Page 23

23

JOY

Wes was a wolf. A giant black wolf.

A WOLF.

A wolf with green eyes that glinted in the moonlight. I’d seen those green wolf eyes showing through before but never, ever imagined the secret he carried.

I was still trying to digest it all. The fact that my new neighbor–my new boyfriend–was actually a wolf . It didn’t make sense, but I’d seen it with my own eyes.

It was real.

Remy’d had her arms around the wolf one second–which was crazy enough in itself–and then he was suddenly Wes. Poof! Or pop! Or… groan? Remy wasn’t surprised at all by her father being a wolf, turning back to… human. She was calm because she knew. Four-year-olds were fine with crazy things if it was normal. They didn’t know it wasn’t normal.

Other clues I’d missed came rushing in. She’d said she wanted to go run with the wolves. That made much more sense when I understood her dad was one of the wolves. She’d also called her mom a wolf. What had she said when Soraya had come to the house? I don’t like her, even if she is a wolf.

I wondered how she’d known. She sure didn’t look like anything more than a bitch to me. Was there something in a… a shifter’s appearance I should look for? Like the way I’d seen Wes’ eyes glint green? I’d thought it had been a trick of the light.

There had to be more than an eye thing. Right?

As we headed back to Rob and Willow’s ranch house, I walked beside Wes, admiring what a beautiful animal he was–the thick, glossy black coat, the broad, muscled shoulders moving gracefully as he traveled on powerful legs. Damn, his wolf was actually big enough for a child to ride on his back like a horse!

My mind shifted to the ring of wolves standing along the edge of the gully. They’d showed up right after Wes.

God, were the guys on the ranch wolves, too? They had to be. Were they all out… running together?

And why?

The women had, well, lied and said the men were moving cattle. Cattle, my ass. That meant they knew. Of course, they did. They were either dating or married.

I’d lived in Cooper Valley my whole life, and I’d never realized Wolf Ranch was a literal ranch of wolves! They’d done a really good job keeping it a secret.

Everyone was out on the front porch waiting for us, going right to Remy and giving her hugs and lots of tons of attention as a no-longer-a-wolf-but-naked Wes disappeared to pull on his clothes, wherever he’d left them.

“I’ll bet you have questions,” Marina said to me, pulling me aside. “I’m sorry we lied, but it’s not a little secret.”

“The secret is out, and I’m gonna answer anything Joy can think of,” Wes growled, coming up behind us. He wrapped a strong arm around my waist and kissed my temple. “Are you okay?” he murmured. He was sweaty and streaked with dirt. There was even a twig in his hair. “Freaking out?”

“I’m…no, I’m okay.” I bobbed my head. I wasn’t freaking out. I was more fascinated. Curious. Dying to know more.

“Well, if you need to talk about it tomorrow, call me,” Marina offered. “It was a secret for me, too. I know what it’s like to find out your boyfriend is another species who wants to mark you as his forever mate.”

I blinked. “He what now?”

“You’re not helping,” Wes growled at Marina. His brows were down low, in his typical grouchy face, but I sensed it was because he was worried about how I was taking it. He kept shooting me searching looks.

“If it’s okay, I’m gonna give Remy a quick rinse since she’s filthy, and she’ll no doubt fall asleep on the way home,” Wes said.

“Of course,” Marina replied. “I’ll grab one of my shirts for her to wear like a nightgown.”

We didn’t talk as I helped Wes get a tired and now cranky Remy into the tub for the world’s fastest bath, and we put her in Marina’s shirt and climbed in the truck. As expected, she fell asleep even before Wes pulled onto the dirt road.

“Tell me.” I took his hand that rested on his thigh and moved our joined fingers to mine.

He sent me another one of those searching looks as he drove. “Well, you now know I’m a shifter.”

“So is everyone at Wolf Ranch?”

“Most everyone.” He squeezed my fingers. “Tonight was a full moon, and we have the need to run beneath it. It’s a pack tradition to get together every month for it. Everyone who stayed behind is human.”

I named everyone just to make sure. “Marina, Charlie, Natalie, Emma, Riley, and Audrey. Oh… and Becky.”

“That’s right. They’re all mated to shifters.”

“Mated. Like… married?”

“Like fate put them together. The guys knew their mate by scent.”

I gasped, having one more thing make sense. “That’s why Soraya sniffed me!”

Wes’ lips turned up for a second. “Yes. She was seeing if you were a wolf.”

“She’s a wolf–Remy had said that after Soraya came by that night, but I didn’t understand what she meant.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“So that means Remy’s a wolf.”

