Moon Shine (Takhini Wolves) (5 page)

Chapter Five

Evan’s ears rang with her accusation. “What?”

There was no mistaking Amy’s full-out conviction in the verbal grenade she’d tossed. Only she didn’t go on to explain the impossible statement. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest again and looked around warily.

The list of what Evan wanted was pretty basic. He wanted to take his mate, find out what she was talking about and make things right. He needed her to look at him with something other than an ice-cold glare.

He needed to touch her. To hold her. To make her his, but none of those things could happen until they’d put this insanity behind them.

And he doubted they could figure it out here and now. Not in the middle of the woods. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted interrupted, and it really wasn’t something he wanted to get into while naked.

“Amy. Look at me.”

She twitched but glanced his way.

“We need to talk.”

“Right now talking is the last thing on my agenda. Kicking your spleen through your back would make me happier.” Every muscle in her body had gone taut.

A body that was exactly the kind he wanted to lick and explore until she screamed in ecstasy. There was no way to avoid admiring her nakedness as his wolf’s mating urge flashed to maximum, but he forced his human side to the foreground, shoving all baser instincts aside. “You’ve had a shock. So have I. I had no idea my contact in the Canyon pack was my mate.”

“You poor thing.” Bitter laughter escaped, and she paced away, her hips swaying as she stomped across the forest floor. She lifted her hands, fisted palms pressed to her temples. “My God, my brain is going to explode. And my heart.”

One hand dropped to her chest, utter agony on her face as she half curled into a ball.

Evan was going to break in two if they didn’t do something soon. “I can’t make it better until you tell me what’s wrong.”

“Maybe you can never make it better.” Amy whirled on him. “Damn you. And damn you, fate. This isn’t some cosmic joke, because I’m not laughing.”

Her last words were shouted heavenward, her fists clenched tight at her sides.

“Calm down.” Evan pushed out the words accompanied by a nonverbal command. Hysterics weren’t the solution, and while the last thing he wanted was to overpower his mate with the mystical side of his wolf, using some of his power seemed his only choice.

What he got was an instant backlash. She lunged at him, an undersized ball of fury and energy. Evan ducked her swing but still ended up on his ass on the ground, Amy looming over him like an avenging vigilante. “Don’t you
dare
try that on me.” Her words a whisper of fury.

The power of her wolf side had literally knocked his feet from under him. “Holy shit.”

She backed away, light on her feet, hands rising to a defensive position. “Did you expect your mate would be some wimpy, quiet woman who’d roll over when you told her to?”

To be honest, he hadn’t really thought it through that hard, but she was right.

And more than that, if he actually turned on his brain instead of allowing shock to rule his actions, he knew what she needed, crazy as it seemed.

They needed to talk, but first she had to get her rage under control. Evan rocked to a standing position and looked her over. Testing her signals, reading her body language. There was too much aggression and fury to deal with in any other way than the good old wolf one. “You want to hit me? Go on. Try—”

Her foot made contact with his chest before he’d finished speaking, the powerful blow rocking him backwards as he worked to remain on his feet. She retreated so quickly his grasping fingers slicked over her skin.

Amy watched cautiously from a few feet away, circling to one side. Intoxicating power rolled off her, and his wolf all but howled with excitement.

She was so strong, his mate. Together, they’d have the ability to do so much for the pack. But here and now, it wasn’t about the others. It was about her, and him, and somehow getting past the enormous roadblock she’d thrown between them.

Evan held back as she darted forward, taking the blow to his torso. She growled. Struck him again, this time knuckles rasping hard against his jaw, snapping his head. He raised a block between them, but refused to actually hit her.

“Stop pulling your punches,” she demanded, the command whipping him with enough compulsion his head lifted. “You think you can tame me? You’re not worth tak—”

The move felt so wrong, but he did it anyway because it seemed his only option. He pivoted and slapped a hand downward as she aimed a blow at his kidneys. Wrapped his fingers around her fist and pulled, twisting her off balance and tumbling them both off their feet. He made sure he brought her over him, preventing her from smacking hard against the ground.

