Lycan It

Chapter Eight

As dawn broke, Raze pulled down the long, secluded drive of the sanctuary. Janine had slept the entire drive, and he was glad because she hadn’t had much sleep since Damon had kidnapped her. A man with dark hair stepped into the lane.

Raze stopped the car and killed the engine. He glanced over at Janine and was glad when she didn’t stir. He got out of the vehicle and approached the man. He hadn’t told Janine that he hadn’t actually met Brent, Rindy, Anthony or Karen, but knew of them by rumor.

“You Brent?” He asked the man.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Raze. The woman is Janine. I’ve been trying to escape from my rogue pack for quite some time now. Unfortunately, she paid the price for my attempted escape along with me. We need a safe place to stay.” He hoped the man wouldn’t turn them away as this was his best shot at protecting her.

“Your pack going to be coming after you?”

“Oh yeah.” Raze stayed between the man and the car, shielding Janine from his view the best he could.

The man sniffed the air. “She yours?”

Raze nodded.

“She know she’s yours?”

“No.” Raze shook his head.

“She know about us?”

“Some.”

“Nice to meet you, Raze. I’m Brent Falls.” He extended his hand to Raze and the two men shook briefly.

“Can you help us?”

“That’s what we’re here for. Follow the road up about another two miles.

Veer off to the right and you’ll find an empty cabin. You and Janine can stay in it as long as you like. After you get settled in, come back the way you came and go straight across at the T. You’ll come to a log cabin. That is my and Rindy’s place. We’ll need to discuss your pack and get prepared for their arrival. I assume that will probably be pretty shortly.” Brent raised a brow at him in question.

“I’m guessing in a week at the most.” Raze figured it would take them that long to track them.

“See ya later.” Brent nodded and disappeared back into the thick woods.

Raze got back into the car and drove to the cabin as instructed.

Janine awoke as the car came to a jarring halt. She jumped, and a warm hand landed gently on her arm. Raze stared at her intently, a small frown tugging at the corner of his full lips. She looked up and saw a small cabin tucked into a thick nest of towering trees.

“Are we at the sanctuary?” she asked after yawning.

“Yes.”

They both got out of the Jeep, and she followed him into the cabin. It was plain, but pristine. There wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen, and the view from the big windows on the back wall of the small living room was quite breathtaking. When they’d entered, Raze had wandered down the hallway from which he was now returning.

“There’s only one bedroom.”

“Oh.” She chewed at her lip. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“No. I will.” His face seemed to fall when he said the words.

Had he been expecting to sleep with her? She was still attracted to him.

She looked at him closely for the first time since she’d been kidnapped. He was well over six feet, his shoulders were wide, and his waist tapered neatly into narrow hips. His thighs were thick and his legs were long, and he reminded her of an athlete, lean and sinewy. He was a sexy man with an edge to him, a wildness, which was quite fitting considering what he was.

“I’m smaller. I won’t be as cramped on the couch. You won’t fit. You’re too big.” She eyed him from head to toe once again, gulping when she focused for a moment on the growing bulge behind his zipper.

“Stop looking at me like that.” His voice came low, quiet, predatory.

“Like what?” she whispered.

He proceeded to show her exactly ‘like what’ by treating her body to a slow perusal with his gray eyes. Her skin heated everywhere they roamed, and she sucked in a breath when he focused his stare back on her face with his now glowing eyes.

“Like that.” The words rasped low from his throat.

“Your eyes are glowing again. That’s a werewolf thing isn’t it?”

“Yeah. They tend to do that when I’m feeling extra emotional, like angry or aroused.”

He walked toward her slowly, and she fought between her instincts to run and her desire to stay. He stopped right before the toes of his boots bumped into the toes of her sneakers and stared down at her. His arms hung at his sides, but his fingers slowly clenched and unclenched against his palms.

Finally, he reached up and dragged the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “You are so gorgeous.”

She scoffed. “I’m not—”

Before she could get the rest of the sentence out, he bent and took her lips. He cupped her nape in one hand, wound his other arm around her lower back, and pulled her firmly against him. His heat bled into her, and when she moaned, he slipped his tongue deep inside the cavern of her mouth and tasted her. Her knees nearly buckled, and she welcomed his kiss.

His hand moved in slow circles, massaging her lower back, and he dragged his fingers up her side, along her rib cage, around and down to her stomach and back up until they rested under her breast. She’d never met a man who could turn her on with such infinite ease. She didn’t understand what he saw in her. He was sexy, and sinfully beautiful. She had no doubt that women would fall at his feet. She was plain and on the chunky side.

She’d never considered herself ugly, but she wasn’t a sexy siren by any means. How was it that Raze was interested in her? Then it hit her, and she jerked her mouth from his.

