IceAgeLover (7 page)

“So have I made up for having the wolf brothers follow me to
the warehouse?”

“Yes, and then some. It was quick thinking on your part to
call me when you saw Kajakti entering the Canadian consulate. All it had taken
was for me to use my dark magic to see where the sentinel would be once he left
the building. It couldn’t have gone any better.” Andre pulled out a used
syringe from his jacket pocket. “While you kept Kajakti distracted I was able
to inject the potion I created. Now we have to wait for it to take effect and
hopefully we’ll have one of the wolf brothers turning to the dark side.”

“How will we know if it worked?”

“Kajakti will come looking for us. But before he does, he’ll
do some damage to those in his pack, especially that mortal mate of his. He
hasn’t turned her yet. If he does so after the potion has taken effect, she’ll
be as dark as he.”

Tanner laughed. “We’ll have two for the price of one. I like
that. And a female will make a nice addition to our pack. She might be
Kajakti’s mate, but I wouldn’t mind sharing her with him.”

“I’m sure Kajakti wouldn’t mind. As a dark wolf, he’ll be
more than happy to let you have your fun with her.”

* * * * *

At the coffee shop, Jaren sat at one of the tables with
Kajakti—keeping a lot of space between them—sipping coffee as her gaze kept
flitting to the entrance to the building. She hoped Matt would hurry up and get
there. She wanted this meeting over and done with so she could focus on the
fact the new man in her life was a freaking werewolf. What had transpired in
that alley still left her shaky.

Since they’d arrived, Jaren had only told Kajakti what kind
of coffee she wanted, then hadn’t spoken a word to him after that. She had a
hard enough time just looking at him. Her mind was awhirl with what she’d
learned. But what seemed to have become stuck in her mind, coming up again and
again like a broken record, was the fact he’d called her his mate. Also the
fact that the dark wolf, Tanner, had called her a mortal more than once. Did
that mean werewolves were immortal, meaning Kajakti was?

Jaren snuck a quick look at him before she focused back on
the coffee shop’s entrance. Kajakti sat at the table, his gaze on his mug while
he rubbed his temples as if his head was hurting. If anyone should have a
headache it should be her, what with the amount of adrenaline still in her
system. Back in the alley, her fight or flight had seriously kicked in but
she’d been too scared to do anything other than stand there frozen to the spot
and whimper.

Now the only thing that kept her with Kajakti was the fact
that all her things were back at his house. She still hadn’t decided if she
really wanted to hear what he had to say, or whether it would be better for her
to pack up and get as far away from him as she could. The fact that she did
have real feelings for him held her back. And that she’d been in such close
quarters with ten werewolves and had come to no harm was another. If they had
any intention of hurting her they would have had ample opportunity, especially
that first night when she’d been drunk.

Finally the entrance door opened and Matt walked in. His
gaze landed on her and Kajakti. He wound his way around the tables to theirs.
Once he reached them, he threw down her plane ticket, credit cards and
passport.

“Here they are as promised,” Matt said. “I hope you enjoy
your bully boy, Jaren. Don’t expect me to ever take you back.”

“Why would she want an asshole like you?” Kajakti snarled in
a low voice. “You come near her again and I’ll rip your throat out.” His eyes
took on a muted glow for a second before they returned to normal.

Matt scrambled away and out of the coffee shop as if the
hounds of hell were nipping at his heels. Jaren looked at Kajakti to see his
face was a mask of rage. A low, wolf-sounding growl rumbled out of him as his
gaze remained fixed on the door Matt had almost run through.

“Kajakti,” she said slowly, a tremor of unease going through
her. Unlike before, she felt a little threatened by him. “Pull it back unless
you want someone calling the cops on you.”

He turned his head to look at her. The rage was still there
but he seemed to get it under control after he took a few deep breaths. “Sorry.
I didn’t mean to get like that. I don’t want to do anything more to scare you.
It makes me furious when I think about what your ex did to you. You’re mine.
It’s my job to protect you, keep you safe. He had no right to have ever been
with you.”

The last part Kajakti said with a snarl, his anger seeming
to return. Then he sucked in another deep breath as he rubbed his temples once
more. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes.” Kajakti stood. “Pick up your things.” Once she had,
he guided her out of the coffee shop. “I think we’ll take a taxi home. It’ll be
faster than waiting for Ketah and Haven to come get us. Plus, they’ll probably
be busy with the real estate agent.”

It didn’t take long for Kajakti to flag down an unoccupied
taxi. They slid into the backseat and he gave the driver the address to the
house. Jaren kept herself pressed to the door, not wanting to sit that close to
Kajakti. Not that he seemed to notice. He had his eyes closed while he
continued to rub his temples. They didn’t say a word to each other during the
ride. After the taxi pulled into the driveway, Jaren got out of the car, not
waiting for Kajakti as he paid the driver.

