Wolf’s Heart (26 page)

Carlee hugged Lou, and when they parted, Ryden saw tears in Carlee’s eyes. He took her hand in his, and they watched Lou leave. Seconds later, JT pulled out of the drive, leaving them alone.

She leaned into him, and he pulled her down onto his chest. She held on tight, arms wrapped around his waist as if he was her life preserver, keeping her afloat. “I’ve got to find him,” she whispered. “He’s all I have.”

He caressed her back and tried to soothe her. “I know, Buttercup, we’ll find him. But right now, we don’t know where to start, and until we do, keeping you safe is all that matters. My leave ends in three days. We’ll figure out something, somewhere for you to be safe. You’re mine, Carlee, and I’ll die before I let anyone harm you. My pack will do the same. We’re family, not blood, but closer than blood ties could ever bring us. They will protect what’s mine same as me.”

Her breath hitched, and he could feel her tears soaking into his t-shirt. “I love you, Carlee. We’ll figure this out. For now, we’re going to take every minute we have and just be together. JT won’t mind if we stay here. One day at a time, Buttercup.” 

She sat up and sucked her bottom lip in, giving him that doe-eyed look that melted his heart. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for this woman, his mate. In a few short days, so much had changed; so many possibilities lay ahead, but with those possibilities, came fear for her safety. Making her his wife was high on his list of priorities. While his life had never been a bed of roses, neither had hers. Together they could have what they had always wanted in life and had never been given as children—a loving relationship. Between his mother leaving him orphaned, and her parents bringing her into this world for the only purpose of keeping another child alive, they had both been dealt shitty hands. It was time to change that. Ryden wanted her in every way possible—from the white picket fence around the three-bedroom house, to having children running around in the yard chasing the family dog. It was what he saw when he looked into her vibrant green eyes.

Yes, he was crazy, crazy in love. And while he didn’t see it coming until it had hit him over the head, he welcomed it now. Taking care of her would take over every aspect of his life, including his loyalties to the Army.

She finally cried herself out and made herself a promise there would be no more tears. Tears never solved anything. Ryden was leaving in three days. This was a new revelation. One that she wasn’t ready to deal with so soon.

“Ryden you can’t keep me hidden here. You have to realize that I am not the only one in this now. You are too. And not just because you’re with me. They got a sample of your DNA from my incision site. You rescued me, and I am damn sure glad that you did, but now they know you. Well, not
know
you, but now they know what the donor of that specimen looks like. You'll be more valuable to them than I'll ever be.”

Ryden continued to slowly stroke her back. “Buttercup, I’m the last person you need to be worrying about. I can handle myself when it comes to those assholes at MedVision. Just give me and JT some time to work on it. Trust me on this, Carlee.”

She was up off the couch and standing in front of him. “Why can’t you understand? They wrecked your car! Your
car,
Ryden. You loved that car. They shot you with tranquilizer darts. I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if JT hadn’t been with you. I know enough from being around agents. You can’t have your head someplace else. You have to keep your focus, and that focus can’t be me.”

He raised up a hand as he started to talk, but she interrupted him before he could say a word.

“No, you listen to me. You know that I’m right. Now that MedVision knows you exist, they probably have eight by tens of your handsome face plastered all over the state by now. Or, even the country! MedVision has labs all over the world. You need to be able to take care of you and watch your back, and I need to be able to take care of me. But, I need you to do something for me. I want you to teach me to fight.”  

There was a long silence followed a long exhale as Ryden sat back on the couch. “Carlee, baby, I couldn’t teach you everything you need to know fast enough for you to save that beautiful ass. Just leave the protecting to me.”

Placing one foot back a bit from the other, bending at her knees, she brought up her hands to fists, moving them slowly. “I won’t be a victim, and I won’t be a burden. I will have you know that I watched all five of the
Rocky
movies and every Jean Claude Van Damme movie. I must have picked up some of his moves, fight moves, that is.”

