A Handful of Wolf (16 page)

“I already told you I dream about wolves.” She was pleased how steady her voice sounded.

“I said ‘
a wolf.’
Just the one.” She looked up and caught his gaze, his blue eyes almost glowing again. There was a hesitancy in his words and as she stared, he swallowed hard. “I came to the tree house and we talked. Later on, we ran together in the woods.”

Her mouth was dry and despite her common sense telling her it was hokum, her heart beat faster.
He tells a good tale, that’s all.
She licked equally dry lips. “Another lucky guess.”

“You told me about that shithead boyfriend of yours. Ryan.”
Oh
. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart battered against her rib cage and she finally drew in a tight lungful of air. There had to be an explanation.

“Nessa told you, or Lou.” She knew they wouldn’t have. Her brothers wouldn’t have, and to the best of her knowledge, Phillip was blissfully unaware of Ryan. How did Sasha know?

The fingers of his free hand stroked gently across her wrist. “
You
told me,
Cariad
. And we talked about shifters.” Okay, that was too much. Megan tried to pull her hand free, but Sasha held firm. “How else could I know that?”

She hadn’t talked to anybody about her dreams. How could he possibly know? Little chills ran down her spine. Perhaps this was just another dream? A vodka-fuelled-hangover kind of dream. Her racing heart threatened to go into a full gallop. “You’re scaring me.” Oh fuck, that was the last thing she should have blurted. Rule number one when facing a bully was to never let on that you were scared.
Quick breath
. Sasha wasn’t a bully, though…and judging by the little muscle flicking in his cheek, he was nervous too. Or lying. She hauled in another shaky breath. “How are you doing this, Sasha?”

“We share a connection.” He leaned closer and cupped her cheek, the gesture making her stomach flutter. “I knew the minute I kissed you.” His thumb stroked over her cheekbone, soothing and gentle. “We’re destined to be together.”

A dozen thoughts flashed through her head and as usual, her mouth spat out the most stupid. “You’re going to tell me you turn into a werewolf.” One day she’d fix her brain-mouth filter.

“
Shifter
.” There was a hint of a smile. “We already had this conversation.”

She swallowed. There seemed to be a lump in her throat. “You’re a
shifter
. In real life? Not just in my dreams?” Please say no.
Please say no
…

“Yes.” His hand stilled and his eyes darkened. “I am.”

She knew then. Sasha may be beautiful, intense, make her pulse beat faster and her heart sing, but he was also completely insane. It was strange how her senses finally kicked into gear.
He’s a fantasist, not necessarily a psychotic murderer, but you can never tell
. Keep him talking. Find a way to make him leave.

*

Sasha watched Megan carefully, and tried to gauge her state of mind. She was calm, interested and curious. His first thoughts had been spot on. She dreamed of wolves and felt connected to them; the concept of shifters would be exciting. She hadn’t run screaming from the room, so that was a bonus. He began to relax.

“So, ah, you turn into a wolf, yeah?”

“Yep. You saw me, in your dreams.”

“I did, yes.” She smiled, but it looked a tiny bit artificial. “Can you do it now? I’d like to see it again.”

She would? His chest warmed. All the same, anyone could walk in and surprise them. “Not here, just in case anyone sees me.”

“Ah, right.” She nodded. “And the whole dream-thing. You didn’t explain that.”

He took a quick breath while he thought how to answer. He didn’t want to swamp her with information. “When we find our Mate, we have the ability to enter their dreams. So that’s what I did.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Mate? Like we’re best buddies or something?”

“No,” he drew out the syllable. “More like my soul mate.”

“Ah, right. There’s a lot to take in.”

“It would probably be a good idea for you to talk to Lillian, when the phone lines are back up. She’s Jake’s Mate and since she’s human, she’ll understand.”

“
Human
? You mean you’re
not
?”

Again, she sounded more curious than anything. He couldn’t wait to get her home and show his world to her. “I’m shifter, but Lillian is human.” He grinned, remembering something. “You’ve heard of Ella Hart, the singer?” She nodded. “Well she’s Mated to my cousin Jake.”

“And you think I should talk to her?”

“Well, yes. Jake said she was surprised when she learned about us, so I think she’d love to talk to you.”

