Wolf Rock Shifters Books 1-5: Five BBW Paranormal Romance Standalone Novels (17 page)

A
t dawn
, Kyla awoke to see a narrow ray of light working its way through the floor’s cave. It was beautiful, she thought. Though she often patrolled at night and was awake to see the sun rise, it was rare that she slept outside and could feel the soft chill of dew on her clothing or fur.

She turned to see if Maddox was awake yet, memories of the previous night fresh in her mind. Maybe they could even have a second go.

He wasn’t next to her. In all likelihood he was outside. What’s that saying about bears in the woods? Presumably they peed as well as other things.

Kyla threw on the oversized flannel shirt and exited the cave, her arms wrapped around her chilly form. She sniffed the air, but all she smelled was the woods; leaves, pine, and the faint smell of sex in the atmosphere.

“Shit.”

She knew that he was long gone, and cursed herself for having slept so soundly. It was so damned easy to sleep next to a hot bear of a man, especially after a mind-shattering orgasm.

A wildness within her began to surge up now, rage building, and she felt her body strain against itself, wanting to shift. Only a wolf who had no control allowed this, however. Only shifters like that asshole Craig, their former alpha who’d been defeated by Tristan, had no capacity to maintain their composure as humans.

But Kyla was convinced that her anger was justified. She’d spent her entire life struggling to be accepted, and more importantly, to accept herself. She’d allowed herself to believe that Maddox truly wanted her, truly found her sexy.

Now she felt used and discarded, like a soiled tissue, or worse.

She sat down hard, her bare skin on the cold stone at the cave’s entrance, and pondered her next move. Should she hunt on her own or inform the pack? They’d have more success in a group, and frankly, she was likely to castrate the bear with her teeth if she came upon him on her own. It would be best to search with the pack mates who were likely to calm her. Right, that was it.

Her course of action clear, Kyla pulled off the shirt, dropped it on the ground and began to run, shifting in mid-stride. The feeling of pain aside, it was liberating to become a sleek, powerful beast, muscled and lean. It made her curves more acceptable to her; they were a sign of feminine beauty whereas her wolf form was the essence of strength and indomitability.

She ran through the forest, never picking up Maddox’s scent—he must have headed in the opposite direction, so at least she’d know where to begin the hunt—and came to the clearing where she’d left her clothing the previous day.

When she’d shifted and dressed, she began to hike back to the cabin, thinking about how to break the news to Tristan and the others that she’d had Maddox in her grasp and lost him.

But as it turned out, something had happened that had created a stir in her absence.

Upon her arrival at the cabin, she found almost every pack member in the living room.

“Ah, Kyla,” said Tristan as she entered. “Good that you’re back. We’re about to have a meeting.”

“What about?” she asked.

Dascha answered her.

“There was another victim near here,” he said. “Another bear attack.”

It suddenly seemed like an even greater failure to have let Maddox escape.

“What? When did this happen? Where?”

“West of here, a couple of miles. We found a trail of human blood last night; Dascha and I were doing a patrol around the area. We think he’d just been attacked about an hour before, based on the evidence.”

“What time was this? I’m confused,” said Kyla, thoughts racing through her mind.

“Nine o’clock or so. The trail led to the road, and it seems that the man got into a vehicle and drove off, so he can’t have been too badly hurt.”

Tristan was staring at the she-wolf and she knew that she would have to explain her questions.

“I have to tell you something. It’s important,” she blurted out.

“Everyone,” said Tristan. “Everyone! Be silent. Kyla’s got something to say.”

The pack stopped their chattering and turned to face their alpha and the woman who now stood, more nervous than usual, before them.

“You say there was another bear attack last night. I—we—can only assume that it’s the same bear shifter who attacked John Peterson.

“We all thought it was Maddox, the man we met the other day in the bar in town,” she continued. “Well, I didn’t think it was. I didn’t think he was capable of it. But now I know for sure that it wasn’t him.”

“And how do you know this?” asked Tristan, listening intently.

“Because I found him yesterday. And I was with him all night.”

The quiet rumble of low voices began to rise in the cabin again. Why was she with him? Why had she not brought him immediately to the house?

