Savage Moon: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 4) (8 page)

Chapter Ten

Midnight took forever to get here. But, when the
time came, the moon cooperated, giving me a lighted trail to guide me back to
the water’s edge. With each step I took, I knew I might be sealing my fate or Jaxson’s.
What if Alec lied just like Kane did? I thought it, but something in my heart
told me it couldn’t be true. But, my head told me I’d thought that before too,
and look where it got me. Still, I ran. If nothing else, if I made it through
tonight, I could draw strength from the tiny taste of freedom it gave me.

As I burst through the trees, my heart caught in my
throat and fear threatened to drive me to my knees. What if he didn’t come?
What if something happened to him? What if Kane figured out my plans? My breath
went out of my lungs in a whoosh as I stepped into the clearing and saw him.

Alec.

He emerged from the water like some luminous sea
creature. I could tell by the glint in his eyes and the way his chest heaved
that he’d just shifted. Water sluiced off him, making his skin shine as he came
toward me. God. He was so beautiful. I took a hesitant step toward him. Then
another. Then, I started to run. Alec reached me in three forceful strides and
got his arms up just in time to catch me as I crashed into his chest.

Instinct. Carnal lust took over as I wrapped my arms
around him. I’d spent the night so close to him but unable to touch. Now, I
needed to make up for it. We both did. He winced as I ran my hand down the hard
slope of his pecs. He had a wound I hadn’t seen in the dim light until now.
Three long gashes were torn through his perfect skin. They were healing, but I
shuddered imagining the brutality with which they’d been inflicted.

“Kane?” I said past a dry throat. Alec shook his
head. “Not now.” His eyes flashed with a wild lust that echoed inside my own
body. There would be time for talking later. Now, I just needed to feel him.

“Olivia,” he gasped as he drew me close and lifted
me off my feet. He kissed me. Everywhere. His tongue feathered against my neck,
over my collarbone. He tore at the buttons of the silk blouse I wore. We ended
up a tangle of limbs as we staggered to the beach and toward the woods. Alec
pressed me against a tree and I ran my hands over the solid warmth of his back,
his strong arms, down the rippled planes of his stomach. He was huge and hard
and I bit my lips, wanting desperately to wrap my fingers around the length of
his cock and bring him into me. My knees went weak from the urge to spread my
legs and let him take me. Right here. Right now. Forever.

“Alec. Please!” I couldn’t get enough of him. I was
wild, desperate. This was me and it wasn’t me. I felt as though
I
were
some wild thing, unable to control the shift within me. Alec was strong.
Herculean. With his broad back and concrete abs. I did touch him. I couldn’t
help myself. I ran my fingers along his shaft. He was turgid and hard, and I
felt the throbbing swell of my own sex as I opened for him.

But, thank God for both of us, Alec’s will was every
bit as strong as his body. He groaned against my temple then tore himself away,
staggering backward toward the water. He put his hands on his knees and bent
forward, reminding me of an airplane crash position. He put a hand up to stop
me as I moved toward him again. “Stop,” he gasped. “Oh, God. We have to stop.”

I took a halting step forward, then sideways. Then,
my knees finally gave out and I plopped down on the sand. Alec tore a hand
through his hair and sat down next to me. I leaned my head against his shoulder
and we stayed like that for a few moments, staring at the glass-like water with
the silvery moon reflected in it.

Finally, my heart slowed enough, and I got my wits
about me. “Why do I want you so much?”

Alec’s reaction was unexpected. He let out a hard
laugh and drew me against him. Then, he kissed the top of my head. Finally, he
answered me with a question.

“Don’t you know? Isn’t it like this for werebears
too?”

I shrugged. “How would I know that? I’m not a
werebear.”

“But, you’ve lived among them. Your parents . . .”

“My mother died having me. I don’t know how it was
between them. I know my dad was never the same after. My brother said he even
tried to kill himself in those first few weeks. Jaxson was only five, but he
says he remembers every second of that time and what came after.”

Alec smoothed a hair away from my forehead and
turned me toward him. “That’s because your father lost half of himself. I take
it your mother was human? Like you?”

I nodded.

“Well, then bears are more like wolves than you
think. They were fated mates.”

Buzzing filled my brain. There was that word again.
Fate. Loss of control. But there was something else too. The promise of sweet
submission. Joy. Belonging. An answer to a question I hadn’t known I needed. An
ache filled me, like some hollowed out space. Fated mates. Two halves of a
whole. My father wouldn’t talk about my mother to me. Not ever. Jaxson said it
hurt him too much.

