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When she’d come out of the shower naked, he’d practically had a heart attack, dipping his eyes to give her some privacy. He’d figured she’d go and put some clothes on but no, she had stalked straight into the living room and poured a coffee, butt-naked.
He had to respect a female who was so comfortable in her own skin. And when she’d ordered herself a meal fit for several kings, and proceeded to wolf the entire lot down, he just stared at her in awe. A female that could pig out with the best of them? He never thought he’d see the day!
Shaking himself, he tried desperately to pull himself away, but he just couldn’t leave her.
‘Hey, it’s Tam.’ He heard her voice.
Damn, he’d forgotten that he’d asked Sapphire to call in to her workplace and pretend to be her phoning in sick. After all, the last thing he wanted to do was get her fired!
Tamriel had got through the fever well, her body had handled it and she’d slept like a baby for two days afterwards.
Leyth, on the other hand, felt like death. He hadn’t allowed himself to sleep all the time she was suffering, and when it was finally over he’d carried her to her bed and sat in the corner of the room, just watching. He could really use some shut-eye. But the storm wasn’t over yet…
Snapping back to reality, he found her gasping at herself in the mirror. Her hair looked beautiful. Halfway through the fever it had started to change colour; bright streaks of red running its way through the silky black strands. Generally when females or males went through the fever they took on the colours they were born into, but red? He’d never seen anything like it. It was such a beautiful colour. Staring at Tam, Leyth reached out and touched the cold glass. What he wouldn’t give to be able to stroke those silky strands once more.
A wave of exhaustion hit him. He’d been awake for five days now, and he barely had the strength to stand up, let alone consider talking to Tam and trying to explain away the last few days.
More than that, he wanted to keep details of her heritage to a minimum. If she didn’t go through the fever again, he wanted her to live a normal life, not constantly wonder about what could have been.
The bone-shattering tiredness hit him again, making him wobble on the windowsill he was perched on. He tried to wrap the darkness tighter around himself, trying to stay relatively invisible in the early morning sun, but the energy it took to keep himself hidden sent him over the edge; his muscles failed him and he lost his grip on the windowsill. In that brief moment of weightlessness he tried desperately to shift in mid-air, to turn and land on his feet. No such luck, he passed out before he even hit the floor.
Tamriel heard the whimper loud and clear and snapped her head round in the direction of the noise. She practically jumped out of her skin! There was a huge man with shaggy dark hair crouched on the ledge of her window. Hell, he barely squeezed into the tiny gap; his broad shoulders pressed against the edge of her window, a black bomber jacket dominating the small space. His heavy boots were perched on the little flower basket she had hanging from the windowsill, and she couldn’t help but wonder how he hadn’t broken it. How the hell did he manage to climb two storeys up to her window? And how had he managed to squeeze himself onto such a small window ledge?
Why hadn’t she noticed him before? And what was he doing, watching her?
As hundreds of unanswered questions assaulted her mind and she locked eyes with the man, she recognised him instantly; not that she could understand why or where from, she just knew him.
Working for a newspaper wasn’t necessarily a good thing; she’d researched stories on criminals, abusive men, rapists – the works. He could easily be one of the people she’d written about, maybe she recognised him from his picture? Crap.
Her thoughts were cut off instantly as the man reached out to her. He looked so tired. So lost. As he lost his balance and fell, she cursed, ran out the flat door, down the two flights of stairs and burst out of the entrance. She wasn’t fast enough though. She rounded the corner as he hit the floor. Hard. It was something she felt right through to her bones, rather than actually saw. The crack that rang out was loud enough to shake walls. Running to where he’d fallen, she skidded to an abrupt halt.
He was nowhere to be seen. Instead, on the grass in his place was a big black and grey wolf. Shoving the brief prickle of fear that rose up her spine away, she walked over to the animal. As she reached it, she bent down and slowly reached a hand out; smooth soft fur met her fingertips.
The wolf was out cold but breathing steadily, its chest rising and falling like the tide. By the looks of it, the animal had broken its back leg; the limb was bent at an awkward angle. There was a lot of blood on the floor which appeared to be coming from a large cut on the wolf’s side. Tam scanned the area for the fallen man. Sympathy overwhelmed her as she jogged back to where the wolf had been, though as she reached the grassed area she wasn’t entirely surprised to find the space empty. The wolf had gone. Vanished. All that was left in its place was some sorry-looking, flattened grass and a smudge of blood.
