Devlin Dynasty 2: Fall Fury (20 page)

But the six retreated, their ears back, their tails between their legs.

The gray was the only one left. He lifted his snout to the air and howled, thesound echoing through the near-silent woods.

He turned to her, his fangs gleaming in the darkness, dripping with the blood ofthe others. As he advanced toward her, Shannon realized at that moment that sheshould have run when she had the chance.

Now that he’d driven the others off, he was coming for her.

Chapter Twelve

Shannon held her breath as the wolf limped toward her, its beautiful fur a bloody,matted mess.

But she was certain he could still easily tear her apart. Oh, why hadn’t she runwhen she’d had the chance? What in the world possessed her to stick around? Why had she stood there immobile as if she
 
felt
 
like she needed to stay?

Then again, for some strange reason, this wolf had saved her life. She knew it tobe so, despite everything she knew about wild creatures. He’d have had no reasonto spare her, in fact should have joined with the others in stalking her, but hehadn’t. He’d approached, if she could believe her eyes—winked—then walkedaround her to attack the other wolves.

Maybe that’s why she stayed. Maybe there was something different about this

one.

The wolf stopped, no more than a foot from where she stood. He raised his head,looking at her, his eyes filled with pain, mouth open as it panted heavily.

She tensed, poised to once again take off in a run if the wolf leaped at her. Shemight not get far, but it was better than just standing around like a target.

But he didn’t advance. Instead, he settled slowly to the ground, laid his headdown and closed his eyes.

Oh, God. Was he dead? Still too afraid to get close to him, she watched andwaited, mentally counting the minutes until she got to about ten. The wolf hadn’tbudged, his breathing ragged as he slept.

Now. Take a step backward, then another, and get the hell out of there now! Whether it was fear or some strange compassion she felt for this lethal creature,she couldn’t. He was too big for her to drag him to the house. If she could evenfind the house. As it was she was close to passing out, the fear and her injuriesfrom running through the woods taking their toll on her. At the moment she

wanted nothing more than to drop to the ground and close her eyes. Exhaustion

made her weave on her feet.

But if the wolf woke, then what? Would he lunge for her? Was he just resting,assuming she’d still be there when he woke?

This was ridiculous.
 
Run!
 
She heard the warning in her head and took a tentativestep backward, her feet crunching on a tree limb. The wolf woke, lifted his headup, and snarled at her. She froze to the spot, fearful of moving so much as aninch. She reached behind her and found the trunk of a tree, grabbing onto it forsupport, afraid she’d fall forward right on top of the wolf.

As it was, even if she ran she wasn’t sure she could get very far. The wolf,satisfied that she wasn’t moving, laid his head back down and closed his eyes.

Too tired to contemplate escape, she gave up the fight, convinced on some levelthat this creature would not harm her. She scooted down against the trunk of thetree, mindful of the wolf’s eyes opening and watching her warily, but he emittedno growl, even when she sat and straightened her legs, putting them precariouslyclose to his jaws.

Sitting was heaven, her battered, stressed body and mind needing desperately toshut down for at least a few minutes. That’s what she’d do. She’d rest, just for afew minutes, until she could gain some strength. Then she’d try again to get upand make her escape.

The wolf closed its eyes again. Unable to fight it any longer, Shannon rested herhead against the tree and let the darkness overtake her.

* * * * *

Max woke to screaming pain rifling through his body. Every fucking thing hurt,from his head to his paws. But he was still strong enough to make it back to thehouse.

Shannon slept against the tree, her head tilted sideways, her face streaked withdirt, scratches marring the exposed skin of her arms and legs.

He laid there for a few minutes, admiring his woman. She’d been stupid to headinto the woods to escape the wolves. If she’d stayed on the road she might havereached the store before they attacked.

Then again, maybe not. Savage bastards. It was going to take some effort to setthem straight, but he’d mastered six of them at once. They knew now that therewas a new alpha on the scene. One not to be fucked with. And he’d made sure tohurt them bad enough that they clearly understood to
 
never
 
get anywhere near hismate again.

He should have killed them. God, he’d wanted to after seeing the look of fear on Shannon’s face, the scratches marring her skin, blood streaming down her arms.

Yeah, she’d been stupid all right, but damned brave, too. That’s what made herperfect for him. One of the things he admired about her was her staunch refusal togive up in a fight. It made their battles more difficult, but then again when had heever backed away from a good, rousing fight?

He knew it would always be that way between them. Theirs was a passionatebond, and passion sometimes meant fighting. He wouldn’t want her any otherway. If she’d been docile and agreeable, he’d never have chosen her for his mate.

To think he might have lost her tonight. His heart squeezed at the thought ofnever seeing her smile, never feeling her touch, never having her around to arguewith.

Oh hell. He loved her!

His entire life he’d wondered what all the fuss was about when it came to love.

His mother had smiled and told him when it happened, he’d know.

He sure as hell knew now. And dammit, it hurt. The need to protect her becamemore important now than ever before.

She could be carrying his child now for all he knew. And he’d let her slip awayfrom him and almost get herself killed.

He’d teach her to protect herself better in the future. He’d train her in the ways ofan alpha female. Maybe a trip to Boston to meet his family. His mother would sether straight, make sure she knew what being an alpha female meant. How she

should demand the respect due her.

But first, he needed to get her back to the house. He shifted into human formdespite the pain he knew he’d be in when his injures became human injuries. Butthey would heal soon enough.

Scooping an unconscious Shannon into his arms, he made the trek toward thehouse. It was only about a mile or so away. Not easy on bare human feet, but he’d

manage.

