Wolf Tales VI (20 page)

“I never told anyone. Only Anton knew. But I told Adam, and he fixed what was broken. I’m not a eunuch anymore. I’m a man, because of you, Adam.”

Adam held his hands out in a helpless gesture that tore at Anton’s heart. He glanced at Keisha, standing quietly with Lily in her arms and remembered her story, how she’d been so badly damaged. Yet the combined love of her pack had healed her.

“Adam, you, Oliver, and Eve joined minds to discover more about Mei. You combined your power, not to heal, but to probe her thoughts. Because of that link, I imagine you know Eve’s mind better than anyone here. What if you go deep. Let Mei and Oliver share their strength. I can link with the three of you and add more power. Think of yourself as an imaging machine. See if you can find out what’s wrong. See if you can fix what’s broken.”

Mei touched his arm and Adam’s head jerked around. “It can’t hurt, Adam. We have to do something.”

“What if I make her worse?” Adam’s voice broke and the tears he’d been holding back finally fell.

Anton smoothed the ruffled fur along Eve’s injured shoulder. “You can’t make it worse, Adam, but you’re the only one among us who might be able to help. Her life force is fading. I don’t think she’ll survive the night.”

They dimmed the lights in the room. Stefan, Keisha, and Xandi had taken the babies and gone to prepare a meal. Adam sat on a stool next to the bed and stroked Eve’s back. She lay still as death, the labored sound of her breathing loud in the darkened bedroom.

Adam felt as if he were too far away, so he crawled up on the bed and lay beside her. Anton, Oliver, and Mei gathered behind him and placed their hands on his body. He felt their connection, their warmth and latent power flowing through his shoulder, hip, and thigh.

Mei and Oliver were both familiar and he welcomed their connection. Anton’s power pulsed at his hip. He’d never linked with Anton on a physical level, never experienced the spirit beneath the flesh. With strength like that guiding him, Adam realized he might just be able to do what Anton had suggested.

He wrapped his arms around Eve’s body and held her close. Her breathing was shallow, her heart fluttering beneath his hands. He focused his thoughts, all his mental energy, and concentrated on Eve’s injured brain. At the same time he tried to channel the power emanating from the warm hands holding him.

Slowly, carefully, he entered her mind, aware that Anton Cheval followed, a silent shadow of thought. There was injury here, a vast pooling of blood beneath her skull. The pressure kept her from consciousness. If he could help her shift, would the changing patterns of her skull and her brain remove the pressure?

Or, would the change merely kill her?

Slowly, Adam withdrew. The others watched him, waiting. Trusting his skill.

He had no skill. None, damn it all. He was a mechanic, not a doctor. He…

“What do you think?”

Adam snapped around at Anton’s soft question. “I think you’re all crazy if you expect me to—”

Anton held up his hand. “I was with you. I saw the injury. I agree with your idea. If we can help her shift, it could remove much of the damage.”

“It could also fuckin’ kill her.” Adam’s hand shook. Damn, but he loved her so, and she was slipping away. Leaving him, bit by bit, her life force growing weaker with each beat of her heart.

“Doing nothing will kill her.” Anton’s soft voice cut through Adam’s anger. He was absolutely right. “You saw the extent of the bleeding,” he said. “So did I. Can you link with her, even though she’s not conscious? Can you help her shift without waking?”

Adam nodded. “I think so. I’ll need all of you.” He lowered his head. “We need to do it now. While she still has the strength to complete the shift. I think I know a way to control that part of her brain.”

He lay back down and wrapped his arms around Eve’s inert wolven form. He felt the warmth of his packmates’ hands. Felt their power when he slipped deeper into Eve’s mind and found that tiny gland near her brainstem that controlled their ability to shift.

He searched for her, for any living, conscious part of Eve, and found a spark. There wasn’t much, but it was enough. He drew more on his friends, felt Oliver’s hands tremble against his thigh, felt Mei’s fingers dig into his shoulder.

Only Anton’s hands were steady, and his power was a constant, throbbing pressure in Adam’s head, but he used the power and moved slowly inside Eve. He wasn’t sure what he did, only that it somehow felt right. Wasn’t sure if he’d helped the woman he loved or damaged her beyond repair. He let the power flow, felt the heat and energy from Oliver, Mei, and Anton as it burned through his system, flowed along his nerves and veins, found its outlet in Eve.

