Wolf's Heart (Feral) (2 page)

“Sarah told me you were coming. She described you perfectly; five foot six, long, chocolate-brown hair, hazel eyes, olive complexion, curves in
all
the right places...” He sat back as he looked her up and down appreciatively. Larissa blushed at this comment and his gaze. In truth, she was comfortable with her curves and her E-cups certainly got their fair share of attention, but it was still embarrassing, being checked out quite so blatantly and thoroughly.

Zane was still looking at her. “Oh, and you smell like sunflowers.”

Larissa did not know whether to be angry with Sarah, or to send her a “Thank You” card. She decided to reserve judgment for later.

Zane sighed. “Please don’t be pissed with her. I’ve known Sarah a very long time. She thought you and I might get along, so she orchestrated this little meeting.” He correctly interpreted the conflict that obviously appeared on her face. “Feel free to leave, but I was hoping we could have a drink?”

Larissa stared into his fathomless eyes, and turned to see the very lengthy queue behind her.

“You could be here for quite some time.” He smiled apologetically. “But I’ll make it worth your while.” She could not help but smile back.

C
HAPTER
T
HREE

An hour and a half later, Larissa and Zane sat across from each other in a dimly lit pub, around the corner from the convention center.

Larissa leaned back, taking a sip from her wine glass before speaking. “It’s funny; you say you’ve known Sarah a long time but she’s never mentioned you. And believe me, she’d love to tell everyone she’s ever met that she knows a TV star!”

Zane smiled ruefully. “We hadn’t seen each other in years so when we caught up again, I asked her not to make a fuss. She knows me well enough to respect that.”

Larissa still was not convinced. She knew Sarah pretty well too, and it was not like her friend to keep something this big to herself. She let it go, though; Larissa had more important questions to ask. “So, Zane, what else did Sarah tell you about me?”

His eyes flashed at her, too knowing, and her confidence faltered as he stared into the flame of the candle placed between them. “You’ve shunned your gypsy roots and don’t believe in the folklore of your family, but you’re a free spirit who doesn’t like to be tied down and moves often. You prefer all things modern, yet your favorite city is Edinburgh. Rather gothic for a modern girl, don’t you think?” He looked up at her, smiling. “You’re cautious when you meet good men, but reckless with your heart when it comes to less savory characters. It seems you like the bad boys.” Zane paused, eyeing her with fascination. “You really are a mass of contradictions.”

Larissa felt the fire in her cheeks.
Sarah is definitely in the bad books.
“Anything else?” She spoke through gritted teeth.

“Oh, and you’re incredible in bed,” he added, seemingly unfazed by her obvious irritation.

She felt her cheeks burn deeper still, but her jaw unclenched at the shock of his words. She drank half her glass of wine in one gulp, before speaking again, whilst Zane eyed her patiently, a cheeky grin planted firmly on his ever-so-tasty lips.
Gorgeous smug bastard
. Larissa fixed a smile of false indifference on her face. “Sarah has been a busy girl.”

Zane’s grin became sheepish. “Okay, I may have paraphrased the last part a bit. She actually said you were a warm, loving woman with a habit of finding guys who were great in bed yet crap at relationships, though I like my version better.” The smile widened to show very sharp canines and Larissa felt a tingle rush down her spine as the candle light glinted off them.

Suddenly his face hardened, and his whole body tensed. He was looking over her shoulder, and she thought she heard a faint, animalistic growl break through his gritted teeth.

“Now, now. You don’t want to scare your friend, do you, Zane,” said a silky voice.

Larissa turned to see a tall, flame-haired goddess standing beside her. The word “statuesque” sprung to mind. Larissa guessed the goddess was near six feet tall, with the outrageously high strappy sandals she was wearing. She was slim, yet curvaceous, and her dress clung to her like it was painted on, without a sign of any imperfection. Her hair cascaded in waves over her shoulders, and her subtle makeup complimented her porcelain tone perfectly. All subtlety ended at her lips though; they were full, pouting, and cherry red— and right now they were smiling at Zane like she wanted to devour him.

Larissa looked at Zane again, shocked by the daggers that issued from his glare. The woman was lucky they were metaphorical, she thought sagely.

“What do you want, Katrina?” All signs of his previous cheeky playfulness were gone.

“Just checking up on you, my dearest. A little bird told me you were thinking of giving another the gift I gave you.” The goddess’s tone became icy as she bent down low over the table, her face inches from Zane’s. “Do you think this child can take my place? I
made
you and I
will
destroy you if I must! Or maybe it would be better if I threatened this...girl.” For the first time she turned toward Larissa, her beautiful face distorted with disdain.

Katrina turned to face Zane and he leaned in as if to kiss her, but turned his head at the last second to whisper in her ear. Their faces were so close that Larissa would have thought he was speaking to a lover were it not for the acid that imbued every word that followed.

“Leave now and if you ever go near her, I
will
kill you, Katrina. I promise you.”

Katrina pouted, like a child not getting her own way. “Then I will leave you, lover...for now.” A cruel, strange smile formed on her lips. Her body straightened too quickly, unnaturally, and she walked away with every man in the room watching her, all oblivious to the dangerous conversation that had just taken place.

“What the hell was that about?” Larissa demanded. “I don’t need some psycho ex stalking me!” Her heart pounded, and she knew fear was its main source, but there was something else as well— arousal. Zane Adamson, TV star and beautiful stranger had defended her to an alarming point, yet that did not scare her as much as the thought of his destruction. When they talked, the threats were real; every tingling nerve in her body told her so. Larissa knew she should run now, but at that moment she realized she could not leave him.

“Shit! I’m sorry, Larissa. I wanted to ease you into this gradually, but Katrina’s arrival necessitates a rather speedier introduction than I’d anticipated.” His speech was urgent and pleading.

