20. Dom
20
DOM
K ira stares at me, eyes wide, and her breathing ragged.
I sink into a crouch, trying not to scare her any more than I have already. I will never forget the terror of seeing Bryce with his gun pointed at her head out of my mind. Seconds ago, I hadn’t cared about her knowing I was a shifter.
Now it will cost me my mate.
“I know this is a lot to take in. But I’m still me. I just?—”
She throws herself at me and wraps her arms around me, her face against my throat. “I don’t care. I just care that you’re here.”
Behind me, someone clears their throat.
Still crouched, I wrap my arm around Kira and turn her slightly. My gaze connects with Galen, who, along with my packmates, has shifted back to their human form.
Galen’s expression is smug as he mouths, “Told you to tell her.”
I lower my head, winding both arms around Kira and draw her into a deeper hug, breathing the scent of her into my lungs as I lift her. “Come on. Let’s get you away from this place.”
And away from Bryce’s body.
I’d wanted to lunge and rip his throat out, but I was worried I would hurt Kira. Then, as I’d crept closer, Bryce had pointed his gun right at Kira and I’d known he was going to shoot her.
I’ve never run so fast, driving him into the nearby tree as I swiped him with my claws. He deserved a longer, more painful death than a broken neck, but he’s dead now. He won’t hurt Kira again.
As I rise with Kira cradled in my arms, Chloe is human, but still naked as she approaches Shawn. He’s not unconscious as I thought he was when I’d raced by his prone figure on my way to rescuing Kira.
He gets to his feet. His face is white as he clamps his hand on his still-bleeding left shoulder.
Chloe reaches out to help him. “Are you okay, Shawn?”
Shawn turns around and walks away from her without a word.
I look at Galen. He’s frowning as he watches Shawn disappear through a gap in the trees. Seconds later, we hear the hum of his engine as he drives away.
That’s a problem.
Potentially a big one.
But one I can’t bring myself to care about until I get my mate home, clean the dirt, tears, and blood from her face, and ensure she’s okay.
And we need to talk.
I need to tell her everything I should have before.
I head for Galen’s truck, leaving him to bark orders at the others to get to work making Bryce’s death look like a wolf attack. Any other time, we’d bury the body, but a missing sheriff is going to cause us more problems than a dead one killed by a wolf.
As I get in the backseat of Galen’s truck, Sierra passes me a blanket that I wrap around Kira, who is quiet in my arms.
Thirty minutes later, Kira sits perched on the end of my bed as I crouch in front of her. She still has the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
Kira seemed a little disappointed when I slipped into a pair of black sweatpants as soon as I carried her up the stairs, leaving her to make a brief stop in the bathroom for a washcloth and a bucket of water. Otherwise, she’s been quiet.
Watchful but quiet.
She doesn’t take her eyes off me as I slowly and methodically wipe the blood and dirt from her face. She has bruises from where Bryce must have hit her, and I want to kill him all over again when I see those signs of her abuse.
I’ve dipped the flannel in the bucket of warm water for the second time when I say, “You look like you’re bursting with questions.”
She’s a little too watchful for this to be shock.
“Have you always been able to change into a wolf?”
“Since I was seventeen,” I say, giving her a probing look.
“Oh.”
She doesn’t immediately shove me aside and sprint out of the door. I let myself relax a little more. The longer she doesn’t run away, the less likely she will.
“We’re called shifters.” Finished wiping her face, I move onto the scratches and bruises on her arms. “And we have our first shift around puberty.”
“Does it hurt, squishing yourself into a smaller…” Her voice trails off when my lip twitches at the wonder in her voice.
When I peer up at her, her cheeks are pink and she’s avoiding my gaze.
Bryce’s abuse has cut deep, and I keep seeing signs of it. Lowering the washcloth, I wait until we’re eye-to-eye. “Ask, Kira.”
She shrugs. “It’s a stupid question.”
“No question you ask me will ever be stupid.”
“You smiled.” Her gaze dips to my mouth. Not that there’s any sign of a smile to be found now. Her fear of speaking her mind has killed my amusement.
“I am in awe that you haven’t left me. It’s a relief. And I smiled because you reminded me of a joy I’d forgotten.”
She tilts her head. “Joy about what?”
