my body. He pressed himself firmly between my legs, stroking my cheek with
the backs of his fingers. “It is… But you realize there’s no going back from
here for me, right? I’m all in.”

I hesitated, suddenly
second-guessing my answer. Was I ready for that? I didn’t want to regret this
when it did happen, and I knew Nick didn’t want that either. And what if I
wound up hurting him? I wouldn’t be able to handle that.

All it took to ease my
mind was looking deep into his ocean-colored eyes. The amber ring around his
pupil was brighter as night descended on us. “I do,” I whispered.

The words had barely
passed my lips when he crushed his mouth to mine in a kiss that would have made
my legs give out had I been standing. Our hands moved frantically to remove our
jeans, the desperation we had to be together driving us completely.

I had barely slid my hand
into Nick’s pants, my fingertips brushing his arousal, when a loud bang
startled us both. Our lips broke apart and we froze, wide-eyed, panting, and unsure
what it was we just heard. Seconds passed before we heard a loud crash followed
by someone yelling, and we both flew off the bed, doing up our pants as we flew
down the hall. Nick was still shirtless, and my bra was completely exposed
given the missing buttons on my blouse.

None of that concerned
us, though, as we picked up on the mounting tension coming from the kitchen.

W
e reached the stairs
within seconds, and just as I hit the first one, Nick leapt over the banister
at the top and landed with ease on the tile floor of the foyer. I stared after
him in shock, and it wasn’t until Vince and
Layla
came flying out of their room, dressed in little more than Nick and me, that I
moved. We arrived in the kitchen mere moments after Nick to find Marcus,
Miranda, Colby, and Zach. Miranda stood at the island, watching as her husband
glared murderously at Zach who he was holding by the front of his T-shirt.
There was a casserole dish overturned on the floor, food everywhere, and Colby
was leaning against the fridge, her eyes wide with fear, hair messed up, and
skirt crooked…

“Oh…”
I whispered. This wasn’t good at all.

It
wasn’t long before I noticed the air infused with not only our roasting dinner
but
the same heady scent of lust and arousal that currently
hovered in mine and Nick’s bedroom. No wonder Marcus looked ready to kill Zach.
I’d suspected they liked each other, but if they were doing what I thought,
then this had the potential to get ugly fast.

“Daddy,
stop!” Colby shouted from beside me. “This wasn’t all him!”

Miranda
shook her head. “Colby, that’s not helping.”

She
was right; this only seemed to make Marcus’ face redden more. A fresh wave of fury
filled the room, and Marcus shoved Zach against a wall. “You think you can just
do whatever you want…
who
ever you want
and I won’t find out?” Zach’s fear permeated the air, and I felt every ounce of
it as it seeped into me as well. Marcus, while the sometimes-gentle and authoritative
Pack leader, was not to be fucked with…especially when it came to his kids.

“I-it
wasn’t like that,” Zach stammered, eyes never holding Marcus’ for long. This
seemed to be his submission to his Alpha. “We didn’t mean for it to happen, it
just did.”

I
knew the second the words left Zach’s mouth that he’d misspoke, and I cringed
for him.

“So
this wasn’t even pre-meditated? You just—what
?—
tripped
and fell into her?”

Miranda
made a sound of disgust. “Marcus, don’t be so crass. That’s your daughter.”

“Exactly
my point!” He tightened his hold on Zach, and I could see his muscles begin to
shift under his shirt.

I
reached out and tapped Nick’s arm, hoping he could maybe step in before
something horrible happened. Nick seemed conflicted, and it only took me a second
to realize why: this was his Alpha. To defy him was the ultimate betrayal.

Colby
was trembling next to me, holding her stomach and groaning as she hunched over.
I could smell the changes in her body as they happened, and I panicked. I
rushed to her side and laid a hand on her back. She was burning up. I realized
that being this close to her could result in the loss of my arm, but I needed
to at least try to help calm her down.

“Hey,”
I whispered softly. “Colby, I need you to stay with me, all right? The moon’s
not even out yet. We were going to do this together, remember?” My thoughts
were scattered as I tried to file through my memories of how Nick usually
helped me through an attack like this. “Sweetie, I need you to breathe, okay?
Deep
breaths
in through your nose and then out through
your mouth.” Colby listened, her breaths shaky at first, but eventually evening
out as her fever broke. “That’s a good girl.”

