Текст книги "Cry wolf"

Автор книги: Jay Ellison

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danger in being so close to Fenrir and kissed him in return. He kissed his lips and down his throat, over

the curve of his Adam’s apple. The dog tags jingled between them as Kevin mouthed the arch in Fenrir’s

throat.

“Army?” Kevin breathed between gentle bites.

“Navy Seals.”

Shit.

Fenrir’s grip on him increased, his fingers denting the side of Kevin’s neck. For a moment, Kevin couldn’t

breathe. “Ride me hard, Pedigree,” he growled. “Show me what you’re made of…if anything.”

Kevin growled and inclined his head. He licked, then bit the side of Fenrir’s neck hard, harder than he

ever would have another lover, but Fenrir only groaned a response, dragging the long nails of his other

hand down Kevin’s back and buttocks.

The pain and pleasure mixed into a potent cocktail. Kevin forced Fenrir’s legs apart, braced himself

above Fenrir’s body, and started rubbing his swollen cock against his enemy’s balls.

Fenrir grunted as Kevin’s cock slapped the inside of his thighs, splattering him with precum. “You’re big,

Pedigree. Almost as big as Roman. But are you strong?”

Kevin picked up immediately on the implied insult. “Stronger than you think.” Surprisingly, he could feel

the man’s cock stiffening between them with each bite. Instead of subduing Fenrir, it was arousing him

further. Fenrir clutched his ass, his nails digging all the way in. The pain made Kevin mean. Almost

frenzied with the need to dominate this man, Kevin started thumping Fenrir’s hole.

Fenrir laughed at his enthusiasm. “Still a pup,” he said and lifted his hips a few inches so Kevin could

ram his cock home more easily. Fenrir growled deep in his chest, his whole body vibrating with

satisfaction.

It only made Kevin angrier. He felt himself shift partway between man and animal. Thick, reddish fur

sprouted down his arms and across his chest, his jaws lengthened into a slavering muzzle full of teeth, and

his claws curved into thick black scythes that screeked across the hardwood floor. His cock and balls

grew bigger and tighter still so that Fenrir grunted with pain but didn’t push him off, which was wise,

since Kevin was buried to the balls inside Fenrir’s body. Kevin drooled saliva down over his enemy’s

face. He snapped his teeth inches from Fenrir’s nose.

Fenrir smiled darkly, unimpressed by Kevin’s display. His fingers dug into the plush fur of Kevin’s ass,

holding him tight inside his body. “Jesus, that’s sweet,” he said in a rattling growl.

Snarling, Kevin braced his hind legs against the tiles, lifted his tail high, and started pounding his ass,

riding the man harder and rougher than he ever would another lover. The wolf was fierce and hungry, hard

to control tonight. Fenrir had brought the worst out in him. Yet Fenrir took his fucking without complaint

—with pleasure, even. He dug his claws into Kevin’s ass, whispered, “Harder, pup” in his ear.

Kevin pumped his dick in and out, his balls cracking against Fenrir’s ass like the sound of a spanking. He

bit the side of Fenrir’s neck with his wolf teeth until he tasted blood, licked it, sucked at it, then shoved

himself as far inside the other man’s body as he could, and came with an all-over shudder. He climax

exploded within him and he spurted copious seed deep inside Fenrir’s ass, pulled out and spurted yet

more seed over Fenrir’s balls and against his lower belly, flooding the man with his sticky scent, marking

him as a lower rank.

If it bothered Fenrir, he didn’t show it. He lay contentedly on the floor, an arm behind his head, moaning

in pleasure while Kevin dominated him.

Later, while Kevin stood over the banquet table, chewing on his third giant hunk of roasted mutton, Roman

came up behind him, dressed in only a long, forest-green robe, and wrapped an arm around his waist. He

nuzzled into the side of Kevin’s neck. “I take it you two have made peace?”

Kevin thought about that. “Somehow, I don’t think Fenrir sees it that way.”

“He says he did not kill that man.”

“And you believe him?”

