Chapter Eleven

Minutes passed as the trio of wolves continued to fight in front of the house. One looked like he wanted in while the others were doing their best to kick him out. Maybe this is their territory, I decided, chewing my bottom lip when the two larger wolves went at it again.

This time, the outsider went for the larger male’s side, leaving a deep gash along his ribs before pushing him away. My breath caught in the back of my throat when the injured wolf stumbled, then collapsed in the snow at the aggressor’s feet.

I expected Little-wolf to go after him and fend off the outsider’s attacks, and I wasn’t the only one. The injured wolf wined at him, licked his muzzle when he was near, then growled, likely telling him to finish things off.

Little-wolf hesitated, allowing the outsider to get in another hit, this time to his own shoulder. That’s all it took for him to react, snapping him out of his trance as he chased the original wolf to the very edge of my property.

By the time he turned back for the house, I was at the front door. As soon as he reached his friend’s side, I was halfway to doing the same. I had no idea what was going on in my head, but these wolves didn’t feel like a threat. It almost felt as though—

“Jackson?”

My heart stopped.

Jackson lay in the snow with a deep gash under his ribs, which was the same exact place I’d seen it on the wolf.

A second later, the littlest wolf’s fur peeled away, revealing a very naked and worried Bree underneath.

Shifters? Here?

I’d heard of them, I’d even spoken to some of them, but I never thought—

“Carley, look at me.” It was Bree’s voice, but instead of the wolf that had lingered close to me, she was very human without a scrap of clothing to speak of.

Heat filled my cheeks, and before she could say anything else, I removed my coat and handed it over to her.

“Look, I can explain—”

“You don’t need to explain anything,” I told her as I averted my gaze, “I already know.”

She frowned but let the comment slide, rushing over to her brother a second later. “Don’t move,” Bree said, her voice shaking a bit. “It goes pretty deep.”

“Makes it hard to breathe too,” Jackson spat out, glaring in his sister’s direction. “What the hell was that mutt doing here? Doesn’t he know—”

“A challenge,” Bree said, quickly turning her attention to me. “A phone. I need a phone,” she said, gesturing at me with one hand while applying pressure to the gash along Jackson’s ribs with the other.

Pulled out of my trance, I rushed inside and returned with a phone and a handful of blankets. “Can he move?” I asked as I handed them off to Bree.

“Not safely, no. Here,” she handed the phone back to me so she could place one blanket over her brother before wrapping another around herself to fend off the cold. “Call this number.” As she rattled off a series of digits, I did my best to keep my hands from shaking. When she finished, she said, “The operator will ask for an ID. Tell her it’s 48625. That’s all she needs to know.”

The other side of the line picked up a second later, followed by a very calm voice. “ID.”

“48625,” I said, holding the phone against my ear as my legs threatened to give out.

“Injury?” the voice asked, sounding just as calm as before.

“A bite. A deep one along the ribs,” I replied, looking at Bree when she glanced my way again.

“No dear,” the woman said, “human or supernatural?”

I wasn’t sure if she was asking about Jackson or his assailant, but considering I was neither… “Supernatural.”

“Someone will be there shortly.”

With that, the woman on the other side of the line hung up, causing me to look at Bree with concern.

“She didn’t even ask for an address,” I told her as I took my place beside Jackson. How will she know where we are?

“They don’t need to,” Jackson managed to say before his sister could do the same.

“The ID is for our territory. They’ll know where to look,” Bree explained, holding her brother down when he tried to move again. “What did I just say? Don’t move until the Silverback arrives. You know how cross he gets if you do.”

“Silverback?” As in a gorilla?

“A healer. Shaman,” Bree simply said. “They can do far better than I ever could.”

“But my leg—”

“Was an easy fix,” Bree assured me. “It was also caused by a bit of splintered wood and not a bite like this. We take animal bites very seriously, but to suffer a bite from another wolf?” She shook her head and released a long breath.

“Hurts like a bitch,” Jackson said, managing a small smile that was more for my benefit than his own.

The Silverback or shaman Bree spoke of arrived minutes later. Unlike the pelts Bree and her brother wore which were gray, the shaman was just as his name suggested. Silver. Not white, not ash, or gray, but silver.

The only difference between him and my neighbors was the fact that when he took on his human form, his clothing changed along with him.

“How come he—”

“Isn’t naked?” Bree finished for me.

“Trick of the trade,” the shaman replied with a wry smile as he knelt in the snow beside Jackson.

