Summer’s Wolf

Chapter Seven

Summer exhaled the breath she didn’t know she held when Cullen emerged from the burning building. Ashlee slumped in Summer’s arms then pulled free of her embrace. She rushed towards Tristan, Virginia still in her arms, and threw one arm around Tristan and Braden while still gripping the baby in the other.

A tiny worm of jealousy snaked through Summer’s gut. She wanted to do the same with Cullen but they hadn’t gotten to that kind of level in their relationship. He’d probably scoff at her or worse yet, ignore her. Summer felt frozen to the ground. She needed to do something, she couldn’t just stay where she was.

She watched as Cullen laid Theo on the ground, then his body shook with the force of his cough. Summer blinked and her mind came back online. He was hurt.

She picked up one of the oxygen tanks, struggling with it as she ran towards him. It wasn’t until she got to him that she realized she had no idea how to use the thing. She knelt down and Cullen took the tank from her, slipping the mask onto his face. She tried not to notice that he was naked but it was next to impossible.

Sculptures could have created masterpieces based on Cullen’s physique. She blinked so she wouldn’t focus too much on his naked perfection.

She was also as nude as the day she was born and she really didn’t want to dwell on that. None of the shifters seemed at all bothered so it was obviously something they were used to. But not Summer. She would never feel comfortable baring it all in front of strangers.

Theo is very hurt.

His voice in her head made her heart stutter. It certainly was convenient considering the oxygen mask covered his face.

I can see that. Summer turned around and watched as Ashlee tended to him. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Ashlee is good at healing, right?

No. He will never heal. If he does not die from his injuries tonight, he will be forever scarred.

Cullen tried to stand up but fell back down.

“What do you think you’re doing? Don’t move.” She yelled out loud and it wasn’t until she heard the sound of her own voice that she even knew she had. She cleared her throat and looked around. Tristan’s eyes met her from across the clearing, but everyone else seemed preoccupied.

He’s wondering how long he can wait before he comes over here and demands answers from me. Cullen sounded tired.

Even with the oxygen mask on, Ashlee could see the concern on Cullen’s face. Little lines had formed next to his eyes. She reached out and smoothed them away and then gulped when she realized what she’d done.

Because you knew what those creatures were? The ones Ashlee saw?

Cullen took her hand in his and gave it a tight squeeze. Summer couldn’t help the small smile that formed on her face. She’d touched him and he hadn’t been upset about it.

Tristan may have me executed for this. In her mind Cullen’s voice was monotone, emotionless, as it had been when he told the story of his parents’ deaths. He’d be within his rights. I’ve kept this from him and before him, from Michael.

But why? No one was going to be executing Cullen. Not while she had breath in her body. They’d leave this stupid place and never return before she allowed it.

Because it was a terrible time in our pack’s history and I thought, or rather I hoped, since the demons were gone, no one ever needed to know about it.

So you’re motives weren’t malicious. Summer paused, unsure of how to approach the next question. Do you want to tell me what they were and how you know about them?

Cullen pulled the mask from his face, his eyes weary and tired. He shook his head. “No, but I suppose I should.”

“Cullen.” Tristan’s voice rang out like a bell, a pissed off bell, behind them. “Are you better now? Can you tell me what those things were that burned our home to the ground and why they came after my son?”

Summer put her hands on her hips. “Does he look like he’s better to you?”

Alpha! Summer’s wolf sounded terrified.

She shook her head. I don’t care.

Tristan’s eyes flared and she thought she heard him growl.

Lower your eyes, now. Her wolf pleaded with her for action. Summer begrudgingly obliged, but not before she shot Tristan a look that let him know what she thought of his antics. She didn’t know if Tristan could read eye hatred.

“I am well enough, my Alpha.” Was Summer mistaken or did she hear the slightest tinge of laughter in Cullen’s voice? She raised her gaze just high enough to catch his eye. They glimmered at her with an emotion Summer couldn’t identify that made butterflies move through her stomach. “But might we perhaps move this conversation elsewhere? The Institute is burning to the ground—again. It’s sure to draw attention from the mainland. I would suggest we go elsewhere, at least most of us, before that happens.”

Cullen pointed towards Tristan’s eyes. As Alpha of their pack, they were forever in wolf form. Summer realized Tristan must always have to cover his eyes when around regular humans. Tristan nodded and touched his eyes. “I lost my dark glasses in there.” He sighed, loudly which brought Ashlee and the children to his side. Ashlee wrapped her arms around Tristan’s waist and Summer felt a pang of longing.

Would she and Cullen ever have that kind of relationship? Was she foolish to even wish they could? Did they even have a relationship?

Cullen’s arm touched the small of her back and returned her to reality and out of her foolish daydreaming. Her parents were dead less than twenty-four hours, flying demons burned down The Institute, and she had to learn to handle and live with her wolf so Cullen would teach her how to enact revenge. There were lots of things she should be thinking about instead of Cullen and romance.

“Where did your mind go?” Cullen’s blue eyes bored into Summer’s, making her insides feel warm.

“Um…” Summer tried to think of something to say to Cullen but she couldn’t seem to help the all-consuming need to stare at Cullen’s sculpted form in the moonlight.

Her eyes felt dry, which she now knew meant they changed into their wolf form. She blinked to try to clear them but nothing happened. Her wolf eyes allowed her to see him so clearly. She took in a deep breath and realized she could decipher every aspect of his spicy scent. He smelled of dark roast coffee beans and apple cider. Mixed into his aroma were the trees, the fall breeze, and the woods at night. If it was possible, Summer thought she could smell the flavors of the moon itself on Cullen.

He is ours. It’s been enough time. Take him.

