Daniel’s grip on my wrist softened to a light stroke of his fingers. “You want me, Marlee.” His voice was low, but it vibrated in a way that made me think of dark rooms and tangled, sweat-dampened sheets. “Why are you pushing me away?”
The effect of his voice slid over me like another sensual caress, but the words stiffened my spine. “Because I can,” I said harshly. “You’ve stolen all my other choices from me, but this one is still mine, and I say no.”
At that, he let me go, and the warm amber light in his eyes hardened to cold, dark topaz. He picked up my towel, handed it to me, and turned his back.
“I’m not the one who stole your choices,” he said, the words bulleting over his shoulder. “Gabriel did. You want to choose your fate from now on, Marlee? Fine. If you stay out in these woods, you’ll probably die of exposure. If you manage to survive, when the full moon rises, you’ll change into a wolf, but you won’t know how to change back into a human. Then, trapped in your new form, you’ll go insane as you become mastered by urges you can’t even imagine right now. You’ll end up mauling whomever you come across, be it man, woman, or child. Then people will hunt you. They’ll kill any other wolf they come across trying to get to you, but sooner or later, they’ll find you. You’ll get shot or caught in a trap, but either way, it will be horrible and it will end in your death.”
He was breathing harder and his hands clenched into fists, but he didn’t turn around, and when he spoke again, his voice was ragged. “So, here are your choices: walk away now and innocent people are guaranteed to die before someone eventually kills you. Or, come back with me, learn how to control what’s happened to you, and no one will die, including you. Those are your choices, Marlee. Only those.”
My mind was reeling from everything he’d described, and I couldn’t ignore the unmistakable ring in his tone that came from the conviction of truth. Still, I couldn’t let myself believe him. That would be the same as giving up.
“With medical advances, if I get to a good doctor, I can find a cure,” I replied stubbornly.
Daniel laughed, but it was harsh. “We’ve had doctors within the pack trying to find a cure for decades. Not for ourselves, but to fix people who’ve been unwillingly infected, like you. There is no cure, Marlee. If there was, we’d have given it to you already.”
Hopelessness crashed over me. “You’re telling me I’ll never see my family and friends again. You’re willing to do anything for your pack, but you expect me to just forget about anyone in my entire life who’s ever meant anything to me!”
He still didn’t turn around. “If you hadn’t refused to speak to me for the past couple of days, I’d have told you that you only need to be quarantined for a couple of months. Once you’ve learned control over your condition, you can see your family and friends again. They would be welcome to come here, or you can move away and live on your own near them. You’d need to live somewhere close to another pack, though, and in an area where woods are nearby so that when you change, you’re not running on four legs down a city street attracting unwanted attention.”
My brain whirled so much with this new information that I felt faint. I didn’t have to be trapped here forever! I could go home, see my parents, my sister, Brandy, even my nephew again. All I had to do was wait it out. Get control. Was it really possible? Could I actually learn to live as both a woman AND a wolf?
Daniel started walking away, the dried leaves crunching under his feet. I stared after him, torn by indecision into staying where I was. Was he really giving me my own choice, as I’d repeatedly asked for? If I turned around and walked the other way, would he truly not try to stop me?
I tested it. Turned and walked in the other direction. There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in his steps as he kept going. He’s tricking you, my cynicism whispered. He’ll come back.
I kept walking. So did he. Soon the sounds of Daniel’s footsteps began to lessen as we moved farther away from each other. After ten minutes, I couldn’t hear him at all.
Chapter Twelve
Even with the moonlight illuminating the forest, I would have been lost without Daniel’s scent. Somehow I knew it, could follow it as though it were neon road signs, even though I hadn’t consciously marked it before. This was my first time doing anything solely by reliance on my sense of smell, but that’s exactly what I was doing as I walked back through the woods toward what I thought was the town. Here and there in my peripheral vision, hazy flashes of maroon darted by. They had scared me the first few times I saw them, but then I realized what they were. I was seeing the heat that living creatures gave off, just as if I were looking at the creatures through an infrared camera.