With Jackson tended to and the threat to our lives no longer an issue, Bree touched her brother’s arm, then got up and turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” I asked, glancing back at Jackson who was still lying in the snow before following after her. “Shouldn’t you stay with him?”

“To get some clothes,” she said without looking back at me.

My coat may have been long but… “At least let me drive you home.” My legs might’ve been shaking but I could still take her home. “You don’t need to do this alone.” My voice trailed off the moment she pulled a pile of clothing out from underneath my woodpile. “You have clothing here?”

“We have them stockpiled all over town,” Bree explained as she ducked around the corner of the building to put them on. “We never know when we’ll have to shift, so we try to keep spares around as much as possible.”

“But over here?” Had they always done that?

When she stepped out to join me again, my heart skipped. The white snow contrasted her navy blue gown perfectly. It wasn’t something I’d ever seen her wear before, but then again, it wasn’t something I thought she’d wear at all. Bree really didn’t come across as the dress-wearing sort.

“What?” she asked with a sideways glance. “Is it wrinkled?”

“No, it’s…” I shook my head and waved her look of concern away.

“Lovely?” she supplied, lifting her brows above her eyes. “It’s loose fabric and easy to toss if I need to change in a hurry.”

If that was her explanation, how come she didn’t wear them all the time?

“Who was that other wolf?” I asked as I joined her in front of the house, wincing when Jackson muttered a handful of obscenities not quite under his breath.

“We don’t know,” Bree said with a shake of her head, pausing outside the front door to my house before opening it and following in after me. “Jackson will need a place to rest, and I should stay here with you in case that mutt comes back.”

“Jackson can use my room,” I said without hesitation, moving some of the furniture aside so the shaman could easily make his way to the back of the hall without running into anything.

Bree eyed the living room with its lack of decorations and the packaging tape I’d left out on the coffee table. “You’re leaving.” It wasn’t a question, and even as the last words left her lips, a twinge of guilt filled my chest.

“I tried to call.” Several times. I forced the anger back and slowly made my way into the kitchen so I could clean the dishes I’d already washed and left in the rack to dry.

Bree stepped beside me, placing her hand on mine once I pulled it away from the running water. A second later, she removed the dish, set in on the counter, then took me in her arms.

“It’ll be okay,” she assured me, her voice sounding way more confident than I felt just then.

“But that wound—”

“Isn’t the worst one I’ve seen,” Bree said as she lifted my chin with her hand. “My brother’s been in worse scrapes than this.”

I turned my head, unable to meet her gaze. “With another wolf?” Just how many wolves are out here? I wanted to ask but thought better of it.

If my actions upset her, she didn’t let on, releasing me when I started to pull away. “Wolves, roofs, and one time with a nail gun.”

I winced at that, backing away as she suddenly felt too close. It wasn’t until I glanced back at the living room when I realized the shaman had already come and gone, leaving Jackson in my bedroom where he could rest.

“That shaman, he—”

“Comes in fast and leaves just as quickly,” Bree said with a slight laugh.

“But he didn’t even tell you what to do or how to care for Jackson.” He must’ve had some sort of instructions he wanted her to follow.

“Like I said, we’ve been down this road before,” Bree said. “My brother will be fine in a few days so long as he stays off his feet, which, considering how restless he can get… let’s just say that compared to him, you were a breeze.”

“Thanks?” I wasn’t sure if she meant it as a compliment or not. “Are you sure you shouldn’t check on him?”

“We can in a bit,” Bree assured me. “For now, let the shaman’s magic do its work. The worst of it is over. The injury, I mean. As for my brother’s impatience, that’s something else altogether.”

It bothered me that she was acting so calm about this, but seeing as I wasn’t a wolf, what did I know?

Oblivious to my thoughts, Bree took a step back and leaned against the side of the counter. “Look, what I said the other day—”

“I get it,” I said as I slowly made my way to the living room, taking a deep breath before collapsing on the sofa.

“How are you not freaked out by this?” she asked as she stood in front of me.

“I am, actually,” I said as I forced a smile.

“But I can’t even smell it on you.” Then, realizing what she said, she apologized. “Sorry. There are some things I can’t turn off when I’m in this form, my wolf’s innate sense of smell being one of them.”

“I guess I’m just very good at hiding it,” I said with a partial shrug, my muscles tensing when she continued to look my way.

Clearly not convinced, she slowly approached my other side and sat on the opposite end of the couch so there was a cushion of space between us. “I didn’t want you to find out this way,” she said, likely referring to her wolf. “It isn’t something we share unless…” She shook her head. “It isn’t important right now. What is important is that you’re safe. Once Jackson is well, we’ll increase our walks around the perimeter. That wolf won’t get in here again.”