“My first shift. I had a lot of questions and no one to answer them. I’m glad I can answer them for you.” That first shift came suddenly, one night, when I was in foster care. It felt like something was trying to get out of me.
I climbed out of my bedroom window, driven to get somewhere green, with no clue why, and I shifted. I was seventeen when I learned I wasn’t like everyone else. There was no way I could stay with humans in case they ever learned what I could do and caged me like an animal.
So I left, changed my name from Dom Walker to Dom Wolfe, and started living my life on the road, searching for more people who were like me.
I found other shifters on the way, but they were never any I wanted to stay long with. So I kept moving on, looking for whoever left me in Minnesota with not so much as a name.
“You’re bigger now,” she says, her eyes dipping to my bare chest. I could have put a shirt on along with sweats, but I’ve seen the way Kira looks at me when I’m bare chested, and I like it. She finds me attractive, so I didn’t put a shirt on. For her. “When you’re a wolf, where does the rest of you go?”
I grin at her and shake my head. “I couldn’t tell you. It’s the magic of the shift, I guess.”
After giving her left palm one more swipe to rid it of dirt, I toss the flannel into the bucket beside me. She’s still watching me curiously. “You’re really not afraid of me?”
“Bryce abducted me. You came after me, saved me, and killed him.” She lifts her hand to my face, her touch so gentle that I lean into it. “Even as a wolf, you’re still helping me. You’re still you, and I’m not afraid of you, Dom.”
There’s no keeping my hands to myself after that. I wrap my arms around her and draw her into another hug. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
“How did you know where I was?”
I kiss her shoulder. “Shawn called. Ivar, the postman, had his truck stolen. Shawn figured it was Bryce, and so did we.” I squeeze her again and pull away. “He called us a few minutes later, said someone had spotted the truck. We piled into our vehicles and came after you.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” she whispers.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Even if Bryce had taken her to the other side of the world, I wouldn’t have stopped until I got Kira back.
She looks at me for several seconds, her expression inscrutable. Then she smiles. “Sierra said you had another side of you that was more growly, but still protective. She was right.”
I chuckle. “She told me she said that to you.”
“But you were afraid if you told me, then I would leave?”
I nod. “That’s right.” This is the time to tell her about what I did that I shouldn’t have, which I still, even knowing it was wrong, can’t find it in me to regret. "I did something to you that I should not have without permission."
Her shoulders tense. "What?"
"I bit you."
She stares at me for a beat then laughs, "Oh, that. I told you it was okay. I didn't?—"
"No. It's a problem," I interrupt.
Her smile fades. "Why is it a problem?"
"When a shifter male finds his mate, he’s driven to bite her. I'd say it was mostly the wolf side of me that wants to do the biting, but it isn’t just my wolf. It's me too."
She frowns. "And a bite is a bad thing?"
"Not a bad thing. It's a bond. Like a shifter form of marriage. You being human changes things, but I shouldn’t have done it without your permission."
"What does this bond mean?"
Again, she’s not running when I thought she would. My mate is sitting, with her hands resting calmly on her lap, listening to my explanation when I don’t deserve it. Or her.
"Nothing for you. Only a shifter feels the bond is even there. You'll have the imprint of my bite for a few days. It will fade, but any shifter who smells you will know you’re mine.”
“Oh, that’s…” Her voice trails off.
“Bad?” I watch her expression closely.
“No. Just… I don’t know. So, I smell different?”
I bite back a smile at her delicate question. “Not bad. You smell as perfect as you always do. Only a shifter will know you’re my mate.”
Her gaze sharpens. "And you? What does this bite mean for you?"
"It doesn’t matter."
"Why do I think it does?"
"You’re human." I skirt the issue, not wanting Kira to feel like she's responsible for anything that happens to me as a result of that bite. She isn't. The consequences are on me. "That means you can’t feel the bond the way I can."
"And how does the bond feel to you?"
There’s no stopping my smile, even if I wanted to. "Like discovering the other half of my soul. Like my heart opening up and being filled with wonder. Like I'm no longer alone in the world."
And for the first time since I shifted and met the wolf half of me, my wolf is relaxed and content in a way he never was before. I feel whole.