Roman stiffened slightly. “He’s been my lieutenant and lover for years,” he growled faintly against

Kevin’s throat, and Kevin could tell they were walking in dangerous territory. How much did Roman love

his pack? Enough to cover all their “indiscretion,” as he put it?

“I think it’s time I went home.” Kevin shrugged loose, gathered his clothes, and headed out of the common

room and into the hall that led to the door.

Kevin looked around at all the luxury surrounding him and shook his head as he worked at buttoning up

his shirt. It was obvious that Roman would do nothing about Fenrir’s crime. A man was dead—not a good

man, sure—but a human nonetheless, and there would be no repercussions. Fenrir—indeed, all of

Roman’s companions—were no different, really, than the works of art on the walls of his home. There to

be seen and admired. Owned. Protected. They were something that belonged to Roman, and he seemed no

more willing to dispose of them than anything else in his house. It shouldn’t have bothered Kevin so much,

but it did.

As Kevin reached for the door, Roman put his hand on Kevin’s to halt him. Kevin started; he’d never even

heard Roman following him. Angry, he rounded on the man, then stopped. He looked so beautiful standing

there in his open robe, naked beneath and gleaming, his cock already stiffening. The warm, musky scent of

his arousal made Kevin squirm, but this time he took pains to ignore it. “Let me go, Roman.”

“You could stay with us. With me. I would take care of you. I would protect you and provide for you as I

do for the others.” His hand tightened marginally around Kevin’s wrist, then he brought his lover’s hand

forward under the robe so Kevin was touching the pulsing hardness of Roman’s ready cock. “You would

want for nothing.”

“Like the others.” Kevin shook his head. “I have a life, Roman. I have my sister to look after.”

“A human life,” Roman scoffed. “A life that won’t last. A life wasted.”

“Maybe. But it’s mine to waste.”

“You are not human, Kevin,” Roman said in a soft but vibrating voice. “You’re a wolf that has been made

a man. Not the other way around. You don’t belong with them.”

“I’m not sure I belong here, either.”

Roman let him go, then, with a flare of desire burning in his eyes, pushed him back against the wall by the

door and started kissing him, sweetly and tenderly. Kevin started resisting him, but Roman pinned both his

wrists to the wall. He rubbed his stiff dick against the front of Kevin’s jeans, wetting them. Roman’s wolf

called to him and the temptation was simply too great. Kevin opened his mouth to Roman’s kiss and soon

they were biting at each other’s open mouths, tongue-wrestling and moaning and growling. Roman

released Kevin long enough to reach for his jeans and undo them. He pushed them down just far enough to

find his way inside Kevin’s body, gripping Kevin’s ass and lifting him enough to impale him on his ready

cock.

Kevin was still wet from his rutting with Jonah. He sighed as he took the whole girth of Roman’s

magnificent cock at once. Roman started moving, humping him against the wall in a series of hard, upward

thrusts that scratched his back against the wainscoting. Roman panted with each impact, the smell of the

wolf strong on him. Their eyes locked and Kevin saw the lust there…and the love.

Roman loved him. He saw that clearly.

Their rutting was short, sweet and harsh. Roman came quickly, shuddering to climax deep in Kevin’s

body, flooding him with heat and seed and desire. He let him down, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt,

kissed him hard. “I’ve never felt for anyone what I feel for you, Golden Eyes,” Roman panted against his

mouth. “Stay with me. Let me love you.”

Kevin gasped, rubbed himself against the front of his lover. “Oh god, Roman.”

“I love you,” Roman admitted. “I need you. I have since the moment we met.”

Kevin groaned, faintly astonished by Roman’s admission. He knew if he stayed, he’d be giving in. From

there, it would only be a short fall to becoming like the others. “If you love me, you’ll let me leave,” he

whispered, disentangling himself. “Because you know that if I love you, I’ll come back to you.”

Looking reluctant, Roman let him go. It was all Kevin could do to keep from crying. He wordlessly put

himself back together and left the house before Roman could see the tears in his eyes.

