Chapter Four

The city of Duluth faded into farmland as the truck sped north along the highway. Samuel’s thoughts scrambled as he forced himself to focus on the road. His family was going to freak out when they arrived. They didn’t react well when they found out Caleb and Micah had mated. When Samuel showed up with not one but two mates? His mother was going to have a coronary.

But that wasn’t his only concern. What about Henry and Delilah? Henry loved his books. Delilah told him she was a renowned archeologist. Could they adjust to his life? Would they accept what he truly was? He shook his head. It was all too much to figure out.

“Sam?” Henry asked softly.

“Yeah?”

“Where the hell are we going?”

“I told you that I lived out of town.” He looked ahead. He could see Sharky’s Garage along the side of the road. The thick ridge of woods loomed in the distance.

“How far out of town?” Delilah asked. There was hesitation in her voice.

“You’re going to want to hang on, sweetheart.”

Before she could respond, he sped up the thin lane that led into the forest. The truck shuddered as it climbed up the rut-covered road. Branches scraped deep along the sides. This trip didn’t bother Samuel. He had taken this route thousands of times. But by the gasps and groans coming from the other side of the truck, Henry and Delilah weren’t so confident.

Delilah gripped the hands that never left her thighs. “Where the fuck are you taking us?”

“You travel the world, but you’re afraid of a little drive in the woods?” Sam countered.

Her icy glare changed his tune. He continued. “We’re almost there. You won’t die.”

Sunlight broke through the thick trees. A moment later, the clearing appeared. Sam slowed and maneuvered the vehicle to a stop next to the other cars. He climbed out and started across the camp toward his cabin.

“Who are your friends, Sam?”

Sam stopped dead in his tracks at his older brother’s voice. Josiah leaned against the rail of the deck leading to the Family Building. Samuel glanced back at Henry and Delilah following him. They clung to each other as they took in the buildings and surrounding forest. It was obvious that being in such a rustic setting deep in the woods was a shock to their systems.

Josiah continued. “Do me a favor. Take your shirt off.”

Samuel snarled. “Fuck you.”

Josiah shook his head. “For fuck sakes, Sam. You don’t have to cry about it. It’s not new. Mike and Cay have already been marked. So take the fucking shirt off.”

Samuel growled as he grabbed the hem of his T-shirt and tugged it off over his head. The warm sunlight kissed his skin as he turned his back to his brother. “Happy?”

“Nice. It looks nice. I’m guessing the hot redhead has one too?”

Sam turned back to face him again. “No shit, Sherlock.”

“Calm down, bro. But Sam, we’ve talked. No one is allowed up here. The more people from the outside world that we bring up here increases our chance of being discovered for who we really are.” Josiah pointed at Henry. “He can’t be here.”

Samuel took a deep breath and looked back at Henry. The aggravated tone he had used with his brother suddenly disappeared. His words were soothing. “Henry, take off your shirt and turn around.”

“Sam, I don't understand why I need to do that,” Henry protested.

Samuel sighed. “Please, baby. Just do it.”

“Baby?” Josiah’s voice echoed through the clearing.

Samuel watched Henry’s gaze dart from Josiah to Samuel. He slowly let go of Delilah, stripped his shirt off, and spun around until his back faced the brothers. Samuel couldn’t breathe as he took in the intricate design etched into Henry’s skin.

“What the hell?” Josiah stammered. “There has to be a mistake.”

“There’s no mistake,” Samuel replied. “I have two mates. Henry belongs here as much as anyone else. All those times you thought I was off banging some woman? I was with Henry. We’ve been together for a year now. I met Delilah last night.”

He felt a tug on his arm. He looked down to find Delilah glaring at him. “Mates? What is this about us being your mates?”

He took her hand in his and led her back to Henry. Glancing over his shoulder, he scowled. Josiah wasn’t the only one nosing into their business. They had a full audience now, including his mother. Fantastic.

He turned back to his mates, shutting the rest of the world out. “The tattoos on your back are the marks of my ancestors. When we have sex with the ones chosen for us, they appear.”

