Wild Instinct (24 page)

The latter was why he had no pack affiliation. While he didn’t see the value in diluting wolf blood with human, he no longer saw it as cause for destroying lives. The bottom line was, werewolf numbers were too few, and their years in existence too short to deny any pack member whatever happiness they could find.

Being packless had freed him from orders with which he didn’t agree, but it had done nothing to fuel his need to have a purpose. Which was why when he heard about Pack Haven, his curiosity had been piqued. And after he met Wyatt, he decided to stay on awhile. If there was any hope for wolves to go on into the future, Haven represented it. Of that he was convinced.

“Lately, I’ve begun to see your point,” Daire told Kelon before turning his attention to the west.

Donovan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “Speaking of that, how go things with Teri?”

“I haven’t heard her screaming at you to get out lately,” Kelon added.

There was a trickle of something to the west. Not a scent, not exactly a vibration, but a certain offense to the natural order that spoke of a disturbance. He straightened. “I’m growing on her.”

“What is it?” Kelon asked.

Daire turned toward the disturbance, frowning. “I’m not sure.”

Donovan scanned the horizon. “Shit.”

Kelon growled. “Yeah. If an ancient doesn’t know what he’s dealing with, it can’t be good.”

Daire crouched down and touched the ground. The vibration didn’t increase, so it hadn’t come from the earth. Which meant it was likely man-made. Or wolf-made. He stood. “There’s something wrong with the energy to the west. I think it’s safe to assume that whatever caused a disturbance was left by the werewolf we’re chasing. Either that or he can teleport from place to place.”

“That would make him an alien, not a wolf,” Donovan cut in, “and my imagination can’t stretch that far.”

Neither could Daire’s.

“In your best guess, what are we dealing with?”

“Someone or something that knows how to cover the energy trail normally left by living creatures.”

Kelon put his hands on his hips. “Ah, hell, that doesn’t seem so bad.”

Donovan nodded. “I’ve got to agree that doesn’t get my tail in a twist.”

Daire growled in his throat. “As long as that’s all they know how to do, we can probably rest easy.”

“That’s right, just rain on my parade,” Kelon growled. “I’ve got a pretty little wife at home just waiting to show me how much she’s missed me, and you’ve got to hand me a mystery.”

“It’s not like I’m heading home to an empty bed.” Not anymore. The knowledge spread through Daire in a building warmth that ended in anticipation.

Donovan tossed Daire a pack. “Funny how fast change can come, isn’t it?”

Both Kelon and Donovan watched him as they picked up their own packs, weighing his response. He didn’t hide his satisfaction from them as he answered, “Yes, it is.”

Eight

TERI was waiting for him in the parlor with Wyatt. Kelon and Donovan took one look at her face, and made their excuses. Wyatt stood as he entered the room.

“Evening, Daire.”

Daire nodded his head as if Wyatt hadn’t given that greeting like a man looking for an escape. “Evening.”

It wasn’t hard to see that everybody was bolting as if a tiger had been set loose in the room. The energy coming off Teri was restless and charged with . . . anger? He’d been gone for all of twenty-f our hours. What on earth could have made her so angry?

Wyatt clapped him on the shoulder as he left the room. Speaking too low to carry, he whispered, “Good luck.”

Sensation lingered after the Alpha left. Daire reached up and touched his shoulder. A lot of things were apparently going to be different in Pack Haven, including the unwritten rule that one didn’t get friendly with Protectors or ancients. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“It’s about time you got home.”

“You knew I was hunting.”

“You make it sound like deer season and you’re out for a lark with the boys to see if you can catch yourself one.”

“Same technique, different prey.”

The increase in Teri’s agitation was obvious. She paced by the window. One, two, three steps, a turn and then three steps more. With every step, her fingers tapped a rhythm on her thighs. There was a settled pattern to her behavior. “Do you always pace when you’re angry?”

She glanced at him over her shoulder, flipping her bangs out of her eyes with the force of the gesture. “Does it matter?”

