What the Wolf Wants: Howls Romance (Wolf Mated Book 2) Read online

  “Well… okay. But you got to—”

  "Huh? Got to what? Peyton, you there?" Is it the reception in the mountains? I look down at my phone. The faint glow to my cellphone flickers off, and the call disconnects.

  Great. Peyton is probably freaking out thinking that I got devoured by a bear or wolf or something.

  I walk quickly and hold my cell phone up to the sky. Small flakes of snow start falling down faster than before. This time, the snow isn’t melting. It’s sticking to the ground and trees. Damn it, it’s not supposed to snow heavily for another five hours.

  I stuff my cell phone in my coat pocket, hug my arms around me, and walk faster. “Please tell me the blizzard isn’t starting early,” I pray out loud. I pray to God that I’d at least get a fighting chance, but my heart lurches back from the thought of dying in the wilderness from hypothermia. I don’t see the chimney with smoke billowing from it, and I don’t even know if I’m going in the right direction.

  There’s no time to shut down now. I have to keep moving. I’ll get somewhere, eventually. Maybe I won’t.

  I’ve already weighed the options. Death is better than what’s waiting for me if I return home.

  I want a life without a narcissist ruling my every move. I don’t want to be anyone’s toy.

  I finally find a trail. I’m not even sure if it’s the right one, but it is a trail, so it must lead somewhere. To something. To someone. Even to civilization.

  I keep going, marching down the slope of the mountain. Until I snag my boot on a branch and find my ass tumbling down.

  Flailing my arms and legs, I desperately try to break my fall. Twigs whip me, rocks puncture me, and nothing is strong enough to keep me from gaining speed.

  I scream, hoping someone will find me.

  Tough luck, not in this darkness. In the daytime, I'd have a better fighting chance.

  While I'm tumbling down the mountainside, I stop rolling over my head and start skidding on my ass.

  There’s a drop.

  A big one. But after the drop, I see…the sky. I’m in the air. Am I flying?

  I count the seconds and brace myself.

  Three, two, one.

  I’m a gymnast, I’m used to this. Being propelled into the air. I can’t let myself end up in the hospital again with my old life pinning me down.

  I hit the muddy ground and roll all the way down a hill. I see a big structure ahead as I’m rolling.

  I’m coming closer. There’s something brown and fuzzy near the big structure. Whatever it is, it’s fuzzy and furry. Is that a freaking wolf waiting at the bottom of the hill to devour me whole?

  The fuzzy, furry thing isn’t fuzzy and furry anyone. It’s standing up tall. The fuck?

  I’m hallucinating. I know it. I must have fallen and bumped my head.

  But still, I’m rolling. Seems like I’ve been rolling forever. Everything’s in slow motion.

  The big structure in front of me looks like a wall. A house. It’s a cabin.

  Despite the pain that’s shooting through my body, distorting my train of thought, a sparkle of happiness shines through, knowing that I’m going to stop.

  My back thuds against the wood of the cabin harder than I’m expecting, sending a blast of pain through my body.

  And all I see is blackness.

  2

  Claire

  Someone's approaching me, and whoever they are, they must be big, because they have heavy footsteps that make the ground beneath me rumble. Twigs and branches snap with each step they took. I smell the fresh aroma of cedar and spice. It's a man.

  “Who the hell’s on my fucking property!” he growled. “Huh? What the fuck? Where the hell did you come from?”

  My vision starts to come to. I'm thankful that I can still feel my legs, no matter how painful it is. The giant silhouette looming over me bends down to take a closer look at me.

  He surveys my body with his intense wolf-like eyes. Even in the darkness, I can see the power in his face. "Damn…"

  Eager to get on my way and not be handed over to the police or hospital I struggle to get up. “I-I’m fine. So sorry about that.”

  It hurts to move, but the scent of this man almost numbs me.

