Crying Wolf (Black River Pack Book 1) (7 page)

“Don’t worry about me, Grace. I can handle anything he wants to bring my way. Now tell me how you managed to get away,” Hunter said, urging me to continue.

“I knew that, if I wanted any chance of escaping, then I needed to take away his greatest resource—being a cop. I couldn’t get him fired, but I could make it so he couldn’t report me missing.”

I went on to explain my trips away from the home I had shared with Sam. Once I was done, Hunter had a big grin on his face.

“You know how I said nothing in your past would make me look at you any differently? Well, I lied.”

My heart would have plummeted if not for his loving expression and teasing tone of voice. “You lied?”

“The way you managed to get away from him does make me look at your differently. You were so fucking smart, Gracie-mine. I’m damn proud of you.”

“Really?” I whispered in awe.

“Absolutely,” he confirmed.

I grabbed his thick hair in my hands and pulled his mouth down to mine. The relief I felt was overwhelming. I’d been scared to share my story with Hunter because I’d thought he’d decide I wasn’t the right woman for him. That I was too weak for a man like him. And instead, the exact opposite had happened.

Our kiss quickly became frenzied, and he lifted me off his lap and laid me on the kitchen table. I’d worn one of his shirts to bed, and the bottom lifted, revealing my upper thighs to his view. Hunter’s heated stare swept up from them to my face.

“I know you deserve better than this, but I can’t wait a second longer to make you mine,” he rasped.

“Then don’t wait,” I urged, reaching for the hem of the shirt and whipping it off my body. “I need you just as much.”

He forced his jeans down his legs and kicked them off. His cock strained against his boxer briefs. I watched as he peeled them off his body, his erect cock bobbing. Then he removed his shirt and the only thing standing between us were the pair of bikini panties I’d worn to bed. Hunter gripped the sides of my panties and tugged. I trembled at the ripping sound, beyond excited by his show of dominance.

After pulling my thighs open, he ran his hand along my collarbone, circled my belly button with one fingertip, and then moved farther down. When he opened his palm, I felt the heat from his skin as he cupped my pussy. His middle finger tapped against my clit, and I felt the moisture dripping from my pussy onto his hand.

“You’re so wet for me,” he murmured before positioning me between his legs.

“Want you so much,” I breathed out, pulling his head down for a kiss.

“Gracie-mine,” he growled as he sank into me, stretching me wide.

All of my thoughts scattered as I felt a pleasure unlike any I’d ever felt before at the feel of his cock and the sound of his sexy voice growling my name. I was so turned on that the bite of pain from his size didn’t take away from the experience. I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled him close so he’d hold still for a moment.

“So fucking tight. You okay?” he asked.

“Mmmmm,” I murmured. “Better than okay. I just need a second. It’s been a while and you’re so big.”

His hips surged forward slightly, sending him deeper inside. “A perfect fit. You were made to take me.”

Hunter pulsed inside me and my walls clenched around him. He circled his hips and nudged my G-spot, sending a rush of pleasure through my body. The responding gush of fluid eased his way until he slipped even deeper and bumped against my cervix. I loosened my legs from his hips and dug my fingers into his ass. Then I moaned lowly and swiveled my hips.

“The sounds you make when you’re excited are so fucking sexy, Grace. But the way your lips part as you gasp in pleasure and your skin flushes as you get more excited? Just watching that expression on your face makes me want to come,” he growled.

“Then give me more and make me come,” I demanded.

“Anything you want,” he promised before he slowly slid out and then quickly thrust back inside.

He kept up the tempo of painstakingly slow withdrawals followed by fast lunges that filled me. My back slammed against the wood of the table as Hunter’s hips pumped, sending his cock hard and deep. He grabbed the edges of the table for leverage and sweat dripped from his face onto my chest. I writhed underneath him, desperate for the climax that was quickly building within me, and slammed my hips upwards, meeting his for each and every thrust.

“Harder,” I begged, nearly delirious with pleasure.

He slid his hands under my back and lifted so he could reach my breasts. Lowering his mouth, he wrapped his lips on a nipple and sucked deep. My pussy fluttered and he held still for a moment, planted firmly inside me.

