CHAPTER SEVEN
Layla’s mind was filled with that beast and his magnificent eyes. She was idly stirring the pot of hot chocolate on the stove when the roar rocked the silence of the night. The sound was filled with so much agony and pain she felt it ache in her soul. Her hand went to her heart, and she nearly knocked the pan from the cooker. Grabbing her jacket, she threw it over her robe, and headed toward the door. Running feet echoed through the cabin, and she turned to see her sister and her daughter standing on the stairs.
“What in the hell was that noise? That thing again?” Lexi left the stairs, wrapped her own robe tightly around her body, and grabbed the shotgun beside the door. She held it in her hands, keeping it ready as Layla shook her head quickly. As much as her sister blustered she would never harm an animal in need, unless it was trying to hurt her or her family.
“You are not to shoot him, understand?” Layla put her hand on the door and Lexi stepped before her.
“You are not seriously going out there? You heard that thing, it’s not normal.” Her sister’s tense voice did nothing to sway her choice.
“I need to help him. Step out of my way, Lexi.” Lexi shook her head slowly. To Layla only one thing was clear in her mind and heart—she had to help him. She pushed her twin out of the way roughly.
Lexi fought back, managing to keep the door closed. “You’re out of your mind! Going out there with some kind of monster roaring like that? If I have to knock you out so you see some sense I will do it.”
“Mommy?” The small scared voice of a child interrupted the pair of them, and Layla hissed low at her sister before kneeling before her daughter.
“It’s okay, baby, Auntie Lexi didn’t mean it.” She glared at her sister and stood to face her.
“Auntie Lexi did mean it. I swear, Layla, if you open that door I am going to knock you out. You have helped some crazy creatures in your time, but this one is not natural, you said it yourself.”
“I know what I said! That was before I spoke to him. He has been cursed, Lexi; he needs my help. Let me go out there.” Layla could feel her daughter tugging on her coat. Turning her gaze down to her daughter she saw the trust in her eyes.
“Help him, Mommy. You tell that mean angel that he has to leave him alone.”
“Mean angel? Is that who’s hurting him?” Her daughter nodded slowly and Layla turned her eyes back to her sister. Stubborn resolve burned in her eyes. “Move, Lexi.”
Her twin shook her head. “I can’t, Layla, I can’t watch you walk out there with that thing.”
“He is not a thing! He is in pain and I NEED to help him. Stand behind me with that stupid gun if you wish but I am going out there.” Turning around she knelt before her daughter again and brushed her mop of white blond hair back.
“Stay inside for me, okay? Promise me?” She locked her eyes on her daughter and the slow nod she gave told Layla she didn’t need to worry.
Lexi grumbled and shook her head. Clearly reluctant, she stepped out of the way. Flicking on the porch light Layla rolled her shoulders back and opened the door. The cold air rushed into the house as she walked out onto the porch and stared into the darkness.
She slowly made her way down the wooden steps to the snow-covered drive, her feet sinking into the powder. The night seemed colder than it had earlier, darker and more ominous. Swallowing back the fear that threatened to send her rushing back inside, she walked toward the forest edge.
“Layla! That’s far enough.” Lexi’s voice seemed swallowed by the winter night.
Layla wanted to shout at her sister to let her work with the animal in pain in the night, but she couldn’t help worrying. She closed her eyes, reaching into that warming pool of energy swirling within her. Throwing it out into the night, she felt the presence of many animals cowering from the rage they could feel in the air. It took her only moments to find him, her heart thumping hard in her chest. His mind was a mess of confused emotions and madness. What had happened in the last hour to turn him from a fairly sane creature into this monster?
Layla focused all her power on that swirling torrent and forced it through the pain and confusion she could feel within the beast. Pain surged back into her head and she felt warm liquid on her lips. She lifted her fingers to her mouth and pulled them back again to find blood staining her skin. She ignored it and pushed past the pain. She made a promise, no way in hell was she giving up.