  He lays his big rough hands on my shoulders with force. "Hey, stop moving, you've probably broken something." He's breathing hard, and I'm getting a good look at his arms. From what I can see, this man must be a lumberjack or something. However, he seems familiar. And that slightly makes my hair raise. I'm wondering if he's the lumberjack who fell all those logs I spotted in the clearing earlier. Maybe he's the lodge owner. Just my luck. Perhaps I'm here.

  “I’m here for the rental,” I mumble. My throat is dry. I’m still dizzy and disoriented.

  “Rental?”

  “The cabin.”

  The man looks behind him at the big log cabin. “It’s not for rent.”

  “There was supposed to be a lodge. Where am I?”

  “This ain’t no lodge.”

  I try to fight his grip and get up. “No, really, I can—fuck!” I hiss, laying back down.

  He chuckles. “You can fuck?”

  Such a dirty joke. I better get out of here, or else this lumberjack of a man might think he can have his way with me. Sliding his thick uncut cock into me, making me come.

  The thought alone makes my pussy shiver and my nipples bloom with excitement. Why would this man elicit such a dirty response from me?

  I lower my eyes. I know I've gotten myself into a mess. I must have hit my head pretty hard rolling down the hill like that because suddenly I'm having dirty girl thoughts. I haven't had dirty thoughts in a while.

  “Not like that, pervert—ah—shit.” Another pang of pain rocks my right side and I lay on my back.

  The lumberjack sharply exhales. “Here. Hold still.”

  “No I can do this—” I protest, even though I know I can do shit all to get up off this frozen muddy ground.

  "Seriously, woman. You nearly put a hole in my cabin. What the fuck is your body made of?" His large corded arms bury underneath my body and sends warmth into me as his skin touches me. He lifts me up as if I weighed nothing, making me blush. It's an unspoken compliment and the first time someone has held me with such… protection. Now my mind wants to flood with dirty thoughts. His cologne refuses to leave me alone.

  “I’m pretty sure your cabin broke me first.”

  He places me near his chest, and I take in all the added extra warmth. The warm embrace of safety wraps around me. I’ve never felt this way before with anyone. It makes me respond in embarrassing ways.

  I can already see myself riding this man until his cock breaks. But then again, I’ve never had sex. Looking at his size, I know his cock would be the one to break me.

  Ugh, it has to be the pain. That’s right. The pain is making me feel perverted over a random man living in the mountains in the middle of nowhere.

  Regardless, I still have goals. I need to get out of this state pronto.

  “I have to go!”

  “Not like this, you aren’t? It’s too dangerous, anyway.”

  “I’ll be fine. I saw the wolf, but he ran off, so I must not have been a threat to him. I need to get back on the trail. To the lodge. You can help me, right?” I pull on my sweet voice, but his face remains stoic, unfazed that I laid my cutest irresistible voice down on him.

  “No, you’re injured. You said you saw a wolf?”

  “Yeah. Aren’t you a little afraid staying out here with them running around?”

  Once I ask him that question, I realize that renting a cabin so far up the mountains hadn’t been part of my initial plans because of the threat of the wildlife out here, particular wolves and bears. It had been why I had rented a cabin in town. The landscape was breathtaking, but this was…well…

  He takes me inside to where it's warm. There's a crackling fireplace and the smell of a good dinner lingering in the air. I'm placed onto a big soft leather couch and shiver as the h
eat of the cabin envelopes me. I take off my wet coat and put it on the coffee table in front of me.

  He hasn’t answered my question about being afraid of the wildlife.

  “Where’d you come from?” he asks.

  “From the town. Clover Valley.” I didn’t think it was any of his business that I didn’t even live in the area, so I don’t mention it.

  “Are you alone?”

  I hesitate for a few seconds before I reply, “I am.”

  “I’m not exactly on the map, so, how’d you get here?”

  “I walked here.”

  “You walked here from town?” he gawks.

  “No. I took an Uber. He dropped me off by the main highway. I was taking the trail to Fields Lodging.”

  “Well, this ain’t it.”

  “I know that. Can you point me in the right direction from here?”

  “No.”

  I frown. “I should go before it starts snowing.”

  “It’s already snowing,” he says, flippantly. “Coming out here alone…that wasn’t smart.”

