Werewolves of Chicago: Curragh (Werewolves of... Book 6) (14 page)

H
e hadn’t wanted
it to happen this way. He hadn’t known how it was going to happen; her finding out the truth, but here in this cavern was the worst place it could have. She was already vulnerable. He knew that. She had let him bring her all this way, and had embraced him and kissed him and let him enter her without reservation. And then his wolf had to go and ruin it.

“Shhh…don’t cry. Too many horror films. I’m not that. I’m not those things.” She was still crying softly—her pride was the only thing keeping her from weeping outright. “I am a werewolf, but I can’t turn you into one with a bite mark or a scratch. I don’t change on the full moon. I have full control of my wolf, except when I’m around you.” She made a noise, and he quickly explained, “No. I mean, he, he who is a part of me,
he
knew who you were before
I
did. He is my instincts. My strength. My Self.” She was breathing heavily, but the tears were falling less frequently as she listened. She looked so small and fragile in his clutches like this, but there was no other way. “I could never harm you. He wouldn’t let me. Even when I was yelling at you in that kitchen, remember?” She didn’t answer, but her breathing now slowed, too, so he lowered his voice and eased his hold. “When I was yelling at you, he was trying to get me to shut up. When I left you there, it was fucking hard to do that! I didn’t know why. Now I do. I can’t live without you. He won’t let me.” He paused, the weight of his own announcement heavy on his heart. He didn’t want it to have gone down like this. He needed her to know.

“Kara…I love you. I will never love another.”

She was looking in the direction of his voice and it gave him a chance to see her eyes. The fear was stubborn. But the words had hit her. Her eyes flickered, the battle inside her waning.

“I know you’re frightened, but you just said it yourself. You trust me. I’ve earned that. Can you just give the horror stories enough doubt to see who I really am?”

She was quiet now. She stared into her thoughts and her body relaxed more and more. “You didn’t say you don’t kill people,” she reminded him in a hushed rasp.

“I have killed people. But they were bad people. You saw me shoot those guards yourself.”

“I mean…” she paused for a long time, then squeaked, “…eating them.”

A huff of a chuckle broke free from his lungs. “God, no. I don’t eat people. I eat steak. Cows. Carnivore, not cannibal. I’m part man, you know.” He paused and confessed, “I won’t lie to you. I have killed people in my wolf form. But the world won’t miss those fiends. And no, I did not eat them.”

He waited for her to say something, and when she did, he was surprised. “Can you make them glow at will?”

“I can.”

“Do it.”

His grip was loose now. She was making no effort to leave. So he tried a little humor and chided her, playfully, “So demanding.”

She didn’t smile. “Do it.”

He grew somber and did as she asked. She stared at his eyes differently now. There was more interest and less fear. And he brightened the glow, her own eyes rounded with what appeared to be wonder, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. He waited.

Her fingertips grazed his jawline. “You can control it?”

“Yes.”

“All of it? Can you…change into a wolf?”

“I can and I do, but not as often as I’d like.”

Her hands flew up to cover her face. “I don’t know what to think!”

“I’ll answer any questions you have of me.” His voice, filled with emotion, was unrecognizable. “Kara, I want you as my wife. I will wait until you know the safest place in the world, is with me.”

Her hands floated back down and she gazed at him, torn. “How?”

He reached up to touch her hair and she flinched. It killed him, but he pretended not to notice. “Time. Please just give me the chance to show you.”

She shook her head, but then buried it in his chest, her hands gripping his shoulders. “How am I supposed to go back to pretending to be a detective when I know all of this?”

“Nothing’s changed. Our mission is the same.”

“Nothing’s changed?” She laughed sardonically.

“Nothing’s changed except now you know.”

She hugged him like a little girl would, so vulnerable. He found himself rocking her, kissing the top of her head. “Let me get your clothes. Wait here.”

He stood her up and went back to where they’d left everything, gathering it all up and returning slowly so as not to surprise her. He kept his eyes glowing so she could see him coming and as he handed her jeans over, she thanked him. It was odd to hear the politeness, but he was grateful for it. It meant she didn’t hate him. He couldn’t stand it if she hated him.

W
hen they returned
to his packmates, Xavier and Draik were sitting on their mattresses talking about weapons to use, if any. They glanced over and instantly sensed something was up. Misunderstanding the energy Curragh and Kara had, they asked, “Did you find something?” “You didn’t break down one of those barricades, did you?”

