Ancient Ties (Pale Moonlight (Wolf Shifters Romance) Book 2) Page 5

  However, being around a naked male who was her destined mate left her in a state of confused need. Chayton asked Blanche to set Kaitlyn up in a room while he went with Willem to conference call Commander Fitzsimmons—after Chayton briefed their boss on what happened. Kaitlyn hated missing out on the information, but the commander was aware of her liability, he’d understand. Chayton said he’d swing by and update her.

  With a sigh, she stretched out on the bed. She wore shorts and a T-shirt, all her gear was laid out and ready to go when Chayton gave the order. There was nothing for her to do. Her eyelids drifted shut and sleep came in a cloud of darkness that dissipated to leave an image. A dream that uncloaked her memories.

  Her father stood over her, his expression tormented. Kaitlyn marveled at the sharpness in the world as her heart crashed against her ribs.

  What just happened? She’d been unusually crabby the entire week. Mom had made a million hormone comments and sure enough, her period—first one ever—had started. Kaitlyn had rushed out to grab her mom and then…everything went dark.

  Her T-shirt was hanging off her neck. She shook out of it. The room looked different. Everything smelled different.

  A scream. Her mom’s fear tasted bitter, like orange peel. Her father’s spike of shock. The closet door opened and the tang of metal and gunpowder caused her to sneeze.

  It was all so clear, but overlaid with the haziness of the dream world. Kaitlyn’s gaze dropped down. She had paws!

  “What is that, Maxine?” Mind-bending confusion rocked Dad’s voice. His accusing eyes shot from Kaitlyn’s mom to her.

  “Don’t shoot it. It’s Kaitlyn.”

  The shotgun shook in his hands.

  He stabbed his hand through his hair, the wildness in his eyes almost frantic. “My kid shouldn’t turn into that.”

  “She’s just—she’s just a child. Don’t hurt her.” Mom’s voice shook. Kaitlyn had never seen her so scared, not even during arguments with Dad.

  The barrel swung to aim at her face. Kaitlyn whined.

  “That’s not real. It can’t be.” But he’d been there, standing next to her mom when it’d happened. Her clothing was scattered around her.

  Mom crept closer to Dad, hands outstretched toward the gun. “Unless we’re all hallucinating, this thing is Kaitlyn.”

  He barked out a hard laugh. “Who’d you fuck that turns into a wolf?”

  His eyes widened when he realized his question wasn’t rhetorical. Mom shook her head but her denial came too late. In her eyes was panic that she was caught in a lie and they’d both suffer.

  His voice dropped to barely audible, personal anguish resided in his expression. “She’s not…she’s not mine?”

  Kaitlyn whimpered, snagging his attention. She watched disbelief fade to resignation. She tried to say something, but only yips escaped.

  Darkness descended over his craggy features, and his resolute gaze slid over to her mother. “I knew I couldn’t trust you.”

  Mom’s mouth dropped in horror.

  Dad? She couldn’t form words.

  With aching clarity, the shotgun barrel swung. Kaitlyn’s mom ducked, but the blast beat her. Kaitlyn flinched, momentarily deafened. Mom’s crumpled body lay feet away, shock frozen upon her youthful face. The thick stench of blood staining her clothing assaulted Kaitlyn. A thick stench of blood assaulted her. Her gaze lifted to her dad.

  He was the calm center as the world swirled behind him. The loss in his eyes staggered her. She whined, but the noise only anchored his acceptance that she wasn’t his.

  The barrel swayed back to her. She shifted and shook her head, her way of begging him not to hurt her. His gaze slid to her mother’s body. There was no fooling herself anymore. She smelled death.

  Mom was gone and Dad wanted to kill her. Kaitlyn’s breathing picked up. The sound of her panting filled the room. Quick shallow breaths did nothing to stop the room from spinning.

  A disgusted noise escaped from Dad, a sob tore from his throat. Kaitlyn wanted to go to him, get a hug, have him tell her it’d be all right. Instead, he dropped the shotgun and trudged to the master bedroom. The droop in his shoulders, the shuffling of his footsteps shredded Kaitlyn. He was the strong one, sometimes scaring her in his dedication to his family. She should hate him, wish for hell to swallow him up because he’d taken her mother away, but…he was all she had left. He was her dad and she loved him.

