Accidentally Wolf (2 page)

Behind her, she heard something
growl. Turning to see the gorgeous man wearing a scowl, she took an involuntary
step away. She looked around, fearing a wild animal had somehow gotten inside
her office.

“Thank you, Cora Welch, for saving
my cub. I owe you a life debt.”

She swung her gaze back to the man
holding the wolf. “Who are you? I’ve seen you in town, but I don’t think we’ve
met.”

“I am Niall Malik. The man behind
you is my brother, Zayn Malik.”

Cora’s tummy fluttered as she
looked behind her at the man named Zayn. Lower down, between her thighs, her
sex seemed to swell. A woman could come just from the stare of his blue eyed
gaze.

“Well, it was very nice to meet
you both, but I’m not feeling the best…so, um…”

Cora stumbled forward. A steely
arm wrapped around her from behind. Blonde hair lightly dusted the arm roped
with muscles upon muscles. Tattoos covered every available inch of skin she
could see.

“Easy,” Zayn murmured.

Cora blinked. Her stomach twisted;
her pulse beat so loud she was sure even the man not holding her could hear
it.
 
Why did she feel like something
monumental was about to happen?

“What the hell is wrong with me?”

Around her she saw white flashes.
More men seemed to fill her once empty clinic. She wasn’t a fan of having
people witness her in a towel, let alone if she was going to either hump the
man holding her or pass out. Either option seemed possible.

She blinked her eyes a few times
to clear her vision. The newcomers pushed and jostled or shoved for prime
position to see what the action was, making it the last straw for Cora. The
equipment, along with all the instruments, was expensive, and not something she
wanted to have to replace.

“Everyone stop!” Cora yelled,
stepping forward with her hand out, hoping they didn’t see the way it shook.

Zayn pulled her in closer to his
body, eliminating the small space she’d attempted to put between them for her
own peace of mind. Did the man not understand personal space?

Niall inclined his head. “You
heard the lady. Everyone move out. The situation is in hand.”

“Zayn’s got something in
hand.”

“Watch your tone, McDowell.” Niall
warned.

McDowell was easily fifty pounds
heavier than Niall, and it looked to be all muscle, but he seemed to shrink
right before Cora’s eyes at Niall’s command. Cora studied all the men in front
of her with a slow inspection. Faded denim hugged muscular
legs,
skin tight T-shirts or sleeveless flannel button down covered equally muscular
torsos. Each man looked as if he stepped off the cover of some muscle magazine.
She may be new to the Mystic River area, but she was pretty sure it was not
normal for so many gorgeous men to be in one place, unless…
Oh please don’t be gay.

The extremely large erection digging
into her back gave her hope that the man holding her wasn’t, but in this day
and age one just never knew.

“Sorry, Alpha. We see you found
your cub.” McDowell nodded towards Niall.

“Yes, let’s head back. I’m sure
he’s tired from his long day.”

Cora pulled her attention from
checking out the bevy of gorgeous men to see the look of love shining in
Niall’s eyes as he looked down into the blue eyes of the wolf in his arms.

“Where did you say the trap was,
Cora?” Zayn asked.

After she explained where it was located
off the running trail, all the men in the room trained their eyes on her. “What
are you looking at me like that for?”

“How did you get him back here?”
Niall fired the question at her.

“I wrapped him in my jacket,
picked him up, and carried him.” Her arms still felt like Jell-O from carrying
him for over two miles.

“You carried an injured,
sixty-five pound cub, over two miles?’ Zayn raised his brows.

Cora frowned. “Are you calling me
a liar?” She spun out of his arms, nearly falling in her haste. She raised her
hand when Zayn reached to touch her. “First of all, he weighs seventy-two
pounds.” She pointed to the cub in question. “Second of all, I usually run over
five miles every day, not to mention I do yoga and cross-fit. So yeah, carrying
him was really hard, and I nearly fell several times. My arms hurt just holding
them up right now, but I did it, and I would do it again. I am not a liar. You
and whoever else who don’t believe me can go fuck yourself, and get the hell
out of my clinic, because I’m tired, cranky, and I really need to lie down.”

“Everybody back the fuck up.” Zayn
reached for her.

She took a deep breath. There were
half a dozen men in the clinic, and she had no
clue
how they’d gotten in, or why they were all there. “Who are all of you, and why
are you here? How did you get in?” The sound of distress from the cub stirred
her overprotective instincts.

