Chapter 24: Don’t you growl at me!
Sitting in the truck heading back to her warehouse, Dax kept staring from the bracelet to Kane and back to the bracelet. He kept scratching at it, if she didn’t do something he was going to scratch his wrist raw.
“Kane, what is going on? Why are you wearing that?” She asked,
“For protection” he said,
“Who’s protection? Your protection?” She didn’t understand, he looked at her “My protection? Are you going to hurt me?” A fearful look crossed her face and she slid away from him.
“NO! Never. I would never hurt you, I can’t, even if my life depended on it. It’s to protect everyone else” Kane replied,
“Everyone else? I don’t understand, Kane please talk to me” she begged him, her fear growing. He clawed at the bracelet again, becoming more and more agitated by the second.
If you don’t do something then say goodbye, if he keeps it on he’ll crash and you both will die! The voice sounded in her head. Dax has never heard it before, but she knew she had to listen to it. She grabbed his wrist and reached for the bracelet.
“Don’t do that” he tried to pull his wrist back but she held onto it, trying to get a hold of the bracelet. “STOP” he yelled. She fell back into the seat and tears started falling down her cheeks as she curled into the corner to get away from him. She pulled her coat tighter around herself. He looked at her, she was terrified and it broke his heart, she’s afraid of him.
“Baby, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell” he apologized to her, she just shook her head.
“It’s fine” her voice barely above a whisper.
“No, it’s not fine” he pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine. He shifted in his seat so he could face her. She was breathing hard and he could smell the fear coming off of her.
“Baby, look at me” she shook her head “Dax, look at me” he said with more force, her eyes widened but she looked at him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I yelled, I didn’t mean to scare you, I would never want you to be afraid of me. I can’t take this off, it’s for my own good, it’s for everybodies protection”
“But, no one else is here, and it’s causing you pain, I don’t want to see you hurting like that” she said, that was when he realized she wasn’t afraid of him, she was afraid for him. He grabbed her and pulled her into his chest holding her tight against him. Breathing her scent into him, she reached over and took the bracelet off and pulled his hand to her face. She kissed his fingers, his palm, his wrist and clutched it to her, the way she did the stuffed wolf. Growling could be heard all around her and his body shook, when she looked at him his eyes were closed. She straddled his lap facing him kissing his forehead, his cheeks.
“Stay with me” she whispered over and over again and when she pressed her lips to his, he responded. His mouth moved with her “Stay with me” she said again against his lips. His hands moved to her lower back and her hips, pulling her closer to him. His need for her mixed with his want for her. He kissed her harder, more demanding, she responded to the demand, matched his need with her own. He moved from her lips to her jaw line, following it down her neck. He nipped and kissed his way down to the tender spot between her neck and shoulder and she released a moan and arched into him. His hand trailed up her stomach pulling the fabric of her shirt and coat with it. His fingers grazed over her ribs and her body shivered under his touch. He wanted more; he had to have more. Kissing down from her shoulder to her collar bone and lower still, she leaned back to give him all the access he wanted.
The horn blast crashed them both back to reality. She must have hit it when she hit the steering wheel. Not that it mattered, this was not the place or the time. Both breathing hard, it was her who laughed first, he pulled her back to his chest and held her there while they both laughed at the situation they found themselves in. She went to move back to her seat, but he held her tight to him and shook his head.
“No, I need you” his voice hoarse.
“You have me” she said and settled back into his lap and cuddled into his chest laying her head on his heart. He fastened the seatbelt around both of them. Was it safe? No, but he needed her touch, she calmed him, soothed his beast. Ky purred at her scent basking in her touch and warmth. He had to tell her. No one would be safe until he did.
Once back at the warehouse he parked by the bay door and unfastened the seatbelt and they just sat there. He trailed his fingers through her hair and kissed her head repeatedly, holding her as close to him as possible.
“I really need to talk to you,” he whispered,
“Ok, lets go inside” she was about to move off him when again he held her to him.
“No, is there somewhere outside and private we can go?” He asked, she thought about it for a moment and nodded. “I would never hurt you, understand that ok.”
“Ok!” That startled her, he wants to take her somewhere private and he’s telling her he would never hurt her. Do you believe him? Her subconscious asked. Yes, but if he eats me I’m gonna be pissed at everybody! Sounds good to me! She took him by the hand entwining their fingers and she led them to the clearing.
“I found it after I moved here, it’s one of my favourite spots to go, but I haven’t been back in a while” she said.