“Don’t bother,” I said, clearing my throat when my voice refused to work.

“What? How can you say that?” the pain in her voice was noticeable even to me.

“Because I’m not staying.” Even as the words left my lips, I knew it was a lie. I wanted to be angry at her, I wanted to vent and yell at her for keeping her distance the way she had. However, after everything we’d been through, I realized why she’d acted the way she did. If our roles had been reversed, I probably would’ve done the same.

“You don’t mean that,” Bree said after a bit of hesitation, reaching for my hand, then placing hers in her lap when I didn’t take it. “You’re upset.”

“Of course I am,” I said in a voice that was a lot louder than I intended it to be. Afraid I might’ve disturbed Jackson, I took a breath, then released it when no sound came from down the hall. “You pushed me away,” I said in a low voice. “And then you avoided my calls. Why?”

“Because I wasn’t sure,” she said with a heavy sigh.

“Of what?” Of us? Of her being a wolf? Which was it?

“Everything.” Her shoulders dropped as she spoke. “I wanted to act on it,” she said. “Gods know I did.”

“But?

“It’s complicated.”

I scoffed at that. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“I can’t tell you everything, but I’ll do my best.”

“You can start off by telling me what that was all about. Why was there a wolf in my yard?”

“He’s a rogue. One of them, anyway. Jackson and I have been tailing his kind for months, keeping them off the property the best we can—”

“But that one slipped past because you’ve been avoiding me,” I said without looking at her.

Bree turned to me and tucked one leg under the other. “Pretty much. As for the distance and my reaction—”

“That much I actually do understand.”

“You do?” she asked, looking at me with disbelief. “How?”

“You remember the app I told you about? It’s open to everyone. I’ve seen wolves get with wolves, wolves and humans, wild cats… they’re all the same. It’s amazing, really. At first, I thought it was just a bunch of furs, you know? People sharing a common interest, but I eventually realized that all of the stories I’d heard and the thank you letters I got were from actual shifters.”

She managed a small smile, one that reached all the way to her eyes which were still full of her wolf’s fire. “And you never told anyone about it?”

“I didn’t have to. You can see it all over the site if you look hard enough,” I said. “Not a lot of packs accept unions between humans and wolves.”

“No,” she agreed, “but seeing as Jackson is my pack—”

“That’s the loyalty you spoke of.”

“Not exactly,” Bree said as she picked at a piece of lint that happened to fall onto her dress. “Whenever Jackson’s stressed, he wolfs out.”

I frowned and looked at her again. “Wolfs out? I can’t say I’ve ever heard that term before.”

“He shifts,” Bree simply said. “He runs aimlessly until he’s too tired to do anything else.”

“Which is why you came to see me after your job at the bakery.”

“Yes.”

“So when you said he was stress cleaning, what was he actually doing?”

“Running the property line. Our territory.”

“And the night he joined us for dinner and left early?” I urged.

“I gave him enough time to get out of sight before going after him. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, but the folks around here don’t take too kindly to our kin. They never knew about our folks, or at least I didn’t think they did until—”

“The accident.”

“It wasn’t an accident,” she said, pulling her knees up close to her chest. “But we couldn’t prove it.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why did you stay?” Surely there were other places they could live, ones that were more accepting of her kind and others like her.

“Because this will always be our home.” Her voice was tight. “Not just the house but the forest surrounding it as well. Jackson thrives in the woods. He’d never survive inside a city. I can hold my wolf back, but Jackson…” She shook her head. “It’s as restless as he is.”

“Having this much room to run around unnoticed—”

“Is why we stay,” she finished for me. “I know it’s a lot to take in, and I’m sure I haven’t explained things properly, but you have to understand I never wanted to keep this from you. I knew the moment we met that you’d be trouble. Not for us, but for me.” She blew out a long breath. When she finally met my eyes, hers had the same look in them that I’d seen so many nights before. “Do you believe in the taglines you have on your app?” When I didn’t answer, she continued. “I looked you up after we first met. It wasn’t long until I found the app with a photo of you and your sister beside it. I wasn’t stalking, I was—”

“Making sure I wasn’t a mass murderer?” I offered.

“Something like that.”

Then, going back to her earlier question, I said, “My sister is a bigger romantic than I am. There may have been a time when those quotes sounded right to me—”

“But now?” she asked, her eyebrows lifting above her eyes.

I offered her a partial shrug. “I’m honestly not sure. A lot of the folks who use our app come together, get married, then go on with their lives. However, there are a few who…” I waved my hand around as I searched for the right words. “They slip through the cracks. I hurt them more than I help, so I don’t know.”

