She smiled and hugged him. Her eyes grew hot with tears, but she restrained them. She didn’t want Warren to think she was upset. But she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this happy or satisfied.
Although, that wasn’t completely true. Before she’d become an alter witch, before her life in Five Bridges, she’d been engaged and very much in love. Doug had been her love and her life. They’d planned on having a big family.
The alter serum had changed everything. Like so many who ended up imprisoned in what was essentially an alter ghetto in the middle of Phoenix, she’d been served a tainted drink at a bar. Later it was learned, the serum had been added to a newly opened bottle of vodka. The change had begun within minutes. Her body had flushed hot then sweat had poured off her skin.
Doug had just come back from the bathroom. She would never forget the horror on his face. But it had only mirrored what she felt. Terror had seized her at what she was becoming.
Then pain.
The alter serum transformed the body’s chromosomes to initiate the change. She had felt as though fire had burned throughout her entire body.
Doug had stayed beside her as long as he was able. But she knew they couldn’t continue as they’d been. She was no longer the woman he’d fallen in love with. As soon as she was settled in Elegance Territory, she’d made him leave. He hadn’t put up a fight. They both knew the score. Very few humans lived in their cordoned off portion of the Phoenix metro area. Humans were weaker compared to any of the Five alter species.
She hadn’t heard from him since and she hadn’t tried to reach him either.
Now she was here with one of the finest men she’d ever known buried inside her and lying on top of her. The weight of him was like heaven.
She settled her hand on the scarred side of his face and head, caressing him gently. She felt him sigh.
~ ~ ~
From the time Warren had been burned, his life had been one long string of battles as he worked to protect his pack as well as Savage. In between, he’d had plenty of sex, usually a quickie outside a bar, or on the running track, or in his police cruiser, anywhere that couldn’t be construed as long-term. Each encounter was forgotten within minutes.
But as he savored the feel of Kiara’s body beneath his and the pleasure of being inside her, he knew he needed to be much more careful with her. He was in no position to offer Kiara anything. He’d come to trust her, that much he could admit to himself. She was fully present and devoted to helping anyone in need including the wolves of Savage. Her secret refuge had proven her character to him yet again.
The secretive nature of her refuge, however, and that she’d built it without him knowing, struck a wary chord within his wolf’s spirit. Wolves preferred everything out in the open, nothing hidden. If you had a complaint with someone, you voiced it. Sometimes the complaint resulted in a dominance fight, but that was the way of his world, one he valued and respected.
Slowly, he withdrew from her. He realized she’d grown very relaxed and was almost in a doze.
He smiled as he looked down at her, at the flush on her cheeks, her closed eyes, her arms thrown wide.
He grabbed some tissues and tucked them between her legs. He was nothing if not productive.
She squinted at him and murmured a sleepy ‘thank you’ then rolled onto her side and tucked her hand beneath her cheek. She closed her eyes and he could sense her drifting off.
He wasn’t ready for sleep, though. He had a lot to think about, so he headed for the bathroom.
He took a long, hot shower and washed his hair thoroughly. Bathing in the pool had been sublime, but so was the warm water now flowing over his head. He used Kiara’s fragrant, herbal soap and scrubbed up his arms and legs, his torso and groin. He might be a wolf and he might love to shift and run through the forest, but he liked to be clean as well. It was a way of getting rid of the night’s grime, the bad parts he had to live with every day of his life.
It also gave him time to think about all that had happened, at the station and with Kiara. He was all about Savage and saving it from falling beneath Julio’s avaricious paws. Though his desire for Kiara was nothing short of profound, it could never eclipse his need to protect his territory.
Setting aside the mind-blowing sex, tonight’s events had put a face on his deepest fears. Julio was after him. If Warren was killed, his pack would fall and the entire territory with it. His wolves had strength and worked as a unified group. But Julio’s power appeared to be backed by something greater than his own ambition and natural ability.
When he’d taken over the two packs, reports had eventually surfaced that he’d used some kind of wave power to subdue all the wolves at the same time. That Kiara also possessed a similar ability spoke to the possibility someone from Elegance Territory might be involved.
His suspicions began to take shape. What if a dark wizard, with a unique wave power, had backed Julio during the takeover of the two, less dominant packs?
He shut the water off and grabbed a towel. As he slowly dried off, he turned physically toward the bedroom. He sharpened his wolf hearing. Kiara was snoring softly.
He levitated the distance to the doorway and settled his gaze on her. If a wizard was making a play for Savage, would Kiara at some point become his enemy? Could she become the means by which Savage fell? Or would she be a potential ally?
As the full weight of the situation settled into him, he sighed heavily. He would need to set some limits with Kiara. Making love to her had been extraordinary. But it was just sex, after all. Once the moment passed and reality returned, the decisions he made had to be for the Caldion Pack’s best interest. Being involved with a witch to any serious degree, and certainly long-term, was out of the question.
He moved to stand over her. She was exquisite, though. His maleness had always responded to her beauty. Her complexion was creamy but with a slight olive tone. She had strong cheekbones which he suspected would photograph well. Her lips were full and sensual. He’d enjoyed kissing her.
Sudden need for her swelled over him like a heavy ocean wave that crested then hit him hard. He’d always desired her. What man wouldn’t, she was that beautiful.
But as he stared down at her, he realized that what he felt wasn’t simple. He didn’t just want the woman. He craved her. His bones ached and threatened to shift as he looked at her. A howl formed in his throat. He arched his neck and released it but only on the softest wolf-cry.