Hunter's Heart: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 5) (14 page)

Chapter Fifteen

I slid further down the embankment and back toward
the upside down Hummer, my hands searching for the rifle. I found the backpack
about a yard away from the vehicle. The rifle was gone. It must have flown out
the window when we flipped. I had the wolf whistle, but if I used it, Derek
would be affected too.

The enemy wolf attacked. I recognized him as he and
Derek rolled end over end, landing in the ditch just a few feet from me. He had
red and brown fur, golden eyes, and lethal fangs bared for the kill as he
lunged at Derek again. Blood flowed from a gash on Derek’s side. But, I doubted
he even felt it yet as adrenaline coursed through him. Derek had the advantage
of size if not surprise. The enemy wolf’s movements were desperate, erratic. He
was alone.

Derek went in for the kill; clamping his jaws on the
other wolf’s neck, he shredded the arteries and veins inside it. When Derek let
go, an arc of blood sprayed the grass and part of my hair. But, the wolf was
dead.

Derek shifted instantly and came back to me. His
heat, my heartbeat, I clung to him, smoothing my hands over his chest, down his
back, checking for wounds. My Derek was whole. He was safe. And he’d just saved
my life.

“Is it just him? Are there others?” My words tore
out of me in a gasp. Hunger rose within me as Derek wrapped his arms around me
and helped me. He nodded.

“Yeah. It was just him. He’d been called back. He
was heading for the junkyard. Finding us was just dumb luck for him.”

“How do you know all of that?”

Panting, Derek tapped his temple. “I got a read on
him just before I killed him.” Derek’s eyes still glowed bright, his wolf still
simmering below the surface. An answering heat flared in me. Primal. Ready to
erupt.

“Derek.”

Heat settled between my legs. I pulsed for him. It
could be adrenaline, the heat of battle fought so close to me. But I knew this
was something else. Something I needed more than the air filling my lungs with
each heavy breath.

“If you’d sent me on with my father. If you hadn’t
been with me when the wolf found me.”

“I was,” he said. “Come on. I’ve got to try to get
the Hummer back on its wheels. More might be coming. I don’t know if he had a
chance to signal before I killed him. Either way, they know he’s dead.”

“No,” I said, still gasping for air. “Derek.” My
skin ignited from his touch. A tremor ran through Derek, and I know he felt it
too. His hand went to the back of my neck. Pleasure flooded through me at his
touch.

“I need you,” I said. “Before they come back.
When
they come back. I need to already be yours.”

The moment I gave voice to the fear, it flared
inside me, drowning out everything else. With absolute clarity, I knew what
would happen if the other wolves ever came back and separated me from Derek.
They would mark me. They would take me back to the Chief Pack just like they
had my grandmother. I would rather die than let that happen.

A vein jumped in Derek’s temple. His eyes stayed
luminous gold as he looked at me. Amid the chaos, his luscious mouth curved
into a smile and he growled.

“Come on,” he said. “We’re out in the open here. I
don’t sense any other wolves nearby, but if they come in a vehicle, I won’t
have enough lead time before they’re on us. Can you walk?”

“If you help me, I can fly,” I said. I grabbed the
backpack. We took a few stumbling steps through the brush. Derek found the AR-15
laying on its side about ten yards away. He grabbed it and hooked his hand
beneath my arm, half lifting me as he climbed out of the ditch.

There were woods up ahead. Farmland further to the
east. We ran. I took two faltering steps then Derek lifted me off the ground.
He ran with me over his shoulder, carrying me caveman style as he headed for
the tree line. His powerful legs picked up speed, making the ground blur.

Ten yards. Twenty. One hundred. He went deep into
the thickest part of the woods until the tall maples and pines formed a natural
canopy, shading us from the sunlight. Then, he set me down on a fallen log. He
moved his hands over my body, testing my joints, caring for me like I did for
his.

“I’m all right,” I whispered, sliding my fingers
over the curve of his skull. He was on his knees before me. When he looked up
at me, my heart cracked.