She stares at me, looking pleased and a little jealous. "Really?"
I nod. "Really."
"But I don't feel any different."
"And you won't.” I take her hand and squeeze, needing to touch her.
"But I've seen movies with werewolves. Surely if you bit me then..."
I grin at her. "No, you won't start howling at the moon."
She pokes my chest with her free hand and yelps. " Ouch ! You're hard all over."
I kiss the tip of her finger, soothing her hurt. " I would have to be a wolf when I bit you. Not all humans take this new change well, so it doesn’t happen often."
What usually happens, I’ve heard, though never seen, is the newly bitten human turns feral. Their human mind struggles to accept an alien presence in their mind. It isn’t easy being alone in your head to suddenly sharing your mind and your body with a wolf.
It took time for me to process that change, and I think it went easier for me because this is the way I was always meant to be. The change was sudden and shocking, but it felt right.
For a human who has lived most of their life one way, that change could break their mind or send them mad.
Kira muffles a yawn.
Taking it as a cue that this conversation has gone on longer than I should have let it, I get to my feet and grab one of my T-shirts from the dresser.
Yes, I could get one of the silky nightwear Tricia picked out for Kira, but I want her in something of mine. Especially on a day when I came so close to losing her.
“How about a rest now?” I offer.
She yawns again. “Okay.”
I help her out of her dress and into my T-shirt that’s too big for her, trying not to growl at the bruises on her legs and arms, or get aroused by her soft, sweet curves.
"But if you bit me when you were a wolf, I would be like you?" she asks once we’ve settled in bed, and I have her in my arms.
"Do you want to be like me?"
"Do I get to live forever?"
"No. We’re more long lived because we’re harder to kill and heal faster, but we age the same."
"And I’ll howl at the moon?"
I smile. "Only if you wanted to."
She lifts her head from my shoulder, meeting my eyes. "I think there's something else you're not telling me about this bite, something about how it affects you, but I think I understand why you would."
I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "You’re very forgiving."
"What other way is there to be?" She yawns so loudly that her jaw cracks, but she tries to get up. “I need to braid my hair if I’m sleeping. It’ll tangle and I don’t have a brush.”
I muffle a curse at my stupidity. Kira came to Wylder with only the clothes on her back. Of course there was more stuff she needed. Things like a hairbrush.
"Dom?"
I kiss her and get up. "Wait here.”
I leave her staring after me as I leave the room and head downstairs. Music drifts from Rose’s room. If anyone is going to have everything that Kira needs, it’ll be Rose and her penchant for shopping.
I knock on her door.
She opens it at once, dressed in sweats from our venture out to rescue Kira. “Yeah?”
"Do you have spare girl things for Kira? I didn't realize she needed them until now."
“Girl things?” Rose stares at me. "Like tampons?"
" What ! No. Like a hairbrush and... wait. Are there other things I need?"
Rose gives me a look that calls me an idiot and swings around. "Wait here."
She's back in two minutes with a hairbrush, ties, tampons, and more moisturizers and beauty products than I realize she had. My arms are full. "Uh, thanks."
"I have more if she needs it."
More ? I hope not. This is overwhelming as it is.
I carry the armful of beauty products into my room and place it on top of the dresser. Kira, who is sitting up in bed, stares at the pile. "Uh, Dom? What’s with the drugstore you suddenly opened up over there?"
"I assumed everything you would need was under the sink in the bathroom. I didn't think about other stuff. Rose has more, but I can take you to the store tomorrow, so I never have Rose look at me like I'm an idiot when she assumes I went to her for tampons."
She flashes me a brief smile. “I appreciate everything you do for me, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. I don’t want to live off your charity, and if there aren’t any jobs…”
I walk over to the bed, sit on the edge, lifting her chin. “There are jobs. None in low season, though.”
“Ah, the reason the job hunt turned into a date?”
I lean close, kissing her. “But not the biggest. I wanted to spoil you.”
She glances at the pile of shopping bags and grins at me. “Well, consider me spoiled.”
“What did you want to do?”
Her expression is thoughtful. “I always thought I would go to college and move away. Then I got married, and I just felt stuck in Palmerston.”
“Maybe you could do that college course you always wanted? We don’t have a community college here, but you could do something online.”
