Song of the Guardians (2 page)

"Go on," he said, untangling my arms from around his middle.

I smiled, and when he returned it, my grin widened. Giddy from the sudden contact, I swallowed around my excitement and tried to look as serious as he did. It wasn’t easy. Not only was I getting out of the building full of white walls and sleepless nights, I was going with him—the very thing my parents had insisted wasn’t real.
And to think, I almost believed them.

A soft breeze kissed my cheeks as I opened the front doors. The gray clouds from before were beginning to melt away as small patches of blue filled the gaps.

I almost looked down at my feet to see if the green cracks still stretched across the ground when a hand touched my shoulder.

"Eyes forward," Tucker said, his voice firm. "Where we’re going, the Earth isn't broken." He stopped and turned me around so I was facing him. His eyes mimicked the gray before an oncoming storm, silent and calm. "Do you remember what I told you so many years ago?"

"To come to you when I was ready," I said, staring at my hands.

"And if you got lost, I’d find you instead. Are you ready to join me?"

I glanced over my shoulder at the building we'd walked out of. "Do I have a choice?"

"You do, though I’d hope my offer is more appealing than staying here."

My nightgown suddenly felt too small, too thin. "I’m a mess," I warned, nodding to his duffle bag.

"I’m sure that isn’t true. Come on. There will be a fresh change of clothes and a hot shower waiting for you at home." He guided me to a yellow pickup.

"And where is home?" I asked when he opened the passenger side door for me.

"A world away from here."

I furrowed my brow when he slid into his side of the car, turning the keys in the ignition.

"What I showed you was only a glimpse of what it truly is," he explained. "I had to give you a reason to remember me, to remember what I told you—for me to imprint on you, and for you to do the same."

"Imprinting?"

Tucker set his hands on the wheel. "I promise to explain everything once we get home."

I settled back in my seat and watched out the window. I tried not to think of how close we were or how badly I wanted to kiss him like I’d done so many times in my dreams.

I don’t know how long I’d been staring at him before Tucker met my gaze. He tossed me a knowing smile, which made matters even worse. I bit my lip and closed my eyes as he pulled out of the parking lot.

I counted his breaths and drew in a lungful of air, tasting the faint remnants of pine and wolf on my tongue.

We're going home.
Mine or his, I didn't care. So long as it wasn't here.

T
ucker

When Emma shifted in her seat, a heady aroma filled the space between us. I caught her looking at me from the corner of my eye, and each time she did, her cheeks darkened with color.

I turned onto the interstate, merging into traffic as she let out a shaky breath. We were both obsessed with not touching, not staring, and too preoccupied with our thoughts to form words. Nerves clawed at my stomach, and I gripped the steering wheel.

It had been years since I’d been with a woman. Even longer since I’d shared my bed with one. And as I held on for dear life, Emma’s scent, her body language, and periodic sighs grabbed at my legs. I was going to fall, and there was nothing left for me to hold on to.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and rolled her eyes at the slight distraction. In that brief moment, I held her gaze, her vibrant blue eyes staring back at me. I’d found her. After years of locating and copying the required documents for her release, I'd found her, and she was coming home with me.

I’d rehearsed our meeting a thousand times before, but that didn’t make it any easier when I could read her scent—excited, anxious and sexually frustrated. The last one made me uneasy, my jeans uncomfortably tight.

I drummed the steering wheel.

Emma’s eyes were on me in an instant, her gaze falling to my hands, then my lap. I could’ve imprinted on anyone, but I'd chosen her. While the rest of the pack had wasted their time trying to find their perfect match, I'd picked Emma, and now I was the only guardian with a child.

She isn’t a child anymore.
It was reason enough to be careful. If she’d been locked in that psych ward for as long as I thought, she probably hadn't had any relationships at all.