“What’s wrong?” He frowned.

“You think I’m your mate, don’t you?” She backed away from him slowly.

“Janine, please.”

“No. That’s why you are attracted to me, because of my scent. A man like you could never be interested in me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” He started for her.

She threw her hand up, halting his progress. “There is no way that someone who looks like you could find me attractive.”

“Why in God’s name would you say something like that? You are gorgeous.” His brows slanted down.

“I am not and you know it. I’m ordinary, a little overweight and you . . .

you are perfect. You’re not blind. You know what I’m saying is the truth.

People like you and me do not go together, and I’m not buying it just because I might have the right scent. You would have never been attracted to me otherwise. Admit it.” She crossed her arms over her middle and glared at him.

His jaw ticked. “I have told you over and over how beautiful you are.

You are not fat. Your body is exquisite, just like a woman’s should be. And, yes, you are my mate. I don’t think it. I know it, but it has nothing to do with me finding you attractive.”

“Bullshit! You would have never given me a second glance if it weren’t for my scent. It’s what draws you to me, isn’t it?”

“It does draw me to you, but it can’t make think that you are beautiful unless I think so for real.” He blew out a long breath of agitation.

“No. I’m not for you, Raze. There’s been some kind of mistake. I’m a plain girl with a plain cupcake business and a limp. I’m so not for you.”

“You are a beautiful woman who is obviously intelligent enough to make a living at what she loves and who has a battle wound in memory of a tragic event that took some of the people she loves from her. You were smart enough to play along after being kidnapped, which allowed us to escape, and your kisses make me so hot, I want to rip off our clothes and ravish you.”

His eyes glowed bright.

And just like that, her body heated again and ached for his touch. “Surely you can see that we are not a good match. Even if you don’t mind my extra weight, you cannot be strapped with someone who can’t even run with you.”

“That’s just it. You can run with me. If I changed you, your leg would be healed after the first time you shifted. It would be like you had never broken it.”

“I don’t want to be a werewolf. I don’t want to be like those monsters that kidnapped me,” she cried out.

“If that’s truly what you think of me, I guess I cannot change your mind.” He turned and started for the door.

“No, Raze. I didn’t mean you.”

“Yes, you did. I am a lycan, but you don’t seem to be able to differentiate between me and Damon. We are just like people. There are those of us who are good and those who are bad. I would never hurt you or anyone else unless I had no other choice. Yes, we can do things you cannot, like hear, see and smell better. We are much stronger and do have a predatory nature, but we are not, in general, ‘bad.’ We live much longer too. That is why we change our mates, not because we are selfish or want to hurt them, but simply because we do not want to lose them sooner than we must.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that—”

“Forget it, Janine. I promise I’ll clear this mess up as soon as I can, and get you back home to your perfect life. I’ll see if anyone here has a cell phone so you can call home.” He turned and started for the door again.

“No. I have a cell phone in my purse, but I’m not calling my sister. As far as she knows, I will be gone for three weeks on vacation. Until things settle down, I’m not calling her. She’ll be able to tell something is wrong. I’m a terrible liar.”

He shrugged. “If that’s what you want.”

She watched as he left the cabin. What had she done? He’d been nothing but gentle, kind, and caring with her, and she’d just called him a monster.

She’d been raised to not discriminate against others no matter their skin color or circumstances, yet that’s exactly what she’d just done to him, and she felt terrible.

She thought about how he touched her and watched her. His eyes glowed each time they kissed, and his stare scorched through her as if he could see into her soul, as if he longed for her. Would he look at her like that if he didn’t honestly find her attractive, if he didn’t want her? But how could she know for sure that it wasn’t because of her scent? The answer was, she couldn’t ever be sure. It was one of those things she’d have to put blind faith in or not ever believe.

She tightened her arms around her waist and walked toward the bedroom, knowing that Raze would never let her sleep on the couch.

Raze shifted and hit the ground running. His heart ached and anger beat through him with a rhythm that matched the pounding of his paws on the dirt floor of the forest. He loved Janine, loved everything about her, but she obviously would never feel the same way about him. He’d been careful and respectful with her even though the need to take her had clawed at him. Was there any way he could convince her that he wanted her regardless of her scent?

He couldn’t understand the warped image she had of herself. Her lack of confidence dumbfounded him. She was perfect, beautiful, sexy, and she made him want her like no woman ever had his entire life.

He howled and sped up, trying to outrun his pain and anger. Surely he was not destined to a mate who would never see him as anything more than a monster? He had to find a way to make her see him as a man. He had to prove to her that he wanted her and found her attractive. He would woo her, and make her his if it was the last thing he ever did.