Brand of the Pack (8 page)

Grey, Grey, Grey. He had to wake up.

Wade dug through his medical box. “He is going to be pissed when he gets a whiff of this this. I have smelling salts, but they are stronger for a wolf nose so we need to try and keep him calm.”

Waking Demon Wolf like this was a horrible idea, but for lack of a better one, it would have to do. Her heart pounded away like jackhammer and the smell of her fear filled the room.

She was about to get bitten.

Wolf jolted awake with the smell of something awful and strong in his nose. Heavy pressure pinned him against something cold and hard, and before he could register sight or smell, he lunged, raking sharp teeth across the culprit’s neck. A yelp and long whine sounded as the weight disappeared off him. And then he smelled her. Morgan.

Grey blinked unfocused eyes as the pain consumed him. It burned him up from the inside out. He roared, scrabbling to get upright and out of such a defenseless position. Someone was trying to soothe him, which only made Wolf angrier.

He would kill everything.

Twisting his body, he fell off the table hard enough to puff the sawdust beneath him into the air. A warning snarl ripped through him, and he pulled his lips back over bared teeth. His focus landed on a light spot in the corner. A white wolf was cowering there, shaking. A red stain spread across her throat. He tried to right himself to make his way to her but only got halfway when his leg gave out from under him. He lay still and whined, trying to get her to come closer. He had hurt her, and even through the haze of pain, was desperate for forgiveness.

Tail tucked under her hunched body, weaving back and forth, she approached. He whined again, and she rushed over to him on her belly, then licked his face. He tried to nose the wound on her neck, but the pain kept him from focusing long enough.

“Grey,” Wade said, kneeling close. “You have to Change before you pass out again. I have to work on your injuries, but I can’t do it when you are Wolf. I could miss something.”

Morgan lay beside him, whining. He understood what had Wade said, but adding the pain of the Change on top of what he was already feeling had his mind skittering away from the idea.

“She needs you, Grey. Morgan and Lana and Marissa, they all need you. You have to Change,” Wade encouraged him.

He began to Change, pushing it quickly. His roar turned into the agonized scream of a man. The edges of his vision blurred and collapsed until the thick, black folds of unconsciousness relieved him.

As much as he fought to wake up, he was only able to do so in short spurts. He would open his eyes to the pain—always the pain. Morgan was there as an anchor to focus on. Her soft fur, always reassuring under his fingertips. Her eyes so full of worry as Wade and Marissa worked over him. The red on the matted fur of her neck. Her scent, just strong enough to hold him for a few minutes before his eyes grew too heavy to keep open anymore. There was only time to worry about her injured throat for a second before the darkness dragged him back under, again and again.

When at last consciousness washed over him and held, he stared in confusion at the slowly spinning ceiling fan above him. He searched for pockets of coolness under the familiar sheets but the motion stretched newly stitched skin. He froze and sucked air quietly through his teeth.
God, that hurt.

Morgan lay beside him in her human form, lacking a single stitch of clothing save her engagement ring. She was sound asleep. She didn’t even wake as he adjusted his position to get a better look at her. The blanket draped around her hips, and rays of early morning sunlight caressed her soft cheek. The webs of light brought out the auburn highlights in her dark hair as it cascaded across her pillow. He had seen her body before, but it had been right after she was kidnapped, and she’d been covered in bruises. Now, her skin was unblemished alabaster. Damn, she was beautiful.

She had healed from Montana. Only a long, thin scar along her hairline was visible. He pulled his hand up to touch her cheek but stopped when he spotted the large bandage where his teeth had grazed her last night. It brought a sick pang to his stomach. When he looked back at her face, two light purple eyes stared steadily back at him.

“You scared me last night,” she said in a sleepy voice.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“No, not that. I knew you were going to bite me when Wade gave you the smelling salts. I meant I was scared I’d lose you.”

He shrugged off the things about this life he couldn’t avoid. “I have to protect you and there will be times when it’s going to have to be like this. I’m sorry.”

