The Black Wolf

Leaving Rafe to stare after her.

* * *

Cara didn’t stop to consider the possibility that the Were on the beach would follow her until she felt the pressure of a hand on her arm.

The touch came as a shock. No one had dared to touch her in the past for fear of what kind of shape she would end up in and how far into their souls she could see. One touch was all it took for her to adapt her form to the shape of whatever kind of being had reached out. Sometimes all it took for her to shift her shape was closeness, eye contact or a connecting thought.

Once she had melded to their shape, she could read them easily and see into their souls. She could at times predict their futures and understand their needs.

This Were had broken with tradition. Possibly he didn’t know better than to get too close to a member of the Kirk-Killion clan. Yet if he knew about her guards and the estate, he had to belong to the Landau pack and be privy to their secrets.

“It isn’t safe out here,” he warned, letting his hand drop.

“It’s never safe,” Cara replied, longing to get back to the silence and buoyancy of deep water, dreading having to go to the Landau place, where more Weres like this one awaited her arrival and she would be fenced in.

“I mean that if you’re as special as everyone seems to believe you are, you’d be a hot commodity around here and possibly hunted for your many talents,” the Were said. “It’s not safe to be on your own in a strange city.”

Cara still felt the burning sensation of his hand as if his fingerprints had been stamped on her skin. Did he also feel the heat? Had the call already gone out about the necessity of finding her?

More time was what she needed. Time to herself. Time with the water, which had been lacking at her family’s inland estate. Time to experience a few more precious moments without the shackles of Were society.

“I’ll take you there,” the Were beside her said, skipping over all of the things they hadn’t yet mentioned about why she was in Miami and how she had gotten away from the guards. “To the house,” he added.

She had escaped one net only to be ensnared by another. The big Were next to her, with his moon-streaked brown hair, lean, muscular build, chiseled features and light eyes, looked capable enough of handling any surprises that were in store.

Because he was in human shape tonight, Cara maintained her human countenance. She also kept her voice. However, she sensed the wolf curled up inside this guy as if it were her own and knew that it was strong, like hers. Being near him messed with her delicate equilibrium. She was drawn to him without knowing why.

He looked at his hand suddenly, as if he also felt the burn caused by one brief, simple touch. Then he glanced back up at her.

“I don’t like being caged,” Cara said, watching him closely, observing how he fisted his hand and the way the wind played with strands of his hair. He was as good-looking as her father, with prominent cheekbones and wide-set eyes. He was tall, with broad shoulders and moonlight-dappled golden skin. All of those things reinforced the Were’s wolfish nature, and yet he wasn’t a full-blooded member of the species. Human blood also ran in his veins; she perceived the slightest hint of an altered fragrance. One of his parents had, at one time or another, been human.

“That’s what you believe will happen when you accept our hospitality?” he asked. “You’d be caged?”

His voice disturbed her with its low, cautious, controlled quality. The Were’s earthy, masculine vibe caused another new ruffle in her widening awareness of the world outside her family’s gates. This was her first time meeting a male Were who looked as if he might not be too much older than herself.

“Why else would my parents shun this place and everyone in it, if not that for the fact that they no longer fit in?” Cara replied.

“From the stories I’ve heard, your parents withdrew from the rest of the pack because it was in their own best interest.”

Yes. She knew that. But it was only a small part of why the Kirk-Killions had withdrawn. And she didn’t owe this Were any explanations.

“I need time to get myself together,” she said. “It’s not easy for me to come out of the seclusion I’m used to.”

To her surprise, her companion seemed to get that. After a brief silence, he nodded and said, “I’ll wait for you on the beach.”

Cara didn’t know what to make of that. He was going to leave her alone for a while?

“What if I swim away?” she asked.

“Then you will be someone else’s problem.”

He didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Cara heard how his pulse pounded with the effort it took for him to let her have her way. She had no doubt that he would come after her if she tried to leave the area, and that shaking off this guy might be a difficult task. The strength of his inner wolf and all those rippling muscles made him a worthy opponent.

