To Right a Wrong (2 page)

He told himself to walk away.

He stayed.

His lust to mate with her drove him even while he damned his inability to abandon a she-wolf in heat. He was stronger than most, but…

Her scent pierced him to his very soul. That hadn’t happened before.

An arm’s length away from her, he paused.

Should he take her, teach her a lesson, or walk away and hope she never came back?

A soft mew slipped out of her mouth, and his wolf pushed him forward. His cock throbbed, straining against the front of his jeans.

He didn’t miss the way she fought her body’s compulsion. Little bursts of air escaped between her lips as she struggled for control over a force stronger than she could fight. How did she make it this far in such an aroused state?

“Please.” She reached out and grabbed his forearm.

His whole body constricted, driving his desire for her higher. He stared down at the slender fingers clutching his skin, her knuckles white with desperation.
Shit.

“You must leave.” Somehow, Ethan managed to remove her hand.

She refused to back off. “Don’t you care?” Her eyes shone bright as if she had a fever, but he knew differently.

He shrugged.

“Greggoire kidnapped my baby brother. I can’t walk away and let him get away with that.

H-he’s all I got. My parents are dead.” He gritted his teeth, understanding her pain all too well.

She let go and dropped to her knees on the ground. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she moaned. “Please…help me make this stop.

You of all people should know what I’m going through, what I’m up against. I’ve waited, saved myself, for you. I’ve heard others in the pack tout your strength and honor my whole life. I-I’ve…I-I’ve dreamed about you, when I was alone. It was your wolf that kept me from doing something desperate.”

Ethan inhaled deeply and let his head fall back. He closed his eyes. Six years alone and a virgin she-wolf shows up out of the blue in front of him. One in heat, no less.
What the hell am I
supposed to do?

“I-I have a message for you.” She scrunched up her nose and moaned. The muscles along her neck rippled. “M-my dad…h-he told me growing up to run to you for help if anything happened to him. He made me promise. He said to tell you…to remember the prophecy. You must right a wrong.”

The words took his breath away, but at the same an incredible calm came over him. He lowered his chin, breaking eye contact with her.

It had been a long time since anyone had reminded him of the past. The protective nature of his wolf howled in his head. His grandfather’s face flashed in his memory.

He glanced up at the woman, whose eyes softened. He squared his shoulders and peered off into the distance. The admiration in her expression affected him more than he thought possible. Was it time to go back? Was she his mate? Did his grandfather’s prediction have to do with him foretelling that a she-wolf would approach him, seek him?

He reached out and brushed a speck of dirt off her cheek with his thumb, realizing that she’d gone through hell to get to him, and on her own. There were dark circles beneath her eyes, the kind he recognized. They’d come from worry.

Yet she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen and he wanted to help her. He wanted the fear gone from her face.

“Please…” Her eyes were huge, begging him to agree to mate with her, to help her, to set her life back into some sort of normalcy.

He knew what he wanted to do.

What he had to do.

“Get in the truck.” He turned away, picked up his shovel, and chucked it in the back of the truck. Walking around to the driver’s side, he stepped inside the cab, buckled up, and started the engine.

And waited.

She jumped in the truck.

“Put your seatbelt on. Keep it on. Do not touch me. Don’t even look at me.”

The flimsy push button on the belt was easy enough to unlatch, but hopefully, the restraint would serve its purpose and she’d stay on her side of the cab. He’d witnessed enough she-wolves going into heat to know that nothing would stop her from trying everything possible to make him claim her.

He wasn’t the werewolf for someone so innocent.

Ethan drove to the logging road and pulled out onto the paving. He had a ten-minute ride to find out exactly what this woman wanted from him, besides to have sex with anyone with a dick between his legs.

Thick brown hair swirled around her head in unruly waves and her pint-sized body appeared to pack some muscle. Her tight jeans and T-shirt tempted him to take what she offered. He’d never denied he lived a lonely life. He shifted into third gear. Damned if he’d go through with her offer, though. The price was too high.

He wanted nothing to do with the pack.