“I only ask because we, meaning wolves in general, believe in fate. Every wolf has a mate the same way humans do. Problem is, in order to find the right one, we need to agree with our wolf. It’s hard to explain, and I’m sure I’m not making any sense at all, but—”

“Fated mates,” I said before she could finish. “I’m familiar with the term, though I don’t think it has anything to do with me.” My sister would’ve said otherwise, but I’d stopped dreaming for an easy road a long time ago. “Relationships are meant to be hard and messy. Challenges help it evolve and survive.”

“And you don’t think that’s what we’ve been doing?”

We? Was she talking about the general we, or did she mean… “Us?” I searched for the hint of amusement on her face, of which there was none. “You can’t honestly mean—”

“Think about it,” Bree said as she took my hands in hers. “Ever since we met, things have felt off, haven’t they? Not just in the way a normal neighbor might cause, but something more.”

“Greta influenced a lot of those thoughts, though,” I said, glancing down at my hands which she gently held between us.

“Did she?” Bree cocked an eyebrow at me. “Or was that just an excuse to hide behind along with your twelve-month window?”

“Hey, I was the one who was willing to try, but then you pushed me away,” I reminded her, placing my hands in my lap. “I understand the hesitation, I might even share it, but feeling that way about you… trusting my sister enough to put myself out there only to get crushed—”

She didn’t let me finish, taking me in her arms before kissing me on the lips. Tentative at first, she let the taste of her lips linger a while longer, then drove her fingers through my hair. When I didn’t pull away, she placed a hand on the nape of my neck, then kissed me again, harder than before.

With my heart racing and the world swinging in wide circles around us, I lost myself in that kiss, under her touch, and the intense warmth growing through my chest. I wanted this. I’d wished for it. And yet…

I pulled away so I could catch my breath. “What is this?” I asked, unable to meet her gaze.

“What do you mean?” her voice was soft and barely audible over my beating heart.

“Is this because of you or your wolf?” A few days ago, she would’ve pushed me away. So why were things so different now? “What happened?”

“If I told you it’s a bit of both, would you hold it against me?”

Now I did look at her, at her slight frown and the concern in her eyes. “I… I don’t know. One minute, you’re pushing me away, and the next… this.” I gestured at her.

“I understand your frustrations.”

“I don’t think you do,” I said, clenching my hands and shoving them in my lap before Bree could notice. “I know what you’re trying to say about the whole fated thing, but a relationship is built on trust. Trust you didn’t give.”

“And after running your app and seeing how reclusive most shifters are, can you really blame me?” She paused, likely to calm herself down before speaking again. “It didn’t matter how much my wolf—how badly I wanted to act on my feelings. I had to be sure.”

I wanted to believe her, I did, but something didn’t feel right. “You pushed me away.”

“To keep you safe. I thought that by keeping my distance, we could—”

“What?”

“Keep this from happening,” she said, unable to meet my eyes. “The last thing I wanted to do was to put you in harm’s way. Jackson may be the only one left in my pack, but there are others who would use our connection against us.” She was talking about us, about being fated mates and how we were always meant to be together. “There’s no other way for me to explain my actions, so I understand if you want to walk away. Just know that harming you was the last thing on my mind.”

A part of me wanted to protest, to push her away just as she’d done to me. But she was right. As much as I wanted to fight it, as much as I wanted her to be wrong, it was something I’d been fighting ever since I’d first arrived.

And apparently, I wasn’t the only one.

Without saying a word, I leaned into her, releasing a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding when I felt her arms close around me again. That’s when I knew.

The reason I craved her company, the reason I relished her smile was because I’d fallen for her. Not as a neighbor, friend, or even something more. It wasn’t something I could explain. Not logically, anyway.

But it’s only been two months, a small voice said in the back of my head.

We hadn’t even gone on a date yet.

It didn’t matter.

As Bree stroked my hair and held me close to her, all of the chaos in my head fell away. My heart told me this was right, it promised this was the correct path to take.

And as soon as I was able to breathe, my words came tumbling out. My fears, my worries, and concerns.

“This can’t happen,” I said in a voice so low I feared she might not have heard me. It isn’t right, that small voice in my head said. “It’s too fast,” I told her. “Shouldn’t there be a courtship or something?” I don’t even know you. Not really.

Bree laughed, then cupped my face with one hand while taking mine in the other. “Courtship works in different ways. Some are fast, while others are slow.”

“And what if I want it to be somewhere in between?” Was that an option? Could we slow down, or were wolves always like this?