***

Chapter Eighteen

“Something bothering you, big bro?” Hannah asked as she carried another box of cans into the old United

Methodist Church only a few blocks from their apartment building.

Kevin tried to ignore her question. Once a month, on a Saturday afternoon, Kevin helped his sister with

the local food drive. It was a worthy cause and he enjoyed helping out those in need. A big part of him

was happy it had fallen on this weekend; that meant he had a legitimate excuse not to see Roman or be

with the pack.

Time, he thought. I need time to sort things out.

How ironic that only a month ago, when he had first met Roman, he had wanted nothing more than to

spend every waking moment with his new family. To run with them and learn what it meant to be a

Pedigree werewolf. He’d wanted so desperately to be in Roman’s bed, in his heart. Now, though, he

realized that time apart was exactly what he needed to put his head together properly.

Roman said he loved him, but Kevin wasn’t sure what that meant. Did Roman love him as a lover, or as

something to own and dominate? It was almost impossible for him to understand their alpha. Roman was

so old, so mysterious. He felt like a man trying to see inside the mind of a god.

Hannah’s boyfriend Matthew stood outside the box truck parked in the delivery alley, holding a case of

canned tomatoes. “Earth to Kevin,” he said to get Kevin’s attention.

Kevin shook himself from his fugue and took it. It felt about as heavy as a pillow. He was surprised by

how increasingly strong he’d gotten in the last few weeks, almost like being with the pack was increasing

his wolf strength. “Stick another on,” he said, and Matthew complied, whistling.

“You working out, Kev?”

“Been going to the gym, yeah. I have to stay in shape to defend my little sister from unscrupulous suitors,”

he joked, though perhaps his face didn’t show it because Matthew looked worried.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Matthew, a large, handsome, African-American man studying to be an attorney

like Hannah, said. “Remind me never to piss you off, man.”

Kevin laughed, ducked inside the church. Hannah stood at one of the many long trestle tables where they

would be handing out foodstuffs to the needy, counting cans by running her fingers over them. Hannah was

always very concerned that there was enough for everyone who came to the church. “You broke up, didn’t

you?” she said without looking up.

Kevin set the tomatoes down. “What is this obsession with my love life? You’re as bad as Jolene.”

“I care about you, stupid,” Hannah shot back, tossing her long, loose blonde hair back over one shoulder.

“Your breakup is my breakup. And I’m not as bad as Jolene, I’m worse.” She pinched his nose. “Get it

right!”

Kevin discreetly removed one of the cans that Hannah had counted.

“I know what you did. Put it back.”

“No.”

“Put it back!”

“Make me.”

“Kevin!”

“Not till you stop asking me stupid questions about my boyfriends!” Kevin laughed.

Hannah reached for a bag of white bread on a nearby table, swung it around expertly, and hit Kevin in the

chest with it. The bread made a dull thud as it connected with the hard, lean muscles of his pecs.

“That’s a declaration of war, I’ll have you know, young lady.” Kevin reached for a pack of bagels, took

one out, and threw it at Hannah. It bounced off her shoulder.

“And that’s not?” She hit him again, harder, smashing the bread flat, and before long they had a fullfledged

food fight going on—or a bread fight, in any event.

Reverend Shrewsbury stepped into the room at the sound of the commotion, shook his head, and discreetly

left to gather more foodstuffs.

Neither Kevin nor Hannah were paying any attention when the window on the opposite end of the church

hall blew out in a rain of deadly sharp glass daggers and a huge, shaggy beast burst through. Its fur

shimmered and its teeth flashed as it lashed out at the air with an outstretched claw. It hit the floor and

slid across the waxed hardwood, heading right for Kevin and Hannah where they were picking crumbs of

bread from their hair.

Hannah gasped, turning toward the commotion, her hands blindly seeking answers. Kevin knocked his

sister out of the way at the last moment, and the werewolf skidded by them, crashing into the long trestles

set up, toppling them, snapping some in two, and sending others and hundreds of pounds of cans and boxes

of foodstuffs spinning into the double doors of the church hall like a barricade.

