Lone Wolf

Chapter Ten

Maria got herself up off the bench. She was out in the middle of nowhere, inside a trailer belonging to a man she’d never met before today, and the Shifter protecting her was gone. Ellison might trust this Granger, but who knew what the man could or would do? Maria wasn’t given to trust as easily as—well, anyone.

She softly opened the door and stepped outside. Moonlight filtered through the trees and filled the little clearing with white light. The fire had died to a tiny glow, and the smoke had gone, leaving the air clean and fresh.

Maria’s thoughts were much clearer now too. She needed to find Ellison and get back to Shiftertown. She had to know what Liam and Dylan were planning to go after the man trying to abduct their cubs, and she wanted to be part of it. Ellison had been right to bring her out here to cool her down, but her concern for the cubs’ safety rose.

But where to look for him? If she went blundering around in the dark, she’d get lost or maybe fall into the lake or something. Plus snakes would be everywhere. Texas crawled with rattlesnakes, especially after dusk, when they came out of their holes to soak up the last of the day’s warmth. In spring hordes of baby rattlers joined them.

Maria sank down onto the front steps and pulled her feet up under her, in case snakes decided to come out from under the house and investigate her ankles. She had her cell phone, but a peek at it told her she was out of range of the rest of the world.

What was she doing? The cubs could be in trouble, and on top of that, she was supposed to take her SAT tests tomorrow. How on earth could she concentrate on those between worry for the cubs and running off into the wilderness with Ellison?

The trouble was, she’d felt more alive today than she had in many, many years—since that day at the lake with her grandparents.

What filled her mind was Ellison, the memory of him pressing inside her, spreading her, breaking apart her defenses. She could still feel his hands hot on her back, his strength holding her, the hard plane of his chest against her breasts. He’d been hard and hot, deep inside her, the feeling glorious.

She’d feared sex, which before had hurt whenever she’d felt anything at all. She’d climbed upon Ellison in a moment of daring, her fears laughing at her.

And now Maria couldn’t stop thinking of him. The wild burst of pleasure, the joy of watching his face soften with passion, the water holding them—these things would mark her forever.

A step, nearly soundless, but audible in the stillness, made her raise her head. Maria studied the line of trees circling the trailer, but she saw nothing.

She stared hard at the place from which she thought she heard the noise. The sound came again, barely a whisper of movement against grass.

Then a huge gray wolf stepped out of the woods into the clearing. Moonlight brushed his fur with silver, outlining his large, lithe body and pricked ears. He turned his face to her, his eyes as silver as the moonlight, then he looked away, scanning the woods as Maria had done.

The wolf turned his steps to the trailer, picking his way in silence across the ground, blending into the shadows. He halted when he reached Maria and sank to his haunches beside the narrow steps.

He was huge even sitting down, his body nearly twice the size of a wild wolf’s. Maria wasn’t afraid. The wolf was beautiful, though she knew he was deadly, but all that deadliness now protected her.

Maria stroked his back, shivering at the wild strength of him. His fur was wiry and soft at the same time, and held heat and comfort.

“Everything all right out there?” she whispered.

Ellison turned from scanning the woods and nuzzled her, rubbing his furry face against hers. Then he licked her.

“Ay,” she said, laughing softly. “No wolf spit.”

He made a rumble like laughter. Ellison scanned the woods again, nose working as he tested for scent. Then he rose to his feet and transformed himself with a crackle of bone and flesh to Ellison.

Naked Ellison, towering above Maria, his scent full of spice. The night was warm, sultry, back here in the woods near the lake, the air heavy and damp. It seemed right to be here, alone in this strange place, with only a Shifter to protect her, because that Shifter was Ellison.

Her friend. Her champion. And now, her lover.

Ellison sank down to sit next to Maria on the edge of the step, unworried about his nakedness. He braced his hand behind her, a well-muscled arm against her shoulder.

“We should go.” His paused. “Damn, you don’t know how much I did not want to say that.”

“I don’t want to leave either.”

They sat in silence a moment, a cool breeze brushing the clearing. Crickets and frogs took that as a cue to start singing for the night.

Ellison let out a sigh. “You got your test tomorrow, right? And I’m not easy about Bradley and his goons. I want you safe.”

“He’s abducting Shifter cubs, not small human women,” Maria said.

“Yeah, but he knows you take care of Shifter cubs,” Ellison countered. “His guys were waiting for Olaf today, knowing you’d go that way. That wasn’t coincidence. They were following you.”

Maria shivered. “I figured that. You’re right, we should go.”