  “I know that,” I quip back, sharply. I want to wring his thick neck for stating the obvious truth. Whatever. He’s not the one who’s three days away from being married off to an old moron.

  I fold my arms across my chest. “If you’re not going to let me go, then what are you going to do with me?”

  I bite into my bottom lip as my eyes drop to the noticeable budge right below his waistband. He's considerably large, there's no doubt about that. I lick my lips.

  He grins and picks up a gray blanket. "Wrap your ass up in this, so you don't get any more stupid ideas." He throws it over me and disappears again into a back room. He comes out with bandages and places them on the wooden table in front of me.

  As he fumbles with the supplies, my mind is going every which way on that one. His body is muscular. He’s built like a truck. He’s like a real-life lumberjack. His hair is brown, short and wavy. His eyes remind me of the sky on a cloudless day—bright and blue.

  I notice that his sweatpants are sitting low on his waist. I might be inexperienced, but I know enough to conclude that this guy is aroused as fuck. Was it me? I grin. I can’t recall ever making anyone erect before from looking at me. Any other time, I would’ve been offended, but I’m not. My nipples are hard and my panties are damp.

  Really? What the heck is wrong with me? What if this guy is a real sicko?

  “Are you cold or what?” he asks out of the blue.

  “What?” I’m not sure what he’s referring to.

  “That’s what I thought.” He’s grinning from ear to ear and staring at the front of my shirt.

  I look down at my breasts. He’s not the only one that’s aroused. My nipples are pebbled and showing through my damp shirt. “Oh!” I exclaim. My face grows hot in embarrassment.

  “Unless you want me to do something else to you?”

  My pussy explodes, yet I retain myself. He’s only flirting and talking dirty. Not like I didn’t start it first. I was practically ogling his cock like a sex fiend.

  “N-no.” I sound as if I’m repulsed, but my core is burning hot for him right now. It’s got to be the pain or something…

  I take the blanket and wrap it around me.

  Almost as if he’s reading my mind about the pain, he hands me two brown pills. “Here, take this for the pain.”

  I raise an eyebrow and point at it. “What is it?”

  He frowns and grunts. “Fairy dust, take it. It won’t harm you.” He’s studying my every move, commanding me to listen to his every word. My hand slowly reaches out but stops.

  This is still a stranger.

  A stranger that I don’t know, handing me a pill.

  I stare at the pills with uncertainty. I’m horny, but not stupid.

  He withdraws his hand and shakes his head. “Ah, fuck. It’s ibuprofen. Not a sleeping drug. Believe me when I say I don’t steal pussy. I want my women to feel and remember it. To burn in the back of their heads forever. That won’t include date rape drugs.”

  I glance in between his powerful thighs. Again. I swallow the lump in my throat. He speaks with such dominance it makes me melt. I want out of here right now. But I need to get a handle on this pain and get some sleep. Gosh, I'm so sleepy. I've literally been on the road all day.

  I know in my gut he’s telling the truth and I take the two small pills. “Okay.”

  He hands me some water and I swallow them down in no time. He takes a seat on a chair on the other side of the table and glares at me.

  Tilting his head to the side, he scratches his stubble with a heavily tattooed arm. “And why did you come out here again?” He begins to tap his foot.

  “To enjoy the wildlife…and the views,” I say, trying to keep a straight face.

  “You’re a terrible liar. I have half a mind to call the police and let them take your ass back home.”

  That threat makes my blood boil and frightens me at the same time.

  “No! Please don’t! I promise I’m not loitering or trespassing. The cabin I was supposed to be renting in town burned down, so I came out here to rent one. I must have gotten lost. Did you really think that I was sightseeing with a snowstorm on the way? So, please, please don’t call the police on me.”

  I’m not supposed to sound like I’m begging, but it comes out that way. I prop myself up and throw him my best pleading look. I’ve gone this far, I can’t turn back now.

  This lumberjack guy narrows his eyes. The truth is bound to leap right out of me if he keeps staring at me like this.