“Kevin!” Hannah shouted, scrambling to her feet. “What’s going on?”

The werewolf threw off debris and stood up. It was huge, upright and silvery-pale, looking every bit like

a typical movie werewolf—and just as terrifying. Its Navy Seals tags jingled around its thick, furry neck.

It eyed Kevin with pale, savage eyes, leaving no doubt in Kevin’s mind as to who it was. “Pedigree…” it

snarled at him, though the sound that came out of its jaws was anything but human.

Hannah screamed.

Kevin looked around, but the doors of the hall were blocked, and there were no other exits. The window

was broken, but there was no safe way to get Hannah out. From the other side of the barricade, he could

hear Matthew and Reverend Shrewsbury banging and shouting, but they weren’t getting in. Grabbing

Hannah’s hand, he yanked on it. “Follow me.”

Fenrir swiped his arms about angrily, knocking cans and boxes to the floor. He bellowed like a train.

“What’s going on, Kevin?”

“Just follow me!”

He dragged her down the hall. Reverend Shrewsbury had a desk set up near the back where he punched

tickets or wrote down the names of needy parishioners. Kevin shoved his sister in the kneehole and

crouched down, blocking her escape. “Stay here. Don’t come out, no matter what you hear.”

“Kevin…Kevin…!” She grabbed at the front of his shirt in her panic.

“Please, Hannah, trust me!”

Sobbing, she nodded.

Kevin stood up and turned, just in time. Fenrir was bearing down on him, his wicked claws slicing the air

like scythes.

Kevin ducked and rolled, coming up inches away. But before Fenrir could lunge, he kicked out, his shin

connecting with Fenrir’s knees. Fenrir howled in pain, shattering another glass window with his highpitched

wail of outrage, and dropped to the floor, giving Kevin just enough time to scramble away.

“You run!” Fenrir snarled out.

“No,” Kevin said, stopping and calling on the wolf. It filled his body, increasing his height, broadening

his chest, thickening his muscle mass, and making dark, reddish hair spring to life all over him. His head

flattened and became a pair of snapping jaws and his teeth and claws lengthened to three-inch-long

knives. Within seconds he was like Fenrir—almost eight feet of towering muscle and fanged, furry rage.

He roared a warning at Fenrir, and Fenrir roared back.

If he wanted to hurt Hannah, he would need to go through Kevin first.

Fenrir tried. With a lunge, he tackled Kevin to the floor. Errant boxes and cans shot in every direction. He

tried to snap his jaws down around Kevin’s muzzle, but Kevin caught them in his hand, holding them

open. It was like wrestling with an alligator. Fenrir snarled and whipped side to side, trying to snap his

jaws shut. Kevin grunted and kicked, slashing at Fenrir’s belly with his clawed hind legs.

Fenrir squealed in pain and jerked away, but Kevin came after the werewolf, determined to defeat him—

to kill him, if necessary. The two locked together like wild dogs and began thrashing and biting and

slashing at each other with their claws. They ripped clumps of hair out of each other, scratched at eyes,

slashed at bellies. Fenrir threw Kevin against one wall, breaking the cinderblocks that made up the church

hall. Kevin quickly recovered and jumped on Fenrir, pummeling him.

The savage noises of battle they made caused Matthew and the Reverend to bang even harder on the

barricaded doors and shout to be let in. Kevin could hear Matthew screaming for Hannah—could hear

Hannah sobbing from her safe place under the desk. He couldn’t let Fenrir go. Fenrir would return—

Fenrir would try and hurt Hannah to get back at him for stealing Roman’s affections.

A burst of rage gave Kevin the upper hand he needed. As Fenrir lashed out at him, he sidestepped the

other werewolf and reached out one long arm, snagging Fenrir by the dog tags. He wasn’t sure if they

would hold, but they did. Fenrir let out a choked scream as Kevin cut off his breath. He released the

panting Fenrir only to lift him up off his feet and drag his face close. “You will not hurt my family!” he

roared before throwing him the length of the hall.