Delilah laughed as she shook her head. “I have studied cultures from all over the world. None of them have this sort of mystic voodoo.”

“You keep saying cultures, Delilah. I said species.”

“Species indicate not human. Are you saying you’re not human?”

“Not entirely. My mother is human. My father was not.”

“And your father was?”

The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. It was a relief to finally share his deepest, most intimate secret with someone. “A werewolf. Like I am.”

Delilah’s smile faded. “A werewolf, huh? Do you think we’re stupid? Don’t insult our intelligence.”

“I’m not kidding.”

“Werewolves are mythical creatures. I want solid, scientific fact. That’s what I base my life on.”

“Well, sweetheart. You’re going to be in for a surprise.”

Samuel didn’t realize he was still holding his truck keys until they were torn from his hand. He met Henry’s angry, confused glare.

“You said you loved me,” Henry accused.

“I do, Henry. You know that.”

“Then you tell me a bullshit lie? A story so far-fetched it’s folklore? If you didn’t want me to meet your family, fine. You don’t have to humiliate me in front of them.”

Samuel’s voice broke as he pleaded with Henry. “Please, stop. Listen to me. I swear to you that I’m telling you the truth.”

Henry glared at him for a few moments more. Then he took Delilah’s hand. Together they stormed off to Samuel’s truck. Deep down in his gut, Samuel knew he should run after them, stop them, move heaven and earth to keep them there.

Instead, he stayed rooted to the ground as they hopped in and sped off through the trees.

“Dude, they stole your truck,” Ezekiel said, a hint of awe to his voice.

Samuel couldn’t answer. His heart was shattered pieces in his chest. He told the man he loved the truth and then watched him walk away and leave him. And Delilah? He didn’t know what he felt for her, but watching her go tore him apart.

“Never fear, bro,” Josiah remarked. “They can’t go far. Eternal bond, remember? They’ll be back. The only question is how long you can go without your wheels.”

He turned to Josiah and sighed. He watched the members of his family disappear as they returned to their tasks.

His gaze locked with Eve as the brunette stood on the porch of her cabin. She shuffled her foot on the deck before she spoke. “Need to talk?”

Samuel scowled. “Fuck, no.” He stormed past her into his cabin, slamming the door behind him.

»»•««

The day dragged on. Delilah shifted herself as she crossed her legs beneath her. She glanced at the little nest of books and blankets she’d made on the couch. Sighing heavily, she scooped up the largest tome next to her and searched the page it was opened to.

Delilah Cavanaugh, one of the world’s leading archeologists, sought by museums and universities across the globe, was doing extensive research on werewolves.

She tried to convince herself she wasn’t doing it for her. Seeing Henry so sad broke her heart. For the last couple of days, he either stayed in bed or camped out on this couch. She had never seen him act like this before.

She couldn’t remember the first time she met Henry. Her mother and his had photos of them sharing a playpen. Her mother made a month’s worth of casseroles for Henry’s family when his father died in a freak fire at work. Ever since then, Henry wouldn’t touch a tater tot.

They were inseparable in grade school. There was hardly a moment they were apart. They lost their virginity to each other. Delilah knew Henry was interested in guys before he did when they both lusted after the star running back of their college football team. She was the one who nudged Henry to talk to him. The two of them secretly dated all through freshman year.

In college, she spent her hours in class, in the library, and in Henry’s bed if they weren’t dating anyone else. The passion between them grew to an intensity that consumed her. By the time she started senior year, he was all she thought about.

Then she let those words slip. He grew frigid with her. It tore her to pieces. Instead of sobbing into her pillow, she buried herself in her studies. She took the first job she was offered. The night of graduation, she hopped on a plane for a dig in the Middle East. After a year, Henry sent an e-mail to get in touch. They fell back into their routine. They talked every day. When she was in Duluth, they would hook up for hot, crazy sex until they were too tired to move. They would experiment occasionally with a third person, either a man or woman, but it was always better just with him. Never once did they talk about those words she said to him. Hearing Henry say those same words to Sam nearly destroyed her. Now, Henry was a mess over Sam, and there was nothing she could do.

