Fighting the Inevitable (25 page)

“
No!”
Jared roared in anguish as he read the full intent in Rafe’s mind.
“Rafe, no!”

~~~~~

The wolf appeared from
nowhere and it was only Rhianna’s careful speed and quick reflexes,
which helped her stop before she hit it. The squeal of protesting
tires screeched through the night as she performed her first
emergency stop ever and her car halted mere inches from the large
brown wolf in her headlights.

Shaking and white faced,
she stared into the big brown eyes of Wolfie as her heart hammered
a staccato beat in her chest. Her fear turned to uncontrolled rage,
as she fumbled for her seatbelt, yanking it undone, and opening the
car door. She stumbled out on shaky legs, her breath coming in
short, sharp pants.

“
You fucking
idiot!” she screamed at the wolf, her fury spurred on by the
adrenaline coursing through her veins. “You stupid fucking animal!
Are you out of your mind? I could have killed you! Fuck, you could
have killed me! I could have lost control of the car and crashed
into one of those trees. What the fuck were you thinking,
Wolfie?”

She was vaguely aware
that she had most probably said the work fuck more times than she
had ever said it in her life but her anger was at boiling point and
she didn’t care if her language was vulgar. She had been in her own
little world, happy to be returning to Caleb’s and the
almost-accident had scared the life out of her.

Rafe stared at his sister
in shock, her words piecing right through him as the enormity of
what he had just done sunk in. He had wanted to be free from this
life so badly he hadn’t stopped to think of the potential danger he
would be putting the person who was driving the car in.

He had almost killed
Annie, his baby sister! He threw back his head and howled his agony
into the night. Once he started, he couldn’t stop and he howled
repeatedly, his anguish more than he could bear.

The terrible agony from
the wolf wrenched at Rhianna’s heart and her fury evaporated before
he had howled the second time. She felt tears in her eyes as she
ran to the huge wolf and threw her arms around his wide neck.
“Wolfie,” she whispered. “Oh Wolfie, what is tearing you apart so
badly? Please don’t cry my beautiful wolf. Please,
Wolfie.”

The wolf howled
mournfully and slumped to the ground in front of her, his entire
body shaking wildly. Rhianna fell to her knees and tried to comfort
the poor animal as the agonised sounds from him ripped deep into
her soul. He was in so much pain, so much agony.

She heard a sound to her
left and she looked up to see what looked like fifty wolves
standing close to the grass verge, the large black one standing
slightly in front of them. She stared into the deep blue eyes of
the leader of the wolves and she felt her anger spark
again.

“
What have
you done to him?” she screamed at Old Blackie. “Why are you doing
this to him?” She didn’t know why she felt he was to blame for
Wolfie’s pain but she just did. “Why aren’t you helping him?” she
sobbed. “Make him stop hurting. Please!”

Rafe’s anguish was
ripping through Jared just as much as it was ripping through
Rhianna. The pain was filtering down to all of the pack, even the
wolves with a lesser connection to the big man.

Jared couldn’t believe
Rafe had tried to end his life. If anyone other than Rhianna had
been travelling this road, then the gentle wolf would now be dead.
He was sure of it. He pondered the coincidence of it being Annie
who had been driving towards the tortured man in the road. Was this
a sign of some kind?

He turned away from them
and looked at his pack. He had to protect them at all costs.
Personally, he would trust the petite redhead with their secret but
it wasn’t a decision he could make alone, even as Alpha.

“
Tonight
Rafe has tried to take his life,”
he said to his pack.
“You
all feel his pain. You all know how he has struggled to join the
pack and come to terms with his new life. As Alpha, I must put the
needs of the pack first even though it pains me greatly to lose
Rafe. He is kind and gentle and we could use the diversity of
thought he brings to the pack. You all know it is his sister who
cradles him and weeps over his wolf. She, too, has the same
kindness of heart her brother shows.

