Comes Now the Wicked Woodsman (14 page)

"Wait here," he said as the tunnel opened onto a chamber. "Hopefully no one has been down here using up all the gasoline."

I didn't want to stay behind even though I could count the three tunnels we had moved through to get back to Mojo's. I didn't know if I had missed any side tunnels that my mind might trick me into turning down. And I didn't have Theseus' ball of twine.

Oh, hell -- was the Minotaur a shapeshifter, the graphic depiction of the legend skewed by references to him being part man, part bull?

The shiny thought disappeared before I could chase it down as a string of lights came on to reveal the full size of the chamber we were in.

It was enormous, cathedral like, with giant stalagmites hanging like chandeliers.

So much hidden from me all these years.

"It's the pack's ultimate safe house," Braeden said, coming back to collect me. "You can understand why we keep it secret."

Understand, definitely. Forgive? That remained to be seen because it wasn't the secret but the longstanding lack of trust that stung so badly.

Coming to stand beside me, Braeden hooked his flashlight on his saddle bag and took mine before wrapping his hand around my elbow.

"This isn't the main event." He gave a little tug, coaxing me forward. "I just thought you'd like to see it lit up. I've got the timer on the generator set to shut off in another thirteen minutes."

As he led me around the room, moonstone and quartz glittering in the artificial light, I wondered what the main event could possibly be. The chamber was enormous, twice the size of any I'd seen at other caverns in the state, with a greater variety of minerals winking at me than just the basic limestone of the walls and the calcite columns.

"I find it hard to believe there's a part of the cavern that tops this," I said as the generator cut off and he handed returned my flashlight.

"Depends on where your interests lie."

His cryptic tone sent a shiver down my back.

"You know how the town got its name?"

"It is a translation of the Ojibwe name for the area," I said, giving the explanation that had been handed down to me from Holly.

"And by the time they came in contact with the first European settlers, even they had forgotten why it was called that," he added.

"Okay, smart guy--"

Before I could finish my sentence, my feet went out from under me and I landed on my ass.

"Sorry, baby girl," Braeden said, offering me a hand up. "I should have warned you it gets extra slippery around here."

"Well, the humidity in a cavern is usually close to a hundred percent," I said, trying to cover my embarrassment with the little factoid. Wrapping my hand around his forearm, I let him heft me onto my feet.

"So I should know better."

Now that we had stopped walking and neither of us was talking, I realized why he thought he should have warned me.

"There's actual water flow in here?"

He was right, the cavern wasn't the main event, as beautiful as it was.

"There's an actual waterfall," he answered. "Now, can you walk or should I carry you?"

There was such a good natured tease to his question, it made my heart skip a beat. I had to remind myself what had happened in the barn between me and Braeden was a never-to-be-repeated event and that he had brought me down here to soothe the loss of time I would have to endure before I could resume my education -- assuming I was still alive at the end of the thirty days.

"Thank you," I answered after too long of a pause. "I can walk."

"Sure?" he asked. "Because part of that alpha thing includes extra strength and endurance. So it's not big deal to cart you around."

I snorted, a thousand dirty thoughts flitting through my head all at once as to what I could do with his extra strength and endurance.

"Positive," I answered, trying to keep my tone neutral. "I'll let you know if anything changes."

Nothing changed in the two minutes it took for us to leave the tunnel and enter another chamber. I cast the beam of my flashlight around, intentionally starting at the opposite side of where I could hear the waterfall because I knew I wouldn't search beyond it beauty once I saw it.

The chamber wasn't actually small, but it was about a tenth the size of the one with the lights and generator.

"The show's this way, baby girl," Braeden said when I still hadn't pointed my flashlight at the falls.

Taking my arm again, he led me toward the waterfall, both of our flashlights dancing over the cascades and the pool that formed at their feet. He placed his light down, settled me on a smooth rock and took my light away again.

"Put your hand in," he suggested as he moved away from me toward one side of the chamber.

Pulling my hand out of my pocket, I touched just a finger against the surface. I expected the water to be the same temperature as the air in the cave, which was about fifty degrees despite the frigid February temperatures above ground.

The water was a lot warmer than that, it felt the same temperature as the indoor pool at my university.

"There are no hot springs in this part of Wisconsin," I argued despite my hand being knuckle deep in proof to the contrary.

"And there are no caverns in this part, either," he agreed as he bent down and pulled at shadows.

He straightened and I heard the sharp snap of something, then light glowed inside his hand. He tossed whatever he was holding then snapped another one.

Glow sticks.

"You're scowling," he observed, taking a seat near me.

"I guess maintaining water purity isn't an issue if it's being fed by a hot spring."

"You've had a few too many conservation classes, Paisley."

Putting the unlit glow sticks on the ground, he began unlacing his boots.

"What are you doing?"

My face flushed hot because I had a good guess what his answer would be. The water was definitely warm enough to stand in and deep enough in parts judging by how some of the glow sticks looked fainter than the others.

"Getting undressed."

Suspicion confirmed.

Panic mode engaged!

"Braeden...I..."

"Don't worry, you can keep your clothes on, baby girl."

I exhaled the air I had been holding in. But if he wasn't getting naked so he could try to seduce me again, then why the hell was he taking his clothes off?

"You saw Clover transform from her wolf back into her human form, but she's not alpha," he said, standing to pull off his jacket and shirt.

