Chapter Nine
Sage felt much better than she had the prior week, but she was relieved when Matt parked the car in her driveway. “Matt,” Sage said, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening her door, “I really appreciate you coming with me today.”
She didn’t hear the growling until she’d closed the door behind her. She turned slowly to find a large dog with short mottled grayish fur slinking across her lawn in a low crouch. “M-Matt—”
Matt appeared in an instant, rounding the car and standing between her and the dog. Killer, she presumed, wasn’t impressed. He continued to advance, his growls growing in volume.
Sage fumbled in her purse for her phone. She didn’t know whether to call the police or try to get Duane at Mrs. Lewis’s house. Her fingers closed around her cell and—
A more vicious growl interrupted Killer’s vocal threats and the dog abruptly fell silent.
Sage glanced up. Matt stood with his arms out at his sides, his fingers spread, deadly sharp claws emerging from their tips.
Hair bristled along his exposed forearms. Sage’s phone slipped from her suddenly nerveless fingers.
Killer emitted a whimper, tucked his tail between his legs, and scampered home.
After a moment of silence, during which she was stunned speechless, Matt relaxed his tense posture, his shoulders slumping with a defeated sounding sigh as he turned to her.
Sage gasped. Whereas seconds before he’d been clean shaven, he now sported at least a couple of days’ worth of stubble.
But the main cause of her shock was his eyes.
Normally sky-blue, they glowed a bright, otherworldly electric blue.
“Matt, what the….”
“What the fuck did you do to my dog?” Duane roared from Mrs. Lewis’s driveway. “You broke my fucking dog,” he yelled, throwing his arms up in the air as he stomped across the street.
Matt flicked a cold glance his way, his eyes still glowing supernaturally. Duane froze mid-step, his eyes widening. Then he executed a perfect pivot and, wordlessly, headed back the way he came.
“Matt?”
Matt studied her for a moment before sighing. “Let’s discuss it inside…if you don’t mind if I come in….”
Snapping out of her shock, she bent and picked up her phone. “I suppose this is the secret you’ve been keeping.” She took her keys from him and unlocked the door. He made no move to follow her, uncertain of his welcome. “Come in,” she ordered.
He followed her to the den. She sat, but Matt paced. He raked his fingers through his hair. “Do you want a cup of coffee…or a glass of water?”
“No. No, I should have told you before now. I just….”
She patted the sofa. “Sit.” When he joined her on the couch, he sat as far from her as possible, perched on the edge, poised to flee. Sighing, she moved closer and took one of his hands in both of hers. The claws and fur had retreated. “Close your eyes and tell me what happened.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“I…was in a bad space. Work was fine, but my personal life felt empty. I don’t think I ever really recovered from losing mom and then my father became ill.
You were getting married. All of it hit me really hard.
I could see nothing but loss and loneliness in my future. ”
“Oh, Matt,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. She wished she’d known he felt that way. Matt was one of the happiest people she knew. She hated that her engagement had played any part in his depression. She would have called off the wedding sooner.
He squeezed her hand. “I joined a grief support group. I met a woman who’d lost her husband.
There was nothing between us but friendship.
She invited me and a few others to a cabin she had in the mountains.
At least, she told me she invited some of the others.
She didn’t. When I arrived, it was just the two of us.
The cabin was smaller, more isolated, and more rustic than she’d described.
But I didn’t leave. I wasn’t scared. Why would I be? I’m a big man. She’s a small woman.”
His hand trembled and he shook his head.
“I didn’t know she was a werewolf. Even if I had, I might not have been frightened.
She seemed…sad but kind.” He huffed out a breath.
“She gave me beer. I think she must have put something in it because after a half a bottle, I kept nodding off. I woke up in the middle of the night with her touching me. She’d lost her husband and…
I wasn’t going to have you, so I didn’t object.
But she was rough. She scratched me. She bit me.
Hard.” He paused to raise his free hand to the nape of his neck.
“I was drowsy, but I knew I didn’t like what was happening and I called a halt to it. And that’s when she flipped.”
Sage held her breath. She hated that this had happened to Matt.
