Kara's Wolves (13 page)

Kara bolted upright, the silky sheet falling to her waist, exposing her breasts to the cool breeze fluttering the curtains. Something had yanked her from a deep sleep. Where the hell was she? Why was she naked?

Kara squinted, trying to get her bearings. Memories of an afternoon of sex with two incredibly hot men rushed at her full force and she gasped.
How long have I been asleep?

What time is it?

Kara glanced at the picture window across from her, hoping for at least an answer to the question of time. The dim light peeking between the curtains indicated either dusk or dawn. She couldn’t be sure. At the precise moment the curtains blew aside, a large animal bounded into the room and landed with a thud.

The bloodcurdling scream that escaped Kara’s lips startled the enormous …
dog
? It limped slowly back into a corner of the room, its head cocked to the side, seeming to stare straight at Kara.

Footsteps ran down the hall, growing closer as Kara stopped yelling to get a grip on herself. She reached down to pull the sheet over her breasts as though she needed some modesty around the huge animal. It was hurt. She looked closer and could see blood trailing down one front leg and paw, explaining the limp.

Moments later Justin flew through the door and entered the room with another, even larger animal trailing him. When he saw the scene before him, he quickly ran over and took Kara in his arms. Dressed only in low-riding jeans, his chest was bare and even in her moment of anxiety, she noticed his warm skin against her own. Where did these huge animals come from? How was Justin going to fight them off all by himself?

Justin turned his face from her to watch the newest gargantuan pet enter the room as it hurried over to the first and began nudging the smaller one with its snout.

Thankful the animals hadn’t attacked, yet, Kara shook in Justin’s embrace. “Please tell me these are your pets.” Before she allowed him to answer, she said, “Those aren’t normal dogs.” Her gaze was glued to the animals. With a death grip on the sheet in front of her, she tensed, preparing to jump from the bed if the furry creatures moved toward her.

“Those are not dogs, honey.” Justin smoothed Kara’s hair back from her face and leaned in for a chaste kiss. “Good morning. Sorry to scare you like that.”

The smile he gifted her with would have been intoxicating if dogs hadn’t surrounded them.
Wait—did he say they weren’t dogs?

Unconcerned about their situation, his hands roamed her back and shoulders possessively. Kara tried to shake the tremors, but she was still shivering even with Justin’s soothing calm behavior at her side.

“What … are … they?”

“Wolves.” Justin held her gaze steady.

Right. Of course
. Like that made perfect sense.

Kara sucked in a breath. “You mean to tell me you keep wolves as pets and you let them in the house?”

A slight chuckle, almost indiscernible, escaped Justin’s lips. “Nooo. Not exactly.”

“Well, what
exactly
do you mean?” This situation was getting stranger by the minute. A chill ran down Kara’s spine.

“Kara.” Mocha eyes gazed into hers, commanding her full attention. Justin took a long deep breath before continuing. “We
are
wolves. Trevor and I. Well, most of our staff and several of the surrounding farms are also members of our pack.” He paused, clearly weighing what to say next.

In less than a heartbeat Kara bounded from the bed to stand naked next to it.

“What?”
she screamed.
Oh. My. God. He’s fucking crazy.
Her gaze jerked toward the door.
Damn. Damn. Damn
. To escape she’d have to pass the wolves.

Justin, too, jumped up and embraced her in a giant bear hug. “It’s okay. Everything is okay.”

“Don’t.” Kara struggled against his hold.
I have to get out of here.
Wide-eyed, she quickly scanned the room.
Where are my clothes?

“
Kara
,” Justin commanded. He was gentle, not hurting her, but not willing to let her go, either. “Listen to me, honey.”

The walls seemed to be closing in on her. “
Let me go
. I need to leave.”

Instead, Justin began to whisper in her ear. “Please, Kara. Just give me a second to explain.”

Kara wiggled free of his clutch, but she had nowhere to run. The wolves were blocking the door. Chills from the open window, or maybe from the stress of the situation, rushed through her from her head to her toes.

Justin reached over and grabbed the comforter off the bed to wrap it around her. He stepped to the side, his arms encircling her waist. She could still feel his warmth even through the blanket. His body temperature seemed inordinately warmer than hers. In fact, she’d noticed during the night as she fell asleep in the arms of two men she’d been incredibly warm between them.

