Silence of the Wolf

Chapter 18

Tom couldn’t believe that Elizabeth had tried to meet up with North, the rogue wolf who had caused their pack all kinds of trouble in the past.

North was the one who had tried to steal Carol back from Ryan, thinking a red wolf from his pack had more of a claim to her than Ryan, a gray from another pack. That concerned Tom. Would North attempt to claim Elizabeth? Tom didn’t trust him.

“North was supposed to meet with me and hand over proof that my uncle had murdered my parents,” Elizabeth continued.

Tom closed his gaping mouth. “Your uncle murdered your parents?” God, how could she have been dealing with this all alone? The bastard better be dead, Tom thought angrily, but remembered that he couldn’t be. Not from what Elizabeth said earlier—that she thought her uncle might have had something to do with her kidnapping.

“I always suspected he had,” Elizabeth said. “He never hid the animosity he had for his brother, my dad, for taking a coyote as a mate. Both were widowed—my dad and my mother. And they found each other. Why was that so wrong?”

He took hold of her hand and caressed it. “Nothing was wrong with it, Elizabeth. Nothing if they loved each other and were free to do so.”

“They were. I haven’t been able to get in touch with North since first arriving in Silver Town, though. Someone else answered his phone the night I was at Darien and Lelandi’s. I was afraid whoever it was might come after me and”—she shifted her gaze to him—“cause trouble for your pack.”

“I can’t believe you were worried about us,” Tom said, unable to curb his incredulity. She ran away to protect his pack? And for what? To put herself in a world of danger!

“I think… I think my uncle might have learned what North had planned. I’m afraid North might be in trouble, if he’s not already dead.”

“All right, let’s go back over what we know. The chances of you dying on the slopes would be minimal. So why, if the men had been hired by your uncle or half brother, would they push you down the slope?”

“To make me easier to manipulate. They’d keep me out of the B and B by sending me to the hospital so they could steal my stuff from the B and B and lure me to the hotel, then take off with me. But you stayed with me, so that plan didn’t work.”

“So when they came to the tavern afterward, it was like they were taunting you. Telling you that they’d come for you anyway?”

“It was a way for the men to get in Darien’s face—show they weren’t afraid of him and would get to me some other way. But I’m sure they were pissed. They didn’t think a gray wolf pack would help a red wolf-coyote.”

“They had that scenario wrong. Everyone in the pack would take them on. Silva was at our table forever, and one of them looked straight at us. At you. Damn it. I remember being so pissed off I wanted to slug him, if only to get his attention off you.”

She smiled a little at Tom, then grew serious. “One of the men who grabbed me said that I had been with the wrong company.”

“Wrong company being the Silver pack leader and my brother and me.” Tom squeezed her hand. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. The pack won’t. Lelandi’s Uncle Hrothgar won’t stand for having a killer in his pack, either.”

Tears swam in Elizabeth’s eyes. She reached out to Tom for a hug.

He knew she ached, but he pulled her into his arms and held her close. “You’re not alone,” he whispered against her forehead. “Never again.” He separated a little from her. “We’ll work this all out. I have another couple of questions, though. Why did they steal your luggage and ID?”

“They wanted the deed to my parents’ property, the horse farm where I grew up. Pretty valuable piece of real estate, I guess. I was going to sign the deed over to North in exchange for the evidence that would prove my uncle murdered my parents. I had taken it with me on the slopes because I was supposed to meet North at the lodge later.”

“Damn him. He should have given the evidence to you freely.”

“I don’t care. If it means my uncle pays for his crimes, that’s all that matters.”

“Not to me.” Tom took a deep settling breath. “So they grabbed everything you had at the B and B but didn’t get the deed. I wonder if they knew North wanted it. They could have been monitoring his movements and cell phone conversations. Or he was in on it from the beginning.”

“Sheriff Peter took me to the airport and stayed with me until my flight left.”

“Which meant they couldn’t get to you then, either. But why kidnap you and bring you back here?”

Elizabeth considered that. “I don’t think North was in on it. Otherwise, they would have just let me go through with my deal with him, so they could get me to willingly sign the deed over, but then withhold the evidence from me. The fact that I couldn’t get in touch with North makes me think he went into hiding because he found out that they knew he had evidence against them.”

