Darkest Wolf (10 page)

Turning around, he pleaded with her with his eyes to just keep moving.

“You want something from me.” She scratched her head. In the moonlight, he could see her eyes looked weary. “I’m just not sure what.”

This was getting ridiculous. He was a strong man. Somehow, he’d just have to assure he didn’t lose consciousness until he got to the car.

Calling the shift onto himself, he bathed in the white light of the change until his human form reappeared.

He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the moonlight. Elizabeth gasped, her hands grabbing him around his waist. “Goddess, Rex.”

He looked down at himself. Yes, he was just as torn up as he’d expected to be. The sight of his own blood didn’t disturb him; he’d seen it before. He couldn’t live the life he’d led and not occasionally face this kind of an issue.

“It’ll be okay.” He spoke through gritted teeth. It was better than howling. “I just need to shift again to heal. The only problem is serious healing requires a lot of energy.

I’m going to be out of it—maybe unconscious for a while after.” She grinned, which surprised him. “Only if you’re not driving the vehicle at the time.”

A smile twitched at his lips. He was surprised by the sensation. Most of the time he didn’t find things amusing. Now, here he was, in the woods, half-beat up with feral wolves still living that could come after them, and he wanted to crack up. Had he gone completely insane? Rex cleared his throat to cover his amusement. There’s no way Elizabeth would find it appropriate. Her joking was to cover up her nervousness.

“Obviously, I don’t intend to drive.”

“Me with my whacked-up head and you with your beat-up body. We’re really tough right now, aren’t we?”

“You’re right. You’re in no condition to drive.” His little witch had been badly injured. How could he have forgotten?

“I’m joking.” She shook her head. “I can drive. Between my small amount of magic and a little bit of time, I seem to be getting better.”

“Better enough to drive?”

She shrugged, which made her breasts rub against his bare chest. Considering he was completely naked, the fact his cock jumped to attention couldn’t have been missed by Elizabeth. “For a little bit, at least. I can drive us to the nearest hotel.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They walked slowly together through the woods. On her own, Elizabeth could have moved much faster. Each step Rex took felt like agony as pain shot up his legs. There was no way he would complain. He’d already been un-manned in front of her a few times. Leave it to him to not even be able to impress a mate.

Finally, they made it back to the car. Even though it felt like it might kill him, he managed to, with help from her, hot-wire the car to start again. He stumbled inside and groaned as the desire to pass out threatened. “Elizabeth, I have to tell you I might pass out. I will heal faster but I don’t want it to upset you.”

“Thank you for the warning.” She sighed. “If I had even a small amount of my power, I could heal you.”

“If you had any of your abilities, you wouldn’t be in this car with me.” Their mating—if it ever happened and he wasn’t sure it would—was only because she’d been cursed and he’d been sent out to retrieve a witch. They would never have found each other if things had gone differently.

Then I guess we should be thanking the stars for all your bad luck
.

He rolled his eyes. Even injured, his wolf had to give him a hard time about his internal musings.

“Should we expect more visits from those wolves?”

He shrugged, which hurt like hell. “Probably not those but others like them? I suppose it’s possible.”

“Great. Something to look forward to.”

Rex needed to get his mind out off what had just happened or he was going to start to obsess. His mate, who was for all intents and purposes human, had rescued him in the woods using a tree branch. If his brothers ever found out, he’d never hear the end of it.

“I have a tendency to screw things up. I’m sure by now you’ve noticed.” She looked at him from the corner of her eye as she pulled their borrowed car into traffic. “Not really. What have you messed up that’s bothering you?”

“Today or in general?” Wow, he was really out of sorts. He shifted in his seat. No way should he be talking to Elizabeth about any of this. If he was smart, he’d close his eyes, shut up, and pass out before he made it so she would never want to speak to him again.

“You haven’t done anything particularly wrong today. Aside from leaving me in this car when you so clearly needed my help.”

The gleam in her eye made him grin. Maybe that was why he let his guard down completely. In any case, before he could stop himself, he told her the truth. “My whole pack thinks I’m a traitor. I basically have one chance left not to be put to death.”
Chapter Eight

Elizabeth wasn’t sure how to respond to Rex’s pronouncement his entire pack thought he was a traitor. She bit down on her lip, insecurity making her mute.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have burdened you. Just ignore me. I think I must be exhausted.” He looked out the window as the heavy burden of silence stretched out between them like the darkness of the night outside had just invaded their stolen car.

Was Rex a traitor? He hadn’t said that, exactly. Instead, he’d told her his pack thought him a traitor. There was a big distinction between what other people saw and what really existed inside of a person. She had always known this, having been raised to see past the superficial, but she’d learned the hard way this was not how the rest of the world viewed things. Her cursed face was all anyone could see when they looked at her.

Except for Rex.

The thought he could see her as she really was made her shivers travel down her stiff spine. For the first time in more years than she cared to think about, someone looked at her like she mattered. He didn’t flinch or scream. He’d wanted to hurt those who had.

This wolf—whom she’d been raised to mistrust—had taken on fifteen artificially created creatures, willing to die fighting rather than run from the impossible odds to keep her safe.

She shook her head to change the course of her thoughts. No way, no how could she allow herself to become infatuated with Rex. She had to betray his secrets to her coven.

Romanticizing him would only make it harder than it had to be.

“Why do they think you’re a traitor, Rex?” She spoke softly, afraid any louder would shatter the air around them. It was so thick with tension she found it hard to take a deep breath. His silence surprised her and she turned her head to regard him. In the reflection of the car window she could see his eyes were closed. His breathing had turned deep and even. Rex Kane had passed out in the car, as he’d predicted.

