A Wolf's Love: A Paranormal Romance Short Read (The Flame Series), Page 2

  “I know he can’t. He’d disappear, otherwise.”

  By ‘disappear’, Lauren knew he meant that Julio would have him killed. “You don’t need to protect me. Remember, I’m a therapist who treats Maeve’s rescues. I’ve heard every horror story possible. Julio will kill Ralph outright if he learns Ralph has crossed him.”

  She drew a deep breath. “When Ralph finds out where Vickie is, I want you to go with me to get her out of whatever club she’s in. Maeve has already said she’ll take her into her refuge permanently.”

  Cole scowled. “You’re forgetting. Julio knows every Border Patrol Officer in the force. His men would know me the moment I showed my face at the club. I’d be dead if I tried to remove one of his workers.”

  “Not if he can’t see you.”

  She watched his blue eyes flash. “What do you mean? Wait. No. You’re kidding, right? Do you honestly think I’d trust you to make me go invisible?”

  He hadn’t forgiven her for using her power to take his knee out and she could see he was still in a lot of pain. But he’d refused to believe her when she’d said a dark witch was trolling the area that night and they were in danger. They’d gone for a walk not far from Lauren’s home. She’d spied the witch’s gold aura, a sign she was hiding behind an invisibility shield.

  Lauren knew the dark witch well. Her name was Monique and she engaged frequently in sacrificial killings. She’d also been after Lauren to join her dark coven from the time Lauren had arrived in Five Bridges. If Monique had found a wolf in Elegance, she wouldn’t have hesitated to take him out.

  Cole had started to argue with her since he couldn’t see the aura. Knowing how stubborn he could be, she’d zapped his knee to keep him from exposing their position behind a bank of tall oleander bushes. She’d also clamped a hand over his mouth to keep his pained groans from alerting the witch.

  To this day, she knew in her heart that if she hadn’t wounded him so that he stayed put, Monique would have slaughtered him.

  The fight that had ensued had shaken their relationship to its core and ruined any chance of them making a future together.

  She’d had two months now to review the events that had led to the break-up as well as the way he’d ended their relationship. She’d come to question his level of rage about what had happened as well as the reason for his complete rejection of her. She had her own opinion about what was at the bottom of his anger and stubbornness. But because he’d refused to talk to her, she wasn’t able to share her thoughts with him.

  She had no expectation of having a talk anytime soon. Her only reason for being here was for Vickie’s sake. Cole was simply a reliable wolf she trusted and the best means of getting Vickie safely back to Elegance Territory.

  It would have helped a lot though, if he wasn’t so damn handsome.

  When her phone vibrated, she withdrew it from her pocket and saw that Ralph was calling. She took a step closer to Cole and hit the speaker button. “Hi, Ralph. I’ve got Officer Cole with me. What’s the news?”

  “You were right. Julio has her. Your girl is in the Furred Up and Ready Club, three doors down from mine.”

  Chapter Two

  Cole stared hard at Lauren. She’d asked for his help and he’d refused. She’d asked him to meet her here and he’d agreed. He’d listened to her request and her arguments against asking more powerful alphas for assistance. Now she held the phone between them and heard the despair in Ralph’s voice, but he wouldn’t be manipulated. The whole situation pissed him off.

  She shouldn’t be in Savage Territory and she shouldn’t have asked him for his help.

  Ralph continued. “Glad you’re here, Cole. That particular club has a bad reputation. Because she’s a witch, they’ll use her up then dump her in the Graveyard. If she hasn’t been violated yet, they’ll sell her to the highest bidder for a rape-fest. I’ve seen it a hundred times. You’ve got to help her, Lauren. Cole. Please. If there’s anything you can do to get this young woman out of that place, you’ve got to try.”

  The plea had the effect of stalling-out Cole’s protests. Now that he knew the girl really was in Savage, he had to seriously consider helping out even if he didn’t want to.

  He ground his teeth then moved away from the vehicle. But damn if another round of pain didn’t shoot up his leg and pull his tail-bone into yet another tight spasm.