Once
she was calm, I stood up with her, holding her around the waist. Miranda gave
me a smile of appreciation, but also looked ashamed with herself for being so
caught up with Marcus and Zach that she missed what was going on with her daughter.

“I’ll
take her up to her room,” I offered. “You guys can…work this out?”

Colby
stopped dead in her tracks, refusing to be moved another inch. “No way! If we
leave, he’ll kill him, and I love him!”

That
got Marcus’ attention. Without relinquishing his hold on Zach’s shirt, he
turned his head, his eyes widening with shock.

“Daddy,
I love him, and he loves me! You knew we were hanging out more and more, so
this couldn’t have been a big surprise!”

She
was a brave little wolf; I gave her that much.

“This
is what you call ‘hanging out’?” he demanded, finally letting go of Zach.

Relief
was written all over Zach’s face as he stumbled back and away from Marcus, but
he didn’t go far, knowing that he couldn’t show absolute fear to his Alpha.
Even I knew that would make him appear weak and unworthy of the Alpha’s child.

Colby
shook her head. “N-no…this was the first time we went further than a little kissing.”

Marcus
pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You went from kissing to…to…
that
?!
On
my
kitchen counter?”

I
rubbed my hand up and down Colby’s arm as an act of comfort, but I didn’t say a
word. I understood young love. It was a wonderful and all-consuming thing. Sometimes
it made you do crazy things… Though, I couldn’t say I had sex with my boyfriend
for the first time on my kitchen counter.

What
were they thinking doing
anything
in
a shared space?

I
glanced at Nick, shirtless, and then down at my own state of undress before
noticing
Layla
and Vince in a similar state, and it
clicked. It wasn’t just their feelings for each other that caused such a heated
and risky rendezvous, but the moon. It intensified everything for all of us. It
made us slaves to our primal urges and base desires.

Not
that Marcus was going to accept this as a sufficient explanation at that exact
moment in time.

“You’re
seventeen, Colby. And unmated! You see where the problem lies, don’t you?”

This
brought up questions for me about being unmated and having sex now. Was it the
same basic principle of pre-marital sex? If so, that seemed kind of
old-fashioned and dated.

Marcus
must have seen my confusion, because he looked me in the eye. I don’t know what
came over me, but I dropped my eyes from his. It took a second, but I
recognized it as my own submission. It unnerved me, because I didn’t submit to
anyone. The wolf part of me instinctively knew what to do, though, and I
strangely understood the animalistic nature of it all.

“What
if you’d been in estrus?” he demanded, and I glanced to Nick, confused.

He
gave me a single
head shake
, telling me with his eyes
we’d talk about it later, but when I felt Colby shudder beside me and roll her
eyes with embarrassment, I figured it out.

“
Ew
, Dad.”

“She’s
not,” Zach spoke up, and the room went deadly silent. How would he even know if
she wasn’t?

“You”—Marcus
pointed a threatening finger at Zach—“keep your fucking nose out of
this,” he snarled.

Now
it all made sense. Of course this would be something we could smell. Everything
seemed to be about scent now. It was borderline creepy.

Zach
dropped his head out of respect, but kept talking. “Sir, I love your daughter,
and I’d like to request a private meeting with you to discuss my intentions
with her.”

“Oh,
I think your intentions were pretty damn clear,
pup
,” he snarled.

“Marcus,”
Nick spoke up softly, still not meeting his eyes. “Maybe you should hear him
out.”

“Excuse
me?”

I
shook my head and looked at Nick sharply, picking up on Marcus’ rage toward him
now. Maybe I was wrong to think he should try to help. “Nick, don’t.”

This
didn’t deter Nick, who took a brave step forward. “You know how we get when the
full moon comes around. While I think he was absolutely
stupid
to do whatever he did in here—where we
eat
, Zach—I don’t think he can be
held one hundred percent accountable for his actions.”

Marcus
considered what Nick was saying, and then surprised everyone in the room when
he sighed. His tone of voice remained hard, though, and his jaw clenched.
“Fine. Tomorrow afternoon. The pit. I expect both of you there so we can
discuss your future together.”