  She stood to go after to him, but the door slammed. After a moment, she padded over to her mother’s body. Mom’s pale face, her unmoving limbs, her vitality drained from her body… Kaitlyn shook her head as the dizziness descended.

  When a gunshot echoed from the bedroom, it was like the sound punched a hole in her brain and darkness took over.

  “Kaitlyn?” A hand patted her shoulder.

  Kaitlyn readjusted herself in bed. This wasn’t like her memory. The police had jostled her to rouse her. They’d been talking rapidly amongst themselves, speculating about what happened. None of them had said her name, and it hadn’t smelled like beef stew.

  “Kaitlyn?” The pats turned to firm rubs.

  Her eyes flew open; she was fully awake. Her gaze met Chayton’s concerned one.

  He leaned back on the bed where he perched on the edge next to her. “Sweet Mother, finally. I’ve been trying to wake you for ten minutes.”

  She sat up with a frown. To-go containers sat on the nightstand. Her stomach rumbled. “I was dreaming, only it was my memory. Everything I hadn’t remembered until tonight.”

  Rubbing her eyes, she noticed how close her position brought her to Chayton. She couldn’t move away. The heat emanating off of him, his fresh-cut pine scent brought her too much comfort to distance herself.

  “What’d your dream tell you?” His voice was soft, his hand twitched like he wanted to touch her somehow.

  “What we already suspected. Only it clarified that my dad’s not my dad and my mom cheated on him.” She chuckled sadly. “Not the kind of drama I thought was behind my condition.”

  “Did your mom know your biological father was a shifter?”

  “I don’t know. She seemed as shocked as Dad that I turned into a wolf.” Then Kaitlyn had sensed her mother’s he’s going to find out vibe. “You know what’s fucked up? I was never mad at Dad. Maybe for a little bit, but I was always disappointed in him for what he did. Sad that the man I thought was our rock was so weak he was compelled to kill Mom and run away by killing himself.” She fiddled with her fingernails. “But now I’m so pissed at both of them.”

  Chayton studied her. “Perhaps your mom understood his instability and that’s why she couldn’t leave him.” He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You know. We see it all the time in our work. One half of the couple is afraid to leave. It’s all they know or they fear physical harm.”

  Asshole Chayton she could handle. Compassionate Chayton scrambled her good sense. And she wanted comfort. The last several hours turned her world upside down.

  He leaned his head down, she tilted her face to meet his. When their lips touched, lightning flashed through her body. He inhaled sharply, but didn’t break contact. One hand cradled her face, the other slid around her waist to draw her closer.

  She deepened the kiss, wanted him to carry her to another place where she didn’t have to think about her messed-up past. He growled. His tongue swiped across her lips and she opened for him. Together they fell back onto the bed and he shifted until he stretched out over her.

  The way his body blanketed her, his heat seeping into her cold spirit, soothed her. Tampered the turmoil remaining from her dream. She parted her legs to cradle him. His growing erection pressed against her lower belly. Any unease left from her dream was wiped away. Oh yeah, she’d seen him naked, knew his impressive size, but hadn’t experienced it fully aroused. She ached to have him inside. Instinctively, she knew he’d be all she needed. Before, she had to seek out more than one partner to give her some semblance of satisfaction, but th
e male on top of her promised complete fulfillment.

  Her hands stroked his broad shoulders, followed his shoulder holster down around his back. His muscles rippled under her fingers as he rocked against her core.

  She moaned her approval, her hips meeting his. His touch lit her on fire. He lifted himself enough to be able to cup her breasts. She’d gone braless after her shower, thank goodness, but she cursed the barrier her shirt created between their skins.

  The fall of jet black hair encompassed her completely in his scent and acted like a wall between them and the outside world. She dragged her hands up his back to bury them into his soft hair. He ripped his lips away to trail kisses along her neck as his touch traveled down until his fingers skimmed the waistband of her shorts.

