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LIZ LAY ON the bed, her back propped up by pillows and the headboard. She forced air into her lungs because the men in the room with her seemed to suck it all up. Mac was the biggest man there but the other two seemed larger than life as well. So much energy surrounded them a person would have to be dead not to notice. Michael leaned on the wall next to the bed. The other men kept their distance and Hannah sat on the foot of the second bed in the motel room. Under Michael’s watchful eyes, the driver had removed her IV, checked her injuries, and made sure her pain levels were manageable. She’d learned his name was Sean and that he was a former combat medic. He’d been brusque and capable, but he’d also been gentle.
Conversation buzzed around her and she listened intently—and learned a lot, most of which she saved to process later. Werewolves? For real? Only they didn’t call themselves that. And the condition was likely linked to the Y chromosome. Her inner scientist was intrigued even as the rest of her was terrified. She glanced up to find Hannah watching her intently. She stared back. The other woman offered a tight smile.
“You’ll do, Liz Graham. I see the wheels turning. But don’t let your brain override your heart.”
That was easy for Hannah to say. She... Liz blinked. Hannah had walked into the middle of this life clueless, too. She remembered that much of the conversations in the car. She watched the looks Hannah and Mac shared, noted their exchanges with a detached perspective. As the other woman reminded her, she was a scientist. Granted, psychology wasn’t her strong suit, but she could observe and postulate. She saw two people totally committed to each other. They might disagree. They might rub the other the wrong way, but when push came to shove, they presented a united front.
Liz glanced over to the long, lean body propped against the wall near the head of her bed. Michael appeared to be monitoring the conversation but his entire focus centered on her. She felt it all the way down to her bones. She might fear him but she wasn’t afraid of him. How messed up was that? No, she didn’t fear him, she feared what he was. It was...unnatural. But watching him, and the others, she concluded that they were comfortable in their own skins—no matter what form that skin took. She also recognized that these men were honorable and loyal. A girl could do a whole lot worse in this day and age. She tilted her head, watching Michael watch her. Her heart swelled, even though she knew it couldn’t actually do so physically. Love was nothing but hormones. Just chemical reactions in the human body. She blinked and leaned forward. Wasn’t that, at its core, what occurred in the men’s bodies—a chemical reaction that changed them from men to wolves?
“Oh, crap. They want you to run experiments on.”
Everyone in the room stared at her and Liz realized she’d said the words out loud. “Oh, holy hell, whoever is behind this wants to practice Frankenstein medicine.” She shuddered and retched. Michael was beside her on the bed immediately, his arms scooping her up, poised to take her to the bathroom. She inhaled and swallowed the bile.
“No, I’m okay. You can put me down.”
He did so immediately and as soon as the heat of his body moved away she felt...bereft. Tears stung her eyelids and she blinked them away. She snagged his hand before he could retreat. His long fingers wrapped around hers but he still looked wary, like a dog kicked more than once. Her chest hurt and she offered her other hand to him. Before she could take a breath, he enveloped her in a gentle bear hug. Something shifted inside her and she knew with complete certainty that all was right in her world.
“I’m sorry, baby.” His words whispered through her hair.
“No. I’m the one who should be sorry.”
“Ahem. Debrief is over, guys. I think Michael and Liz need some alone time.” Hannah chuckled, the sound deep and seductive. “I know I could certainly use some...sleep.”
“Great. You mated couples really piss me off, you know? I’ll be in the bar.” Sean didn’t sound half as upset as his words indicated.
With her head buried against Michael’s shoulder, she heard the others leave. He kissed her forehead and eased her back against the pillows.
“I need to secure the door. I’ll be right back.”
He was gone and back in what seemed like a heartbeat. He stripped to his jeans and stretched out beside her, offering his arms and shoulder to cuddle into. She did. Her heart shifted again. How could she have ever fought this feeling?
“We’ll work through this, Liz. But you have to believe me. You are my life. You are smart and funny and brave and I never thought I’d be lucky enough to find a mate as perfect as you.”
She laughed. “Flattery will get you almost everywhere.”
His arms tightened and he kissed the top of her head. “Truth.” With a gentle finger under her chin, he tilted her face up to look at him. “Always truth, Liz. Between us. There will be no secrets. I will never lie to you. I will never hurt you.”
She leaned up and offered her lips for a kiss. He met her halfway. “Truth. Always.” She breathed the words against his skin.
Her life had taken a dramatic turn and eventually, her head would catch up with her heart. In the meantime, she had a man to show how much she loved him. And a wolf pack to protect. And a mysterious syndrome that had its basis in a recessive gene on the Y chromosome. What had Michael called the Wolves? Lupi versi pellis. He’d told her that loosely translated, it meant something like “they turn the skin of wolves.”
“I love you.”
The tightness in her chest loosened further. She smiled and kissed him again, deeper this time. “I love you too.”
“We’ll get through this, Liz. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know.” And she did. “I trust you.”
The relief in his eyes rocked her soul as she realized love and trust didn’t necessarily go hand in hand.
“We have to move the pack, Michael.”
“Yes.”
“We have to protect them.”
“Yes.” He kissed her again. “Tomorrow, Liz. We’ll make things right tomorrow.”
“Yes.” The word came out muffled as she curled in with a yawn. She could fight exhaustion no longer. In moments, she was sound asleep.
CHILLED, LIZ SOUGHT the warmth she’d snuggled against all night only to discover the space beside her empty. She jerked to a sitting position, her heart hammering. She might be alone in bed, but Michael was still there in the unfamiliar room with her. He stood at the window, curtains drawn back just enough to see out. The neon sign in front of the motel flashed a desultory red and blue, a lazy strobe of colors that purported to offer comfort and rest. The lights reminded her too much of the lights on the ambulance and other emergency vehicles at Michael’s house. Which had burned down. The horror of Tala’s death washed over her and she curled her fist to her mouth to keep from crying out. With shallow breaths, she watched Michael, recognized the stiff set of his shoulders, the jutted chin challenging the night.