“
On a
personal level, I trust Rhianna Armand with my life. I believe she
is the one person who can save Rafe and help him come back to the
pack. I know some of you hold firmly to the survival of the fittest
ethos and see Rafe as weak. I see Rafe as an opportunity to remind
us of our humanity, which is just as important as our
wolves.”

He ran his eyes over the
assembled pack trying to gauge their reaction, but they stood still
and silent.
“As Alpha, I call for a vote. I propose we allow the
human woman, Rhianna Armand, to know our true nature so she can
care for her brother and bring him back to the pack. You know she
runs with vampires already.

“
I have
spoken with Caleb Ryder and he has revealed his true nature to her
and she has accepted him. Her love for her vampire means she cannot
allow any harm to come to him therefore, she keeps his secret. Her
deep abiding love for her brother will mean she will protect our
pack. Even in wolf form she unconsciously recognises him.
Therefore, I ask my pack to grant me the permission to try to save
Rafe Armand in the only manner I can think of. I ask as your Alpha
and as your friend. What say the pack?”

Wolfie had stopped
howling and was looking at Old Blackie with tortured eyes. All the
other wolves were watching him too and there was a lot of chuffing
noises and odd barks coming from the large black wolf. It was
almost as if he was talking to them, the way they all looked so
intently at him. He stopped chuffing and stood still.

For a long endless moment
there was total silence in the trees, and then one by one the
gathered wolves gave one solitary bark. The air was thick with
tension and Rhianna sensed something momentous was happening but
she had no idea what it was.

The more barks that
sounded, the more Wolfie trembled under her hands. She began to
feel very afraid for him. Were they passing some kind of sentence
on the wolf? Or where they casting some kind of sentence on her?
She was only just beginning to realise in what a perilous situation
she was in. She didn’t have Caleb here to help her either if the
wolves decided to attack her.

Slowly Old Blackie turned
to look back at her and Wolfie and she tried to gauge his intent.
His didn’t look angry, but then, would she really know what a wolf
looked like when he was angry? He chuffed at Wolfie and her wolf
howled. Old Blackie stepped a little closer and chuffed again.
Wolfie’s response was another long howl.

Rhianna blinked slowly as
she watched the large black wolf, a small frown creasing her brow.
Did Old Blackie really just give a look that appeared to convey
bemusement? He chuffed once more and then he seemed to ripple all
over and the black wolf was suddenly gone and kneeling naked on the
grass was Jared Hanlon.

She blinked again, and
then once more, as her startled mind tried its best to register
what it had just seen. The wolf had changed into a man and not just
any man, one she knew. Jared Hanlon was a wolf. She repeated it to
herself as Jared looked down at her in all his naked glory and it
was most definitely glory. She would have to be blind not to notice
how gorgeous his body was. It was as vibrant and as beautiful as
Caleb’s was and yet it didn’t instil the same lust within
her.

She wondered if he was
going to speak but he stood there silently looking at her, and she
realised her mouth was hanging wide open and she was still ogling
his body like a teenager seeing her first naked man. She blushed
scarlet and closed her mouth, swallowing loudly. She supposed she
should say something to him and so she opened her mouth and said
the first thing she could think of. “You’re stark bloody naked,
Jared!”

Jared had been giving
Rhianna time to come to grips with what she had just witnessed. Her
face was a riot of emotions ranging from shock to appreciation and
then embarrassment. He had tried to convince Rafe to change into
his human form but the man had refused, which left him rather
bemused. The gentle wolf had literally begged to see his sister
again and the moment the chance had been granted he had balked at
the idea.

So he had changed into
his human form himself. He felt a great pride for his pack’s
understanding and their resounding vote of yes to allow Rhianna
into their secret. There had only been two votes of no and one
abstention, which had allowed the vote to be passed by the majority
rule.

The petite redhead’s
first words to him made him throw back his head and laugh loudly.
Caleb had said she was good with the paranormal and it certainly
appeared she was. He turned to Aaron who was hovering close to him
in wolf form.