Fenrir skidded along the floor and crashed into the wall beside the broken window. Kevin hoped it would

be enough, but Fenrir jumped to his feet and glared at Kevin, panting breath and drooling blood onto the

floor. He looked at the broken window beside him, at the shattered glass. He grabbed up a long shard in

one hand and pounced forward, trying to drive it into Kevin’s exposed belly.

Kevin dodged, and as Fenrir flew by, he picked up a folding chair and cracked it over Fenrir’s head.

Fenrir turned, unfazed, and sank the shard of glass into Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin screamed in rage and

pain, but before he could retaliate, Fenrir lunged.

Their combined weight carried them out of the window, still tearing and snarling at each other. It was a

short, first-floor fall, but they landed atop a car parked in the delivery alley behind the church. Their

combined weight crushed the car like a tin can and blew out every window in a spray of glass that littered

the dirty alley.

The two werewolves rolled over in the alley, clawing and scratching. Fenrir got atop Kevin, pinning him

to the ground. He wrapped both hands around his throat and began squeezing the breath from him. He was

stronger than Kevin expected. Kevin coughed and scratched at Fenrir’s giant, clawed hands, but they were

like bands of iron. He could not budge them.

Just as darkness began seeping into his vision, he spotted a shadow standing behind Fenrir. He recognized

it immediately as Hannah. She was scraped and bruised from climbing out the broken window and letting

herself down into the alley. She wielded her white walking cane, and, with a grimace of determination on

her face, lifted it high and brought it down soundly atop Fenrir’s head. “You leave my brother alone!” she

cried as she broke the metal cane over the werewolf’s thick skull.

Fenrir let go of Kevin’s throat to turn and face this new menace. He started to growl.

“No!” Kevin roared. Still choking, he reached blindly for any weapon close at hand, closed his furry fist

around an errant piece of rebar, and brought it around, knocking Fenrir’s legs out from under him. Fenrir

went down hard in the alley. He turned to Kevin, foaming saliva lashing his fanged jaws. Kevin brought

the rebar around and jammed it in his open mouth.

Choking, he withdrew just enough for Kevin to find his feet. Furious, Kevin reached for the only other

weapon available—the crushed car. It was heavy, huge, but his strength, he quickly learned, was

enormous, and rage fueled his determination. As Fenrir prepared to lunge at him once more, Kevin picked

up the twisted piece of metal and flung it at Fenrir.

Metal screeched and twisted, knocking him far back in the alley. The crumpled car rolled over and over,

finally ending up on its roof, its wheels spinning. By then, though, Fenrir had had enough. He turned tail

and disappeared quickly down a long alley, vanishing into the city like a silvery ghost.

Kevin thought about laying chase, but pain and exhaustion drove him to his knees. He hunched there in the

alley in his tattered clothes, panting, blood pouring from the wound in his shoulder. He whined deep in his

throat and Hannah rushed forward to help him, ignoring the fact that he was quite obviously a monster like

the one that had attacked them. “Kevin,” she cried, and took his giant, bloodstained hand.

Her touch soothed something deep and primal inside him and he found himself letting the wolf go. He

shrank down into his human form, the shard of glass falling from the wound in his shoulder. Hannah put

her hand on his seeping wound, but it was already in the process of mending. “Oh god, Kevin,” she cried,

tears in her eyes. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” he managed. “I’m sorry, Hannah. I…” Sirens in the distance made Kevin stiffen. Matthew and the

Reverend must have called the police. They would be here in only a few short minutes. He didn’t know if

Hannah would help him, but he had no one else to turn to. “Can you get me to the car?”

“Of course,” she said as he struggled to his feet. She dug her shoulder under his arm, and together they

started back to Kevin’s car.

***

Chapter Nineteen

A crash from the kitchen sent Kevin scrambling from bed. “Hannah! Hannah, are you all right?”

She stood at the counter, making a sandwich for herself, a broken bottle of mayonnaise on the floor at her

feet. “Dammit,” she breathed. “I’m such a klutz! I should have gotten a guide dog when I went to that

school for the blind.”