Seeing his chest and the tattoo that covered both breastplates before traveling across his shoulders and down to just above his elbows, the scientific part of my brain kicked in again. I had wondered about the tattoo a few times since I saw Clover's completely healed skin, but I hadn't drummed up the nerve to ask her or anyone else.

"How can you have a tattoo? Isn't it basically a scar with ink."

"You remember what we said about the bullets the shooter used?"

I nodded. All of the bullets recovered had been coated with an extract from datura, the poison giving the shooter an extra chance at killing Clover even after Braeden had arrived and stopped the bleeding.

"The ink is made from datura," he answered. "Clark has to re-ink it for me about twice a year."

"You're an idiot!"

"I'm an alpha," he grinned. "The tat scares competitors away."

Competitors? He probably meant that in the generic sense. Certainly he wasn't referring to any kind of competition for me.

Toeing off his boots, he started to work on the button fly jeans. I turned stupid as he unthreaded the first two buttons, my gaze riveted to his nimble fingers and rippling abs before I jerked my attention over to the pool of water with its glow sticks winking at me.

"Why are you getting undressed?"

Warning...warning. Whole lotta dick about to be exposed. Avert gaze!

I exhaled through my mouth, eyes blinking rapidly as I tried to forget what I had felt in the barn, not just the actual physical sensations or the features of his body, but the desire, the pure pleasure of every touch until he had said it was a mistake.

"I want you to put your clothes back on," I said when he didn't answer.

"It's not enough to know there's an alpha strain, Paisley," he said, his voice almost at a whisper. "You need to see the alpha state before you make your selection."

He stepped next to me, his flesh still in human form as he curled a finger beneath my chin and coaxed me into turning my head toward him. I lifted it up as I turned, my entire body far too aware of where my gaze would otherwise be aimed if I didn't.

"Why is that?" I rasped as I had to look up the length of his bare torso, the flesh beautifully sculpted with muscles.

"It might terrify you, repel you..."

Damn, did Braeden Hughes sound vulnerable?

He did.

I wanted to joke that the only thing I found repulsive about him was his attitude, but I didn't have it in me to be mean to him right then, even though he'd been hostile toward me for almost half a decade.

Pulling my chin away from his touch, I nodded.

"Okay, show me what you've got."

********************

Braeden

Show me what you've got...

Biting at my cheeks, I forced my body not to react to her unintentional challenge. I wanted to show her my alpha state without completely scaring the fuck out her. Everything about me got bigger in that state and I wanted my cock to stay soft.

Keeping it flaccid was difficult whenever she was around. Standing naked in front of her made it nearly impossible. Looking at her while she looked at me...

I blew out the air I'd been holding deep inside my lungs and turned my back on Paisley. With my hands hanging at my sides, I let my claws extend, controlled the spread of the transformation so she could see it in action as the hair on my body thickened and multiplied. Every muscle bulked up. My bones elongated.

My hands curled in concentration. Unlike the transformation to wolf, this middle state was painful to hold, particularly as the bones of my face began to reshape.

A growl punctured the air, the sound followed a heartbeat later by the smell of a fresh burst of adrenaline from Paisley.

"You're safe," I said, my words slurring as my mouth turned into a snout full of razor sharp teeth and my tongue lengthened.

Fully transformed, I remained with my back to her, heart thudding in my chest as I waited for her to say something.

The rustle of her clothing told me she was moving. Dropping my snout, I turned my head slightly to make sure she wasn't ready to bolt.

She stood and placed a shaky hand on my shoulder.

"Turn around," she whispered, her voice shakier than her hand.

I obeyed slowly, my muscles tensing as she failed to withdraw her touch and her fingers trailed to my collarbone. She traced both hands up my neck to the sides of my face. Her lips trembled and my muscles grew even tighter.

She would scream any second. Scream or faint or devolve into gibberish.

I had known this, always known it, her complete rejection hanging over every encounter we had ever shared.

Taking a step back, she sat down on the rock again, her movements rough and unbalanced.

"Show me your wolf," she softly ordered.

I slid toward the ground, my body quickly releasing the shape of my alpha state to take on the form of a very large timber wolf, my coat a mix of gold and black.

She nodded, tears glistening in her eyes.

I couldn't stand to have her look at me and cry. Turning quickly, I leapt toward the pool of water at the base of the waterfall. Sinking to its deepest point, I transformed back into my human shape, the change complete before I broke the surface to inhale.

With just my head above water, I slowly opened my eyes to find her watching me. Whatever tears she had been on the verge of shedding were gone.

"There's more," I said, jerking my head toward the cascading water behind me. "You have to go through the curtain to see it."

Her lips rolled and smashed against one another, their color turning a deep red.

I moved to the edge of the pool and extended my arm. "Give me the chem lights."

Paisley scooped them up and placed them in my hand, her gaze locked on me as I moved back to the waterfall, climbed up the steps that had been carved into the limestone and stood under the downpour.

Snapping one chem light, I moved behind the curtain of water and into a narrow opening in the wall. I waited, my heart a jackhammer, as she slowly peeled her clothes off. I wanted to pop my head out, to see her, the glow of the chem lights in the pool and the two flashlights far more illumination than I'd had in the barn the night I had taken her.

She placed one foot in the water and I forced my breathing into something that didn't sound like a freight train. I hadn't brought her down her to fuck her, I reminded myself. Nor were we there so I could try to make her fall in love with me. I wanted her to fall in love with the cavern, wanted to draw out the part of her that had always been up for an adventure in the woods, exploring the mountainside she lived on. I wanted, as she had guessed, to ease the pain of dropping out of ranger school.