Ghost Wolf

“No witchcraft. No even a smidge of faery magic. Just tender loving care. Love it all you like. You can even love me if you want to. Because the real challenge is in liking a person.”

“How so?”

Daisy pulled up her knees to her chest and held the hot cup beneath her face. The scent was heady. “When you like someone,” she explained, “you enjoy spending time with them. You can hold conversations and never get bored of what the other is saying. Or you can just be next to one another in silence and not feel the need to talk. You tolerate their bad habits, and admire their good. Trust me, like is hard work.”

“I agree. To like!” Beck tilted his cup against Daisy’s. “So your aunt is marrying a vampire in Paris, eh? Fancy. And a werewolf pairing up with a vamp? Cool.”

“Kam’s a vampire. My grandpa Creed is vampire, so, well, you can figure things out.”

“I can. My mom is a vampire. Though she was mortal until a nasty bitch of a vampire transformed her after she met my father.”

“She’s Belladonna, right? How is your mother doing?”

Beck took another sip, pausing for a while. She studied him from the side. The barely there stubble on his chin wanted a shave because his good clean looks demanded it. But she guessed he kept the stubble for that hint of danger, and it was probably warmer in the winter. He had the all-American tousled blond-and-brown hair, and that killer smile. And if she looked into his blue eyes long enough, she’d surely fall in like faster than a falling star.

She’d forgotten what she’d asked him, so when he finally answered she had to think back.

“Fine,” he said.

“Fine?” His mother. “Oh, right. That’s good. And you?”

“Me? Don’t I look fine?”

“You look more than fine.” The words came out in a dreamier tone than she’d intended.

“Is that so?” Beck wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. “You look a little cold. Drink up.”

She did, and the hot chocolate filled her gut with a warm explosion that loosened her nerves and coaxed her to settle against him a little snugger. They both wore cold-protective snow wear, so she’d never feel his body heat. But she could smell him now. A little bit of chocolate and a lot of sensual wildness. His aftershave wasn’t too strong. She liked it. Woodsy and warm. Like an old leather book found in the hollowed-out trunk of a tree on a hot summer evening.

Mmm, she’d like to crack open his cover and delve deep into his pages. She bet his story was filled with adventure, action and some steamy sex scenes. She could hope.

“So where’s this brother I need to worry about?” he asked.

With any luck, Kelyn would not find them tonight. Not that Daisy expected her brother to actually look for her if he was on a date. If they happened to see one another, then he’d probably wave across the crowd.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s got an eye on us even as we speak,” she said, then regretted that tease. “Kelyn’s cool. If he sees us, just wave.”

“Right. Why do I feel as if I have a target on my head, and there are four—five, including your dad—wolves who want to shoot holes through it?”

“I have no idea. You’re the one getting all worked up over nothing. Haven’t you dated a wolf from a pack before?”

“Nope. You did get the whole lone wolf part about me, right?”

“If you think it’s such a bad decision, why are we here right now?”

“Because always making the right decision is boring. Sometimes the wrong one is a hell of a lot more fun. And not getting to learn more about you would be worse than losing my head to one of the Saint-Pierre boys,” he said. “Besides, you’ve already forgotten. I love you.”

“Right. A victim of my witch’s brew. I can dig it. Love me all you want. Just don’t expect me to fall head over heels in like with you too quickly. We don’t even know one another.”

“That is going to change. Let’s talk.”

“So what do you want to know about me?”

He toggled the kitty ears on her cap, then tugged the string hanging over her jacket. “What’s a cute wolf like you doing without a boyfriend? I can’t believe I didn’t have to fight off a ton of wolves at the picnic to get near you.”

Daisy shrugged. “I’m...” She sighed. The truth was she probably pushed men away simply by being who she was. And yet there were more days than most that she had no idea who she was. Wolf or faery? “I’m not so much shy as kind of content with my aloneness. If that makes any sense.”

“Not really.”

“I’m not like most women.”

“You mean most women don’t get excited over greasy bike parts and know how to fix the heating element in an old stove? Who would have guessed?”

“You tease, but next time your stove goes on the fritz...”

“I’ll know who to call. So you like doing things with your hands. Nothing wrong with that.”

