Arctic Bound Read online

  Demon chose that moment to appear, the huge dog gently nipped her toes. Telling her in no uncertain terms that she’d slept late, and it was now time for her to get up.

  “Fine, traitor. I’ll get up, but no deer meat for you. From now on its dog chow for you and Daar.” She whispered as she threw her legs over the bed and grabbed a pair of socks and robe. Nerina stood and walked over to the washbasin she had set up in the corner. On some days it was just too cold to go out and try and use what Ms. Raines had called the attached bathroom, which really was an old rusty nozzle and a hose that stuck out from the side of the house and was only covered by a thin layer of metal. She could hear the bacon sizzling on her wood stove and someone was talking. To who, she had no clue.

  Stepping out from behind the only true wall in her cabin, Nerina watched as Daar and Victor had what could only be called as a strange conversation. The dog nodded at intervals as Victor quizzed her furry companion on none other than her.

  “Expecting her to actually respond to you is what most would consider crazy, but actually expecting some kind of answer back, well you may be looking at some time spent at Bellevue.”

  Victor turned in her direction, easily dismissing Daar who walked over to sit next to Demon in the living room.

  “You’re up finally. Thought you were going to sleep the day away.”

  “Well, to me it’s still night.”

  “Takes a while to get used to, I know.”

  Victor handed her a cup of coffee and motioned for her to sit down at the table. He choose to remain standing, leaning against the counter and crossing one leg over the other as he watched her sip from the steaming mug. Nerina looked up from her mug accessing his features. He was dressed in a black thermal with dark jeans, and black boots. His hair a mass of dark curls still fresh from a shower, his goatee neatly trimmed.

  “We gonna do more than sit here and shoot the shit. You’re obviously here because of what happened last night at the club. Let’s get this over with it.”

  “You always so forward?” He asked.

  “All day. Every day.”

  He nodded as if her answer was more than enough.

  “Alright, why are your friends trying to kill me and my brother?”

  She had to answer his questions in a way that wouldn’t implicate her. Leaving her with her own batch of secrets.

  “Didn’t get all the details. From what I was told you took something Mistress Red had. Your face was slashed,” she looked him over noticing there was no scar of any kind. “Obviously they got that part wrong, so I figured they had you pegged for the wrong guy. Only thing is, my girl Mackenzie knew you by name. Unless of course there is another Victor Canidae.”

  He stood straighter and asked her to continue.

  “I figure your brother is a bonus. They didn’t ask about him, but if he was with you, he’d be killed just for damage control.”

  “Damage control?”

  “Yeah, you know, so your brother couldn’t go back and tell a friend, and then they tell two friends and so on and so on, until it’s his friends against my friends.”

  Victor took up entirely too much room in her tiny kitchen. Larger than life, he stood there contemplating what she said. Taking a deep breath he turned to pick up his own cup of coffee. He took a sip and sat the mug on the counter before turning to grab the bacon that was now over cooked.

  “Here,” he plopped a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her. “Eat.”

  “I’m not really hungry.”

  “Eat,” he growled.

  Nerina pushed the plate away.

  “I said… I’m not hungry. What part don’t you understand?”

  “You need to eat Nerina. Why must you fight me at every turn? Is there ever going to be a middle ground?”

  No. There wasn’t going to be a middle ground because he would always see her as a cripple, and she would always view him as an arrogant jerk.

  “You need to leave Victor. I have a lot of prepping to do before the storm hits.”

  “Do your friends know where you live?”

  Damn.

  She’d forgot that part.

  “Raven only had the address to the supply store, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come looking. You and your brother should lay low for a while. I’ll call her and tell her I got away and that I’m safely tucked back at home. Hopefully that will throw them off your trail for a while. But not for long.”

  Victor grabbed a set of keys that he must have placed on top of the fridge. Nerina stopped him before he could leave.

  “What did you take from Mistress Red?”

  He didn’t answer at first, keeping his back to her as he stood by the front door.

  “Those girls, the ones you call friends, they’re Hunters. I bet my life on it. I did take something from someone, but it was because it was in the wrong hands. Something that belonged to my people well before it fell into their hands.”

  So he was their mark.

  “What about the scar?”

  “Your girl probably thought she hit me and didn’t realize she missed.”

  She didn’t get a chance to ask him another question, because he’d already stepped on the other side of the door and quietly closed it.

  Chapter 8

  Nerina had fallen asleep on the couch and woke to the sounds of Daar whining at the door.

  “What’s the matter girl?” Nerina sat up wiping the sleep from her eyes and peering around the cabin, Demon nowhere in sight. The back door was unlocked, which she did not remember unlocking. Somehow she knew Demon had gotten out.

  Nerina walked to the back door, calling out into the darkness for her furry companion.

  “Demon….Demon….come on boy, it’s time to come in.”

  Of course there was no answer. Cursing, she went back inside and pulled on her clothes. Daar continued to whine.

  “It’s okay girl, you stay here while I go out and look for him. We’ll be back.”

  Nerina looked out the back door and noticed on the far left of the field were a pair of silver eyes starting back at her.

  “Demon, come on. Get back over here.”

  The dog ignored her, moving deeper into the forest. She was pissed but couldn’t leave her dog out in the cold. Especially when the storm was due in the next couple of hours.

  Great. Just great.

  She was going out in the middle of the night to retrieve her damn dog.

  Walking around at night was not her idea of fun. But she had to find her dog. She’d seen Demon over by the edge of the forest. It was on Thorn’s property, but she wasn’t about to let her dog get eaten by a bear or wolf. Holding her sig in her hand she headed towards the forest. As she neared the edged of her property, she called out to Demon again.