Kevin smiled, relieved it wasn’t anything serious. “How would a guide dog make you any less of a klutz,

sis?”

She put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at him.

“Lemme help you before you step on any glass.”

Hannah swatted him away. “I’m blind, not a baby, goddamnit!”

“Hey, I’m just concerned!”

“About what? That something in the refrigerator will jump out and eat me?”

Her words made him pause. “More like we’ll wind up in Emergency while a doctor pulls glass out of

your foot.”

She rolled her eyes but dutifully jumped up and sat on the counter so Kevin could sweep up the fragments

of glass. “Are you going back to work soon? Because you’re driving me batshit crazy being home all

day.”

“Tomorrow,” Kevin said, retrieving the broom and dustpan from the kitchen closet. “Jolene said they’re

reopening the club tomorrow.”

“Well, thank god for small favors!”

Kevin sighed, didn’t know what to say, so instead started sweeping glass while Hannah fetched a bucket

for the mop. As they cleaned up the kitchen together, Kevin said, “I’m sorry if I’m being difficult and a

little…overprotective. I just thought you might still be shaken by yesterday. God knows I still am.”

“Yeah, well, we did almost get eaten by a werewolf. Who wouldn’t be rattled?”

Kevin grimaced as he dumped broken glass into the kitchen garbage. They still hadn’t talked about that

little detail.

Hannah stopped mopping and watched him with her blind eyes. Kevin squirmed. He knew, intellectually,

that she couldn’t see him. But that didn’t stop the insinuating feeling that, somehow, she could, that she had

some secret inner sight.

“So when were you planning on telling me your little secret?”

“What secret?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

“Kevin,” she said in a low, soft voice. “I know what you are. I’ve always known, I think. I just somehow

convinced myself that I was crazy. But after what happened in the church yesterday, I just know I’m right.”

Kevin felt his pulse jump in his throat. “The police are calling it a pack of dogs.”

“Yeah, the same kind of ‘dog’ that killed that pedo and put him in the Dumpster behind the club. The kind

of ‘dog’ that isn’t a dog.”

Kevin cringed. “Have I always been so obvious?”

She shook her head. “Maybe not to others, but I can smell wolf on you, Kev. When you come home from

being in the mountains, you always smell like a wet dog. And there have been other things , too, going all

the way back to when we were kids. Your interest in werewolves, your little getaways, little things like

that.” She shrugged. “I’ve always known. When are you going to figure out I’m blind, not stupid?”

“I never said you were stupid,” Kevin answered, getting defensive.

“But you think I don’t know. Why do you think I haven’t moved in with Matthew?” She sighed and set the

mop aside. “You promised Mom and Dad you’d look after me, but I made a promise too. I promised

myself I wouldn’t let you get hurt, and I won’t.” She paused as a loud bang sounded from somewhere in

the building. They both stiffened and waited, then heard muffled cursing from the floor above them. It was

just old lady Margaret upstairs, struggling with that window that always fell down. They let out a joint

sigh, realizing they were both on edge after the attack.

Hannah nodded and said in a softer voice, “I’ve thought about this long and hard. I want to know who the

other werewolf is and what he wants with you, and I want to know now.”

Kevin’s first instinct was to lie. But then he reconsidered. Maybe if Hannah knew what they were up

against, she would be better prepared to deal with anything that came their way. “Drop the mob and come

with me.”

She did, following him out into the living room. Kevin sat down on their ratty, old green sofa and took

Hannah’s hands, guiding her down beside him. Taking a deep breath, he started telling her everything,

starting from when he was a teenager and covering all the important points up to his meeting with Roman.

Hannah sat quietly a long time before picking her words. “If you’re part of Roman’s pack, why isn’t he

doing anything about his lieutenant?”

“You’re taking this awfully well. It’s actually kind of creepy.”

“Answer the question, Kev!”

“I don’t know, Hannah. Maybe he loves Fenrir too much. Maybe he thinks human beings have no value.”

