Lyric's Accidental Mate (Iron Wolves MC 1 ~ Bite of the Moon) (4 page)

Lyric rubbed her hands together but didn’t say another word. Rowan wasn’t sure he had it in him to explain further. Hell, he wasn’t sure what to expect other than he was going to be turning furry shortly, and if he survived the change, he could still be killed by Lyric’s pack.

“You’re not going through this alone, Rowan.” Her soft hand on his back burned through his flannel.

It took everything in him to continue walking, lights coming on as they entered the kitchen. What did she want him to say? He was raised to protect women and children, not place one directly in harm’s way, and the way he was feeling, he was sure she was in danger. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, darlin’.”

“Quit calling me that. My name is Lyric. Not darlin’, sweetheart, or any other bullshit name you call some nameless, faceless woman,” Lyric growled.

Rowan spun at the challenge in her tone, seeing the glowing amber eyes staring back at him. “Lyric.” Her name sounded right rolling off his tongue. “No matter what I call you, the name doesn’t matter. All I can seem to focus on is your scent. What did you do? Roll around in a vat of strawberries?”

He watched her expression go from angry, to wary, to alarmed in a matter of seconds.

Her hands rested on the top of the counter. “Shit, this is happening faster than I’ve ever heard of before.”

Lyric put the large granite surface between them, and in his head, he calculated how quickly he could eliminate the space. “I’m going to go shower. You can...make yourself at home,” Rowan said.

Lyric nodded but didn’t say a word. Rowan could smell her fear and anxiety mixed with the arousal and her own unique scent. He wasn’t sure if he’d been hit too hard on the head and all of this was one big hallucination, or if he was dreaming. One thing was for certain, and that was he needed to get away from the woman in his kitchen before he did something he’d probably regret. Like rip their clothes from their bodies and fuck her senseless. Rowan wasn’t sure he could actually follow through with the amount of pain he was in, before he fell to his knees in agony.

* * * *

L
yric stared after Rowan as he left the kitchen. Good lawd, he was something. She knew the war he was waging within himself. She just didn’t know how to help him if he didn’t let her. Being a born shifter, she was strong, but he clearly was going to be an alpha. Already she saw the way his black eyes flashed to blue and couldn’t wait to see him shift.

Her ears picked up the sound of running water. She’d never actually helped a human through the change, but from what she’d been told, it usually took a couple days before the full turn. Obviously, they’d never dealt with the likes of Rowan. Damn, she didn’t even know his last name.

She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and cursed at the cracked screen and no power coming on. “Shit. What am I going to do? Syn is probably going apeshit right about now.” Grabbing the phone off the wall, she quickly dialed her best friend’s number. When voicemail picked up on the first ring, Lyric left a brief message outlining what had happened and told Syn she’d call back in the morning. She hoped the other girls were okay and hadn’t already called in some reinforcements, and she really wished her phone wasn’t fucked up. Another deed to lay at the feet of the rogue wolves. She then dialed her phone number to see if Syn had called and left her a message.

As her voicemail came on, she dialed in the code and listened to several frantic calls from Syn and Nene. Lyric blew out a relieved breath that turned to panic when Syn told her she’d called Kellen. She wasn’t scared of her alpha, much. More like freaked he’d put her and the others on lockdown until they found the ones responsible for the attack on her. “Just what the doctor ordered, not. Stuck at the Club with a bunch of overbearing big brothers.”

Without pausing to stop, she walked into the living area, lights coming on like they’d done in the kitchen when she stepped into the open space. Modern tech meets country living. The floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace held no family pictures, nothing to show who or where Rowan had come from. When she left the room, the lights went out, leaving the room in darkness. Following the hall leading to where she presumed his bedroom was, she could hear the shower running. The thought of him naked and slick with water made her break out in goosebumps. Never had the image of a wet and naked man brought on such arousing thoughts that she had to force herself away from going to him.

An open door caught her attention before she could act on her impulse to check on Rowan. He had several computer monitors set up on an L-shaped desk. Either the man ran his business from home, or he was a computer geek. Even the image of him wearing a suit and tie didn’t lessen her need for him, nor her wolf’s. When she moved farther into the room, the lights came on revealing, unlike in the family room, he had pictures lining the walls.