With my wolf senses still intact, I listened to her erratic heartbeat. She took a long, deep breath. Followed by another. She did everything she could to appear calm, and I commended her for that. Even back at the ward when we were standing at the front desk, she’d impressed me with her calm demeanor. Granted, I'd sensed her anxiety before we'd reached the car, but she'd hidden it enough to fool anyone who wasn’t part wolf.

Hours passed, and as the landscape changed from blacks and grays to whites and greens, Emma’s body stiffened. She pressed her hands against the window and glanced over her shoulder at me.

"It’s real," I said, "if that’s what you're wondering."

"But this isn’t the spot you brought me to before. I would've remembered it."

"No." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "You weren’t ready back then. The forest—our forest wouldn’t have let you in."

Emma settled back in her seat with her hands clasped in her lap. Her eyes darted from one side to the other as she took it all in. A lifetime had passed since I’d joined the pack. I couldn't remember how it felt to be so new to the world I now called home.

She isn’t ready.
Neither was I when the guardians came to me. What we did now had nothing to do with being ready, and everything to do with what was right. The world was dying, and it needed our help. Just as my guardian and those before her had done, I was fated to do the same.

Turning down a long dirt road, I slowed the truck, pointing to the other guardians when they came into view. Emma’s eyes widened, but as soon as she caught sight of one, it was gone.

"Are they yours?" Emma asked without looking away from her window.

"They don’t belong to me. No guardian does."

"But are they your...are they like you?"

"Will they shift?"

Emma nodded.

"I don’t think so. Guardians can't shift without a human companion, and even then, they’d have to imprint on one first." I swallowed around the lump in my throat. It had been a long time since the pack had shifted together, well before I’d become a guardian. "Once we're inside, I can tell you whatever you'd like. But you must never leave the house without me. While the others understand our link, that doesn't mean they won't try to take you as their own."

"But you said they'd have to imprint first."

"Some of the wolves will still try, even though you've been of age for a while now. Promise me you’ll remain indoors."

"Another prison." She sighed under her breath.

I squeezed her hand. "Not a prison."

"It sure sounds like one."

"You’ll understand once we get inside."

I pulled the truck as close to the house as I could, refusing to turn off the ignition until the other wolves were well out of sight.
Time to run.

I hopped out of my side of the truck and hurried to let Emma out. Without grabbing her duffle bag from the back, I hoisted her into my arms and carried her to the front door.

The outside of the cabin stank of wolf piss.
Shit.
Emma was still checking out the property when I pushed her inside, pressing my back against the door until it shut.

"What the hell?" Emma asked, prying my arms away from her.

"I told you, the other wolves—"

"You should probably start at the beginning," Emma warned, dropping her arms to her sides.

I placed my hands on her face as I fought back a burning desire to kiss her. "I will, but there’s something I need to take care of first. Wait here, and keep the door locked. I’ll call for you to open it when I get back."

Before she could whisper another word, I locked myself out. The piss hadn't gotten there on its own, and I wasn't about to ignore it.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed my fingertips into the snow. Every muscle in my body trembled, my pink skin rippling away to show the fur underneath. A small part of me knew she was watching, and I shivered under her gaze.

Without looking back, I stepped out of my old clothes and bolted toward the woods. Zarrius had to be around here somewhere.

E
mma

When Tucker closed the door, he took all the heat in the house with him. I shuddered in the doorway, too stunned to move. I wanted to be angry with him for leaving me there, for locking me in. But as soon as I looked through the peephole, those emotions melted away. All I could think about were the articles of clothing lying on the other side of the door and the wolf that appeared from their folds.

I don’t know how long I waited there on my tiptoes, shivering from the draft, but by the time I turned away, the inside of the house had dimmed.

The house was a huge step up from the one I’d shared with my parents. It was a two-storey cabin complete with hardwood floors. From the foyer, I had three choices—step down into what appeared to be a living room to my right, head into the kitchen and cellar, or go upstairs to investigate the bedrooms.