I hadn’t thought it would be like this. In truth, I
don’t know
what
I thought it would be like. Derek said he wanted to wait
until I was sure. Until the time was right. Here we were in the middle of
nowhere with wolves after us from all sides. And yet, it seemed perfect.

“I’m sure,” I said before he could even ask. I set
down the backpack and pulled my hair to the side. “I never want to be without
you again. And if this is what our lives will be like, I want to be connected
to you. I want them to know you’re mine and I’m yours.”

Derek growled. His skin rolled as he struggled to
keep his beast in check. It was almost too much for him. The thrill of the kill
still rushed through his veins. Here, in the wild, it would have been so easy
for him to give into it. I wanted him too. I wanted all of him. The wolf. The
man. The beast.

He didn’t have to tell me what to do. My body
already knew. I stood up. For an instant, Derek knelt before me as I threaded my
hands through his hair he looked up at me. I never knew a man could look so
tender and wild in the same moment. But, my Derek did.

I peeled my shirt off over my head, wincing from the
stiffness in my shoulder. Just a pulled muscle. Nothing broken. Cool air hit my
breasts, pebbling my nipples. Derek reached up and rolled his thumbs over them,
stretching them both to peaks. I slid my pants down and kicked out of my boots.
I stood before him then, naked, ready, alone in those woods with shards of
sunlight stabbing through the trees as dawn broke again.

I went to my hands and knees, sinking into the mossy
grass and fallen leaves. The dewy scent of wildflowers and crisp air filled my
nostrils. Derek let out a low growl that skittered across my flesh. I stretched
out before him, spreading my knees as he rose behind me. From the corner of my
eye, I watched him stroke himself. I trembled.

When I tried to turn toward him, Derek put a firm
but gentle hand on the back of my neck to keep me in position. Heat flared in
my core. I was wet. Ready. Gushing for him and he had barely touched me. Every
cell in my body tuned to his. I locked my elbows and angled myself for him.

Derek slid a slow finger between my legs, coaxing
open my already swollen folds. I dripped for him, making him growl all the
more. He put a steadying hand on my hip and pressed me further down until my
chin rested on my hands. Oh, God. I wanted this. Spread before him on all
fours, in ultimate submission. Nothing else mattered. Nothing. Just Derek and me
and the urge pulsing deep inside of me.

Derek moved behind me, walking around me in a circle
so he could take in the view of me, kneeling prone for him. I wanted him to. I
wanted him to see what he did to me. All for him. When he moved in front of me,
I brought myself slowly up. His cock bobbed before me. I swear, it had grown in
size since the last time we fucked. I knew it had. Because this was different.
This wasn’t just sex. This was a marriage of sorts. Mating. I reached forward
and gently closed my fingers around his shaft. I brought him into my mouth.

Derek tasted hard and sweet. I lapped at him. His
eyes flashed as he laced his fingers through my hair. Then, he threw his head
back as I serviced him. It was everything. I never wanted to stop. If only we
could stay here in these woods forever. In that moment it was all I wanted to
be.

I felt Derek’s balls hitch and he let out another
low growl. A few seconds more and he wouldn’t be able to control himself. Oh, I
wanted that. I wanted him to spill his seed for me and let me take it all. And
he would, but he had other plans first.

Derek moved behind me again. On instinct, I brought
myself back down, resting my chin on my hands. He pressed the head of his cock
against my slick opening. I throbbed open for him. I would have begged, but the
air left my lungs. Derek edged himself inside of me, stretching me wide. He
filled me. Completed me. Sheathed himself deep. Then, he started to thrust.

I dug my hands into the fresh earth, bracing for the
delicious onslaught of his rhythm. He braced one hand on my hip, the other on
my shoulder, bringing me up off my hands. I arched my back and moved with him.
My own cries of pleasure rising to join the low growls he made.

“I love you,” he whispered over and over with each
thrust.

“Love,” I said. “God. Yes. Derek. I love you!”