She made a beeline for the front door and went inside. She’d
made it halfway up the stairs when the sound of Kajakti calling her name
brought her to a standstill. Jaren slowly turned to look at him. He appeared
angry with his hands fisted at his sides.

“Stay down here,” he said loudly with a snarl. “We’re not
done talking yet.”

Cassidy, Edensaw, Wachei, Eryn, Durlach and Capac stepped
into the entranceway, having come from the living room. They all looked between
her and Kajakti.

“What’s going on?” Edensaw asked.

“We had a run-in with Tanner and Andre while we were
downtown. Jaren saw me shift,” Kajakti replied. “I still need to explain
everything. Her fear is making her want to run from me, though. I don’t like
it.”

Edensaw stepped closer to Kajakti. “Calm down. I know you
have to be upset about Tanner and Andre, but that doesn’t mean you take it out
on your mate.”

Kajakti dragged in a deep breath through his nose. “I know.
I don’t mean to. I’m having a hard time right now. I don’t want Jaren to fear
me.”

Cassidy walked past them and went to Jaren. “Come on, why
don’t we all go sit in the living room to talk? It’ll be more comfortable
there.”

Jaren nodded and allowed the woman to guide her to the other
room. She didn’t feel threatened by Cassidy, or the others, only Kajakti. He
didn’t seem to be acting like himself. And really hadn’t since they’d left the
alley.

Chapter Seven

Kajakti followed the others into the living room, his gaze
never straying off his mate. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. All he
felt was a bubbling rage that seemed to increase no matter how hard he tried to
control it. And the damn pounding in his head didn’t make it any better.

Everyone took a seat, except for him. He paced in front of
them, unable to stay still. The thought that Jaren would reject him for what he
was made him want to force her to accept him, even if he had to chain her to
his bed to keep her from running.

He shook his head. No, he wouldn’t do that. She was his
mate. He had to protect her, keep her safe, even from himself if need be. She
was his to love, the one woman he’d waited ten thousand years to find. He would
never hurt her, he couldn’t. But a part of him he didn’t recognize wanted to
punish her for her fear, actually wanted to wallow in it. That scared the crap
out of him. The pain in his head increased.

Edensaw was the first to speak. “I think it would be best if
we help Jaren understand this new world she has found herself in, then we’ll
discuss your run-in with Andre and Tanner. Obviously, you managed to get Jaren
and yourself out of it without either one of you coming to harm.”

“One of you will have to tell her everything,” Kajakti said
with a slight growl. “Right now, I don’t think I’d do a good job of it. I’ll
only make it worse.”

His alpha stared at Kajakti for a few seconds before he gave
a short nod. “Okay. I have to agree with that assumption.”

Kajakti vaguely listened as the others told Jaren how they’d
been created as the sentinels, the first werewolves, by their shaman. How that
same shaman had put them to sleep in an ice cave for ten thousand years to
awaken when the dark wolves made their presence known. Then Cassidy and Eryn
took over, explaining what it meant to be his mate, how the mating bond
wouldn’t allow them to be apart for any real length of time without suffering
separation anxiety, and how a bite from Kajakti in dire wolf form would turn
Jaren into an immortal werewolf like him.

He didn’t listen to how Jaren reacted to all that new
information. The pain in his head seemed to reach a crescendo before it tore
through the rest of his body. He stopped pacing with his back to the others in
the room. Anger and the need to cause pain seemed to take hold of him and
couldn’t be shaken loose. The scent of his mate filled his nose. His upper lip
peeled back in a snarl. How dare she be afraid of him? She was his, he’d
claimed her. And it was his right to turn her whether she wanted it or not. She
would
stay at his side for all eternity.

Kajakti turned around with a loud growl. The others stopped
talking all at once. He stepped toward Jaren. “I will turn you, my mate. Now.”

He shifted to his dire wolf form and launched himself at the
woman who was his.

Jaren couldn’t hold back a scream as Kajakti came straight
for her. Unlike in the alley, this time when he shifted, a black, smoke-like
mass surrounded him before he took on his dire wolf form. And a split second
before that happened she noticed his eyes had changed from their normal brown to
black.

As her scream ended, Jaren found herself blocked from
Kajakti by Capac while Edensaw, Wachei and Durlach threw themselves at the man
who was her mate. It all happened so fast she barely could register their
movements. But the three of them were able to subdue Kajakti, who had shifted
back to human form once his friends got a hold of him, but was trying to punch
each one. He swore and threatened to kill them for coming between him and his
mate.

