Dire Desires: A Novel of the Eternal Wolf Clan (11 page)

I
n the
dead of night, after she’d had twenty-four hours to try to process what Jinx told her, Gillian found herself inside a truck with blackout window tints on the way to the Dire mansion. She sat in the back, Jez driving and Jinx in the passenger’s seat.

She was nervous about going back there—maybe more so since she wasn’t sure if Jinx was going to try to leave her there again for her own good.

After a night in his bed—the roof—his arms—she wasn’t ready to give him up. Heard herself say, “Are you leaving me at the house?”

“Do you want me to?” he asked, the surprise evident in his tone, which was guarded.

“No.”

“Good, because I’m not. But we can run in the woods there—we should be safe,” he told her.

“Really?” She heard the eagerness in her own voice. “We’ll be safe?”

“We’ll have guards.”

The thought of being able to run—really run—without being thought of as crazy—made her smile. She leaned back and let the Grateful Dead music Jez played envelope her as they pulled up a long, winding driveway and into the garage she’d escaped through. The house was sprawling, the land surrounding it more so and she rubbed her hands together in anticipation of seeing all of Jinx’s family again.

“I’ve got stuff to do, so I’ll meet you back here in a couple of hours. Call if you need me sooner,” Jez said. Jinx looked as though he wanted to say something but held his tongue, nodding instead.

“Keep out of trouble, vamp.”

“You know me, wolf.”

“That’s why I said it, dipshit,” Jinx muttered as he led her from the garage to the house.

Once inside, they bypassed the basement room where she’d been held originally in favor of the first floor, the kitchen, specifically. She was greeted by Gwen.

“I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t get you in trouble when I left,” she told the young doctor—wolf. Looked at her to see if she could tell anything and noted she had the same long-limbed figure that she did.

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” Gwen’s smile was warm and genuine. Jinx had told her that Gwen was also a new wolf—and mated to the alpha king, Rifter. She remembered that dark-haired male as well, and when he introduced himself to her again, she wondered if she was supposed to bow and settled for a handshake instead.

In short order, she saw Rogue and was reintroduced to Vice with the silver eyes, tattoos and piercings and Stray and Killian, the brothers with the dark hair and the close relation with her.

“Tell me everything you know about me,” she couldn’t help but ask after they shook her hand solemnly. They couldn’t deny her that and to her relief, they didn’t.

“I guess we’re getting right down to brass tacks,” Stray said with a nod, motioned for her to sit down.

“You’ve got the markings of the Greenland pack. Your family’s surname is Arrow,” Killian started. “You’re from my and Stray’s extended pack.”

“So you two are like family.”

Stray flinched and she wondered if she’d offended him, said something wrong. Kill continued, “Yes, like family. All Dires are connected. And while Weres often mate with humans, a Dire can’t. Couldn’t, before recently. Dires are insular. I can’t believe they would’ve given you up.”

“I can believe it, because they were horrible to both of you. Jinx told me your history.” He’d actually filled her in on it before they got in the truck, giving her only the sketchiest details, but she knew that Stray and Killian had been innocent. That their pack—her pack—had tortured them for little more than having abilities.

Stray was watching her carefully. “I guess we don’t know for sure, but it’s the only thing that made sense.”

“Can you contact them?” she asked, and the mood at the table went somber again.

“We could. I don’t know if we’re going to,” Rifter said. “We can try to get the information more covertly. But as of now, they don’t know that we realize they exist. We’d like to keep it that way until it suits our purpose otherwise.”

“Your pack doesn’t get along with them . . . because of what they did to Stray and Killian?”

“That’s a large part of it.” Rifter didn’t elaborate. “But just because we don’t contact them doesn’t mean you can’t. Just not yet. We need a little time to figure things out.”

“Take all the time you need. I don’t want to go back to them.”

“Gillian, the Blackwells have plastered the world with your photo. The Greenland pack has the isolation you need. You might not have a choice.”

“I don’t want isolation,” she told Rifter. He growled at her, but she didn’t have the sense yet as a new wolf to care. She was still heady from the taste of freedom.

And then she realized that everyone had stilled but the growling she’d attributed only to Rifter continued, but Rifter wasn’t making the sound.

It was Jinx. His eyes had turned to the wolf, his chair pushed back and the growl was low and menacing . . . and directed at Rifter.

“Stand down, wolf.”

When Jinx didn’t, Gillian stood and moved nearly in front of him. “Leave him alone. He’s worried about me.”