“
Run and
bring two sets of sweats,” he told him before turning back to
Rhianna. “You’ll have to forgive me, Annie,” he smiled. “Clothes do
not transform when we do so we tend to go around naked most of the
time when we’re shifting.”

“
Are you a
werewolf?” she asked timidly, her wits a bit sharper.

“
I am a Were,
which is effectively a shape shifter of some kind. It just so
happens we shift into wolves. There are many other types of Were
who shift into different animals. I must admit, you’re taking this
more calmly than I anticipated. Caleb said you were very accepting
of him, but I thought you would possibly have more of an issue with
us.”

His mention of Caleb
surprised her and then she realised they knew each other. She
supposed it was only natural vampires would know about
Weres.

“
I am aware
of Caleb’s true nature, so you will not be harming him in anyway by
anything you say, Annie.” Jared said reassuringly as the wolf with
golden streaks ran up and dropped clothes at Jared’s
feet.

Rhianna was relieved when
Jared slipped the sweats on and approached with another set of
sweats in his hand. He tossed them beside Wolfie and sat down on
the grass. The implication of what he had just done didn’t escape
her and she looked down at Wolfie and gasped in surprise. “You’re a
man too, Wolfie?” Her hand slipped out of his fur as she moved back
a few inches from him. Wolfie howled and bowed his head.

It appeared he was a man,
however it was the wolf that lay so dejectedly before her and he
tugged at her heart. “What’s wrong with him, Jared? He just ran
into the middle of the road. I was barely able to stop in time and
then he just kept howling in such horrible pain.”

“
Are you
going to tell her?” he asked Rafe with a deep sigh, and the wolf
whined low in his throat. Jared sighed again and looked at Rhianna.
“I just want you to know that I’m really sorry, Annie. I hope
you’ll be able to understand why I did what I did.”

He looked back at Rafe
hoping he would change and reveal himself of his own volition but
he remained resolute and kept his head lowered. “Why don’t you move
your car to the side of the road and I’ll try my best to explain
everything,” Jared said to Rhianna before he looked at the wolf.
“You… Get off the road now or I’ll have the pack drag you off
kicking and screaming.” His tone was firm and brooked no
argument.

Rhianna watched Wolfie
stand and head over to the grass where he threw himself down again,
his body language miserable. She hurried to park the car in a safe
spot and then sat down close to Wolfie but not touching him. It
wasn’t that she didn’t want to comfort the wolf because she ached
to do so. It was just knowing he was a man too made it seem almost
perverted for her to stroke him the way she had been.

Jared sat on the other
side of Rafe preferring to be away from Rhianna’s fists just in
case she reacted with anger when she learned the truth. In
addition, he wanted to be close to Rafe in case he tried to throw
himself under any further passing cars.

“
Annie,
revealing ourselves to you tonight is an unprecedented event for
our kind,” Jared began. “It is our pack law and the pack law of all
Weres to ensure that no human ever learns of our existence. I am
the Alpha of this pack and each and every person under me is my
responsibility to protect.”

“
I’ll never
breathe a word about you or your pack, Jared.” Rhianna’s tone was
sincere. “I swear it.”

“
I know you
won’t, Annie. It’s why I asked the pack to vote tonight to allow me
to reveal ourselves.” Jared smiled proudly at her. “You already
swear to protect us and you don’t know what it is you are
protecting. I knew I was right about you, Rhianna
Armand.”

His comment was rather
cryptic and she wanted to ask him what he meant by it, but she had
a feeling it would all come out soon so she held her tongue and let
him continue.

“
The Were
Caleb killed with his car the other night, he is what we call a
rogue,” Jared said. “He had gone insane and lost himself within his
wolf form.” He noted Rhianna’s surprise at hearing the dead wolf
was one of his kind. “Don’t feel too bad about it, Annie. He was
wild, vicious, and attacking innocents. He killed four humans and
severely wounded a fifth before Caleb unwittingly solved our
problem for us.