It pleased her that he hadn’t said boy things. She’d grown up with the tomboy label. Competing against her brothers for her father’s attention had been as natural as breathing. And that had required a hard skin and masculine interests. The tomboy persona hadn’t bothered her until her twenties when she’d noticed the women in their pretty dresses walking with their handsome lovers. Femininity was so easy for them. Walking in high heels? Daisy would rather jump in mud. (Which was always a blast.)

And really, dealing with the werewolf in her was always an issue when dating mortal men. But she loved being a wolf, so she wasn’t about to complain. Though, her wolf was “one of the boys.”

“My father taught me a lot about blacksmithing and working with metals,” Daisy felt the need to explain. “And if you grow up with brothers, well then.”

Beck leaned into her a little more, just enough so she could relax against him without worrying about toppling over. “I think it would be awesome to have so many siblings.”

“I can’t imagine what it would be like to be an only child. I suppose your parents spoiled you?”

“I’m not sure doing chores every day, chopping wood and helping my dad tend our land could actually be labeled spoiled. Though I confess I am a momma’s boy. She taught me how to cook. I can make a mean wild rice Tater Tot hot dish.”

“Ohmygoddess, seriously?” Daisy twisted to fall against Beck’s arm and curled her mitten-clad hand about his forearm. “I love hot dishes.”

“Like I love your hot chocolate?”

She nodded. “I could marry it. So long as it doesn’t have cream of mushroom soup in it.”

“I’m not much for mushrooms.”

“I knew there was a reason you appealed to me.”

“I promise to protect you from any and all mushrooms we should ever encounter. And so you know? I would do anything for this hot chocolate.” He held up the empty cup. “Tell me what you want and it’s yours, oh pink-haired faery wolf.”

Oh, she could think of a few things she’d like him to do for her—all of them involving privacy and snuggling before a warm fireplace. Daisy couldn’t resist the lone wolf’s allure any longer. “How about a kiss?”

Beck opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment the crowd erupted in an excited whoop. The lights on the ice castle blinked out. Immediately following, a multicolored firework dazzled in the sky, twinkling, lingering and spilling over the iced lake. More sparklers followed at a rapid pace, accompanied by the crowd’s oohs and aahs.

Daisy snuggled against Beck’s chest to watch. “I’ve come here every winter with my parents, and then with friends.” She pointed to a particular small firework that spun like a Chinese whirligig. “But this time it feels more...magical.”

“I like the sound of that.” He slid down parallel to her so their faces were inches apart. “Now about that kiss.”

Daisy tilted up her chin. Their breaths fogged in a mingled cloud. She closed her eyes, anticipation scurrying heat through her system. Beck’s mouth touched hers. The cold night made the first touch icy but fun. She giggled, but didn’t stop the kiss. He slid his hand behind her head as he deepened their connection. Warmth radiated through her system, and she forgot that it was colder than a deep freeze.

His stubble brushed her chin. When she breathed through her nose, the woodsy aura that surrounded him filled her senses and transferred her to that hot summer night she’d been thinking about.

Nothing had ever felt as good as Beck’s mouth against hers. Not even winning a race against Kelyn, who was amazingly swift. This kiss was all hers. She hadn’t needed to compete for it. It was a prize she’d not known she needed until now.

Above them the fireworks glittered up the sky. Beneath them the compacted snow crunched as their pack boots slid over the surface. Beside them, the thermos of hot chocolate rolled across the snowy ground and hit the booted toe of a man who had just arrived hilltop.

“Daisy Blu?”

She broke away from the delicious heat of Beck’s mouth, wishing she hadn’t heard her name and that she could kiss him again and again, but the voice was too familiar. And it wasn’t a brother.

“Ah, shit,” Beck said under his breath.

Daisy twisted to sit and looked up at the dark-haired man towering over them. “Hey, Dad.”

Chapter 5

Daisy got a hand up from Beck. She noticed Beck did not stand tall before her father, but instead bowed his head, showing submission, as was expected when a lesser wolf stood before a pack alpha.

Most men might stand up to Malakai, to grandstand in an attempt to show him he couldn’t be pushed around. Those men generally walked away limping or bleeding.

Much as her anger for her father tightened her muscles, Daisy appreciated that Beck showed her father respect.