“Where is he now?” asked Tristan, putting up a hand to silence the others.

“I don’t know. When I woke at dawn he was gone. I’m really sorry. He said he’d come with me and I trusted him. I let you all down.”

“You should have brought him here as soon as you found him, Kyla,” said Dascha.

Tristan glared at the young pack member.

“You don’t know Kyla’s reasons for her actions,” he said. “And it’s not up to you to reprimand her.”

“You’re right. Sorry, Ky.”

“It’s okay. You’re probably right; I should have brought him in. I shouldn’t have trusted him the way I did.”

“But you say that he wasn’t responsible for the attack,” Tristan continued.

“No. He couldn’t have been. I found him around six p.m. and I know he was with me until three or so at least.”

“How do you know this? Weren’t you sleeping?”

“I…that is…we…”

Tristan smiled slightly now. No one understood attraction, lust, pure animal desire like he did. He could see on Kyla’s face that something had happened.

“No need to go further. I trust your word. The question now is, if he’s innocent, why did he run?”

“I don’t know. But when we first met him he said he was here looking for someone, and I can only assume that’s still the case.”

“Well, it would be good to know who it is and what he wants. As long as there are bears about we need to keep an eye on them to prevent further bloodshed. We can’t discount Maddox’s importance in all this, even if he’s innocent. But for now, thank you Kyla.

“After last night’s discovery, it’s become all the more crucial that we keep this under wraps. Obviously, we need to keep a vigilant eye out for more of his kind as well as for our shifter.

“Kyla and Jay, I’d like you to head towards where you found Maddox yesterday and keep looking, for him, the other bear, hunters, anything. Any signs. The rest of us will split off into small groups and go on a run. Anyone who finds what we need, let out a howl. The rest will come running. But be careful; we don’t know what these hunters are after and there’s a real risk that it’s us.”

Jay approached Kyla when the meeting was over.

“You okay, sweetie?” he asked. “You look shaken up.”

“I am. I’m angry, confused, sad, and even a little frightened. It’s a lot of emotion to deal with at once.”

“Anything you want to talk about?”

“Nah, not just now. Let’s get moving.”

Each pack member equipped themselves with a bag which had been specially made to transport in wolf form, carrying food and clothing. They knew that of course, wherever they’d end up after loping through the woods, they’d wind up naked if they shifted. The continually frustrating disadvantage to being one of their kind was the inability to speak in wolf form, not that many hadn’t tried it. It simply came out as gnarled syllables and comical dog-speak, and aside from growling and howling, their voices were largely useless.

However, they could run faster than most creatures on the planet. So when Jay and Kyla emerged from the meeting, they immediately shifted and began to sprint, Kyla leading the way through the woods.

They came, after an hour or so, to the cave, and transformed into humans to talk. Kyla was always grateful when she was paired up with Jay, since she knew he didn’t look at her with sex on his mind. And Jay was just vain enough to enjoy standing around naked. Like the other men in the pack, he had a great body; toned, sleek and muscular.

“So,” said Kyla as she eyed the woods around them, “I think we should head east. I lost his scent this morning but maybe we can pick it up. I suspect that he shifted along the way, and the bear will be easier to seek out than the man, not to mention that his trail will be more obvious.”

“I smell something,” said Jay.

“Oh? You think you know where he went?”

“No. But I smell that some little she-wolf got good and fucked last night.”

Kyla slapped his arm.

“Watch it, buddy. I’m sensitive right now. The bastard used my body. And I didn’t get fucked. Not exactly.”

“Even if he did, and even if you didn’t, all I have to say is well fucking done. I wouldn’t mind being used by that gorgeous piece of manbear.”

Kyla smiled. Fair enough; she’d wanted Maddox from the second she’d laid eyes on him. She was as guilty as he was of lust and giving in when she shouldn’t.

“Okay, enough sex talk. Let’s get moving,” she said.

The wolves ran in tandem through the forest, Jay’s dark fur in stark contrast to Kyla’s blond wolf. Their large paws barely made a sound as they propelled their giant forms forward.

It was only a few minutes before Jay stopped, sniffed the air and turned his muzzle north-east as if in indication that he’d picked up the trail.

