Far From Innocent (26 page)

His shirt lifted above his jeans and she got a peek of a black line of hair that she knew spread into wonderful curly chest hair. He raised his arms, stretching before her and showing off incredible bulging muscles all over his body.

“Get dressed and let’s see about getting some furniture in our new den,” he told her, reaching down to grab her jeans for her.

Corded muscle stretched under his jeans and her insides quivered while she almost drooled at the view.

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Lorie O’Clare

“Do we have to leave right now?” She accepted her clothes, taking her time putting them right side out while standing slowly.

“You will have plenty of time to enjoy me, little bitch.” His grin was awful, full of teasing and pompous male satisfaction.

He’d made her explode, giving her enough relief that she’d crashed on top of him.

Instead of waking her and demanding his own satisfaction, he’d held her, protecting her and letting her rest. In spite of the fact that her insides craved more, that an emptiness crept to life in her pussy and she was willing to bet his cock wasn’t completely soft, she couldn’t help grinning at him.

“I plan on enjoying every inch of you too, wolf man.”

“Damn good thing.” He held his hand out to her, pulling her to her feet and then lifted her against his chest while devouring her mouth. The taste of her come still lingered on his lips. “My guess is that by tonight, you will be able to handle all that I’ve got stored up for you. Right now though, we have furniture waiting for us to move in here.”

He let go of her and then turned her toward the door, slapping her ass hard enough to make it sting.

She jumped, shocked yet suddenly tingling from head to toe as she looked over her shoulder at him.

“Don’t tell me I’m going to have to train you how to behave,” she teased.

“Try it and I’ll put a leash on you,” he growled, but his dark eyes glowed with excitement. “Once we get our furniture in here, I plan on taking you in every room of our den.”

“Let’s hurry and get it over here then.” Erin quickly pulled on her clothes, suddenly as excited to make their den into a cozy home as she was to fuck Juan again.

He slipped his large hand around hers and then brought her fingers to his mouth.

Nibbling on her flesh, he then kissed her knuckles and grinned down at her.

“You’re making me a very happy werewolf, Erin. Thank you.”

Her mouth went dry as she stared into his smoldering gaze. He hadn’t had his relief yet, and promises of what he would do to her formed an erotic image in her mind. She tingled from head to toe at the thought.

“I love you,” she whispered, knowing the warmth spreading inside her was more than lust. Her smell had changed. She wondered if he noticed too.

In the short time they’d been together, everything inside her had changed. The urge to run, to escape her world, no longer seemed an issue. She didn’t want to hide from anything. Juan was by her side and everything was perfect.

An explosion outside about made her jump out of her skin.

“What the fuck was that?” Juan barked, pushing her behind him and heading toward the door.

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Erin was on his heels, almost stumbling into him when he reached the door. She heard shouting outside and then another explosion. She could barely contain the panic that rushed over her. Flashbacks of her den going up in flames, of racing for her life while her world disappeared in black smoke made it hard to think straight.

She wasn’t a cub anymore though. This was her den. No one would attack and get away with it. Her legs wobbled when she followed Juan outside. She cursed the fear that smelled rank around her and searched the mountain along with Juan.

“Shit.” Juan pointed and sprinted toward the road.

Already other werewolves shouted orders and growled at each other. Several trees burned and the fire spread over the ground, again bringing back ghosts that bit at her senses.

“Please no.” She covered her mouth with her hand, slowing as she watched flames climb a nearby tree.

“What the hell is going on?” Tonya Miccatto screamed when a branch crackled and started falling to the ground.

The stench of her fear drowned out the smell of burning wood. Something gripped Erin hard. Malta werewolves had a second chance. This time, no one would burn them out.

“Get out of the way,” Erin ordered, and reached for the burning branch, using her gift.

Fight. Survive!

There was no time to stand around freaking out. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to run.

The branch quit falling. Erin’s arm muscles cramped, as if the weight of the burning tree pressed her into the ground. It hurt, but she couldn’t let go. Her world wouldn’t burn. Not now. Not when suddenly everything was so perfect.