Ellison’s eyes flashed in what was left of the firelight. They were Shifter eyes, the lightest gray, full of wildness. “Like I said, I don’t really want to.” His voice held a growl. “I want to stay here, kick out Granger, and hole up with you for as long as I can. I want to claim you, and mate with you, and keep you away from all others. That’s the Shifter in me—don’t matter about Collars and being civilized and all the rest of it.”

The declaration should frighten her. Miguel had captured females then sequestered them and used them when he saw fit, telling the other males in the pack to do the same.

But Maria understood, after living in Austin these past months, that Luis and Miguel had been anomalies. Most Shifter males cherished their mates. She’d seen the women in Shiftertown happy—deliriously so—smiling at their mates, slow-dancing with them at the bar, loving how enclosed they were in their families.

Luis should have taken Maria away and protected her instead of subjecting her to the danger of Miguel and the other the feral Shifters. Miguel too should have made sure his mates were well taken care of, not miserable prisoners.

Maria had seen how Ellison cared for his sister, keeping her from harm, and how stridently he prevented Maria from being harassed by Broderick and other Shifters who called her fair game. Ellison had protected Maria at every turn, and asked for nothing from her.

Maria put her hand in his broad one. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand. “I’ll go back with you.”

Ellison closed a hard hand over hers. He said nothing, only looked at her, his chest rising with a sharp breath.

Maria rose and kissed him, letting the kiss linger on his mouth. “With you,” she repeated. “It’s only ever been you.”

Ellison tightened his grip on her hand, fingers biting down, and exhaled. “Thank you.”

Maria expected to slip unnoticed into the dark and silent house across from Ellison’s after kissing him goodnight, but she walked into her bedroom to find Andrea sitting on her bed, waiting for her.

Andrea had Kenny in her arms, the boy with his tuft of unruly black hair sleeping soundly in the crook of Andrea’s arm.

“Worried sick, I think, is the term,” Andrea said, her gray eyes watchful in the light Maria turned on. Those eyes narrowed as Andrea inhaled. “Ah.”

Andrea’s Shifter nose would smell Ellison all over Maria. Maria slipped off her shoes. “You didn’t need to worry at all.”

Andrea gave her a nod. “You go well together. Ellison is one of the good guys.” She said it with confidence, no doubts that the mating would go through.

“Was everything all right here?” Maria asked. She came to Andrea and brushed her hand over the sleeping Kenny’s hair. “No threats to cubs?”

“No.” Andrea rocked her son, who slept the limp sleep of an infant secure in his mother’s arms. “The cubs are safe in Shiftertown. No one gets in that we don’t know about. No one will take them from here.”

“But you can’t keep them holed up here forever.” Maria stroked Kenny’s hair again, the down soft on her fingers. “They can’t be imprisoned, even if it’s for their own safety. That isn’t right.”

Andrea’s look softened. “We’ll always be closed off from the rest of the world in some ways. We’re Shifters, Maria. People fear us. We’ll always be apart. But we manage together.” She smiled. “I should know. I’m half Fae. That has most of Shiftertown still a little wigged out. I’m apart even from other Shifters.”

Andrea’s Fae blood had never bothered Maria, and she still wasn’t certain what being Fae meant. But she’d observed Shifters glance at Andrea with curiosity and even fear. They never said anything, knowing Sean would retaliate against any disrespect to his mate, but the nervousness was there.

“I’m apart too,” Maria said. “But I decided I can’t hide forever. There’s a world out there, and I need to face it. It’s a risk, but I will take it.”

“And you will. Tomorrow. Your SAT tests. I hope you didn’t forget.” She smiled, knowing Maria never would. Maria had confided in few people about her dream to enter the university, but Andrea was one of them. She and Connor, Glory, and now Ellison.

“What did Dylan decide to do?” Maria asked. “About Bradley?”

Andrea’s look turned evasive. “They’ll stop him. Dylan, Liam, and Sean together. No need for you to worry about that.”

“Yes, but how? Find the man? Murder him? What happens if they get caught?” Maria looked at Kenny, sleeping so sweetly. The boy had been named for the brother of Sean and Liam who’d been killed by a feral Shifter long ago. Kenny had been Connor’s father and much beloved.

A shadow passed through Andrea’s eyes, worry for her mate and his family. “If there’s a problem in the world Sean, Liam, and Dylan can’t take care of, then it’s a bad problem. Don’t worry.”

“We have to stop them, Andrea—these people who snatch cubs. Bradley and everyone like him, and the people who hire them. It’s terrible.”

“I know.” Andrea held Kenny closer a moment, protective. Then she handed Kenny up to Maria’s outstretched hands and rose, stretching as only a Shifter could stretch, every limb supple. She kissed Maria on the cheek. “But you focus on your tests tomorrow. It will be a big day for you.”