Dawn would break soon, the soft gray light already filtering through the cloudsthat had hung low and black over the sky most of the night.

God, his body hurt. At least the bleeding had stopped, but the open gashes hurtlike hell. Some of the bites had gone clear through to the bone, and his skin hungin shreds down his upper arms, shoulders and thighs.

Shannon, thankfully, only had minor wounds. Hers wouldn’t heal like his,though. He’d have to treat them. Fortunately, she bore no marks from the otherwolves. He would have had to kill any of them who touched her.

Finally, he reached the house and limped up the porch stairs, struggling to balance

Shannon in his arms and open the back door.

After taking her upstairs and depositing her gently on his bed, he removed theremainder of her shredded clothing and inspected her body, noting that she atleast had some color to her face. She wasn’t pale, none of the scratches had gonetoo deep. She was bruised in spots, but none of her bones were broken.

He got out the first aid kit and cleaned her up, bandaging the wounds that neededit and washing her up with a soft cloth. He shuddered watching her nipples beadagainst the moist washcloth, his cock hardening instantly as he scented her muskyperfume.

God. Beat up and bloody, barely able to move his body and he could still get araging hard-on just looking at her.

His heart swelled with such unfamiliar emotions he could barely handle them. Hepulled the sheet over her still-slumbering form and went into the bathroom,shaking his head at his reflection in the mirror.

Good thing Shannon was still unconscious. She’d be mortified if she could seehim now. A human male with these kinds of injuries would be dead. Teeth markshad dug deeply into his shoulder, down both his arms, the wolves’ claws havingripped away the skin on his back.

A horror flick couldn’t do a better job of showcasing a victim of a wolf attack. Hechuckled at that and stepped into the hot shower, wincing as the spray hit his openwounds.

Soon, they’d be gone. Restorative processes worked quickly on werewolves. Itwas just a matter of time, patience and gritting his teeth a lot. Then he’d be good

as new.

Hopefully before Shannon woke.

* * * * *

The sound of running water stirred Shannon from her slumber. She burroweddeeper against the sheets of the warm bed.

Bed?

She sat up abruptly, realizing it was daylight and she was back in Max’s bedroom.

But how? Had he found her out in the woods? And what about the wolf?

Obviously she wasn’t dead, so the wolf hadn’t killed her. Nor had he hurt Max,who had to have been the one to rescue her.

She looked down at the bandages on her legs and arms, realizing that Max musthave cleaned her up and tended to her wounds. Her heart swelled with the loveshe couldn’t deny.

Maybe he was a hard-headed, dominating, overbearing dickhead at times, but sheloved him. That in and of itself went a long way to making her think that it waspossible they could work things out.

Slipping out of the bed, she stepped toward the bathroom. She heard the waterturn off, meaning Max had finished his shower. Good. She desperately wanted to

at least wash her hair. Maybe some plastic wrap around her bandages would do the trick. She was sore, still felt dirty from traipsing through the mud last night, and would love nothing more than to wash the grit from her body.

After that, she and Max could talk, see if they could come to some sort ofagreement on how things were going to work between them.

Surely they could—

She gasped when she spotted Max standing naked outside the shower, a towelslung low over his hips. His back was turned to her and she put her hand over hermouth to stifle the scream she wanted to let out.

His body was destroyed. Angry, open wounds ravaged his body. Gashes so deepthat bone was visible. Skin shredded so badly that he’d need grafting.

And it was everywhere. His torso, back and arms. How was he even standing? Heneeded to be in a hospital. She’d never seen wounds like that before on a manwho was still alive, let along conscious.

“Oh my God, Max! What happened?”

He whipped around and his eyes widened. “You’re awake.”

His ribs were black and blue and bore the same open wounds as his back. Sheswallowed hard to fight back the nausea and rushed over to him, her armsoutstretched. But she stopped, quickly crossing her arms over her chest, notknowing where she could possibly touch him. “What happened to you?”

He shrugged. “I’m fine. Trust me, these aren’t as bad as they look.”

Shaking her head, she followed him as he left the bathroom and headed into thebedroom. “Max, stop it! I don’t understand. How can you be standing here,talking to me in a normal voice, when your body is nearly ripped to pieces? Please tell me what happened.”

But she knew already. He’d come to save her, and the wolf had attacked him. Guilt settled in the pit of her stomach as she realized the havoc she’d created. Hewas hurt because of her, because instead of staying here last night and fighting itout with him, she’d run.

His hair fell in unruly black waves over his forehead. Quickly brushing it backwith his hand, he said, “We have a lot to talk about. Give me a minute and we’llsit down and discuss this.”

“Sit down and discuss? Are you insane? We need to get you to a hospital, now!

Those wounds aren’t going to heal on their own.”

He offered her wry smile. “Yeah, they will. Watch.”

Stripping the towel away, he stepped in front of the doorway leading to thebalcony. Sunlight streamed through and shined on him. This was ridiculous. Washe hoping for a miracle? She was about to turn and run for the phone to call anambulance when she noticed one of the wounds on his shoulder closing.

She blinked, certain she imagined what she’d just seen.

Dear God in heaven. He was healing right before her eyes. The wounds closed,the bruises disappeared, no scars were visible. In less than a minute, he was wholeagain.

“What the hell?” She flopped down on the bed, suddenly feeling very

lightheaded.

“I can explain this.” Grabbing for a pair of shorts, he stepped into them and sat

next to her on the bed. She half-turned to face him.

“Explain what? How you healed? Maybe you should start with how you got those injuries in the first place. The wolf did it, didn’t he? The one that sat by the tree with me last night. You showed up, he attacked you, right?”