“Why?” He asked, she took a deep breath.
“This is where I hurt my knee, the memory I had, and then something big, probably a bear growled at me in the forest and I just haven’t come back” she quickly explained,
“Yeah, that wasn’t a bear, that was….me, I was there that day” he said rubbing the back of his neck.
“What? No you weren’t, I think I wou-“ he held up his hand cutting her off. He clenched his fists, not exactly sure where to begin.
“What do you know about werewolves?” He asked, she sat on a rock and shrugged.
“Not much, just what I read in books” she answered looking at her feet “Why? What’s this about?” When she looked up he was getting undressed “Uh...the fuck are you doing?”
“I have to show you something, but I promise you’re safe and I will answer all your questions after” he held his hands out trying to reassure her. She covered her face.
“And you have to show me naked?” What could he possibly have to show her that required him to be naked.
“Yes, just please watch” he begged her, she peered at him through her fingers trying to keep her eyes on his upper half. They might have wandered once or twice, and like the rest of him he was big. She heard the first crack of his bones and her eyes widened. What the fuck? A crack here and a snap there, she watched his body twist and bend, his ears grow, his nose lengthen. She saw his teeth elongate and what looked like black fur sprout from all over his body till he was fully covered. He went from two legs to four legs. Her eyes as wide as saucers she fell backwards off the rock she was sitting on, when she peered over it where Kane had once stood now stood a big wolf. He shook out his fur and just stared at her, his grey eyes piercing into hers.
“K-K-Kane?” She stuttered out looking at him over the rock, he nodded his head. “Holy Fuck!” She opened her mouth and then closed it again.
“Um….Holy Fuck!” She scrambled away from him, Kane growled at her and stepped forward before she called him out.
“Hey, don’t you growl at me, I’m allowed to freak out. You didn’t just sit there and listen to someone’s bones snap so they could take on a furry new form” she huffed at him. She was taking this better than he expected. She started pacing back and forth, she would look at him then look away, shake her head just to do it all over again.
“H-h-how? How? What? How?” She looked at him again tilted her head to the side then looked away just to look back at him trying to figure it out. She closed her eyes tight. Nope this is not real. I am just tired and hallucinating, I’ll open my eyes and he’ll be human and covered in skin….and clothed! Peeking one eye open he was just standing there watching her. Nope, still hairy, still on four feet and still very, very large! Her subconscious piped up. I died on the roller coaster that’s what this is. That fucking ride killed me! Nope, very much alive, very much standing in front of a really tall, very much alive wolf! You’re not helping! I don’t think I can even if I wanted to!
“The fuck!” He cocked his head to one side. She is taking this much better than expected! Yeah she’s not screaming! Or running!
“That explains all the growling” he gave her a ‘really look’ “Don’t give me that look, so you growled, I have pointy ears who am I to judge. How was I supposed to know growling meant wolf? I just thought you were a weirdo” he widened his eyes.
“This is fucking crazy!....No I’m fucking crazy!....You’re a wolf and I’m talking to you!” She touched her ears and her fingers immediately started tracing the scar.
“Oh Fuck, Holy Fuck! What the Fuck? Fuck Me!” He watched her walk back and forth looking at him listing off everything that she could put before and after the word fuck. Which apparently was a lot, she could make sailors blush with that mouth. “Does it hurt?” He shook his head.
“Why are you so big? I thought wolves were….smaller. You’re fucking huge! Is that why you’re the size of a mountain? Big guy, big wolf, makes sense” she answered the question herself, but he nodded confirming what she said.
“Oh Fuck, is Lacey a wolf too?” He nodded again “And Johnny?” Again he nodded. She had to sit down, this was too much to process standing up, she put her head between her knees and took several deep breaths. He whimpered and when she looked up again he was standing right in front of her, her eyes went wide, and she shot up to her feet,
“No bad wolf Kane, sit, stay” she blurted out and backed away from him. Did she just tell me to sit? And stay! Ky laughed.
He moved closer circling around her, his fur would brush against her arms, and tingles would dance across her skin. Her brain should be screaming, ‘run and don’t look back,’ but she felt safe. Instead she held out her hand.
“Can I?” He moved closer to her, she hesitated at first, but as soon as she touched his fur the shocks she craved flowed through her arm. His fur was soft and smooth, it was like touching silk. She ran her hands down his sides, his neck, his chest. He bowed his head so she could scratch behind his ears, and laughed when he nudged her with his nose to keep going. Then she hugged him, he could feel her tears dampen his fur and feel her sadness. He whimpered.