  “Yes, Chay, please.”

  At her shortened version of his name, he nipped the tender skin of her neck in approval. She fisted his hair and surged up to rub along the sizeable ridge in his pants. If his mouth hadn’t been doing wicked things to her, she’d want to peek, sure the tip of shaft pushed past the waist of his pants. She wondered if the head glistened as wet as she had grown.

  The band of her shorts lifted and his fingers found her center.

  She threw her head back with a gasp. “I need more.”

  He rubbed circles with his thumb on her clit until her entire focus was on that bundle of nerves. Dimly, she was aware of him kissing her neck, but when he tunneled one finger inside, her core became her only focus.

  This one male did more to her with his mouth and one hand than any other she’d been with. How she wished she could strip him down, or even take his shirt off, but she was helpless with what he was doing to her.

  He threaded another finger inside and pumped them in and out.

  “Chay,” she gasped, “I can’t—I can’t hold it off. Oh god, I’m going to come so hard.”

  She crested the peak with a low moan. He worked her center, pushing her over the edge. Shuddering and quaking around him, she thought her heart would stop when his mouth opened against the base of her neck. His fangs pricked her skin. The sensation increased the power of her orgasm tenfold.

  “Yes, yes,” she encouraged him, riding out her release and hugging him tightly to her.

  His head jerked up with a grimace, his eyes wide with shock. Tension radiated from him as he held his body statue-still.

  Something was wrong. She collapsed against the bed, but cradled his face in her hands.

  “Chay, what’s wrong?” He hadn’t said a word since before they kissed. Female pride that she’d carried him away was pushed out by dismay at his reaction.

  He shoved off her. Horror dawned in his eyes. “This can’t happen again, Savoy.”

  She flinched like he’d slapped her. Savoy? He got her off and that didn’t even earn her a “Cinnamon”?

  How naïve was she? She thought he’d come around for her, his mate.

  She sat up, scowling at him. “Well, I didn’t ask for it in the first place.”

  He stalked to the door. “I almost marked you. I can’t believe it.”

  He dreaded everyone knowing she belonged to him that badly?

  “Why? Because it’s so horrible that I was raised human?” She stood up, ready to shove him out of the door.

  He stiffened and paused. “Yeah, that’s it. I can’t be with someone who can’t be fully in touch with their wolf. It’s a disgrace.”

  Her gasp startled even her. Yet as he stormed out of the room, she caught the slight whiff of a lie.

  ***

  Chayton finished packing his duffle and zipped it shut. He stood over it, unmoving, dreading what came next. He had to meet Kaitlyn outside in a few minutes.

  How was he going to face her? It was hard to maintain scorn when her body lifted him to heights he’d never known existed. And they hadn’t even had sex. She was so responsive, he had felt…needed. A powerful feeling from someone as strong and independent as Kaitlyn.

  He’d come back to his room and washed her scent off of him. He had to. His body was primed to ignite if she even looked at him. Sitting in his room with a raging erection and her arousal covering him spelled out disaster. One that’d end with him begging at her door. She’d likely kick him in his engorged shaft and he’d deserve it.

  Disgrace. Had he actually called her that?

  Yes, he had, and he needed to remember why. He’d promised himself to Tika. Her family wouldn’t allow him to back out, not when her mother had insisted on a blood oath. He wouldn’t dishonor his father, the only family he had left. Chayton’s bloodline must be preserved. Tika’s ancient blood wasn’t as pure as his, but her grandfather had been an ancient, and more importantly, her father had come from the same tribe as Chayton’s mother.

  Tika. He pictured her doe-brown eyes and lively smile. No physical reaction. He’d managed passion with her before, last year when he’d stopped home between Guardian assignments. Her father pushed for their union, but Chayton remained firm in waiting until Tika was at least a quarter century old. He’d run with her in the woods, one thing led to another, and…at least they were physically compatible. Or so he had thought until his encounter with Kaitlyn. Because now his time with Tika was fuzzy and what he remembered was a watered-down version of the act of sex. Nothing nearly as powerful as the taste he’d had of his mate.

