Blind Wolf (10 page)

"But I'm not like you," she said, her eyes flickering down over his body, thinking about the way he'd shifted into something else. Something animal.

"That's true." Damien paused. "I don't understand it. Maybe we'll figure out someday, but if we don’t...I understand. The way I am." He shrugged. "I'm blind. I'm broken. And I'm not human."

Julia wanted to scream that it didn't matter, to throw her arms around the man in front of her and promise that everything would be alright. Her entire being was pulled towards Damien. His eyes locked onto hers, and for a second she swore that he could see her. Damien brushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. His fingers continued to move across her face, and he sighed.

"I don't know if one of us will outlive the other. I don't know if we would be able to have children. Or if we did, if they would be like you, or...or like me."

"Children?" Despite the seriousness of their conversation, Julia laughed. "Isn't that a bit, uh, premature?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I keep forgetting that you don't feel the way I do."

"Damien, I
am
attracted to you. I am. It's just—"

"It's not just attraction," he said. "I feel your emotions. I sense them. Like radio waves I can pick up on. We're
connected
."

Julia's jaw dropped.

"You're saying you can read my mind?"

"No, not really," Damien squeezed her hand. "Not your thoughts, not unless you're feeling them very intensely. Just your emotional state."

"How?"

"I don't know how it happens. I've heard about it but I've never felt it before. Not until I met you," he said.

"What exactly do you feel, though?" Julia frowned. The idea of having someone able to sense her mental state was a little disquieting.

"I can feel your presence as something in my mind. When you're angry or happy, I feel it too. Like now, you're confused. A little scared. Curious. I feel it all inside of me, like the emotions are radiating outward from you."

Julia swallowed. It was hard to think when you knew somebody was thinking the same thing right along with you.

"So you feel my confusion now, like you're confused? You get angry when I'm angry? Is that how it works?" she asked. So many questions floating around in her mind.

"No, it's more like...imagine hearing your favorite song. Imagine it now."

Julia closed her eyes and imagined. The lilting strains of the ballad her mother used to sing to her while playing the piano. Her mother's soft voice. Then Damien spoke, breaking through the song.

"You see? You're not actually hearing it, but you are. In a way. Your mind is playing it so that you can almost hear the notes."

"That's how you feel my emotions?"

"Right. I don't actually feel them, but I sense them. They're not perfectly clear, and I don't know why you're feeling what you're feeling. It's more of a shadow of what they really are. Like you imagining the shadow of a song."

Julia looked into the soft yellow glow of Damien's sightless eyes. For the first time, she felt as though someone was actually looking at her. Not her outer body, not her face. Looking into her true self. A sense of peace washed over her body.

"Forgive me for coming back here," Damien said. "I just couldn't leave you without saying goodbye."

"Don't," Julia said.

"Don't what?"

"Don't say goodbye."

She stepped forward and he met her lips with his in a fervent kiss. A sharp shock echoed through her body. The shock of raw desire, of brutal lust. Blinding white shocks of light exploded behind her eyelids, and even when she opened her eyes she saw nothing but bursts of light. The air around her grew warm and pressing, and she put her hands against Damien's chest, not knowing whether she was pulling him in or pushing him away. Desire. Desire.
I want you. Julia—

She tore away from the hot kiss, gasping for breath. The sky spun above her and she held on to Damien's arms to steady herself.

"Julia," Damien said. "Are you alright?"

"What? Yes. Yes, of course." Her breath came fast, all of the air in the field not enough to fill her lungs. "I just...this is all happening so fast. I don't understand it."

He pressed her hands between his. His forehead rested against hers, his breath hot on her lips, smelling like pine and wilderness. They stood there together, feeling the rush of desire swim through their minds and bodies, one to the other. Around them fireflies danced and shone, their lights calling out for their own mates.

"It's late," Damien said finally. "You should sleep."

"I don't want you to leave," Julia blurted out. She was thankful that Damien could not see the hot flush on her cheeks.

"I'll be back tomorrow," he said. "Like you said, we're moving quickly. I don't want you to regret any decision you make tonight."

