Chapter Six
Her clothing was already sticking to her but running around the dense forest in short sleeves wasn’t an option.
The light long-sleeved shirt, jeans, and boots—necessary when traveling in the harsh landscape—were going to get uncomfortably hot as the sun rose higher in the sky.
Maybe not as hot as things had gotten when she and Cyrus kissed.
What was I thinking?
She hadn’t been, which was the problem. Cyrus had that affect on her.
He might be a wolf. Unless she’d totally lost control of her senses, she’d seen a wolf, one way too large to be normal, the same way Cyrus was taller than most men.
He moved with ease over the roughest terrain, finding the best path without hesitation.
Alert, predatory, and tireless, he was totally at home in the wilderness.
It was easy to see how she might transfer those wolflike traits onto the man.
Maybe exhaustion had hit her harder than she’d thought and she’d hallucinated the entire episode.
Or maybe it was true, a tiny voice whispered.
Men who turned into wolves existed only in fiction or movies, not real life. Werewolf. The word echoed in the back of her brain. She did her best to ignore it.
Whatever the truth, he remained her best chance at finding her son. At this point, she’d deal with the devil himself if that’s what it took to get Adam back.
“Well?” she pushed when he didn’t answer.
“Unless you accept what I am, you won’t believe anything I tell you.” Cyrus tucked the empty wrapper of his jerky into a plastic bag, sealed the garbage, and tucked it into his knapsack. Like her, he was conscious of leaving no trace of himself behind in the pristine forest. “You wide awake now?”
She was shaky from the adrenaline crash, but she wasn’t about to admit it. “Of course.” Confused, she watched as he stood. “Why?”
“This time you won’t be able to convince yourself what you saw was some kind of dream or hallucination.
” He dragged his shirt off, revealing bands of rippling muscles.
A light covering of hair was sprinkled across his pecs before narrowing to a thin line that arrowed downward.
Her mouth went dry and her palms grew damp when he reached for the button on his jeans.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea.” She scrambled to her feet and took a step away.
“Probably not, but you already know too much. There are people out there who’d kill you because of that. The most basic rule of our kind is that humans can’t know about us.”
Her pulse quickened. “And you? Will you hurt me?”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. “Never, but the fact remains that this knowledge puts you in danger.”
“Then why tell me?” Why rock the foundation of her world?
“Because you’re the mother of my son. The fact Adam exists makes him a rarity in the world. I fear he’s more like me than you. If you don’t accept that, it could end badly for all of us. Watch.” With the last of his clothing removed, the air around him began to shiver.
Vinnie dug her fingers into the trunk of a thin oak, her short nails gouging the bark, as the man vanished and a wolf emerged. It was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began, the two melding as one. Then the transformation was complete.
The sun’s rays broke through the thick canopy of leaves and branches, shining down on a thick fur coat in various shades of brown—the same colors as Cyrus’s hair.
Intelligence shone in the wolf’s black eyes.
In the dark, he’d been impressive. In the light of day, he was magnificent.
Primal, wild, and confident in his place in the world, this man was an alpha in every sense of the word.
Her breathing quickened and she blinked several times.
She opened her mouth, closed it again, and swallowed hard.
The heat of the sun, the roughness of the bark against her palm, the quivering of her muscles, and the racing of her heart were all real.
There was only one way to be certain. Taking a step forward, she held out her hand.
Rather than move toward her, he made her go to him. Her hand hovered in the air. Those powerful jaws and sharp teeth could take it off in a single bite. Fingers trembling, she touched his muzzle. His ears twitched. Other than that, he was still as stone.
“This is impossible.” She stroked down the side of his neck. “Oh, God, you’re real.” Cyrus Sin was an honest-to-God werewolf, which meant his brothers were too. The reality of it slammed down on her. She wavered on her feet and sat down before she fell.
Rather than shift back to human, Cyrus sat and patiently waited.
There would be no denying her eyes, not this time.
It was broad daylight and she was fully awake.
Cyrus nuzzled her face and dragged his tongue over her cheek.
“Really? Wolf kisses?” She tried to appear stern but was filled with both awe and amazement and not a little fear.