Even with his eyes closed, his brow wrinkled in a frown. “She growled. And I could tell that the sound was inhuman. She held me down with ease. She wanted to have sex, but I couldn’t. From the first bite, I was done. That didn’t stop her from trying. She tied me down. Over the next few days—”
“Oh my God,” Sage whispered, horrified that he’d been held captive for so long.
“She kept trying. I had bites and scratches everywhere. I believed she was going to kill me.” Tears slid from beneath the thick fan of his lashes.
He took a shuddering breath. “On the third day, something changed. Not with her, but with me. I…felt different. The wounds she inflicted started healing. By the fourth day, I was stronger, almost strong enough to break free. And on the fifth, I did. That’s when her family—her pack arrived.
They’d known she was struggling after the death of her mate.
“There’s still a lot I don’t know about the werewolf community, but it’s my understanding that she should have been contained or killed for turning a human who is not her fated mate without the permission of her pack.
Werewolves don’t even want the knowledge that they can turn humans to be general knowledge.
It should only happen with their fated mates.
They’re trying to gain acceptance from humans.
Attempting to force a mating goes against that goal. ”
“By contained, you mean arrested?”
He nodded. “Something like that. The Alpha would determine the punishment, but the pack would also have a say in it. Mostly, it’d be like house arrest. In my case, they chose to confine her. I accepted that. I didn’t want Meredith to die.
After they found us, they took me in, gave me some basic rules about being a werewolf.
But I didn’t feel comfortable there. I felt like an outsider and more like a prisoner than a guest. They didn’t want me to tell anyone what happened.
And worse, Meredith was confined to not leaving pack territory, but she was free to roam within it.
And often, she roamed wherever I was. I pointed this out and they said they’d handle it, but nothing was ever done to stop her.
She’s related to their Alpha, and her brother is next in line. I had no choice but to leave.”
Sage wiped the tears off his cheeks, and he leaned into her touch. “She still wanted you to be her mate?”
He nodded. “But since I’m not, no bond was formed between us. I have no romantic or sexual feelings toward her.”
“I don’t understand. How does the mating work?”
“I’m not sure. They got skittish whenever I asked about it. My werewolf education is sorely lacking,” he said with a snort. Without opening his eyes, he pulled her close and pressed his forehead to hers. “I wanted to tell you. It’s still difficult to talk about.”
“I’m glad you told me. I hate that you’ve been dealing with this on your own.”
He groaned. “I didn’t know myself—couldn’t trust myself. I couldn’t risk hurting you or anyone else. I know they say werewolves aren’t violent, but that hasn’t been my primary experience.”
She wrapped her arms around him as if she could squeeze out all the bad memories. A sudden memory sparked her to gasp, “Your sister. You said her mate was a werewolf. Couldn’t you ask her?”
“I thought of that. Mating is a personal subject to bring up to a sister I’ve just met.”
“Maybe ask her mate?”
Matt hummed and ran a hand down her back. “Maybe. I’m not sure he likes me.”
She laughed. “Impossible.”
“Totally possible. I got all growly with him because I wanted to make damn sure that Missy wasn’t being forced into being his mate.
And he wasn’t happy to see a strange shifter on her doorstep.
Evidently, there’s some etiquette involved about letting an Alpha know you’re in their territory.
I wasn’t there long enough to meet him.”
Sage rested her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. “I’m going to miss you when I go back to work.”
“I’ll miss you, too.” The deep timbre of his voice sent a shiver down her spine and made her nipples tingle to life. Matt held her tighter. “Chilly?”
“Um, no.” She swallowed, suddenly aware that this hug had been going on for too long. And that what had started out comforting was becoming anything but.
Matt inhaled deeply. “Fuck, you smell good.
“What do I smell like?”
He hummed, and if it were possible to wrap herself in sound, this would be the one she would choose. It was deep, rumbly…sexy. “Sweet…browning butter mixed with brown sugar. Fucking yummy.”
She gave a weak laugh. “Is this a werewolf thing?”
“I don’t know. You’ve always smelled good to me, but lately…. Off the charts. So, yeah, I guess so. Right now, though your scent got warmer and sweeter.”
Oh, my God! He could smell her arousal! Sage pulled back. She smoothed her blouse. “Um, so I’ve read a few shifter romances….”
He laughed. “Yeah, I know.” He gestured at her bookshelf. “I’ve perused your titles.”
“Well, it could be that…well, possibly….”