And every eye turned to her. Vice’s eyebrows raised but no one said a word. Gwen put her hand on Rifter’s arm and Gillian wondered how badly she’d just stepped out of line. But she’d never been much for social etiquette and figured pack etiquette wasn’t for her either.

“I think we should leave Jinx and Gillian alone,” Vice suggested. “Or else there’s going to be a brawl.”

“I think you should stay out of it.” An order masked in suggestion, but there was no mistaking Rifter’s tone.

“Jinx, you gotta stop challenging him. You know what he’s going through—mated alpha equals fucking nuts,” Vice continued, even as he backed away from Rifter and Gwen pushed the wolf behind her.

But Jinx couldn’t, not if his life depended on it. Rifter was challenging him by calling out his mate—and this was much worse than when he’d had to make Rifter kick him out of the house. “You don’t make decisions for her,” he told his king now.

“I make decisions for the pack. You all gave me that title, that respect—”

“I withdrew my respect, remember?”

“Ah, Jinx,” Vice groaned as Jinx heard himself actually snarl as he pushed Gillian behind him, keeping a hand on her arm. Like he was prepared to fight to the death for her—which he was—and then drag her out of here, caveman style.

He guessed the old ways were still very much ingrained in him after all. And as Rifter moved closer, Gillian was struggling against Jinx’s grasp. Like she was trying to help him.

She broke free because he was afraid of hurting her if he held her wrist too tightly and she jumped in front of him, onto the table, stared down at Rifter. And she growled.

The entire room went silent.

“Wolves, we have bigger problems. Something other is surrounding the house.” Vice’s eyes glowed silver, his voice a growl at the outside threat. All of them were suddenly caught between wanting to shift and waiting to assess what was happening.

“Nothing can see this house but us,” Stray said.

“Greenland pack?” Killian offered, standing close to his brother as he spoke.

“They’ve come here for me?” Gillian asked.

Jinx’s Brother Wolf listened to the growls that seemed to shake the walls with his heart in his throat. Because he’d heard those sounds before and they were most definitely not wolves. “Don’t go out there,” he said. But he had no clue if they’d follow him inside if they thought it necessary.

Like Gillian, they were attempting to protect him.

“Do you know who’s there, Jinx?” Rifter asked, his rage barely concealed, and yeah, Jinx couldn’t blame him.

Jinx glanced at Rogue, who was standing in the corner, pale as anything. The markings on his skull looked brighter and Jinx said, “Ghosts,” and headed toward the living room. Only Rogue knew it was a partial lie. There were always ghosts. What waited for him outside was far worse.

Everyone followed, including Gillian, who said, “Jinx, no,” and grabbed him. He shook her off as gently as he could and jumped out the window, shifting as he went. He hoped these monsters could recognize the wolf form, because otherwise, he might just end up puppy chow.

Jez was there, trying to calm the dogs down. Since they’d been told not to eat him, they hadn’t, but they weren’t paying him much attention either. His fangs were out and he didn’t look happy.

“I followed them here,” Jez told him.

The incessant growling quelled when Brother walked around them. Jinx shifted so he could talk to them, telling them in a low voice that, “I’m fine. Leave this place and do no harm to it or any wolves within.”

The hellhounds bowed their heads. Some whined. Obviously, they didn’t like being told not to kill things, since that was part of their job description. He didn’t see the black smoke, so he added, “Keep the smoke away from this house. From everyone—now.”

Reluctantly, they went, but one of them turned to look at Jinx with a gaze he found chilling.

He’s thinking of rebelling,
Brother told him. And Jinx wished he knew of a way to kill a hellhound, even if it was just to make a point to the others. Instead, he returned the stare until the creature turned its massive head forward and began to gallop away, the others following.

“Gillian’s coming,” Jez told him. “She’s getting good at escaping.”

“Don’t go far, Jez. I’m going to let her run a bit.”

“Do you think that’s wise?”

“Nothing I’ve done tonight can be considered wise at all. I’m fucked. But she shouldn’t suffer because I don’t know which way to turn,” he said honestly. Jez looked pained but he disappeared into the trees as Gillian came up on him. “How did you get away this time?”

“They were busy looking out the window you jumped from. I went into another room and went out the door.” She looked pleased with herself and he couldn’t help but smile. Obviously, she hadn’t seen the hellhounds but she looked around now, rubbing her arms against the evil, like the last time.

“It smells funny out here,” she said.

It was the sulfur. The hounds carried it with them. “Everything’s clear now.”

She looked like she wanted to say something else about that, but asked instead, “What was all that about back at the house with Rifter?”