“Oh fuck, you have a mate out there!” She whispered into his fur remembering what he said about mates. It was then she knew he couldn’t be hers, he had someone out there just for him, waiting for him and she was destined to be alone.
He backed away from her and started to shift back, she wiped her eyes and turned around to give him some privacy to get dressed. When she felt his arms wrap around her, the tears threatened to fall again.
“You’ll never be alone again” he whispered into her hair.
“How? Don’t you have a mate” she sniffled,
“I do, and I found her. She’s not quite 5 feet tall, has hair as white as snow, cerulean blue eyes with amethyst starbursts, pointy elf ears, and when she’s pissed at you she throws paper weights” he said kissing her head.
“She sounds lovely” she sniffled again,
“She’s the best part of me” he turned her around to face him, and he wiped her tears away and held her close to him.
“How do you know?” She asked, burying her face in his chest
“It starts with a smell, we’re drawn to it, when we find it we crave it like air. Yours just happens to be my favourite scents”
“Lilac and cherry blossoms,” she said.
“Yeah! Then a spark, do you feel them?” He asked, holding her hand in his, she nodded her head.
“Only I can give you those, no one else”
“That’s a little one-sided” he laughed at her scrunched face.
“Trust me I feel them as well, just on a way more intense level. The touch that can calm me, is the same touch that can rile me up”
“Is that why you had me sit in your lap on the way home?” She asked.
“Yes, you soothe me, and my beast, no one else would ever be able to do it, that’s how I know you’re my mate. So like I said you’re stuck with me” he brushed the hair that had fallen from her bun out of her face.
“Your beast?” She looked at him confused.
“This is where I have some explaining to do. Werewolves usually get their first shift at 16; it’s when their wolf makes himself or herself known to them, it’s also where they can potentially find their mate. Johnny found Lacey when he turned 16 but had to wait for Lacey to come of age before she felt the pull. I first shifted at 10. It’s not entirely unheard of, it does happen, it’s because the wolf is a strong one, and mine is a beast. When I couldn’t find my mate for 12 years I lost hope, I sort of let him take control for a year. There was a lot of blood shed for that year at his hands. I was angry and I thought the Moon Goddess was punishing me for having a wolf that was too strong. Turns out I wasn’t looking in the right place, I could have found you sooner” he pulled her closer to him, she nodded absorbing all this information.
“I’m an Alpha the Blood Howlers is my pack. I became the Alpha when my parents died at 16. They were attacked by a group of rogue wolves. A rogue wolf is kicked out of their pack, either because they didn’t follow the rules or they did something really bad that went against their pack’s law.” He was answering questions before she could even ask them.
“What happens if they just want to leave?” She asked,
’Then they are marked a lone wolf, and have the Alpha’s blessing to go and blaze their own trail, pack life isn’t for everyone. I thought about it. I knew who Ky was and I wasn’t sure what kind of Alpha I could be with him as my wolf. He is strong, but being an Alpha makes him stronger.”
“Ky, as in my Kai?” She looked shocked,
“Why do you think I liked the name? He thinks it’s a good choice as well” He looked at her “Why did you pick it by the way?”
“I don’t know, something told me to, wasn’t the first time” she replied, now he looked confused.
“What do you mean?” He asked
“The diner, when we were having dinner with Lacey and Johnny, you were getting….cranky. And again in the truck, with the bracelet, I heard a voice tell me to do something”
“A voice?” He arched an eyebrow at her
“Yes, it said do something, before we both die” she looked up at him.
“Have you ever heard this voice before?” She shook her head.
“No, the only voice I hear in my head is mine, and sometimes a nightmare from my past.” He growled, he didn’t like that she could hear Carl’s voice in her head. She looked at him with an arched eyebrow.
“When you growl is that you or Ky?” She asked.
“Both, sometimes it’s me, sometimes it’s him,” he replied. He will not hurt her again!
“Does he talk to you?”
“Yes” Even when no one else will!
“What’s he like?”
“He’s kind of an asshole” You’re a fine one to talk!
“Is he talking to you right now? What’s he saying?” She looked at him.
“That I’m an asshole, and he talks to me because he can’t talk to anyone else. And he doesn’t like your nightmare, which we both agree on” she smiled.
“What happened at the carnival Kane? Why did you have to wear that bracelet?” Her expression became serious.