“Brace yourself,” he commanded before he moved his mouth to my other breast and bit down hard.

As soon as I cried out at the sting, he began to thrust wildly. He gave me exactly what I’d asked for, his cock slamming against my cervix with each buck of his hips.

“Hunter!” I screamed, feeling my pussy walls begin to tighten around him. My head fell back and my eyes closed as my climax hit me.

“Eyes on me,” he ordered, demanding that my focus stay on him.

My neck felt like a limp noodle, but I managed to look up at him. His eyes flared as they locked with mine. He grabbed my hips tight as he lifted me to him with each stroke. His balls slapped against my ass, and my climax rolled through me. The tightening of my pussy must have sent him over the edge too, because I felt his cock jerk inside me before his semen splashed against my pussy walls hotly.

“Fuck,” he swore, resting his head against mine. “You’re not good for my self-control.”

I was still trying to catch my breath, so it took me a moment to respond. “Maybe I like making you let go. You’re always so disciplined around everyone else. I like knowing you’re different around me.”

“They need me to be in control,” he explained. “It’s part of my job, a part of who I am.”

“But it’s not what I need from you,” I told him. Then I reached up and stroked his face, looking deep into his eyes. “I know you like to be the one in charge of, well, just about everything. And I’m surprisingly okay with that for the most part, considering my past. But I think it’s because you let me see a different side of you. Your vulnerability.”

“I only have one. You,” he admitted.

“And knowing I have the power to bring a strong man like you to his knees has done more to build my confidence back up than anything else. You’ve helped piece me back together.”

“It’s only fair since I’ve been waiting for you to make me whole,” he whispered. “That’s why I wanted the first time I made love to you to be special. Not me taking you rough and fast on my kitchen table, for fuck’s sake.”

“I liked our quickie on the table,” I reassured him. “But I’m certainly open to you giving slow and gentle in your bed a try too.”

“You’re on,” he growled before lifting me off the table and marching to his room, where he proceeded to show me that he didn’t need much recovery time.

CHAPTER 7

Hunter

The following week was fairly quiet. I had the one thing I’d wanted since I’d met Grace—she was finally by my side and in my bed. But that didn’t mean I’d let my guard down—not when she was in danger. It gave me the perfect reason to keep her close. We spent nearly every hour together. I was at the bar for all of her shifts, and the few times I had to leave for pack business, Parker was there to cover her.

I knew she was worried about her ex because she wasn’t sleeping well and she didn’t argue about being moved into my home. It was a lucky thing too since my home was easily defensible. My pack knew every inch of the woods surrounding the house, and each night, they patrolled the area in wolf form. If Grace’s ex thought he could get close to her there, he was in for a big surprise.

Keeping her safe wasn’t as easy as it could be, though, because I hadn’t figured out how to tell her about my wolf yet. Her ex had taught her to be wary of men, and I didn’t know how she would react. How ironic was that? The big, bad alpha of the Black River Pack was scared of one little woman. She didn’t even know the power she held over me and the fate of my people. With the next full moon drawing closer, I knew I was running out of time, and I promised myself I would tell her when we got home tonight. Only I didn’t get the chance because hell on Earth visited me as we drove home from the bar.

One minute, I was listening to my favorite sound in the world—Grace’s laugh—and the next, I was trying to gain control of the truck. In the split second my attention was turned from the road to Grace’s smiling face, someone careened out of nowhere and T-boned us. There had been no warning—just the jarring impact on my side of the truck and the sound of crunching metal. Then the windshield splintered, sending shards of glass everywhere. I threw my arm out in an attempt to brace my mate right before we came to a screeching halt when we slammed into a tree.

If I weren’t a powerful wolf shifter, the damage from the accident would most likely have killed me. As it was, the harm was bad enough that I had difficulty shaking it off. I did a quick assessment of my injuries: several bones were broken and I had a concussion. The loss of blood was a complication I didn’t need, odds were one of my broken ribs had punctured a lung, and it was difficult to breathe. I needed to shift to speed up the healing process, and I’d never regretted anything more than my decision to hold off telling Grace about my wolf, because now, she was going to see it for herself with no warning.