Forcing herself to turn her
attention back to the man who seemed to be in charge, Cora smiled at the wide
awake cub. “Did
all that
ruckus wake you up?”

Cora looked up into blue eyes very
similar to the young wolf, but shook off the notion. “He may need some more
pain meds. I had him on an IV drip, but
someone
took it out. I can give you some in pill form that you can mix in with his food
if you notice him having any discomfort.”

“Thank you, Cora. These are men
from my…ah…family. When a cub goes missing everyone drops what they’re doing to
search. I’m sorry if we’ve scared you.” Niall inclined his head.

She flicked away his thank you
with a wave of her hand, glad to see almost everyone had cleared out, like
they’d been waiting for the order. Now, if she could just get rid of the last
of her unwanted visitors, she could go to bed. Surely by the time she woke up
in the morning, she’d feel much better. If not, she’d go to the doctor, even if
she hated the thought of that.

“Do you have someone to take care
of you?” Niall asked.

“I don’t need anyone taking care
of me.”

“I’m afraid I can’t leave you here
alone, Cora. Either you come home with us, or Zayn stays with you. We owe you a
life debt.”

“That’s…that’s crazy. I just saved
your pet. Now you have him and everything is fine. I just have a bit of a cold.
It’s fine.”

Niall shook his head, and Zayn’s
scowl deepened. “Seriously, I’m fine,” she repeated.

“You coming with us, or is he
staying here?”

He was an immovable obstacle. What
do you do with an immovable obstacle? You go around him. Cora was glad her wits
were still functioning, even though she knew her fever had to be even higher
than the last time she took it.

“How about if I take some meds and
call you in the morning?” See, she could be reasonable. She nodded.

“Did you grab her bag?”

With a quick glance, Cora gawked
at the sight of Zayn holding her overnight bag with more than just a change of
clothing. “Yes,” Zayn growled.

“Good. Grab the girl.”

What were the chances she could
make it down the hall to her apartment with the steel door before either man
could catch her? And if she did make it, could she get the alarm set and the
police called before she passed out?

All these questions became a moot
point when the man in front of her turned on his bare feet, which she just
noticed, and walked out the front door, while Zayn murmured next to her ear,
“You wouldn’t make it two feet before I caught you.”

“What?” Her voice came out in a
breathless squeak she blamed on fright.

“You have very expressive eyes,
and they were saying very clearly that you were about to do a runner. Rest
assured, nobody, and I mean nobody in our…home would ever hurt you. We only want
to see to your safety and wellbeing.”

The last bit of strength Cora
possessed left her all at once. Fortunately for her, Zayn just happened to be
there to stop her from kissing the floor. Still, common sense told her she
should let someone know where she was, just in case they planned to murder her—or
something.

“I need to let my assistant know
where I am in case of an emergency.”

“It’s Saturday. Aren’t you closed
on Sundays?”

Her challenge almost faded on her
lips, not because she’d lost her senses, but because he’d bent his head so
close to hers she could feel his breath on her lips. For a moment she almost
forgot how to breathe. Holy buckets, the man was potent.

“I said in case of an emergency.”

“Fine.
Who do you need to call?”

Cora swallowed. Surely if they
were going to kill her, they wouldn’t allow her to let people know where she
was going.
Right?

With a grunt, Zayn waited while
she left a voicemail for her assistant, letting her know she’d be staying with
the
Maliks
and to call her cell if she needed her.

“Okay. You can put me down.”

“Not gonna happen. You’ll fall
down, and then Niall will blame me.”

Cora gaped at his audacity. “You
can’t carry me all the way back to your place.”

“One of the guys brought my truck.
I only have to carry you out front,” he grunted.

She was too tired, and honestly
too sick, to argue any further. Besides, his shoulder really felt good to lay
her head on. “You smell really, really good.”

“You said that before.”

Cora closed her eyes against the
flashes of white light.

Zayn pulled the door closed,
engaging the locks. “Any problems on your way back, Kellen?”

“Coast was clear. Everything okay
on your end, boss?” Kellen called from his place against the wall of the
clinic.

At the sound of the newcomer’s voice,
Cora turned her head into Zayn’s chest.