Kara stared at the two wolves in the corner of the room intently. Was Justin serious?

Does he actually believe he’s a wolf?
The larger wolf had entered the room in front of Justin and was licking the wounded leg of the smaller animal. The scene was very nurturing, reminding Kara of a mother and her cub. The injured wolf was whimpering slightly and lay down on its side in submission.

“Where’s Trevor?” Kara glanced at Justin for just a moment, not wanting to let her guard down too much. After all, wolves were wild animals, even if Justin did seem to believe these two were harmless for whatever reason.

“Kara…” Justin began, “…he’s right in front of you.” Justin pointed in the direction of the corner and Kara froze. Surely he was kidding.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Honey, the larger blond wolf is Trevor. The smaller brown one is Nadine.” He took a deep breath and Kara moved her gaze slowly toward his face once again. “We have a lot to explain to you. Would you like to get dressed first? I know you probably feel uncomfortable standing here like this.”

“I … where are my clothes?”

“I put them in the bathroom.” Justin pointed behind him to the master bath.

Kara tore herself from his grasp and backed into the bathroom, cutting him off. She needed a moment alone. And like he said, she needed clothes on right now.

The look on his face as she fled was of great concern, sadness even.

As soon as she stepped onto the tile floor, Kara shut the door, almost slamming it, reached for the lock to give it a twist and then leaned back against it. Her heart was pounding and her chest heaved. Exhausted beyond measure, she let go of the blanket and slid down to sit on the floor on top of it. She buried her head between her knees and sucked in long breaths, desperately trying to slow her rapid pulse and think.

What the hell is going on here?
And how was she going to get out?

Several minutes passed and she couldn’t move, couldn’t think of what to do next.

She glanced around the room and noticed her clothes stacked neatly on the long marble vanity. There was a window, but it didn’t appear low enough or large enough for her to climb through.

“Kara? Are you all right? Do you need anything?” Justin’s voice jolted her against the door.

“No. I’m … I’m fine. Just give me a minute.”
Or two thousand.

With no other option available, Kara dragged herself up to stand, used the facilities and then splashed cold water on her face. The woman staring back at her in the mirror looked like she had seen a ghost … or a wolf.

Could it be true?
No
.

Kara dressed quickly in her wrinkled clothes from yesterday, took a deep breath for courage and slowly pulled the bathroom door open.

Somewhat surprised to find Trevor standing on the other side of the door, pacing back and forth wringing his hands, Kara jumped. When he saw her, he stopped moving and pasted an apologetic grin on his face. He was so incredibly sexy, it was hard to avoid her body’s immediate reaction to his. There must have been some unspoken dress code in the house, because Trevor was wearing the same thing Justin had been, hip-hugging jeans. His tan chest had just the slightest dusting of fine blond hair running down the center. Kara’s breath hitched.
Now is not the time for lust, girl. Get out of here
.

*

Trevor didn’t know where to begin, but he did know
when
. Now seemed to be the only option left.

“Babe, I’m sorry. Nadine didn’t realize you were here. I didn’t mean for you to find out this way.” Trevor reached a hand toward Kara, not wanting to invade her space too quickly and frighten her, but needing to hold her in his arms as soon as possible. He ached to feel her soft body and get back the passionate look she’d had in her eyes just hours ago.

“Where’s Justin?” She didn’t approach him. Instead leaned against the wall just outside the bathroom.
Hugged
the wall.

“He’s with Nadine. She was injured. Cut herself—”

“Who’s Nadine? And what happened to the wolves?” Kara was not catching on.

“Kara, Nadine is a member of the pack. She lives two farms to the east.”

“Uh, huh. Sure.”

“Kara, let me explain. We—”

“No, it’s okay. Really.” She stood up straighter, her spine stiff. She wouldn’t look Trevor in the eye. Her gaze was wandering around the room past him. “I need to get going.” She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “I have a final at ten thirty.”

“There’s plenty of time. Don’t worry. It’s early still. I’ll get you back to campus before then.”