“Introduction to what? If you don’t tell me what’s going on in the next two minutes I’m out of here!” She was not sure whether he heard the lie in her voice.

“Fine, but not here. Let’s walk. I’d feel better,
safer
, if we were moving.” Zane stood, too fast, like Katrina.

“Do you really think your girlfriend would try to hurt you?” Larissa couldn’t keep the apprehension out of her voice. She felt foolish admitting it even to herself, but she was terrified of anything bad happening to this man she had just met. Okay, so he was a beautiful TV star who was throwing some serious sexual energy her way, but it was more than that. She felt she knew him, had known him for, well, her entire life.

“It’s not me I’m worried about, and she’s not my girlfriend.” Zane looked Larissa in the eyes, taking her hand as she stood, and this time he did not let go.

C
HAPTER
F
OUR

“You expect me to believe I’m a witch? Not just a witch,
but
a witch with shape-shifting ability. Your pick-up line could use some work. Does Sarah know you’re delusional?” Larissa was pissed off and babbling, but she couldn’t help it; the idea was so absurd.

She was mostly angry because up until this point, she’d really liked Zane. Now she was thinking he was just another nutter. Unfortunately, that hadn’t negated her physical attraction to him.

They had stopped at a bench along the Thames, and she sat eyeing him in utter disbelief. He stood poised, surveying their surroundings. The rain must have stopped some time ago. The seat was dry and the streetlights only illuminated a few small puddles around them. The early spring evening was unseasonably warm after the recent rain. Nearby, Big Ben chimed seven o’clock.

When they’d started walking toward the riverfront, Zane began to tell her a tale of gypsy magic. It was like one of her grandmother’s old stories, but none of those had ever concluded with Larissa being a witch. His version did. He held her hand as they walked, and Larissa was now sure it had been to keep her from running away screaming.

“Larissa, don’t be an idiot. Why are you so ashamed of who you are?”

This outburst surprised her, yet the fear, once again, accompanied a deeper yearning. “I am not ashamed of being a Zingari, but this is exactly why I left. My grandmother lived in a fantasy world that had nothing to do with reality!”

“Well it’s sure as hell your reality now, Larissa. You’ve known this your entire life, yet you act as if it’s a surprise. I know you remember Mala’s stories about the wolves protecting camp and the caravans. The special pets each family kept. Damn it, for once in your life, believe in something!”

Zane sounded more frustrated than angry. Larissa registered the fact he’d used her grandmother’s name, and wondered vaguely why Sarah had given him all this information about her. Shaking her head to dispel the visions his words formed, and now swirling in her mind, she squeezed her locket in her fist. “This is ridiculous. They were just stories; bedtime tales to make me stay in the caravan at night and not wander too far from camp in the day.”

“You saw the wolf and you heard the howling at night; you know it’s real.” He crouched in front of her and cupped her face in his hands. This and the fervor in his voice made her start to question her own sanity. Yes, she remembered the stories but that was all they were—weren’t they? The birds that hunted for the family or raised the alarm when strangers came calling, the cats and dogs that stayed by the babies’ cribs as playmates and guardians. Mala had joked they were shape-shifters, or at least Larissa thought it was a joke. She remembered her own cat, Princess, stopping her when she tried to play with the fire embers. Princess was the only creature that could calm her down when upset.

“Princess?” she said quietly, a question to herself.

“Sarah,” Zane replied, still holding her face, but his grip relaxed a little. “She’s always been with you to protect you, to care for you.”

Larissa could feel the wetness in her eyes, despite the rest of her being numb. “Why hasn’t she told me this before?” She pulled back, fighting the tears.

“Because she loves you. She thought she could protect you in the outside world. It helped that you didn’t believe. But your bloodline is too powerful not to be noticed, and she was afraid she couldn’t protect you on her own, so she rang me.”

“I don’t understand. What about my bloodline?”

Zane released a sigh. Larissa guessed it was because of her burgeoning change of heart. “Both sides of your family are steeped in the supernatural. Your mother’s side are witches, mostly healers, but some are capable of far more powerful magic. Your father’s side, shape-shifters, guardians of the families in which they live.”

The tears flowed freely now. “I never knew. They both died when I was a baby. How is it you, a stranger, know more about me and my family than I do? Why did Sarah call you?”

“I’m not a stranger.” Zane’s hands dropped from her face and his black eyes that penetrated Larissa so deeply became suddenly sad as he looked down. “I was the wolf you saw howling outside your window, the one that followed the camp.”

Larissa looked at him now, although afraid of what he might see on her face—fear, disgust... longing—she didn’t know how she felt about any of his revelations. She stared harder, as if willing herself to see the beast within him. He still did not look her in the eye.

“I was young and alone, half crazed with anger... hurt... denial.” He spoke these last three words slowly and deliberately as if reliving each emotion again. His reverie broke as their gazes met. “I couldn’t control the shifting. Mala found me in the forest, and helped me come to terms with what I was, what Katrina had made me.”

Larissa gasped, raising her hand to her mouth, trying to process what he was telling her. She stared ahead, even after Zane moved to sit on the bench, her focus remained unblinking at a lamplight’s reflection in a puddle before her.

“The animal resides within until another shape-shifter releases it. I’m here to help you through that transition. I am so sorry to put this all on you, but you have to know, to be prepared, for what is coming. I won’t let any harm come to you; it’s my duty, my destiny.”

“Duty? So I’m some kind of assignment for you.” She spat the words at him. She wanted to be so much more than just an obligation.

Zane lowered his gaze. “Yes and no.” His head quickly snapped up, gaze searching the shadows. The numbness was gone and she felt her heart beating, like a loud drum in her ears. “Come on, let’s move. Do you have a car?”