“Yes. Thank you for bringing my
rig. Can you drive while I hold her? I don’t think she will let me go long
enough to let me drive us home.”

She really wanted to lift her head
and give him the finger, but at that very minute she couldn’t. The steady
rocking from his walk was so soothing her body went lax. Instead of fighting
sleep, she let it claim her. A sense of security wrapped around her in the
tattooed arms of the big man that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Chapter Two

When Zayn woke up that morning,
he’d had no clue he was going to be running all over the countryside looking
for his wayward nephew, let alone be stuck with a naked human woman. He had
nothing against human women, per say. They were good for certain things, just
not to become a part of their pack. He didn’t want one tainting their
bloodlines, accidentally or not. Even if they smelled so damn good his cock was
ready to burst the seams of his denim jeans, and his body was screaming at him
to take her. His mind was smart enough to say no.

Desperation rode him to ask,
“Can’t you drive faster, Kellen?”

Kellen laughed. “If it’s a
hardship holding the female I’ll switch places with you.”

The urge to growl at his best
friend became harder to suppress as he saw Kellen’s eyes roaming down the curve
of Cora’s back through the rearview mirror.

“Eyes on the
road, Kellen.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kellen was openly laughing at him,
but at least his eyes were firmly on the road.

By the time they’d reached the subdivision
the pack had made their home, Zayn had his libido firmly under control, sort
of. Having a basically naked woman in his lap, one who seemed to want to climb
inside him and lick him from head to toe, was playing havoc with his hard won
self-control. Life was a bitch sometimes.

“Your place or
the alpha’s?”

Did he really want to have the
constant distraction in his home? Did he want his brother to be faced with a
woman in heat with a cub in his home? Zayn snorted. He wasn’t worried about his
nephew’s virtue or his brother’s for that matter.

Looking up from the sleeping
woman, the object of his desire, he met Kellen’s amused look. “Mine.” It wasn’t
lost on him he’d used the possessive word, nor Kellen.

The Mystic River Valley was right
outside of the bustling town of Sturgis, within an hour’s drive. Far enough
away they could escape the craziness, but close enough for their business. Zayn
and his brother owned a shifter run bar that catered to not only shifters, but
also to humans who loved all things bikes. During bike week and the weeks
leading up to bike week, they were busier than normal, which they loved, but
this year something felt off to Zayn. It could be the woman who was now
sleeping in his bed.

“How’s your guest doing?”

“Damn, Niall. Don’t you know how
to knock?”

“What’s up? You look…a little
freaked.” Niall raised his brows.

Zayn laughed. “What makes you say
that?” He pushed away from the counter needing something to do with his hands.
“You want a beer?” A nod of Niall’s reddish head was his answer.

After he pulled two bottles from
the fridge, he tossed one to his brother. Twisting the cap off his own, he
downed half the contents in one swallow before he looked at Niall again.

“I’m fine.”

“Liar.”
Niall adjusted the beer to his left hand, holding his right hand up in a
stalling motion. “You’ve been on edge since the moment I walked in on you
holding a naked Cora Welch. We have decisions to make, and if you aren’t level,
then I need you to take a step back. Let me take the woman.” Niall took a deep
breath as if the statement pained him.

“She stays here,” Zayn growled
pointing to the floor at his feet.

“Is she your mate? Are you
planning to finish the marking my cub started?” Niall’s words were asked in a
grave tone.

“I don’t want a fucking human for
a mate. She’s so damn skinny she’d break if I fucked her the way I like. You
know I like women with curves and meat, something to grab onto for a long hard
ride.” Zayn emphasized the type of woman he liked with his hands, making
exaggerated shapes of breasts and hips.

Niall let out a snort. “You’re a
bastard.” He smiled before he dropped his gaze to the floor, running his thumb
over the sweat dropping off the bottle of beer. “Seriously, you need to
understand the ramifications of the situation. If we let her ride out the one
marking, then she will come out of this with the memory of one of the worst
colds of her life.” He looked up. “But you gotta keep your dick in your pants
and your fangs to yourself. If you don’t think you can do that, then you need to
let me take her to my place. I can guarantee me and my dick won’t have a
problem resisting her.”

Chest tight and stomach a churning
mass of conflicting emotions, Zayn frowned at his brother. “She’ll be fine
here. My dick and I are in complete accord.”