"But—"

"Sleep on it," Damien said. His lips curved into a soft smile. "Don’t tell anyone about all this.”

“Of course not.”

“And I promise I'll be back."

Julia sighed.

"I have to work tomorrow," she said.

"Call in sick."

"I can't—"

"Tomorrow morning, then. I'll come at nine. You'll only be a little late. Trust me."

Julia opened her mouth to say that she couldn't, that she really needed the hours, that she couldn't afford to be late, but the words evaporated from her lips before she could speak them. She had no idea why, but she trusted Damien.

"Okay," she said.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning," Damien said. He leaned forward and kissed her again, a gentle kiss that brushed her lips so softly she wondered if he might not be a spirit instead of a werewolf. "Goodnight, Julia."

"Goodnight."

Julia returned to the house, tiptoeing back up the stairs. The desire in her body sent her muscles weak with shivering every time she thought of the kiss they had shared. She climbed into bed and looked out of the window. The fireflies had all but gone, fading quickly as the coolness of night set in. Only a few flickers of light remained. The thick white roundness of the full moon rose slowly behind the dark pines, its halo casting a ghostly ring around it in the clouds. She closed her eyes and slept, and in the darkness the howl of wolves reverberated through her dreams.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Damien

Jordan was still stitching up the other shifter’s wounds when Damien returned.

“He’s doing much better,” Jordan said, as soon as Damien entered the room.

“Still unconscious?”

“He’d better be,” Jordan said. “I gave him enough morphine to last until tomorrow morning.”

“I just got back from the bank,” Damien said. “Wrote them a check for that property.”

“What about the girl? She knows about us. It’s not safe.”

“She won’t tell.”

“How do you know?”

“I know.”

There was a pause, and Damien could hear the wolf’s struggled breathing as he lay on the makeshift operating table.

“You’re still taken with her,” Jordan said. “The Calling isn’t something that you feel with a human.”

“I know.”

“It’s dangerous to let her live.”

“
I know
.”

“You’re not just putting yourself at risk here, Damien,” Jordan said, his voice rising. “You’re putting our pack at risk. And what about this shifter? What pack is he part of?”

Damien shook his head.

“I have no idea. There are a lot of questions I want to ask him when he wakes up.”

“But you
still
think staying here is a good idea?”

“Are you questioning my judgment?”

“Damien, I followed you when nobody else did. I trust you. I love you. But this...this infatuation—”

“It’s not just an infatuation,” Damien said quietly.

“Whatever it is, it’s putting our lives at risk.”

“You say you trust me,” Damien said. “Then trust me.” Despite his confident tone, he had doubts of his own. But the shifter had said that he was there for Julia. As prey, or something else? There would be a lot to figure out in the coming days, but his gut told him that this was the place they needed to settle. It just felt safe. A good place to start a family. A family—

He sniffed the air. “Where’s Katherine?”

“She and Kyle went to scout the borders of the town again,” Jordan said. “To make sure there weren’t any more shifters from the same pack as this guy.”

“When did they leave?”

“About an hour ago.” Jordan’s surgical tools clattered as he gathered them up from the table. “Should be back soon.”

“I’ll wait for them outside.”

“Do you want something to eat? There’s leftover pizza in the fridge.”

“No, I’m fine,” Damien said. He walked to the hotel door.

“Are you sure?” Jordan asked.

“Yeah, I had something to eat earlier,” Damien said.

“No, I mean, are you sure about this?” Jordan said. “Staying here. Staying on that property.”

“Yes,” Damien said, and as soon as he answered he knew that it was the right answer.

“And the girl?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Damien said. “Don’t worry.” He closed the door behind him before Jordan could object again.

Damien walked across the parking lot and stood at the edge of the woods, waiting. In the darkness that had enveloped him for the past two years, he could replay the memories of what he’d seen back when he still had sight. Now, he remembered the last night before the fight that had taken his eyes and driven him away from his main pack.