Glancing to Kara as she headed for their bed and sat down, Curragh answered in a gruff voice, “I told you I would wait for you.” He wanted to confess to them that she knew his secret…but she didn’t know theirs. Or had she already figured that out? He couldn’t know for sure. Wishing he had them alone to discuss how to handle this, he was forced to say only the weak, “We uh…had an argument.”

As she pulled up a blanket over her body, she offered, “I’m just tired.” He stared at her a moment. Her lie could mean several things—she hadn’t even considered his friends were like him, she didn’t want to bring them into it, she was protecting him by keeping his secret, or all of these. He glanced over to Xavier who was keenly watching him. As he exhaled, his friend’s look turned more curious. But Curragh clearly wasn’t about to explain in front of her, and Xavier knew it.

“Your boots are still on,” Draik told her with a hand gesture.

She glanced at him. Now all three wolves were watching her. She smiled awkwardly and started to take off her shoes under the blanket. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make the bed dirty. It’s been a long day.”

Curragh started for the mattress. “I don’t care if it’s dirty. Do what you need to be comfortable.”

“I’m more comfy without them.” Tossing them to the side, she smiled a smile just for him. His heart skipped a little at the light in her eyes. She was warming up to him again. Draik and he shared a quick glance as he pulled off his own boots and tossed them aside. His Nordic friend also wanted the details about the change in vibe, but somehow kept his mouth shut. Not common for Draik to be so careful with his words. But he’d never had a human female in their pack before. Things were bound to be different, at least for the time being.

“My suitcase is empty?” Kara asked.

Curragh looked over to where she was focused, and saw it laying open on one of the rugs, cleaned out.

“Oh, yeah,” Xavier mumbled as he picked up his copy of Hemingway’s novella. “We put everything in the dresser for you.”

“Thank you.” She tucked herself into the blanket and glanced to the lamp by him. “How can the electricity be on?”

“We have a guy who’s good with computers,” Draik chuckled, a little too hard. At Curragh’s face, he lost the mischievous grin. “What?”

“We do what we have to.”

Kara glanced to him from where her head lay on their only pillow. “So he basically hacked into ComEd?”

Xavier’s voice was sharp. “We’re not in a position where we can sign up for service, legally, now are we?” He cocked an eyebrow at her.

The tension too much for him, Curragh snapped, “Watch your tone. She’s just asking.”

Xavier shrugged. “I heard judgment in the question.”

Curragh’s tone was severe as he reminded his packmates, “She’s not used to the way we do things and she’s trained to be suspicious. Give her time.”

Kara was watching him with interest. She patted the pillow for him to join her as she got up, leaned on one elbow and looked over at Xavier. He was watching her from under thick eyebrows. “Sorry. I’m used to being on the other end of the law. I didn’t mean to—”

“Call us crooks?” Xavier offered a curt nod. “S’okay.” He exhaled and focused on the book again. “I’m going to stay up awhile. You guys sleep if you want.”

Curragh lay down and pulled Kara protectively to him. He listened to her heartbeat and found it calm. She wasn’t flinching anymore, and with the way she cuddled up to him, she didn’t loathe him touching her. She squeezed his hand as it cupped hers. A long, relieved breath left him and he closed his eyes. “It
has
been a long day,” he muttered into her hair as his body became heavier, his mind drowsy.

Draik told the group, “Tomorrow, we’ll finalize a plan,” his voice also heavy with the onset of sleep.

Then the dreams came. There were many. Of her riding his back in the forest, gripping his fur as the wind whipped her long and beautiful hair behind her. Him holding her under the shade of pine trees, her legs wrapped around his naked hips as he kissed her. Her holding their first born, smiling up at him, her face shimmering with sweat and joy. All the dreams were of her, and of their future together.

When he awoke, the bed was cold. He lay on his back and reached over with eyes closed, to bring her warm body to his again. His hand found only empty fabric. Curragh sat up and looked around. His packmates were sleeping. Draik snored. The copy of
The Old Man And The Sea
was open and face down on Xavier’s chest as he silently slept on his back, his head turned a little to the side.

A quick scan found the car where it had been, the lights off in the bathroom, and her suitcase still open and empty. He blinked a couple times then jumped up and strode quickly to the car. She wasn’t in it. He knew that from the silence. No heartbeat. But he had to look anyway. He spun around and surveyed the garage door. Of course it hadn’t been opened. The thing was too loud to not have awoken them, had it been.