She stares at me. “That costs money.”
“We do okay for ourselves. If you want to go to college, we can afford it.”
“I’ll have to think about it.”
“Then think about it.” I kiss her again. “There’s something else you could do here.”
She looks curious, and I hope I’m not rushing her into something she’s not ready for. “What?”
“You could be my wife,” I say softly, watching her reaction.
Her breathing stops.
“In fact, I would love it very much it if the woman I love would be my wife.” Her eyes are misty as I continue. “We have a jeweler here, and one day, I’d like to go into that store to pick out a ring for you. But…”
I feel her tension ramp up. “But what?”
“This needs to be something you want, Kira. This has to be something that will make you happy. If this isn’t what you want, I will take you wherever you want to go, and you can start over with a hell of a lot more than just the clothes on your back. You would never have to see me again a day in your life if you wanted it. Okay?”
She nods. “Okay.”
And I draw her into a hug. I bit her when I shouldn’t, but if she wants to walk away, if she wants to leave, no matter what it means for me, I will never try to force her into a future that she doesn’t want.
“But if you want to stay, I will love you like no one has ever loved you before. I will make you smile every single day for the rest of your life, Kira.”
She squeezes me. “Dom?”
I squeeze her back. “Yeah?”
“I want to be your wife.”
I freeze.
“What did you say?” I breathe.
“I love you and I want to be your wife.”
I pull away, look her in the eye, and she smiles. Then I kiss her, and I don’t stop kissing her until I’m inside her again and she is shattering around me.
It’s the middle of the night when I leave Kira sleeping and head downstairs.
Galen is in the kitchen, sitting at the dining table with a beer in front of him. “There’s an ice cold one in the refrigerator.”
"I couldn't help but overhear you and Kira,” he says as I grab a beer and join him.
“It’s a big house, and wolves have big ears. Perhaps as big as dogs.” I twist the lid open and toss the cap on the table.
“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” he sighs.
“Your attempt to convince me to tell Kira I’m a shifter by likening us to dogs?” I snort. “Never, my friend. Never.”
He shakes his head. “And Sierra… you don’t want to know how hard she’s been laughing. Every time she looks at me, she just starts laughing. What the hell was I thinking?”
He’s lifting his bottle to his lips when I speak. “You were thinking about being a good friend.”
His bottle stops and he studies me for a beat, then slowly nods. “Does that mean you’ll never mention it again?”
“No.” I take a gulp and we sit in the dimly lit kitchen silently nursing our beers.
I marvel that Kira is up in my bed, that she’s staying after I told her everything, even the things I should have told her before. She’s going to be my wife and I’m going to be her husband. It’s not the shifter way of bonding, but I want to bond with Kira any and every way there is.
“Shawn isn’t answering any of our calls,” he says.
And that is why I’m down here and not upstairs sleeping with my mate. It’s a situation we both need to deal with before it blows up in our faces. “Because he knows.”
I thought he was unconscious, but he saw us shift. Now we need to decide what to do because Shawn knows our secret, and he’s not talking to us, which makes him a liability.
“I don’t want to kill him,” I admit.
The only reason Kira is still alive is because he called to tell us about Ivar’s missing truck, and got himself shot trying to save her.
He saved my mate’s life. That is not a killing offence.
“Neither do I.” Galen takes another swig from his beer as he stares straight ahead. “But something needs to happen before he forces us into action.”
“Do you think he’ll tell anyone?” I set my beer aside, not as interested in drinking as I am in returning to my mate and falling asleep with her in my arms.
“Not sure. He has a thing with Chloe, so maybe he won’t.”
“Correction. He had a thing with Chloe.” Chloe tried to help him, and Shawn walked away from her without a word.
“How’s Chloe?” I ask when he doesn’t say anymore.
He looks at me. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”
“I suspected.” I push myself to my feet. “It was clear they had feelings for each other. I’m going to bed.”
“And the reason you said nothing to me?”
I pause in the doorway, meeting Sierra’s eyes as she takes the last step down the staircase, in search of her mate, who is still nursing a beer in the kitchen. I nod at Sierra and she smiles.
“Because everyone deserves a chance to find love. I thought maybe it would be enough.”
But maybe sometimes it’s not.