He leaned against the doorjamb and folded his arms across his chest. “Nope. Just getting a feel for what’s normal.”

That had her snapping around and instead of pacing back and forth she came straight at him, green eyes dark with fury, hands fisted at her hips. The scent of her anger caught on the edge of his passion, brought it forward. He accepted the challenge in her eyes with the crook of his finger.

She came, teeth set in a grimace. She drew her arm back. He expected her to hit him, was prepared for the blow, but instead she poked him in his chest with her finger. “It’s not fair.”

He blinked. “What’s not fair?”

“I won’t let you do this.”

He didn’t have a clue as to what she was talking about so he just stood there and let her poke him in the chest again. “What do you think I’m doing?”

“I won’t let you make me second best.”

Her hand went to her mark and she took a step back. She still wasn’t used to her mark’s reaction to his presence. The heat she felt from her mark translated to the heating of his blood and the pounding in his cock. If she were werewolf, he’d be wearing her mark and her burn would be his. But she wasn’t werewolf; she was human. And she thought he found her lacking. “Who said you were second best?”

He knew damn well it wasn’t Wyatt.

She folded her arms across her chest. Anger fueled the red in her cheeks, which deepened the green of her eyes. Her short haircut spiked all around her head. Likely she’d been running her hands through it. She should have looked ridiculous. Instead she just looked adorable. Sexy. Perfect.

“I may be human, but that doesn’t make me inferior.”

“I don’t remember saying it did.”

“And I’m not some duty you pick up and discard as it pleases you while you lament your bad luck.”

He pushed away from the door. She took a step back. Reaching out, he snagged her arm, hauling her against him. “And I’m not someone you fear.”

“Why not? You’re so angry all the time. I can feel the rage in you. You’re also werewolf. Any human with a lick of common sense would be terrified of you.”

The rage she spoke of seethed within, triggered by her unreasonable fear. Immediately, he felt a soft touch of that energy from before wrapping around the angry mass, soothing it, mellowing it, replacing it with desire. It had been her. Somehow she’d reached across the distance during that bar fight, found his rage and calmed it. Damn.

“You’re not afraid of me.”

Her gaze didn’t duck the challenge of his. “I should be.”

But she wasn’t. He didn’t know if it was because he’d told her not to be or if it was because she was so darn pissed at whatever slight she imagined he’d done, but she came up on her tiptoes and grabbed his shirt and shoved her face in his, hissing, “And I’m as good as any werewolf woman.”

Where had she gotten the idea that she wasn’t? He cupped his hand behind her head and tilted her face to the side. His gaze locked on her mouth. That beautiful mouth that would look so sexy plumped from his kiss, wet with their passion. “You’re better.”

“Why?”

“You’re mine.”

He felt the leap of her pulse against his thumb as he wrapped his fingers in the tendrils of hair at the base of her neck. Fear tainted her scent. An image shot into his mind. A male werewolf’s gloating grin as his fingers wrapped in her long hair, holding her still for the descent of his mouth. He felt Teri’s icy fear, saw the gleam of the man’s canines. He cut off the memory before Teri could relive the bite. He had no doubt the werewolf had bitten. Easing his fingers out of her hair, Daire pulled her face against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t know what to do except hold her tight. “I’m sorry, seelie.”

“I’m not a baby.”

“No, you’re not.” He brushed his lips across the top of her head, inhaling her scent. Warm, feminine and familiar. He knew he’d gone centuries without breathing her in, but he honestly couldn’t conceive how he’d managed it. “But you’re hurting and I need to understand why.”

She took a slow, deep breath and blew it out just as slowly. It eased through the opening of his shirt in the softest of caresses, joining them for a brief moment. He cherished the moment. Committed it to memory. He had a few memories now. Teri turning to him for the first time. Teri letting him hold her while she slept the other night, the moment of understanding binding them. Teri sharing his memory of her daughter and her tears in the aftermath. And now this. Her letting him comfort her even though he was the one that caused pain. All precious memories he never expected to have as an ancient who hadn’t found his mate and was reaching the end of his endurance. There was nothing more precious to him than her. Not pack, not duty, not even, he realized, his honor.

