How Do I Love Thee? (13 page)

Kaeden glared at Ross, effectively shutting him up. Then he turned the same glare on Tori. ‘Next time wait for me.’

She shrugged. ‘Why? I knew it was Ross.’

‘Because you didn’t know whether he was on his own or not. What if someone had a gun to his head to get you to open that door?’

She tried to placate him. ‘I won’t do it again, okay? I didn’t think.’

‘Well, next time listen to me. I’m in charge until this is all sorted out.’

Tori pointed her finger at his nose. ‘You’re not my boss and there is no way in hell some wolfman is telling me what to do.’

‘Quit it, you two.’ Ross’s voice cut across their argument. ‘You sound like a pair of squabbling cubs.’

Tori groaned. Ross was right. ‘Sorry, I don’t …’ Her words petered out as Ross’s reprimand filtered into her brain. ‘What did you just say?’

He frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

Tori backed up a pace. She had a funny feeling she was about to hear something she’d rather not. ‘Cubs?’

‘Yeah, cubs. As in juvenile members of the pack.’

She backed up even further, her feet taking her into the living room. When she felt the couch behind her, she flopped down. Hands clutched at the fabric cover as she steeled herself to look at Kaeden.

‘You were a wolf.’ Her voice was a mere whisper of sound. ‘Then you were a man.’

Ross flicked his gaze from one to the other before sidling up to Kaeden. ‘I thought you’d told her,’ he said in a lowered voice. ‘Why else are you starkers under that strip of cloth?’

‘Someone had better tell me real soon,’ Tori snapped. ‘But first … Kaeden, get some damn clothes on.’

With a grimace, Kaeden opened the front door and retrieved his overnight bag. Pulling a pair of black sweatpants out, he stepped into them, dragging them up over lean hips before discarding the table runner. When he was covered, he joined Tori on the couch. Ross chose to prop himself up against the sideboard.

She glared at each of them in turn. ‘Who’s going to start?’

‘Tori luv, I wanted to tell you years ago, but the doctor wouldn’t let us. He said your memories would come back on their own, that it would cause further trauma if we forced things, so we waited.’

‘Hang on a moment.’ She frowned. ‘You’re confusing me. I know what
I’m
talking about—Kaeden changing from a wolf to human—but what are
you
talking about?’

‘I’m not strictly a human,’ Kaeden interrupted. ‘I’m a shapeshifter.’

Tori wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t deny what she’d witnessed earlier. She closed her eyes and rubbed at her
forehead, trying to get her mind around this. ‘You’re a werewolf? I thought they were just myths.’

‘Not a werewolf, a shifter, able to assume the shape of an animal. In my case it’s the wolf.’

‘So every full moon you turn into a wolf?’

‘No, we’re not moon-bound. We can change at will any time during the lunar cycle.’

‘Kaeden is the leader, the Alpha of our pack,’ Ross interrupted.

‘
Our
pack? Are you telling me you’re one of these shifters, too?’ She bit her lip to contain the bubble of hysteria rising inside her. She felt as if she’d fallen into a nightmare. How could shapeshifters exist? ‘How can you keep something like this a secret?’

‘If we’re seen, it’s dismissed as rumour or fantasy, like the yowie or the Tasmanian tiger. Besides, most of the people in this area are shifters.’

‘I should be running screaming from the room in terror right about now,’ Tori said. ‘My adopted father just told me he changes shape whenever he feels like it and most of the people I know can do the same. Any sane person would have reacted by now, but I just sit here, taking it all in, and you know what’s mind-boggling? I actually think deep down I already knew something was different about you all.’

Ross drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘There’s one other thing, Tori. Your mum was a shifter, too.’

Tori reared back, staring at both Kaeden and Ross. ‘If I hadn’t seen Kaeden change with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed such a thing was possible. Now you’re telling me my mother …’

‘It’s true. Before the accident you knew she was a shifter, saw her change shape often.’

She knew Ross wasn’t kidding. It was all there on his face. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

Ross knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. ‘When we realised you had no memory of your earlier life, we hoped when you hit puberty you’d change like the rest of the cubs and then you’d know, but it didn’t happen.’

‘That car accident was engineered,’ Kaeden interjected. ‘Your parents weren’t supposed to die. You were.’

‘
Me?
Why?’ She blew out a sharp breath.
Okay, Tori, now it’s time to panic.

