Amber watched Blake marking her as his territory, urinating and scratching the ground to show that he was laying claim to her. Her wolf reveled in the fact that he was a strong wolf and she was ready for him.
Tired of waiting, her wolf whined and bumped against him, swishing her tail back and forth Amber presented Blake with her wolf’s backside once again. This time, moving her tail to the side, keeping it out of the way and arched her back. Blake saw that she was ready and immediately launched himself on top of her, her wolf fully accepting his wolf, mounting her, sliding into her as he locked his teeth onto the scruff of her neck and held her in place.
The wolves’ hearts pounded in unison as they lay spent on the leaves that blanketed the ground. They rested after spending the day mating, running through the grassy fields with its blooming wild flowers, through the trees and bushes, hunting when they became hungry and mating over and over again.
Before nightfall, they slowly made their way back towards her cabin. They found the tree where they had transformed and easily changed back into their human forms. Naked, they stared at each other, laughing they ran hand in hand towards the cabin. Blake bent down and scooped up the clothes they had shed that morning.
CHAPTER TWELVE
H
er wolf was sated and happy to have her mate. But the woman in her was doing a reality check.
What the hell are you doing, Amber? S
he asked herself as Blake closed and locked the door behind them. They didn’t bother turning on any lights since their enhanced senses allowed them to see the layout of the room almost as if it were daylight.
Blake watched Amber fight her internal battle. She went into the kitchen and ran herself a glass of water, wishing she had something stronger. Keeping her back to him, Amber selfishly didn’t offer him anything. If he wanted something, he could get it himself. Silently she thought to herself.
You have been alone too long to expect a relationship to work out. He says I’m his mate, how do I know it’s real, not just a trick?
Suddenly the thought struck her
He just wants sex! He has not said anything about a relationship!
She was working herself into a frazzle, so she sat down at the kitchen table still not looking at him.
The sex is great, but I want this relationship! You’re not just my mate, Amber. I love you! I have loved you from the moment I met you at that god damned shelter!
Blake responded to her doubts through their mental connection.
Startled, Amber twisted in her chair and stared at him. “What! You were listening to me?” She demanded her hand tightening dangerously around the glass.
He saw her knuckles turning white and feared that she might shatter the glass, so he grabbed her wrist gently, pulling the glass from her grasp.
Kneeling down in front of her, he looked up into her face. “Honey, you were broadcasting loud and clear. If you had connected with our pack, they would have heard you a hundred miles away.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” she moaned, closing her eyes and shook her head.
“Baby, we will get through this. I know it’s a lot to take in. We’ll do this together.”
“Blake, I don’t know if I can do
together
. I have been alone for so long.” She stared into his beautiful pleading caramel eyes. “I’m not used to people being in my head. And it’s your pack, not mine.” She reminded him.
Blake shook his head. “No, it’s your pack, too. But, they can’t hear you, only when you connect with them, and only when you allow them to hear. I only hear you because we are mated.”
“I don’t want you in my head.” She wanted to look anywhere but at his face. But he wouldn’t allow it and his hands softly framed her face.
“I will do my best to stay out of your head, and be there only when you invite me in. But I can’t help hearing if you broadcast. You can block, I can teach you how if you allow me to.”
Amber stared at him with her chocolate brown eyes, the yellow specks shimmering as she looked deep into his eyes. “I made a horrible mistake. I shouldn’t have done this. I should never have mated!” she told him, tears in her eyes. “I have killed you and your pack.”
“What do you mean, Amber?” He shook his head, with a frown. He could see how distraught she was. “Please, baby, let me help you,” he pleaded.
“You were able to change today because of me.”
“OK, I figured as much. How is that killing me and
our
pack?”
“Until my wolf saw you in the truck, I have not been able to control my changes. I don’t always know what my wolf is thinking. I was in wolf form when you had your wreck. When she was in such a hurry to get down the hill, I thought she was going for a free meal.”
“So that was you!” Blake said excitedly. “And you were going to eat me?” He moved away long enough to pull the other chair around the table to sit in front of her. He rested his hands on her knees and looked intently at her face.
She nodded regretfully, looking down in her hands as she wrenched them together. “My wolf is strong and emerges when she wants to. I am learning, but can barely hold on long enough to get somewhere safe when she emerges. That's why I rented this place. I don't want to run the risk of being in public when she wants out. Until I saw your face and connected the scent with you, I have never been able to force my wolf to allow me to return. She is usually in control of the shift to and from.”
“We were destined to be together. You are my mate, Amber. I felt it when we first met.” She started to interrupt, but he didn't give her time and continued. “You were not ready, yet. So I had to wait. Now that we are together again, your wolf recognized me. When your wolf led you to me at the wreck, she wouldn’t harm me because she scented my wolf. That’s why she backed down. She knew I was in trouble and only your human form could help.”
That made sense to Amber, but she was still unsure of what she should be doing. She was so used to being alone. She had let her guard down, and Blake had slipped through.
“Blake, I know what I am, but I don’t know all the rules and,” Amber was still distraught and worried, so she waved her hands in the air, “all the crap that goes with being in a pack. All I know is what my mother taught me and I’m learning now, that was not enough to understand what really happens in the wolf world.”
“Did you know Adam and I couldn’t catch your scent when we were outside the cabin? When you opened the door, I was able to scent you, but he never did.” Blake frowned with a shake of his head. “We should have been able to tell that this was your territory by your markings, especially since you have run the woods.”