His mourning over his broken heart didn’t stop the hot, insane sex between them. They couldn’t help themselves. They acted solely on instinct. The way Henry made her feel, the exquisite pleasure that he gave her was nothing like the times before when they slept together. But despite how good it was, they were both missing something.

She sighed. Sam. She hardly knew the guy, and she ached for him. She thought about him all the time. She couldn’t concentrate on the dig she was about to have in Egypt. She dreamed about him. She knew Henry did too because he muttered Sam’s name in his sleep. And since sun up that day, her body burned with a lust she never experienced before. She had no idea why.

The guy was batshit crazy to believe he was a werewolf. Trying to convince them was insane.

But here she was camped out on the couch studying about mythical beasts instead of ancient pharaohs. Who was the crazy one now?

Her heart jumped at the knock on the door. They had Sam’s truck. Was he back for it? Would he make love to her long and slow or hard and fast? However he did it, she was going to tie him up and leave him naked on the bed until Henry got home. They both needed him so much it hurt. She wished she knew why.

She nudged the book and the blanket on her lap onto the floor and stood. She crossed the living room and yanked the door open. Her heart fell when she found a strange black-haired woman dressed in a T-shirt and tight shorts that barely covered her ass standing there instead. She looked oddly familiar. Where had Delilah seen her?

“Hello?” Delilah questioned. “May I help you?”

The woman smiled. “I’m here to talk to you.”

“Do I know you?”

The woman’s cheeks flushed red. “Oh, fuck. I’m so sorry.” She held out her hand. “I’m Eve. I’m Micah’s mate. Well, and wife.”

“I don’t know a Micah. I’m sorry. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Eve didn’t respond. Instead, she turned slightly and pulled up the back of her shirt. The intricate design of a half-back tattoo eerily similar to Delilah’s was embedded in her flesh.

Delilah’s breath caught in her throat. “You’re one…”

Eve let her shirt fall as she faced Delilah. “Micah Hallow. Sam’s brother.”

“You’re here for the truck. Is Sam pressing charges?”

Eve thumbed over her shoulder. A motorcycle was parked behind the truck, its front tire nearly kissing its bumper. “I’m hardly here to get it. I can’t drive both back. And no. Sam could care less. He’s trying to hold it back, but we can all tell he’s devastated to lose you both.”

“He hardly knows me.”

“It doesn’t matter. You and Henry are his mates. It’s primal. He has no choice but to miss you.”

Delilah didn’t understand why, but her heart warmed at Eve’s words. Knowing Samuel was thinking of her, of Henry, set butterflies off in her belly. “So you believe in this werewolf bullshit that Samuel and his family is trying to spoon feed us?”

“It’s far from bullshit.”

“How can you possibly say that? Werewolves are mythical. They’re not real.”

“Beg to differ.”

Delilah laughed. “You’ve seen one?”

“I’ve seen four. I haven’t seen Sam. But I have seen Joe, Mike, Cay, and Abe. That’s why I’m here. What are you doing?”

Delilah didn’t answer her for a moment. She knew she was slack-jawed. She remembered seeing Eve standing on the deck of one of the cabins with a tall, well-built guy with glasses. But this confession she had seen werewolves? “Nothing really. Just some research. Why?”

“It’s a full moon. I want to show you something.”

“I don’t know you.”

“Yet that pull that demands you fuck Sam and Henry’s brains out is telling you to come with me, right? That and idle curiosity that there is some minuscule chance I’m right.”

Delilah gaped at her again. How did this woman know how she felt? It made no logical sense.

Eve winked at her and continued. “Before you freak out that I read your mind, we’re all hard-wired the same way. This thing that controls us has made me do and say things I never thought I would.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“It led me to Micah’s arms. So, hell yeah. Are you coming with?”