  He grimaced and leaned over trying to get some relief.

  Lauren had done this to him. He had to remember that, despite the concern in her lovely violet eyes.

  Worse, from the moment she’d made herself visible, all he’d been thinking about was the first time they’d made love. He’d taken her to his home, his belowground den. She’d never been in a wolf’s burrow before and he’d been able to tell by the rise of her tropical-citrus scent that she’d loved being there.

  He’d had plenty of wolves in his bed, but never a witch and never someone like Lauren. When she looked at him, it was as though she saw him, really saw him.

  She’d also been up front about everything she wanted physically from him, which had been more wolf than witch. He’d given her what she’d asked for and then some. It had been some of the best sex he’d ever known.

  Seeing her in front of him, he wanted her with the same force of that first night. Having sex with Lauren, however, wasn’t something he ever intended to do again despite the runaway nature of this thoughts.

  He reined in his lust and forced himself to focus on the situation at hand. He needed to make a decision about the kidnapped girl and helping out.

  He shook his head and growled. There wasn’t a real decision to be made. He was a Border Patrol officer and his duty was to serve and to protect. Besides, it was in his nature to do what he could. Once they’d gotten the girl to safety, he could leave Lauren in Elegance and return to his home with no harm done.

  He met Lauren’s gaze and though he knew he was scowling, he gave his answer. “Ralph, we’re heading over to the Strip now.”

  A look of relief and gratitude swept over Lauren’s pretty face. She mouthed the words ‘thank you’, which dropped his gaze to her full lips. A powerful rush of desire hit him hard all over again. He wanted to kiss her. Bad.

  “Wait.” Ralph spoke abruptly. “You’d do better to go to the club no more than an hour before dawn. I know the security over there. When the club starts to thin out, Julio’s men get lazy. Half of them take off before they’re supposed to.”

  “Got it. We’ll do what we can in an hour. But I’m making no promises.”

  “It’s only important you try.”

  Lauren spoke into the phone. “Talk to you later, and thanks, Ralph.”

  “Thank you for doing this, witch.”

  Lauren’s smile was lop-sided. “Any time and I mean it.”

  She ended the call and returned her phone to her jean’s pocket.

  Cole didn’t want to take Lauren back to his burrow. He didn’t want the witch anywhere near his home again. “What do you suggest we do? We can meet back here in, say, forty minutes if you want.” The less time he spent with her the better.

  She gave her head a quick shake and huffed a sigh. He realized she was nervous. “Listen, Cole, the only way this works is if you can enter that club with me in an invisible state. But it’s not a simple thing to do. What I suggest is that you come back to my house and we work on the spell together. Since your shift just ended, you’re probably hungry. I can make some sandwiches.”

  Yeah, he was starved. “Fine.” His voice sounded too clipped and harsh. He eased up on his tone. “A sandwich sounds good. Thank you.”

  ~ ~ ~

  By the time Lauren had pulled bread, ham, cheese, lettuce and a couple of tomatoes from her refrigerator, she’d accepted that her heartrate wouldn’t return to normal until she was rid of Cole. From the time she’d emerged from her invisibility shield out by Broken Bridge, the poor organ had been doing double-time.

  She wished Cole would leave the doorway. He’d taken
possession of the space and rested a shoulder against the frame, no doubt to take pressure off his left knee. She’d seen him limping when he entered the house, though he tried to disguise it with levitation.

  She wished he’d stop being stubborn and let her repair the damage she’d done two months ago. She’d offered more than once, but he’d refused just as often.

  He had his arms crossed over his chest, but what he probably wasn’t aware was how much the self-protective posture caused his biceps to bunch. She remembered biting him all over his muscular arms, shoulders and back, even his thighs. She’d been a hungry witch when they’d made love. He’d kept saying, ‘You surprise me.’

  God, she’d missed him.

  She had little hope of renewing anything between them, however. His rage still poured off him in waves.