Her wolf sounded more dominant than Summer could ever remember hearing her before. Her pulse pounded in her ears.

“Summer?” Cullen’s eyes had gone wolf and his voice was low.

She looked around and noticed the others leaving the area. Where were they going? Did Cullen know the nature of her thoughts?

She stared at him. Damn. She could almost be certain he knew what she thought about. He could probably even smell her arousal. But instead of feeling embarrassed, Summer felt empowered.

Why did you never come for me, mate? Her voice sounded different to her own ears. Summer couldn’t tell who spoke, she or her wolf and she didn’t care. She paced around him in a circle. Her feet moved seemingly of their own volition.

What? Cullen’s voice sounded stunned, his head whipped around to stare at her. His eyebrows slanted downwards. It was a pretty good guess that she’d astonished him.

Why did you never come for me? Is it a hard question? What was there about me three years ago that you found so objectionable you opted to reject me?

“Summer, I think you’re confused.” The condescension in his voice made every hair on her body stand at attention. She could barely stand it. Moving forward, she shoved him hard. He actually took two steps backwards.

“Don’t talk to me like that.” She snarled at him. Somewhere inside she realized she wasn’t behaving in a reasonable manner. But screw that, he’d wanted her to embrace her wolf. Well, now he could meet her.

I never rejected you. This is insane. He took two steps back and looked down for a second. Was he actually being respectful or was he just trying to placate her?

I don’t know much about being a wolf. But I know what my wolf tells me. We both waited for you. For three years, I expected you to show up and you never did. That was your job, to come and get me. I was your mate.

Summer clenched her fists together to resist the urge to pound on him. He needed to know, to understand what that year had been like. She’d been thrown out of her house for dropping out of college to sing. She’d been completely abandoned by her mate. In the back of her mind, she knew that standing by a burning building was neither the time nor the place to have this long overdue conversation with him but everyone else had left.

She and Cullen were alone.

You are still my mate. Summer snorted at his remark.

Cullen paused and looked around at the ground. Finally, he stared at her and she could see his eyes had taken on a steel hardness of determination. I did come for you. I came to your house and your mother wouldn’t let me see you. She said you were twenty years old and too young for me. You had a life to lead, and she was sure you’d be back in school in a semester. She made me promise that I would leave you alone, completely alone, until you were twenty-five years old.

Cullen’s eyes looked wounded. The same little worry lines that had formed earlier were back around their edges but Summer felt none of the compulsion she’d earlier felt to smooth them or erase their existence.

And you listened to her? Did you ever stop to think what I might have wanted?

My relationship with your mother was always complicated. It might be fair to say it bordered on mutual abhorrence. He touched the top of his head with his hand as if he wanted to run his hands through hair that was too short for the act. I’ll admit to being nervous that if I didn’t agree to what she wanted, she could have soured you against me.

I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say to that. Some of her temper extinguished, Summer turned around and put some space between the two of them. Her eyes felt less dry, her wolf, after having said her peace, backed off.

“I broke my promise to her a couple of times.” His voice sounded hoarse and she turned around.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you mean?”

He looked down. “I came and saw you sing every Thursday night for two months.”

Light rain started and she shivered. Her naked body was unused to the assault by the cold water, but she didn’t want to leave. The logical, unemotional part of her brain noted that the rain would put out the flames.

“I never smelled you, never knew you were there.” She shook her head. The situation was impossible—he was impossible.

“I took herbs to hide my scent, sat in the back of the club. It was called Tiny’s and it was in Greenwich Village. Most nights you wore a red, floor length skirt and a black halter tank top that showed way too much cleavage. It was hell. I could see you up there but I couldn’t touch you, couldn’t even talk to you.”

A sob started in Summer’s throat and she swallowed it. “You were the only person I know who came. My parents never did. It was their protest of my life choices. They thought I’d never make it, that I wasted my time. Ashlee cut me off completely. They were right. After that gig I never got another one. I started waiting tables and doing temp jobs to pay my rent.”

Cullen shook his head. “Your father was proud of you. He wrote me an e-mail once and told me he’d never known anyone with more gumption than you. With all the odds stacked against you, and you never gave up.”

She finally gave into the tears. As they poured down her face, she crouched on the ground. It was too much. She couldn’t take anymore. Cullen’s arms came around her and held her tight against his solid frame.

“Is that what you thought? That I rejected you too?” His voice was low and tight. His cheek pressed awkwardly against her head.

She nodded and sniffed. “You’re the great Cullen Murphy. The most respected member of the pack, the one everyone relies on to get the job done. What would you want with a girl who doesn’t even acknowledge her wolf?”

Cullen took her face in his hands and moved it until she met his eyes. Only inches apart Summer could feel his breath on her face. “That’s just the thing. I’m not that person or that wolf. You saw me for who I am. A killer. That’s what I am, what I’ve always been. I can’t saddle you with me. If we mate, you’ll always be with me. I don’t know what happens during the mating ritual, it’s a secret the mated pair takes with them to the grave, but I know that it connects them somehow. I can’t do that to you.” His grip on her tightened. “I saw you on that stage. You’re an angel.”

“Cullen, you’re such an idiot.” Summer shook her head.

“What?”

“You think fate would give you a mate who couldn’t handle you? I’m not an angel—far from it. I crave the death of those who killed my family. I want revenge. In general, I don’t get along well with people. I love my sister, but I find her holier-than-thou attitude repugnant. I hate it here. I say what I think, and I’m hardly ever polite.” She paused, really wanting him to hear her. “I may never be as great a wolf as you are, Cullen, but as a woman, I think you’ve met your match. And you’d better be prepared.”

She pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him hard. She wanted Cullen Murphy and she would have him. Whether he liked it or not.