“Who are you?” she asked, more intrigued about him than she wanted to be.

“Name’s Landau. Rafe Landau. And I can assure you that though my family’s estate has walls, those walls are there only to keep trespassers out.”

Landau...

The Miami pack was both run and protected by his family.

She didn’t really believe in coincidences, and yet what were the odds she would run into a Were of this caliber so soon after ditching the guards his family had sent to bring her there?

“Can you promise me that’s the truth? I won’t be a prisoner behind those walls?” she asked.

“I can.”

The handsome Were allowed one little thought to slip past his mental defenses, and Cara caught hold of it easily. Neither fear nor anger ruled Rafe Landau’s thoughts. He wasn’t afraid of her at all. When she saw the image he held in his mind, she smiled.

“I could be one, you know,” she said. “If there were such creatures.”

He was staring at her openly. His heart continued to pound.

“Who knows?” she added. “Since you’re granting my wish by letting me explore the sea, maybe your wish will come true.”

“What wish?” he asked, frowning.

Cara’s answer was meant as a subtle warning of her power. This Were might be strong, but he wasn’t truly in control now that a werewolf-vampire-banshee hybrid like Cara Kirk-Killion was in Miami.

“About mermaids,” she said as she dived beneath the next incoming wave.

Chapter 3

“Well, this is going to be a challenge,” Rafe muttered as Cara Kirk-Killion disappeared from sight. He feared that the word challenge didn’t begin to cover things.

She was swimming away, and he wanted to go after her. What if she decided not to return? Would he let her go? Let her become somebody else’s business, as he’d said?

Not likely.

He found himself much too interested and curious about her. And besides, his family was responsible for her safety.

Rafe ignored the tug of the outgoing tide on his legs. He needed more time to think. If Cara was anything like her parents, he could sympathize with her reluctance to meet the pack that had helped her family out of a jam so long ago.

Rosalind and Colton had departed from Miami soon after a battle with a particularly nasty nest of vampires that had almost killed Cara’s father. Colton Killion had been so severely injured that he had ended up a rare ghost wolf—the name Weres had for survivors of such heinous, life-threatening attacks.

Given Colton Killion’s state of health and his appearance after the attack, the wolf’s desire to go into seclusion was understandable. But in addition, from the stories Rafe had heard, Colton’s mate had turned out to be something even rarer than he was, making it even more necessary to retreat from the city. Now, Killion’s sole offspring was here, and heaven only knew what traits she possessed.

Rafe walked farther up the beach and turned without taking his eyes off the ocean. Cara hadn’t seemed dangerous, but what did he know? Wasn’t it a fact that looks could be deceiving?

He clutched his phone. The next step was to call and check in with his father, who would probably send a car to fetch her. But he didn’t do so. Not yet. Rafe empathized with her plight. Cara had to know how different she was and that his pack would be wary.

Still, whatever other forms she could take, Cara was a wolf. Both of her parents had been full-blooded Lycans before the events that had changed them, and Lycans carried the purest blood in the Were world. His hand felt hot. His insides were feverish. It was likely that his wolf was reacting to that part of Cara. Was his desire to see her again due to obligation and the threat of danger in his own backyard, or did it have to do with meeting a new kind of being that he wanted to understand?

Maybe she’d ditch him and appear somewhere else. If she did, where would she go?

“I won’t call them,” he said as if she still stood beside him. Then he sent that same message silently through the telepathic channels all Weres used to communicate.

“But I won’t go away,” he warned out loud.

The return of the fluttery sensation in his chest made Rafe stand up straighter. It was as though Cara Kirk-Killion had heard his little speech and had placed her own silent comment inside his chest instead of his mind. She knew he was there, all right, and that he would be here when she decided to be reasonable. She was also letting him in on some of the special things she could do.

The only question now was how long she might make him wait for another chance to see her, and if she already knew that was what he wanted most.

* * *

The Were wasn’t going away. Cara sensed his determination to corral the guest who was MIA and fulfill his obligation to the pack. She also sensed that he was genuinely interested in her for reasons of his own. This Were male had a different agenda. He seemed to be as curious about her as she was about him.