Delilah stood stone still for a long moment. Then she turned to grab her purse and the keys to Samuel’s truck. “Let’s go.”

Delilah closed the door and locked it behind her. She followed Eve down the steps to the vehicles. Before she hopped in behind the wheel, she heard Eve call out to her. The other woman was already straddling the bike with a helmet in her hand.

“Just a heads up. It’s going to be a long drive,” Eve reminded her.

Delilah nodded. “I’ll follow you.”

Eve certainly wasn’t shitting her. They were driving forever. The sun had barely touched the horizon when they left Duluth in their rearview mirror. Delilah felt a twist of guilt in her stomach. She left Henry without a note. It wasn’t the first time that had happened. But since this bond appeared between them and Sam, the two of them were inseparable. It nearly killed them when Henry had to go to work that morning. But whatever was about to happen, Delilah wanted him far away. I’ve been in dangerous situations before. Henry spends time among books. I’ll figure out how to get word to him. Somehow.

Twilight painted the sky in brilliant pinks, oranges, and blues when they reached the tree line. It wasn’t the path they had gone before. There was no sign of the little gas station. They drove deep into the woods, the trees blocking the sun and casting the area around her into an early night.

The full moon was high overhead, bathing the forest in pure white light when Eve finally pulled to a stop in front of a single cabin. The glow reflected off the lake a couple of hundred yards from the abode. The noise from the bike could have woken the dead. Whoever was inside must have been awake. Every light inside burned a warm amber.

Delilah climbed out of the truck, carefully shutting the door behind her. She turned to find a blonde standing on the top step of the porch with her arms crossed over her chest. She was dressed similar to Eve in a pair of tiny denim shorts and a T-shirt. “You’ll drive that anywhere, won’t you?”

Eve grinned. “Micah bought me such a sweet gift after my old one was beaten to hell. Of course I’m going to drive it.”

“Holy fuck, it’s loud.”

“The louder, the better.” Eve motioned to Delilah. “Delilah, this is Meg, Cay’s mate and wife. Meg, Delilah.”

Meg smiled. “Hi, Delilah. It’s nice to meet you.” She turned back to Eve. “This could have waited until after the full moon.”

“She needs to know, Meg. For Sam’s sake.”

“It’s dangerous.”

Delilah swallowed hard. “These things, if they really exist, attack? They eat people?”

Meg shook her head. “Not that kind of dangerous. The Hallow boys are only fertile during the full moon. If you have sex with Sam during the week of the full moon, you better be ready to be a mother. Other than that, they can control the bloodlust. And they can’t attack their mates.”

Eve raised her hand reluctantly. “Except me. I can’t get pregnant.”

“It’ll happen,” Meg assured.

“Doubtful. Meg, she’s safe. Sam is nowhere near here. Let her see Ruby.”

Meg sighed. “Sure. Come in.”

Delilah stared at both women, baffled as they ascended the porch steps into the cabin. Whatever delusion they believed in, they were fully vested into it. The small cabin was moderately decorated with a backwoods feeling. There was a sofa and a couple of armchairs with faded upholstery. Nothing separated the kitchen and wooden dining table from the sitting area; it was all one great room. Three doors along the opposite wall must have led to bedrooms and a bathroom. She hoped. She hadn’t seen an outhouse.

Her thoughts were torn away by the sound of a growl. It was soft and low like a dog. She looked around the floor to find the family pet.

That’s when she saw it. It was the size of a golden retriever, but it was no canine. It had coarse, charcoal-gray fur. Fangs jutted from either side of its snout. Its claws scraped the wood planks of the floor. It looked like a wolf but a thousand times more terrifying. Delilah had seen some pretty scary things in her travels. Nothing compared to this.

She screamed as she pointed at it. “What-what is that thing?”

Meg frowned. “That thing is my daughter, thank you. She takes after her daddy every full moon.”

“But…but…”

“She is a werewolf. So are her father and her uncles. Sam wasn’t bullshitting you.”