It was Edensaw’s fist that shot out and connected with Kajakti’s
jaw, knocking him out cold. The men had all ended up on the floor in a tangled
mass as they’d fought. Durlach, Wachei and Edensaw sat up, breathing hard.

“What the fuck was that?” Durlach asked. “It’s as if he’s
now one of the dark wolves. I could smell the stench of one but I thought it
was on Kajakti from dealing with Tanner and Andre. But it isn’t. He smells like
one of them. And did you see his eyes and what happened when he shifted?”

Edensaw nodded. “I did.” He looked at Cassidy. “Go get some of
that heavy rope in the garage. We have to tie Kajakti up until we can figure
out what is happening to him. Right now he’s a threat to everyone.”

It didn’t take Cassidy long to return with the requested
item, and the men set to work binding Kajakti. Jaren sat on the couch feeling
numb. Her mind was still reeling from everything the others had told her about
their world. She couldn’t believe Kajakti and the men were ice age hunters, and
that they’d only been in the modern world for just over a year. She would never
have guessed. Then to see Kajakti like he was now, knowing Tanner and Andre had
actually done something to him back in the alley, she was about ready to break
down and blubber like a baby. It was all too much.

The men left Kajakti on the floor and stood. Edensaw walked
over to Jaren and squatted in front of her before he took her cold hand in his.
“You need to tell us everything that happened with Andre and Tanner.”

Jaren nodded. She swallowed as she collected her thoughts.
She’d been so scared during it she wasn’t sure if she’d seen everything that
had happened. “We ran into my ex, and Kajakti pushed him into an alley. After
Matt left, Tanner jumped down from a fire escape and went after Kajakti. They
both shifted to their wolf forms and started to fight. Then Andre appeared. I
don’t know where he came from. I was too scared to focus on anything other than
the two wolves. He threw Kajakti into the wall, then he and Tanner took off.”

“Did either Tanner or Andre say anything before they left?
It doesn’t make sense that they’d just run like that without much of a fight.”

“It’s a bit fuzzy but I think Andre said something about
leaving Kajakti and I alone and seeing what the future would bring.”

“I still don’t understand why they’d just leave you two alone
totally unscathed.”

Jaren remembered something else. “I don’t know about that.
Once the fight was over and Kajakti returned to his human form he was bleeding
some. He touched the side of his neck and his fingers had blood on them.”

“Which side?”

“The left. I think.”

Wachei turned Kajakti’s head and pushed his long hair out of
the way. “I can see a very small mark but it isn’t something that would have
really hurt him.”

“Let me see,” Eryn said. “I have a hunch about what it can
be.”

Wachei held out his arm to keep his mate from getting too
close. “Be careful. He’s dangerous right now.”

Eryn smiled. “You guys did a pretty good job of trussing him
up like a turkey. Plus, he’s still out cold.” She squatted and looked at
Kajakti’s neck. “Yeah, it’s what I thought it was. That’s not caused by a tooth
or a claw. That’s a mark from a very fine needle like one used on a syringe. I
bet Andre injected him with something. He probably moved at werewolf speed and
Jaren wouldn’t have been able to track him, especially in the state she was
in.”

“If he did, how are we supposed to help Kajakti?” Capac
asked.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Edensaw answered it. From
the entranceway, Jaren heard a man say “I hope I’m not too late. I tried to get
here as fast as I could but I don’t live that close to Juneau.”

A few seconds later, a strange man walked into the living
room. He had the long, black hair and bronzed skin of a native. He didn’t look
any older than twenty-four. He smiled at them all as he came farther into the
room.

Edensaw followed him in. “You can’t just push your way into
my home. I don’t even know who you are.”

The man turned to him. “Oh sorry. I forgot to introduce
myself. I’m Ryder. And I’ve come to help Kajakti.”

Ryder went to go to Kajakti, who started to stir, but had
Edensaw stop him. “How did you know his name and that he needed help?”

“I guess I’m getting ahead of myself,” Ryder said. “I’ll
keep it to the point until after I’ve treated your wolf brother, then I’ll
explain more. I’m a descendant of the shaman who made you all sentinels. I’m
also the one who inherited his strong magic. He came to me in a vision this
morning and told me Kajakti would need my help, that the dark wolves would give
him a potion that would bring him over to their side. So I’ve come to fix
that.”

That seemed enough to have Edensaw stepping aside. Ryder
walked past him and knelt at Kajakti’s side, placing the backpack he carried
onto the floor. Kajakti was now fully awake and growled as he struggled to get
free of his bonds. Ryder grabbed him by the chin and stared into his eyes.

He nodded. “The potion has done its work. He’s gone dark.
But no worry, I can bring him back.”

Jaren watched as Ryder pulled numerous items out of his
pack—dried herbs, a small knife, an empty syringe and a bottle of water. He
mixed the herbs and water together before he looked at Edensaw and picked up
the knife.