Liz slipped out of bed and padded over to him. She touched his back, her fingers seeking the heat of him, the connection. His arm slid around her and tucked her against his side. He kissed the top of her head and then his gaze returned to the skyline above the motel. She stared out the window, looking for what held his attention. The moon rode low on the horizon. Half moon. One face light, the other dark. A magical yin-yang fitted more precisely than any jigsaw puzzle.
“Like us,” she murmured. “The moon is like us.” She glanced up, caught the barest flicker of a smile tug the corner of his mouth but it was gone in a blink. Silence stretched between them. She could almost imagine the tick of a clock measuring the seconds.
“Are you okay with this?”
She glanced up at him. She owed him honesty. “I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry.”
Liz pulled away from him so she could see him better. One side of his face flickered red then blue while the other remained in shadow—like the moon. “For what?”
“For...this.” He gestured with one hand, a sweeping motion that encompassed the room, the motel, the world beyond. “I should have given you the choice.”
She didn’t need to see his whole face to read the regret etched there. “I’m sorry you’re saddled with me.” Hurt leaked into her words despite her best efforts.
Michael stared at her, his caramel eyes flashing gold in the haphazard light from the window. “I’m not.”
She inhaled and the ache in her chest eased slightly. “I know you didn’t have a choice. That I don’t have a choice.”
“Stop.” He clutched her to his chest. “I could have walked away. I would have for you, if you had said no. I thought I could do it. I was too weak. I need you too much.” His lips clamped onto hers. His arms crushed her to his chest and she felt his heart thudding against his rib cage. When he finished the kiss, his forehead rested against hers. “I thought there was always a choice. I could have sent you away. But I am selfish. I want you. You, Liz. I want your laughter and your sighs. I want to see your eyes flash with anger. I want you in my bed. You already live in my heart, where you belong.”
Liz sniffled and stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. Her eyelids drifted shut as he kissed her forehead again and her breath hitched in her chest.
“I love you, Liz. Not because I have to, but because I want to. You are my other half.” He turned her to look out the window. “You are the light to my dark. Like the moon.”
“Then it wasn’t a bad moon when we met?” She hated that she sounded so tremulous.
“No moon is bad with you at my side. We will move the wolves and we will find a way for you to continue your research. Mac and Hannah believe you are on to something. There are bad men out there who mean to do bad things. It’s up to us to help stop them.” He let the curtains drop back, plunging the room into a deep gloom, highlighted by that red-blue-red strobe from the neon motel sign leaking in around the edges.
She smiled and rose on her tiptoes. Right before her lips brushed against his she whispered, “We will. Together we can do anything.”
“Yes,” he agreed. Liz giggled and when Michael arched his brow in a quizzical expression, she laughed. “You going to tell me what is so funny?”
“You.” She worked to keep her face solemn but the sassy grin leaked through.
He continued to stare at her but hid his own smile as she flushed and her nipples budded beneath the tee shirt she’d slept in. His dick stirred, the movement drawing her eyes to his groin. This was the joy of mates. This need, this soul-deep wanting would always be there, growing stronger with the passage of time.
“You are a man of few words.” She hesitated as she spoke but managed to get the sentence out as her eyes grew rounder.
“Yes. And a man hungry for his mate. Come to bed.” He picked her up, silencing her retort with a kiss. A knock on the door interrupted him.
Michael set her down, grabbed his pistol and listened at the door before Liz could even catch her breath. He felt her worried gaze and motioned her toward the bathroom. He heard the brush of her bare feet across the worn carpet and then silence. Pressing his ear to the door, he listened. His nostrils flared. Two men. Human. He caught Liz’s muffled voice. She was on the room phone. He heard the grating of a key in the lock. He’d thrown both the deadbolt latch and the security chain. One of the men cursed then bit off the words. The second man answered but the only word Michael could make out was “window.”
Before he could react, he detected the sounds of a scuffle. In seconds, he had the door open only to find Sean and Mac grinning at him.
“Took you long enough, bud.” The big medic bent over to check the pockets of his prisoner.
“You and Liz okay?” Mac didn’t look up from his man.
“We’re good.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Get dressed and packed up, Liz. We need to move out ASAP.” Michael turned back to Mac. “Black Root?”
“Probably. No ID on either of them.”
Hannah trotted up. “Found their signature black SUV around the corner at the truck stop. No paperwork in the glovebox.”
Her husband flashed a dubious look in her direction. “How would you know that?”
“Gosh, some asshole busted out the window. I figured I should check for owner info so I could notify them.”
Sean guffawed. “That’s right neighborly, Hannah.”
Michael slipped back inside to dress. Minutes later, two vehicles pulled out onto the highway, the two captives bouncing around in the back of their purloined SUV, driven by Sean. In the other SUV, Michael drove with singular focus while Hannah and Mac worked their phones. Liz huddled in the back seat, the buzz of one-sided conversations whirring around her.
“Roger, that Colonel,” from Mac.
“I don’t care what it takes. I want IDs on those guys,” from Hannah.
Liz covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her whimper. She was made of sterner stuff, though if anyone should be allowed a meltdown, she should get to be first on the list. She raised her gaze and caught Michael watching her from the rearview mirror. She read pride in his eyes—pride in her, and something that rocked her soul. Love. The vise clamping around her chest loosened. She inhaled deeply and offered him a smile that didn’t feel quite so tentative. She could do this. What’s more, she wanted this...this whatever it was between her and Michael. For the first time in her life, she belonged.