Megan smiled, but again it looked forced. “Let me just recap. You think I should call the pop star Ella Hart and ask her what it’s like being
mated
to your cousin? Is that the one who makes furniture?”

“Yes, but her real name’s Lillian.”

“Right.” His wolf scratched at him. Something felt wrong with this conversation. Was she taking him seriously?

“You do believe me, baby?”

She glanced away before smiling straight at him. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? But, I have some questions. Why haven’t I heard about shifters before? Or are there just the two of you?”

Despite his wolf’s unease, Sasha grinned. “God no, we’re all over the world. We’re sworn to secrecy though.” He moderated his tone. “You have to promise me you’ll tell nobody.”

“Not a problem.” She sounded confident, but he knew she was faking. He squeezed her fingers, trying to reassure her through touch.

“Why don’t you come back to my place,
Cariad
? Spend the night. Like we planned.”

“I can’t tonight. Sorry.” She sounded relieved rather than sorry and Sasha’s wolf scratched at him some more. This wasn’t going quite as he hoped. “Talking of which, I have things to do this afternoon.”

It sounded like a brush off. He gave her his best panty-dropping smile. “Maybe we can do things together this afternoon?”

“Maybe not.” Her smile was thin and chilly this time and Sasha’s wolf howled its alarm. “I appreciate the cooking, really, but I have to go out soon so it’s probably best if you leave.” He didn’t move. She was trying to get rid of him. Why? He recapped the conversation in his head. Next thing, Megan tugged her hand free and stood up, sliding both hands into the pockets of her jeans. “And besides, Alex and Hugh are due back any minute and I’m sure you don’t want another encounter with them.”

No, he’d fucked up again. Well done, Sasha. He stayed in the chair and tried to hide the anxiety that had taken root in his chest. “They’re your brothers. I want to make friends with them.”

She turned to the counter and fiddled with the soap dispenser next to the sink. Glancing over her shoulder she flashed him a wary look. “Why?”

Aww, fuck. He’d told her pretty much everything else. Why hold back now? He pushed himself out of the chair and prowled to where she stood, noting with dismay that she stiffened when he approached. Panic filled him. He was on the verge of another clusterfuck of truly epic proportions and somehow, he had to retrieve control.
Kiss her
, growled his wolf.
Mine
. Throwing caution to the winds, he snaked an arm around her waist and tunneled his free hand into her hair. Moments away from pressing his lips to hers, he remembered to speak. “You’re my Mate,
Cariad
. I plan to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Sasha’s rough words gave Megan the spur she needed. Dropping her shoulder, she twisted out of his arms and stepped away. “The rest of your life? Christ, Sasha. Have you listened to yourself?” He looked stricken but she raced on, the words tumbling out of her mouth unchecked. “I’ve known you two days.
Two
.” She held up two fingers. “Count them,” and then stashed her trembling hand back in her pocket. “I know nothing about you, other than you have a vivid imagination.”
And you fuck like a God.
“You know nothing about me. You don’t even know my middle name, or, or—” she groped for something sensible. “You have no idea what my job is. Do you?” She paused for breath. “Well?”

Sasha leaned back against the counter and mirrored her pose. “You work in marketing.”

“Yes, but you don’t know where, or what I do, or what’s important to me.”

His expression made her think of an abandoned puppy. “I thought
I
was important to you.”

“
Jesus
.” She had to turn around, couldn’t look at him anymore. “Two. Days. I freaked out when Phillip wanted to sleep with me and we’d been dating four weeks. Just because we’ve fucked, it doesn’t mean you own me, Sasha.”

“
Cariad
, I want—”

“
Don’t
call me that.” She felt his proximity without even looking. He’d snuck up behind her, like a wolf hunting a rabbit.
Bad thought. I am
not
a rabbit and he is
not
a wolf.
His body heat warmed her back, his scent filling her nostrils. Her stupid, deluded heart juddered.
Chemistry, that’s all. We have great chemistry.

“Turn around, Megan.” Dammit, his voice, so low and growly made her tingle in places it had no right to. None at all.

“No.” She swallowed hard.