He took a deep breath, to calm his nerves he didn’t want to scare her and this might.
“I almost lost control of him” he said and he looked away from her, he was ashamed of himself. When she didn’t say anything he continued.
“As a species werewolves are….protective, and possessive over what’s theirs. When I met you my protective instinct kicked in, and with that came his possessive nature. The more I learned about you and your past the worse it became, the more protective I became the more possessive he became. Suddenly everyone and everything became a threat, so Johnny silvered me. It’s the only thing that can stop a werewolf, the only thing that can kill us” he moved away from her. “Johnny went through it too a few years back with Lacey”
“What did he do?” She asked.
“Nothing, she was only 14 and didn’t feel the pull yet, but his wolf eventually calmed down. It’s also against pack law to mark a minor. When she reached 16 and realized he was her mate he marked her” Kane replied,
“Marked?” She inquired “What does that mean?” He walked back towards her and trailed his thumb from her neck to the tender spot at the bottom on the left side.
“It’s a bite, that sits here” he said tracing small circles over the spot
“What does it do?” The movement was causing a flurry of activity inside of her, he was picking up the scent of her arousal, he knew this time he wouldn’t be able to stop himself, his need was too strong.
“Gives you a direct connection to me, my thoughts, what I’m feeling and me to you. We become a whole. It also tells others that you are spoken for” she pushed him back so he was sitting on a rock, it took him by surprise.
“So if I let Ky mark me, he will calm down? But I am sure there is more to it then just biting me, what are you not telling me” she asked, moving away from his touch.
“The marking process usually goes hand in hand with mating, it completes the bond.” he swallowed hard watching her.
“Mating as in sex?” She gave him a quizzical look, he nodded.
“You’re a virgin,” he said,
“Ho-“ he cut her off and just touched his ears, it registered that he had super hearing.
“So you heard everything earlier in the warehouse?” He just nodded.
“And other times, the things I have had to pretend I didn’t hear come out of your mouth….let’s just say it was hard to fight the reaction sometimes” her face flushed at that, oh she could imagine.
“Sailors would blush,” he added.
“So the problem is that I’m a virgin?” Drawing the conversation away from her potty mouth.
“No, being a virgin is not a problem, that means I get to be your first, last and only. The problem is I am having a hard time controlling myself, and I don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for” she moved around behind him and when he felt her fingers trail up his back, he stiffened, his core stirring and coming to life. Her lips brushed against the back of his neck and his breath caught in his throat.
“And what if I’m ready?” She whispered in his ear when he felt her teeth it was his undoing.
“It is best not to rile up a werewolf little mouse” he warned.
“Then you better catch me mountain wolf, if I get inside my warehouse before you can, the night is over” she whispered in his ear.
“And if I catch you?” a smile tugged at his lips.
“Then we’ll see where the night takes us,” she purred.
“You better run” his voice was deep and gruff.
“Not before this” before he could ask, she crushed her lips to his. The kiss was demanding, she moved against his mouth with a hunger, he never felt before, with a need that rivaled his own. She truly was a beautiful creature. Then she broke the kiss and took off into the forest.
His little mouse was just full of surprises, this did not go the way he thought it would at all. After her mini freak out she was very accepting of the whole thing, she embraced it actually. Now here he was chasing her through the woods, excitement building at the thought of catching her. He could sense her excitement as well, it was intoxicating, it filled him, setting his soul a blaze.
“Are you sure you thought this game through, little mouse? I have speed, a heightened sense of smell and hearing on my side” he called out.
“And yet with all that you still haven’t caught me?” She called back laughing.
“If I wanted to catch you right away I would have, but I am rather enjoying this game of chase” he replied with a laugh of his own.
“But the game isn’t to chase me, it’s to catch me mountain wolf” her scent was all around him, she was close, he could feel her, smell her. He turned and saw her run off down the path and out of sight.
“Sneaky sneaky little mouse. The chase builds the anticipation, what fun would it be to just simply catch you without building the suspense first? For the things I will do when I catch you, I will leave up to that mind of yours” he called after her.
“Promises, promises mountain wolf, I have an extremely wild imagination, so I will leave it up to you to figure out what is dancing around in my mind right now, but you are running out of time” her excitement was getting stronger and he began to move faster through the woods, this was not a game he was going to lose. He exited the path and saw her dart across the bay door access road to the door. She was struggling with her keys, what was she thinking that had her so excited. But she was his, and now he would find out.