They’d sided with Greggoire even though the proof of Ethan’s innocence was right in front of them all. Years ago, the least amount of trouble for everyone had been for him to leave after his banishment. Greggoire had stripped any bond Ethan had felt about the others in the pack.

“Tell me about this brother of yours. Why hasn’t he left Greggoire’s house on his own?” Ethan slowed down where the logging trucks had dug deep potholes. One bad rut could blow out a tire, and he didn’t want to be stuck with her longer than he had to given her condition.

“His name is Jordan. He’ll be two years old next month.”

Ethan slammed on the brakes, pushed the gearshift into park and turned to stare at her. “A baby? You said your parents are dead, right?”

“Yes. By Greggoire’s hand.” She shoved her hands between her thighs and squeezed her legs shut. “Oh please, Ethan. I need to mate with you. I can’t go after that bastard without having my wolf.”

She sounded naïve and so very young. But her curves were not those of a young girl, and she-wolves matured slower than humans. She was more than old enough to know her own mind.

“How old are you?”

She closed her eyes. “T-twenty two. I’ve locked myself in the cabin the last two months. I didn’t know when my heat cycle would happen, but I could feel myself changing.” She opened her eyes and laid a hand on her lower stomach, right above her mound. “Here. Every day, it becomes more and more sensitive. I-I want to have sex. I was afraid I wouldn’t make it here in time…I don’t think I can wait any longer, but I need your answer first. I want you, because with your help, I can take down that bastard.”

“It doesn’t work that way with werewolves.” He stared out the front window. “Life mates come first. To mate with someone you don’t want will tie you to a miserable union.”

“B-but I do want you. I always have. Deep down, I knew you were my mate. I can’t explain…” She reached out and touched his leg.

“My fantasies growing up involved you. Don’t you feel it? There’s something between us?” He felt it in more ways than one. His grandfather had warned, prepared, and forecasted his life. Ethan had ignored it too long.

“Why would Greggoire take your brother?” He started the truck again and continued down the road. “You said he killed your parents, but why hasn’t the pack taken care of him for you?”

“The pack is scared. No one will help or tell me anything. Everything has changed around Drover in the last few years. It’s not the same.

Greggoire is not looking out for the others, but for himself.” She rubbed the length of her thighs.

“My father challenged him for the leader position last year, and instead of letting my father back down during the fight for the alpha role, Greggoire killed him in front of everyone. Later that day, I found my mother. She had a silver knife embedded into her heart and Greggoire’s scent all over her…and Jordan was gone.” She fisted her hands and hit the top of her legs.

Fuck.
Greggoire had become an even worse excuse for a werewolf since Ethan had been banned. “Why do you think Greggoire has your brother? Do you have any solid proof that he has the boy?”

“No, but others have said they’ve heard a child crying inside Greggoire’s cabin. When I question them further, they clam up and tell me to forget what they said. I’ve tried gaining entry into his house, but he keeps two women with him. A she-wolf and a human. Someone is always there. I don’t stand a chance against them until I too can shift into my wolf. That’s why you must mate with me. I need all the strength I can get to fight Greggoire.” He stopped turning his head sideways to watch her and concentrated on the road. It went against a wolf’s natural instinct to mate with more than one she-wolf. As for her father, it didn’t surprise him that Greggoire would kill for his spot in the pack. If Ethan could have stayed, he would have done the same thing. He owed Greggoire for what he’d done.

Ethan rolled down his window. He had to think, and he couldn’t do that with her sweet scent urging him to agree with her. Having a mate wasn’t something he believed possible.

Without a pack to back him up, he led a dangerous life. A she-wolf wouldn’t be happy alone without others.

He was a rogue, an outcast, someone he never dreamed he would become until his life in the pack had fallen apart. Having this woman seek him brought new desire to change his life.

He sat up straighter. His grandfather had planned Ethan’s path, but when he’d left the pack, he'd doubted the prophecy.

How had he become so blind? She'd come for him, like the tale had told. Glancing at the woman, he believed he was needed again. That pleased his wolf. He'd have a reason to return to the pack. He’d right the wrongs done to him and to the others. This could be his chance to again rise as alpha and fulfill his responsibilities.