My new, sharpened senses had seemed to bloom as soon as night fell. Or perhaps they had bloomed because I’d tried to use them instead of fearing and suppressing them as I’d done for the past few days. Now using them made me feel more alive than I ever had before. In fact, in some ways it seemed like I’d been sleepwalking the previous twenty-five years of my life, numbed to all the brilliance of the world around me.
Of course, I knew what had caused all this, and it boiled down to one simple thing—the wolf in me, waking up and getting ready to be freed.
It was the main reason why, after sitting in the forest watching the sun fall and the moon rise, I was now walking back to the town. Whether I’d chosen to be or not, I was part wolf now. Because of that, I couldn’t go back to my family, friends, or coworkers, not knowing what I was capable of, even if I did make it out of these woods. If the choice was sacrificing months of my life dealing with the strangest scenario imaginable versus risking people I loved by hoping Daniel was wrong and I wouldn’t one day eat some or all them… Well, there was no choice. Not in my opinion.
That wasn’t the reason my heart started to beat faster when I recognized the tall, muscular man leaning against a tree just outside the limits of the town. All right, I’d had more motivation than just protecting my loved ones by returning.
With every step I’d taken away from Daniel, something burning and heavy had settled in my heart. It was as unfamiliar, frightening, and exciting as the other changes I’d experienced this week. How could I care so much for someone after such a short period of time? I’d been with my former boyfriend, Paul, for three years but hadn’t felt the crushing sense of loss at our breakup that I’d felt when I was walking away from Daniel earlier. Was it a case of supernatural hormones gone haywire? Or the wolf recognizing something in Daniel that my humanity didn’t allow me to believe in yet? I didn’t know. I only knew it was the most real thing I’d ever felt.
“I thought you were letting me go,” I said in a low voice as I approached him. “Yet here you are, still in the forest instead of in your bed back at your cabin.”
Daniel turned. He was still too far away for me to see his expression, but when he spoke, his voice sounded raw from the same emotions that were strafing me. “I was letting you go, Marlee, but no wolf can sleep while his mate is in danger.”
Mate. Such an ancient, primitive word, and so possessive. All things considered, we barely knew each other. Why wasn’t I uneasy at hearing it? Why, instead, did warmth spread all over me even as I was shivering in the cold night air?
I swallowed. “How can you be sure that I’m your mate?”
He was at my side in the next heartbeat, enfolding me in his arms, his body heat almost searing my skin.
“I knew it as soon as I smelled your scent,” he said in a deep, rough voice. “I told you, that’s how it is with wolves. That day with Gabriel—I wasn’t out there because I was tracking him. He and the others had masked their scents so I wouldn’t be able to trace them. But I found them anyway because as soon as I caught your scent on the wind, I was out there tracking you.”
What he’d said was incredible, impossible, overwhelming. I shuddered even as I leaned in closer to him, unable to stop myself from turning into his embrace. “Daniel, everything has happened so fast—”
He t
ouched a finger to my lips, cutting my sentence off. Then he caressed my face. “Don’t judge by that. Breathe me in, Marlee. Tell me what you feel.”
I inhaled near his neck, absorbing the mix of forest, spice, and musk that made up his scent.
In an instant, a bone-deep contentment battled with the fierce lust inside me. I wanted to throw Daniel to the forest floor, rub my body all over his, claim his flesh as my own, and then hold him and never let go. I’d never felt such intense emotions before, let alone all at once, each one merging seamlessly into the other. Rational thought didn’t pale by comparison. It vanished.
“I feel more than I have a right to,” was what I finally said, my voice shaky from the maelstrom going on inside me.
He bent so that his lips were almost brushing mine. “I give you the right to feel those things, Marlee. Wolves mate for life, so I want you to claim me as yours.”
