Psyche Moon (22 page)

“I think ‘agree’ is a strong word. ‘Dumped on’ would be more accurate. I’ll give you a hand.”

“I got it. Jason told you to rest, and I agree. Your wound is barely knitted together.” I kissed her on the nose. “You can do your part by not bleeding.”

“Speaking of blood.” I followed her gaze. “What are we going to do about your couch?” My comfortable but worn couch was covered in blood and milk. Billie looked like she’d been caught doing something naughty. “I’ll buy you a new one.”

“You aren’t seriously feeling guilty about ruining my couch are you? You were stabbed in the shoulder while rescuing me. We can call it even and cover it with a blanket for now.”

“You’re right. I’m just tired of throwing away perfectly good stuff because of blood.”

Grabbing the blanket from my temporary bed on the floor, I motioned her to the side and threw it over the couch. “Problem solved, for now anyway.” She sat heavily on the transformed couch and my own exhaustion hit when I saw hers. “The cleaning can wait.” I sat beside her and curled up on her lap. “I haven’t had you to myself since this all started. Cuddling in my bedroom with your Pack in smelling and hearing range doesn’t count.”

“I’m used to it, so it doesn’t bother me anymore. At first I found it disturbing too. Especially smelling the guys every time a pretty woman walked by.”

“Eww.” I crinkled my nose. “No guy talk. Please. I’ve had about as much testosterone as I can handle.”

“You could call in sick all week and stay here with me. I think we could both use a little time off.”

“I like that idea. I should let my bruises heal before I go to work anyway. Richard won’t mind?”

She laughed. “At work Richard is my boss, but I’m Beta. This one is my decision.”

“You have a weird life.”

“Oh really?” She grabbed my ass and planted a kiss on my neck. “It felt perfectly normal until recently.” I tensed a little, and of course she noticed. “Sadie, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Me too.” With all of the pain and hurt and fear that had been thrown at me, I needed her touch. I needed softness and love. She felt the same.

I leaned up and kissed her softly, and she placed her good arm around my back to hold me. No longer masking her strength, she held my weight easily.
Quit worrying about my shoulder and just kiss me.

I did. With her holding me, my hands were free. Running my hands inside her wrap, I could reach her breasts. She kissed my throat, my ears, and my neck, lingering then moving delicately. She stretched her healing arm out and rested her hand casually on my hip. Her mouth moved to my earlobe as she whispered affectionately in my mind.

After a time, we just held each other, her chin resting on my head. Her wrap had slipped, and I noticed the line that remained of the bite I’d given her. “Why hasn’t that bite healed?”

“Because you made it.” The satisfaction in her voice lifted my spirits.

“It obviously means something about us. Feel like explaining?”

I didn’t have to see her smile to know it was there. “When a Wolf finds her Mate, her body chemistry changes. My body responds to you in a way it doesn’t respond to anyone else. You bit me just right and my mind, body, and soul was ready to accept you as my Mate. Instead of healing like I normally would, my body enhanced it. Embraced it. For Wolves, it’s a way of knowing without a doubt that the person you’re with is your Mate.”

“You mate for life?”

“Essentially. A long absence can open us up for new relationships and a new Mate. Not many people choose that, though. Mating doesn’t have to be for life, but it usually is.

“I can’t imagine living my life without you. I wonder if Mages have anything like the bite.”

“I don’t know. We really don’t know much about them.”

“Maybe we’re polygamists.” I teased.

“I’m not worried. You may never wear my bite the way I wear yours, but I can feel what you feel for me. Our bond is more mental than the bond between two Wolves, and that gives me an advantage. We know how much we love each other.”

Chapter 13

The next afternoon, Billie and I headed up Highway 21, driving with the windows down and the wind in our faces. Billie’s hair blew wild around her face and shoulders, and she looked more beautiful than ever. I understood her vitality now. She was more alive than anyone else I’d ever known, and it made sense.