Tom narrowed his eyes. “So they must also know he was going to exchange the evidence for the deed, and then they meant to use you to draw North out?”

“Yeah, they could kill two birds with one stone that way: destroy North’s evidence and get me to sign over the deed. Except… Canton, the dark-haired one with the gun, took the deed from me. It’s probably buried in the snow out there somewhere.”

“We can order another copy later when you need it.”

Something banged outside the window again. Elizabeth jumped a little, and Tom glanced in that direction.

“It’s just the broken shudder latch. Are you ready for bed?”

Elizabeth cleared her throat. “Can I have some more of your chili first?”

“You really want more?”

She managed a small smile.

He grinned at her, not sure why the notion pleased him so. Everyone loved his venison chili, but he was really glad it seemed to make her feel better, considering what she’d been through.

“Sure.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll get you some more.”

“I can manage. Get some for yourself. Just a little more for me.”

He returned with two bowls and two mugs of hot tea and joined her on the floor.

“After we eat, I’ll make sure the place is secure again, and then we’ll move into the bedroom. No heat in there. The couch in here turns into a bed, but it’s lumpy and squeaky if anyone moves on it. The mattress in the bedroom is very comfortable. It has tons of wool blankets and a down comforter.”

She cast him one of those you’re-giving-me-a-guy-line looks.

He raised his brows. “Just so you know, no matter where we retire for the night, we’re sleeping together.”

Her lips parted. He expected her to protest, but he wouldn’t buy any objection she might have. If someone broke into the cabin, he would be right beside her to protect her. Other than that, he intended to share his body heat with her.

The idea was hers in the first place.

“We’re not getting naked?” she asked.

He swore that she almost seemed hopeful that they would.

He smiled. “If you think it’s necessary.”

“No,” she said very quickly.

He fought the urge to laugh. “Just making sure.”

“Thank you,” she said, “for saving… me.”

“You scared a ton of years off my life when I saw you out there, fighting to survive. All along, I figured I’d be up here by myself. I’m damned grateful to see you again, though I wish the circumstances had been a lot different. What about any other family you might have?” he asked, still wondering if she were part of another pack or not. “We’ll need to let them know where you are and that you’re all right.”

She carefully shook her head.

“No other family?”

“No. But I had every intention of having steak tonight—at my home. Colorado,” she said under her breath as if she couldn’t believe her predicament.

“When I get you to Darien’s house, steak will be the first thing on the menu. Guaranteed.”

She smiled a little at that.

He hated that she’d gone through any of this and that he couldn’t take her home with him this very instant. But he would get her there. He had no intention of her leaving him behind again.

She lifted her hands to his arms and took hold, her fingers now warm. “Take me to bed.”

He couldn’t help the wolfish grin that spread across his face, even though he knew it didn’t mean anything other than that she needed to sleep.

Tom carried Elizabeth into the ice-cold bedroom and set her on her feet beside the bed. He pulled the flannel covers aside, then aided her in climbing onto the mattress. Once she was lying down, he covered her with all the blankets—a hodgepodge of colors, wool and warm. “You should be warm again in no time. I’ll bank the fire and be right back.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes, but she didn’t think that she could sleep with worrying about who might be outside.

“Just me,” Tom said a few minutes later, quickly lifting the covers on the other side of the queen-sized bed.

“You don’t have a mate yet, right?” she asked, her eyes still closed.

“Nope. So you don’t have to worry about some she-wolf coming after you for sleeping with her mate.”

Elizabeth couldn’t help the way her mouth curved up a bit.

“That means I’m totally free and available,” he added. He leaned over her and gave her a sweet kiss on the mouth. “If you get cold, just move closer to me. I won’t touch you for fear I’d hurt you. Do whatever is most comfortable for you.”

That was the last she remembered him saying as the hot tea, venison chili, warm covers, and heat radiated by Tom’s body worked miracles.

Elizabeth half expected to wake and find that Tom had left the bed early to start a fire and make hot coffee. She hadn’t expected to be lying against his naked chest, listening to his strong heartbeat, her legs straddling his—thankfully, he was wearing boxers—his arms wrapped loosely about her as if they were mates.

She didn’t dare move. She hoped he’d wake, release her, and leave the bed while she pretended to sleep, not wanting him to think she was that needy to have sprawled all over him. But he held her close and didn’t appear to be waking anytime soon.