She rode the crest of another wave, feeling extraordinarily light, but guilt over the promise to behave that she’d made to her father left her nauseous. Her family never broke their promises. Would she be the first to do so? If the Landaus’ walls didn’t keep her in line, her family’s reputation for integrity would.

As the wave that brought her back to shore receded, Cara stood up. Taking a few steps forward to avoid the drag of the tide, she said to the Were on the beach, “You are persistent.”

“Persistence is my middle name,” he returned. “I’ve been told it’s a virtue.”

Cara didn’t wipe the water from her face, liking the coolness it provided. “You’ll take me to your pack yourself? You aren’t afraid of being alone with a member of my clan?”

“Should I be afraid?”

“Not tonight.”

“Then yes, I’ll drive you to the compound, if that’s all right with you,” he said.

“Do I have a choice in the matter?”

“I suppose you can do whatever the hell you want, though the invitation to be our guest stands,” he replied.

She watched the tall Were brush sand from the hem of his jeans. In the moonlight, his bare shoulders appeared to be perfectly sculpted. She allowed her gaze to linger there.

“One thing, though,” he said, glancing up. He held out his hand, offering her the damp shirt he had removed before wading into the water after her. “Nakedness won’t do if we meet anyone else on the way to the car. This is the best I can come up with unless you remember where you left your own clothes.”

Cara glanced up the beach. “I came from that way.”

He nodded. “Maybe you can wear the shirt until we find your stuff.”

If she followed his suggestion, she would have to take the shirt from his hand...the same hand that had touched her and given her the first real thrill she could remember. She wasn’t sure she wanted another one. She was fiercely aware of his body, and the fire in his eyes held her strangely captive.

She took another step, then paused. The Were’s scent saturated the shirt he held out to her, overwhelming her senses.

Seeming to understand her reticence, he closed the distance and stopped an arm’s length away from her with the shirt dangling from his fingers. It was a dare. A challenge. She took the shirt and held her breath as she slipped it on. The musky fragrance embedded in the fabric surrounded her body like a cloud until she could barely smell anything else.

“Better,” the Were said. “Now let’s get the rest of you covered up, shall we?”

Cara only then dared to take a deep breath.

“You have to understand that my family is personally responsible for your safety while you’re in Miami,” he said. “That was the pact we made, and pacts must be honored. I’m guessing there would be hell to pay if we don’t keep you in our sights.”

The shirt was soft, well-worn, and the same color blue as Rafe Landau’s eyes. Cara liked those details, and she liked looking at Rafe. He was a fine male of the Were species, she supposed. But the way she felt around him was disturbing.

“What if I asked you to postpone the inevitable for a while longer?” she asked.

He said, “I thought you already did.”

“Your pack thinks I’m a freak.”

“Then you can prove them wrong.”

“How do you know I’d be able to do that?”

“Call it a hunch,” he replied.

Cara blinked slowly. Like her, Rafe was quick to make judgments. But that didn’t mean he was right.

“It’s just a feeling I have,” he explained.

“You don’t know me.”

He shrugged those fascinating bare shoulders. “We can walk along the shore to get your clothes. I like the sand. Moonlight makes it sparkle.”

Cara expected him to say more. He had to have questions.

“Maybe we can come back here sometime after you settle in,” he said. “Would you like that, Cara?”

Hearing a stranger say her name gave her a jolt of pleasure that she tried to ignore. She wasn’t experienced in the nuances of male-female relationships, though she wanted to learn. And she could do worse than having this handsome, understanding Were as a teacher.

Rafe Landau didn’t know her, though. Not really. Not at all.

So what would he think when he found out her secrets?

* * *

The time it took for them to reach the spot where Cara had left her clothes was too short for Rafe’s liking.

With Cara dressed only in his shirt, which hung a little below her hips, the whole situation felt too intimate. They weren’t lovers out here to enjoy the moonlight. He had become her guard—and her jailer, to hear her tell it. Still, having this rare and beautiful creature beside him made Rafe feel oddly content.

