don’t worry. Focus on me, okay? I don’t think you’re cursed. It’s just this place. You can’t help it.”
He pulled me close, holding on for dear life. I shushed and murmured reassuring things in his ear, stroking the back of his head. His skin was hot on mine—hotter than I’d ever felt it before. I was his anchor. The moon pulled and demanded his attention, his wolf side, but I could bring them both back down. As long as he stayed with me, he was safe.
“Come on,” I said once his breathing had calmed some, “let’s go back and get some sleep. I don’t want Alex to worry.”
“Will you stay with me?” he asked. Terror sat in his eyes, knowing that if I went away, he’d lose himself again.
“Of course I will.” I smiled at him under the moonlight. “I’m your mate, remember?”
His face lit up like I’d just said the magic words to banish the moon and its influence forever. Then it softened and he kissed my hand tenderly.
We walked back to the barn hand in hand, and I hoped Alex had enough sense to keep his mouth shut.
I awoke to sunlight streaming through the high set barn windows. Alex was stretched out on the floor across the room with his hat over his eyes in classic cowboy fashion. I had slept all night lying on Wolf, my head comfortably on his chest listening to his heart beat at least twice as fast as my own. His arms were tucked around me snugly like a child—or perhaps a dog—holding his favorite toy. I rubbed my cheek over the soft fabric of his shirt and sighed in content. Two nights of blissful sleep in a row. More than I could hope for in a place like this. Wolf shifted a little, letting out a tiny huff. I smiled. For a brief moment I wished there was no demonic magic beast, that this wasn’t a rescue mission. I wished that I’d just met a man—it was okay if he was a half-wolf—and was on vacation with him. Happy. Maybe even…
His eyes opened and for a second they flashed red before returning to their normal hazel color. My little daydream faded. He looked down on me and grinned rakishly.
“Good morning, my sweet.”
“Morning. Are you feeling a little better?”
He lifted his head and inhaled deeply. “Much better.” His hands squeezed me where they rested. He sighed, rumbling deep in his chest. “So plump and juicy and delicious. I’ll bet your heart is sweet and tender. I’m so hungry…”
I pushed myself off him immediately. “Okay then, time for breakfast. Alex!”
Alex bolted upright, his eyes still half closed. “What?”
“We need to eat.”
We kept breakfast short since I wanted to spend as much of the day as possible looking for Marianne. I focused on putting together a large meal for Wolf though. The last thing I wanted was for him to get too hungry while we were away and start wandering the fields looking for sheep.
“We’re going to the village now,” I told him while Alex peered outside. “Are you going to be good by yourself?”
He was mellower than yesterday, but mellow in a different way. He kept his head a little lower, his smile darker, more dangerous. His eyes, though they weren’t gold or red, still held an unpleasant element, as though he craved everything. I shuddered.
“Yes,” he said, his voice low and smooth as silk. He slipped his hands around my waist. “I’ll be very, very good. So good, I wouldn’t hurt a wood mouse.”
He grinned, his canines sharp in the sunlight. I wondered if the Wolf I knew was even in there somewhere. I nodded absentmindedly and patted him on the chest.
“Good. That’s…good. We’ll be back if we find anything.”
He dipped his head and inhaled again, licking my neck and then grazing his teeth over my skin. The sharp points of his fangs scraped lightly over my flesh.
I pushed him away, breathing hard, frightened and yet aroused all at once. He stared back, unblinking, running his tongue over his lips. His intensity was almost too much to bear. That it excited me was a bit disturbing.
“Be good,” I breathed. It was all I could say. Then I retreated out of the barn, sliding the lock home behind me.
For the entire day Alex and I scoured the town. We asked people about strange occurrences, anything at all that seemed out of the ordinary. No one had anything to say. We looked for tracks. We