Her hands continued to move as he eyed her. She watched as the corners of his eyes turned up as well as his lips at the smile he tried to hide. “I am serious Ryden. Don’t laugh at me. I will so hurt you, or try to. I can do this.”

Ryden stood up and faced Carlee. When she tried a jab with her right fist, he simply caught it in his hand. “Buttercup, you hit like a girl. You can be the brains of the operation.”

She pulled her hand back knowing he would let it go. She wasn’t crazy enough to think she was stronger than he was. “I will do this, Ryden, so you may as well help me.”

Her outrageous swing sent her flying into his arms as he ducked to avoid getting hit. With his arm extended, he caught her around the waist as they both fell to the floor. Her chest pressed against his as he protected her from the impact of the fall. She pushed at his chest, her teeth clenched.

“I am not a damn cream puff!”

She was determined, but even she knew there was no way he could teach her enough or fast enough. She wouldn’t be safe on her own. Still, she was going to learn even if she had to do it on her own.

“No, you aren’t a cream puff, but you aren’t a tempered soldier either, baby. You’re a spitfire geek and a beautiful one at that, Carlee, but that’s not enough. I will teach you to handle yourself, but that won’t change me taking care of you.”

He traced his thumb down her jaw line, following it to her chin and pulled down on her lower lip until they parted. “Just let me take care of you. That’s what I do best, love.”

With his hands tangling in her hair, he leaned over and sucked her lower lip gently into his mouth. She tensed, wanting to fight against her need as well as knowing he was right. With gentle kisses, she relaxed and finally began to kiss him in return.

When he finally melted her resistance, he pulled back and looked in her eyes. “So, when are we getting married?”  

Carlee let her head fall back when his lips left hers. “You're just not gonna give up on his wedding thing, are you? I told you, Peaches. I’m not going anywhere.”

She didn’t add that apparently he was the one going somewhere. She didn’t want to argue with him. At least this would give him some time to come to his senses. His eyes narrowed a bit, his head cocked to the side. His hand moved lower, then, as soft as a feather moved up her thigh to grasp her hip.

“You’re definitely not going anywhere, Buttercup. We can just stay like this until you marry me.”

She had to laugh. “You’re going to use sex against me? That's not playin’ fair. You know I could do the same for you. Well, maybe not. You already used it to get me to say yes. Using it again to set the date, well that is just playin’ dirty.”

Ryden chuckled as his lips came back down to hers, biting and nipping at her lower lip. His teasing sent chills through her. ”Me? Play dirty? Absolutely, baby. When it comes to you, I will use whatever tactics I need to get you to say yes.”

Watching him, again, she couldn’t imagine her life without him. Not a day, not a minute without knowing that he was there by her side and watching over her. She wanted to ask when he was shipping back out, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask that question. Not yet. Once she knew the date, she would only obsess over it until the day came.  He was already there, in her heart and what was the sense in waiting.

“What are you doing this weekend?”

He didn’t so much as grin, it was more of a smirk as he leaned down and kissed her. Her hands wrapped around his neck to pull him closer. This was where she wanted to be, now and always.

She startled as the door opened and JT came back in, slamming doors and complaining about obnoxious females. One look into the living room had him growling.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You have a bedroom. Better yet, I have some work to do outside.”

The door slammed and rattled the house as he left. Ryden stood and scooped Carlee up, tossing her over his shoulder. “This weekend, huh? I have no plans. Guess I can wait that long for the world to know you’re mine.”

A secret meeting was being held in a secure facility not far from DC. Not all the parties involved agreed upon being in the same room at the same time. It was too risky. Those not present in the room participated via satellite. Everyone involved in the Pack Warrior Project, PWP for short, knew what they were getting into when they signed up. This was not an organization that anyone left. This was lifelong commitment to the development of an elite soldier; a soldier to take the front lines in combat. Thousands of human lives would be saved.

The silence was broken by a gruff voice. “We know where Carlee O’Shannon is. The one thing Giannopoulous managed was to get the tracker injected before the wolf came and got her.”