“Hello, Mister Saint-Pierre,” Beck said.

“What the hell are you doing here with my daughter?” Kai asked.

“Daddy, please.”

“Quiet, Daisy. I’m talking to Beckett.” The taller wolf was dressed in a leather jacket, his long curly dark hair pulled back behind his head to reveal his square jaw held in a tense frown. “Are you two on a date?”

“Uh...” Beck looked to her.

“Of course we are,” she broke in. “And will you stop treating me like I’m a teenager? I’m a grown woman. I can see whomever—”

Kai’s hand landed on Daisy’s shoulder, a staying move that he’d employed as she’d grown up. A means to show her he was not to be trifled with, and must always be respected. It was his gentle way of showing authority.

And she quieted.

“You won’t be seeing this lone wolf,” Kai said, his gaze fixed to Beck’s, who had trouble holding the alpha’s stare. “Isn’t that right, Beckett?”

“Uh, sir.” Beck’s shoulders rolled back. He tucked his thumbs in his pants pockets and looked Kai straight in the eye. “I don’t want to cause any problems, but I think Daisy can choose whomever she wishes to date.”

Daisy smiled inwardly. Go, Beck!

“Are you trying to tell me how to run my family, boy? My pack? Because it sure sounds like it.”

“No, sir. I— It’s our first time out together.”

“And you thought it was okay to kiss my daughter?”

“Daddy,” Daisy said under her breath. “Do not do this.”

The fireworks had ceased. The night sky grew dark with few stars. The waxing moon hid beyond the tree line. While the humans tromped back to their cars, the trio of werewolves held position at the top of the hill. Daisy scented her father’s anger, and yet, there was a tangible softness to it. Similar to how he reacted when she’d made a mistake when she was little. Like maybe he was puffing up to show aggression in display but didn’t mean it as much as he showed it.

But she hadn’t made a mistake this time. At least, she didn’t want it to be a mistake. She could understand that her father wouldn’t want her hanging around an unaligned wolf, but to approach her when they’d been kissing had been too much. She wanted to tuck tail and crawl off into the woods.

“I’ll take Daisy home,” Beck said.

“No, you won’t. I’ll drive her home,” Kai asserted.

“I brought her here. I won’t abandon her,” Beck said, his shoulders tilting back a little farther.

“I said I’d take her home, boy.”

“I want Beck to drive me, Daddy.”

Malakai Saint-Pierre twisted his neck to look down at Daisy. The menace in his gaze could never be softened, and it did not fail to strike at her heart. She swallowed back her bravery and bowed her head. When would she be able to break free of her father’s influence? Was it even possible?

“Get in the car, Daisy,” her father said.

Beck bent to pick up the thermos and handed it to her. “I’m sorry about this.”

“No, I am,” she offered. “This isn’t how things should have gone tonight.” Inhaling a deep breath, she swept her gaze over her father’s stare then wandered down the hill.

She hated leaving Beck at the hands of her father. And what had he done? He’d only wanted to get to know her better. Rare was it a guy actually asked her on a date to do something, as opposed to wanting to go straight to her house to make out on the couch. She craved the wooing process. And that kiss. It could have been amazing had her father not shown up.

Glancing up the hill, Daisy saw that her father was already on his way down. Whew. He hadn’t given Beck a chewing-out. Her father was not a cruel man, but he was feared for the very reason that his physicality was remarkable. It was the rare wolf in this area who could stand against him, alpha or otherwise.

Daisy got into the old pickup truck and pulled the door shut with the duct-taped handle. As her father got in, she tucked her legs up to her chest and twisted to face the window. The engine rattled, and the truck took off.

“He’s arrogant,” Kai said after they’d driven a few miles.

“He’s kind.”

“I’ve invited him to join our pack too many times.”

Daisy swung her head around and met her father’s brief glance. “How many is too many? Two? And the one time he was grieving his lost father.”

“Two too many. He’s refused both times. Says he doesn’t need a pack. That’s arrogance, if you ask me. Stay the hell away from him, Daisy Blu.”

Beck had every right to refuse her father. Daisy could imagine that if he had grown up with a father who had been a lone wolf, then the idea of a pack must be odd to him. Overwhelming. Perhaps even threatening.