To gain entrance back into Drover, he'd need to mate with her.

It was time.

This woman, strong and fierce in her belief that he was her mate, was the blatant sign he’d wanted for the last six years. She was the seeker, just like his grandfather had predicted many years ago.

Her determination and drive to see justice done impressed the hell out of Ethan. Not to mention she was sexier than any she-wolf he’d had the pleasure to meet. Fuck. He’d gone too long without a woman. Six years too long.

It was finally time to reorganize the Drover pack and continue with what his father, and his father before him, had fought so hard for.

It was time to bring Greggoire down.

“What’s your name?” He glanced left and right before turning onto another logging road, this one taking him to the ranger station he called home.

“Dani…Danielle Carson.”

“Well, Dani…” He stretched his arm across the span of the bench seat. She slipped her tiny fingers into the palm of his hand as if they’d known each other forever. His blood pulsed through his veins as he stroked her soft skin with his thumb. “I think it’s time to take you home.”

“But…”

Ethan held up their hands. Despite the size difference, their hands linked together in a perfect fit. He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “Don’t worry, little one. We’ll stop off at my cabin first. You please me very much. Let me be the one who shows you what being a she-wolf entails.”

Chapter Two

Set deep in the woods, the lone cabin appeared to blend with the fir and alder trees that flanked the yard. A canvas of earth tones camouflaged the existence of a forest ranger’s control center, merging it with the forest. Dani clung to Ethan, refusing to let go of his hand for fear he’d change his mind.

Independent and usually secure in her decisions, she wanted to soak up Ethan’s confidence. The strength rolling off of him brought her comfort. It wasn’t only her feelings that mattered, but Ethan’s too. If he decided to mate with her, then she was sure this was the right thing to do.

Her body craved his warmth, his power.

Diddling herself to find release would never help the level of hunger in her body now. Deep within the recesses of her soul, her wolf cried out to mate, and not with any werewolf. Only Ethan.

Once inside the cabin, Ethan kicked the door shut and plastered her against the wall before she had a chance to get her bearings. He pressed his erection against her stomach. She clutched his chest, his shirt bunching in her hands, pulling him harder against her.

“You smell so good.” He lifted her off the ground and nuzzled her neck. “Your scent pleases my wolf.”

Pressed against the round logs of the cabin wall, she wrapped her legs around his hips. He thrust his cock against her mound to keep her planted in the perfect position. The added stimulation through her jeans brought sweet torture to her sensitive lower body.

All the struggle, discomfort, and confusion of keeping her inner wolf at bay waiting until the right moment to contact Ethan melted away. A euphoria of acceptance filled her senses. Ethan was hers.

He licked the curve of her neck. She laid her head back against the wood and closed her eyes.

Her womb pulsed and her pussy was not only wet, but warm and searching for him, pleading for Ethan to touch her most intimate places.

Dani seized Ethan’s head with her hands.

Opening her eyes, she gazed into his. “Fuck me.” He set his forehead on hers. His breath fanned her face. “Not yet, little one.” Her legs tightened around him. “Yes! I need this. You need this.”

Without letting her go, he carried her farther into the cabin and sat down on the couch. He situated her legs on one side of him and cradled her upper body in his embrace. But she was tense, waiting for him to take the next step, hoping he’d hurry.

“I’ll take care of you.” He unbuttoned her jeans and pulled the zipper down, then slid his palm against the flat of her stomach. He skimmed light fingers from hip bone to hip bone.

“Your body…Damn. Perfect. So damn perfect for me.”

She lifted her hips off his lap. Digging her shoes into the couch cushion, she arched against his touch. The size and strength of his hands, gentle and soothing upon her skin, had her trusting him completely. He wasn't the man everyone believed he'd become, but the werewolf she'd worshipped and dreamed about for years.

The one her father trusted and wanted for her.

“More. Please, more.”

He slid his hand down farther and grazed his middle finger over her swollen clit. The quick explosion of tiny jolts pulsed deep inside of her and spread throughout her body. The scent of her arousal grew thicker. She fell back on his lap, lost in the pleasure flooding her body.