Tam gazed around to the surrounding area. He had to be here somewhere. He couldn’t have gotten far with a broken leg. Stalking over to the pathway, she checked left, then right. Town was to the right; the hills were to the left. Her gut told her to head towards the hills. She broke into a jog and, hammering the pavement, she quickly made her way towards the far end of Folkestone, marvelling at how fast she was going. Yeah, she jogged sometimes, and yes, she’d raced at school, but Christ, she was keeping up with the few cars that were out at this time of the morning.
Then she pushed the thought away and continued on towards the hills. She couldn’t see the wolf anywhere, but she knew she was going in the right direction. How? She had no idea, but over the years she’d learnt to trust her intuition, her instincts. They had never led her astray before and she was certain that now would be no different.
Tam rounded the corner. She could see the roundabout at the top of the road, and knew that just beyond that was her destination. Folkestone’s rolling hills fanned out in front of her, the early morning sun peeking through the tops of them. She kept her pace up, dashing across the roundabout, and leaping over the fence separating the road and the field at the bottom of the hills in one movement. Crap. It definitely wasn’t natural to be able to jump that high and that far, was it? What on earth was happening to her?
Right now, she didn’t care. She needed to find that wolf. She had absolutely no idea why she was chasing down an animal that would, in all likelihood, maul her, maybe even kill her but, hey, it would make front-page news if she managed to survive to find out why there was a wolf in Folkestone. What a killer story! It might even make her career as a reporter. Maybe enough to make her a full-time journalist, rather than just a junior.
The cold winter air brushed past her as she listened intently, but the only sounds to be heard were the distant rumble of car engines on the motorway just across from where she knelt. Inhaling deeply, Tam was amazed at the different scents she picked up on, grass and moisture were the first that she noticed, but picking past these, she could smell mice, rabbit… wolf. The scent was particularly musky, almost manly, in a strange way.
Allowing her eyes to follow her nose, she scanned the bottom of the hills in the direction the scent seemed to trail into, as her inner predator came roaring to the surface, heat soaring from her very core, warming her flesh from the inside out. It was almost as if there was a beast that lived deep inside her, a beast that was just begging to be let out. Because you’re more than human the voice inside her pointed out, the very thing she’d feared for years. She’d suspected that she was different all her life, but she’d never wanted to believe it. Why now? Why were her age-old fears coming to the forefront of her mind?
Because your senses are getting stronger, the other half of you is getting stronger. Just as she was telling her brain to get a grip, her eyes skimmed over something that made her heart skip a beat, the very tip of a black and grey tail disappearing into the wooded area that surrounded the base of one of the many hills.
How she had managed to spot that from this great distance, she had absolutely no idea, and honestly? She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. Instead, Tam forced her feet forwards, breaking into a flat-out run towards the small woodland. She ran lightly across the lumpy grass, finding her footing easily, not tripping or wavering. She was built for woodland, for nature, for this. Her heart told her that this was home, this natural place of beauty. Not the urban environment she’d chosen to live in.
It took only seconds for her to reach the edge of the woods and, without thinking, she dove straight into the thick of it, launching herself into the surrounding trees, coming to an abrupt halt as she let her eyes adjust. She could barely hold in a gasp as she found herself staring straight into the grey eyes of the biggest, most beautiful wolf she’d ever set eyes upon.
He was hunched against a tree, a deep, rippling growl reverberating out of his chest, the defensive sound thrashing against her eardrums, causing fear to rise up her spine. Oddly though, she found the sound strangely comforting. She’d heard it before, but lord only knew where.
For a few seconds, the two of them just stood there, staring at each other, assessing the situation. With her heart in her throat, Tam drew in a shaky breath. What now? She’d chased this wolf into the woodland, not really knowing why or what she was going to do when she found him.
And now she was almost nose-to-nose with a goddamn wild animal, she had absolutely no idea how to react.
She was so stupid. The wolf was injured which, in theory, would give her an advantage if he tried to attack her, but you didn’t have to be an animal behaviour specialist to know that dangerous wild animals like this wolf were even more dangerous when they were injured and felt trapped or threatened.
She could almost see the headlines now: ‘Local woman mauled by wolf’; ‘Local reporter killed after chasing a wolf into the woods alone.’ What an idiot she was.
Out of options and ideas, Tam slowly held her hands out in front of her, doing her best to show the wolf that she meant him no harm.
He didn’t move, didn’t react, just kept his beautiful eyes locked onto hers.
‘Shh, good wolf…’ she whispered, not really knowing what else to do.
The wolf huffed, glancing at her before quickly spinning awkwardly on his back legs and hightailing it deeper into the woodland.