Alec went very still beside me. Daring not even to
breathe, I think. But, he kept his solid arms around me. Waiting. I closed my
eyes against the truth and let out a breath. It was right there. In front of
me. Then curling around me like a blanket of stars. Alec’s eyes were in those
stars. They were in me.
He
was in me. Two halves of a whole. I’d gone
hollow for an instant, but when I finally opened my eyes again, I understood.
God help us both, I understood.

“You’re mine,” I said, swallowing hard past the lump
in my throat. Alec blinked back at me. His arms stayed around me, solid and
sure. I knew what he was doing. He couldn’t say the words. He couldn’t tell me
these things. It was something I had to know from within. And I did.

Finally, when I didn’t break his gaze, he slowly
nodded. “And you’re mine.” His voice choked when he said it. He shifted;
putting some space between us, he faced me.

“Oh, Alec, what the hell are we going to do about
it?”

Chapter Eleven

“How long have you known?” I said. I was pacing
along the beach now. In some far corner of my brain I knew I had to look like
he had the other night in the cabin. He sat on the beach with his knees drawn
up, his arms draped casually over them and his chin resting against his
forearms.

“The second I touched you. The second I
saw
you.”

“Well, why didn’t you
do
something about it?”
I flapped my hands wildly.

His low laughter sent waves of pleasure through me
at the same time it infuriated me. How could he be so calm?

“Well, fated mate or not, I’m not in the business of
forcing myself on women who don’t even know me. And I wasn’t looking for it. I
came here for a very specific purpose. I told you.”

“Right. The great Sebastian Lanier’s pack enforcer.
I got that. Well, that’s just terrific. If he’s so great why doesn’t he get his
ass down here and help us deal with Kane?”

“That’s the nuclear option. That’ll cause a full-on
pack war, and it’s not a decision Bas can make by himself.”

“Jesus. And that’s what Kane wants, isn’t it? You
start a war and he plans to finish it with the help of my father and the
bears.”

Alec nodded. “That’s the fix we’re in. Yes.”

“He won’t go for it. You’ve got to get to my father
and make him understand.”

Alec pulled himself to his feet and came to me. He
gripped my elbows and pulled me forward. “Olivia. I’ve seen your father.”

My heart stopped. The way Alec’s eyes went dark
couldn’t mean good news. “Oh, God. What is it? Tell me.”

His pursed his lips into a grim line. “Well, you
were right about his feelings on wolves right now. He’s gone feral. I got this
when I tried to talk to him.” He waved his hand over the gashes across his
chest. I sucked air through my teeth and rested my fingers against the healing
wounds. A strange sensation went through me. I felt horror for my father’s
cruelty. It wasn’t like him. Not this. At the same time, this brought me oddly
closer to him. His blood mixed with Alec’s just for an instant.

“I talked to some of the locals on Wild Ridge.” Alec
continued. “They say Caleb hasn’t shifted back to human in weeks. Months,
maybe. Right after your brother disappeared he retreated into his bear and
hasn’t come back out. Those closest to him are worried about him. And nobody up
there seems too interested in distinguishing Kane’s actions from the rest of
the Wild Lake wolves. Kane’s been smart about it. They’re spoiling for a
fight.”

“So what the hell do we do?”

Alec ran a hand along my arm. He was trying to
handle me. I didn’t like it one bit. I planted my feet into a wide stance and
crossed my arms in front of me. Alec reached forward and fingered the edges of
the scar on my neck. Pain came into his eyes and my skin prickled.

“Alec, what?”

“This is what makes things so damn complicated.”

“Why?”

Alec let out a breath. “Because, for the moment,
Kane has a claim on you. It’s . . . uh, pack law.”

“What?” Rage bubbled like lava beneath my skin. “I
told you. He
forced
this on me. I didn’t consent. You’re telling me this
is pack law? You can just bite any woman you want and that’s the end of it?”

“God. Olivia. No.” Alec’s wolf eyes glinted. His
skin shimmered and his shoulders rose up and rolled. My accusation brought his
own rage to the surface, and it took him a second to keep his wolf in check.
“No. What Kane did is
not
how
this
pack does things. I said for
the
moment
, he’s got a claim on you. We can break his mark. There are
options.”

“What options?” I took a step back and covered the
scar with my palm. My heart dropped to my feet. Alec didn’t have to say
anything for me to understand these
options
had to be drastic. And that
I wouldn’t like them one damn bit.