She listened to his heart beating, smelled his masculine gray-wolf scent, and loved how he felt warm and protective of her. She hadn’t felt that way since before her human mate had had the urge to stray.

She tried to assess the way she felt physically and opened her eyes. And took a soft breath of relief. Her muscles ached slightly, but she felt so much better. Her skin was still scraped a bit, lightly bruised, and her forehead still throbbed some.

Closing her eyes, she couldn’t believe anyone who was a wolf would help her this much. Not given her history with wolves.

Tom didn’t move. She thought to disengage from him, pretend she was just rolling over on her back and was still asleep.

Something banged outside the cabin. She jumped a little. Tom’s arms tightened around her. Protective or maybe he feared she would leave him. Maybe he dreamed of having a little wolf loving. And she actually wished they could.

The room was cold and she didn’t want to leave the warmth of Tom’s embrace, the comfortable mattress, or the heaped-on blankets and comforter.

Maybe he had stolen the covers in the middle of the night, and she’d planted her whole body against him to ensure she got her fair share of the blankets.

Whatever banged outside—Tom had said it was a broken window latch on the shutter—did it again on the other side of the cabin. She wondered if it had done that all night long and she had slept through it, or if the wind had picked up again and was blowing something around.

Tom groaned and rubbed her arm in a loving way, then kissed her on the forehead. He was awake. Had he been all along and waited for her to stir, not wanting to disturb her? Or maybe the noises outside had startled him from his sleep.

She looked up at him. He studied her, his dark amber eyes roaming over her face from her forehead to her eyes to her chin, assessing her.

She parted her lips to tell him that she hadn’t meant to be crawling all over him in the middle of the night and to apologize. Just as quickly, he kissed her on the mouth, silencing her, making her forget what she had in mind to say.

She gave in to the kiss, the sweet, loving, gentle way that he had with her as if he was afraid she’d break apart. “I’m okay,” she said, and his mouth curved up against hers.

“Yeah,” he said, and deepened the kiss. “Better than okay.”

Their tongues teased and tangled as he stroked her hair, his fingers combing the strands in a caring manner. She could feel his erection hard beneath her belly and knew this had to stop, but she didn’t want it to. Yesterday, she could have been dead, just like the men who had taken her hostage.

She wanted this. She wanted him. A family. A pack. Was she crazy?

Who wouldn’t want this?

She’d managed to survive so many near-death experiences at the hands of wolves that she felt she had a guardian angel watching over her.

Whatever banged outside did it again. Tom didn’t appear to be in any hurry to check it out, despite it being light enough to see now. He quit kissing her, his hands still stroking her hair, his eyes open as he considered her. “Beautiful.”

She gave a soft, ladylike snort and tried to move off him, but his arms quickly wrapped around her back, and he held her tight. “Your forehead looks better. The area around the bandage is a little yellow and green, but the color doesn’t look too bad on you.”

“Yellow doesn’t look good on me.”

He laughed. “You look fine to me.” He sighed, not loosening his grip on her like she thought he would. “This feels just right. I don’t want to leave the bed. It’s too cold out there.”

She smiled at him. She loved this side of him. So he wasn’t all alpha after all, or he would have taken charge, had the fire going, fixed coffee, and checked to see what made the banging noise. “You don’t expect me to bring you breakfast in bed, do you?” she said.

He grinned at her.

She felt her whole body flush with heat. Why was it that men always thought of sex?

He still didn’t make a move to leave the bed.

“You’re not a late riser, are you?” she asked.

That got a chuckle from him.

She shook her head, placed her face against his chest, and let her breath out in a heavy sigh. “Your family will be worried about you. Then they’ll come up here and find us in bed together and…”

“They’ll know we’re smart and kept each other warm during a blizzard.”

“I’ll have problems going home,” she said, thinking again about her ID.

“Good,” he murmured against her hair.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. You won’t be able to tear off so easily.” He moved his hands over her hair again. “I don’t want you going anywhere until we resolve this.”

“And I have no say?” She wasn’t upset about it. If he was right, she wanted to learn the truth, too.

“Sure you do. You can tell me if you like tea or coffee for breakfast. We’ve also got cereal and powdered milk.”

“Tea, eggs, and steak.”