She looked as though she was about to object, but then her smile grew. “I would like that very much. With Jackson off his feet for a few days, I’d say we have more than enough time to catch up. At least enough to get us started. Would that work for you?”

Would it? I was supposed to be halfway across the country by now, but instead— “Oh god, my sister. I need to call Greta.” I shot up from the sofa, stopping when Bree grabbed my wrist.

“To tell her?” Bree asked with a laugh.

“Yes. No. Not exactly,” I said with a frustrated sigh. “My flight leaves in fifteen minutes,” I told Bree once she let me go. “She’ll be heading to the airport soon so she can wait, and when I don’t show up—”

“No explanation necessary. Call and let her know you’re safe, but hold off on saying anything else.”

“You know she trusts your kind,” I said as I waited for the phone to ring. “She was the reason I found out in the first place. Greta, hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Greta said on the other side of the line. “Aren’t you supposed to have that turned off? You know the flight attendant will confiscate it if you don’t hang up.”

I laughed at that. “They’d never do that,” I said as I paced in front of the doorway. “But that doesn’t matter because—”

“You aren’t coming home.” There was no mistaking the disappointment in her voice.

“Not yet,” I said, “but soon. In a few weeks, I think.”

“What changed your mind?”

I chewed my bottom lip, then looked back toward my bedroom where Jackson had finally fallen asleep. “Bree’s brother.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” I managed a tight laugh. “Something about me being good for his sister and to keep trying.”

Bree looked at me with a questioning glance but kept her thoughts to herself.

“So? Are you going to keep trying?” ‘Is she worth it?’ I could almost hear my sister say.

“I think so. I don’t want to come home with any regrets, you know?” At least that much was true.

“I can’t say I’m thrilled that you’re calling me now after all of the gifts I bought for you, but I suppose I can keep them until your next homecoming party.”

“You bought gifts? You know you didn’t have to do anything like that.”

“I wanted to give you something so you wouldn’t miss what you left behind. It’s stupid but… I bought you a tree. You know, like one of those redwoods? It was stupid.”

“No,” I said as I slowly took my place on the sofa beside Bree again. “It’s a lovely gesture.”

“Then I’ll buy you a second one the next time you come home. You are coming home eventually, right?” She was asking if I was planning to stay. Not just for a year but indefinitely.

Looking at Bree then, and without knowing what to expect in the weeks to come, I said, “I’m going to try.”

“And you’re sure you’re okay? You sound a little off.”

Well, if you had a wolf staring at you… “Everything’s good. I’m just a little distracted.” I gave Bree a pointed look who stared at me from under her dark lashes.

“Uh-huh. So, will I ever get to meet this Bree? Get a picture of her? Anything?” My sister rattled off a list of questions, getting more excited with each one.

“Eventually,” I said, “but not yet.” Not when everything’s so new.

“Okay. Well, the next time you plan on running home, make sure you’re actually going to do it. It’ll save me some gas.”

“I called you in time,” I said, catching her bluff.

“For now.”

I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. “Love you, Greta.”

“Love you too. Make sure you hit Bree upside the head for me, okay? Tell her she isn’t supposed to treat you that way. And if she does it again, you’d better believe I’ll fly out there just so I can do it myself.”

“I promise.”

“Be safe out there, and call me later with all of the details.”

“Still living vicariously through me?” I teased.

“I’m stuck sitting in an office chair for most of the day. What do you think?”

“That you might have to come out here the next time you take a vacation.”

“If I’m allowed to take one. We’re moving into that crazy season of love. Things are nuts around here.”

“And you’ll handle things beautifully. I’ll call you later.”

“You’d better, otherwise—”

I didn’t hear what she said next. Bree took the phone away from me, put it to her ear, then smiled.

“Your sister is fine,” Bree spoke into the receiver. “Yes, yes, nice to hear you too. The picture is completely up to her, but seeing as she’s still living back in the 90s, yes. I’ll see what I can do.”

With that, she hung up the phone and set it aside, taking my hands in hers a moment later. “Your sister worries too much.”

“It’s something we learned from our mother.” Then, glancing at the phone she’d hidden behind her, I said, “What did she ask you to do?”

“Send pictures.”

“Of you?” I was surprised Bree agreed to it.

“Of you, your ‘living arrangements’ if you can even call them that, and the barn that, in her words, tried to swallow you whole. She wants to make sure you’re taken care of.”

Looking at Bree, I couldn’t help but smile. “And am I being taken care of?”

She leaned in and gently kissed me on the lips. “I’m just getting started.”