His Wolf (Wolf of My Heart) (15 page)

Erik and I then got into his Jeep and drove through the woods until we found a black Suburban that just might've been the vehicle that ran me off the road. The keys were in the ignition, as promised. I drove the Jeep back to the cabin with Erik following behind, the powerful engine roaring. What happened next was a trial of endurance and strength for both of us. The
Weres
had clearly talked while we were gone and decided to make things as difficult as possible. So getting them into their Suburban was hell.

But we did it with the aid of one of the weapons they'd brought with them.

Erik next unloaded all those weapons and put them and the knives and wallets we found in a plastic zip bag. He went outside and threw all the ammo into the trees, bullet-by-bullet and in different directions. No one would be stumbling across them anytime soon.

I followed Erik in the Jeep as he drove the SUV out of his woods and a good twenty miles through mountainous back roads. Deeper and deeper into the wilderness we went, so far that I thought we'd never get there. He finally pulled into a deserted area that he'd clearly known existed, though how, I didn't know. But we certainly hadn't wasted any turns on our journey to it.

Erik killed the engine and got out, locking the doors with the remote dangling from the key chain.
Blip.
He caught my eye, showed me the bag of weapons, and pointed into the woods. When I nodded, he walked out of sight. What felt like an eternity later, he stepped out of the woods empty handed, but nowhere near his entry
point.
In fact, he was now on the other side of the road. I crawled over the console so he could slide behind the wheel. He put the Jeep in reverse and got us out of there.

Chapter Eleven

"What did you do with the guns?"

"Scattered and hid them. Got that business card?"

"It's back at the cabin."

The clock on Erik's dash said 5:00 a.m. by the time we got home. After we swept up all the shredded clothing on the floor, I dug the required card out of my sports bag and borrowed Erik's cell phone.

"Ben
DeLuca
."

"It's Bronte
Hannigan
, Mr.
DeLuca
. Sorry to call so late,
er
, early, but I want to report a werewolf attack." I didn't give him a chance to respond before I gave him the details.

"And they were after a laptop, you say?"

"Yes. There's information on it that they want. I'm thinking you might want it, too. Do you want me to mail it or something?"

"Actually, I currently have a man in the Missouri area. I believe you met him: Levi Crane."

A picture of the young man in question popped into my head--
DeLuca's
partner and one of the two men in black. "I remember."

"I'll have him call you and set a time to meet if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure."
I gave him Erik's number and ended the call.

To say I felt relieved didn't begin to go there. My mood was almost giddy and apparently infectious. At any rate, when Erik turned on his iPod and hooked it into an external speaker, he grinned really big and did some fancy footwork to "
SexyBack
." Since Justin Timberlake was just my
fav
, I joined him. Though we probably looked like idiots, I honestly didn't care as we dirty danced to some very suggestive lyrics.

When the song ended, we both collapsed on the couch, laughing like the crazies we were. Erik lay back, pulling me on top of him, which put me half on and half off the cushions. We began to kiss again and again, with each one more intense than the last. It was heaven. I loved that Erik liked to make out. The few guys I'd dated for any length of time
seemed to think of kisses as obligatory, insignificant time wasters designed to get them into my pants a little quicker. Erik wasn't like that.

Lost to the sensation of his lips pressed to mine again and again, I knew that it would be so easy for me to love him. In fact, I probably already did. And it didn't take much imagination to picture him loving me back. He certainly knew how to make me feel cherished.

"I have an idea," I said, stealing a moment to rest my cheek on his shoulder.

Erik changed our positions a little, putting me on my side with my whole body now on the cushions. His eyes looked very dark and a little mysterious. "Which is?"

"Let's shift together and explore the woods."

Those dark eyes began to gleam. He gave me a wicked sexy smile.
"Excellent plan."

We got up and began tossing clothes and Band-Aids, actions as intimate as sex, at least in my inexperienced opinion. I know we never took our eyes off one another. Was that indecent, obscene even?
Maybe.
But it didn't feel that way. Maybe it was a pack thing. We
were
a pack, after all--a pack of two. Erik opened the door so we could get outside. I blew him a kiss and shifted. He quickly did the same.

Hitting the woods with Erik-wolf was an indescribable joy I knew I'd never forget. We ran for miles, stopping to explore and even rest when the notion struck. And though we didn't have the Hollywood magic of reading each other's thoughts, I could have sworn I still knew what he was feeling. Erik-wolf led me to a cliff that overlooked a misty valley. I could see that storm clouds had begun to build in the northwest sky and even smelled snow in the air.