He started for the bathroom, his heart pounding harder with each step. He shouted to his packmates, “WAKE UP!”

Both sat up in rushed movements, eyes clearing quickly, ready for war. “Have they found us?” Draik demanded.

“What’s wrong?” Xavier jumped from the bed.

“It’s Kara,” Curragh choked, emotion and fear rushing through him. “She’s gone.”

K
ara had been punched more
in the last two weeks than she ever had in her life. Only this one hadn’t been apologized for, first. She hadn’t even known it was coming
and
it had knocked her out. She could feel the pain in her jaw as she came to on the cold, hard ground, the musty air and lack of light telling her where she was. As she sat up she wiggled her jawbone to see how bad the damage. It felt pretty awful. She could only imagine how she looked.

Something warm was near, and she could hear breathing. “You’ve got quite a swing there,” she said into the tunnel’s darkness.

Glowing grey eyes swooped down and hovered in front of her face, really close. It took great self-control to hold still and pretend not to be scared. She knew she had reason to be. Curragh’s eyes were ice green. Not only that, but this guy’s smell was foreign to her, too. Who was this? He couldn’t be a friend of theirs, because even though she’d run away Curragh wouldn’t let
anyone
hit her.

Preternatural eyes peered at her a long time without their owner speaking. Finally a voice almost as deep as Curragh’s snarled, “You’re not afraid of me?”

Stretching one of her crimped shoulders to appear nonchalant, she answered, flatly, “You’re not my first werewolf.”

An ominous chuckle flickered around her, echoing off the dirt walls. “So they
told
you what they are?” The illuminated, grey eyes narrowed and turned to the side with a cocking of their owner’s head. She hated the gleam of discovery in them. “You’re more valuable than I thought.”

Fear turned to terror. “Valuable? What do you mean? To who?” It did not bode well that he was pleased with that revelation. And other questions spun through her mind, instantly.
What does he mean by they? Are Xavier and Draik werewolves, too? All three of them…was that what Draik had wanted Curragh to tell me?

It made so much sense. She’d been overwhelmed and incredibly freaked out by learning Curragh’s secret that she hadn’t considered he might share it with his friends. That’s why they were so impressive. They weren’t just men, the three of them—they were beings she barely understood, who could do things she had yet to witness, things he’d tried to explain and that in her shock, she couldn’t hear then, or remember now.

She knew they used those powers for good, in their own way, but this guy sure didn’t.

Realizing he hadn’t answered her as he rose up and turned away, she asked him, “What do you want?”

“I want a ticket into Kruglov’s world. You’re it, tight pants. He’s going to love you, and that you’re in with those jackoffs who’ve been hunting him, well, that’s just the best gift God has ever given me.” He swooped down and grabbed her off the ground, standing her up.

Kruglov!
The name made her heart jump with excitement. She was about to come face-to-face with the man she’d been searching for, for months—who her captain had wanted to find for almost a decade! But then Kara jarred back to reality. She was unarmed. She’d turned her gun in with her badge. And she was without backup of any kind. Worse, no one knew she was down here. They also didn’t know how to find Viktor, were they to try to look for her. And the only man who’d know she was missing, she’d just run away from. Why would he search?

A chill spread over her body. If she were offered up to Kruglov she’d probably end up like Katarina. “Is Viktor really down here then?” Kara asked quietly.

“Walk!” he barked as he pushed her forward.

The chill turned to ice slipping down her spine as unwanted images of the Russian woman’s dark and distant stare flashed before her. Her shaking voice insisting that Viktor could not be stopped. That those men had raped her…for the fun of it.

Kara opened her mouth to scream. But the grey-eyed wolf clamped a hand over it quicker than she believed possible. He hissed in her ear, “Try that again and see what happens.” She heard something strange like ripping skin, and then a long, knife-sharp nail sliced her cheek. As it cut her soft flesh, she realized it was a claw. He’d grown it just to hurt her. “Do you believe me…that I mean it?” An ugly smile was in his voice.

She swallowed hard and nodded as her own blood trickled down her jaw. He pushed her so hard she nearly fell. Stumbling, Kara grabbed onto a wall for support and used it to guide her onward. A tear blended with the blood on her cheek as she realized,
I’m dead.