She’d had sex with a werewolf, fathered a child with one, which meant her son was half werewolf. A ball of ice formed in her stomach. “You think Adam is like you, don’t you?” What did that even mean for him? The implications were terrifying.
Cyrus changed back to human in a seamless and swift transformation she’d have missed if she’d blinked. He tugged on his clothes and sat in front of her. “What I think and what I know are two different things. What I know for sure is that the full moon is tomorrow night.”
“Isn’t that pure folklore? I mean, it’s daytime and you shifted,” she pointed out.
“The moon only matters our first time.” He raked his fingers through his hair.
“Every one of us makes our first transition during puberty. It varies from wolf to wolf. I made mine at thirteen. Most of my brothers were between fourteen and fifteen. Silas, the youngest, took his time and waited until he was sixteen.”
“Adam’s sixteen.”
“Yes.”
“You think that’s why he’s out here, isn’t it? That he somehow senses something is wrong but has no idea what it is.”
He reached out and took her hands in his.
Calloused and warm, they were almost twice the size of hers, yet gentle.
“Puberty is rough no matter the species. Adam is likely dealing with newfound strength and enhanced senses. With that comes added aggression. He has no idea about half his heritage. I’d say he’s scared to death. ”
Vinnie could relate. She was terrified. “What happens tomorrow night?” The full moon was important, or Cyrus wouldn’t have mentioned it.
“My brothers and I are outliers, always have been. We’re not part of a larger pack, so we’re dealing with limited knowledge, whatever we’ve been able to dig up online and what we remember from our parents.
To my knowledge there’s not been a hybrid that could shift in generations, and the validity of that claim is in question.
Hybrid children are rare enough. One that shifts? That’s the stuff of legends.”
Knowledge was power, or so they always said, but right now she wouldn’t mind rewinding the clock several weeks and going back to her oblivious state and ordinary life where her biggest concerns were getting through a shift at work and dealing with a sullen teenager.
But she’d always faced life head-on. From the death of her father when she was a child, turning up pregnant at twenty, to the death of her mom, and everything she saw day in and out on the job, life hadn’t given her a choice.
“You think Adam is going to shift, don’t you?” Talk about impossible to wrap her head around. Her boy had always been different, more solitary and mature at every age, but this went beyond anything she could ever have imagined.
Cyrus stared up at the sky, squinting slightly against the glare. “I’m hoping he’s a normal hybrid with nothing more than some enhancements to his normal senses. That’s difficult enough to deal with when a kid knows what to expect.”
The knot in her stomach twisted and tightened. “And if he can shift?”
He slowly looked at her, anguish stirring in his dark eyes. “If he tries to shift and I’m not there to help guide him through, there’s a good chance he won’t make it.”
Black spots danced before her eyes. She sucked in a deep breath to steady herself. “We need to find him.” Break time was over. Shakier than she’d like, she pushed to her feet.
Cyrus stood and caught her shoulders to steady her. “You need to accept what I am, what your son is, if you’re going to be able to help him.”
The slap of reality was what she needed.
It gave her a sense of purpose. Her son needed her to be strong.
“You’re a werewolf. Adam is half you and half me, and that makes him a hybrid.
” Not something she’d ever thought she’d think or say about anyone, let alone her own child.
“Regardless of whether he can shift or not, he’s my son and I love him. ”
“You’ve been his alpha for all these years, the one who protected him, the one he looked up to. He’ll need that link more than ever.”
There wasn’t time for her to sift through the jumble of emotions bombarding her.
The reality of Cyrus being a wolf might have sent her running, if not for Adam.
This wasn’t about her. It was about her child.
He was out there somewhere alone and confused and in more danger than she’d feared. “Let’s go. Let’s find our son.”
****
They spent the better part of the day crisscrossing the area, stopping for short breaks every couple of hours to fuel and hydrate their bodies.
It was impossible, of course, but the phantom touch of Vinnie’s hand against his wolf’s face echoed inside him like a physical caress.
The more time they spent together, the more attuned to her he became. And right now, she was lagging behind.
He stopped and waited for her to catch up. Worry clouded her gaze. “Have you lost his trail?” She asked him the same question each time he halted. He didn’t take it personally.