  Mate. Kick that idea out of his head. Tika was his mate. Not by destiny, but by choice. In less than a couple hours, he’d have to face that choice as he and Kaitlyn were ordered to head to his colony.

  Commander Fitzsimmons thought, along with Chayton, that the rogues would target another town. Unfortunately, the closest one was Chayton’s colony. The commander wanted them to check in with the leader and then search the forest for the four rogues.

  A knock on his door startled him out of his introspection.

  “Hurry up, Eagle.” Kaitlyn sounded as pissed as she should be.

  He’d texted her the commander’s orders and apparently, she was ready. He was, too. Willem had been briefed and the commander was giving Spirit Moon a heads up.

  Walking out into the daylight, he met Kaitlyn’s frosty gaze.

  He inclined his head to the SUV. “Get in.”

  “You have the keys.” Her tone could freeze a lake.

  The lock popped up when he hit the fob. She spun to throw her stuff in the backseat. No doors were slammed. Her movements were sharp, purposeful. He tossed his gear next to hers and climbed in.

  The drive to his colony was silent. Two hours of frigid company watching trees go by. Eight thousand times he’d wanted to say something, but what? Sorry I promised myself to someone else and made you feel like shit to take the sting off?

  As soon as he’d laid eyes on Kaitlyn for the first time and that unfamiliar feeling of possessiveness swept through him, he’d cursed Tika’s father. The proud, confident male had assured Chayton he wouldn’t cross paths with his mate; therefore, bonding himself to Tika interfered with nothing. Chayton had been in a bad headspace after the fire that claimed his mother, so he’d caved.

  Chayton couldn’t renege on his deal with Tika’s father. He wouldn’t be able to face his own father in doing so. Claiming his human-raised mate who had neither ancient blood nor Sioux blood would make him the disgrace. And having her pass out in front of them after a shift…unthinkable.

  Forget their fathers. Tika’s mother would rip his throat out and shred his privates. At this point, he’d relish his junk getting trashed. He’d decided to honor Tika after their weekend together and not lie with anyone else. But since Kaitlyn and her torturous honeysuckle scent crossed his path, he’d been in a constant state of painful arousal. Last night, his discomfort exceeded bounds no normal male should ever tolerate.

  Aaand he would cut off that line of thinking before he clogged the cab with arousal. Angry Kaitlyn’s chances at surviving his colony with any pride or sense of self intact were better than a hurt and confused Kaitlyn.

  He hated himself for messing wi
th her emotions. Even if he found her girlish exuberance annoying…and refreshing…and hotter than hell.

  No, it’d be easier if she disliked him.

  A town appeared around the curve. Spread out in the valley were small houses that’d blend into any American town. Along the hillside, dwellings dotted the landscape. Some were log cabins, some stick-built, but all of them were built on a foundation of pride and hard work. The last two hundred years had brought many changes to Spirit Moon, but his people ensured they blended no matter what.

  He let off the gas. The highway transformed into Main Street. Two-story brick buildings lined each side. Aside from a gas station or bank, good luck expecting to find a chain store in Spirit Moon. His people were fiercely independent, even in business.

  Part of him tuned in to Kaitlyn’s reaction to his home. She sat a little straighter, a trace of awe in her expression. She wouldn’t dignify him with amazement or appreciation, not after how he’d treated her. Regardless, something deep down in him didn’t want her to disapprove of his home, or almost as bad, not be impressed.

  “The Guardians never have to come here, do they?” She still didn’t look at him, but she fiddled with the braid resting over her right shoulder.

  He’d fantasized too many times about that hair draped over his bare skin. “No. We take care of our own.”

  “So do other colonies, but they know that some issues are strictly in Guardian territory.”

  He heard her censure. She might be right, be she didn’t understand the backbone that lined his people. “My people are honorable and loyal. Anarchy is not a concern.”

  She passed him a droll look. “You might think so, but it’s never one hundred percent. The commander hasn’t expressed any concern over a colony that never utilizes our services and stays out of shifter government? And if they didn’t have anything to do with the old governing body, how’d they feel about vampires and shifters uniting to govern all the non-humans?”