Hunt, kill, feed. Over and over his mind chanted to him. The beast dropped his nose to the ground, a scent coming to him. There was prey nearby, something he could hunt. He needed to kill it, feel the blood rushing over his tongue. He stumbled through the snow, breathing in that unique smell once again. It did funny things to his brain—so sweet, innocent. His stomach cramped with hunger as he broke into a run.
She was there, his prey, standing in the open waiting for him like a sacrifice. He tried to pull back, tried to remember why she was not prey. Shaking the voices from his head he hesitated. In the darkness, he could see her veins through her skin. Her heart rushed a drummer’s rhythm, the sound so loud to his ears it was like music. He stepped from the darkness and growled low, teeth bared. Her throat was perfect, white, and open for his jaws. He would make it quick, bring her little pain.
He could smell her blood pumping through her veins, and that scent snapped his control. Her eyes went wide as he rushed at her, eating up the distance in seconds. The muffled screams of someone were ignored as he pounced, but she put up her hand. A memory surged through him. She had done this before, hurt him before. He didn’t want more pain so he went for her hand. His teeth sank easily into her flesh, her blood rushing over his tongue.
His whole body went rigid the second her sweet blood coated his tongue. Lightning arced through his body and he roared around her hand in his mouth. Releasing her, he fell back. Every nerve ending was on fire. He was dying, he knew it, only death could be this painful.
His body shook, convulsing all over, sweat pouring from him. Suddenly he felt cold, so damn cold he started to shiver all over. Groaning, he put his paws down and blinked back the pain from his head. He frowned and lifted his paw—no wait, hand. He had a hand. He turned it around, confused at the fingers. Steam rose in the air around him as the snow melted where it touched his skin. Turning, he blinked back the fuzzy vision, seeing one woman bleeding on the white snow, and another shouting loudly with a shotgun pointed at him. He didn’t know what she was saying—his eyes were locked on the female bleeding from his bite.
Her voice broke through his haze. “Lexi, stop it! He is hurt! Put that damn gun down.”
He opened his mouth to speak, turning to try and move toward the bleeding woman. He didn’t get far. He grunted as darkness swamped his mind, and he passed out, his face sinking into the snow.
“It just turned into a fucking man! Are you kidding me! I am not putting this gun down.”
“Goddamn it, Lexi, do as I tell you!” Layla hissed at the pain in her hand and moved, dropping to her knees before the passed-out male. He was breathing hard, starting to shake. She reached out and touched his skin. She pulled her hand back quickly. He was so hot he felt as if he were on fire. Tears burned her eyes as she held her bleeding hand to her chest. She turned to her sister. “Lexi, please, he is dying, you have to help him.” She had never had to beg her sister for anything, at least not anything that counted. She felt it in her soul—this counted—he counted. She could not, would not, leave him out here crashing from whatever had forced him to turn back into a man.
She watched Lexi rage with herself as she ran her hand roughly though her hair and swore quietly. She dropped the gun, swearing the whole time, and knelt beside the man. With a groan, Layla managed to get the man on his back, and she sat on her heels looking at him. He was covered in tattoos, and his hard-muscled chest felt like concrete. How had a wolf-monster turned into a man? Layla stroked his dark hair, whispering to him. She knew her sister was frowning at her but she was totally caught up in him.
She couldn’t stop touching him. She wasn’t the healer, but she felt she needed to have her hands on him, that if she stopped he might just slip away into nothing. His jaw was strong and covered in hair, but the beard did not take away from his handsome features. His hair was matted and clumped around his face. His body was littered with old scars and newly healing ones. What had happened to this man? He looked like he had been in a war. Buck naked and in a war, it seemed.
“Come on, give me some sign you are still with me, Wolfman.” He made no sound. Panic gripped her. Laying her head down on his chest she could hear the soft hard thud of one heartbeat, then another. Letting out a sigh she looked at her sister. She watched Lexi frown and curse. Layla knew she hated to see the look of desperation in her eyes.