“Yes. But she won’t shift until puberty.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Amazing.”

I didn’t know why Wes had thought I’d freak out. I couldn’t be more thrilled. It was like finding out magic was real.

Wes glanced over at me. “You think it’s amazing?”

“I think it’s incredible.” I remembered how he looked as a giant black wolf. “You’re incredible.”

“You’re not over there losing your shit while faking being okay?”

I laughed. He had me all figured out. “No, not faking. Should I be losing my shit?”

“No, honey. Well, there are a couple of things I haven’t explained yet.”

“Only a couple?”

It was his turn to laugh, which was a rich, deep sound I loved. “Fine. A lot more than–”

I gasped as I had a lightbulb moment. “You heal quickly, don’t you?”

He flicked his gaze to mine then back on the road. “Yes. That was why I panicked with you up on your roof. If I fell off, it’d hurt like a bitch, but I’d be fine in a matter of minutes. If something happened to you–fuck. I’d never forgive myself.”

“That’s why Remy’s little cut healed up!”

He turned to look at me, confused.

“That night I watched Remy, she was doing clay, and she poked herself with one of my tools. There was a little blood, but it healed before I could even find BandAids in your bathroom.”

“I don’t have any.”

Huh. That must be nice.

We pulled into his driveway and parked. The silence of the night settled over us.

I looked to Wes. He looked to me.

There was something different in the air now. Not a scent or anything but a feeling. Knowing his huge secret, I felt like we were closer. Like there were less barriers between understanding each other. Between knowing who we really were.

“What are the things you haven’t explained yet?” I asked. I wanted to know everything.

Things with Wes were new, but I was already committed. Everything about him felt right, including his adorable daughter and that wonderful group of people I’d spent the evening with.

“What Marina mentioned–about marking you as my forever mate?” His voice was tentative, as if broaching a tricky subject.

“Yeah, what does that mean?”

“Wolf shifters can have what you would call normal relationships. They can date. Some follow human traditions and legally marry. They have families–all that. But there’s also the potential for finding their fated mate–what you might call ‘the one.’”

I tried and failed to swallow. For some inexplicable reason, my heart started to beat hard against my ribs.

What was he saying?

“The story goes that a wolf will recognize his fated mate by her scent. You don’t know what that means until you experience it. At least I didn’t.” His eyes glowed green in the darkness.

I was seeing his wolf eyes. Was he saying–

“Am I… am I your mate?” I whispered.

He brought our still-joined hands to his mouth and kissed my knuckles once more. “Yes. I should have known the second I caught your scent, but I was all riled up about Remy being missing. Your scent sent me into, well, a ravenous fit of lust, but at the time, I didn’t know it was because you’re my mate.”

I laughed again. “Ravenous fit of lust?”

His eyes narrowed, and his voice went deeper. “What would you call it then? How we came together. I remember you on your knees for me.”

I swallowed hard. It was a night I’d never forget.

“Fit of lust works,” I squeaked, squirming in my seat.

My panties were wet for another round of him being ravenous.

“Now, honey, I want you to be mine. I want you to be my mate.”

The idea of it thrilled me, but I still didn’t understand completely. “What does that mean exactly?”

“Male wolves mark their fated mates with a mating bite. It permanently embeds their scent into the female, so all other wolves know she’s been claimed.”

“Claimed? Sounds a little sexist,” I teased, while recognizing I was getting wetter and wetter the longer this conversation continued.

Wes’ lips twitched. I loved seeing even the start of a smile on his handsome face. “Male wolves are very territorial. If you’re at least marked, it allows my wolf to calm some of his aggression trying to keep other males away from you. The other day when I asked Colton and Johnny to help with your roof, I wanted to kill them both for being near you.”

I laughed. “You did?”

The two men were attractive, but they had nothing on Wes.

“Honey, when a wolf has a mate, he’ll do anything in the world to protect her, provide for her, and keep the other males away from her.”

I smiled. I kind of loved knowing he felt territorial over me. It gave me a sense of feminine power to know he thought I was worth defending.

I held up my free hand. “Um, also, did you say bite ?”

Wes flashed a grin–a real one. A ravenous one. His eyes glowed bright green. “That’s right, honey.” His voice had a deep, throaty rumble, like he was turned on. Like biting me would be the sexiest thing we’d done yet. Well, it would.

My pulse raced. A thrum built between my legs.

“Show me?” I breathed.

He nodded, and we slipped from the truck. Wes lifted Remy from her car seat and carried her to bed. Then he led me to the shower.