The stars had been bright in the sky, the smell of the forest as sweet and cool as it was now. He remembered the pale white moon, and now as he stood by the trees he lifted his head and held the memory in his mind so that he could almost see the bright circle above him.

A smell brought him back to the present. Katherine, her sweet musk on the air. Damien licked his finger to test the light breeze. They must be upwind of him. He could hear both of them now, their paws crunching the branches and pine needles underneath, their laughter lilting on the wind, carried to his ears.

They stopped well before reaching him, and Damien tensed, thinking that something had happened. The sounds that came to him were of a scuffle, perhaps a fight, but there were no yelps or growls to indicate anything amiss.

Then he heard Katherine’s low whine, the whine of a female in heat desiring the attention of a male. Kyle yipped and whined back, and Damien could almost see in his mind their rough, flirtatious play. He froze, unsure of what to do. A week before, he’d have had to challenge Kyle and fight the young wolf, but now there was a lot more at play.

A lot more. Even though he didn’t want Katherine as a mate, this flirtatious behavior insulted his status as alpha male, even in as straggling a pack as his was. He thought a moment before calling out in their direction.

“Katherine! Kyle!”

He immediately heard their play stop, their voices silenced. He waited. They might run now, leave the pack. It was up to them.

He heard their footsteps growing louder. They slunk out of the trees and shifted back into human form. Damien could hear Katherine’s breath coming fast, and Kyle’s heart pounding.

“Hello, Damien,” Kyle said.

“Hello,” Damien said, too casually. “How was the scouting?”

“We didn’t find anything.”

“No other wolves? No wolf scent?”

“Nothing.” Kyle shifted his weight from one foot to another. Damien could smell the tension coming off of him.

“What about you, Katherine?” Damien asked, his voice rising in a lilting tease. “Did you smell any other wolves out there?”

Katherine was silent for a moment.

“Well?” Damien said. “No other handsome wolves out in the woods?”

“Stop playing games and come out with it,” Katherine said, her voice quavering. “You know what we were doing. Damien—”

“I’ll fight you for her,” Kyle said suddenly.

Damien smiled.

“Is this what you want, Katherine?” he asked.

“I don’t—I don’t want you to fight,” she whispered.

“Katherine, I love you,” Kyle said.

“You could die!” Katherine said. “Either one of you could die!”

“I’ll still fight,” Kyle said. He stepped forward in front of Katherine.

“Brave wolf,” Damien said. He pressed his lips together.

“I’m sorry, Damien,” Katherine said. “I know I’m promised to you. I’m sorry. I’ll leave the pack. I’ll stay. Whatever you want. Just don’t fight him. Please don’t.” She ran and knelt in front of Damien, pressing her face to his knees in a posture of submission. “Please,
please
.”

A growl came from Kyle’s throat, and Damien raised his hand.

“Don’t, boy,” he said. “Katherine is right. This will only end badly.”

“You can’t have her,” Kyle said, but his voice was uncertain.

Damien reached down and took Katherine’s hand, pulling her to her feet. She stood in front of him bravely, although he could feel her fingers trembling in his hand. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

“You’re more loyal than he is,” Damien said. “But you feel the Calling too, don’t you?”

Katherine nodded, a sob escaping her throat.

“You both feel it?” The question was directed at Kyle.

“Y-yes,” Kyle said. “Ever since she became ready to mate. I didn’t want to tell you because I know—”

“It’s alright,” Damien said kindly. “I won’t fight you. You’re not ready for that yet. And the past few days have seen too much blood on my hands already.”

“Will we...will we have to leave the pack?” Katherine asked, choking back her tears.

Damien reached out and wiped the tears from her cheek gently.

“No,” he said. “You shouldn’t go.”

“I won’t leave her,” Kyle said.

“You don’t have to,” Damien said, clearing his throat. “Lucky for you, I’ve found my mate as well.”

“
Who
?” Katherine asked. “Not—the girl at the lake?”

Damien nodded.

“So you’ll let me stay with Katherine?” Kyle asked. All of the fight had gone out of his voice, and he stepped forward meekly.