“Erin. Oh shit!” Juan sounded too far away.

“Juan!” she cried out, scared to look away from the incredibly large branch glowing from flames and hanging over them.

An icy cold breeze made her shiver so hard her muscles almost gave out on her.

The branch came closer.

“Dante!” Juan screamed his name, sounding like he was right next to her.

She didn’t smell him. Smoke burned her eyes and she didn’t dare look around her to search for him.

“Juan. Where are you?” Just please be okay. That’s all that mattered.

“I got it. I got it.” Dante crashed into her.

Erin stumbled and scrambled not to fall while her eyes teared and for a moment she lost sight of the burning branch.

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“Damn.” Juan grabbed her, his hard body wrapping around her and blocking the harsh wind that seemed to be blowing in all directions.

She rubbed her eyes furiously, twisting in his arms.

Dante sent the huge burning branch that she’d suspended in the air flying like a torpedo taking off into the sky. Erin had never seen anything like it.

“Good catch,” Dante told her, patting her cheek but then turning quickly and hurrying away from them.

“Apparently Valle has two fire trucks,” Josie offered, rushing over toward them and offering information while gripping his cell phone. “They don’t think either one of them can make it up these rough roads though.”

“Fucking figures.” Someone started complaining about losing everything again.

Erin blocked them out. She wouldn’t listen to pessimism right now. Her brain wouldn’t handle it. Somehow everything would be all right. Whatever it took. She squinted through the thick smoke, the smell of trees burning reminding her of a huge barbeque, except this time the menu would not include Malta werewolves.

A handful of large pines were on fire. Flames danced up a nearby hill, the harsh wind encouraging them in their flight. Her pack members ran frantically around, slapping at the flames with blankets and pieces of clothing.

“The cabins have water. We need buckets.” Juan grabbed Dante’s attention and the two werewolves searched their surroundings.

They stared at a row of empty cabins lining the side of a crudely built road. There were hardly any supplies anywhere.

“Over here. Come on!” Nicolo waved his arm and gestured when Dimitri pulled up in one of the work trucks they’d used to haul supplies for building the cabins.

Its motor struggled against the rough incline but Dimitri managed to park it close to Erin and Juan’s cabin. Nicolo ran to the back of the truck and started tossing white buckets at whoever was closest. It was a frantic race hurrying into the cabins and filling the dirty white supply buckets as full of water as they could get them.

There weren’t enough of them to form a perfect assembly line. Erin struggled, carrying her bucket full of splashing water, and then tossed it onto the burning grass.

“Have the bitches stay inside and fill the buckets,” Dimitri barked. “Fill them and pass them on to us so that we can race them outside.”

Erin willed each bucket to fill with water faster than it would. Once each bucket was full, she used her gift and sent the bucket of water to the door where a male grabbed it and took off running. There was no way to know what was going on outside, but the strong emotions swarming around each werewolf that raced into her den didn’t help her calm down any. She handed over full buckets, took empty buckets and searched the view outside the window over her sink.

“Are we putting it out?” she asked Juan when he came inside and handed her an empty bucket.

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“Actually, yes.” He pushed a strand of hair away from her face and gripped the bucket for her while water poured into it. “Just a couple of trees caught on fire and we’ve soaked the ground enough that we’ve contained it.”

“That’s good to hear.” She let out a sigh, suddenly aching to sit down.

Unfortunately she stood in an empty kitchen.

“What do you think happened?” she asked.

“I don’t know. But we’re going to find out soon.” His anger smelled so spicy she almost sneezed from it.

He took the full bucket from her and left her with several long strides. She watched him march out of their den, his back muscles twitching as he carried the heavy bucket.

Erin slumped against the counter, finally having a moment to simply stand there.

Everything inside her had gone numb. She couldn’t even count how many buckets of water she’d filled.