They began to sprint now, hopeful that their hunt at least would end well. Their path was largely uphill and Kyla knew that they were making their way up one of the area’s mountains. This meant that at some point the treeline would thin and they would be exposed to the elements and, more importantly, to Maddox’s eyes. But by the same token he would be highly visible, his dark form against grey rock.

Where was he going? Kyla couldn’t figure out what his plan was, but she intended to find out.

It wasn’t long before the dense wood thinned to scattered pine trees and then they were in the open.

Kyla scanned the horizon for signs of Maddox, either the man or the bear, and then she saw him: the large, lumbering grizzly ahead, making his way up the mountain.

The wolves began to sprint again and as they drew close to Maddox, he turned to them.

He smelled the air. Kyla knew that he’d figure out immediately what was happening. The question was, what would he do? This could end in a physical confrontation and she wasn’t sure that she and Jay could take the enormous bear down, even with all their strength. But seeing him brought back a memory of waking and finding him gone, and she found herself leaning back on her paws, the hair on her back bristling as her spine arched upwards.

She let out a low growl.

The bear looked at her and cocked his head, as Maddox the man had done the previous night. This infuriated Kyla.

She lunged at him.

As she did so, Maddox shifted, and his body took the brunt of the blow as she came crashing sidelong into him. Kyla’s twisted wolf body, trying to avoid injuring the man, who was more fragile than a bear, sent them both plummeting towards the ground.

As she rose, Maddox under her, she took advantage of the situation and pinned him down with her front paws, growling over him.

“Jesus,” he said. “I’ve heard of the evil eye, but never has a woman—or wolf—looked at a man with so much animosity as you’re doing.”

Jay shifted then, removing the strap that secured his bag of supplies in place. He pulled on a pair of pants for the sake of decency and walked towards the man and wolf who were locked in a silent staring contest.

“Hey, Maddox,” he said almost casually.

The barrel-chested man who was still submitting to the wolf on top of him turned his head and smiled.

“Hey, Jay.”

“I hear you partied with my friend here last night.”

“Little bit. But I don’t kiss and tell.”

“She doesn’t either, but I did gather that you left without a good-bye kiss to tell about.”

“Is that what this is about?” He looked into Kyla’s face again. Her upper lip was drawn back in a snarl, baring impossibly long, sharp canines.

“Well,” continued Maddox. “I’m not going to kiss you like that. I’d get a lip piercing I hadn’t asked for.”

“Fair enough. Kyla, maybe you should think about shifting now. I promise that the bear and I will look away while you hide your shame.”

She wanted nothing more than to slap Maddox across the face, dimples and all, but she backed off finally, allowing him to stand. He turned away, his muscular butt pissing the she-wolf off.

“Jesus, why does he have to be so gorgeous?” she thought as she altered into human form and pulled on a t-shirt and jeans.

“Fine, I’m ready to talk,” she said when she was dressed. She tossed a jacket to Maddox. “Put this around your waist. I don’t want to talk to you naked.”

He slowly wrapped the garment around himself and tied it in the front, so that it barely concealed his generous cock. Kyla glared at him, resentful of his beauty.

“Seriously though, Kyla. I’m sorry about how I left this morning.”

“Why did you do it? I trusted you. In more ways than one.”

“Because I told you, I have to find someone. It’s crucial. If I’d gone with you it would have thrown my whole plan off.”

“So you slept with me, literally, to get me to think you liked me and then took off like…like some kind of asshole.”

“I slept with you because…” Maddox looked at Jay, suddenly self-conscious. “Because I do like you. A lot. I trusted you too, you know. Enough to do that with you…to you.”

“Well, I wish you’d told me what was going on.”

“I didn’t want to put you in a bad position. I knew that if you let me go your pack might get pissed at you. If I escaped, well, it wouldn’t really have been your fault, would it?”

“As it was, you hurt me, Maddox. I’d rather have an angry pack than a broken ego.”

“Sorry.” He stepped towards her and she thought he intended to hug her, but he seemed to change his mind.

“Now that you two have sort of made up after your love-fest, Maddox, who is it you’re looking for?”