The bestial body pressed close to his seemed to disappear and reform. He was almost afraid to open his eyes, but the warm flesh he held wrapped in his arms was no longer coated in fur.

Her heart beat stronger, her mind seemed clearer.

But she lay there, still and silent, unconscious. Eyes closed, breathing shallow and fast, and Adam had no idea how to help.

Chapter 11

“She’s breathing better, her pulse is strong and regular.” Anton brushed Adam’s tangled hair back from his eyes. “Sleep, my friend. Both of you need to rest. I’ll be back later, but for now, sleep. We’ll see if anything changes over the next couple hours.”

Adam nodded. “I don’t know…do you think we should take her to the hospital? Maybe now that she’s human…” His voice trailed off into a whisper.

“She isn’t, really. None of us is human and I don’t know what their medicine would do to her brain. Broken bones are one thing, but an injury to the brain is something else. Our brains are not human and I’m afraid their treatments could harm more than help us. The doctor who treated Keisha and Xandi during their pregnancies is the only one who knows our true nature, and he’s gone for a month. Adam, I truly believe you are Eve’s best hope. Stay with her. Call me when she awakens, or when you’ve had enough rest to go back in. I will be here quickly and lend whatever strength I can.”

Adam nodded and lay back down beside Eve. Anton slipped quietly out of the room, but he worried about Mei and Oliver as well as Eve. The two had gone to Oliver’s cottage to sleep, but the easy love between them had been irrevocably changed tonight. He wondered how Oliver would cope, knowing he could never bond with the woman he loved.

Stefan and Xandi had gone to their wing. Anton needed Keisha. His body ached for her. His heart cried. He’d felt too much grief tonight, experienced too much heartache. Keisha would understand. She always knew exactly what he needed.

She waited just outside their room. Lily is asleep. The monitor is with Xandi and Stefan, should she awaken. Come, my love. You promised me a run in the forest. If Adam calls, we won’t be far.

Anton’s exhaustion slipped from his shoulders like an unneeded cloak. He stripped out of the jeans he’d thrown on earlier and took Keisha’s hand. Together they went out onto the deck, shifted and raced for the forest.

So different in daytime. The sounds of the night, all muted rustlings and sharp cries had been replaced by birdsong and the rich smell of sun-warmed grass. The resinous scent of pine and fir, of spruce and cedar filled the air, and sunlight spattered the narrow trail with bursts of brilliant color.

Keisha raced just ahead, her long legs leading them deeper into the forest. She swerved on to a smaller, narrower trail and Anton followed. He recognized the trail, one he’d not followed for many months. Keisha burst out of the darkness of the deep woods and into sunlight, with Anton right on her tail.

The old mill pond sparkled in the late morning sunlight. Anton and Keisha both stopped at the water’s edge, lapped the cool water with heads low and front legs bowed. Then they shifted. The air was filled with the buzz of cicadas. A pair of mallard ducks swam lazily on the far side of the pond. Anton took Keisha’s hand in his, and a sense of peace surrounded them.

“Do you think Eve will survive?” Keisha watched the ducks but Anton felt her heartache.

“I do. Adam will allow nothing less.”

“Do you really believe he has the power to heal her?” Keisha turned and pinned him with her brilliant amber gaze.

“If he can believe in himself, yes. I don’t think there is much that Adam Wolf can’t do.”

Keisha frowned. “Is he more powerful than you?”

Anton chuckled, leaned close and kissed her. “No, my love. He is not more powerful than me. His skills are different, though. I believe his ability to heal is something we can learn from him. Once he understands it better himself.”

“Why Eve?” Keisha turned her head to stare at the water, but her question hung on the morning air.

“Why not?”

Keisha spun around. “What do you mean, why not? You act as if none of us has any control over our futures. I’m beginning to hope Stefan’s right, that it’s all coincidence. I don’t want to think we’re fated for some of the horrible things that happen. I don’t want to believe in a destiny we can’t change.”

Anton wrapped his arms around Keisha and drew her close. “My love, it’s a cliché, but bad things happen to good people. I don’t believe our destiny is set in stone, but I do believe that good things can come from the bad. You were attacked, you shifted without realizing your own power, and you killed. I found you because of the horrible things that happened to you. If they hadn’t happened, I would be living half a life. I wouldn’t have you, I wouldn’t have our lovely daughter.” He shuddered as the reality of what could have been washed over him. He might as well be dead, if not for Keisha and their child.