Maria enjoyed the warmth of Andrea’s hug for a moment, the baby scent of little Kenny. Andrea took Kenny back into her arms, left the room, and Maria turned out the light.

She went to the window and raised the blind enough to let in the moonlight. On the porch across the street, two cowboy boots were crossed on the porch rail, long legs in jeans stretching back into shadows.

Maria smiled, her heart lightened. She undressed, blew a kiss across the street, and got into bed, where she lay awake for a long time.

Thoughts tumbled through her mind—the panic when she’s lost Olaf, her sudden fright inside the culvert, her rage when she discovered that men were trying to kidnap Shifter cubs, the distracting worry about the exams.

Over all of this she relived the water embracing her, Ellison holding her, the heat of him inside her, finding something buried deep inside her and dragging it out into the light.

After a long time, she drifted to sleep to the memory of the warmth of Ellison’s touch, the tenderness of his kiss. The image of him running into the water, naked but for his cowboy hat, was a fine one too.

“Here, I found more pencils for you.” Olaf held them up on the porch in the early light of morning, yellow pencils nicely sharpened.

Elizabeth—Ronan’s mate—and Cherie, Scott, and Rebecca, another Kodiak bear, were with Olaf, Ronan hulking in the background while he talked to Spike and the Morrisseys.

“Thank you, Olaf,” Maria said, taking the pencils and putting them into her purse.

“Why did you get up early to take a test?” Jordan, Spike’s four-year-old cub, asked her. “That’s no fun.”

“You should write the answers on your hands,” Scott said. A large bear Shifter of about thirty years, he seemed calm this morning, not in the frenzy of his Transition. “Always worked for me.”

“It’s not that kind of test,” Maria said, laughing. “I think they check for that anyway.”

“Aw. Too bad.” Scott grinned.

“I still don’t see why she has to go,” Jordan said. “Stay home and play with me, Maria.”

Connor, who was waiting impatiently at the bottom of the porch steps, said to Jordan, “You’ll understand when you’re older, laddie. We need to go.”

Difficult to leave when all of Shiftertown—at least this block—had turned out to see her off. Maria had talked about her ambitions to very few, but this morning, so many seemed to know her secret, and they were excited for her. Hard to keep anything quiet in Shiftertown. Maria warmed though, at the send-off.

Spike’s mate, Myka, a human woman who trained horses for a living, was also making an early start. Horses liked early, she said. She hugged Maria. “You’ll bust chops,” she said. “That means you’ll do well.”

Glory almost lifted Maria off her feet with her hug. “You go, girl. I’m so proud of you.”

Andrea had another hug, and this time Kenny was awake and talking to himself in wordless sounds. Maria kissed both him and Andrea.

That made Olaf and Jordan clamor for kisses and hugs before she went. Maria bent down to hug each in turn, having to pry them away from her and promise more hugs when she came home.

The only Shifter missing was Ellison. She kept glancing at his closed house, but she heard nothing from within. Maybe Ellison had simply gone inside and fallen asleep after staying up all night watching her house from his porch. He had to sleep sometime.

Maria swallowed her disappointment and turned to follow Connor to Dylan’s pickup, which she and Connor were borrowing. Tiger was tinkering with something under the hood, and he dropped the hood closed, watching Maria quietly with his strange eyes when she and Connor approached.

Ellison still didn’t appear as Maria took the keys from Connor and got into the driver’s side of the truck.

“You know, I do know how to drive,” Connor said, hopping into the passenger seat.

“I know. I’ve ridden with you. I want to get there in one piece.”

Maria looked behind her, but Ellison’s house remained quiet, the doors closed. Well, she would go over when she came home. She and Ellison weren’t mates or married. Just friends.

And lovers. Maria shivered as the heat of yesterday afternoon slid over her again. She started the truck, smiled at Tiger, who returned her look without changing expression, and pulled onto the street.

Behind her the Morrisseys, Ronan’s family, and Spike’s family all waved and cheered for her. A warmth spread in Maria’s heart. She’d been trying so hard to survive on her own that she hadn’t realized she’d created a family for herself right here, without knowing it.

“Test me while we go,” Maria said to Connor.

Connor unfolded the sample book he’d had ready in his hands, and started asking her questions. Maria had chosen to take one of the biology subject tests. She’d studied and studied, with Connor’s help, for the last six months. She’d learned so much—knew the sample tests back and forth—but knots formed in her stomach. What if she went blank when the actual test lay in front of her? What if she couldn’t remember anything?

