Dirk shot her a wide grin. “Brilliant.”
“But why?” Dora asked Rave.
She smirked. “Besides pissing off our enemy? For magic, of course. We plan to find and welcome any witches to our society.” She glanced at Dirk and turned to Dora. “You, of course, will be more than welcome to our rookery.”
“The what?”
“Our home. We build them hidden on cliffs, unbeknownst to humans.”
Dirk hardened his grip on her. “No, Dora has agreed to live in my territory.”
“I have?”
Damn. She never agreed to be his mate. He gave her a sheepish smile. “We’ll discuss this later.” Dora’s countenance brightened, perhaps in relief that he wanted her and not Rave.
“You haven’t heard?” Rave asked.
He furrowed his brow. “Enlighten me; I’ve been out of the loop for a bit.”
“We’re going to be neighbors. My father has agreed to share Yosemite with your pack and other members of the Consortium. In fact most of my raven brethren have already made the move.”
“That’s good news,” said Dirk. Living with other shifters would no doubt cause the Benandanti to remove their alliance with the Arbor packs. Dora would be safe.
Rave scoffed. “Well I hate to rain dogs and cats, I mean wolves and black cats on your parade, but Theo and his two beta goons are determined to find you. Without the Bloodstone, they decided to locate your next of kin. A brother right?” She fidgeted with a chained raven medallion. “Any who, he’s on his way to perhaps coerce him into revealing your location.”
Dora covered her mouth. “No.” She met his eyes and pleaded. “We need to get to Josh before the assholes gets to the sanctuary.”
Rave smiled. “Don’t worry, sweets, I found Theo near the capital last night and flattened his tires. He’s delayed until he can find another vehicle.”
Dora looked dejected. “That won’t be hard, considering most vehicles still have the keys in the ignition.”
Dirk narrowed his gaze. “Do the king and queen know of your involvement?”
“They offered a reward for the first to steal the Bloodstones from the Benandanti.” She wrinkled her brow and huffed. “My parents are going to kill me.”
Dirk raised a brow. “Why?”
“My parents didn’t know it was me who snuck into Valeray’s pack. I figured since they are forcing me into a loveless marriage, why not kick some Benandanti ass before the wedding? You can thank me anytime, witch.”
Dora brushed her hair back and met her eyes. “Thanks.”
Rave shot a look at Dora and then her neck. She gaped.
Dora touched her neck. “What’s wrong?”
Dirk released Dora from his hold. “Babe, let me have a word with Rave. Alone.”
She frowned at him. “Don’t ‘babe’ me. I’ll be by the bike, keeping an eye out for incoming.”
He drew her in and gave her a quick kiss. “Get on the bike; I’ll be back in a second.”
Rave waited until they were far enough away from hearing and chuckled. “Your mate is the jealous type, but then again I would be too if you were mine.”
“You must keep silent about this.”
“Keep your fur on, I’m not going to tell. It’ll be much more fun to watch this all unfold. An alpha taking a witch as a mate, holy shit. This is big.”
He sighed heavily. “No kidding.”
She shot him a flirtatious grin and raised her voice. “Ooh, baby that’s one hell of a love bite, practically covers her entire neck.”
“Shh. Humans are not deaf.” Good thing, Dora agreed to no ESP.
Rave glanced at Dora. “Don’t worry, she’s too… Wait a minute. Does she know?”
“No, not yet.”
“You mated her without asking?” She scoffed. “And I thought I had a forced marriage.”
He looked at his boots as guilt scorched his heart. “Damn it, I fought it, but my wolf couldn’t resist and then in the heat of the moment…”
“You don’t think she’s preggers?”
“Of course not. She wasn’t ovulating but even if she had been, I doubt I could’ve stopped.”
“Actually, I think it’d be so awesome. After a thousand years, it’s about time.”
“This is serious. We have enough excitement without adding a dragon to it. Now that we’re mates, I can at least control myself, knowing she’s mine.”
“Well at least she’s into you.”
“The thing is, she and I can communicate telepathically but we agreed not to unless we’re in danger.”
“That’s so cool.” She cocked her head, very raven like. “But why only use it during danger?”
“I just don’t feel comfortable having her read my thoughts.”