And
with that, he turned and left the room. There was a mutual relief from everyone
that remained, and Colby went limp in my arms, almost falling to her knees when
her body softened. I held her up and led her to one of the stools while Miranda
worked to clean the food off the floor.

“I
hope everyone plans to hunt tonight. We just lost a good portion of our dinner.”

With
the situation diffused, Miranda excused us all. Nick and I went back to our
room while Vince took Zach outside to burn off some adrenaline, and
Layla
helped with kitchen duty.

I
stripped out of my torn shirt and pulled a slim-fitted green sweater on. Nick
lay back on our bed, watching me as I redressed and pulled my hair out of the
V-neckline. “I love that color on you. It does wonders for your eyes.”

Smiling,
I hopped onto the bed next to him. “So, that was intense, huh?”

“It
was stupid is what it was. We all knew that they were getting closer, but to do
something like that out in the open? They were asking to get caught.”

“I
don’t know. I think teenagers get so caught up in the moment…” I paused, remembering
when Nick and I got caught—again, not in my parents’ kitchen.

I
was almost eighteen, Nick was newly twenty, and we were in my room while my parents
were out for the night. I hadn’t realized they’d come home three hours early,
and they both walked in to see if I was home or if I’d gone out. They got more
than an eyeful of Nick’s ass. Thankfully his position between my thighs
shielded my body from them…not that it was really any comfort. They still knew
exactly what we’d been doing, and I was still horrified. It took Nick and me
almost a year to be able to look them both in the eye again. Especially
whenever we were all together.

Nick
must have been remembering the same thing, because he chuckled out of nowhere.
“Do you remember when—?”

“I
was just thinking about that,” I interrupted with a laugh. “God, my poor parents.”

“Your
parents? I’m still emotionally scarred from that night.”

I
narrowed my eyes playfully. “Are you, though? You seem to be getting along just
fine.”

Nick
met my challenging expression with an arched eyebrow. “I wouldn’t say that. I
still had trouble following through tonight.”

“Not
your fault,” I offered up, scooting a little closer. I peered over his shoulder
to see it was nearly three and frowned. “Not much time before dinner to pick up
where we left off, now.”

Nick
must have seen this as a challenge, because he pushed me onto my back and eased
himself between my thighs. I shuddered when he wedged himself a little closer,
the heat of his body comingling with my own. “I only need a few minutes,” he
told me roughly, and all I could do was giggle.

“How
is it you know
exactly
what a girl
wants to hear?” I teased, pushing on his chest and using the strength in my
legs to roll us over until I straddled him. His hands fell to my hips and
pulled me against him. Even through our jeans, I could tell he wouldn’t need
much preparation. Unfortunately, I wanted it to be more than a five-minute quickie—not
that I was opposed to them; sometimes they were exactly what a girl needed.

Hoping
to appeal to his rational side, I leaned forward and kissed him softly before
moving my lips to his ear, pulling the lobe between my teeth briefly. “When you
take me again, Nick, I want you to make me forget my name. A few minutes won’t
accomplish that.”

Nick
groaned, his fingertips digging into my hips almost painfully. “Challenge accepted.”

I
placed my left hand on his chest again and started to push myself up when fire
exploded in my shoulder and seared my nerves all the way down to the tips of my
fingers. I hissed, pulling my hand to my chest and clutching it.

Concerned,
Nick sat up. “What is it?” he asked, his hand moving up my left arm until it
found the source of the pain. Recognition flashed in his eyes, and he looked at
me sympathetically.

“You’ll
feel it at the source of the bite for the first little while. Does it burn?” I
nodded brokenly, unable to see clearly past anything but the blistering pain.
“The pain will lessen over time, I promise, baby.”

Carefully,
Nick pulled the neck of my sweater down my shoulder and leaned forward, pressing
his lips to my scars. His lips felt cool against my burning skin, but not cool
enough. “Realize it’s normal and it’ll lessen,” he whispered against my skin.
“The heat signals the change—lets you know it’s almost time. Accept it.”

“I
can’t,” I whimpered. “It feels like my arm is on fire.”

“I
know,” he said softly, raising his right hand and holding out his arm. “Look.”
I opened my eyes and glanced down at his arm between us. I saw a very
distinctive wolf bite on his forearm. “Feel it.”