  “So, you’re still going to stick to your story,” he said, “that when we were walking by those oleanders, there was a dark witch streaking through the night skies.”

  “I saw her aura, Cole. Monique was there. She’s one of the vilest witches in Elegance. I think she’d been hunting me again. She’d wanted me to join her crew from the time I got here. That night, I had a strong sense she was looking for me with nothing good in mind. I just wish you’d believed me when I said we were in danger. She would have killed you if you’d stepped from behind those bushes.”

  “So you’ve said.”

  She slathered mustard on a slice of sour dough more roughly than normal. When she glanced at him, she saw that his eyes had narrowed yet again in disbelief and his lips had thinned to a tight line.

  Now she was mad. “Why the hell won’t you believe that I’m telling the truth?”

  He grimaced. “It’s not just that I question what you saw that night. It’s the whole thing. What you do in Elegance, the deceit, hiding behind shields of invisibility, everything’s hidden. It goes against who I am.”

  She turned toward him. “I’m not hidden.” She slapped her chest. “Me, Cole. I’m not hidden. You know who I am down to the soles of my feet. You know me. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  “But you blasted me with the tips of your fingers and took out my knee.” He ground his teeth together.

  “I’ve told you why and you don’t have to be in pain. I can fix this. I can reverse the spell. But as always, you’re being stubborn.”

  He turned on his heel, though slowly. “I’ll be in the living room.”

  It took her a minute to calm down as she finished the sandwiches. She worked quickly because they were on a time-table.

  Cole was right about one thing. So much was hidden in Elegance. From the time she’d become an alter witch two years ago, she’d learned fast enough to look over her shoulder, then keep looking.

  She knew Monique well. She’d been a student of the infamous Veyda who had been known to torture and kill her victims in dark coven ceremonies. Veyda, however, had recently been killed by Maeve and her wolf boyfriend, Officer Braden.

  Monique had learned well at Veyda’s knee and had tried to use a spell on Lauren in the early days of her arrival in Elegance. Fortunately, Maeve had been one of Lauren’s mentors and had taught her a few tricks to keep Monique from bothering her.

  But the dark witch had tried repeatedly to throw spells at her. Each time, Lauren had been able to counter her attacks which in turn had forced Lauren to work hard at her craft. She’d told all of this to Cole throughout the three months they’d been dating, which she supposed was part of the problem. He knew the harsh truth about Elegance. His rejection of her was also a rejection of the wizardry of her territory.

  In that, she couldn’t blame him.

  Except for a curt ‘thank you’ from Cole, they ate their sandwiches in silence.

  She repressed a sigh.

  Afterward, she took him to her spellroom which opened up onto the backyard. By now, he wasn’t even trying to hide his limp. If he wanted to suffer in silence, that was his choice. Right now, she had to teach him how to enter her invisibility shield without adding to his pain.

  She had him face her as she explained how her shield worked. “We’re going to displace time by a bare fraction of a second. It’s an amazing spell. Once I learned it, I couldn’t believe how simple it was.”

  He frowned slightly. “For you maybe. Most of the witches I know can’t even approach this level of power and ability.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that. She never thought of herself as out-of-the-ordinary. But even Maeve had told her she was exceptional, and that Monique had kept after her for that reason. Dark witches craved power more than anything. Monique wanted control of Lauren’s abilities.

  “I’ll need to touch you to do this. You okay with that?”

  His nostrils flared. “I’ll have to be, won’t I?”

  “Dammit, Cole, could you just dial it down a little? I know you’re furious with me. But it won’t help at all if you’re a rigid piece of rage right now. In fact, it will make it worse and this will hurt like nothing you’ve ever known before. Your knee pain will feel like a tickle.”

  She watched his lips tighten and his jaw flex a few times. He took a few deep breaths.

  “Better. Now, try to relax. The more you can be in a meditative state, the better.”

  He held her gaze. “You know that’s the opposite of a wolf’s nature.”