“Well … I need to change, and shower, and…” Kara inched her way toward the door, keeping her back to the wall. He inhaled the bitter scent of fear rising from her skin and arousing the animal within him.

With both hands in front of him, he took two slow steps in her direction, but she cringed, forcing him to halt his advance. His chest ached at the thought she was scared of him. He would never hurt her in a million years. In fact, he would make it his life’s mission to erase the look of fear in her eyes and never allow it to return for as long as he lived.

“Baby, come into the kitchen. I’ll make you some breakfast and we’ll explain everything.” He tried to keep his voice steady, low, as unthreatening as he could. Kara’s posture screamed “fight or flight”.

“I swear to you on all that is holy I would never harm a hair on your gorgeous body.

Please, give Justin and me a chance to explain.” Trevor reached a hand out, but didn’t step closer. He wanted to give her the choice to come to him.

Finally, after painstakingly long moments, she moved away from the wall. She didn’t touch him or take his hand, but it was progress and Trevor took it as a sign she would at least follow him to the kitchen.

He heard her behind him as he walked, felt her presence, the entire excruciating trip down the hall. Trevor decided to reach tentatively into her mind, soothe her.
“Everything
is going to be all right. You will always be safe here.”
She jumped, but he didn’t turn around, didn’t want to blatantly confirm what she would soon come to know as her new ability to communicate with him and Justin. Soon enough the pieces would all fall together. Last night’s mating had forever connected them telepathically. They needed only to open the lines of communication and reach out with their senses. He hadn’t delved into her thoughts yet. It seemed a violation of her privacy to prowl around in her head without her knowledge.

Trevor and Justin had their work cut out for them. It was too bad circumstances this morning had forced the issue prematurely, but just as well. Everything had to come out eventually. Sooner was better than later.

Justin looked straight into Trevor’s eyes as he entered the kitchen, a questioning gaze on his face.

“She’s very reluctant, but seems at least willing to hear us out,”
Trevor communicated to explain the great lack of progress made on his part.

Justin scrambled to pull out a chair. “Come on in. Sit.” He gestured to Kara with his head. “I’m just fixing some breakfast. You must be starving. We never ate dinner last night.”

Trevor had never once seen Justin so flustered. Tongue-tied.

Kara took the seat, her eyes wandering to Nadine sitting opposite her. Thank God they kept a variety of clothes on hand for times like these. If Nadine had been sitting there naked right now, Kara surely would have had a coronary. Instead Nadine appeared perfectly normal in jeans and a T-shirt. Her feet were bare, but then, so were everyone else’s. The cut she had received on her arm while running through the woods was now almost a distant memory. Their species was able to heal themselves, and quickly.

“Hi. I’m Nadine. I guess Trev told you.” She spoke softly, as though dealing with a porcelain doll. And she wasn’t far off base. They had a lot of explaining to do.

Kara stared intently at Nadine. “Hi,” she finally mumbled.

Trevor took the seat next to Kara. “Hon, I know you’re confused. Wondering how it’s possible to feel what you’re feeling for us.”

Justin came over to sit on the other side of Kara. They essentially trapped her between them, but tried not to crowd her, make her feel as though she were unable to escape.

“Let me try, man.”
Justin continued, “Honey, we are mated. At least that’s what we call it. Sealed together. Forever. Heart and soul.”

Kara gasped and glanced back and forth at the two of them, her mouth hanging open.

Even under these tense circumstances, Trevor could still smell her arousal. Her mind may be screaming “run”, but her body could not deny them. The proximity of either Trevor or Justin was all it would take to make her pussy wet, her clit throb with need. All three of them in the room exaggerated the sexual tension. He didn’t need any verbal confirmation of this. It was the way of mates. They would always need each other. But the first few days and weeks after mating were commonly known to be intense, filled with a drive to have each other repeatedly. She wouldn’t be able to deny the need for long. It would consume her thoughts. Even now, with confusion warring in her mind.

Kara glanced repeatedly at Nadine.

Trevor laid a tentative hand on Kara’s leg and she stiffened, but she had to feel the spark shooting between them. He tried to soothe her by rubbing his thumb across her thigh. The reaction was a sharp intake of breath by Kara. She bit her lower lip and almost moaned.