Another voice broke in. “Those were not random wolves, sir. Those were two of our own, Coulter and Howard.

“I thought Howard was retired? These things need to be decommissioned in a more permanent manner before they’re discharged from service. It’s a hell of a lot easier to track them in the service than it is after they retire.”

The voices all ran together, talking at once.

“What is the connection between O’Shannon and the wolves?”

“Who gives a shit about O’Shannon? We have the DNA. That wolf healed her after a well-executed beating. We need to go after Coulter.”

“Carlee is still of use to me. I want her contained and unharmed. At least until after we find out what the wolf DNA can do for us as far as healing diseases.”

“That’s true. We need to at least keep up the front of the lab’s purpose of genetic studies for the cure of diseases. Of course, you know if this gets out, there will be those liberals that will say they are human. You can’t tell the difference by looking at them.”

A gruff voice came over the line and everyone quieted. “We know where Carlee is. That wolf risked everything to come and get her. He won’t leave her now. Finish up the testing on the samples that you have. When you’re ready, we will bring the two of them in, together if possible. But, don’t forget about the geneticist. What is her name?”

Everyone heard papers rustling through the open conference line. “Lou Piacella. I want her brought in and questioned. If she wants her position back, we need to make sure which team she is playing on. If she needs convincing, you all know what to do. Now, let’s get to work people, we have soldiers to create and lives to save.”

The sound of a dial tone ended the conversation. Those in the conference room collected their notes from the table before rising quietly and leaving. The voice on the phone was not one that was to be questioned. Orders were received; orders were to be carried out.

No questions.

No failures.

A Thank you from Fated Desires

Thank you so much for reading
Wolf’s Heart
! We’re so happy to be able to show you a hint of what is to come from our paranormal worlds. We do hope if you liked this, that you would please leave a review from where you purchased this or on anther platform. Not only does a review spread the word to other readers, they let us know if you’d like to see more stories like this from us. Cam and Ruelle loves to hear from readers and talks to them when they can. You can reach them on their websites easily. You guys are the reason we get to do what we do and we thank you.

If you are looking for more stories like these, you don’t have to wait much longer! There are more books coming in Cam and Ruelle’s series, plus a few more treats from her coming up in something new. Also, we have a few new authors coming that will be sure to whet your appetite.

If you’d like to know more about Fated Desires, check out our website or email us at [email protected].

About the Authors

Cam Cassidy
is an erotic romance author with a paranormal flare.  She spent her life growing up in a small Ohio farming community.  The lack of neighbors and companionship of mostly cows and horses in her youth left her plenty of time for her passion of reading to flourish.

As an adult, Cam is married and the mother of three ornery children who keep her on her toes. The cup of coffee in her hand is a trademark. She works full time in the medical field.  In her spare time, she spends every minute reading and writing.  Watching her children ride horses, dirt bikes with a notebook in hand to never miss jotting down that next all important story idea.

All of the “hard work” reading and writing sitting beside the fire drinking a glass of wine… or was it between loads of laundry, paid off with her first publication.

Her recent works include the Wolfpack Delta Series which was written with a friend and co-author Ruelle Channing,

Ruelle Channing
is a writer of Paranormal Romance. She grew up in a small North Carolina community with books as her best friend. Often as a child, she was scolded for propping up her book to read while she did her chores, even while her mother encouraged the interest. Her father was illiterate, but never let that keep him from learning. Most of the librarians at both her school and local library knew her by name as she was a frequent visitor there. After graduation from high school, Ruelle worked in a sewing factory. She married at age 21 and had the first of three daughters two years later. Her girls have also inherited the love of reading. As stay at home mom for 17 years, Ruelle still wondered what she wanted to be when she "grew up". Having lived in books all her life, as an adult it has been her dream to create a world in which she would be proud to have others become entrance in. Her recent works include the Wolfpack Delta Series, which was written with friend and co-author, Cam Cassidy, and she has several other works in progress.