Niall, the bastard, had the
audacity to look at Zayn from head to toe. “I’m glad to see the dick in
question isn’t standing at attention the way it was back at the vet’s office.”

Rolling his eyes, Zayn adjusted
his stance and crossed his bare feet at the ankles. Like most wolves they liked
to run barefooted. “I had a naked woman pressed against me, licking me for
fucksake. I’d like to see any man, or wolf, not get hard.”

Niall fixed him with a steady
stare. “For as long as the fever lasts and she’s in your house, you keep it
platonic, unless you want her as a mate. It shouldn’t be too hard to keep your
cock in check for forty-eight hours.”

To Zayn that seemed like a
lifetime, when every time he thought of Cora he had an urge to crawl in beside
her on his big bed.

Niall finished his beer and fixed
Zayn with his alpha gaze, the one Zayn had come to recognize as meaning
don’t mess with me.

With their eyes locked, the bad
ass alpha cupped the back of Zayn’s head, pressed a brotherly kiss to his
forehead and walked out the back door.

Alone with the alluring scent of
the human and nothing to do but check on her, just to make sure she was okay—not
because he couldn’t stay away—Zayn made his way down the hall to his room.
Lying in the middle of his California King bed she looked tiny, although he
knew she wasn’t short by human standards.
Maybe five foot
five, with dark red hair, almost brown.
He’d have sworn it was a dye job
except the same color graced the small patch between her thighs. Damn, she was
thin. No, thin wasn’t an accurate description. She was muscular, or, well, fit
was the appropriate description. Leanly sexy as sin is what she was.
So not his type.
He was such a liar.

The second he got his first look
at Cora Welch in all her naked glory, he’d wanted her more than he could
remember wanting any other woman or wolf. Goddess, did he want her in the worst
way possible. He wanted to run his hands over the sleek muscles of her
shoulders. The taunt yet surprisingly rounded globes of her ass drew his eyes
like a moth to a flame. He knew she’d been turned on by the sweet scent of her
arousal at her clinic, before the other wolves had shown up. She’d all but
vibrated with want. However, he couldn’t be sure if it was from the marking or
because she wanted him.

He studied her. Even in sleep she
looked serious, a bundle of feisty, indignant, ferocious, takes no shit woman.

Zayn raked his hand through his
hair, not liking the way he couldn’t stop thinking about Cora. Maybe he
should’ve sent her to his brother’s. “I don’t want you,” he muttered, turning
on his heel, he retraced his steps. The erection tenting his jeans made the
statement a complete lie, one he was glad his brother wasn’t there to witness.

Dinner needed to be cooked, and if
nothing else, it would take his mind off the woman lying in his bed. Tonight
was Niall’s night at the bar, and his nephew Nolan would be arriving within a
couple hours. His unwanted house guest would undoubtedly be hungry too. He
defrosted several steaks, prepared a handful of baked potatoes and pulled out
the fixings for a salad.

The sound of the shower coming on
had his head turning toward the master suite. Several times he was sure he’d
heard her breathing change, indicating she’d woken up, but each time he’d
checked, she appeared to be asleep. Either she was a really good faker, or she
was extremely exhausted. The last time he checked, her fever had gone down. It
had only been a few hours since they’d arrived at his home, which meant she’d
only been marked a handful of hours. Usually the first bite’s effect lasted for
up to forty-eight hours unless the next bite occurred, or the appetite for sex
was appeased, or both. But, in the words of his wise brother, he was keeping
his fangs and his dick to himself, or he’d have an unwanted, accidental wolf
mate.

He could still send her to his
brother’s or one of the other pack member’s houses, but he’d be damned before
he’d allow another wolf, or man, to touch what was his…or what he was
protecting, he silently corrected himself.

Cora walked into his kitchen,
shattering his hard won self-control.

Goddess, she was sexy. She
obviously had no clue how good she looked in a pair of cut off jean shorts with
their frayed ends and ribbed tank top, sans bra. She’d towel dried her hair,
but left the wet mass down, the ends still had drops of water he longed to
reach out and catch with his finger.

“Um, can I help with anything?”
Cora asked.

He closed his eyes and shook his
head.

“Okay then.” She turned to walk
out on the patio.

“No, I mean yes. You can make the
salad if you want.”

An expression of puzzlement
flickered over her beautiful face.
“Yeah.
Sure. I can
do that.”