What she hadn’t anticipated was the effect of seeing him so calm and vulnerable would have on her. Sleep had always fascinated her. Elizabeth didn’t dream very much, or at least she could never remember them after she awoke. She found it intriguing to wonder what other people saw when they slept. What did Rex, the youngest son of the royal family of his wolf pack, dream about at night?

A motel sign flashed in the distance. It looked to be about a quarter of a mile more down the road. Squinting, she wondered if she was going to have to finally break down and get glasses. It wasn’t that she was vain—how could she be when the whole world screamed at the sight of her face? Simply, she wasn’t sure she could face anything else.

Just the idea of finding an eye doctor, making an appointment and going, seemed like it was too much to handle. If she’d had her magic, she could have fixed her eyes.

The place looked worn down, which was not a problem for her. Although the twins had always insisted on staying in the nicest of places, she had not enjoyed luxury in a long time. It would be nice to have her own bed instead of having to make do with the floor of a closet wherever the twins slept.

Also, she wasn’t sure what was going to happen to Rex. Would he start shifting back and forth wildly? It would be better to be in a place where no one wanted to be noticed and didn’t ask too many questions.

She pulled off the highway. The place looked relatively empty, with few cars in the parking lot. Even better.

After she stopped the car, she sat for a moment without getting out. The one thing the twins had done for themselves during her care of them was to check in and out of hotels. Her face made it too hard to get a room. Sometimes the front desk clerks would run from the room as opposed to speak to her.

Elizabeth turned to look at the man beside her. Soft in his sleep, it was hard for her to remember he was a wolf-shifter. He just looked like a really handsome man who had suffered a really hard day.

She reached out toward him, her hand shaking slightly. How would she explain it to him if he woke up? What justification could she give for touching him while he wasn’t awake? Still, she couldn’t seem to stop the impulse to reach out and touch his cheek.

Hoping to keep her presence a mere whisper on his skin, she let her fingertips trail down the side of his face. Rex sighed but he didn’t stir. The sound did something to her insides.

Not sexually, not the kind of heat she’d come to associate with looking at him, but a different sense.

Rex made her want to protect him. With his eyes closed, the fierce warrior wolf, who had shifted and gone off to battle with no thought for his own safety, looked downright vulnerable. Trusting. Alert, he gave the impression of total control. It would be ridiculous to think Rex Kane needed anyone or anything as he pushed through life.

She groaned as she pulled her hand away. Somehow she had to get control of herself before he woke up. If she didn’t, she’d be the one who was totally vulnerable, and she had no doubt he’d walk right over her to get what he wanted. He was, after all, thought a traitor amongst his kind and was, apparently, marked for death if he couldn’t prove himself.

Except none of that sat very well with Elizabeth. He didn’t seem very traitorous to her. She knew what deceit looked like having lived with the children of a woman who had betrayed her coven. Rex didn’t have the smug look of a person pulling the wool over other people’s eyes for his own gain. Besides, shouldn’t his pack be able to smell his emotions? Tell if he betrayed them? He’d certainly read her emotions well enough.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. Steeling herself for the scene she knew would happen as soon as she entered the motel lobby, she told herself the same mantra she’d said to herself for years now.

I don’t care. I don’t need anyone’s approval but my own. It doesn’t matter what they
think of me. Someday it will be better again
.

Except she wasn’t even particularly fooling herself anymore. It did matter what she looked like. There would never be a time she could get out of her present circumstances if she couldn’t even get others to look her in the eye when she spoke. She would be forever dependant on someone else to take care of things. Elizabeth hated living in the shadows.

That was why she had to make her plan work. She had the means to free herself and her family. It was time to take back control of her life. So, why did the thought of fulfilling her idea make a pit of worry form in her stomach? Why did she feel like she might never be okay if she followed through?

She pulled open the door to the lobby and stepped inside. It was dimly lit although it shouldn’t have been. Half of the lighting in the room seemed to be malfunctioning. If all the fluorescents had been working, the room would have been as bright as midday. This would be easier since they wouldn’t be able to see her clearly.

“Can I help you?”

The smoke-altered voice of the man behind the desk caught her attention. She looked over at him, not surprised to see the exterior of the man matched the sound of his words.

Dark liver spots marred his skin.

She swallowed, steeling herself for his reaction to her. Why was this bothering her so much? She’d been shrieked at before. “Hello.” She stepped forward, making her feet move beneath her. “I need a room, please.” Maybe she should get two. The way she reacted to Rex in the car did not inspire confidence in her ability to withstand whatever wolfish charms he sent out to her.

“What is wrong with your face?” The man rose to his feet as he spoke, his hands coming down in front of him as if to block her from getting any closer to him. As if the way she appeared might reach out and assault him from afar.

“That is not a very polite thing to say.” She could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Why was she bothering to respond at all? Still, she couldn’t seem to stop her mouth from letting her words out. “Is that how you were raised? To say rude things to women?”

“Look, lady.” He stood up. “I don’t want any trouble. I’ve lived in the world a long time now and I’ve never seen anything like you before.”

“Anything
like
me?” She fisted her hands at her side. “Listen, sir. I want a room not a lot of hassle. Think you can handle it?”

He cleared his throat before he reached down to pick up a key. Without another word, he slammed it down in front of him. “Please take it. I can’t look at you anymore.” Liz said a silent prayer to the goddess for patience. Maybe she would listen this time.

She picked up the key, letting her hand slide slowly over the counter as she grasped it in her fingers. What had she been thinking? Laughing, she realized she wanted to blame Rex. It was his fault. He’d spent the last day looking her in the eyes and making her feel almost normal again.

She liked it so much she had decided to insist on the behavior from others. Big mistake and one she wouldn’t let herself make again. She swallowed away the sinking sensation telling her life would never be any better than just getting by.