“I need some of your blood,” Ryder said. “Since you’re the
alpha.”

Edensaw held out his wrist. Ryder ran the knife across it,
making a shallow cut, then turned it over so a few drops fell into the bowl he
held under it. He stirred it all together with the knife, then spoke some words
she didn’t understand, with his hand over the bowl. That done, he reached for
the syringe and filled it with some of the liquid.

“Now I need two of you to hold Kajakti down,” he said. “This
has to be injected the same way the original potion was.” Once Wachei and
Durlach had Kajakti restrained, Ryder pushed the needle into the side of
Kajakti’s neck and pushed the plunger down until all the liquid was gone.

Kajakti gritted his teeth, then said, “It burns. What the
fuck did you do to me?”

Ryder smiled. “Saving you. This isn’t going to be pleasant
for you, I’m afraid. My potion has to burn the dark magic out of you.”

Kajakti bellowed in pain, his whole body going stiff as a
board. Ryder calmly collected his things and stood. Jaren wrapped her arms
around her waist as Kajakti’s bellows grew in volume.

* * * * *

Jaren sat on the bed beside Kajakti and watched him sleep.
They were up in his room, well, their room. It had taken a good twenty minutes
before his screams of pain had slowly tapered off and he’d fallen into a deep
slumber. Ryder had assured them this was what was supposed to happen, that
Kajakti would awaken after a few hours and be back to his old self again.

She brushed a lock of hair off Kajakti’s forehead. She’d
been up here with him for an hour now and she’d done a lot of thinking. She’d
had a chance to go over everything she’d learned that day. Her fear was now a thing
of the past. Wonderment had taken its place. At what Kajakti was, where he’d
come from and what he had to offer her. Jaren had found she was ready to accept
all of it, wanted it even.

She now knew it had been her doing that had caused Kajakti
to claim her before he’d had a chance to tell her what he was. A small smile
played across her lips. The poor guy had woken up to her not only ravishing him
but her binding their souls.

Jaren stroked the back of her finger along Kajakti’s cheek.
She also now realized she really loved him, probably had started to fall for
him during their first night together. Now she only needed him to wake up so
she could tell him.

Cassidy came up and talked to her while Jaren waited for
another hour to pass. The other woman explained more of what Jaren could expect
when Kajakti turned her. And how if Jaren hadn’t been destined to be Kajakti’s
mate she never would have set off his mating urge. By the time Cassidy left her
alone with Kajakti again, Jaren was even more comfortable with this new life
she would start with her mate.

At the two-hour mark, Kajakti stirred. His wolf brothers had
untied him after they’d brought him up to his room. Jaren stretched out on her
side next to him and propped herself up on her elbow. She smiled down at him
when his eyes opened and his gaze landed on her.

“Hello. You’re finally awake.”

“Jaren. You’re still here.”

She chuckled. “Of course I am. After the day we’ve had, I
don’t think it would have been very nice of me to make us suffer separation
anxiety on top of it all.”

“I don’t know what was wrong with me. I couldn’t stop
myself. I never would—”

She put her finger over his lips. “I know. You weren’t
yourself. Andre injected you with some kind of potion that turned you into a
dark wolf.”

His brows drew together. “A dark wolf? Why am I back to
normal again?”

“It seems you guys now have a new shaman. Ryder is a
descendant of the one who turned you. He was the one who whipped up another
potion to counter Andre’s. Don’t you remember?”

“No. All I can remember is the rage, how I wanted to turn
you whether you wanted it or not.”

Jaren bent and kissed Kajakti’s forehead. “Well, Ryder fixed
all that. You can meet him later. He says it’s time he takes his place with the
sentinels.”

Kajakti reached up and caressed her cheek. “What about you?
Are you okay with everything?”

She nodded. “Yes. The others did a good job of explaining it
all. And I’ve decided I do want you to turn me, but not today. I think it can
wait one more day.” Jaren brushed her lips across his. “I love you, Kajakti. I
can’t picture me being with anyone else.” She smiled. “And I look forward to
going wolf with you and running through the trees. Cassidy says there’s nothing
like it.”

Kajakti returned her smile. “She’s right, there really
isn’t.” He grew serious. “I love you too. I’m sorry you had to find out the way
you did. I had planned to bring you home after our day out and tell you
everything.”

“There wasn’t anything you could have done about it. I’m
over it now.” Jaren settled on the mattress. “But there is still a trip to
Canada I have to make. Only you’ll be going with me. Do you think you can
handle going on an airplane, my ice age lover? Cassidy told me what happened
the first time she got you guys into a car. I don’t need my werewolf sentinel
freaking out at thirty thousand feet in the air.”