For the first time, she took a moment to glance around her small kitchen. It was designed just like the one they’d had when she’d lived with her littermates. It was simple, and now rather dirty from werewolves rushing in with muddy feet and sloshing water as they hurried back outside. She rubbed her hands down her front, drying them, and went to stand in her doorway.

The fire had indeed been put out. A gray cloud hung low over the mountain, capturing the smoke from the fire and holding in all the smells from so many emotions.

Juan stood next to Dante, talking, while the two of them held empty buckets and stared at the burnt trees and mountainside.

Since they weren’t coming for more water, she crossed her arms against the cold wind picking up and headed toward them.

Josie walked toward them from the other side of the road. “It looks like simple explosives were set off.”

Dimitri tossed his bucket in the back of the truck and headed toward Josie. “How can we find out who did it?”

“The
lunewulfs
did it.” Josie sounded convinced.

“What makes you so sure?” Nicolo smeared dirt over his forehead.

They were all dirty. But they’d saved this side of the mountain. And for the moment, that was enough to lighten everyone’s mood.

Erin reached Juan’s side and willingly collapsed into his arms. He was large enough to completely block her from the wind. He smelled like smoke. But a determined, aggressive scent wrapped around her as he began stroking her arm with his fingers. She inhaled him deeply, relaxing and listening to the others while simply enjoying cuddling with him.

“There wasn’t time to search the area when the fire broke out.” Dante scanned the side of the mountain now, squinting up at the jagged rocks and tall trees.

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“I think we’ve got remnants of some handmade bombs.” Josie led the small group through the trees and then squatted down over the burnt ground. “I can’t smell anything anymore. But I swear when we first got here, I sensed them in the area.”

When he stood, he met Dimitri’s gaze. “There wasn’t time to chase after them and get the fire out.” He sounded apologetic.

“We can’t charge another pack without proof.” Dimitri sighed with frustration. “I can’t imagine the American werewolves would have done this though. Not after helping us get the mountain.”

“I’d have to agree it was the
lunewulfs
.”
Dante reached for his mate, wrapping his arm around her and staring at her for a moment.

Erin watched the two of them, imagining they communicated with each other somehow, sharing thoughts that only the two of them could hear. They had a bond she had always envied. Juan’s arms around her made her realize that she’d have that close bond before long. Her insides warmed, and maybe Juan guessed her thoughts. His grip around her tightened and she brushed her fingers over his forearm. Her heart skipped a beat when the thought hit her that she already had a bond like that.

They were small in number, but the werewolves surrounding her had just suffered through a crisis to protect their territory. And they’d succeeded. No one ran. They hadn’t given up. They were a pack, for better or worse. They all needed each other to grow strong and today they’d proved working together, they could accomplish just that.

“Are we just going to live next to a pack who continually wants to destroy us?”

Tonya asked, staring at Dimitri’s chest while she spoke.

“We are going to continue living here.” Dimitri looked from one werewolf to the next as he spoke. “And I think another trip into
lunewulf
territory might be called for.”

“Maybe a slightly more organized visit this time,” Josie suggested.

“It can’t happen until we officially have our pack leader.” Dante addressed Dimitri when he spoke.

Erin swore her littermate straightened, puffing out his chest just a bit. Dimitri agreed with Dante. She almost smiled in spite of the seriousness of their conversation.

Her stubborn littermate wouldn’t openly admit it, but she guessed his hatred toward her new den was breaking. Hopefully someday it would be gone completely.

“Since we’re all here, I know what we can do right now.” Erin glanced up at Juan.

His dark eyes smoldered when he looked down at her. She twisted against him, knowing the moment the mood lightened around them and his hold on her turned less protective and more sensual. “We can all help move my furniture into my new den.”

“We were ready to load that table up when all this happened.” Moira smiled at her.

Erin brushed her rear end against Juan, feeling his cock harden slightly. She took her time turning around, enjoying hard-packed muscle touching her everywhere.

“It would be nice to sleep in a bed tonight,” she said quietly.