‘You’re a half-breed. Some of the shifter communities didn’t believe mixed-blood children should live.’

Tori pushed to her feet and sidestepped Ross. She marched over to the window fronting the drive and pulled the curtain back. It was pitch black outside. ‘Is that why I didn’t change when I hit puberty? Because I’m not a full-blood?’

Ross joined her at the window. ‘We don’t know, Tori. It could have been the memory loss, or maybe you won’t ever change.’

She leaned her head against his chest. ‘I wish you’d told me. I had a right to know.’

He wrapped his arm about her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, luv. I did what I thought was right at the time.’

‘Here’s another question.’ She pulled back so she could watch both men. ‘What’s all this got to do with someone trying to grab me now?’

Kaeden stood and picked his way through the broken china. Hands on his hips, he paused before her, larger than life. Tori could fully believe in that moment that he was the Alpha of a pack of shapeshifting wolves.

‘Liam Drasser wants you for his mate,’ Kaeden said. ‘The full-blooded women aren’t breeding. They can fall pregnant, but they miscarry before full term. For some reason, only the half-breeds are producing cubs that live beyond birth.’

Tori struggled to get her mind around what he was saying. ‘That’s who tried to snatch me at the supermarket? Liam Drasser?’

‘And he’ll keep trying, but he won’t succeed.’

‘Who’s going to stop him?’

‘I will.’ Kaeden grabbed her right hand and turned it over, exposing the wrist. ‘See that mark?’

She stared at the crude shape etched into her wrist. A mark she couldn’t even remember getting. Scar tissue had stretched and reshaped it over time, but it was still noticeable.

Kaeden held out his own wrist to show a matching mark. ‘Liam won’t get you because you’re already spoken for. Our parents performed the bonding ceremony when we were children. You’re my mate, Tori Mason, the mother of my future children, and no-one takes what’s mine.’

‘Are you okay?’ Ross patted her hand as if to comfort her.

Tori gave a harsh laugh. When she heard the faint edge of hysteria, she grimaced.
Don’t lose it now, Tori.
‘I’ve just been told I’m part wolf. Oh, and on top of that, I’ve suddenly become everyone’s favourite broodmare. I need time to think.’

‘I’m not certain you have that luxury.’ Before Ross could say anything more, his mobile phone rang. He fetched it out of his pocket and held it to his ear, listening but not replying. He ended the call, still without a word.

‘I’d better get back to the stables. The boys saw some movement on the south boundary.’ He turned to open the front door. ‘Probably nothing.’

‘Or it could be Drasser. Tell the guys to be on the watch and hold their attack until the bastard tries something. We need to catch him in the act.’

Ross nodded and slipped from the house, the door closing behind him with a small snick.

Tori engaged the deadbolt again. ‘It’s all true?’

‘Afraid so.’ Kaeden crouched beside his overnight bag and extracted a flashlight. He headed for the kitchen and flicked off the light. Then he did the same in the living room.

Tori closed her eyes to allow them to adjust to the dark. When she opened them, Kaeden was moving towards her. Amazing how well she could see him, despite the blackness of the room. She’d always had good night vision. Maybe now she’d discovered the reason. ‘Because I’m part wolf,’ she whispered.

‘Sorry?’ Kaeden stopped directly in front of her, resting one hand against the wall beside her head.

‘Doesn’t matter.’

A shiver feathered down Tori’s spine as Kaeden’s warm breath fanned the side of her face. All she had to do was turn her head a fraction and his lips would meet hers. Lord, she wanted to so badly.

But do you want it badly enough to let him turn you into his breeding machine?

She no longer needed to make the decision. Kaeden cupped her cheek in his large palm and tilted her face towards his.

‘It’s all right, Tori. We can sort all this out after we’ve mated.’

She tried to pull back, but he slipped his hand under the fall of her hair and grasped the back of her neck.

‘I’m not marrying you.’

‘Why not? I know you want me.’

‘You arrogant ass. Whatever gave you that idea?’

He shook her slightly. ‘Lady, I can smell the arousal on you whenever I come near. One thing you have to learn. Wolves—the shapeshifting variety—have an acute sense of smell.’

A surge of heat rushed up over Tori’s face. How mortifying. She set out to try to recover some ground. ‘Nothing but old-fashioned lust.’
Liar!
‘You don’t turn me on that much and one round of horizontal tango should cure me. Besides, the idea of marriage to you leaves me cold. I have no desire to tie myself to a mini-despot. Ah, sorry, that’s Alpha with a capital A, isn’t it?’