The first one she came to was of a group of soldiers standing next to a military vehicle. Lyric fingered the frame, easily picking out which one of the young men was Rowan. Out of all the smiling faces, his stood out to her like a beacon. Several more framed pictures featured the same group of men, until the last two. Her breath caught in her throat at the images of the men who were no longer smiling, holding a flag for their friend who was no longer with them.

“I see you’ve made yourself at home.” Rowan’s voice broke into the quiet room.

Lyric spun on her heel. “For crying out loud, you move quieter than a ghost.”

Rowan’s smile flashed. “That’s what we were. A ghost team.” He prowled into the room, sucking the air out of the space with his presence.

She stared at the healing wound on his side, transfixed by the already knitting skin and the amount of bare flesh he was showing in the low-riding jeans. Lyric wasn’t sure what the hell was going on, but she didn’t think Rowan was normal. Or maybe not completely human. “Rowan, is there something more to you than just...you know, human DNA?”

“To my knowledge, up until about two hours ago, I was all human. Now, I don’t know what the fuck I am, except ready to claw my way outta this skin.” He held his arms out at his sides.

Not a single tattoo or piercing marked his smooth flesh. She circled him, looking for old injuries from his time in the military. Surely he’d gotten a cut or something that would have left a scar. “Have you ever broken a bone or needed stitches?” she asked.

“I’m pretty tough, I guess. My mama always said I was too ornery to get sick or hurt. She obviously didn’t expect me to get bitten by a werewolf. That’s what you are, right?” Sweat popped out on his forehead.

He was fighting the pain and stress of shifting. Lyric wanted to call an elder or a council member. Heck, she was willing to call Kellen and ask him for help if it would save Rowan more pain. However, the only thing that would help him now was shifting.

“Rowan, I’m going to need you to trust me. Do you think you can do that?”

He shrugged his massive shoulders. In his shifted form, he would be at least twice her size and could easily dominate her. “Usually this is done with the pack surrounding the new member. The alpha is the one who helps all shifters through their first transition because it’s difficult for one to control their beast. I should’ve taken you to Kellen, but I was stupid and thought we’d have a day or so before I had to admit my mistake to my brother and the alpha. Now, I don’t think we have time to do anything except get you through the shift.”

He braced his feet apart. “What aren’t you telling me, Lyric? Don’t mince words or pussy foot around. Tell me what I need to know so I can be prepared.”

Taking a deep breath, Lyric laid it out for him. “Once you shift, you will want to hunt. You will want to fuck, and you will most likely want to kill. I don’t know in what order you will want these things, but there you have it.”

His eyes widened. “What the fuck will I want to hunt and kill? Am I going to go out and take down Bambi, fuck it then kill it and follow up that grand adventure by eating it?”

Lyric laughed. She seriously couldn’t believe the things that were coming out of his mouth. “Oh my gawd. You are hilarious.” She wiped the tears streaming from her eyes, not realizing he’d began stalking her across the room. Her back hit the wall next to the pictures she’d been admiring.

“Are you laughing at me, darlin’?” Rowan nudged her legs apart, putting one of his between hers.

Looking up into the black eyes of Rowan, she licked her suddenly dry lips. “No, not laughing at you, laughing at what you came up with. I mean, you would probably want to hunt down a deer or two and kill it, but even in your wolf form, you’d never want to have sex with a deer. I don’t think even mated pairs have sex in their wolven forms.” If they did, she’d not heard them talk about it. She’d never gotten turned on by seeing any of the men in their shifted forms. Beautiful? Yes. Sexy as in she wanted to hump them? No.

“So, you are in danger of me wanting to fuck you after I shift?” He lifted his leg into the V of her thighs.

“Not me, per se. Just that most who are turned tend to get a little out of control.” She shivered as he rubbed her in the exact spot that was begging for attention.

“Let me ask you another question.” He leaned in and nuzzled close to her ear. “As a shifter, is my sense of smell heightened?”

Lyric tried to keep from rubbing on his steel-hard thigh and to concentrate on what he’d asked. “Everything is heightened. Sight, smell, hearing. Why?”