Exhilarated, we stood so close together our bodies touched and watched the weather change dramatically right before our eyes. By the time we got back to the cabin around 6:00 Wednesday night, I knew two things: it was about to snow again and I was really and truly in love with Erik. But was he in love with me? That was a feeling I hadn't picked up from him in either form.

We shifted into our human selves and took turns in the bathroom, cleaning up and dressing. I noticed all my bites were almost healed, but didn't give that miracle a second thought. Apparently that went along with the territory.  Since Erik let me go first, I was in the kitchen making dinner by the time he came out of his bedroom looking like a
GQ
model
in jeans, a sweater, and bare feet. We sat across from each other at his table for four. "I seem to be healing very quickly these days."

"Is that a goddess thing or a wolf thing?"

"I honestly have no idea.  Maybe it's an Erik thing."

"Yeah, right.
Just call me Dr. Wolf," Erik said around a bite of ham sandwich.  "Guess I should research wolves now that I am one."

"I did that, myself, once upon a time."

"So you could probably answer my questions."

I shrugged.
"Maybe."

"Okay. Are wolves a protected species?"

"Some are.
Depends on what area of the country and their species.
Grays are almost extinct in some states."

"You're a gray."

"Yes."

"Don't go extinct on me."

"I might've this morning if you hadn't been around."

Erik closed his eyes for a moment as if blocking an image of just that. "And I'd never have gotten over it."

I scoffed at his words. "Believe
me,
you'd have gotten over it."

Dead silence followed that, but not because Erik was eating. He looked deep into my eyes, but it was a vacant stare.
Almost as if his thoughts were so far away that he wasn't really seeing me.
"Is it true wolves mate for life?"

My breath caught in my throat. He
would
go there. "According to everything I've read they do. Things are a little trickier with werewolves.
Guessing here, by the way.
I honestly don't know anything for sure. But I'm thinking the man and woman involved would have to be attracted to each other as wolves and as humans."

Erik visibly shifted gears. I had his attention now. "I agree. Nothing else would work. Have you met your mate?"

"I don't know.
Maybe."

His shock was obvious, which meant he hadn't expected that answer. I could only imagine what he must be thinking. The two of us had made out for ages, after all, which was not something a girl-wolf with a maybe mate should ever do.

"In Houston?"

I shook my head. "Didn't I tell you? The pack there didn't know I'd been bitten much less what I looked like. All our business was done over the phone. And those guys that broke in this morning? They didn't know, either. I don't think that many females have been turned. I might've been the only one ever, in fact. At any rate, Yarbrough didn't tell a soul as far as I know."

"So where'd you meet this maybe mate of yours?"

With my heart pounding in my chest, I went for it.
"In a forest very
very
nearby.
I'd gotten my
wolfy
right paw caught in a stupid steel trap. He came out of nowhere and set me free--a human guy that no she-wolf should love since that would bestiality." I wrinkled my nose.
"Big
ew
."

Erik kept his face straight, but I saw a twinkle in his eye. "So what'd you do?"

"The only thing I could do--bit him to see if I liked him as much in wolf form."

"Did you?"

"Oh yeah and then some."

He squirmed a little. "And this wolf guy loves you back?"

"You tell me." I pushed my plate aside and leaned forward a little, breathlessly waiting for his reply.

Erik leaned forward, too, and touched my cheek. "If there was such a thing as a life mate--
and  I
seriously doubt there is--you would be first on my list of candidates."

"So forever is hard for you believe?"

"Let's just say the concept feels more like someone's wishful thinking than anyone's actual reality.  I'm sure my parents' multiple marriages have something to do with it, though I'm not blaming them.  I've had my share of girlfriends that didn't work out."

I couldn't hold back my sigh. "Death-do-us-part commitment is a little hard to imagine, isn't it?"

"Yeah.
Tricky for wolves; impossible for humans, at least in my experience.
So while I'm pretty sure you're kidding about finding your wolf-slash-human forever-after mate, I appreciate your plugging me into the role even as a joke."

So he thought I'd been teasing him. Taking the exit he'd so gallantly offered me, I pretended I
had
been kidding.
"Just trying to keep things light.
Though it might make us both feel better about our chemistry, and don't you dare deny we have some."

"I wouldn't. I can't. We've got some all right, which is probably why I can't keep my hands to myself."

I patted myself down as if feeling for the roving hands that were not on my body. "What are you talking about? There are no boy hands on this girl."

"That's because you're sitting there, and I'm sitting here."

I practically crawled across the table to kiss him.

He returned the kiss, but then slid his chair back to stand. "Now that we're on the same page, we really don't have to rush things."

I plopped back into my chair. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we both understand that what we're feeling is mutual. And since it is, we're okay to fully experience each new emotional stage as we possibly progress toward--"