Instead every inch connected, naked skin to naked skin. Amy’s face hung over his, and those enormous eyes of hers were wolf-wild and needy. She might be fighting their mating, but her wolf was on board. Sexual tension ensnared them in a tight embrace the second before she tore her hands free and slammed rock-solid fists against his chest.

Evan rolled, pinning her to the grassy ground. A second later his hands held her wrists firmly on either side of her head, his legs locking her lower body in one spot.

A low rumble escaped her throat as his hips settled over hers. “Get off me,” she commanded.

“No.” He lowered his head, and with his nose tight against her throat, took a deep, deep breath.

An entire evening spent getting inebriated was nothing compared to taking a single shot, one hundred proof, of his mate. She filled his senses and made his body ache with unanswered need. He stayed there for a good minute, forcing her to breathe him in. Her squirming protests died away. Every attempt she made to buck him off just rubbed them together intimately, and she stopped, a shiver rolling over her from top to bottom.

“Damn you, Evan,” she repeated, but this time it wasn’t so much a curse as a cry. Aching and raw, and he pressed up on his arms, separating their torsos far enough he could stare into her eyes.

All that was there was hopelessness and fear.

“I’ll make it right,” he promised. The words were softly spoken but clear as they cut though the quiet of the wilderness. “I swear I will. I don’t understand yet, but I swear I’ll find a way to prove I’m worthy to be your mate. Give me that chance.”

A single tear trickled from the corner of her eye. “I’ve hated you for so long. And I hate myself for how easily my body wants to accept you as my mate.”

“Don’t hate yourself. It’s your wolf. She knows we belong together, and that we can do this. She senses it, even if your human side is hurting too much to hear.”

“I kind of hate her right now as well,” Amy whispered, her eyes focused on his so intensely he was in danger of burning up.

Evan released her right hand and stroked her face with his knuckles, wiping away the streak of moisture that had trickled down her cheek. “No matter how long it takes for us to figure things out, we’ll take it. I won’t let you go.”

She closed her eyes, body shaking under him. He matched her breathing, synchronizing their motions. Silently stroking her with the affection of his other side while holding the wolf at bay.

“Give me a chance,” he repeated. Damn near begged if he was honest.

Finally her tension melted away and she softened under him. He waited, barely breathing. Even without moving, their desire heightened, an edge of fire that was a constant presence between mates.

The temptation to taste her lips was there, but that was his wolf side urging him on. That side could willingly roll over, ignore her fears and anger, and convince her to satisfy the physical craving that rose like molten lava.

If they gave in to their animalistic desires, she’d be a willing participant. She’d take him into her body, accept him, but hate him later. His human side knew this, and the wolf unhappily acknowledged his guidance and retreated.

Evan rolled them partway again, rising to his feet and bringing her with him. “We need to go somewhere private to talk.”

Amy brushed leaves from her backside as she sighed heavily, then nodded. “I don’t want to, but yes, I suppose so.”

He risked it. Caught her fingers in his and tugged her to face him. A wild crackle of attraction passed between them.

“Somewhere safe. Somewhere we won’t be interrupted, and where I’m not worried about your Alpha charging in.” She opened her mouth, but he cut her off before she could give him some smart-ass comment about not needing to worry. He fucking
needed
this. “I’ll deal with Sam later. This isn’t about our packs, it’s about us. I’ll call my Beta, you talk to whoever you need to at the computer store. The world won’t explode if we’re gone for twenty-four hours.”

Her gaze narrowed, her anger focused to a sharp cutting beam. “You’re too damn cocky. Maybe you should turn down the arrogance and turn off the assumptions for a while.”

“I’m your mate. I’m trying to make things go quicker and easier. I hate how much you’re suffering.”

A hard rock shook her again, and she gasped even as she snapped an agreement. “Fine. I’ll explain later why you’re a jackass. Back to the shop for our clothes?”

“Yes. Do you know a place we could go?” Giving her charge of that decision might ease open the door she’d slammed shut between them, and he didn’t care where they went as long as he was with her.