“I have run the woods plenty of times, but have no explanation I can give you.” She did, but she wasn’t ready to share with Blake, that the stone around her neck was the reason they could not smell her scent. “One thing I do know is that when I changed before, it hurt like hell. It’s normally very painful and I feel like I‘m being ripped apart. This morning, I just thought about it and it happened, completely effortless and absolutely no pain at all. I can just think of changing,” she held her arm out and showed him the fur that rippled across her forearm, “and I start changing.”
He watched as the fur appeared and disappeared just as quickly. He nodded in agreement. “It was the same for me this morning.” He held his arm out and just as she had done, the fur emerged on his arm and quickly disappeared with just a thought. “This is great!” he exclaimed in amazement and laughed.
“It doesn't make sense, though, Blake.” Amber smiled patiently while Blake changed his right hand, then his left, back and forth a few times. “Just because we mated, doesn't mean either of us should change at-will.”
“No, but it could be to our advantage.” He became still and looked at her. “Do you realize that I am completely healed now? No aches, no pains? Since I was able to change this morning, my arm no longer hurts, all because of you.”
They both realized the cast was missing, fallen off when he had changed to his wolf form. They had been too intent on mating that his broken arm had been the farthest thing from their minds.
Blake was excited and pulled her to him for a quick kiss. Before his lips touched hers though, his head jerked towards the front door and he jumped up from his chair. “We have to go!” he ordered grabbing her hand and practically pulling her to the door.
Blake did nothing to hide his anxiety so she allowed him to pull her along behind him. He grabbed the keys to her Jeep he had seen parked at the side of the house and continued out the door.
“Adam has been attacked!” He informed her in a deep growling voice through gritted teeth. He stopped her before she could question him and continued pulling her along. “I can’t leave you behind.”
“I told you...I... this is not going to work!” she exclaimed jumping unwillingly into the passenger seat. He closed the lightweight door of the jeep and ran around to the driver side. Any other time she would have protested his assumption that he could drive her vehicle but let it go this time. He appeared to be hell bent on getting to his friend and driving would probably be a lot quicker than changing to wolf and trying to run there, wherever “there” was.
Amber’s mind rambled on, when she realized she had no idea where Blake actually lived. She had run the woods surrounding her cabin, but had not ventured too far when she had smelled several scents, some werewolf, and some local wolf. She had wanted to avoid any contact if at all possible with either kind. Now look at her, she was headed straight for his den.
Amber set her mouth in a grim line and stared out the window while he shoved the jeep into gear and quickly let out the clutch, spinning the tires in the grass and dirt. He cut the wheel and made a sharp turn to head the vehicle back towards the main road, away from what had been her sanctuary for the past month.
Amber sat anxiously, but remained quiet while he maneuvered the jeep skillfully through the winding dirt road. As he drove, she felt a nudge at her mind and knew that Blake was reassuring her without taking his hands off the wheel or his eyes off the road ahead.
Tentatively, she opened her mind and sought his, seeking to comfort him, as well. She glanced at his mouth, his matched the grim set of hers, but somehow she thought the determined look on his face looked sexy as hell. The profile of his face was strong and she wanted to run her fingers along his jaw, down his corded neck. Again, she realized her mind was wandering and remembered she had opened her mind to him so he had heard what she was thinking. His laughter filled her senses, but stilled when they both heard Adam’s voice through Blake.
Hurry, Blake, get her out of there, don’t know when, but they’re gathering to come for her. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.
Blake cut his eyes over at her when he realized that she had heard Adam’s plea. He shook his head and stared back at the road.
“Blake, I am so sorry I got Adam into this.”
“What makes you think you got him into anything? Adam seems to find trouble when I’m not with him.”
“I don't know, but it always seems that people are getting hurt around me. And what does he mean? Is he talking about me? Who’s gathering and coming?” She stared at him, waiting for the answer she already thought she knew. The Council had found her.
He didn't respond. Instead, he slowed the jeep after a surprisingly short drive from her cabin. He veered off the road that exited to the left. If she had not been paying attention, she would have missed that they had taken another road. Other than the fact that they were being bounced around the interior of the jeep, they raced headlong down the isolated country road.
Yet another gravel and dirt road was nearly hidden by the trees. After turning onto that road, he made another sharp turn and the road smoothed out. The trees sat off the road, enough for the vehicle to pass through untouched. They provided a blended lattice work of leaves and limbs above, giving off a welcoming path that led to a gated fence.
As Blake slowed, Amber watched a young boy around nine or ten come out of the trees and open the gate. The boy’s bright red curls bounced when he ran with the gate, closing it behind them when Blake pulled slowly through the opening.
The boy ran up to the jeep’s driver side door and spoke in a high pitched, but deep southern accent. “Uncle Blake, Adam is on the porch and he’s bleedin’.”
“Thanks, Ben,” Blake responded with a nod and motioned for the boy to hop in the open back. As soon as the boy was settled on the seat and holding on to the roll bar, Blake spun the tires again taking off towards the house that was partially hidden by the trees.
Amber's first glimpse of the house took her by surprise. She didn't quite know what she had anticipated. It wasn't as large as some of the plantation homes she had seen around the South, but it was still spectacular.
She didn't have time to admire the home like she wanted to. Instead, she was tossed forward in the seat when the jeep came to a sliding halt in the driveway. She was glad she was wearing her seat belt and glanced in the back to ensure the boy had not been hurt when he fell forward. He was safe and sound, smiling at her with a big gap where he was missing a couple of teeth. She returned his smile and grabbed the door handle when Blake killed the engine.
Blake thought briefly that he should open her door for her. The thought was almost immediately wiped from his mind when she hurried from the vehicle, not waiting for him. He saw her staring at Adam on the front porch steps. Blake and Amber rounded the front of the jeep. Blake grabbed her hand and continued towards Adam.