And I wanted to claim him and be claimed by him. That was the undeniable truth of it. Whether it was me or the wolf inside who’d made this decision, I didn’t know. But I felt it through every fiber of my being, and I knew it was right.
I’d asked Daniel days ago if it was him I was talking to or the wolf. It’s both, he’d said. Always. I hadn’t understood then, but I did now. The wolf didn’t feel like it was a separate entity from me anymore; now it was me, but without all my fears, doubts, or hesitations. The wolf was me stripped of all my pretense, and it knew, unequivocally, that Daniel was mine.
And now, so did I.
“Then take me home,” I whispered.
It was an invitation and a promise. I wasn’t giving up my family or my friends, but I’d first learn to live in harmony with the wolf in me, and I’d do it here, with Daniel—my love, my lover, and my mate.
Daniel swept me into his arms and strode toward his cabin, kissing me the entire way.
Chapter Thirteen
I couldn’t get enough of his taste, his scent, or his touch, and by the time we stumbled through his cabin door, I was tearing at his clothes.
He kicked the door closed, a sound escaping his throat that was more growl than groan. The thick knotting from the hearth rug met my back in the next instant, and Daniel loomed over me. His amber eyes glowed even brighter in the light coming from the fireplace, and his russet hair seemed to pick up every shade of flame. His shirt had two ragged rents in it from my nails, which were longer and thicker than I’d ever seen before. He pulled it off and tossed it aside along with my towel, leaving me in only my bathing suit while he wore nothing but his jeans.
My breathing, already uneven, shortened even more. I reached for him, needing to feel his skin without the encumbrance of clothes. Another low, growling sound left him as he leaned over, catching me against him. The thin material covering me did nothing to lessen the shock of heat as his body seared against mine. I gasped when he reached under my suit and the fabric split beneath the sharpness of a single claw as he dragged his finger along the length of the small garment.
“Don’t worry, Marlee.” His voice was so deep and guttural, I could hardly believe it came from him. “I can control the change. See?”
He held out his hand once he’d finished rending my suit in two. I watched in fascination as that long, razorlike claw retracted, becoming a normal nail again. Then I looked at my own hands. My nails were still unnaturally long and curved, not quite claws, but close.
“I don’t know if I can control it,” I whispered. It wasn’t just my nails. My body felt as if it was on fire, and if my skin vibrated with any more energy, it would start shooting off sparks.
A smile of darkest anticipation curled Daniel’s mouth. “I don’t want you to control it. I don’t want you controlling anything tonight.”
Then he kissed me, pulling off his jeans and the remains of my suit at the same time. I couldn’t stop my gasp as our bare bodies touched, flesh to flesh and hardness to wet, aching softness. My nerve endings ignited, and need flared so hot and deep within me that I was arching against him while making animalistic sounds. I had to have him inside me. Waiting any longer would be torture.
“Now,” I urged in a voice I didn’t recognize as my own.
He rose up, and the feel of his hard, thick flesh pressing against me almost drove me out of my mind. “Say you’re my mate.”
The command was harshly spoken, but Daniel’s expression revealed yearning that surpassed even the lust that caused him to shudder as he held himself above me. He’d waited so long to find me, I somehow knew in that moment. Even longer than I’d been alive, though his appearance didn’t hint at his true age. Now that I was finally here, he needed to hear me say what he’d known from the moment he’d caught my scent.
“I’m your mate, Daniel,” I said, pulling his head down until his mouth brushed mine. “And you are my mate,” I whispered against his lips. “Forever.”
His mouth slanted over mine in a kiss that would’ve stolen my breath, if I hadn’t expelled it in a cry as he thrust inside me. My body came alive at the rush of rapture, and when he moved deeper, my cry turned into an extended moan. I closed my eyes, but I didn’t need to see anymore. I could feel everything in such exquisite detail that my senses felt like they had been deadened before this. Not even running in the woods compared with this new explosion of sensation, and every powerful thrust made it even more intense.