“Are you going to leave Roman’s pack?”

Kevin thought about that. The idea depressed him to no end. To be alone again seemed more horrible than

anything he could imagine. But there was no way that he and Fenrir could co-exist. And he wasn’t so sure

about Roman’s moral value. There had to be another way. “I’m not sure. I may have to.”

“But you don’t want to.”

“I love the pack,” he admitted. “I love Roman.”

Hannah nodded as she considered that. “Do you think Fenrir will come back?”

Kevin took a deep breath, let it out. “Yes.”

Hannah squeezed his hands. “Can I do anything to help?”

“Yeah, but…you won’t like it. You won’t agree to it.”

“Try me.”

Kevin bit his lip. “I know you don’t want to hear this, sis, but the fact of the matter is, you’re a liability.

And Fenrir knows you’re my one pressure point. Is there any way you can stay with Matthew for a

while?”

“You mean run away…leave you alone to deal with this?”

“Well, yeah.”

Hannah swallowed. “You know I don’t want to do that. We stand together, or we don’t stand.”

“And I don’t want you to go. But will you? Will you do that for me, so I don’t need to constantly worry

about you in addition to when his next attack will come?”

Hannah was stubborn, but sensible, he knew. It was what put her at the top of her class. After a moment of

thought she nodded and squeezed his hands even tighter. “If it helps you with this, then yeah, I’ll do that.

But what are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure,” he said, pulling his sister into his arms for a hug. “But whatever it is, I know I’ll feel

better if you have Matthew with you.”

“You know I’ll do anything to help you—even fight werewolves.”

Kevin laughed, grateful that his sister was willing to be so compliant. He kissed her on the forehead, then

ruffled her hair. “I appreciate that, I really do. But for the record, I don’t smell like wet dog!”

***

Chapter Twenty

His heart pounding with fear and anxiety, Kevin drove into the mountains. He’d given this a lot of thought

over the last few days, had run more than a few scenarios through his head, and he kept coming back

around to one definite point: he loved Roman and he loved the pack. He didn’t want to leave unless there

was no alternative whatsoever.

He had to confront Roman, get him alone. The problem was, the only way he could do that was by visiting

the mansion in the city, and that meant going through security. He didn’t want anyone knowing he was

there. He needed the element of surprise.

With Hannah safely at Matthew’s place, he figured it was now or never. This being the weekend, the only

way he was going to surprise Roman was by catching him at the lodge.

The ride up to the mountains seemed shorter than usual. About a mile before he reached the lodge, Kevin

pulled onto the shoulder of the road, shut down the engine of his car, grabbed his backpack, and hiked the

rest of the way in the dark. There was a half moon, which meant there was more than enough light for a

werewolf to navigate by moonlight.

Ten minutes later, he spotted the lodge over the next rise and slowed, trying to get his breathing under

control. Logic dictated that he ought to run away from danger, not go headlong into it. But love makes you

do some pretty stupid things, he decided. His heart knew what it wanted, and it wanted Roman.

“I love him,” he told himself, shouldering his pack, and creeping as quietly as he could to the side of the

lodge where the master suite was located. He loved Roman. He hadn’t realized it until he was talking to

Hannah yesterday and blurted it out. He loved Roman, was in love with him. Otherwise, why would he be

taking such a stupid chance?

He stopped and set his pack down, then looked up at the tall, two-story structure. A large, French-style

window was open about twenty-five feet up to let the cool night air in. The lodge was made of imitation

logs, and he knew he could scale them easily enough in his half-wolf form.

He stripped out of his clothes to keep them from shredding, then shifted soundlessly to werewolf form.

Climbing arm over arm like a great ape, he scrambled up the side of the lodge to the window and climbed

inside, balancing on the windowsill. The light, airy curtains fluttered around him and out the window like

curious ghosts. There was a cross-breeze in the room, which worked to Kevin’s advantage; it meant he

was downwind to the occupants in the room and his scent wouldn’t reach them in sleep.