For Life (25 page)

The chaos surrounding them made it even harder to think straight. It seemed hours passed, and the cold grew so unbearable that Maura shook uncontrollably when finally several other Malta werewolf males ran into the park. Nicolo and Dimitri continued to stand on either side of Josie when other members of his pack picked him up and carried him to a truck idling in the street.

“There won’t be enough room in the truck,” Rosa told Maura. “Before Dimitri starts barking orders when he’s not thinking straight, let’s get out of here. We’ll be back at the pack before they get there.”

Maura couldn’t take her gaze away from Josie’s dark body, tears burning her eyes as she watched until the males placed him in the back of a pickup truck. A couple of them climbed into the back with him while the driver, Nicolo and Heidi climbed into the cab. Maura’s pack—no, her old pack—pounced around each other like they’d just been to the best party of the year. She hated each and every one of them. The high, pulsing energy radiating off them turned her stomach.

“You cool?” Rosa looked at her, her dark, intense eyes probing her face.

Maura felt too exposed standing next to the concerned bitch. When Josie crawled into her mind it made her feel warm, like he touched her even more intimately than he could with his hands. But Rosa invaded a space that at the moment Maura didn’t completely understand. Her own breed, all the
lunewulfs
lingering in the park rehashing every blow of the challenge, pissed her off more than when Pete dropped her off on the highway and threw her away. None of them gave a rat’s ass that she cared more about Josie than any of the Wagner den. None of them cared about her.

“You two.” Dimitri walked over to them quickly, still on his cell phone and all business. “You’re with me.” He stopped for a moment, staring at Maura, as if for a moment he hesitated on whether to take her with him and Rosa or leave her here with the
lunewulf
pack.

“I’m cool.” Maura turned to Rosa, getting even more pissed at the way the Malta werewolf pack leader looked at her. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

126

For Life

She didn’t know why it surprised her that no one stopped them or said anything when they headed down the street. Once she thought of this pack as her home, as a strong group of
lunewulfs
who she thought had her back. She would have fought for any of them up until the other day. Now she filled her lungs with the freezing night air, held her head high and put her past behind her.

She stared at the taillights of the truck with the Malta werewolves in it and Josie’s unconscious body lying in the back. More than anything she wished she were in that truck with him, holding him so the bumps in the road wouldn’t hurt his injuries more.

Her eyes burned as she watched them. Rosa and Dimitri walked down the middle of the street on either side of her, not speaking, but their intense energy made her skin tingle.
Lunewulfs
on the street made random comments as they passed by but she ignored them, aching to get out of town and never look back. She didn’t know what to expect from her immediate future, but one thing was for sure—after tonight, there was nothing left in this pack for her.

Please let Josie be okay
.

Maura sat quietly in the dimly lit den and watched Maria Anthony, Rosa’s mother, as the older bitch’s arthritic-looking hands pressed into Josie’s black coat. “He’s staying in his fur on purpose, I’d say.” She pursed her lips, sniffing as she leaned close to him and ran her fingers through his matted fur. “He’s got some nasty cuts but his heart is beating strong. Let him sleep it off. We’ll see what the damage is like once he comes to.”

If Maria were twenty years younger, Maura might have experienced a sting of

jealousy. As it was, the sooner everyone got the hell out of Josie’s den, the better. The urge to protect and care for Josie burned deep inside her. Maura didn’t want Maria discovering where Josie’s wounds were. She wanted to do that. Straightening from where she squatted next to Josie, she built up the fire in the fireplace, fighting for the patience needed to survive until they all left.

When Dimitri stood, the others followed suit, his pack members staring down at Josie as he stretched out in his fur on his living room floor. In werewolf form, his large body took up most of the floor space.

She smelled Dimitri’s, as well as Nicolo’s and Heidi’s concern and worry. Rosa moved next to her mother, but gave Maura a reassuring smile when their gazes met.

“Maura will take care of him.” Rosa patted her mother’s hand, but glanced at Dimitri when she spoke. “We should head back to our dens.”

