Dark Forest (Secret Blood, Book 1) (3 page)

“Did you kill them?” Her chin lifted as her shoulders squared.

Easy question. He relaxed by a measure. “No.”

“Do you know who did?”

His jaw worked as he wondered how to explain this to her without putting himself in danger. “Rose—”

“You want me to sleep in a house with you,” she snapped, taking a step forward and pointing a finger at him. “I want to know the truth of what happened.”

“I’ll talk to Grams. I am not going to make you—”

Rose wrapped her hand around his wrist. “Damn you, Aiden! I can’t have a normal life until I’ve resolved this with you.”

His shoulders trembled. The pounding of his heart hammered in his ears. “Rose—”

“I want the truth,” she whispered.

“Shape-shifter.” His voice went raw.

“One that isn’t you.” Rose made it a statement.

Aiden thought he prepared himself for this moment. It happened so many times in his head. The lie formed on his tongue. He was going to deny the core of his being. “I…” His jaw twitched. His wolf prowled close to the surface. He could feel the pressure in his mouth, on his fingernails. Fangs wanted to drop, and claws to grow. The
other
part of him wanted to make itself known to its mate. It didn’t care Rose was human. It felt the rightness of her, the way her sweet scent was an intoxication in itself. “One that isn’t me.”

“Then you are…a…werewolf?” Rose canted her head. Her lush lips parted as she waited for his answer.

His life was over. He could keep the wolf quiet when there was a possibility of winning the affections of the desired mate, but Rose couldn’t accept this. Or maybe he was projecting the prejudices of Dark Forest on her, assuming she’d think the worst, just like them. “I am.”

“Who killed your family?” Her face softened, as if she cared if she caused him pain.

“A wolf passing through, much like Julian Hathaway,” he said, but wasn’t able to keep the guttural sound out of his voice. “Travis…Bridget…just mated. The other wolf…my pack—my family—gone…” He closed his eyes against the horror of the night his brother died. Two young werewolves hadn’t been enough to protect Bridget. She’d chosen death over life without her mate.

“Julian?” she jerked back, her eyes going wide. “He’s a wolf too? But…”

He could almost see her working through it, the fact Julian was new in town, that he’d come on to her, then conveniently showed up when her car was disabled. How much she resembled the missing girl Kiera.

“And you think he might be like…before?”

Aiden nodded, knowing his face looked almost savage. “But I can’t prove it yet, and our laws are much like human’s.”

Rose laid her hand on Aiden’s forearm. “I’m sorry. It must be difficult for you.”

He stared down at her, not sure how to take her compassionate gesture. “It’s what it is. I can’t endanger my people by letting my true nature be known, not even if it takes suspicion off me, and saves my own life.”

*

Rose heard the truth in his words. The look on his face. The sorrow in his eyes. His surety when it came to Julian as a suspect. It broke her heart they could never be, but…he was Aiden. Part of her would always want to know what it was like to be with such a gentle man, even if he was something supernatural. “I believe you.”

Confusion furrowed his brow. “I am not going to devour you if you reject me.”

She didn’t know what she was going to do with him.

The flood killed her parents, but a wolf saved her. She’d gone under, and when she woke up on dry land, a large black wolf was curled around her, keeping her warm. “Was it you? Were you the wolf who saved me?”

He looked away.

So he wasn’t ready to talk about some things yet. If he believed he was a werewolf, she could deal with it. If he was a werewolf, that would require more to process, but as long as she didn’t need to submit to any strange things, she could work it out as well. He was Aiden. Her silent protector in this screwed-up world. “I guess you should fix Grams’ sink before we go.”

He turned and slowly walked back to the front of the house.

She followed him to the porch. He stood at the door as if he debated going inside.

“Do werewolves need to be invited inside first?” she asked, trying to inject humor into her tone.

The look he gave her was priceless. “That’s fictional vampires.”

She cringed. “What about real ones?”

His head cocked to the side. “They don’t come into werewolf territories unless they are trying to commit suicide.”

All the things Grams said about Aiden’s innocence suddenly made sense. Instead of being his inquisitor, she opted not to hit him with a barrage of questions—now. She had nothing to do for the next week while she waited to get a round of edits back from her editor. “We should go inside.”