“You’re stuck with me,” Teri said.

He massaged the nape of her neck, replacing the sensation of being held with another, hopefully more welcome one. “I like being stuck with you.”

“But you’d love being stuck with someone else better.”

Ah. That was the crux of her issue. He tilted her face up. He could see the pulse pounding in her throat. The hormones in his bite worked like wildfire on her human system. She licked her lips nervously. He bent down and kissed her moist lips, rubbing his against hers until they parted on a little gasp.

“There’s no one else for me.”

Her hands pressed against his chest. Slowly they closed into small fists. He wanted to kiss them both and then ease them open. Tenderness was such a foreign notion to him, it took him a minute to recognize it. Once he did, he paused to experience it. This was what Donovan and Kelon felt when they touched their women. What the mating myth was about. This overwhelming rightness, combined with the pleasure of caring for her. This was what had taken Garrett from an angry man to a contented Protector. This was what was going to change him.

“Because Sarah Anne forced your hand.”

Daire touched the tip of his tongue to Teri’s lower lip, indulging his senses as he sorted through the best responses.

“Sarah Anne is not my Alpha; she can’t command me to do anything.”

“But she put you in a position where you couldn’t say no.”

He stroked his thumb over her cheek, noting the healthier color with satisfaction. “I knew who you were the instant I saw you. Knew what I was losing. Sarah Anne was the closest thing to pack you had. Asking her permission was a formality. I would not have let you die.”

“That was so reckless. What if you couldn’t have kept me alive?”

He kissed her lips. “Then you would not have crossed alone.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Maybe to a human.”

Her lips moved against his in a tentative caress. “Don’t lie to me, Daire. I’ve spent my whole life being second best. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life trying to measure up.”

“You are the only one I have ever wanted. The only one I will ever want.”

“What if some sexy lady werewolf prances by?”

He couldn’t help it. He laughed. “I’m centuries old. Many a sexy lady werewolf has pranced by.”

“And you didn’t want to bond with them?”

“Not a one. Why are you asking me this?”

She bit her lip. “I had a thought last night. . . .” She didn’t finish.

“Yes?”

He nibbled his way across her cheek, kissing the curve of her jaw before he found the sweet spot below her ear. She shivered and moaned the way he liked. Pleasuring a mate was so much more than technique. “You were saying?”

She grabbed the front of his shirt and hung on for dear life as if she feared he would disappear before she finished confessing. “I couldn’t bear to be second best with you.”

He slid his hand down her back until he could cup her rear and lifted her to him. His cock fit naturally between her legs. He waited, expecting her to flinch back. She didn’t, but she didn’t lean in, either, just rested against him. “I am always here for you, seelie. Always yours.”

A smile touched her lips. “Mine to command?”

The laughter inside grew. He hefted her a bit higher, held her a bit closer. “You can try.”

“And when I do?”

“I’ll handle it.” The sweet scent of feminine desire rose.

“How?”

“The way any Protector does when challenged by his mate.”

“You’ll go all masterful on me?”

From another woman he might have taken that flirtatious statement delivered with a coy bat of an eyelash as an invitation. From Teri, it was a dare. Not to “go all masterful,” as she put it, but to prove to her she could trust him. “Yes.”

She flinched and stiffened. He smiled and kissed her gently on the side of her neck, nibbling his way down to her mark. She held her breath as he neared. He knew how good it felt when he kissed her there. He knew how much she wanted this, but while this was about feeling good, it wasn’t about sex.

“Daire?”

He nibbled around the faint shadowing beneath the surface of her skin.
His
mark. The sense of satisfaction roughened his voice. “Yes.”

“I’m afraid.”

The truth hung starkly between them. He breathed deeply of her scent. So good. Turning, he sat down on the chair, swinging her legs to the side. “I know.”

“It’s not like I don’t know this can be good. I’ve had lovers. There haven’t been rockets, but I know it can be more than rape, so . . .”