mywolfprotector (3 page)

She turned back to him with a puzzled expression on her heart-shaped face. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Yes,” he replied gruffly, turning away from her. He was fighting for control, the presence of his mate flipping the switch for the mating heat their kind experienced. If he kissed her now, there would be no stopping. Marrok could sense she wasn't ready for that.

He wanted his mate relaxed and her mind clear when he took her, but even more, he wanted her

to desire him as much as he did her. “Let's get inside so I can make that call. You probably want a shower, too. I've got some clothes you can use until yours are washed and dried.” He grinned ruefully before adding, “They won't fit you right, but men's clothing is all I have here.”

She nodded, her blue eyes wide. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

He led her into the house and into the bathroom. It had a high-ceiling, the walls made with

natural wood. The room was large and peaceful, a woodsy aroma filling the air. She inhaled deeply in pleasure. “Let me get those clothes for you. The towels are there in that cabinet. While you're showering, I'll call over to the sheriff so he can get someone out there as soon as possible. We'll go from there, okay?”

“Okay,” she replied softly, moving to the cabinet to pick out a towel. Delivering the clothes, he quickly departed with a smile that turned into a groan as he got out of hearing range. The temptation of her flesh was too much to take, especially knowing she would soon be naked. Walking into the living room, he picked up the phone and dialed Sheriff Brown's home number. While waiting, he pulled off his sunglasses and laid them down on the small table.

The Sheriff was a pack mate, but nobody outside of the wolves knew this. It wasn't uncommon.

Wolves generally held positions of authority in neighboring towns. It was for pack protection. Should a wolf be spotted or problems arise, they were the first to know. Knowledge really was power, especially when it came to supernatural matters concerning large groups of people.

He answered, the sounds a ball game loud in the background. Marrok filled him in on the events of the night, advising him of the woman left behind. The television was quickly turned off. After Marrok gave him directions, Sheriff Brown promised to let him know something as soon as possible.

He hung up, relieved that the matter was settled. Now he could focus on his mate.

The shower stopped, the sound easily heard with his sensitive hearing. Walking into his kitchen, he grimaced at the pitiful contents of his refrigerator. Luckily he'd stopped at the store upon his arrival back in town, but he hadn't planned on entertaining. Making up a tray, he carried it back to the living room and waited for his mate to make her entrance.

He didn't wait long. She walked into the room with her hair freshly washed, her blue eyes

uncertain. His t-shirt and sweatpants dwarfed her, despite her voluptuous size. Taylor was gorgeous without even trying to be.

She glanced around the room appreciatively, but got right to the point. “What did the he say?”

He beckoned for her to come in, and she sat down on the couch next to him. “I thought you

might be hungry or thirsty,” he told her. “I'll fill you in while you eat.”

“Okay,” she replied, biting into a sandwich. Her lips were plump and a rosy pink, and he

watched her intently for several seconds, surprised to realize he was slightly jealous of the sandwich.

He rolled his eyes at the thought.

“Sheriff Brown will call back as soon as he knows something,” he finally managed to get out.

She cleared her throat. “I hate to put you out, but would you mind if I remained here until we know something? I rode to the bar with Nicole, and I don't have a way home until we find her.”

“That will be fine.” In all seriousness, he doubted the other woman would be capable of driving when Sheriff Brown found her. Not with the sheer amounts of liquor they'd been passing around. He wondered if he could convince Taylor to spend the night. Now that he'd found her, he never wanted to let her out of his sight again.

Wolves were unlike humans in many ways, and so were their courtships. They didn't need long

engagements or monotonous time lines. Once they met their mate, they knew it. Matings went far beyond the average human's understanding.

Taylor kept watching him when she thought he wasn't looking, and he couldn't help but preen.

He could see the interest in her eyes and smell the stirrings of heat within her body. She wanted her wolf man, and she wanted him badly. It was a good thing he was ready, willing, and able to satisfy her luscious body. Something told him she was going to be hell in bed, and he couldn't wait to see it for himself.