His body stiffened as he opened the door for her.

Rose scooted past him. “So, I guess we’re picking up my car at five, and then what are the plans for the day?”

He did a one-shoulder shrug as they walked toward the kitchen. “Get back to the house and play police interrogation?”

Her gaze sharpened on him. Humor lit his eyes.

“The sink is fine. It was a ploy to get both of you in the same house at the same time.” Grams poured herself a glass of iced tea. Her smile was bright as she put the pitcher back into the refrigerator.

“Oh no, old woman,” Rose said. “How do you know I’m agreeing to go to Aiden’s until this killer is stopped?”

“Because you were talking to him.” Grams grabbed her glass and took it to the table.

“You need to stop this. Let us work it out, if we can work it out.”

Grams set her glass down, walked to Rose, and hugged her tight. “You just needed a little push in the right direction, dear.” She kissed Rose on the cheek. “You are in danger. Aiden is the only one qualified to protect you.”

Rose hugged the old woman, and then moved back an arm’s length. “You know Aiden is innocent, don’t you?”

“I always have,” Grams said with a snort. “Give me some credit, brat.” Grams walked back to the table. “You know where Travis and Bridget were found?”

“On the path between here and the old Miller place.” It was a mile and a half down the road. She’d gone to the old house many times with friends as a child to play, and to make out with boys when she was older. She knew the path well, but hadn’t walked it in many years.

“Right.” Grams sat and sipped her tea. “I like to take my evening walks out there. I saw the whole thing. Aiden—”

“Grams,” Aiden said in a soft, rumbling timbre. “I think small steps are better.”

“Of course,” Grams said. “You best go get yourself settled over there, sweetie. I know how long it takes for you to get used to a new place, and you have edits coming, yes?”

Rose gritted her teeth and drew in a deep breath. “You saw Aiden as a werewolf?”

“Yes,” Grams said as she rolled her eyes. “You need to get going. Time is wasting.”

Rose liked to have time to think, but if Julian was another werewolf—which she wanted Aiden to prove he was—she had no way to deal with it, and Sheriff Jones would think she was crazy if she accused Julian of being something that wasn’t even supposed to exist. She glanced at Aiden. Instinct told her to trust him. “Yeah. I guess I better go get settled in.”

“You bought the old Miller place,” Rose said as she slowly walked into the house. “It looks so…clean.”

“I needed to start somewhere.” Aiden followed her inside. “You can take my room, and I’ll take the couch.”

She turned, her brow lifting in question.

He grinned. “I don’t get a lot of visitors.”

Sadness flashed in her eyes. “I suppose not. I’d love to argue with you about the bedroom or couch, but I think me in the bedroom is the safe bet.”

“Exactly.” Part of him wished the thin barrier between them would fall away, and she’d be the one to devour him, but he also liked she kept her distance while she sized him up. “The room is this way.”

“So, Aiden,” she asked as they walked down the hall. “What do you do for a living?”

“Custom woodworking. I get orders from all over the world.” He opened a door at the end of the hallway.

“Someone else who makes their living off the Internet.” Her laugh was nervous. “I was a little worried about access all the way out here.”

“I have satellite. It can be spotty in bad weather.” He set her bags down by the door. “I’ll give you the password for the wireless hub.” He started to leave.

“Aiden.”

He stopped halfway through the door. “Yes?”

“Will you let me see you shift into a wolf?”

“Later.” He stepped into the hall. “Let me go get the password for you. Grams says you go slightly mental without an Internet connection.”

She moved up in front of him. “Why do you always…” She tugged at a golden strand of hair. “…shadow me?”

“I don’t think we should talk about this now.”

“Then when are we going to talk about it? Everyone knows you have a thing for me, and…I don’t date much because of it.”

He dragged a hand down his face. This was the last thing they needed to get into right now. He needed to keep her safe until he had the proof needed for Julian to warrant werewolf justice. He couldn’t outright kill Julian until Sheriff Jones let him connect Julian’s scent to the murder or the abduction. Once she was safe in Edith’s house, he’d broach the topic of werewolf mating with her. “Later.”