“You’re not going to stay away from him, are you?” Kai asked softly.

Daisy bit her lower lip to fight the tears that threatened to spill down her cheek. She wanted to do the right thing in her father’s eyes. But her right and his right weren’t in alignment now. And she was a grown woman. Too old to still have her father tailing after her, approving or denying her choice in men.

“Daisy?”

“I don’t know,” she finally said.

Kai’s sigh rippled through her skin and twanged at her heart.

* * *

The afternoon had been designated for research. Scanning the internet, Daisy tried various search words, starting with “ghost wolf,” which brought up nothing. The data on werewolves provided for interesting reading, some laughs and a lot of head shaking. Eventually she typed in Fenrir, the name of a Norse god who was the son of Loki.

“The ghost wolf obviously isn’t Fenrir,” she said as she scanned the information. But there were some similarities. A monstrous wolf often depicted in paintings as white or ghostlike, he could not be restrained, save by a delicate ribbon named Gleipnir.

Though it was fascinating, it wasn’t getting Daisy any closer to results. The article needed facts, or in this case, some kind of legend to compare to the ghost wolf, at the very least. The creature was larger than life. She needed to communicate that on the page.

“I need a picture,” she said. “That would be the ultimate scoop.”

When her breed shifted to their werewolf shape, they could not be photographed. Well, they could be, but none had been that she knew of. They were fiercely protective of their secret. And should a hunter manage to snap a photograph? A quick slap of claws destroyed the camera.

What would ultimately show up on film, she wasn’t sure. Nothing, much like a vampire? Or a ghost image of the werewolf? If the ghost wolf was already transparent or some kind of filmy state, the results on film were unimaginable.

She eyed her winter clothes hanging by the door. “I’ll go out early in the evening.”

The majority of hunters would be packing up and returning home for supper at that time, yet the ghost wolf sightings had been just after dusk.

Wishing she could give Beck a call and invite him along, Daisy waffled on the idea. Her father had been adamant about her staying away from him. Yet she’d been impressed by Beck standing up to her father. He’d cowered initially, to show respect, but hadn’t been about to yield to Kai’s demands without stating his own position.

“I could like him,” she said to herself, remembering their conversation about love and like last night. Like was the goal. Love would simply be a happy bonus.

* * *

Beck had felt humiliated standing before Daisy’s father last night. He should have stood up to the elder wolf, but it had been the right choice to show respect for the man, despite his intrusion on their date. He’d learned from his father that a man must never jump to hasty violence or make judgments of a man he did not know. If Saint-Pierre didn’t want him to date his daughter...

“Hell.” Beck wandered the edge of the forest a mile from where he’d parked. “He’ll kill me if I see her again.” Or at the very least, tear him a new one with a slash of claw.

But he kind of thought Daisy liked him. Make that love. Like was something even better than love, according to her. He agreed with her definition of it, too.

Man, did he like her hot chocolate.

Did she want to see him again? She hadn’t called. But then, she didn’t have his number, nor did he have hers. He’d thought about stopping by her place today, but didn’t want to push it. Certainly, Malakai would scent him if he showed up anywhere near his daughter’s home.

Was he going to let some big boisterous wolf scare him away from the girl? Was she worth the risk?

Beck nodded. The kiss hadn’t left him. He could still feel her at his mouth, sighing into him. Clinging to his clothing and leaning in closer. Sweetly hungry. And her kisses had tasted like chocolate.

“I’m going for it,” he muttered. Because he knew a good thing when it kissed him.

Now, with the sun tracing a vibrant orange line on the horizon, he shed his winter coat and boots and pulled off his sweater. Steam lifted off his hot skin as the cold assaulted his torso and arms. He stored a waterproof backpack in a hollowed-out oak trunk. The worst thing after shifting back from werewolf form was to find his clothes sitting in a puddle of snow that had melted from the lingering body heat.

Shoving down his jeans, he shuffled barefoot in the cold snow, and when he was naked he stretched back his arms and head, breathing in the crisp night air. The world was gorgeous, and he loved breathing it in. But the very reason he stood here was enough to make him want to punch something.

And then he knew he didn’t have to. His shifted form would take care of matters nicely.

A gunshot in the distance alerted him. He judged it a few miles off. This time of day, most hunters were packing it in and heading home.