Tam launched herself forward after him. Trees sped past her as she struggled to keep up with him, damn he was fast, even with what she thought was a broken leg!
He twisted and turned, changing direction every now and again, creeping underneath bushes and going through streams. He was obviously trying to lose her, but she would be damned if she was going to let him get away from her! Breaking free of the trees, he climbed up the side of one of the hills; she followed him, gasping for breath as she hefted her way up the thing.
She stopped in her tracks as he paused at the top of the hill looking back down at her. For a moment, a fleeting feeling of recognition slipped through her, though lord only knew why; she’d never seen a wolf up close and personal before.
But he’s not just a wolf. Tam pushed her mind’s voice away. This was not the time for her ‘craziness’, as her school friends had put it, to be resurfacing. Her strange obsession with the supernatural had brought her nothing but grief in the past.
A heartbeat later, he was off again, bolting down the other side of the hill. Tam didn’t pause, just got her feet moving again, detouring around the edge of the hill rather than struggling up and over. As she reached the other side, she caught a glimpse of his beautiful tail disappearing into some bushes.
She didn’t hesitate, just dived in after him, catching her T-shirt on the branches and ripping the thin material. Her hands grazed against the rock and dirt beneath, and her kneecaps hit the ground with a thud, jarring her legs, but she didn’t stop. She crawled underneath the bush, bursting out on the other side just in time to see the wolf attempt to leap over a fallen tree.
He didn’t make it though. As he began to jump, his front paws left the ground but his back legs gave out on him, the wounded one collapsing under his weight and sending him awkwardly spiralling towards the floor.
Tam didn’t move, didn’t breathe. She couldn’t. She just watched as the wolf awkwardly righted himself, but stayed crouched on the ground, whimpering slightly as he tried to move his leg but couldn’t.
Slowly, carefully, Tam moved. Only an inch as she lowered herself to the ground and, in one painstaking movement, she knelt before the wolf.
Her knife was clipped to the side of her bra and her hands itched to reach for it, but she knew it was a bad idea. Currently the wolf was showing no signs of aggression and she didn’t want to spook him again.
As she looked into those beautiful grey eyes, she saw no anger, no malice. She saw fatigue, pain and confusion. She could read the emotions behind them like a book.
As she watched him, it seemed as though he was being as careful as she to move carefully. It was almost as if it were he who didn’t want to spook her rather than the other way around. He lowered his back end to the ground, shuffling a little awkwardly around his back leg. He then proceeded to lie down completely, resting his head on his paws, keeping his eyes still locked onto hers. It was as if he’d visibly given up.
Tam slowly edged forward. She must be absolutely crazy, knowing this was a vicious wild animal and that it could tear her apart easily. Yet her gut told her the wolf wasn’t going to hurt her.
She must be going mad. She was going to end up being that weird woman that was nearly killed by a wild wolf because she thought she could be friends with it.
And yet, this moment, this intense, terrifying, incredibly special moment, was one she would treasure for the rest of her life; one she would write about and talk of over and over again to friends, family and, maybe, one day her children.
The day mommy made friends with a wolf.
Holding her breath, her heart beating so rapidly she felt as though it was going to jump out of her chest, Tam slowly lifted her trembling hand, watching the wolf intently. If the wolf so much as flinched, she was going to hightail it out of there. Carefully, she extended her arm. The damn limb shook so much she was sure it was going to vibrate right out of its socket.
Reaching a little further, she gingerly let the very tips of her fingers brush the fur on his beautiful black and grey face.
And he was oh so beautiful. From the tips of his ears, down his spine and through to the tip of his tail was black fur which blended gracefully into the grey fur that ran down his sides and across his face, running into the white fur that covered his underside and jaw. He was absolutely huge.
Tam had always imagined wolves to be roughly the size of a large dog, but this wolf was practically as big as a full-grown man. Maybe even bigger. He was absolutely stunning; beautiful but deadly.
Slowly, carefully, she let her hand dip a little lower until her fingers were running through his soft fur; it felt like velvet underneath her fingertips. She inhaled deeply, his dark, almost chesnutty scent filled her nostrils; a scent she recognised. Tam knew she had smelt this musky aroma before; it was so oddly familiar.
Broken memories flooded her, but disappeared as quickly as they came; she hadn’t a hope in hell of trying to decipher them. In that moment, any fear washed away, to be replaced with the absolute certainty that this wolf wouldn’t hurt her; he was nothing to be afraid of and, if anything, he would undoubtedly protect her.
Christ alive, she must be going crazy, this was a wild animal, not something to feel relaxed around, let alone safe with!