“You can’t understand how hard it is to not be able to defend myself. I have to watch the man I care about do it for me and try my best to clean up the pieces afterward. The scars on your body are because of me.”

Touching the bandage on her neck, he said, “Yours are from me.” They were both marked. Unable to take his eyes from her bare breasts, he trailed his finger down until he brushed the weight of one. “You know, this is the first time we slept together in our bed.”

“I wanted to sooner,” she admitted, sliding over him and straddling his hips. “I’ve been ready for a while. Do you know how hard it’s been to resist going down to the guest bedroom and finding you at night? This bed feels too big, too cold without you.” She raked her fingers just above where his cock was pinned under her. He gripped her waist at the sensation. Gooseflesh ran in waves across his skin under her touch, and a slow shiver made its way up his spine. She was already wet as she rocked forward and pulled a long stroke against his erection. Eyes rolling back, he exhaled as she undid him completely. Just a touch and Wolf was whimpering for more.

“Jesus, Morgan,” he rasped as she slowly pressed her hips forward against his again. Every fiber of his being ached to claim her right now and have it done.

Her hands splayed his chest and her raven hair fell forward, surrounding their faces and making her eyes seem even more ethereal. “Grey?”

“Mmm?”

“You’re already mine.”

He chuckled and tucked a strand behind her ear. “You’ve been mine since I was human.”

“Could you ever have imagined that awful night in the woods would lead to this?”

The pillow under him rustled as he shook his head. “The happiest day of my life was born from the worst.”

“Would you take it all back if you could?”

She’d stopped moving, so he grabbed her hips and pulled her forward against his shaft. “Never.”

Growling, he rolled her onto her back and hovered over her. Her eyes were bright, and her lips parted invitingly as he pushed her legs open. Dipping down, he tasted her mouth.

She ran her hands up his arms, caressing the tensed curve of them. She nipped his bottom lip. He was so close, the need to be buried inside her was all-consuming.

But…

“If it’s bad luck to see each other before the wedding, doing this seems pretty dangerous.”

“Yeah, because up until this point our luck has been awesome. Stop talking, Crawford,” she said through a wicked grin.

“Morgan,” he warned, at the end of what he could handle.

Her grin broadened and she wiggled against him. His head brushed her slick folds. One thrust and she’d be claimed. She’d be his in all the ways that mattered. Almost.

Cursing, he whipped the sheets from the bed, wrapped them around his waist, and escaped the temptation. Running a hand through his hair, he gritted his teeth. He wanted to hang his morals by their intestines from the nearest tree. “You said you wanted to be married,” he said, voice thick and gravelly. “I promised you I’d support you in that. I’ll be damned if I fail you by three hours.”

Propping herself up on her elbows with a decidedly disappointed mew to her delicious looking lips, she asked, “Do you want me to help you shower?”

“Woman, are you actually trying to kill me?”

“I pinky swear I’ll be good. Helpful Morgan only in the shower, not Morgan the Molester. Wade dialed back your pain meds so you won’t be groggy today so you’re going to be pretty sore.”

He did feel like his skin was on fire. “Yeah, I could use a little help,” he said, letting his eyes travel the length of her uncovered body.

She laughed and rolled gracefully out of bed. “Nearly dead and still you can only think of one thing.”

“No, this one’s on you, climbing into my bed all naked and irresistible.” He turned her in the mirror and stood behind her in their reflection. She was flawless, and he dug his thumbs into her dimples of Venus that sat just above her perfect ass.

He, on the other hand, looked like he’d been run through a wood shredder. That bruiser wolf had done a number on him. He hadn’t been as focused as he’d needed to be from the beginning of the fight. He’d been too damned happy and excited about the rehearsal that preceded the day he and Wolf got everything they wanted. It had been hard for him to settle down to the task of killing the man who had threatened to take it all away. The challenger had been a dirty fighter and big enough to use his weight as an advantage, making it harder for Grey to win. He had been able to pull it off unfocused, but barely. With a last lingering kiss to her neck, he limped stiffly into the bathroom and hit the warm tap. He should start to keep a running tally of how many stitches he ended up with in his lifetime. He was starting to look more and more like Frankenstein’s monster.

