Wolves Gone Wild(25)

Was that what people called soul mates?

She blew out a breath. She’d never believed in love at first sight and had, in fact, laughed at the silly notion of a perfect someone for everyone. But now she wasn’t so sure. If someone had asked her when she was near them if not only one of them, but maybe all three of them, were the men she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with, she would’ve had to fight the urge to say yes.

She made it to her bed a second before her legs gave out.

It was her imagination. That was the only thing that had any rational sense behind it. Gabe and Merle attacking her had thrown her mind into confusion, making her see and think things that weren’t possible.

She forced herself back onto her wobbly legs and stumbled into the tiny bathroom. After turning on the shower, she disrobed then got under the warm spray. She had to wash the touch of Merle and Gabe off her skin before it drove her crazy. She scrubbed her body hard for what seemed like forever and finally felt clean.

After toweling dry, she walked into the bedroom and made sure the mini-blind was closed as tightly as it could go. Shutting out the rest of the night, the rest of whatever might happen, was the only way she’d get through until the morning.

Was there an amber moon she couldn’t see? Was that what was going on?

Once again, Milly’s words came back to haunt her.

“When the amber moon is out, people get to do anything and everything they want.”

If people were able to shed their inhibitions, would they go so far as to have sex out in the open? People did it all the time, from public displays of affection to those freer spirits who dared to be exhibitionists. Yet could an entire town act that way because of the moon?

“That just can’t be real.”

She lay down, tossing off the towel to cover her still-trembling body with the sheet. After the night she’d had, after almost getting raped by Gabe and Merle, she wasn’t sure what to believe.

Fangs. Amber colored eyes. Those were the things supernatural stories were made of. Before tonight, she would’ve scoffed at the very mention of them. But now?

“I’m just really tired, that’s all. I couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk when I was dead on my feet.”

If she tried hard enough, she could convince herself that the reason was sound. At least for the fangs and eyes part of the night. But there was no talking away the fact that two men had tried to rape her. Or the fact that three larger-than-normal wolves had come to her rescue.

For a second time, she touched her neck. The wolf had licked her. She could still recall the coarse texture of his tongue as it slid over her flesh.

No. There was no mistaking that as her imagination. She wasn’t that exhausted.

And yet, even as she had the thought, her eyelids drooped and she had to jerk them open. She couldn’t think any longer, couldn’t make her brain function enough to sort through all the questions tumbling around in her mind.

“I’ll ask Milly tomorrow. She’ll tell me that I imagined the whole thing. Then she’ll tell me what…”

She was asleep before she could finish the sentence.



* * * *



Lance shifted, going through the transformation with ease. Without waiting for Grant or Duncan, he walked into their ranch house and continued up the stairs.

“Fuck no you don’t.”

He paused, knowing that going upstairs would only delay the inevitable. He might as well face Grant’s anger and get it over with. Turning, he stayed where he was and confronted his scowling friend. As he’d guessed, Duncan wasn’t upset. In fact, judging from the smirk on his cousin’s face, he’d found the whole exchange with Christy amusing.

“Who told you to put your paws on her?”

“Well, first of all, I didn’t put my paws on her. I licked her. That’s using my tongue, not my paws.”

Duncan covered a chuckle as he bounded up the stairs past Lance. “You’re just baiting him.”

“I know.” Still, he didn’t like it when Grant acted like he was the one in charge. At least not where Christy was concerned.

“You know what I mean.”

“Sure I do. But you don’t go telling me what I can and can’t do with our mate.”

“She’s not our mate yet.” As with any other wolf, Grant wasn’t bothered about standing naked in his foyer, talking to his friend. They were used to seeing each other in the buff. “You keep pulling that kind of shit and she won’t hang around long enough for us to make her our mate.”

He didn’t want to admit that Grant might be right. “So shoot me. At the time I thought it was a good idea. What’d you want to do? Stand by and watch while Merle and Gabe took her?”