I eyed the empty fireplace in the living room and decided to check there first. Using light from the living room window, I searched the mantel for some matches. I found a book between a set of candles as well as paper and dried wood on the floor beside it.

I took two of the larger logs and set them inside. Remembering how my father used to light the one back home, I struck the match and pressed the flame to the paper before shoving it under the dry wood. The timbers started to glow, and I closed the screen in front of the fireplace to keep any loose sparks from floating onto the floor.

With the warmth of the fire behind me, I stood there to thaw, taking count of what else was in the room. There wasn’t much. Two burgundy recliners and a pair of lamps that, when tested, refused to turn on.
So much for that idea.
Not like I could read anyway. My things were still in the car, and God knows where Tucker hid the keys.

Aside from the scant amount of furniture, there were no books, no magazines or entertainment of any kind.
Maybe that’s all the pack needs.
Once I was sure the fire wouldn’t blow out, I padded back into the front hall.

But before I could progress to another part of the house, something scratched at the front door.

"Little pig, little pig..." It was Tucker’s voice. "Let me in."

The corners of my lips tugged upward, and I tried not to laugh. I took a breath, wondering what to expect more, a wolf or a man. With careful hands, I undid the lock and opened the door.

My breath caught in my chest when I came face-to-face with Tucker’s naked form. He tossed me a sheepish grin and picked up his discarded clothes, placing them between us. I pulled him inside with hands that weren’t nearly as confident as before.

He kicked the door shut behind him, his body tensing against the cold. Warm muscle rippled under my hands, and when I realized I was staring, I didn’t look away. I half expected him to notice the fire, but his eyes never left mine. He gave me a full head-to-toe inspection and made a sound of approval. I did the same.

His shoulders were broad, his muscles defined. I brushed the side of his face, stubble kissing my fingertips when he leaned into my caress. Taking a breath, I moved my hand again, this time to the curls at the nape of his neck.

I wanted to kiss him, to feel his arms around me, but for whatever reason, I didn’t move. We stood there for a long moment, me staring at the clothes he’d strategically placed over his groin while his eyes focused on my breasts.

Before I could lose the little courage I had, I drew him toward me, my hands on his face, our lips barely touching. Something dropped to the floor.
His clothes,
I realized as he placed a hand at the small of my back and tangled the other in my hair.

"I really want to kiss you," he said.

My heart skipped a beat. "Then why don’t you?"

He caressed my face. "It’s been a while since I..." His voice trailed off.

"At least you have." I drank in his scent, which was stronger than before.

He touched my chin, coaxing my head back until he could see my face. "You haven't?"

I shook my head. Never had sex. Never been kissed. Not by someone I liked, anyway.

He pressed his forehead to mine so I was looking right at him, right into the eyes of my wolf. My whole body tingled. I wanted this. I wanted to feel him. To feel everything.

I moistened my lips. Alarms rang in the back of my mind.
He’s part wolf. You just met. You know nothing about him.
I ignored every single one. I didn’t care if I kissed a wolf or a man, just like I didn’t care how new or how real this felt.

There was something about him, something deep down that told me this was right. That I was meant to be here.

I almost lost my balance when Tucker pressed his lips to mine. It wasn’t feral. In fact, it felt as though he was holding back. Like he was waiting for something.

Not wanting to break our kiss, I did the only thing I could to let him know I was ready. To let him know this was what I wanted. I kissed him back, and as I did, he parted my lips with his tongue.

Our kiss deepened, and when we finally separated, we were both breathless. My head was swimming. I thought I was falling, but I never hit the ground.

"You aren’t a dream," I said.

Tucker laughed. "Neither are you."

And, just like that, he released me. His touch had barely left my skin when he picked his clothing off the ground. I bit my lower lip and stepped to the side so he could get by.

"What was that all about?" I asked, following close behind him as he made his way into the living room.

Tucker pulled on his clothes and trembled in front of the fire. "Glad to see you made yourself at home." He let out a nervous laugh.