“You ran away from me last night, even though you
knew
you wanted me. The bonding process has started, and if you look in your heart you’ll find me there. I’ve fucked up, I know that. But I won’t let you run away from me again, Megan.”

He’s crazy. Work with it.
“So what you’re saying is I don’t have a choice in this? You’ve decided you want me and that’s that?” She stared out at the gardens and fixed her gaze in the distance.
Don’t turn around. Alex will be back soon, or Hugh
. “I need some time to get used to the idea.”

“Megan.” Hot breath on the back of her neck made her knees weak and when he ran soft fingers up her arms her resolve was sorely threatened, but she stayed firm.

“Please go now, Sasha. I want to think about this.”

*

Frustration welled up inside Sasha. She either didn’t believe him or chose to misunderstand. He couldn’t walk away from her, let her go again, but at the same time he wouldn’t force her. He didn’t know of a single case where a Mate had refused her wolf, although on reflection, he didn’t know many wolves that had Mated with humans. Lillian had not made things easy for Jake, but he’d persisted and now they were blissfully happy.

With his wolf howling dismally, he strode out the front door and to where he’d parked Bessie, and came face to face with the Hellspawn brothers. They scowled at him and he bit back the snarl that bubbled inside him. Alex held the door open with a mocking smile. “That’s the right direction.”
These will become my brothers-in-law
.
Smile like you mean it.
It was probably more like a grimace, but he managed to leave without drawing blood and that was a minor miracle.

His mind spun in ever decreasing circles as he drove back to the city. He had three and a half weeks left before his visa ran out. Less than a month to win her over. At least Tammy seemed to be okay now; he’d not felt any more sympathetic pains. That was the only bright spot in an increasingly shitty day.

Sasha hung around his house waiting for nightfall and as soon as the sun set, he shifted and ran for the hills. This was one of the reasons he’d chosen to live in Thorndon. Not only cheap, but easy access to open space—priceless for his wolf. He ran himself into exhaustion and stumbled back to the house an hour before dawn. There were no missed calls or texts from Megan, but he was too tired to be hurt.

Monday morning was surprisingly cool and damp after several weeks of summer weather and it added to Sasha’s grey mood. He missed the mountains of home, his family and his Alpha. He missed the snow and the freedom to run miles through safe pack territory. He was fucked off with everything. Getting to the construction site and being told they had a new boss visiting the crew, provided the icing on the crap-cake of the day. As the most junior member of the team, Sasha was used to the low-end jobs and normally attacked them with the same enthusiasm he did everything. He wasn’t surprised to find himself on toilet cleaning duty, and got on with it. Shitty mood, shitty job. Karma at work in the universe.

An hour later, he stood in line with the crew waiting for the new boss. “It’s like the second coming of Christ,” muttered Dion, next to him. “The foreman’s gonna be licking the guy’s boots at this rate.”

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. After all, the God of shit days had already singled him out for special attention today. The new boss was Phillip. He strutted onto the site wearing a sharp suit and clutching a rolled up set of plans, and greeted each man he was introduced to. That is, until he came to Sasha. “You,” he breathed. “What are the chances, eh?”

The foreman looked puzzled, but Sasha just shrugged. What else could go wrong today?

* * * *

There were too many things for Megan to think about, too much to process, so she chose to ignore it for the moment. Work should have been a good distraction, but it failed to keep her interest and her mind kept wandering. Every time she started to think longingly about Sasha, or to wonder what he was doing, she reminded herself of one unassailable fact. He was insane. She clung to the idea that he was harmless, even though cold logic suggested otherwise. He’d punched Phillip in the face, after all. She told her brothers Sasha wouldn’t be back, but couldn’t bring herself to tell them why. They’d kill him for the bet-thing alone. If they thought he was going to be a nuisance they’d launch straight into over-protective-big-brother mode and she’d never hear the end of it.

She’d kept herself busy after he’d left on Sunday, with the gym, and then the movies. She expected to dream of Sasha, but instead, had her recurring dream of wolves again. She ran through a section of forest with five or six dark wolves around her. Running from something, or to something, she couldn’t be sure, but she felt stressed. She wasn’t running for fun. None of the wolves looked like Sasha—like the wolf he claimed to be.