Yet, even as fear prickled her spine, and images of what could happen to her flickered through her imagination, the wolf made her feel safe. He gently leant into her touch, allowing her to stroke the side of his head. He turned his muzzle slowly towards her, resting his chin briefly on her open hand before licking her palm and moving back to rest his head on her.
Tam watched him almost in a daze, she had no idea how long the two of them sat there for, staring at each other. It was the most intensely surreal moment of her life. Her heart was thudding so sporadically, so harshly, she was almost sure the damn thing was going to break through her ribcage. The certainty that this wolf wasn’t going to hurt her, wasn’t going to attack her, did little to calm the instinctual fear riding her gut, but she would be damned if she was going to let that ruin this moment. The wolf moved his head, only an inch, yet even so, she flinched at the motion; she couldn’t help it. As if the wolf knew she was feeling particularly jumpy, he moved slowly; steady movements that seemed so gentle. It was almost as if he was doing everything he could to not spook her, to make sure she didn’t fear him.
Any lingering fear she may have had was hastily stripped away as the wolf moved forward, positioned himself so he was lying directly in front of her, pawing at her feet, a motion that almost looked like he was making sure he had her attention. Looking up at her, his eyes could only be described as regretful as he let rip a howl that could crack windows. She watched in disbelief, terror freezing her to the ground, as the wolf’s arms and legs started to bow and distort, his entire body beginning to move and writhe. It looked for all the world like his body was breaking down and rebuilding itself. His face started collapsing in on itself, jaw cracking, tail shortening until it was no more, the beautiful black and grey fur that covered him in rippling waves disappearing into his skin until, finally, it was over.
It took only seconds until what was left…
…was a naked man lying on the cold forest floor.
His eyes had stayed locked on hers the whole time.
‘Tamriel,’ he choked out. ‘I’m so sorry…’
He carefully reached a hand out towards her, gingerly brushing a finger across her arm. She wanted to run, to shove his touch away, but she didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe. She couldn’t do anything but stare at the man before her.
‘Wha…?’ She cleared her throat. ‘You…you were the wolf…’
Chapter Four
Leyth lay on the floor of the woodland, naked as the day he was born. The twigs and dead leaves beneath him dug into his now very human skin, but that was nothing in comparison to the fear Tamriel was clearly experiencing. Hell, he hadn’t known what to do. Try as he might, he just couldn’t outrun her. She was too goddamn stubborn for her own good, and would not give up the chase. Eventually he’d seen no other way out, so he’d shifted back into human form.
He watched her carefully, his hand brushing her arm ever so lightly. Her wide green eyes tracked his every movement, her mouth hanging open.
‘What the hell?’ she struggled out, wild eyes darting from him to the surrounding trees. She almost looked as if she expected someone to jump out from the woodland and shout ‘April fools!’
‘Tamriel, I’m so sorry,’ he repeated, struggling for words. What the hell could he tell her? There was no other explanation for what she’d just witnessed, for what he was, other than the truth. ‘I’m a werewolf.’
She openly gaped at him, and it broke his damn heart. That moment they’d just shared, when she believed him to be just a wolf, was so special; it was an emotionally raw moment where he’d put all his trust in her and she in him. And that was something he’d never done before; as wolf or human, he’d never trusted a female enough to get close to her.
Now she had to trust him; she had to believe the words he had to tell her or it could kill her. But forcing them out of his mouth was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. This was going to destroy her life and everything she knew about herself. It could ruin her.
‘Tamriel, I’m a werewolf.’ He hurt for her as he said the words. ‘And so are you.’
For the longest of moments she just stood there, staring. It looked for all the world like she was processing everything that had just happened. Analysing it, trying to make sense of it.
Leyth drew in a breath, waiting. Waiting.
Tamriel spun on her heel and ran. Christ she was fast.
Leyth didn’t wait; a heartbeat later he was hightailing it after her, the trees of the woodland blurring past as he ran, desperately trying to keep up with her. His leg roared in pain; the damn limb had broken as he’d hit the ground and he hadn’t had enough time for it to heal properly. Wolves in general had exceptional healing abilities; a broken bone could heal in a matter of hours not weeks, but he hadn’t had time to rest. Nevertheless, he shoved the pain aside and struggled onwards, he was not losing her now.
For miles they ran, Leyth chasing her up the hills and down the other side, shouting after her all the time. She was relentless, never slowing to catch her breath, never pausing to check behind her. She ran like a true wolf; deadly focused on her destination.