He braced his arms on the wall, bracketing her head. “Because I can smell your desire. If I was to reach down between your legs, I’d feel you dripping for me. Am I right?”

Knowing her face was bright red and that he could easily see it, she wedged her arms between them, shoving him off her. The movement caught him by surprise, if the look in his eyes was any indication. “Excuse me, but if I was to reach down between your legs, I’m pretty sure I’d feel something hard and it wouldn’t be a banana in your pocket. Oh, wait, I don’t need to reach down. The little guy is pointing due north. So what?” Fake it till you make it, was her and Syn’s motto. “It’s called chemistry. Our wolves are calling to each other. It’s no big deal. Once I help you through the shift, it’ll dissipate.” Lyric hoped his sense of smell hadn’t become so acute he could tell a lie from the truth like a born shifter.

Rowan turned away from her. “Damn it, I’m being an ass. Forgive me, Lyric. You should go take a shower and then you can help me through the shift or whatever.”

She’d hurt him with her dismissal, but his actions scared her. What did she know about him other than he was her mate? Her wolf sat up and yipped at the acknowledgement. Unable to look him in the eye, she walked toward the door.

“For what it’s worth, it’s a big deal. I’ve never done this before, Rowan. You called to me when I first saw you in that dark hallway. I’m sorry I got you mixed up in my mess.” She fled from the room before he could say anything, hiding the tears streaming down her face. She followed his scent to the last room he’d been in, closing and locking the door to first his bedroom and then the bathroom. The tiled room was like the rest of the house, masculine and top of the line, and showed her just how far out of her league he was.

Lyric fell against the door and slid down until her ass hit the floor. She folded her arms around her knees and let herself cry for a few minutes, then got up and shook out her limbs. “Time to put your big girl panties on and get ’er done.” She stripped off her clothes and entered the shower, staring at the high-tech gadgets around the enclosure. “Oh, for crying out loud. Who needs five showerheads?” After figuring out how to turn the water on, she took the quickest shower in history. One day she’d have loved to spend time letting all the different water spouts pummel her body.

Luckily, Rowan had a towel on the heated shower bar. She didn’t want to put her dirty clothes back on and figured she’d be having to get naked shortly to show Rowan how to shift, but coming back out with nothing on felt too brazen.

After scanning his bedroom, she pulled one of his T-shirts out of the dresser, and a pair of sweats three sizes too big. He was waiting for her in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water, looking too good for her peace of mind.

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Chapter Three

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R
owan had to grip the glass in order to not drop it when Lyric returned wearing his clothes. He felt his teeth grow, and the uncomfortable urge to toss her on top of the counter and mark her was nearly overwhelming. The new sensations were taking him out of his comfort zone, and he was never out of control. His world was built on structure and organization. He had a feeling letting Lyric into his life would upset it more than a F5 tornado would.

“Are you thirsty?” His words came out sounding more gravelly than he’d hoped.

Lyric held her dainty hand out and swiped his glass. He watched as she turned the cup and sipped from the spot he’d drunk from, her pink tongue licking where he’d had his lips.

A growl more wolf than man rumbled out. “Girl, you don’t want to tempt me too much right now. I don’t have a tether on this beast that seems to be growing inside me.”

She nodded. “I can feel him reaching out to mine. I’ve never felt the need to play the way I do right now. Like I want to rub up on you and see how far I can push before you take control.” Her head tilted back as she drank the rest of the water.

Rowan tracked her movements, utterly transfixed at the sight of her swallowing, something he’d never found sexy unless the woman in question had his dick in her mouth.

“My skin hurts like a motherfucker, Lyric. Honestly, I can’t stand the feeling of anything on me, except I think I could handle having you pressed against me.” He smiled when her eyes widened and her scent permeated the air.

“Let’s go outside and attempt to get you through your first shift. But, Rowan, I need you to try and remember I’m not the enemy and I’m not up for fucking.”

Hearing her say words that belied her body language, Rowan took the glass from her hands. “First of all, darlin’, I know you’re not the enemy. I’d never want to screw them six ways to Sunday. Second, I’ll only fuck you when you are one hundred percent ready and willing. Your body is telling me one thing, your mind another. You are as safe as a nun in a convent.” He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, hearing her breath catch in her throat and her heartbeat increase.