He had to wonder about the hidden dangers Cara represented. Her father had achieved legendary status among those of Rafe’s pack. Her mother was only mentioned now and then in whispers. What kind of life could Cara possibly have had with a family like that?

“Are you much like your mother?” he asked, undeterred by the probable insensitivity of the question.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Are you afraid of being like her?”

She glanced at him as they walked. “Sometimes.”

“Would your family have sent you here if they had suspected trouble for you among us?”

She shook her head. “Only at home can I truly be free.”

Rafe said, “I believe... I hope...you’ll find that doesn’t have to be the case, and that you’ll make friends here.”

The desire to see her face up close and in better light had become an urgent necessity. Rafe wanted to get to know every line and curve of her body. Cara might be dangerous, but she looked so fragile and delicious in his shirt.

Maybe fragile wasn’t the right word.

If Cara was anything like her mother, formidable was more like it. Rumor had it that Rosalind Kirk could shape-shift into many different forms any time she wanted to and that few enemies could stand against her. Nevertheless, if Cara was like her mother, and not entirely wolf, why did his wolf recognize hers? And why didn’t he sense any animosity in her?

“I won’t be here long. Surely you know that I can’t live among you,” she said, acknowledging his thoughts as if he had shared them with her.

“How do you know you can’t be happy here?” he asked. “At least you can give us a try.”

She gave the ocean a long look and said, “I have promised to try.”

Cara’s feet seemed to skim the sand. She was incredibly beautiful. Stunningly so. Yet there was no mistaking the powerful aura that surrounded Cara like her own personal fog. Rafe could only imagine how she might use that power if she wanted to.

Despite that, it took all of his willpower to keep his hands to himself. He wanted badly to console Cara, to reassure her that her visit would go well. He knew he was lying to himself about the possibility that she wouldn’t want to leave when the time came. For the moment, he tried to stick to the story that they could be friends, though that too was revealed as a falsehood each time Cara leaned into the wind and his shirt clung to the outlines of her sleek, wet body.

When she stopped, he stopped with her. She turned to face him, and his pulse sped up. Moonlight hugged her face, showing Rafe all the details he had been hoping to see. He held his breath.

She had high cheekbones and a wide brow. Though she was lean, her full lips lent her a softness that was lacking in her attitude. Her neck was long and graceful, her skin a smooth, unblemished ivory. Large eyes, framed by dark lashes, dominated her other features. Those eyes were a bright Lycan green.

She took a step, bringing her close enough for Rafe to feel her breath on his face. She said suddenly, in a hoarse, velvety whisper, “It’s you, isn’t it?”

Then she waited in silence as if daring Rafe to find meaning in those words.

Chapter 4

She knew she had surprised Rafe. There was no way he could even begin to comprehend her remark. But this had to be the Were who had haunted her dreams. Why else had they met like this—him, out of all of the other wolves the Landaus could have sent to find her?

Was there such a thing as coincidence, after all, or had there been some other hand at work here?

Cara had anticipated this meeting with her dream man and had vowed to pay him back for the sleepless nights. Now she wanted this moment to go on, and for time to stop with the two of them right here, near the water.

Eventually, she broke the silence. “Six days. I’ll stay here for six days and then I’ll go home.”

He said, “Are you worried about the moon being full right after that?”

Cara didn’t have to look up at the sky to know the exact position of the moon, and that it was half-full tonight. The pull of the moon on her system was a constant reminder of what it could do, and what she could become. She also felt the movement of the tides and the rhythm of the blood in her arteries.

She felt Rafe’s attention on her as if it was another touch.

“It wouldn’t be wise to stay any longer,” she said.

“What would happen if you did?”

He wore a serious expression that made his eyes gleam as he waited for her to explain herself.

“Unwanted guests might arrive,” she replied.

“We’ve had quite a few unwelcome visitors in the past and know what to do with them,” he told her. “Have no doubts about that.”

“These uninvited guests wouldn’t be any of your concern and are merely another part of my existence.”

“Are you talking about vampires and what happened to your parents here?”