His face tightened. A muscle near his mouth ticked. His eyes narrowed.
Good one, Tori. Great way to piss off a wolf.
He growled.

Tori’s eyes widened and a little grin kicked up the corners of her mouth. He’d growled?
Dead set, Tori, he actually growled.
She chuckled. Odds were, he thought she’d cringe with fear at the feral sound, but she was more amused at the idea of bossy Kaeden O’Dowell growling like a puppy.

‘Think it’s funny, do you?’ He pulled her into his arms. ‘I don’t turn you on much, huh? Why don’t we see?’

Before Tori could think of a comeback, Kaeden slanted his mouth over hers. She fought the pressure, determined not to give in. Then his mouth gentled. He lapped at the tight seam of her lips, ran the tip of his tongue around the outline and silently demanded she open to him.

Tori’s resistance dissolved in a heartbeat. She opened her mouth, a shudder rippling through her when he took her invitation. He teased. Sucked. Joined them together in a carnal dance that drove her crazy. Heat exploded in the pit of her stomach. Flowed out to fill her veins with molten fire. Her heart pounded, hard enough it was a wonder it didn’t crash through the cage of her ribs.

She pressed closer, sliding her hands up the naked expanse of his chest. When she reached his shoulders, she snaked her arms around his neck and held on as her world teetered out of control. Kaeden widened his stance, brought her into the cradle of his thighs.

Hunger raged through her. A moan caught in her throat, a breathy, needy sound that shocked her for a moment.
Oh, Tori, when are you going to admit that you need this man? And not just for a quick roll in the hay
.

A sharp sound echoed through the room. It took her a minute to surface from the maelstrom of emotions inside
her. Kaeden reacted with razor-sharp instincts, dragging Tori down to her knees. Then he eased the bottom of the curtain up a fraction of an inch and peered out into the darkness.

Tori heard more furtive sounds coming from outside. Her heart still pounded in her chest, but now it was fear that drove it.

Kaeden dropped down beside her and put his mouth close to her ear. ‘It’s Liam Drasser,’ he whispered. ‘And I’ve no doubt the rest of his pack are hovering around out there, too.’

‘What do we do?’ she mouthed.

‘
You
stay inside where it’s safe.
I’ll
deal with Drasser.’

He stripped off his sweatpants. The air shimmered and snapped around him. Flickers of light splashed from his body to show the transformation from man to beast. With a final burst, the power of the Change disappeared and the charcoal-grey wolf stood in his place.

An awed breath gusted from Tori’s mouth. Kaeden turned amber eyes on her and his mouth stretched into a grin, exposing large, curved canine teeth. He padded closer, swiped his long pink tongue down her cheek, and approached the window. Front paws braced on the windowsill, he stared out into the darkness.

Tori crawled to join him, daring to raise her head and peek through the glass. Wolves of varying colours slunk across
her front yard. Two men, still human, rattled the doorknob, trying for entrance to the house. Off to one side, watching it all, was a solitary man, an archer’s bow held in his hand and a quiver of arrows strapped to his back.

Liam Drasser.
Tori immediately recognised his face. This was the man who’d tried to snatch her at the supermarket.

Kaeden growled softly, his gaze trained on the Alpha of the other pack. Liam flipped an arrow over his shoulder and notched it in the bow. He waited … and watched, the weapon held at the ready.

The veil of stealth shattered as another pack of wolves erupted on the scene and launched themselves at the intruders. Deep growls broke up the night. The animals clashed, tearing at each other with a ferocity that scared the hell out of Tori.

The eerie sound of lupine howls rang in the air and raised goosebumps on her arms. Tori shivered. She should have been afraid, and she was, but other feelings blossomed to life inside her. A fierce sense of pride. Feral excitement. A need to be one with the pack guarding her. As if knowing her heritage had given her back something intrinsic to her make-up.

She jumped when Kaeden nudged her, moving her out of his way. He backed up and raced for the window, his powerful hind legs launching him into space. Glass shattered
and he was through. He streaked across the yard, heading for Liam Drasser.

He didn’t make it. Another wolf, fur the colour of liquid honey, intercepted him, cut him off from Liam. Kaeden accepted the challenge, turning to face the enemy, mouth open to expose his canines.