First, I needed to make sure she was okay. After pulling off my seat belt, I turned to her seat and my heart dropped upon seeing her closed eyes. I listened carefully, and a wave of overwhelming relief assailed me when I heard the beating of her heart. Several cuts on her face were oozing blood, and her air bag had deployed. I could only hope my arm had been enough to stop the damage the bag could have caused to her small frame.

The slamming of a car door drew my attention away from Grace. A low growl emerged from deep in my throat, and my wolf came close enough to the surface I could feel his fur brushing against my skin. It was a warning: danger was near.

Grace’s safety was my first concern, so I snapped off her seat belt and reached over her to shove the passenger’s door open. Once I’d scooped her up and was cradling her in my arms, I climbed out of the car. Pain racked my body, and my head was swimming.

I could hear footsteps as someone slowly made their way to the truck. The tree line was too far away for me to make it while carrying Grace in my current condition. I had no choice—I needed to let my wolf out and I needed to do it now.

Kneeling on the ground, I peered under the truck and saw only one person approaching us. I made a snap decision and gently rolled Grace under the truck. Hopefully, it would provide her with enough shelter if things went horribly wrong. As the footsteps drew closer, I traced her cheek with my fingertips before pulling away and ripping off my clothes. Power surged through my body and the beast inside was set free, hungry for revenge against those who dared harm his mate.

The blond man who crept quietly around the truck wasn’t expecting to encounter a giant, black wolf as he stalked Grace. I recognized him instantly from Grace’s description and the photos Spencer had shared with me. Odds were Sam had been hoping that the accident was going to incapacitate me so I would be out of the picture. Luckily for me, the bastard was out of luck. Karma was a bitch to assholes, and he certainly deserved what was coming.

“Holy shit,” he whispered. His eyes opened wide in fear and the coward stopped dead in his tracks. Then he glanced down and his eyes darted to Grace’s still form.

Growling threateningly, I moved between him and Grace. When I bared my teeth, the smell of urine drifted my way. The little bastard had no problem hitting defenseless women, but when faced with a real threat, he pissed his pants.

I watched out of lupine eyes as he slowly began to back away from us, his hands raised in the air in a gesture of defeat. But I wasn’t satisfied with his submissive behavior or the fear in his eyes. My wolf wanted to rip his throat out for what he had put Grace through. In our animal form, shifters felt everything more acutely. Harnessing my rage would be nearly impossible, but first, he needed to understand why he was going to die. My shift had done its job and my body had been healing at a startling rate due to the additional surge of adrenaline my anger had sent through my bloodstream.

Reaching for control, I soothed the beast with the promise of retribution for our mate before transforming back into my human form. Sam dropped to his knees before me in shock. He was trembling and sobbing by this point. Standing naked before him, my rage bubbled at the thought of Grace cowering from him in the past.

“Oh my god,” he was chanting under his breath. “This isn’t real. It can’t be real.”

I chuckled darkly, but there was no mistaking the lack of humor in my tone. “Don’t worry. You won’t remember any of this in a few minutes.”

Hope leapt in his eyes as he misunderstood what I was saying. “You can wipe my memory?” he gasped.

I shook my head as I narrowed the distance between us. “No, there won’t be any need for that even if I could. You’ll be dead.”

“Please,” he begged. “Just let me go. I swear I won’t tell and I’ll never come back.”

“And why should I do that? If I kill you, then I get the same results since you wouldn’t be able to tell and you wouldn’t bother us again either. Killing you means I’d have the added benefit of not having to worry about you going back on your word.”

“But Grace,” he babbled. “She’d never forgive you for killing me.”

I laughed at his feeble attempt to use Grace as a shield. “Do you really think Grace cares if you live or die? You hurt her, threatened her, stalked her, and could have killed her yourself tonight.”

Spencer and several other members of my pack drew near and howled into the night. They must have arrived at the house and realized something had gone wrong when Grace and I didn’t arrive on time. Sam’s head jerked as he looked around us in the direction of their howls. Then he swiveled back to me and his terror showed in his eyes.