“She would know you made her your mate, forever.” She shuddered. “I’m not looking forward to my parents’ idea of a perfect match, mostly because we know we’re not meant for each other. Then there’s always the question on my mind, is my true mate out there?”
“So why go through with it?”
She shrugged. “Politics.”
He smiled. “I can’t say I blame you for rebelling. I don’t care if Dora is a witch or just plain human, from the moment I met her in the underground lab I knew she might be the one.”
“Underground lab?”
“Long story, but yeah, Jaeger captured me and sold me to a mad scientist working on a zombie cure.”
She glanced past Dirk to Dora. “We better go back, before she unleashes her witch powers on us.”
He pointed a finger. “Not a word.”
“Okay but…”
“I plan to ask her brother for permission to court her and then I’ll get her an engagement ring.”
“I can’t believe you’re the same womanizing wolf who folks placed bets would never settle down.” She traced a long fingernail along his biceps and sighed with a disheartened shrug. “Hell, even I had plans to seduce you when you returned.”
Dirk glanced at Dora. She watched, but quickly turned away and began dusting her helmet. He glared at Rave, who got the message and stepped away.
She smiled. “Sorry. I can’t resist eye candy.”
“Who knew I would fall so hard? Look at her, she’s so delicate-looking and on the slender side but I tell you, I find her curves hotter than hell.” He smirked at Rave. “Even hotter than you.”
She frowned as they walked toward his unknowing mate. “Ouch. I hate that mirror, mirror on the wall who is the fairest crap. I agree though, she’s beautiful, for a human, that is.”
Dora was organizing the trunk as if it would be inspected for neatness. “So are you guys done discussing your shifter secrets?”
Dirk noted her hurt expression and felt like an ass. He waved, unassuming. “Nah, just boring Consortium business. Doc, give her your brother’s location and she’ll fly and alert my pack to help.”
Dora narrowed her eyes at him. “Sure.”
She must know he was stretching the truth. For a human, she was perceptive. He scratched his head and turned to Rave. “Let Sierra know. She’ll see to the rest. In fact, convince Falco to bring his helicopter.”
“That would be great.” Dora gazed at Rave. “Can you?”
Rave nodded. “I’ll fly non-stop. Before my parents discover I left alone.”
Dora grabbed a scrap of paper from the trunk, quickly drew a map and wrote the address. “Here. By the way, how old are you?”
Rave took the note and quirked a smile. “Why do you ask?”
“Sounds like you left home without Mommy and Daddy’s permission.”
Rave slipped the paper down her cleavage and laughed. “I’m twenty-two.” She rolled her eyes. “Not that I care to explain further but a raven princess rarely travels without her bodyguards.”
Dora strained a smile. “Well, Princess Ravenna, be careful.”
Rave bowed her head and approached Dirk. She signaled for him to lean down to whisper, “Wolf, I need to tell you something for your ears only.”
He frowned and lowered his head, thinking she was going to add something more about his choice of a mate. Instead, the little vixen bit into his mouth and ravished him with a hard kiss. His eyes widened and before he could push her away, she broke away and smiled. “Umm. That was hot!”
Dirk shot Dora a shrug and wondered if his face was redder than hers. His was embarrassment, her's anger. He scowled at Rave. “What was that all about?”
Rave glanced at Dora with a mischievous smile. “I have a thing for brawny werewolves.” The flirtatious shifter stuck out her tongue. “I even removed my silver stud.” She stepped away and in seconds became a raven. The beautiful sleek black bird with purple eyes fluffed her feathers, cawed, and flew off, heading north.
****
Dora was torn. She was happy they were closer to her family, but hurting. Why hadn’t Dirk told her he and the sexy raven shifter were lovers? She turned her back to him and grabbed her helmet before he noticed how upset she was. He was a werewolf. She thought of all those terms, wolfish smile, wolf whistle, big bad wolf and alpha male to name a few. Did she expect anything different? A paw rather than a hand touched her shoulders. His claws had emerged as if on high alert or more likely because he was turned on.
Dirk gently turned her around and met her eyes. “Come on, Dora, I know you’re jealous. There’s not much you can hide from a wolf.”
She narrowed him a sharp gaze. “That’s right. A wolf.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Look, all I care about is finding Josh and Mel. Nothing more. This fairytale fantasy of a happily ever after has gone on long enough!”
