Wolf's Haven (5 page)

With all the courage she had left, she ran back outside to the small shed she spotted behind the cabin. There was a wheelbarrow propped in a corner. With it, she could bring the injured wolf to safety.

F
or the thirtieth time, Tamara pushed the curtains back and looked out of the front window of the cabin. The snow was piling up fast outside and still there was no sign of Devin. It was getting darker by the minute, and the forest beyond the cabin looked like eerie shadows.

She turned away from the window. Who could blame him for leaving? He’d keep his word, and stayed one more day. It was time for her to fend for herself.

Her eyes fell to the floor to the living, breathing wolf lying on its side next to the door. The bowl of water she’d sat next to it was left untouched. It was as though the wolf was in some coma-like state…but he was very much alive.

Several times while cleaning the deep gashes, its lids peeled open and it stared at her with glazy eyes, only to slump to the floor again. It didn’t take a doctor to realize that its energy from all the blood lost was drained. The amount of it had been substantial enough to cause panic.

But panic had caused her to make a quick decision. Bringing the wolf into the home might not have been such a good idea. She had no idea how to bring a wolf back to health. Plus, what would she feed it? Pancakes? How would she tend to the deep wounds once it came to? It wasn’t as if she could drive it to the nearest hospital and ask for a blood transfusion. For one, she was out in the middle of nowhere without a ride. Two, she was probably wanted by the freaking FBI for breaking and entering. Three, this wasn’t even her damn home.

Why would Devin leave his wolf? It was lying on the floor in distress and possibly dying and he was nowhere to be seen.

Tamara lifted her hands, palms facing up and grimaced at the nasty blisters she’d earned. It’d taken all her might to drag the wolf into that old rickety wheelbarrow. Carrying a hefty wolf through the forest didn’t prove to be an easy task either. Her shirt material was torn and tattered, and her jeans were caked in dirt and mud. She didn’t need a mirror to know that she looked like a complete, tired hag.

Tamara glanced at the sleeping wolf again. The light from a lamp sitting on an end table shone on its sleek black fur. She’d been surprised at how soft it was. Although, she’d never touched a wolf, never even came this close to one. She thought they were all wild animals, and a threat to any frightened unsuspecting human. This one had proven her wrong. If it was Devin’s wolf perhaps it wasn’t as wild as she thought. A domesticated wolf?

She entered the cramped bathroom which was inconveniently located on the other side of the kitchen. As she bent and stretched to peel out of her muddied clothing, her strained and tired muscles called out to her. Dragging what seemed like a two hundred pound wolf through the forest was probably the best workout she’d had in years. Her ass and thighs hurt like hell.

It took several minutes for the water in the shower stall to heat up. She tied up her hair as best as she could using a hand towel and stepped inside. What she needed was to visit a hair dresser fast. The next time she came in contact with a flattening iron, her hair would be a pain to straighten. Her coils were tight, sometimes unruly, courtesy of her African American mother and her locks were abundant thanks to a Native American father. Doing her hair had become a chore, but she’d learned from living on the road for a half year to make do with what was available.

Freshly showered, she stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. She tiptoed quietly past the wolf over to the chest near the foot of the bed. Clothes were the next item on her agenda once she found somewhere to stay. She’d escaped Brad’s clutches, but unfortunately the only thing she left with was the clothes on her back. And of course, her life.

There was stack of neatly folded flannel shirts, jeans, and socks in the chest. It looked like Devin just kept the bare minimum. The absence of a closet also suggested he didn’t own a lot of clothes. She felt incredibly guilty for wearing the man’s clothes, but there was no way she could walk around in a towel, or even the same dirty clothes all day and night.

Tamara dug toward the bottom of the chest in search of something that wouldn’t make her look like a child playing dress up in her parent’s clothes. Just as she grabbed hold of a green shirt, she heard something scrape across the floor. It was coming from the foyer where the wolf lie.

Her fingers paused on the fabric as a worst case scenario rushed through her mind. Realizing that she had no weapon against a wolf that was capable of turning on her, she loosened her grip on the shirt and turned.

As her brain registered and processed what appeared to be a naked Devin standing in the foyer where a wolf had once been, a blood curdling scream escaped from her throat. Devin, whose eyes widened, appeared just as startled as she was.

“Oh my God!” Tamara clutched at the towel covering her body and ran to the opposite end of the cabin.

Scratches marked Devin’s face and a deep scrape was on the left side of his abdomen. The bandages that she’d wrapped around the wolf’s torso lay at his feet. In his hand was the rope she’d used to secure the animal’s feet so it wouldn’t get away. He was sleek and built in his naked form. Hair the same color as the brown and black wolf spread over the upper chest and arms. A patch of it led down his torso forming a “V”. His manhood hung, full and long, between his legs.

After studying what she could only imagine was her state of mishap, he walked over to the chest where Tamara had been and scooped out a pair of jeans.

“What the fuck is going on?” she cried out. “What the hell just happened?”

“Is there a reason why you ran off, Tamara?”

She shook her head. Confused, she looked from the foyer to Devin, who was now buttoning up his pants. “The wolf…?”

Devin held out his hands, as if he was coming for her.