Her emotional pain remained the strongest sensation, and every time she looked at him, her anguish spiked. Deep and intense, heavy enough he wondered how she’d carried the burden, no matter how strong she was.

Amy nodded slowly. “I know a place.”

Evan squeezed her fingers. “We’ll figure this out,” he reminded her. “I promise.”

In the second before she shifted back to her wolf-form, her eyes reflected the haunting hurt inside her. He joined her, his mind racing as she led him back to the shop.

It was barely noon. The past twelve hours had more than shaken him. His world had turned inside out and too many questions remained. How much more would happen before the earth settled, and where would they be in the final standing?

One thing he knew for certain—he’d found his mate, and he wasn’t letting her go.

She insisted she would drive. Evan was smart enough, this time, to shut up and let her have her way. Of course, she knew his Hummer was out of commission at the moment, although he didn’t know that she knew that.

The tangled web she’d woven drew tighter.

Part of her desperately needed to get away from him and think through the implications of their discovery. Finding out Evan was her mate wasn’t just having a rug pulled out from under her, it was having the roots of her existence torn away.

She’d told the truth. At this moment she pretty much hated everyone involved in the mess. Him, herself, her wolf. The only creature she’d give a break was Evan’s wolf because the beast hadn’t fucked up yet, although it had come close.

Amy pulled in front of the Moonshine Inn and waited for him to arrive. Maybe to a casual observer this trip would appear insane. Heading into the bush with the man she’d been systematically working to destroy for nearly a year? Yeah, not a move worthy of the brightest crayon in the box.

But they were wolves, not humans, and that changed everything.

Mating instinct made the trip both less and more crazy. She was safe—he’d never in a million years hurt her. Not physically at least, and she was strong enough to defend herself from an assault.

Emotionally, though? The situation was a ticking time bomb. Her strength meant she was capable of permanently rejecting him, but that denial would tear them both apart. Far more violent than any vengeance she could have planned—ripping their wolves apart forever would be the ultimate revenge.

And yet as hot as her anger burned…she hesitated to take the final step. She wasn’t a fool who would continue to guard the safe once the treasure was stolen. The situation had changed, and until she had all the facts, she’d put her retribution plans on hold.

If part of her hoped for a miracle? She’d blame such romantic sentiments on her wolf. On the part inside her that
wanted
on a far more visceral and instinctive level.

Her wolf rode close to her skin. Aching for contact with Evan’s wolf—the beast wanted to roll in his scent and wallow at having found her mate.

Amy slapped her down, the internal battle between them nothing new, and yet this time subtly unique. Her wolf was stronger than ever, and Amy worried she could be too easily swayed from human logic if she wasn’t careful.

Human vengeance made no sense to a wolf.

Evan tossed a canvas bag in the backseat and got in, adjusting the shoulder strap as she took off. He glanced in her direction, but she refused to meet his gaze.

“Any troubles getting time off?” he asked.

The first of many secrets she’d have to share. “I own the shop.”

Evan’s body language changed. “Impressive.”

“You’ve been a great supporter. Thanks for crashing your computers so often.”

It was unfair that his soft chuckle amused her, the deep sound sending goose bumps rolling up her arms. Damn the man. She didn’t
want
to like anything about him. She wanted him to be the evil, self-serving bastard she’d tracked to Whitehorse.

Her wolf snapped at her, and Amy jolted in surprise.

“Whoa, careful.” Evan caught the steering wheel, pulling to correct their dangerous sway into the oncoming traffic lane.

“I’m fine.” Amy adjusted her handgrip. Ten and two positioning, fingers curled so tight her knuckles showed white. “Sorry.”

He didn’t answer her, and the car went completely quiet as she headed out of town and down a logging road leading into the mountains. The gravel was well maintained, but she had to stay alert, the narrow switchbacks taking them toward the mountain peak.

She turned down a side road, crossed the final one-lane bridge over the creek, and rounded the corner.

“Sweet mercy, that’s gorgeous.” Evan leaned forward and peered out the window. “How come I didn’t know this was here?”