“You already know enough to make your head spin.” He looked around for the hounds, covered a few footprints as he walked along. Hopefully, once they saw him safe, they’d back off.

“I’m not spinning. I’m confused. Rifter looked like he was going to hurt you.”

“He was.” And Jinx would’ve hurt him right back and things would’ve escalated, gotten uglier than they already were. He knew Rogue would try to smooth things over, but ultimately he’d be forced to choose—admit what he knew or else leave the Dire house.

“Jinx, you know all my secrets,” she persisted.

“Can’t we just enjoy being out here?” Because as long as they were alone—guarded by the hellhounds, they might as well take advantage of it. “You’ve been begging to go outside and now we’re here.”

“And here I thought I was the expert in avoidance,” she murmured, although she began to strip.

He stopped her. “As much as I want to see you naked . . .”

“It’s safer if I’m clothed, right?”

“You’re more camouflaged this way.” He indicated the head-to-toe black she wore.

“I’ve spent days in the woods naked and avoiding people. You’ll just have to trust me on this.”

He had no choice, unless he wanted to try to forcibly keep her clothes on. And once he saw her bare breasts, he was decidedly on team naked. Camouflage was overrated. He had hellhounds.

He stood there for a long moment to admire her. She was stunning—he wanted to take her, claim her, but the mating rule of three times rang in his head. Three times and he’d be laying claim to her for life. He’d have to explain that and he was tired of explaining. Just wanted action and plenty of it.

“Go run,” he told her.

“Are you going to try to catch me?” she called over her shoulder, laughing.

“I’ll do better than that,” he murmured, stripping and shifting, Brother Wolf passing her in a blur.

T
he thrill of bei
ng in her element made her tingle. The cool air hit her skin, and she went up on the balls of her feet for a long second, then propelled forward with a small grunt as she ran along the small, twisted footpath before veering off it into the woods.

She’d never gotten lost before, never really thought about why but obviously being wolf gave her some kind of internal GPS system that kept her on track.

The air washed over her skin, her face stretched in a smile and she might’ve been laughing out loud with the joy of it all. Her feet stung a little from the rough branches and brambles she ran over, but it didn’t matter. That would heal.

She heard Jinx behind her, felt his breath on her back . . . and that’s when she realized it was Jinx’s wolf following her and she knew it before she turned around. Did so slowly and saw the extra-large, gorgeous wolf waiting patiently, head cocked as if to say, “Problem?”

She swallowed, girding herself before stepping forward and reaching out to touch him, sinking her hands in the fur around his neck, pressing her cheek to the top of his head. A soft whimper greeted her. The wolf was so warm with wise eyes and huge paws. Strong, sleek.

“This is what I’ll be,” she whispered and the wolf nodded, because he understood. “Can I run with you?”

He opened his mouth, threw back his head and he howled, a sound that sent shivers down her spine, made her hot and wet with need. And then, with what she swore was a smile, he ran, leaving her to catch up.

She held pace with him, her thigh muscles burning, her body screaming as she wove through the trees, ducking so the low branches wouldn’t touch her.

She didn’t know how long they ran, but when Jinx stopped by a lake, he bent down to drink. She waded in past him, went in waist deep and then dove under, coming up to stare at the sliver of moon that hung in the sky.

There was no beating the real thing, she thought as she floated on her back.

She heard the splash, assumed the wolf was joining her. But Jinx’s face popped up in front of her and she realized she’d missed the shift. She’d ask him to do it later, but for now, she wanted something more.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Very. Thank you,” she told him, grabbed for him, surprised at her own strength. “I want to kiss you.”

His mouth parted. “Go ahead. I won’t bite. Much.”

“I might,” she told him before she did so, bit his lower lip in a light nip that made him growl with a pleasure that zinged through her entire body.

She was alive, more now than she had been when running. This was what she’d been waiting for. Under the water, her legs wrapped around his waist, urging him inside of her.

Instead he pulled her back, turned her so she faced away from him and used his fingers between her legs, stroking her to completion. The combination of the heat between her thighs and the cold of the water made for an intense orgasm that came on more suddenly than she’d expected, caused her cry to echo through the woods.

She leaned back against him, her body as liquid as the lake around her. He floated with her in this serene setting, so at odds with what had happened back at the house.

“If we could stay like this . . . forget everything else,” she murmured.

Jinx wished the same damned thing, because here, in this water, with her hands on his shoulders, her body close, there was peace.