‘Tamriel!’ Leyth roared, though his voice was now hoarse from shouting, his feet were cut and bloody from the woodland floor, and he was so damn cold he felt as though his toes were going to fall off. Being naked in the middle of the woods in December would do that to you.
Up ahead, Tamriel whipped around the edge of a tree, darting at a sharp angle in another attempt to lose him. He lost sight of her for just a moment, but that was all it took; as he rounded the corner, she was gone. He couldn’t see her anywhere. Crap. Scanning the surrounding trees, Leyth paused to catch his breath, listening intently. He could only hear the sounds of the woodland, but as he strained his ears, picking past the usual sounds of nature, he found what he was looking for. The crunch of twigs and dead leaves on the ground, a sound that was only made by heavy human feet.
The noise seemed to be coming from his left, and it didn’t take long for him to be roaring through the woodland once again in that direction. He rounded a corner, then another, before stopping dead as a scream rippled through the woodland. A scream that was deafening to his ears, and all but ripped his heart from his chest. A scream that came from Tamriel’s lips.
Leyth didn’t wait, didn’t give himself time to wonder, he just ran as hard and as fast as he could in the direction that terrifying noise came from.
‘Tamriel!’ he screamed, rushing past the trees, his eyes searching the area, desperately seeking any sign of her. The coppery scent of blood filled his senses as he ran, forcing panic to surge to the surface and his feet moved even faster, if that was possible. Through the woods he ran, following his nose, screaming her name.
He came to a halt in a small clearing and what lay on the ground in front of him was enough to make him want to scream. Tamriel lay face down on the ground, covered in blood, a hefty fallen branch of a dead tree sticking out of her back.
Leyth bolted forward, trying to assess the damage. Crap. Her foot was caught in some wire mesh, designed to trap foxes and rabbits. She’d obviously fallen hard after getting her foot caught in that trap, her ankle was twisted and broken and, by the looks of it, she’d fallen on a broken tree branch. The thing had pierced straight through her stomach and had come out the other side.
‘Tamriel!’ he whispered, crouching next to her. She couldn’t have died. She just couldn’t. Not now. He carefully brushed aside her beautiful black hair, and felt the smooth skin on her neck for a pulse.
For a few painstaking moments, he found nothing. But when the small beat touched his fingertips, his heart leapt. She was alive, just.
Scanning his surroundings, Leyth tried desperately to work out what to do. Her fragile figure was broken and bleeding, the blood pulsing out and forming a shimmering pool on the floor.
He couldn’t leave her here, and he couldn’t call an ambulance. How would it look; him being naked next to an injured woman? And what would they think when she woke up screaming that a wolf who had turned into a man was chasing her? Shit.
He wished with all his might that he had his jacket on him, then he could radio through to the mansion and call for help. He looked up at the sky; by his estimate it was about 7 p.m., the two of them had been darting through the woods all day, and now the sun was finally beginning to sink beneath the horizon. He didn’t really have much of a choice.
Gritting his teeth, Leyth slowly bent down to assess Tamriel’s wound. It was bad. Really bad.
He moved over to her ankle, releasing it from the wire trap and bending the metal beyond repair. Maker knew he hated those cruel things.
He gently scooped Tamriel into his arms. The branch came with her, refusing to slide out of her stomach and, frankly, that was possibly the best thing. If he took it out, she might bleed out.
With urgency heating his veins, Leyth carefully turned her body over, cradling her against his chest like a child. Her skin was so damn pale; she was losing blood fast. Once he was sure she was still breathing and he had a good grip on her, he used his fingers to feel for the all-too-familiar tension of the shadows; he would need as much darkness as he could get to try and take them to somewhere safe unnoticed. He was, after all, a fully naked man carrying a bleeding, unconscious woman with a goddamn tree sticking out of her gut.
Tugging the darkness of the early evening around him, he bolted out of the woodland as far and as fast as he damn well could. His leg roared in agony, his feet felt as though they had been skinned alive, but he didn’t care. He needed to get Tamriel to safety, and at this moment nothing else mattered.
Finally, after what felt like hours of running, Leyth broke free of the woodland and bolted through the fields at its edge, launching himself over the fence at the bottom in one hit. The cool pavement that lined the streets was a godsend for his feet, but he didn’t slow down, just kept going.
He shot past a group of teens that were leaning against the wall lining one side of the street. That earned him a few confused curses but, hell, he ran fast. By the time they’d realised he was there, he was gone again, and thankfully the winter evening darkness hid him, mostly. The shadows cloaking him in a layer of darkness would on a normal night make him nigh invisible, but now? Injured, with Tamriel in his arms? It just made him harder to spot.