Matt arched an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
She bit her lip. “You can smell when I’m…when you’re turning me on.”
“Yeah?” he asked again, his voice deep and growly. His eyes took on that supernatural glow again as he slowly leaned forward and buried his face into the crook of her neck. He inhaled. “Fuck.”
Sage moaned. She gripped his shoulders to keep from oozing off the couch and onto the floor in a boneless wanton puddle. Matt growled. He gripped her waist. When his fingers flexed, the sharp tips of his claws pricked her skin. He dragged his teeth down the column of her throat.
Digging her fingers in his curls, she yanked him away from her neck.
Panting, they stared at each other. She moved first, arching up to press her lips to his.
Matt growled and kissed her back. He nipped her bottom lip, then licked it before deepening the kiss.
Sage tilted her head to the side, eagerly welcoming his tongue.
They fell back onto the sofa, each of them hungry for the other.
He kneed her thighs open and slowly settled between them with a satisfied groan.
Pleasure rolled over her at the feel of his full weight pressing her into the cushions.
His cock was a thick hard bar, and he repositioned himself until it rested at just the right spot.
And then he thrust. Sage gasped. Her core went sodden. Two thrusts and she wrapped her legs around his waist, rocking with him. They kissed until her lips tingled and she was breathless. She slid her hand beneath his T-shirt, feeling the strong muscles of his back as he flexed over her.
Matt tore his mouth from hers, burying his face in her neck again, his breathing labored. He licked her pulse. “Smell so good,” he said, his voice guttural. “You smell like mine.”
His possessive words and tone thrilled her. “That sounds like something right out of one of those shifter romances.”
“Yeah? Feels right. So, fucking right that I—” He stiffened suddenly. In the next instant, he scrambled away from her.
Sage blinked and slowly sat up as Matt began to pace the length of her den. She straightened her clothing. “What’s wrong? I thought it was the girl who usually freaked out.” And she probably should be having a fit of anxiety. She’d just made out with Matt on her sofa.
“I….” His eyes briefly flared with an unnatural glow. “Since the attack, I haven’t been able to….” He wet his lips and gestured to the lower half of his body.
She frowned. “Wear…pants?” she guessed.
Matt blinked. “No. Not wear…. I wore pants here. What do you think? That I picked up kilts so that I could shift easier?”
“That’s right. You shift,” she marveled, completely distracted from the idea of Matt in a kilt. “I’d like to see your wolf.”
He stilled. “I have to take off my clothes. Maybe….” He pointed behind him at the guestroom.
She nodded though she was a little disappointed.
Really, because weren’t they about to get naked a few minutes ago?
And she really should be more nervous about the idea of getting intimate with someone new.
But this was Matt, and she felt comfortable and excited with the idea.
So excited that a few more minutes on the couch with him humping her would have sent her over the edge.
She’d been thinking about sex with Matt, fantasizing about being with him since finding out that he truly did desire her.
But she’d held out because she didn’t know what his secret would be.
His being a werewolf had not been on her radar.
“But wait! You were about to tell me something. Something you hadn’t done since…you know, since it happened.”
“I…. It’s…. It’ll wait.”
“But it seemed really important.”
He made a face. “Shifting makes me anxious. I’d rather get it over with, if that’s okay?”
She nodded. After his shocking revelations, she figured it was enough for one day. Sharing his story had to be emotionally taxing. And now she was asking him to shift. He’d already left for the guestroom, or she would have stopped him.
Seconds later a surprisingly large white wolf strolled into the den.
It was beautiful, just like Matt, the white fur a creamy color a shade or two lighter than his hair.
The wolf’s eyes were the same as Matt’s, a stunning sky blue.
He loped up to her and sat at her feet, this thick tail flicking back and forth over the floor.
She held her hand out. When she hesitated, unsure if she should pet him or not, he nuzzled her palm with his snout. She scratched the top of his head and his eyes narrowed in bliss. When she moved on to the area behind his ears, one of his back feet thumped. Sage laughed.
“You’re so soft.” She’d always liked dogs, but her parents had been against indoor pets. Not that Matt was a dog or her pet. But petting his fur, satisfied an unrealized childhood need. “And so handsome.” She released him with a sigh. “Thank you. Please, change back now.”