My nails raked his back as I surged against him, wordlessly begging for more. Each gasping breath caused his scent to invade me as intimately as his body did, until I was overwhelmed by him. His mouth muffled the sounds I made as he moved faster, until I couldn’t think about anything except the need that made me grip him with hands that felt as if they were reshaping into something else. When he clutched me tighter, penetrating deeper and then grinding against my most sensitive spot, ecstasy exploded within me, splintering away the last of my control. A loud noise tore from my throat. Not a moan, not a scream. A sound only a wolf could make.
Daniel’s head fell back even as his grip on me hardened. Multiple sharp points that had to be claws dug into my hips, but I didn’t care. Nothing mattered except the feelings coursing through me, and when he moved faster, they intensified, until I could no longer stand the pleasure.
“Marlee.” My name was followed by a deep, gravelly noise that transcended a growl. Then he shuddered against me, his climax vibrating deep within me.
It took several minutes before I could catch my breath enough to talk. By that time, Daniel had pulled an afghan off the couch and draped it over us. He settled me into the crook of his arm, and let his fingers play in the long brown swaths of my hair. His claws were gone now. So were mine, although evidence of them could be found in the red, ragged trails along Daniel’s body.
“Sorry about these,” I said, kissing one of the lines on his ribcage.
His smile conveyed the desire I also felt stirring within me. But more than that, as I stared into his eyes, I knew that I had finally found what I’d been looking for when I had started that hike. I’d wanted a new life, and together with Daniel, I’d found it. He wasn’t just my mate. He was my future.
“Don’t be sorry,” he said, pulling me on top of him. “Scratch me some more.”
Discover More by Jeaniene Frost
I hope that you enjoyed Pack! Continue reading for a peek into Jeaniene’s other best-selling, multi-award-winning series.
The Night Huntress series:
Sometimes, you have to fight the undead with the half dead…
Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance… until she’s captured by Bones, a vampire and a bounty hunter, and is forced into an unlikely partnership. She’s amazed that she doesn’t end up as his dinner—are there actually good vampires? And Bones is turning out to be more tempting than any man with a heartbeat.
Teaser from Halfway To The Grave, book one in the Night Huntress series:
“Playing with fire, Kitten?”
His mouth grazed my cheek. His lips were cool ag
ainst my skin. My head spun, my senses reeled, and my tongue crept out and licked his neck.
The shudder went all through him. Bones pressed me so close his body ground into mine, jerking my head back with a thick handful of hair until our eyes locked. What had started out as a game was now an open challenge, as well as a direct threat.
All of this should have frightened me, but it was as if my mind were incapable of rational thought.
He was a vampire, a hit man, and had almost killed me…and nothing mattered more than the feel of him.
I licked my lips and didn’t pull away.
It was all the invitation he needed.
Praise for the Night Huntress series:
“Cat and Bones are combustible together.”—#1 New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris
“Sexy, hot, and a thrill ride on every page. I am officially addicted to this series. Marry me, Bones!”—New York Times best-selling author Gena Showalter
“Frost’s dazzling blend of urban fantasy action and passionate relationships make her a true phenomenon.”—Romantic Times
“Cat will have you staked in five seconds flat.”—New York Times best-selling author Cheyenne McCray
“Intense, emotional, and flat-out fantastic! Put Jeaniene Frost on your must-read list.”—New York Times best-selling author Lara Adrian
To learn more, watch the book trailer, and read the first twenty percent, go here: http://jeanienefrost.com/books/
The Night Prince series:
She’s a mortal cursed with dark power. He’s the prince of night…
After a tragic accident left Leila with a terrifying ability to channel electricity and to see a person’s darkest secrets through a single touch, she is doomed to a life of solitude. Then creatures of the night kidnap Leila, forcing her to reach out to the world’s most infamous vampire. Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all, and his ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but whatever you do, don’t call him Dracula.