He laughed. “Demanding wolf, aren’t we?”

She snuggled against him and smiled.

“So tell me about this brother of yours.” Tom stroked her hair as if trying to coax the information out of her.

She was silent, her smile gone. “Elizabeth, tell me.”

“Half brother,” she said, her voice hard. “Sefton Wildwood, a pure-blooded red wolf. After his mother died, his father mated my mother. Everyone in the pack was upset with my father. Sefton and Uncle Quinton were even more furious when my parents had me. They wouldn’t accept my mother or me, so we lived away from the pack.

“Years later, Sefton fell in love with a she-wolf from another pack, but when she learned he had a half sister who was half coyote, she shunned him, called off the mating, and said he was tainted by association. Sefton tried to kill me then. My father came to my rescue and beat him off me. My uncle tried to murder me, too, and almost succeeded. Then my parents were mysteriously murdered, my mother first, then two days later, my father.”

Tom barely breathed.

“Uncle Quinton was tired of the shame my father had brought to the red pack.” She rolled off Tom and onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

Tom moved onto his side and slipped his hand under the flannel shirt she wore and stroked her belly, reassuring her, telling her he would have been there for her. That he was not the same as the men in her family.

“What happened when Quinton almost… killed you?” he asked, his voice tight, when she didn’t say anything further.

She looked at Tom. “He tried to drown me, but some random gray wolf teens came to the watering hole, scaring my uncle off, and I got away.”

Tom ran his hand over her hair, his expression concerned.

“I moved far, far away. I thought I was doing damned good, too.”

“Until?”

Elizabeth sighed. “I avoided male wolves all my life. Twice, men got interested in me, but when their friends learned I was part coyote, they gave them a hard time and both times the men shunned me—as if I’d hidden some terrible secret all along. I thought that a human boyfriend wouldn’t be as violent or mean-hearted as my own people, and I got the stupid idea to turn a human into a wolf to save his life and mate with him.”

“You’re mated,” Tom said, frowning.

“Not anymore. He loved being a shifter, and he loved me. Until Gunner lusted after another she-wolf and the woman let him know he was an abomination—part wolf, part coyote. Then he came after me. I got lucky that time, too. The she-wolf’s brother went after Gunner for trying to take up with his sister—partly because Gunner already had a mate for life, but also because he was part coyote. Gunner wasn’t any match for the much bigger, much more aggressive full-blooded alpha wolf.”

Tom ground his teeth.

She raised her brows at him. “Which means I’m free to find someone new, as if that is very likely to happen.” No one could accuse her of not trying to find a suitable mate—at least in the past. But for years, she’d left well enough alone.

Tom’s mouth curved up slowly.

“No,” she said, elongating the word to emphasize that nothing would happen between them.

“You know how you told Silva to spread her wings.”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to refute that idea, but Tom touched his lips to hers and kissed her.

“We’re not all big, bad wolves,” he said against her mouth, and kissed her some more as if he wanted to prove to her just how much this one wanted her.

She pulled away from him to catch her breath, her hands on his bare shoulders. “You say that, and then the next thing I know, I’m fighting the wolf off and running for the hills and…”

“Finding a new home. With me. With my pack. We’re a diverse lot, Elizabeth. Darien mated with a red wolf. Jake mated with a human who had been turned. There’s no way I’d get mixed up with a plain, old gray wolf. It just wouldn’t be right.”

She laughed a little at that. “You might get tired of me and…”

“It wouldn’t happen. Wolves mate for life. I’m not a human turned like the first man you took a chance on.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough about you to know I want you. I haven’t been able to get you out of my thoughts since the moment I picked you up at the B and B. You’ll be safe with us.”

She arched one brow at him.

“If we keep you at Darien’s house until we catch these bastards who have hurt you. I’m not changing my mind about this. If you need longer for me to change yours, so be it.”

She smiled then, just a little. She really couldn’t believe it.

“Okay, look,” he said very seriously, taking some of her hair and stroking it between his fingers. “After we finish with this business with the wolves I’m tracking, I had intended to find you, court you, and do whatever it took to convince you that you had lost your heart to one of the Silver brothers—me, in particular. I wouldn’t give up on us. Why do you think I called you a dozen times?”

“Seventeen.”

He smiled. “See?”

She’d lost her mind. Not that she hadn’t done so before.