“Well, a mark can be broken if another wolf marks
you instead. That’s the quickest way, but probably the most dangerous. It’ll
bring the whole pack down on me.”

My throat went dry. “If another wolf marks me?” I
knew what he meant. A part of me cried out
yes
the moment he said it. But,
only part of me.

“I can’t.” I blurted it. “God. Alec. I can’t.”

“Olivia . . .”

“No!” Panic rose inside of me, making my breath
catch. I nearly lost my balance. Alec reached out and steadied me.

“Olivia. Calm down.”

Tears rolled down my cheeks. Alec’s eyes went wide
as though he too could feel the panic and pain inside of me. And in that instant
I knew he could. But, it didn’t make it any easier.

“Alec. I’m not ready. I can’t do it. Not now. Not
again.”

“Not even if it were me?”

“What? Of
course
it would have to be you.
That’s not even a question. But, God. I’ve spent six months with Kane . . .
inside
my head. Inside my heart. I can’t go from one wolf to the next. I need to find
me
again before I’m ready for something like that. And they’ll
kill
you!
You’re strong. You’re . . .
you.
But there are six of them. And they
want
you dead. I can feel their hate boiling off of them.”

Alec pulled me against him and kissed the top of my
head. “God. Shh. Olivia. Please don’t cry. Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.
I’m going to
make
it okay. That he fucking
put
you through that.
I will never do that to you. That’s a promise. If I mark you. Someday. It will
be
your
choice. Do you hear me?
You
choose. You’re safe with me.
On my life. You’re safe with me.”

My heartbeat slowed and calm settled over me again
in Alec’s strong arms. I
did
feel safe with him. Part of me hated that I
couldn’t just make things simple for him and say yes. As much as my head
recoiled from the idea of letting another wolf mark me, my heart told me
something very, very different. But, I couldn’t. Not yet. I wiped a tear away
and looked up at him.

“You said options. Plural. What else have you got?”

He smiled and kissed my forehead. “We take it to the
Alphas. They can make Kane release you if there’s evidence he marked you
without your consent. I told you, that’s not how this pack operates.”

“Evidence? You mean like in a court of law?

Alec laughed. “Well, not really a court exactly.
There’d be beer involved.”

“Alec!” I slapped his chest. He winced and I
remembered the healing claw marks. I covered my mouth with one hand and placed
the other more gently against his chest.

“And we like to grill,” he said. “Sometimes there’s
even cornhole.”

I laughed in earnest, snorting against his chest.

“Fine. I’ll go to beer court. When? How?”

Alec’s face grew serious again. “It has to be soon.
Now.”

Then, it was as if the stars had spies. Howls rose
to the east of us. Alec’s ears perked up and his eyes flashed blue.

“Shit. They’re coming this way.”

I squeezed him tight. Every time he came to me, it
got harder and harder to break away.

“Olivia, you have to come away with me.”

“But, Jax . . .”

He kept a firm grip on my shoulders but took a step
back and leaned down so we were eye to eye. “Listen to me. I think Jaxson’s
safer if I get you away from Kane. Not if you stay. If you’re gone, Jaxson’s
the only leverage Kane has with your father.”

The barks and howls grew closer. I could make out
Kane’s pulse among the pack. They were very close indeed. And we were out of
time.

“They’re too close,” I said, breathless. “We’ll
never outrun them. At least . . . I can’t.”

Alec gave me a grim nod. “You’re right. I fucking
hate it. But, you are.”

“What do we do?”

Alec leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine. “I
need a couple of days. You get back to the compound. Lay low. I’ll stay here
tonight. Close enough to get to you if Kane tries anything. Far enough away
they won’t suspect anything. I’ve been doing it for days and it’s been okay.
Fuck. What am I saying? It’s been torture for me being this close to you.
Knowing Kane’s close to you. But, I can do it.
We
can do it. Just for a
little while longer. Then, tomorrow morning I’m going to get reinforcements. My
own pack’s too far away, but there’s another pack on the other side of the
lake. I think I can convince them to come back with me. We’ll get you to the
Bonner farm. Neutral turf. Then we let the Alphas’ counsel decide.”

“Beer court?”

 He smiled and kissed me. “Beer court.”

“Okay.” I went up on my tiptoes and hugged him.
Leaving him this time was going to physically hurt. But, I could do it. I had
no choice.

“Stay safe,” he said, his voice grim. “Now go. Run.
I can keep the pack distracted like I did the last time. Get back there and
wait for me. No matter what happens. I’m coming back for you.”