Delilah’s heart thundered out of control as she watched the little werewolf flop down next to the sofa and gnaw on the leg. She thought her entire body seized and stopped functioning when she heard a second growl behind her. It was louder and more vicious, followed by snorting. Earth was torn away outside. Delilah clenched her hands into fists as she focused on Ruby. If the little one terrified her, what was behind her would probably knock her dead where she stood.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Meg run outside onto the deck. “Cay, everything is okay. That wasn’t me. It was Delilah. She saw Ruby. It’s all right.”

Delilah slowly turned and screamed again, this time much louder. The wolf outside looked like the small one in the cabin but stood at least six feet tall. Its fangs looked razor sharp. Beneath its claws were clods of turned up dirt. Its stare was locked on Delilah. It snorted and then huffed before it turned back to nuzzle Meg.

“That…” Delilah stammered.

“Cay,” Eve answered.

“This shit is real?”

“That’s why I brought you here.”

Caleb pulled from Meg’s embrace and paced to the middle of the yard. He tossed back his head and let go a blood-curdling howl. He studied the women once more before he lumbered off into the woods.

Meg led them back into the cabin. “You might as well stick around until morning. I don’t mind the company. Just head out at sun up. Okay?”

“What happens at sun up?” Delilah asked, her voice breaking.

Meg’s grin was pure evil. Eve laughed. “Cay turns back to human. Ruby goes to bed, and the two of them make like bunnies.”

“Non-stop until we fall asleep,” Meg added.

Delilah collapsed on the couch. As the terror of what she saw subsided, the raging lust she felt earlier took its place. She knew she couldn’t sleep. “Do either of you have a computer I could borrow for a second? I left my phone at home. I need to send a quick message to Henry letting him know that I’m all right.”

Meg pointed at the door on the left. “Yep, in there. We work on the boys’ apps when they change. Help yourself.”

Delilah’s knees buckled as she stood. She muttered “thanks” as she carefully made her way to the bedroom and opened the door. The bedroom was as sparsely decorated as the living room with a bed, a port-a-crib, a dresser, and a desk with the desktop computer on it. By the pile of rumpled sheets in the middle of the bed, the marathon lovemaking already started when the couple arrived.

She blew out a heavy breath as she slumped in the desk chair. She grabbed the mouse and shook it until the monitor woke up and the tower whirled to life. She stared blankly at the screen. What was she going to tell Henry? How could she explain what she saw? She could hardly believe it herself even though she saw it with her own two eyes.

She clicked the icon to open the web browser and typed in the website. She waited patiently for her account to open once she typed in her username and password. She struggled to form words in her mind as she typed in Henry’s e-mail address. Nothing came.

“You okay in there?” Eve called from the living room.

The door nudged open a little. Delilah watched as Ruby scuttled in. The small beast bumped into the dresser, then the port-a-crib, and then her legs before she wedged herself between the bed and the wall. Moments later Meg rushed in behind her.

“Sorry,” Meg apologized. “She’s still figuring things out.”

“How old is she?” Delilah asked.

“Two months. In human form, she can’t do much. So being able to run around one week a month must be confusing.”

“Must be.”

Meg freed her daughter and carried her carefully from the room, closing the door behind them. Delilah didn’t move as she watched them go. She turned to the computer and started typing.

Henry, I’m fine. I’m with Sam’s sisters-in-law. I’ll be home in the morning. And baby, Sam isn’t lying. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ll tell you more tomorrow. Love you. Dee

She clicked Send. Once she knew it was successful, she closed the browser and stood. Opening the door, she found Eve alone in the living room.

“Where’s…?” It was all Delilah could get out.

“Outside in the yard,” Eve replied. “Meg is trying to wear her out. Or hope Caleb comes back to help.”

“Oh.” Delilah settled on the couch and laid her head on the arm. She stared out the window at the moonlight glistening on the lake. The sound of Meg’s laughter blended with the crickets’ songs. Her nerves were fried. A thousand volts of electricity buzzed through her.

It didn’t stop her from falling asleep.