She shouldn’t have let Ellison take her out yesterday. She should have broken away from him and shut herself in the house. She was tired now, and so distracted by thoughts of Ellison, bare in the water . . .

“I said, what is found in DNA but not RNA?” Connor asked. “Is it, a) . . .”

“Um. Thymine. Right?”

“Yes, right. Concentrate.”

“I’m trying.”

Connor shook his head as he turned the page. “That’s what mating frenzy does to you. Clouds your brain to everything but mating. At least, that’s what I hear. I won’t have that joy for a few years yet.”

“I don’t have mating frenzy,” Maria said firmly. “I’m not a Shifter.”

“But you had sex with Ellison, you can’t stop thinking about it, and you want to do it again. That’s mating frenzy.”

Maria clutched the steering wheel. “Who told you that? Why can’t Shifters mind their own business?”

“Well, that would be boring, wouldn’t it, now?” Connor grinned over at her. “And it’s true, isn’t it? You didn’t have to tell me anything. Scent doesn’t lie.”

Andrea had known too, right away. Maria heaved a sigh. “If I admit that yes, I had sex with Ellison, will you stop talking about it?”

“Nah.” Connor laughed. “It’s fun to see you blush. So what about it? Ellison’s dying for a mate. Sun and moon, eh? We’re loving all the mating ceremonies around here. Nice excuse to get drunk and party.”

“Connor. I have to take my SATs this morning. Can we talk about mating later?”

“Sure. Next question . . .”

Fortunately, the drive to the school that was administering the test didn’t take long. Maria parked in the front parking lot, her stomach knotting even more. Connor got out of the truck with her and gave her a long hug.

“You’ll do great. And I’ll be right here to pour you back into the truck when you’re done and take you home. Or out for a drink. I remember when I finished my SATs. I was all wound up, and I wanted to sleep for a week.”

“Thanks, Connor.” Maria returned the hug. Connor had dark hair and blue eyes like his uncles and grandfather, his body already filling out to their formidable bulks. Girls liked to stare at him, and when Connor finished his Transition years from now, he was going to be in high demand. “You’ve helped me so much.”

“Hey, we have to stick together. I’m not old enough to take my place in the hierarchy yet, so who knows where I fit in? You’re trying to figure out your place too. That makes us automatic friends.”

He pulled Maria close for another hard embrace. Reassurance, comfort—Shifters knew how to give it. Maria hugged him back, grateful for his unconditional acceptance.

Finally Connor released her, patted her shoulder, and held out his hand. “Cell phone.”

Maria turned it over. Cell phones and the like weren’t allowed at the test. She had to go alone with her calculator and the host of number 2 pencils Olaf had given her. Connor pocketed the phone, clasped Maria’s shoulder again, and sent her off toward the building with a little shove.

Maria looked back as she walked down the curved sidewalk. Connor had climbed into the bed of the truck, leaning back with his feet up, to read a newspaper. He’d wait for her. He’d be here, her anchor.

The kids who’d come to take the test this Saturday morning were all about ten years younger than Maria, excepting a few adults who, like her, were hoping to go to college for the first time. America was a fine place, she thought as she walked. Here, a person of eighty years old could decide it was time to get a college education and go. It cost money, but there were ways to find it and people who would help. Maria had explored every avenue and put together a plan to combine scholarship opportunities with working. It would be tough, but she would do it.

An air of anticipation hung over the building Maria entered. She checked in, following the directions to the room where she’d take her test. Kids who knew each other talked excitedly, hiding their nervousness, while others found seats, eyes wide with anticipation.

The current of anxiousness was palpable. Maybe Maria had lived with Shifters too long, because she picked up every nuance of worry, fear, and excitement.

She chose a desk near windows that overlooked the parking lot. Maria could see Connor lounging in the truck fifty yards from her, the sight of him reassuring. Connor had been such a help to her ever since she arrived. She couldn’t imagine surviving this long in Shiftertown without Connor. Or Ellison.

Ellison. No, Maria needed to focus. She’d suck it up, do the test, and then relax on Dylan’s porch with her friends, and let thoughts of a bare Ellison run through her head all she wanted. He’d been beautiful as his wolf, his fur itself quivering with his strength. She’d loved stroking him . . .

“You may start,” the man who was proctoring the test said.

Maria jumped, watery fear running through her, and opened the test booklet. She looked at the first question with numb eyes, and let out her breath again.

She knew that one. She could do this.

Maria answered a few more questions with confidence, then looked up and out the window to reassure herself with Connor’s presence again.

And saw him slumped over in the truck, his body limp. She also saw two men she didn’t recognize climb into the front of the truck and drive it away.