The sheet pooled on the floor around his feet, and he cocked his head at his reflection. In his sides and chest, he had multiple gashes, one rather long and accompanied by multiple puncture wounds. A long claw mark had crisscrossed the scar down his stomach, a slash went from his ear down the length of his jawbone, and the wolf had taken a large chunk of meat from his outer right thigh. That was the worst, and looked bruised and irregular, even stitched up. Twisting in the bathroom mirror, his back looked okay if he ignored the silver knife scar he’d taken saving Lana. He was always conscious of protecting the back of his neck during a fight and had managed to keep it virtually injury free. He would pat himself on that unscarred back if he could reach one of his arms around without pulling stitches.

The titillating scent of arousal filled the space, and he turned slowly. Leaning against the doorframe, Morgan studied him with a possessive spark in her eyes.

“Like what you see?” he asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter.

A shy smile danced across her lips. “I’m a lucky woman.” She approached him slowly, then leaned her forehead on his chest. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He ran his fingers through her long hair and kissed the top of her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Morgan padded quietly downstairs to assess the damage from last night. How was she going to explain all of what happened to Mom? She was already suspicious, and who could blame her? A month ago, Morgan had been living in a tiny house in a bad part of town, and now she was shacked up in a ranch mansion and getting married on a week’s notice to boot. She’d already answered the shotgun wedding question at least ten times, and then the rehearsal dinner goes down in flames? It was damage control time.

The sound of laughter vibrated against the bones of the house as it rang through the first floor. The wedding attendees were enjoying a huge breakfast around the island. Apparently, all tension from last night had escaped with the first rays of light. It seemed today wasn’t one to be ruined by the stubbornness of power hungry werewolves.

Mom dropped a set of red oven mitts and rushed to hug her. “Oh, Morgan! Are you alright, honey? Rachel and the boys told me about the coyote. Wade said it was rabid, and he had to give you a shot, and let me see that.” She swatted Morgan’s hand away so she could look at her neck. She ran a light fingertip against the bandage there. “Oh, how are we going to cover that up? It’ll be in every single picture today. Thank goodness, Grey was there with you. Wade said he got the worst of it, but he will be okay. And why didn’t you go to the hospital? You ridiculous young people! You think you’re invincible, but you aren’t. I always say that, don’t I?”

“Right. You always say that, yes.” She picked up and hugged Lana, who had been clinging to her legs. “Did you have fun sleeping in Mimi’s room?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Lana said with a solemn nod.

“What’s wrong?”

“I wanted you to tuck me in and you didn’t even sing me a lullaby.” When Lana’s little lips puckered out, Morgan covered her in kisses until she giggled.

“And where was your watchdog while that wild animal was after you?” Mom asked.

Lana pushed her cheeks together until she probably resembled a dolphin, her lips barely moving when she admitted, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know, the big white dog you gave Marissa for her birthday?”

“Oh,” Marissa spoke up, “Snow…ball. Snowball. She ran off. I haven’t seen her since last night. She kind of comes and goes.”

Morgan jerked her attention from Lana and stared in horror at her mother, who had seen her in all her furry, growling, four-legged glory last night. She wished she hadn’t remembered.

“What is that look for?” Mom asked.

“Oooh, I just, I uh—”
Come on, Morgan.
She tried to shake her thoughts loose and cleared her throat. “I think that Snowball is a terrible name for that poor…dog. She should be named something like Xena, or Rogue, or Kai the Mountain Warrior, or something else befitting a proper…guard dog.”

Mom made a single clicking sound against her teeth and frowned. “Don’t be silly, Snowball is perfect. She is white like snow, and Marissa should get to choose anyway. It is her dog after all.”

Marissa speared another bite of eggs and gave her a cheeky grin.

The soft kitchen light glinted off Wade’s short blond hair and scarred face as he set his fork on an empty plate, took it to the sink, and rinsed it off. “Ladies, this was a delicious breakfast,” he said in a deep baritone. “Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I think we need to go upstairs and help Grey get ready for the big day.”