Marrok considered himself a ladies men. He wasn't conceited, but he knew how women

responded to him. It was time to turn the charm on his mate. For the next half-hour, he focused all his attention on her. She was captivating.

Carefully, he drew her out of her shell. Before long, she was responding to him as if they were old friends. It was what he wanted. They would be spending many years together as mates, and he wanted them to be joyful, happy years. That could only come if they were best friends as well as lovers.

His dark eyes met hers. They locked and held as an intense heat and emotion passed between

them. Although she didn't understand it, he did. It was the supernatural bond that had chosen them as mates. Their bond would only go stronger as their feelings for one another grew deeper. It was fate, and one could never win a battle against it.

He brought his fingers to her cheeks and drew the backs of them down against her soft skin.

“You're a beauty, Taylor,” he told her softly, his face descending to hers. “If you only knew how long I've waited for someone like you to walk into my life.”

She gasped, her lips parting slowly. He closed his eyes, knowing they would soon flare red. In wolf form they were always red, but the only time they changed in human form was in lust or extreme emotion. It was not unusual for the Native American wolves to do this, though. He feared how his mate would take him being werewolf, not to mention, his glowing red eyes.

Passion exploded between them at the first press of his lips upon hers. The heat was so strong and overwhelming, Marrok lost his head. He laid her back on the couch, his mouth moving

everywhere. “I want to taste every inch of your delectable body.”

Taylor's musk and need was powerful and strong, an aphrodisiac that urged him to bring her the ultimate in satisfaction. Somewhere within the back of his mind he heard an annoyance, but lust pushed it from his thoughts. Nothing mattered but quenching the flames that were burning them both up alive.

“Marrok,” she gasped wide-eyed in pleasure as his long fingers teased her hardened nipples.

“The phone is ringing. It might be important.”

He pulled away from her, remaining on his knees for several seconds with his eyes closed. His

breathing sounded loud and harsh to his ears, as his body fought for control. Stopping only minutes from claiming Taylor was tearing him up.

Finally, Marrok felt like he could stand. He got up quickly, putting his back to her as he

answered the phone. He needed time to let his ardor, and his eyes, calm down. “Hello,” he barked into the phone.

“Marrok, it's Sheriff Brown, and I've got some bad news.”

“I'm listening.”

He exhaled deeply. “We went out to the lake, which took us awhile with the way the roads are.

There's no other way to say this. It's a bloodbath out there. Someone slit the throat of fifteen bikers and two women, and I mean it was brutal. Pretty soon, the town is going to be flooded with the police, FBI, and everything in between. I can confirm, though, that neither woman is Nicole. We checked their ID's.”

“Shit,” Marrok exclaimed. “Who in the hell would have done it? I didn't notice anyone else out in the area.”

“Beats the hell out of me,” the Sheriff responded. “Someone else was here, though, and it was

definitely more than one. I can scent several men, and it's not the bikers.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Keep the girl with you safe. This town doesn't need another murder. I'll want to talk to her

later, and see what she knows. I'll call you when I get the chance.”

Marrok eyes had returned back to their natural color. Turning, he faced Taylor. “You don't have to worry about that. I'll guard her with my life, and I mean
my very life
.”

Sheriff Brown easily read between the lines. “Ah-ha, it's like that, huh?” He chuckled wearily.

“It's nice to see that one good thing has come out of the events of this night. I'll leave your mate in your good hands. Congratulations.”

They quickly hung up. Taylor watched him, her face drawn in anxiety. “What's happened?”

“After we left, someone attacked the biker gang at the lake. They are all dead.”

Her face blanched, but she asked steadily, “What about Nicole?”

“She wasn't found among the remains, but the Sheriff isn't certain where she's at.”

Taylor's eyes filled with tears. “That means she might have escaped. I shouldn't have left her.”

“No,” he responded, his voice firm. “If you wouldn't have left, you would have been in the

same situation.” He didn't bother mentioning there was no way in hell he would have left her behind.