  “Running from something, aren’t you?”

  I’m pretty sure that much is obvious.

  “Sort of…”

  There it goes again. The warm flicker of the fireplace lights up a side of his face. He’s so damn sexy… and familiar. I’ve seen him before. It’s riding on the tip of my tongue.

  I hear something pelting the roof of the cabin. Sounds like rain, but I know it’s the snow coming down hard and heavy.

  “Are you a lumberjack?” I blurt out loud before can stop myself.

  He chuckles. “Nope.”

  “You just look so familiar,” I say.

  His expression grows stoic, and he turns away as if he wants to hide his face.

  Maybe I’m asking too many personal questions. I lower my gaze to the floor. “It’s just that I don’t even know your name.”

  “I don’t know yours either.” He shoots up from his chair. “Well, whoever you are, you’re here for now. I’ve got things to do. Get some rest. Don’t go off doing stupid shit while I’m sleep. If you’re thinking about leaving, don’t. Not unless you want to be buried under six feet of snow.”

  When he’s gone from the room, I gulp down my apprehension and take a look around the room. Everything’s so unfamiliar to me, yet I feel comfortable. Well, I wasn’t out in the cold that’s for sure.

  I lean over and dig into my coat’s front pocket where I stuffed my phone earlier, but it’s gone. I figured this much. I had taken a violent tumble down the hill. I must have lost it along the way. Even my overnight bag is gone.

  With a heavy sigh, I sat back on the comfy leather chair and stare into the fire, trying to fight the fatigue now consuming me.

  3

  Lucas

  I wake up and my cock is still stiff. I beat it hard to thoughts of this mysterious woman’s pussy open and tight for the taking. Even the wolf within is yearning for her, craving to get a taste of her. I had just come back from a run yesterday evening when I spotted something looking like a snowball hurling down the hill. Actually, I was in wolf form when I saw it. Once I shifted, I had realized that there was no way it could have been a snowball. Enough hadn’t accumulated on the ground yet.

  But fuck if I care about all that now. I can’t get her sexy ass off my mind. The way she looks at my cock like she’s hungry for me to fuck her drives me insane.

  I have a death grip to my cock and milk ropes of seed out of my sa
c, showering my lower stomach. I clench my teeth and pant hard as I finish myself off.

  My cock throbs back to its soft state, but the slightest thought of how good her body would feel under me threatens to strengthen it back up again. I can’t get my mind off of ramming into her and claiming her as my own.

  There’s more to this girl than looks though. I see it in her eyes. And the fact that she’s keeping secrets only draws me in more. I don’t like that she’s keeping anything from me, but we only just met. I’m a stranger to her.

  She says she thinks she knows me, and that worries me. I took off last night, figuring if I didn’t ask her any questions, she wouldn’t ask me any either. There are a few things she didn’t need to know about me. One of them was the fact that I was a shifter. Most people wouldn’t understand that. They’d freak out if they knew. Our existence wasn’t exactly a secret though, but something tells me this woman would be frightened by my abilities. The second thing…well…let’s just say that no one is supposed to know I’m even here.

  How the fuck did she land on my cabin? Why? I should send her on her merry way, but why does thinking about that anger my wolf. Now that she’s here, I know it’s going to be hard to let her go. It’s been a while since I’ve seen anything that’s caught my eye. And this woman, she does more than that. She arouses my inner beast, awakens me in ways that have been dormant for some time.

  I don't let go of things that I deem as mine. And she's mine. But fuck, it's not a good idea to keep her around. One thing will lead to another, and my privacy will be shattered. I'll be under the brutal shine of the limelight, forced to go into hiding again to find my sanity.

  I can already see Sheriff Bailey sitting in his crooked ass chair, smiling with his crooked teeth about getting me off the mountain. For whatever reasons, they didn’t like outsiders. Well, too bad. This is my land. My property. I’m not going anywhere.

  I hear a creak coming from the living room and I jump out of bed, remembering that this mysterious woman isn't some damsel, but rather a hot piece of rebellious ass that I'd love to spank.