“Damn it, Layla.” Lexi closed her eyes and laid her hands on the man’s chest. Her power sparked around her like fireflies. She grabbed hold of one and pulled it within her skin. She felt the heat spreading down her arms and entering this male. She almost gasped with how much damage he had inside his body. His muscles were torn at each joint, ligaments strained, organs bruised, and there was some small internal bleeding. Other than that, he appeared to be fine. He had an odd energy about him—he was definitely a hybrid of some type, cursed for certain, but Lexi wasn’t sure he was human at all.
She opened her eyes and sat back. The melted snow around them had long drenched her PJ’s and she was starting to get cold. As she watched her twin she saw something that terrified her. Layla looked at this male like she knew him, like she had to keep touching him. The idea of needing someone so deeply like that made Lexi’s stomach roll.
“Come on, we best get him inside or he’s going to freeze out here. Physically, he’s beat to hell. I can’t heal all that right away.” Layla nodded slowly at her sister’s words and let out a misting breath.
God, just thinking about what she’d seen—Layla at that beast’s mercy, those deadly fangs in her hand—what if he had gone for her throat? Then he’d let her go, howling in pain, and the wolf convulsed and fell, his body writhing. The sisters had both watched with wide eyes as his bones cracked and echoed in the snowy night. Watching it had almost turned her stomach as his back arched into an impossible angle before he rolled over and hunched on the ground. The shadowy fur that had once covered his body evaporated like smoke, leaving behind his flesh. The hound had vanished, leaving behind a truly huge male that terrified her.
Moving to one arm, she helped Layla get him up. He was dead weight against them, and the twins looked at one another. Lexi gave her sister a glare. She mouthed “thank you,” and the pair braced their legs and began the struggle to move him into the cabin.
No doubt he would have a few new bruises once they got him in the house, but it would be better than him freezing to death. It took the two of them about ten minutes to pull and half drag his huge body through the snow to the house. By the time they had him at the door to the cabin, the pair of them were panting hard and wet with sweat.
“I swear, Layla, you owe me big time.” Layla smiled as Lexi wiped back her sweat-slicked hair and pushed open the door.
Annabelle jumped from the window where she had clearly been watching, despite her mother’s order. She rushed over, grabbing the door and holding it open. “Annabelle, go to your room please. He is very sick. We’re going to help him, okay?” Layla evidently didn’t want her child to see the man fully naked. No doubt that would provoke way too many questions at four in the morning.
Annabelle scowled. It was clear she wanted to stay and help, but Layla gave her “the look.” Yes, it worked every time, and Layla had it down, just like Mother. Annabelle resigned herself with a sigh very reminiscent of one of her own. She stomped her foot and huffed as she headed to the stairs, making sure to stomp loudly. The pair watched her go. Layla hung her head with a sigh and rubbed her eyes.
“She will be fine; she just wants to know more about him. I know how she feels. You told me you spoke to him earlier. Did he not mention anything about being a man in a beast’s body?” Lexi grabbed his arm as her sister shook her head. Layla grabbed the other arm, and between them they dragged his heavy ass near the dying fire and laid him on the rug before it.
“His big ass will be fine on the floor, I am not lifting him onto the couch. You are on your own in that regard.” Lexi arched back and stretched her spine with a groan. She left her sister to rebuild the fire while she went to grab the gun she’d left outside, and close up the now cold-as-ice cabin.
Hanging back at the door she watched her sister as she looked over their newest “guest.” A chill ran over Lexi’s skin, and it was not from the cold air blowing across the mountains. Just having him appear like this put her on edge. Lexi liked her little world, just her sister and her niece. She wasn’t ready to let anyone else into it. Hell, she didn’t think she would ever be ready. From the doe-eyed look her sister was giving the big brute, it looked like change might be coming sooner than she liked.
“I can’t help thinking this is a bad idea, Layla. He’s trouble, I can feel it.” Lexi shook her head and rubbed her chilled arms. Heading to the stairs she turned back to her sister who was kneeling beside the male. She had a horrible feeling their comfortable little life had changed, and that terrified her.