It took monumental effort for Zayn
to move back and make room for Cora to step up to the center island where all
the salad fixings were laid. All he wanted to do was walk up and rub against
her. Mark her with his scent and then his bite.

His brother’s admonishment rang in
his head, keep dick and teeth to self. The smell of her heat was making him
crazy. He told himself any woman would do, but knew it was a lie.

Body stiff, arms firmly against
his sides, jaw bunched, he stepped away from the alluring scent of Cora Welch.
“I’m going to check the coals, make sure they’re hot enough.”

Without another word, he spun and
stomped out of the house onto the patio, spine as stiff as his raging hard on.

Nolan bounded up onto the back
patio. “Uncle Zay, is the lady doctor okay? Dad says she’s staying with you,
but I want her to stay with us.”

“Whoa, little dude.” Zayn picked
his nephew up. “Where’s my hug?”

At seven, Nolan was like all other
wolves, they loved and needed affection. His childish arms wrapped around
Zayn’s neck and squeezed for all he was worth, along with a grunt that made
Zayn smile.

“Where’s she at? Can I see her?”
Nolan pressed his mouth close to Zayn’s ear. “Is she mad at me for biting her?
I didn’t mean to Uncle Zay.”

The last bit was said with tears
choking Nolan’s voice. Zayn patted his back and whispered words of comfort.
Nolan buried his face into the crook of his neck, soaking the collar of his
T-shirt with his tears. Zayn didn’t care. He wasn’t sure how long they stood
there. It could have been a minute, or it could have been an hour, but finally
Nolan lifted his face.

Using the end of his tear stained
shirt, Zayn wiped Nolan’s face and reassured the little boy that nobody blamed
him. Zayn knew his brother would have reminded Nolan the need for secrecy and
the fact that Cora couldn’t be told the truth of their identities, unless they
finished the marking.
Which he wasn’t going to do.

 
HH
He looked at
his brother over his nephew’s head. “Why don’t we go inside and see her, hmm?”
Zayn sat the sturdy kid on his feet, looked down at his shirt and shrugged his
shoulders. “What’s a little snot and tears?”

“I’ve definitely had a lot grosser
things on my clothing than that.” Cora indicated the front of Zayn’s shirt.

Her sweet voice eased over Zayn,
and from the look of worship on Nolan’s face, it was doing the same to the
little boy.

“Hi, my name’s Nolan. I’m sorry
I…I mean, I’m sorry my wolf bit you.” Nolan, the future alpha stood tall. With
his thin shoulders squared, he held himself as erect as any proud member of the
pack making an apology would. If Zayn didn’t already love the boy, he’d have
fallen hard right there and then. The good doctor didn’t stand a chance against
the kid.

Niall came up behind him, sadness
clouded his expression. His large hand landed on Zayn’s shoulder. “He’s so much
like his mother.”

“She was a wonderful woman.” Zayn
knew his brother still missed his mate even after so many years. Theirs was a
true mating, and to find a true mate once was a miracle. Zayn couldn’t image
facing the rest of his life knowing he’d lost the one woman meant for him like
Niall had.

They both watched as Nolan charmed
Cora with his exuberance. If she’d had her arms free, Zayn was sure there was
no way his nephew, in all his cuteness, would still be standing on his own two
feet.

Already so in tune with the woman,
Zayn could see the feverish light in her eyes, the way her well-toned arms
shook from the minimal weight of carrying a bowl of salad. Had he not been
paying such close attention, he might have missed her eyes rolling to the back
of her head. He was glad his brother was as quick on the uptake as he, when he
quickly grabbed Nolan and the bowl of salad before either became a casualty.

Zayn wasn’t sure why she was
reacting so differently to the first bite. A human hadn’t been bitten in so
long, their records didn’t give detailed descriptions of what to expect. They
anticipated a fever, high sexual need after the first bite, and then, if no
second bite, all should return to normal. There were no records of the human
constantly fainting.

Setting the bowl on the counter
Niall nodded toward Cora. “I’ll take Nolan to Dev’s for the evening. Do you need
help with her?” Niall proved why he was the alpha with his immediate response
to the situation, taking charge without pause. Since losing his wife, he wasn’t
the laughing man he used to be, but he was still the solid rock everyone
depended on.