“No,” she insisted. “I want to talk about it now.”

“For G’mork’s sake, why?”

She blinked. “Who is G’mork?”

He gave a soft laugh. “It’s an ancient werewolf deity.”

Her mouth went crooked. “I’ve spent the better part of my adult life avoiding you because I was sure I was one of those loony bimbos attracted to death row inmates. I did not want to be one of those women.”

He let out a huff. This was no good. The bed was way too tempting and close if she wanted to discuss mating—dating. He needed to start this in the human way with her. “Fine. If we’re going to talk about it, why don’t we move it to the kitchen?”

Her gaze narrowed on him. “Am I making you nervous?”

“Hell yes! I’ve wanted to have these awkward, life-changing conversations with you for so long.” Aiden didn’t wait for her to respond; he turned and fled to the kitchen. It was safer there—he hoped.

Rose followed him. “So why didn’t you say anything?”

He could shoot the question right back at her, but the truth was he’d probably have had a meltdown if she’d said something to him. A human mate could make things tricky. Most humans didn’t understand werewolf culture, and it wasn’t one of those easy things to spring on someone. Thankfully, Edith already knew and the complications of telling her family or hiding what he was did not exist. The townspeople were also a major concern. Too many of them already suspected his secret, and he wasn’t willing to turn that supposition into fact. Not if he could help it, anyway.

He needed something to eat. The need to shift shimmered through him, and he’d need as much energy as he could store. He decided to answer her question to show how badly springing this on her could have gone. “Hi, Rose. I know the town thinks I’m a murderer and a werewolf. I am not a murderer, but I am a werewolf. Want to go to the Crescent Moon Saloon for a drink?”

She made a small sound before she made a face at him. “My reasoning was about the same.” She inched toward the table. “So, why me?”

Aiden grabbed the bag of homemade jerky out of the refrigerator. “You smell like my mate.”

Rose let out a low whistle. “What does that mean?”

The awkward kept on coming. He pulled out a hunk of jerky. “It means you are one of the few women, if there is anyone else, who are compatible with me.” He bit into the dried meat.

She sat in a chair. “How long have you known?”

He winced. And this would be where she ran screaming from the house. “You were sixteen when I first scented our compatibility.”

Her eyes went huge.

He swallowed a large chunk in his rush to explain. It was painful as it went down, but he managed it. “Scent isn’t age dependent. It’s there when you reach, um, er, full physical maturity.”

She sat there for a long moment staring at him. She became interested in the plain salt and pepper shakers on the table. “That’s why you avoided me?”

“Yes.”

She gave him a direct look. “How were you able to save me in the flood?”

“Vampires were passing through,” he said after a moment. “They love storms. Anyway, I was chasing them out of the area when the storm got bad, and then I heard you screaming.” He wasn’t sure she’d ever know how grateful he was to those vampires. They were the only ones who ever made it out of his territory alive. Not because he couldn’t find them later, but he figured leading him to where his mate was dying gave them a bit of a free pass—through town. Not to stay in it.

She stood and walked over to stand in front of him. “How often do you chase things out of this town?”

He set the jerky bag on the counter. “It’s part of what I am. The town’s folk don’t know, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“But they think—”

He leaned down, his stubble close enough to brush against her cheek. “I don’t care what they think. I know who and what I am. They’d treat me far worse if they knew.”

Rose leaned up closer. Their mouths nearly touching. She whispered, “Why?”

He was going to hell. “You.” Then he lowered his head, taking her mouth the way he’d always imagined. Hard, and fierce, and with all of the hunger that had clawed at his gut for so long.

She didn’t shy back from the power in him. Instead, she stood on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and laced her fingers through his hair. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, tasting a hint of cherry, and reveled in her sweet textures. Their lips and tongues battled until she pulled back.

She panted, and then shook her head as she giggled. “Slow. I think slower is…” Her nose scrunched up. “To hell with it.” She stretched up and fused her lips to his.

Aiden hitched her up and spun her around, setting her on the counter and letting himself feast on her, on the delights of the mouth he’d denied himself. He dragged his hands down her sides, fully intent on finding soft flesh under the fabric of her shirt, but his phone beeped.