  “I know. Just try to breathe with me and force yourself to relax. One in, one out. Slowly.” She exaggerated her breathing.

  He followed her lead and after a minute, she could tell he’d left at least a portion of his anger behind. His shoulders had dropped and his lips weren’t pressed together so tightly.

  “Okay, you’re doing better. I’m going to pull you in right now. Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  When she drew him into her shield, he shouted in pain and fell to the floor. He rubbed his knee and rocked.

  She dropped down beside him. “This will never work if you’re in pain. We will be invisible, but we can still be heard. Cole, please let me take care of this.”

  “Fine,” he spit between gritted teeth.

  She gently removed his hands from around his left knee and placed both of hers on the painful joint. She closed her eyes and summoned the spell from within her mental filing system. It worked like a computer pulling up documents from a folder.

  When she had the spell she’d created in the first place, she began reworking the arrangement of power-threads. As the healing began to flow, she watched the spell form colorful streams of pulsing light. Her hands felt warm as they released the healing energy.

  As though from a great distance, she heard Cole murmur, “Oh, my God.” But it was a sound of profound relief.

  ~ ~ ~

  Cole had lived with his knee pain for two long months. Sometimes it had been worse, sometimes better. Sometimes he could barely stand. Yet the moment Lauren’s healing waves had begun to flow through his skin and deep into his knee joint, he felt every nerve draw back into place and finally relax.

  The pain that had gripped his tail-bone and flashed in pulses along the sciatic nerve simply disappeared. He stretched out flat on her spellroom floor, a horizontal position that usually caused him agony. Heaven.

  He heard a meow and saw Lauren’s black and white tuxedo cat come prancing up to him. She then jumped on his chest and he petted her.

  Pain was a real bitch and now it was gone. He felt at peace with the world.

  “How you doin’, Janey?” Lauren had named her cat after the best friend she’d left behind in the human world when she’d become an alter. The cat purred her contentment.

  “She always liked you, even though you must smell like dog to her.”

  Her use of the word ‘dog’ zinged his temper. But when he glanced at her, ready to make a strong retort, time stopped. She was sitting on her heels, her hands on her thighs and smiling. Her light, wavy brown was hanging forward and framed her beautiful face.

  She was half-cute, half-exquisite and her smile g
ot to him.

  His heart began to ache. He’d loved her before she’d zapped his knee. Hell, part of him still did.

  But this time, right now, wasn’t about how he felt or what their relationship had been. They had a teenager to rescue and they needed to get on with things.

  He picked Janey up and set her on the floor, then rose to his feet. He tensed, however, in anticipation of pain that was no longer there. When he realized yet again that it was gone, his frustration about being close to Lauren gave way to gratitude.

  This time, he smiled. “Thank you. I know I was being stubborn.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m just sorry you had to live with this for two months.” She glanced toward the window of her spellroom. “Listen, I’ve had a thought. Before we continue, why don’t we head over to the park. At this hour, there won’t be anyone around.”

  “You mean so I can shift.”

  “I know you need to. That much I remember from our time together.”

  She was right. He’d had a few tough nights this past week during his patrol shift. Going wolf was necessary for his overall mental and physical health, but the process had added pain-on-pain with his knee injury, so he’d been avoiding it.

  Now his pain was gone.

  “That would be great.”

  He removed his weapons belt and phone then left both in her living room. A few minutes later, they were in the air and flying toward the park. When his feet hit the ground, he shifted and began to run. One of the miracles of the alter wolf state was the absorption of whatever he wore into the shift, like his clothes, then the return of the same elements to their former state. Weapons and phones tended to drop off and land at the point of the shift, at least for him, but clothing and his hair clip went along for the ride.

  So much feel-good flowed through his veins that he raced over the grass as fast as he could go. Being in his wolf form felt as natural to him as his human shell. There was something magical about the earth beneath all four paws. He felt like he could do anything.

  Lauren tracked with him as well, levitating above him and moving as fast as he could run. She even laughed then gave a shout. Looked like they both needed to let loose.