She allowed her wolf side to come more to the surface after I discovered what she was. I could sense her animal nature strongly, and it amazed me. She perceived the world on more levels than a human, her senses more acute and her awareness more profound.

I closed my eyes and watched the world from her viewpoint. The wind carried scents of plants and animals on it, and she could identify each smell even over the caustic stench of the pavement. Sight and sound were sharper, but her sense of smell impressed me the most.

How do you block out the smell of the pavement?
I asked.

How do you sense one mind in a crowded bar?
She replied, her eyes twinkling.

“I just do.” I grinned, understanding her comparison.
I’m glad you’re letting me in more now.

So am I. We don’t have to hide from each other anymore. I wanted to tell you.

“I know. You keep your promises. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”

Pain poured out of her eyes and emotions. “I understand why you didn’t. I really do. It hurts that you didn’t trust me, though. Not that you didn’t tell me, but that you didn’t trust me.”

“I know.” I replied softly, knowing she’d hear me. “I wanted to. Every person who has figured out what I can do has fled in terror. I didn’t want to lose you. I feel like such a freak most of the time. Sometimes I scare myself.”

“You are different. It makes you special.” I snorted, but she continued. “Back in Ohio, I was working late, and one of the guys in the office left at the same time as me. It wasn’t quite dark, and the parking lot was deserted. He gave me the strangest look: hunger, reluctance, and desire. Then he grabbed me by the hair and bit me. He didn’t do anything else. He just bit me, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and walked away. Blood was running down my back. I called 911, and the police tried to find him, but he disappeared.” I listened intently as she told me her story.

“I had no idea what the bite meant. I just thought he’d gone off the deep end. The change didn’t happen overnight like in the movies. Over the next few months I gradually got stronger and could hear and smell things I never knew existed. I talked to a couple of friends about it. At first they didn’t believe me. They thought I was exaggerating. Then they started to notice it, and I could smell fear on them. I could smell their fear of me. After a while, they quit calling me back.”

I nodded. “You’ve been there.”

“More than my body changed. I became more protective of people, and more aggressive. I was having such a hard time containing it that I wouldn’t go home to see my family. They could tell something was wrong, and they begged me to visit, but I was too scared of what I’d become. One night I decided to let some of it out. I went to the scummiest bar in town and waited for someone to piss me off. A guy grabbed me and I hit him over and over until his heart rate slowed. It felt so good. I went into work the next day, feeling better and thinking I could control it. I was wrong. When I walked in the door, the office manager was yelling at one of the temps. So I shoved him against a wall, cracking two ribs without even trying.

“Our new client, a proper middle-aged lady, grabbed my wrist before I hit him. She spun me around and ordered me to stop. Instinctively, I obeyed her. She was stronger than I was, and I could tell we were the same. I said, ‘What’s happening to me?’ I begged her for answers, somehow knowing she could give them. Her eyes went from tough to gentle in a second. ‘Oh sweetie. You don’t know?’ It was Kathryn. She took me with her. I never went back to my job, and I didn’t even say goodbye to anyone. I didn’t have any friends left by then. She explained what we are, and my Pack taught me what it is to be Wolf. They taught me to balance my human and wolf natures.”

“It must have been terrifying.” I thought of her going through that alone.

“The Pack took me in. I felt less like a freak with so many other freaks in the room.” Her lip twitched in an ironic grin. “Everyone welcomed me, and they helped me come to terms with what I was. The transition is different when it happens without consent and without a Pack for guidance. We have a harder time coping with it, and I was hell to put up with for a while. Amy was being nice when she called me a bitch. The Pack helped me through it, and I owe them everything. I would have killed someone if Kathryn hadn’t found me. We’ll do the same with the new Wolf.

“You’re one of us now, Sadie. A mate automatically becomes one of the Pack, even when they’re not a Wolf.”

“They’re scared of me.” I watched the hills rush by, thinking of the terror I’d sensed from every Wolf who discovered my true identity.

“They’re scared of Mages. They don’t know you yet.”

I didn’t respond for a long time. “I’m not used to talking about the things I can do. Obviously I don’t even know what all I can do.”