Maura silently thanked Rosa for voicing her thoughts, knowing the bitch heard her.

Nicolo and Heidi got ready to go as well. Heidi grabbed Maura’s hands, squeezing them and then pulling her into a hug.

“He’ll be fine. You know he will be,” she whispered, holding Maura tightly for a moment before letting her go.

Dimitri left last, taking his time silently staring down at the large werewolf stretched out on the floor and smelling grossly of drying blood before closing the door 127

Lorie O’Clare

behind him. Maura searched the den once she was alone, finding all the blankets there were and then nesting them around Josie. She then found a bucket, filled it with warm water and grabbed a washcloth before hauling her supplies.

“That fireplace sure makes it warm in here,” she told Josie, although he didn’t move other than the slow rise and fall of his incredibly large chest. She knelt next to him. “I sure hope you don’t wake up swinging if startled.”

Soaking the cloth, she slowly started cleaning the dried blood from his coat. Maura stroked his forehead, his wide, hard cheekbones and the length of his jaw. She wiped blood from his nose, around his eyes and then ran the cloth down his long, thick neck.

Continually dipping the cloth in the water then wringing it out, she cleaned Josie—her mate.

When the water in the bucket turned rusty-colored, she hauled it back to the kitchen, dumped it, then filled it with slightly warmer water. After putting another log on the fire, she resumed her position, wiping sweat from her forehead then dunking the cloth and again continuing her task of cleaning his massive body.

The fire danced eagerly in the hearth, making the den incredibly toasty. Sweat trickled down her spine, dampening her clothes. She licked her lips, dunked the cloth again, then touched his chest where the blood smelled the thickest.

Josie jumped.

Maura shrieked. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

She touched the deep cut again and fresh blood soaked her cloth and hand. “Shit.

Oh shit. If you had changed back into your skin, then your doctor would have treated you. Now lay still, please. I’ve got to clean this.”

Her heart swelled to her throat when a low growl rumbled inside him. Goose

bumps spread over her skin, chilling her damp body. “Why did you do this, Josie?

Why? You pinned me to the wall. Yet you let those three assholes do this to you. I don’t get it.”

He jumped when she pressed the cloth to the worst of his cuts, a nasty gash that looked like it barely missed his jugular. Another cut, longer and almost as deep spread over his shoulder blades.

“If you’d change, we could wrap these wounds.” She searched his face while gently pressing the wet cloth into his coat. She swore his jaw tightened, as if he endured the pain, but she wasn’t sure.

He was so large as a werewolf that kneeling over him wasn’t an option. And lifting him was out of the question. There was no way she could wrap bandages around his wounds, not even the one on his neck. Even when she gently tried lifting his head, he either refused to let her or was simply too heavy for her human muscles to handle. All she could do was continue bathing him and keep the room warm since she was making his body wet.

By the time she finished cleaning every inch of him, she ached from head to toe.

She’d managed to make herself pretty wet too and she shivered when she took the 128

For Life

bucket back to the kitchen. Leaving it on the counter, she checked the back door, making sure it was locked, then glanced into the blackness beyond the window over the sink. She turned off the kitchen light, encasing herself in darkness, and padded back into the living room where she finally took time to take off her shoes and socks and then strip out of her wet clothes.

In spite of the warmth from the fire, she shivered, stepping gingerly around Josie, who breathed heavily as he slept soundly. His black, massive body called to her, and with a quick glance at the couch, Maura opted for the floor next to him. As worn out as she was, she would wake up faster if he moved next to her or his smell changed in the night.

Hurrying into his bedroom, she tugged and yanked until she was able to pull the large, thick quilt off his bed. The smell of their earlier lovemaking still lingered in the fabric and her insides stirred, a yearning to feel him buried deep inside her coming to life with a vengeance.

She dragged the blanket into the living room, not even attempting to smooth it out on the floor before standing on top of it and then moving to her knees.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. When we wake up, we’re going to have a long talk about this challenge stuff. I’m not too sure I’m hip on the idea of you continuing to pull stunts like this.” She bunched part of the big quilt into a pillow, watching Josie’s chest rise and fall steadily as she spoke. “You’re going to be fine tomorrow,” she murmured, more to herself than to him.