“So the only question now is whether this will be a long, drawn-out courtship or…” He waggled his brows.

“Just kiss me,” she said, reaching up and grabbing his shoulders and pulling him down. “We can work out the details later.”

Before Elizabeth could change her mind, Tom unbuttoned the blue-plaid flannel shirt she wore. He was amazed at how many times he’d undressed and dressed her already, and every time seemed just as erotic as the first. And every time, he’d wanted to take this further. He parted the shirt and considered her breasts rising and falling, the nipples already tight with need, her long red hair curling about them.

His gaze shifted to her bandages. He peeled off each of the bandages all over her skin, ensuring she really was okay and glad to see that a light pink where her skin was nearly healed was all that was left of the abrasions she’d suffered.

“All better,” she assured him, her hands combing through his hair, her fingers stroking his scalp in such a seductive way that he groaned.

Her skin was lightly flushed, her heart rate and breathing quickened, the smell of her woman’s arousal kicking in. For a wolf, her scent was an aphrodisiac, calling to him, filling him with urgency, telling him she was ready and wanted him.

His cock already strained against his flannel boxers because of the way her soft body had pressed against him. The scent of her and her quiet breath drifting over his bare chest had filled him with desire before she’d awakened. When she’d stirred awake and moved that sweet body against his arousal, he’d stifled the urge to groan.

She needed family, him. But he needed her just as much. He’d realized how much so when she’d left Darien’s home without saying good-bye. The heartwarming photo she’d left of him caring for the little girl made him feel that Elizabeth would have loved to experience the compassion and caring and being part of the scene. Not an outsider looking in.

Now he had every intention of making her his. No one would ever hurt her again.

He skimmed his hands over her breasts, feeling the soft mounds, the taut buds at the tips. He leaned down, and with a flick of his tongue, he licked a rosy nipple. She groaned.

He encircled the other breast with his hand, caressing, lifting, and then he took the nipple in his mouth and sucked. She writhed underneath him. He loved the way she responded to him, wanting his caresses as much as he wanted to touch her. Being with her like this felt so right.

The room was icy cold, the comforter and blankets cast aside, but he was burning up. Her hands stroked down his back, and he ground against her mound still covered in the soft sweatpants. His. It brought to mind the subtle thought that by dressing her in his clothes, he’d already claimed her.

She slipped her fingers underneath his boxers and scored his buttocks lightly with her nails. God, he was ready to come.

“Hurry,” she whispered.

He was afraid she was in pain, but she smiled, her eyes dark with desire. He moved over and pulled the sweats off her gently, just in case she was still sore. She reached to tug off his boxers, watching when his cock sprang free.

He couldn’t imagine wanting anything more than to love that sweet body of hers. To cherish her for who she was. To be with her forever.

He sank a finger between her feminine lips and felt her heat, wetness, and readiness. And then began to stroke her bud, his mouth on hers, his tongue penetrating, licking, teasing, playing with hers.

Her hands were all over him, touching, caressing, kicking up the heat, and he wanted more. He stroked between her legs faster.

“Harder,” she begged.

He obliged, spreading her legs farther apart with his knee. He felt her tense and nearly stopped what he was doing, concerned she was hurting.

“Don’t… stop,” she implored, her voice tight with need.

Relieved that she craved completion, he stroked harder, faster, and felt her arch slightly beneath him.

“Ohh,” she said, elongating the word on one satisfied sigh.

Smiling to see her needs met, he didn’t wait, couldn’t wait. He pressed the tip of his cock at her entrance and then plunged inside. Deeper, until he was buried to the hilt. Then he pulled out and charged in again, mating with her, loving her, wanting her. He took her with him, making her his.

Elizabeth trembled with renewed need as she caressed Tom’s skin, loving the feel of his hard muscles moving as he drove into her, so frantic to find release. Heat pooled between her legs, encircling him, welcoming him. She felt lifted again to that higher plane of existence, the exhilaration sweeping her over the edge until she couldn’t hold on to the sheer joy of it and let go.

She thought she said his name as he came, filling her with a wash of warmth and wetness. Wonderful. Wicked. And she wanted to do it again.

Until the deep-seated worry that had haunted her own childhood came to bear—what about the trouble her own offspring would have when they were born part wolf, part coyote?