“Among other things.”

He leaned toward her. “What would other creatures want if they did come?”

“The same thing you want,” she replied soberly.

“And that is?”

“Me.”

Her answer didn’t seem to surprise him. He didn’t feign ignorance or pretend to misunderstand her meaning. But he took in a breath and held it before speaking again.

“It’s natural, I suppose, that I’m interested in you. Wolf-to-wolf attraction has a heady allure, and being at the beach doesn’t help any, because moonlight on the water is romantic. Then there’s the fact that you’re exceptionally beautiful and half-naked. All of that can mess with a guy’s head. I’ll admit that it’s messing with mine.”

Ribbons of pleasure wound through Cara with an exotic flutter. No one had ever told her she was beautiful. She hadn’t really been sure how others perceived her looks. She’d never understood why other creatures wanted a piece of her, except for the vampires. Her mother had warned her about that. Having a Banshee’s spirit nestled inside her would allow her to lead bloodsuckers to their next meal by pointing out human weaknesses. If caught by them, she’d become a vampire’s dinner bell.

The heat caused by Rafe’s remarks left Cara uncertain about what might happen next, and what she should do. Her legs felt weak, and that was a first. Her stomach twisted as if the thing she housed had come alive. Rafe had an almost mystical allure for someone who had gone without companionship for most of her life.

They had reached the place where she had discarded her clothes, but he hadn’t noticed. Hadn’t he said he liked her half-naked?

“You haven’t seen a naked woman before?” she asked, noting how he stared at her as she started to take off his shirt.

“I’ve seen a few,” he replied. “But none quite like you.”

A shiver moved through her as she brought her head up and whirled around. A new feeling had invaded her senses, and it didn’t register as anything remotely like pleasure. It was an announcement that they had company. The kind she had warned Rafe about. Trouble was coming, and the wolf beside her was about to find out what her world could be like.

* * *

Rafe spun around, his senses on high alert. Cara was already on the move.

He caught up with her in four long strides as his cop reflexes kicked in and he stepped in front of Cara to block her way while he searched the beach and the sidewalk. She placed both of her hands on the center of his back and applied pressure to move him out of the way.

“Wait,” he said to her. “Just wait.”

He didn’t have his gun. Hell, he wasn’t wearing shoes. The shove Cara gave him sent him forward a few inches, but he rallied. Determined to do his job and protect her, Rafe hit a number on his cell phone to call his father and said to Cara, “What’s out here that I can’t see?”

“Fangs,” she replied.

“Fangs, as in vampires?” Could that be right? Had vampires found Cara already? How was that possible?

“One of them,” she said.

“Close by?”

“Very close.”

“How can I find it?” Rafe asked.

“Smell.”

He was supposed to smell a damn vampire when his lungs were filled with Cara’s rich scent?

“Describe the smell, Cara.”

“Dark earth, dirt and other things more difficult to define unless you’ve met with vampires before. They’re masters at masking those smells, which makes them hard to find if you were to go looking.”

“Can we get to the street, or another block down the beach?” Rafe asked.

When she didn’t answer him, he took her silence for a bad sign. Keeping his eyes trained for any movement in the distance, Rafe automatically reached for Cara’s hand. The surge of electricity that hit him when their skin met was a shock. But he couldn’t let it distract him from getting Cara out of there. Even if she had faced these creatures before, he had to guard her with his life. Or try to.

“Follow me,” he instructed, lacing her fingers with his and absorbing charge after charge of electricity that felt like nothing he had ever experienced.

Adrenaline took over. Cara didn’t protest when he pulled her forward. “Warn me if I’m heading for trouble,” he said.

She tugged at him hard enough to stop him after a few steps. Frustrated by this, Rafe turned to face her.

“It’s you,” she repeated, but with a different emphasis this time.

Her face came close to his. As she met his eyes, her wet hair brushed against his bare arms, causing alternating heat and chills. Cara, the hybrid shifter he was trying to protect, could adopt a vampire’s form if one were to appear on the beach, but the need to get her to safety was strong enough for him to override his fear of that happening.