He probably knew exactly how he would be in the morning. More than likely he lay there resting, completely content other than from the pain of some deep wounds that would be healed over the next few days.

Can you hear my thoughts
,
wolf man
? she asked in her mind.
Because if you can and you
think I
’
m going to put out after how much you
’
ve worn me out tonight
,
you
’
ve got another think
coming
.
Again she watched his body, anxiously waiting to see some kind of movement somewhere—his eyes under his eyelids, anything. But nothing moved. Other than his steady breathing, he remained completely relaxed in a deep slumber, which was where she needed to be.

Cuddling up alongside his large body, Josie’s long, thick black fur tickled her skin as she relaxed next to him. If he weren’t so seriously injured, she might have wrapped her arm and leg around him. As it was, she stared at his face, letting her vision blur on his thick, long, shiny canines that stuck out underneath his lips. Slowly, she faded off to sleep.

Her body relaxed, but her mind kept twisting around the events of the past couple days. Everything in her world was different now. Breathing in Josie’s scent, even in her sleep, kept her more than aware of how much it had changed.

Stretching her leg, Maura ran her toes over Josie’s thick, smooth fur, feeling roped muscles twitch in his thigh. She blinked a few times, not sure if she’d truly slept at all, and gazed at his powerful profile. His eye blinked, the only one she could see at the 129

Lorie O’Clare

moment, and then slowly opened. Her insides quickened as her vision grew more acute in the darkness. She watched while Josie seemed to register his surroundings and then slowly lowered his gaze to her.

A low rumble vibrated his entire body. Maura stiffened, wondering how coherent he really was, and then struggled to sit. One large paw, with claws extending well past his black fur, moved to her tummy and prevented her movement. She felt her heart pounding inside her while she watched him.

Instinct prevailed and was stronger when a werewolf was in his fur. Reasoning with him right now would be damned near impossible to do. Keeping her breathing steady, she licked her lips. A wounded animal, even if he was a werewolf, needed to be dealt with very delicately.

“Since you’re awake, I thought I would offer you some water. Are you thirsty?”

There was no way to tell how coherent he was but he didn’t move at her suggestion.

She remained pinned under his deadly paw while his gaze stayed locked on hers. She tried again. “All I’m going to do is get the water and then I’ll be right back. I promise.”

Sensing accurately that his possessive alpha instincts were at their strongest, even in his injured state, she looked down when his heavy paw slid off her bare tummy. She held her breath, watching those deadly claws rake over her flesh.

Josie raised his head quickly before she could stand and sniffed her body where his paw had just been. As if he needed to see that he hadn’t hurt her when moving his claws along her skin, his cold nose touched her stomach, and then he licked her.

His large, long red tongue was very warm and moist. Maura shivered, fighting the need that quickly attacked her insides. Desire ransacked her body and she shivered, sucking air into her suddenly dry mouth. The rich smell of desire clung to the warm air around them.

“I’ll bring you some water.” Her legs were about as effective as standing on wet noodles.

And his senses would be heightened in his fur. Josie probably sniffed out the moment her pussy got wet, in spite of how injured he was.

Walking away from that large, virile body, barefoot against the cold floor, helped clear her head a bit. Nonetheless, her hands trembled when she opened cabinets until she found a large-mouthed plastic cup, one that he purchased at a convenience store. It would work perfectly to offer her werewolf a cold drink.

Icy cold water dripped over her fingers and tickled a path down her forearm when she carried the cup back to Josie. He lay sprawled across the living room floor, taking up every inch of space between his couch and the opposite wall in front of the fireplace.

Malta werewolves were huge as men, but in their fur…damn. Josie looked dangerous as hell, even lying with his eyes closed and head relaxed on the floor.

“Josie,” she whispered, moving to her knees and putting the cup down, then

stroking the side of his head with her fingers. “Some water might do you some good.”