He raked his red hair back. “Dora, Rave has a…reputation.”
She shrugged. “I’m not being judgmental. And that’s not the point.”
“And furthermore she loves causing trouble, almost begging to be spanked.”
“Well then, perhaps you should volunteer to discipline her.”
He silenced her with a furrowed brow before continuing, “She’s the shifter equivalent of the rebellious child. Her parents worry. The naughty raven has had a thing for werewolves since she was a fledgling. This is why they’re anxious to marry her off to a proper raven prince.”
She raised her hand. “Honestly, not my problem. Go for it. I’m all for mixed marriages.”
He laughed. “Good, because so am I.” He drew her in and gave her a smoldering kiss.
She tried to wiggle away but her resolve melted and she sucked his tongue hard then bit his lip, crossing the line between passion and punishment. Instead of shocking him into letting her go, he growled in what must be wolfish pleasure and slammed his hand on her rump, lifting, pulling her in and ravishing her roughly with a possessive kiss. His iron hardness pressed against her and he provocatively gyrated on the apex of her legs, making her squirm at the edge of release.
He finally released her and licked the blood on his lip. “Woman, if we weren’t in a hurry, I’d fuck you right here.”
She huffed and sputtered. “Well…I… As soon as we reach Josh there are a few things I need to settle between us.”
“Agreed. Let’s go.”
They hit the road. He raced up the freeway while dodging abandoned vehicles. Occasionally, a zombie turned to look as they passed.
She thought about reading his thoughts, but he would know immediately and she’d come across like a jealous bitch, which of course she was. Yeah, the sex was great and they got along so well, but she didn’t have any claim on him. He was a werewolf with a soft heart, the kind that rescued puppies and humans. Whom was she kidding? She was a witch, forbidden from marrying an alpha werewolf and creating wizard monsters. He had to marry a shifter. Why not Rave? She obviously was not a happy camper about her forced marriage. Was it Dirk the raven princess really wanted? Maybe she’d have a sham of a marriage and have an affair with Dirk anyway. He’d probably keep Rave on the side, marry a werewolf to have cubs and it would be one big feathery, furry, happy family. The so-called mate for life thing was probably a fable. She fingered her scarred neck. The look on Rave’s face said it all,
You had sex with my wolf.
Josh would
help her mend her broken heart. He always had with a shopping spree that ended with a Champagne dinner. He called it the
“
Getting rid of the loser celebration.”
The problem was Dirk was no loser. He was better than great, at least in the love den. Anyway, could their casual sex be classified as official dating? She turned her attention away from her emotional tailspin and focused on any sign of danger.
Zombies, road gangs and bad werewolves, oh my
.
The forest road turned curvy and she kept her eyes from the sheer cliffs. Soon the sun would set. The advantage of having a werewolf as a driver was his night vision.
Finally, they turned on to a wider road along pastures and drove into a hidden fenced area. A sign hung along the broken gate, The Shangri-La Endangered Cat Breeding Program and Sanctuary.
Dirk pulled over, got off and flared his nostrils. A growl escaped in rage.
She leapt off and joined him. “What’s wrong?”
“Werewolves.”
She shuddered, her voice shaky. “Good ones or…”
“The Benandanti.”
Chapter 16
Dora’s legs wobbled, and if not for Dirk’s steady hand, she would have fallen. “Are you sure?” She sniffed. What was she doing? It’s not like she was a hound or that werewolves smelled like skunks.
“We all have a unique scent. Theo’s is a wet dog stench. He and his betas are here or were here.”
She swallowed hard. “We need to go in. I won’t let them hurt Josh and Mel.”
“No! You are going to fly up a tree and not come down until I say so.”
“I’m not a member of your pack you can order around!”
“Dora, the odds are three to one. I may not be able to protect you.” He paced and raked his hair. “But I will die trying!”
Die? No. She would not let that happen. “Look, I appreciate you brought me this far, but after this…”
He drew her in, planted a hard kiss on her lips then let go. “Damn it woman, don’t you know how much you mean to me?” He turned and stared at the opened gate.
She touched her lips, feeling the heat of his possessive smoldering kiss. Did the wolf really want her long term? What about sexy Rave?
She jumped back on the bike. “I can fly if I need to.”
His fangs and claws sprang out in his “Wolverine” mode. He growled toward the brush.