He kissed her, hard and fast. “My love, there is nothing without you. Nothing. Was it fate that I found the newspaper with the article about you? Or mere coincidence that your voice would come to me, so many hundreds of miles away? I don’t know. I only know that you are my life, the source of my power, the one who gives me a reason to take one breath after another.”

There were tears in her eyes when she kissed him. Anton pulled her close. Her breasts were full and firm, her belly slightly rounded from the birth of their daughter. She was more beautiful now than when he first saw her, yet even then she had captured his heart. His mind whirled with thoughts of Lily’s birth, when their plane had gone down and Keisha’s early labor had terrified him.

But members of the pack had come in time, their daughter was born healthy and whole, and Keisha had been the strongest one of them all. He wondered if she had any idea of her own power.

Her lips moved over his, soft and full and promising so much more. She kissed his neck, his collarbone, trailed along his chest and knelt in front of him. She stroked his erection with cool, slender fingers, cupped his heavy sac in her palm and leaned close to suckle the broad head of his cock between her lips.

He groaned, unmanned by her wet mouth, her warm tongue, the sharp rasp of teeth over his shaft. He loved the contrast. Her coffee-colored skin against his pale flesh, the soft slide of her lips over the marble strength of his cock. He felt his knees tremble and the taut coil of heat that raced from his spine to his balls took him right to the edge.

Gasping for breath, Anton cupped her face in his palms and eased her away. Her lips slipped over the crown of his cock with a soft pop. As she pulled away, her tongue came out and she licked the very tip.

“I want you,” he said, and his voice sounded rough in his own ears. “I need you more than air, more than life. You are my life.” His breath was unsteady, his heart raced. The cool air moving across his damp cock tightened all the muscles in his groin.

Keisha looked up at him and smiled. Then she leaned close and licked the tiny drop from the tip of his cock, circled her tongue in the weeping eye and kissed him.

Anton laughed. “Oh, shit. Are you trying to kill me?”

She winked. Before he could react, Keisha shifted.

Anton’s heart stuttered in his chest. He’d wanted this last night. Wanted the wolf, the hot, hard thrusting sex of two animals mating. Needed the mindless release that left his body sated and his mind clear. He shifted and pawed her shoulder. Keisha yipped, spun around and nipped his flank. When he lunged for her, she took off, running full tilt, back into the forest.

She was smaller and lighter. Her feet fairly flew over the packed earth, and leaves and pine needles scattered in her wake. She didn’t run to escape him. No, she challenged him. Tested his strength and speed, his power, his love and his desire.

When Anton finally cornered Keisha in a small glade with a rocky berm rising behind her, both of them were winded, sides heaving, tongues hanging. He raked her shoulder with his paw and caught the thick fir at the back of her neck in his teeth.

She turned as if to challenge him, but he held her tightly, wrapping his front legs around her shoulders, holding the back of her neck in his jaws. He thrust hard and fast, jabbing into her sex, his back paws slipping and digging at the soft earth, his wolven penis sliding deep inside Keisha’s slick heat. She snarled and tried to twist away, but the hard knot at the base of his cock slipped inside, locking them together.

As their bodies meshed, Anton felt Keisha’s thoughts swirling deep inside his mind. He opened to her, felt the strength of their link, the power behind the mating bond. The fine line between Keisha and Anton melded, wavered, became one single entity.

He was the bitch, welcoming the heavier weight of the male, the thickness of his cock thrusting deep inside her channel. The solid knot slipped through and her muscles trapped him, only he felt as if his clenching muscles held them close…and it was Anton’s cock that was trapped…but he was Keisha, and she was Anton and they were one. A single creature, its multifaceted body trapped in the lush power of orgasm, mind fragmented and rebuilt into a single thought, a single voice. A singular, powerful love.

They toppled to the soft grass together, bodies still tied, sides heaving, limbs shaking. And Anton finally had the answer. He knew how Adam could help Eve.

Adam stood just outside Eve’s room and glared at Anton. “No. That’s sick. It’s just flat-out wrong.”

“You can reach her. You can heal her if you bond. Make love to her, link with her…”

Nausea roiled through Adam’s gut. Anger at Anton, at the entire situation. He fixed things, damn it. Why the hell couldn’t he fix Eve? “She’s unconscious. Sex with her like this, no matter the intention, would be the same as rape. I can’t believe you’d even suggest it. Damn it, Anton…” He turned away, scared, disgusted, frustrated. She was still unconscious. He couldn’t stand it, couldn’t imagine how he would go on if Eve died. Finally Adam pulled his anger under control. Barely. “Besides, we can’t bond as humans. We bond as wolves, right?”

