The alphas were right. If they find out what you are… Do you have to take wolf form?” I asked. “They seem to like hunting down your animal forms. Your instincts overrule your human brains, and you fall into traps.”
His grin was slow forming, and I could see some of his beast in it. “Not wolves, love. I dunno what those other fellas are like, but us? There’s no difference between the wolf and me. He’s here, watching you, panting in the sunlight, and breathing in your scent right now. When I’m on four legs, I’m thinking of the fencing I need to do tomorrow and whether I left the kettle on. For you, there might be a distinction…” He picked up my hand and ran my fingers down the stubble on his cheek. “Skin or fur. But for us, there’s none.”
I gave myself a moment to just enjoy the feel of that, something that only made him smile more, but that was banished when I leant closer. Now that he mentioned it, I could see exactly what he meant. His eyes deepened to a hot copper colour, his lips parting, his nose breathing me in as I placed the gentlest of kisses on his mouth.
“Mmm…” he growled, low and dirty, a sound that felt like it stroked me with a velvet glove. His hand went to the back of my head, not forcing me in closer, but encouraging it, parting his lips, groaning when I did the same before making a very thorough inspection of my mouth. When he finally pulled away, he rested his forehead on mine. “We’ve gotta talk to Uncle Rob.”
“I know.”
“And probably the alphas. They’re gonna wanna talk to you in person.”
“I know. It’s why I was trying to find my phone.”
“I don’t want you going anywhere near that place anymore. The old men got what they wanted. Let's leave it at that. With your skills, you could get work in plenty of places in the valley. Leave Stuart and that mob to themselves.”
“No arguments from me. I do not want to go back there.” I swallowed hard, readying myself for what I had to say. “I’ll talk to Rob, the alphas too, but then I’ve got to go. That wolf, he said I was what they were looking for, Jai. Nan didn’t have a lot of details, but this is exactly what she used to talk about. People have hunted us down, pursued us to the ends of the earth. Hung us, burned us as witches, slit our throats—”
“You’re not going anywhere, love.” He was reining it in, but I could feel the power in his voice, tugging at me, pushing me down into the chair. “You’re with the pack, and we protect what’s ours. You wanna run out there, on your own, with someone who has those kinds of resources to find you? Or you gonna stick with us, where we can keep you safe? I know what your nan said, but she was never really a part of us, not like you are. She had her own ideas, her secret ways, I know that, but, Shan, no one’s moved us off this land. No one. Not the fucking government, not other clans. This is our place. We’re a part of it, and so are you. You were born here, so you’re tied to it like us. You coulda gone away to uni, got a job in the big smoke, but you stayed.” His thumb brushed over the back of my hand. “That’s what I told the old men, that you were no flighty girl, going hither and thither. That you’re with us.”
Did he know how much it hurt, to hear him say every damn thing I’d ever wanted to hear, being sweet and warm and protective? My chest felt hollow and achy as I heard the words. But it didn’t matter. His people had their ways, I had mine and we ran. What he wanted… What he was offering… I wanted it so much. He leant back in his chair, fishing out his phone, a study in power and elegance as he called Rob. I listened to him and the truncated responses he made to the other man until the call ended.
“C’mon. He’ll meet us around his place.”
“Coffee or tea, love?” Beth asked, bustling around the kitchen when we sat down. I watched her pull down the big biscuit tin she kept in the top cupboard and knew they were taking this