“Besides, it was her choice. She chose to go off with that man, and leave you behind to fend for yourself against a group of woman-hungry, drunk men. You will not blame yourself.” He was still furious with the unknown Nicole for putting his mate in that kind of danger.

She looked down, crying silently. It broke his heart to see her in such pain. He scooped her up in his arms, and carried her to his bedroom. “I'm taking you to bed, and I don't mean in it in the way you're thinking. You've had a long, horrible night, and you need rest. Sheriff Brown will want to talk with you sometime soon, but he doesn't know when that will be yet.”

“Will you stay with me?” She asked, her voice shaky. It was obvious that any thoughts of

leaving had long since fled from her mind, and it pleased him that she wanted him near.

“You better believe it.”

Gently he laid her down, before stepping back to take off his shirt. He left his pants on, but he pulled his hair back in a low ponytail. Climbing in, he pulled her close.

They talked for quite awhile, first about the events of the night before he gently led her into more general conversation. Taylor eventually fell into a troubled rest. He held her the entire night, unable to sleep from the joy of finding his mate, and the horror of realizing how close he'd come to losing it all without even knowing it. His mind raced as he thought about what he'd learned. He didn't know who was behind the murders, but his mate was in danger until it was solved.

Any chance of her returning to her old life for awhile had disappeared the moment he'd

answered the phone. He hoped Taylor would see reason. Her life was too valuable to him to ever risk.

Come hell or high water, here she would remain.

For the first time in his entire life, his soul was at peace. It overrode everything. Nothing in his life could have ever compared to finding her, and he couldn't wait to start their lives together. His free-spirited lifestyle had ended the moment he scented her, and he couldn't have cared less. Nothing mattered but Taylor.

Two hours before dawn he fell asleep, anticipating the future. It wasn't to be, though. When the morning sun kissed the skyline he awoke, to a nightmare that would never end.

His mate had disappeared without a trace.

Wolf Town, Missouri

Marrok jerked awake at the first sound of the feet at his doorstep, his body instantly tense and wary of possible danger. He'd been dreaming of the night he met Taylor, but that wasn't unusual. There hadn't been a night in the last thirty-odd years he hadn't.

He blinked, pushing the lingering memories away. His supernatural senses were carefully

honed, his body the ultimate fighting machine. In one quiet movement, he was out of the bed and carefully inching his way to his door.

His unexpected visitor knocked briskly before saying, “Marrok, it's Connor. Open up.”

Marrok stopped, his body immediately relaxing as he rolled his eyes. Connor was a fellow

guardian and a major pain in his ass. “This better be good, Connor. In case you haven't heard, most people are actually sleeping at three in the morning.”

“I know that,” Connor hissed in response. His voice was urgent, his tone revealing his anxiety.

“This is a matter of importance. Now open the damn door.”

It was unusual for the other wolf to actually be serious, so Marrok quickly complied. Connor

was dressed for detail in a black t-shirt, pants, and black boots. He held the door open as the other man walked into the room. Although he was mostly healed from the attack on Wolf Town the month before, he still walked with a slight limp when he was tired. Marrok hoped it wouldn't always be so for his friend and comrade.

Connor turned and gave his boxer shorts a pointed stare, his expression mocking. Marrok

narrowed his eyes at him in a glare as he shut the door. “What do you expect a man to be wearing in the middle of the night?” he finally asked in a growl, crossing his arms as he waited for Connor to get to the point. “You're damn lucky I was even wearing this.”

A mischievous grin flashed across Connor's smooth features. “You mean the staid and oh-so-

proper Marrok actually sleeps naked? I would have taken you for the type of man to even screw in his long-johns.”

Marrok snarled, pulling his lips back to reveal pearl-white teeth. Connor lived to aggravate

those around him, and he did a mighty fine job of it. “You know, Connor, it's a miracle some wolf hasn't tore your ass up already,” he finally bit out. “It's just a matter of time.”

Connor sighed, looking bored as he quickly buffed his fingernails on his shirt. “Many have