Anton grabbed his arm and spun him around. Adam had never seen him angry, never witnessed the steely strength in Anton’s eyes, the pure physical power in his grasp. He looked down at his arm, at the spot where Anton grasped him so tight he wondered if the bones might crack.

Anton followed the direction of Adam’s gaze. He shuddered, shook his head and turned Adam loose. He took a deep breath, let it out. Visibly sought control. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I know you’re right, but we have to save her. You’re the only one who can do it.” He turned away and his shoulders slumped. The power seemed to have gone out of him, along with his anger. “I need a shower. I’ll check back with you later.”

Adam watched as Anton walked slowly down the long hallway. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. Anton Cheval was his mentor, teacher to all of them. Seeing him like that, hopeless, powerless, frightened Adam more than he wanted to admit.

Shit, if Anton was giving up hope…No. Eve needed his strength, and if she couldn’t get if from the pack leader, she’d have to get it from Adam. He turned and went back into Eve’s room, shed his pants and crawled into bed beside her. She lay perfectly quiet, perfectly beautiful. If he hadn’t seen the injury beneath her skull, he would have thought she merely slept. Curious, he wondered if she had healed at all over the last few hours.

He pulled Eve against his chest and stroked her hair. Alone, without Mei and Oliver, without Anton’s added strength, he wasn’t sure he could go as deep inside her mind as he’d gone a few hours ago. He let his eyes fall shut, focused his thoughts and pressed his lips against Eve’s temple.

Adam?

Her mental voice was weak, but it was there! “Eve!” He caught himself, kissed her softly, used his mind. Eve. Wake up, sweetheart. Can you wake up?

I’ve been trying. I can feel you beside me but it’s as if there’s a huge weight on my head, as if something is holding me here in the dark.

You’ve been injured. I think your head hit the rocks when the bear swatted you aside. Anton thinks that if we make love, if we link during climax, the strength of the bond might be enough to bring you back.

If that’s so, why haven’t you tried?

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. Damn, if it worked, he owed Anton an apology. I was afraid it would make you hate me, having sex with you without your knowledge. It felt like rape, like what you were running away from.

He heard Eve’s gentle laughter in his mind. Oh, Adam. We never just have sex. You make love to me. It’s not the same, my love. Don’t you know that by now?

He smiled and brushed his lips across her temple. Her eyes flickered, but they didn’t open. I should have figured it out, sweetie. I’m just a slow learner, I guess.

Once again she laughed, but it was silent, deep inside her injured mind. He kissed her lips and felt her sigh in his heart, but she didn’t kiss him back. He moved lower and took her nipple between his lips and gently tugged. The soft areola slowly tightened and her nipple puckered into a taut nub. His throat ached and his eyes burned with unshed tears. Even unconscious, her body reacted.

He kissed his way along her ribs, ran his tongue around the soft swell of her belly and dipped into her navel. He kissed the line between thigh and groin and rubbed his chin in the soft curls covering her pubic mound. Carefully, so as not to hurt her, he spread her legs apart and nestled himself between her thighs.

Is this okay? Are you…

Don’t stop. I feel…

She sounded sleepy, as if mindtalking exhausted her, but when he nuzzled the damp folds between her legs, he felt her juices begin to flow. Slowly, with infinite care, Adam made love to her with his mouth. He missed the silly banter, the soft sighs, the clutching fingers that always tangled in his long hair. He missed the way her body writhed to get closer to his searching tongue, but he wallowed in her taste and her feminine scent, suckled at the sweetly swollen labia protecting her sex. When he circled her clitoris with his tongue, he felt a ripple run through her abdomen.

She was wet and ready for him, but still Adam paused. He knelt between her thighs and the thick crown of his penis rode in the creamy fluids between her legs. “I love you, Eve. Come back.” He watched her face, praying for a blink, a smile. Nothing.

“Damn you, Anton Cheval. I hope to hell you’re right.” He lifted her hips in his hands, to the angle Eve would have taken if she were able. His cock slipped between her folds and he felt the hot sheath of her channel clasping him. Pulling him forward or trying to keep him out?