On and on he went. I took it all. Wave after wave of
ecstasy and desire washed over me. I coated him with my juices. The world
became the sound of the pleasure we took from each other. The slick wetness of
his thrusts, my staggered breaths. I felt him grow even thicker inside of me.
Derek reached me in places I never knew were there. It was just the two of us.
No witness to this claiming save for the trees above. Derek was king of this forest;
all other creatures made themselves scarce.

Then, my pleasure reached its apex. I felt Derek
stiffen even more inside of me. I felt his fullness against me and knew he
couldn’t hold on for much longer either. He didn’t have to tell me what to do.
I arched my back again and pulled my hair to the side. The flesh pulsed at the
base of my neck in time with the center of pleasure between my legs.

Derek leaned forward. His breath blew hot against my
neck, sending shivers down my spine. He licked me once. “Yes!” I said. But
Derek didn’t need words to know.

My choice. My desire. My Alpha.

He sank his teeth into the base of my neck. A flash
of pain, then warmth spread through me, blossoming down to my toes. He licked
me again, sealing the wound he’d made.

I came. Thundering. Crashing. I cried out, unable to
contain the sensation. Stars seem to explode out of my pores. Derek juttered
inside me and filled me with his hot seed as he bit me once again.

Perfect. Unity. Mine.

It happened in an instant. One heartbeat we were two
people. The next, we were one. Derek’s heart filled me as he withdrew and
cradled me against him. I could hear him. Not just his pulse, but his feelings.
Love. Tenderness. Concern. Desire. Always desire. And I shared it. Every last
bit of it. Until that moment, I never knew how alone I’d been.

But now, we had each other.

“Is it always like that?” I asked, when I found the
strength to form words again.

“I don’t know,” he laughed softly. “I told you. I’ve
never taken a mate before. And I don’t intend to take another one.”

“Well, that’s fine with me. As long as you promise
to take me like that. Again and again. God, Derek. It’s dangerous though, isn’t
it? For a moment there I felt so vulnerable. Like the entire Kentucky pack
could have surrounded us and I wouldn’t have cared.”

A shadow darkened Derek’s face. He sat up and
rummaged through the backpack. I’d thrown an extra pair of jeans in there at
the last minute, thinking it might come in handy. I laughed as he found them
and slid his legs into them. Yes, I could see where traveling with extra pairs
of pants would be essential when on the road with my shifter love from now on.

“We have to keep moving,” he said. “We’ll keep
heading east. Portsmouth isn’t too far.”

“Will you call your pack now?” My heartbeat skipped.
I wasn’t sure I was ready to share Derek with anyone else yet. If only we
could
stay here and make this our own private sanctuary from the rest of the world.

“Not yet,” he said. “I want to get further north.
It’s still too big a risk of leading them into an ambush. Call your father,
though; see if they’ve made it to Indiana.”

He tossed me the backpack. I set about finding my
own clothes. Once dressed, I called Dad. Derek paced the perimeter, sniffing
the air as I did it. Each step he took made fear snake its way back into my
heart. This
wasn’t
sanctuary. We were still very deep in enemy
territory.

“We’re good, darlin’.” Grammy’s voice made my heart
soar. “Stopped to let the dogs out for a few minutes, but we’re back on the
road. Haven’t seen any signs of trouble. You?”

I bit my lip, hesitant to tell her what had happened
to the Hummer. I decided there was no point. We’d survived it. “We’re okay,” I
said, waving to Derek as he raised a brow and looked at me. “Everything’s right
on schedule. Just take care. We’ll see you real soon. I love you. Tell Daddy
too.”

Grammy made a smacking sound as she kissed the air.
If she’d clicked off right then, things might have ended differently. But, she
didn’t. She must have put the phone in her lap or somewhere close beside her.
That’s when I heard it. A distant howl at first. Derek heard it too with his
extra sensitive werewolf ears. He crossed the distance between us in a blur of
motion.

He took the phone from me and pressed it to his ear.
He didn’t have to tell me what he heard. His pulse quickened inside of me. The yelp
on the other end of the phone cut through me like a dagger. Then, Grammy
clicked off, or someone ripped the phone out of her hand.