No time to waste.

Bending forward and narrowing his focus inward, Beck began to shift. His human skin stretched and prickled as fur grew in the pores and his bones lengthened. Claws grew out from his paws, and his hind legs formed into the powerful werewolf’s legs. His maw grew long, and ears twisted into long, furred beacons that picked up every movement and sound from mouse to fox, to...hunter.

Beck’s werewolf rose to an imposing height, sniffed the air and homed onto the scent of human.

* * *

Daisy kept the hunters in view, while hoping to stay out of their line of sight. She wore a vivid orange hunter’s vest over her winter coat. She’d no plans to shift tonight—not with armed hunters in the forest. But she certainly didn’t want to be so incognito that she invited a bullet.

Her camera wasn’t the best at taking night shots. And now as she leaned against the base of an oak tree, fumbling with the settings, she wished she did have something more high-powered. She’d never win the internship by handing in grainy night shots.

Thinking it would have been awesome to have someone along to keep her company on this cold dark evening, her mind drifted to Beck’s sweet smile and those entrancing blue eyes.

So maybe she was getting her flirt on with him. Felt kind of awesome.

He hadn’t called her today. She didn’t know what his number was. She thought he might have stopped by. Her father must have put fear in the handsome wolf.

Daisy decided if Beck never showed again, then that meant he wasn’t deserving of her interest. Only a wolf who dared defy her father would be worthy of her time. At least, that was the romantic version she played in her head. In reality, she knew Beck was better off staying away from her and avoiding Kai’s wrath.

Too bad. Beck’s hasty confession to loving her because she had a talent with hot chocolate had won her over. The way to a man’s heart was through food. And she wasn’t beyond utilizing such tactics. But as well, his kiss was not to be overlooked. If she never felt his kiss again, the world might never again be as bright. Heck, she’d seen fireworks during that kiss. It didn’t get any better than that.

She knew where his shop was. Nothing was stopping her from driving over to see him. “No,” she muttered. “He needs to come to me.”

A gunshot alerted her, and she whipped her head around, along with the camera. Set at its highest zoom, she peered through the lens and spotted movement. She’d turned the flash off.

There were two of them. Hunters. She saw the shotguns they held. Not aimed at anything because the wooden stocks were slung against their shoulders. And they were running for their lives.

Tilting the camera to the right, she caught a blur of white tracking through the birch trunks in the hunters’ wake.

“The ghost wolf.” Daisy tracked the blur, snapping shots repeatedly.

The frightened mortals ran within a hundred feet of her. She recognized the hunter in the lead. He had bright red hair and was known in town simply as Red, a Scottish farmer transplanted from his country to Minnesota through love and marriage. She didn’t recognize the man behind him, but he yelled for Red to hurry and get to the truck.

Then she scented the wolf. It was angry and feral, and so close she could hear its breathing. Steady, not taxed, and punctuated with vicious growls. Shaped like a werewolf, she estimated it grew two feet taller than even her father when he was shifted. It was indeed white, but a sort of filmy white, perhaps even transparent.

Remembering her mission, Daisy clicked a rapid succession of shots. When the hunters exited the forest and slammed the truck doors, the wolf paused at the tree line. It smashed out its fists to the sides, cracking the tall birch trunks, and howled. It was like no wolf howl Daisy had ever heard. The haunting noise climbed up her spine and prickled under her skin. She shivered, and sank down against the tree trunk in fear.

Her camera hand dropping to the snowy forest floor, she cast her gaze upward as the white werewolf stalked toward her.

The truck peeled away on the icy country road, its back end fishtailing until the chainless tires achieved traction.

And Daisy wished she had hitched a ride with the idiot hunters as she looked up into the ghost wolf’s red eyes.

Chapter 6

Werewolf eyes always glowed golden when shifted. Daisy had never seen the likes of these before. This wolf’s eyes were redder than a vampire’s feast.

She swore under her breath. The camera slipped out of her hand and slid across the slippery snowpack. The werewolf must recognize her scent as wolf—she hoped. But was it even the same breed as she? It was like her, and yet not. Bigger and bulkier, its shoulders and biceps curved forward in impossible musculature and ended with talons coiled into fists.