“Do you trust me?” She asked.

“More than I’ve ever trusted anyone before.”

“Please, love. Don’t hold back from me. Don’t be afraid to trust me. I can handle it. I can handle what you are because I know who you are. I don’t believe there is a creature on this Earth that’s evil by nature.”

“I don’t know anything about my people. It’s hard to see good in some of the things I can do, though.” I thought about the boys dying at my hands.

“You killed them. You had very valid reasons to do it, as did I. In the end seven people are dead because of you. Two because of me. That isn’t easy to live with no matter who or what you are.”

“They were just kids.” Tears welled in my eyes. “They tried to kill us, so I killed them. I could have just stopped them, but I got angry and let the power overwhelm me. There’s nothing right about any of that.”

“No.” She replied sadly. “There’s nothing right about any of it. But we’re alive and we’re here. We’re together. That’s the part I have to hold onto.”

“Be in the present.” I whispered. She turned off onto a dirt road, drove only a couple minutes, and parked. We stepped out of the jeep into the forest, breathing in the fresh air. She walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around me. Her chin rested on my shoulder.

“I don’t know about you, but I want to run.” She looked longingly at the forest in front of us.

“Sounds perfect. Can I carry some of the stuff this time?”

“You can carry all of it.” She grinned widely and handed me a small day pack with everything we needed. As I strapped it on, she began shedding her clothes. I enjoyed watching her undress, wrapping her clothes in a wad and throwing them on the front seat. Her eyes changed first, shifting from green to blue. Her body rippled and the change happened so quickly I couldn’t follow it. She dropped to all fours, her shape gliding from Human to Wolf in a fraction of a second.

Her fur drew my attention the most, a myriad of shades of grey, black and white. I’d only ever seen her fur coat stained with blood. The Wolf standing in front of me was exactly as an ordinary wolf would look, except I could see Billie clearly within the eyes. She was beautiful, magnificent, and wild.

Her eyes questioned me, waiting for my response. She still wondered what I’d think of her in wolf form. I kneeled in front of her and took her head in my hands, stroking her cheek. “I can handle what you are. You’re still Billie.” She grinned and licked my face.

“Eeew!” I jumped backwards and she snorted in laughter. She danced around me as I stood, wiping slobber off my face. Laughing, I hoisted the pack and followed her into the woods. We hiked for a while, or rather I hiked and Billie chased squirrels and darted about the woods. She always returned to me, grinning and rubbing against my leg. She stood almost to my hip, her fur soft under my hand.

Where are we going?
I asked. She’d been leading us somewhere, but I didn’t know the area.

Does it matter?
She laughed.
I smell a creek this way.
It’s not much farther.

“Sounds good.” True to her word, I could hear the stream only a few minutes later. As it came into view, I smiled. Several feet in width, the stream trickled down the center of a ravine. A small clearing lay in front of me, and I set the pack down. The water was cold, and I splashed it on my face, enjoying the shock. When I opened my eyes, Billie was human again, and gloriously naked. She kneeled at the creek, washing her hands in the water.

“I really like the naked part of all this.” I cocked my head and ran my eyes over her body.

She grinned and leaned in for a kiss. I ran my hands down her sides and paused at her hips. “You’re not naked enough, love.” She whispered, her breath soft on my cheek.

“Is that a request?” I teased.

Quicker than I could follow, she had my shirt unbuttoned. “An observation. I want to undress you myself.”

“Can you catch me?” I teased and jumped to my feet, taking off across the clearing. She gave me a slight head start before pouncing on me. Tackling me from behind, we fell to the ground, Billie twisting under me to cushion my fall. Laughter spilled out of us both.

She rolled on top of me, knees straddling my waist and hands on either side of my head. Her chest heaved under her rapid breath, making her breasts rise and fall deliciously. But her eyes held me, her face only inches above mine. My hands moved to her hips, and her eyes brightened.

“Well, are you going to undress me or what?”

# # #

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Psyche Honor
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