“Don’t come any closer. Please.” Tamara pointed to the foyer. “There was a wolf at the door and now…” She rubbed her forehead with her palm. Surely she wasn’t hallucinating. She’d fallen hard on the pavement at the museum, but she’d recovered already. She glanced up again at the fresh gashes on his abdomen, and then at the bite mark on his neck. The same emerald eyes of the wolf glanced at her attentively. He resembled the wolf. “You—”

Devin nodded. “Yes. I’m the wolf.”

Her breath hitched in her throat. She motioned to the foyer with her hands. “That’s impossible. The wolf was alive and breathing and now it’s gone. Was there a costume? What happened to it? How can you…?” Her words came out in a rush.

He took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. “I can shift.”

“Shift?” Tamara straightened her back. “Like a werewolf? Like in a movie?”

“I am wolf. And I am human.”

“You’re a full grown man. How can you also be wolf?”

“I possess the blood and spirit of Caedmon. Our lineage goes back hundreds of years. Our gift allows us to shift between man and wolf at will.” Devin dropped his head. “I shouldn’t be telling you any of this.”

“The spirit of Caedmon?” She laughed, nervously. “Is this some type of joke?”

“No.” There wasn’t a smile or hint of amusement on his face.

“Then do it. Do it now. Shift into the wolf.” She’d come out from the corner she’d backed herself into.

“I don’t think you know what you’re asking.” Devin stood and walked toward the bathroom.

She followed him. “I know exactly what I’m asking.”

He turned on the faucet, cupped his hand under the spout, and splashed water over his face. As he leaned to grab the hand towel from the rack, Tamara glimpsed his waist and abdomen again. The deep scrapes had disappeared. The skin where the wound had been was the same complexion and just as smooth as the rest of his body.

“You healed…” Tamara raised her eyes slowly to his face. “…really quickly.”

“That’s not a joke, either. Our gifts also give us the ability to heal rapidly…when we have enough strength, of course.”

“Impossible,” she whispered. “I studied medicine. None of this is possible. A man cannot shift into an animal.”

“You’re right.” He shrugged. “I can’t shift. Now, why don’t you tell me where you were going? I thought we had a plan. That you would stay another day and I’d at least help you reach town.”

“I didn’t want to bother you any longer.” It was a stupid idea. If she’d stayed in the cabin and accepted his help in the first place she never would have been attacked by the wolf. “Hey, don’t avoid the issue.” She moved aside so that he could exit the bathroom. “Show me how you shift.”

“You don’t believe me. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Do you realize how surreal this is? For you to tell someone, me, a regular person that you can change into a wolf?”

“You didn’t actually see me shift?” He picked up the bowl of water by the foyer and continued into the kitchen. “As for you…do you know how surreal it was for me to witness a woman falling from a third story window of a history museum?”

“I didn’t fall. I jumped.” Tamara pressed her lips together. “I was in trouble.”

Devin dumped the water into the sink, then grabbed a tall glass and filled it with more tap water. “I figured this much. What were you running from?”

She swallowed. “I’d rather not say.”

He downed the entire glass of water and refilled it. “Do you know what kind of time people serve for breaking and entering?”

Tamara met his eyes in challenge. “You have no idea what was at stake for me.”

“I’m trying to understand.” He searched her face. “Left something valuable in the museum? You needed some cash…? What was it? What would lead you to burglary?”

“I’m not a thief.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I was running for my life.”

“Who threatened your life?”

She looked down at her toes. “My fiancé.”

His attention dropped to her ring finger. “You’re engaged?”

“Not anymore.” Arms still crossed, she slid her left hand under her arm. There wasn’t a ring. Brad had to pawn it to come up with funds to buy a car several months ago. He’d promised to buy it back, but his promises weren’t worth much. “
Ex
-fiancé.”

“Why would you run?”

“I set him up. I botched his robbery attempt and ran.” She turned. “I needed a way to escape from him without being found.”

“This seems to pain you. I’m sorry.”

She could sense him close behind her. “I’m not the complete victim here. I let it get out of hand.”

“Out of hand?” he asked.

Tamara nodded. “It got worse before it ever got better.”

Devin slid his fingers down her bare shoulder and turned over her arm. He inspected the bruise she’d received from Brad a couple days before the museum break-in.

“Is this what you are running from?” He spoke softly.

She nodded. The sound of his voice soothed her, but still she wanted to cower in a corner from embarrassment. She was ashamed to have let this abuse happen to her.

“You shouldn’t have to live in fear.” He let her hand drop to her side, but he did not let it go. “You have too much of a kind soul and are too beautiful of a woman to suffer such treatment.”

She wanted to fall into his chest to welcome a deeper embrace, but something warned her not to trust freely. Her body yearned to close the tiny space that kept them apart. Tamara pulled her hand from his grasp and moved to stand next to the fireplace. Oddly, the heat from his body had been more comforting than the heat from the fire.

“I can’t stay here long. One, I promised my counselor once I was safe that I would call her. And two, I don’t have any clothes.”

“I have cell phone. And I can get you some clothes.”

She wrung her hands together, contemplating his offer. The longer she laid low, the more likely any case that had been brought up against her would have gone cold. What the passage of time did not guarantee, was that Brad had finally been captured and locked up. Unless he had a backup plan for getting caught in the act of burglarizing the museum, there was no chance he could have escaped being surrounded by police. The only reason she was safe and sound was because of the wolf. Devin, her rescuer.