But they had so much to conquer still. He figured Rifter and the others were holding meetings back at the house trying to figure out the Gillian and Jinx situations. And soon enough, he’d have to answer to everyone.

For right now, he could just keep Gillian close and pretend nothing else mattered.

•   •   •

Rog
ue saw Jinx’s blood on the broken glass that was once a picture window. The growling they’d heard outside had retreated momentarily, but he knew what made the sounds weren’t gone. Not by a long shot.

They all watched out the window until Gwen mentioned Gillian and then they all moved away to find her.

She’d gone out the door, though. Rogue had listened for her, knowing she and Jinx were impossibly close. Just the way she’d stood up to Rifter told him that.

He wanted to tell them they shouldn’t go out there, but the questions that would invite were more than he was willing to say.

Trouble, trouble, all around . . .

“We need to talk.”

“Not now, Vice.” Rogue refused to look at the wolf, but knew Vice wasn’t letting this go. At least Vice was able to restrain himself from not doing this when Jinx was there or in front of anyone else, but no way was this discussion going to remain between the two of them.

Rifter was lurking—he believed Rogue knew what was going on with Jinx. And Rogue was torn between his brotherly loyalties and loyalty to his king.

Maybe outing what was happening with Jinx was the only way to get him help.

And maybe it would make him angrier, and the situation more impossible.

Because if Jinx got angry, the monsters who suddenly saw him as the once and future king would go after the Dires and anyone else who got in Jinx’s way. It was a delicate balancing act and Jinx had taken only a few steps on the tightrope, not nearly enough to know if it would hold his weight for any considerable length of time.

“Now.” Vice’s big hand on Rogue’s shoulder turned him around and Rogue bared his teeth as a growl escaped his throat, louder than intended. The tattoos on his skull and face throbbed as though activated by his anger and that scared him in its unexpectedness. The nightmares he could deal with. Unintentional fallout from being marked by hell was in the
oh shit
box.

“What do you want from me, Vice?”

“What the fuck is wrong with your brother? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Vice demanded, not giving a shit if hell itself was on his heels. Rogue should’ve expected this—Vice had no filter, no worries about consequences when he was in the moment. It was the wolf’s nature and Rogue should’ve considered getting the hell out of Dodge the second he looked out the window and saw a hellhound looking back at him.

It cocked its head and looked confused. Sniffed the air and Rogue suddenly understood. They were protecting Jinx since he freed them from purgatory. And by extension, Rogue, since he was part of Jinx.

“Be nice to me or they’ll eat you,” he told Vice.

“You’re serious?” Vice asked, his hands in his pockets, his tone non-threatening.

“They’re Jinx’s protection,” he said.

“Jinx needs protection from us?” Vice looked astonished.

“No. It’s a long story, Vice. And none of you should follow Jinx out there.”

“Obviously, I’m going to need the story,” Vice said and then pointed to Rifter, who was listening by the door. Rogue had been so focused on the hellhounds that he hadn’t heard the other wolf come up behind him.

“I can’t, Rifter.”

“It’s not disloyalty to Jinx—it’s necessity, to help him,” Rifter told him.

“Don’t do this to me. Don’t make me choose.”

“There is no choice in this. There is only goddamned obey.” Rifter’s voice rose to shake-the-house levels. Vice trembled as his wolf struggled to stay contained. Rogue’s glyphs pulsed with pain and he heard Gwen and Kate talking, didn’t want either of them to feel Rifter’s wrath because of him.

But Rifter was circling him and Rogue felt cornered. Something in him was ready to snap, to go over the edge uncontrollably and what if he couldn’t pull himself back?

Jinx had always been able to do that for him. Would if called on again. But bringing his twin here in the first place was a mistake, even if it wasn’t his.

The growling was louder and more inhuman than any wolf he’d ever heard. It sent shivers down the base of his spine, called to him in a way it shouldn’t have.

His wolf wanted to join them and that was wrong on so many levels.

“What the fuck, Rogue?” Vice asked. He was circling the room staring out the window and seeing nothing, but sensing the evil surrounding them.

Vice stopped asking nicely and shook Rogue by the shoulders, which enraged the hellhounds. It was as if they were ready to jump through the windows, and Vice, who wasn’t scared of anything or anybody, didn’t stop pressing Rogue.

Just as suddenly, they were gone. Rogue heard them running, the beats of their paws inside his head, their massive jaws gnashing. He could only imagine what would have drawn them away from their threats outside the Dire house.

Only one thing. “Jinx is in trouble,” he told them, before he shifted and went out the already broken window, following Jinx’s trail of glass and blood.