  “Come on boy, its cold out here. Let’s go back inside where it’s nice and warm.”

  She heard a low whine of pain. Turning, she headed out in the direction the sound was coming from. She wasn’t sure if it was Demon or not, but something was definitely in pain. The tops of the trees glowed from the night sky filled with greens and blues from the northern lights. It cast an eerie glow into the spruce trees, making them look vicious and haunting. Each step she took was loud to her ears, as the snow and branches crunched beneath her feet. She could hear the babble of the creek off to her left and started to walk in that direction. This way she’d have some sort of bearings on the way she was heading and on how to get back, especially now that the wind was picking up the snow, producing mini flurries that whirled and whistled in front of her face.

  Deeper still, Nerina went into the forest when she heard another agonized howl. Another sound could be heard directly after. Pounding paws in her direction. Big fucking paws that were getting closer and closer with every thump of her heart. Nerina calmed herself. She was in no shape to out run whatever was coming her way. She wasn’t going to be scared. She had her gun and she had a phone, although the phone would do her no good, as she now had no one to call.
She’d left a message with Raven. Telling her she’d gotten away from her attackers and was now safely ensconced in her remote cabin. For dramatic effect she’d even made sure her voice sounded sincere as she apologized for costing them their mark. Raven was her friend, and she knew she’d eventually hear from the girl one way or another. She just hoped that they’d give up and go back to New York, instead of actually looking for Victor. Nerina didn’t know why, but she believed him when he said that what he stole was rightfully his. You’re fooling yourself. You know they aren’t going to give up. Regardless of who the object originally belonged to.

  Nerina dug into her jacket, the handle of her sig tight in her grip. The sounds of paws grew louder. The sound like a truck plowing through the forest and heading in her direction. She stepped behind the thickest spruce she could find, thinking she was getting out of the way, when she saw a blur of black, and then white. One dog, the black one was definitely Demon, who was being pursued by a giant ass white wolf. Nerina whistled for Demon, but that was her mistake. Had she kept quiet, they would have passed her by. But she couldn’t do that to her dog. He was hers and she wasn’t going to let him stay out in the cold. Both canines heard the whistle. Demon, and the bigger wolf were headed straight in her direction. She wasn’t going to run. Her dog would never let anything bad happen to her. Maybe the white wolf on his tail was a friend, a stray. Besides if she took off running that would only incite their playful nature. She couldn’t forget about the massive beast that she could hear in the opposite direction of her dog and the white wolf. Turning around, she quietly tried to lead the dogs back towards the creek. She was ahead of them and walking at a clipped pace when a huge black bear stepped out from behind a large boulder. She must have disturbed its den. The bear approached slowly, huge billowing puffs of white air escaping its nostrils as it huffed through its snout.

  Nerina froze. She knew she couldn’t outrun a bear. Instead, she pointed her sig at the bear in hopes of getting off a warning shot, only the bear moved faster. Standing on its hind legs and roaring, it swept her with its huge paws. It sent Nerina flying into the air until her back hit a tree trunk. She felt as well as heard the unmistakable crack that was her ribs and her back as she slumped forward to the ground. Her chest burned for air, she couldn’t breathe. She knew what was happening as her legs and hands went numb. Her mouth slowly filling with blood.

  What a way to fucking die. Nerina thought to herself.

  Her vision was dimming but she could still see the bear waddling it ways in her direction. Slumped against the tree trunk, her back broken, her cracked ribs piercing her lungs, she took her last breath of true air. She didn’t die right away. Even though there was no air left, her body still tried to hold on. The last thing she saw was Demon and the white wolf tearing the black bear limb from limb.

  

  Victor changed forms the moment the bear had been taken down. Nerina’s limp body lay propped against the tree. Her breathing shallow as Demon nudged her body so that she would lay flat on her back. There was no time to get her back to her cabin, and he couldn’t take her to his place either.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  What to do…. Think…

  “Demon, I have to get her to safety. The wind’s picking up and it’s starting to snow.”

  Demon nodded his head walking deeper into the woods.

  “There’s a cave Victor about a half mile in by the creek. The one the younger cubs use. Take her there. You’ll have to give her some of your blood if she’s going to survive. I’ll go back to the cabin, ride out the storm with Daar. Once the storm is over, I’ll go down the mountain and get Thorn and the others.”

  Demon leapt off in the direction of her cabin, and a naked Victor picked up Nerina’s limp body and headed for the cave. He remembered the cave from when he was younger; it was secure enough that it would keep them from the harsh elements of the storm. He’d need to light a fire, and there would be a limited amount of supplies. They’d make it. Damn woman should have stayed inside. Now he was going to have to give her his blood. She wouldn’t be turned. It would take three bites for that, and then of course a near death experience, and even still she wouldn’t be accepted by the Pack.

  Why do you care? Just give her the blood. No one said anything about turning her.

  Nerina Simpson would be stronger, faster. Her senses sharper, but she wouldn’t be a Werewolf. There was something about her that Victor couldn’t get to. She was like a puzzle too complicated to solve, but he was willing to give it a try. He hoped Demon was right and that he wasn’t making a huge mistake. She could very well be his enemy.

  It didn’t take him long to reach the cave, but by the time he was able to build a fire her lips and eyelids had started to turn blue. The glow from the fire cast an orange glow against the walls of the cave, and they were far enough back that they’d stay relatively warm. Dropping down next to her, he tilted her head back to open her mouth. Carefully he adjusted her so that his blood would have no problem going down her throat. She was still breathing, but barely. Kneeling over her, he bit his wrist and then quickly lifted her head so that his blood could fall into her mouth.

  “Come on, drink Nerina.”

  Nothing was happening. Victor opened his vein more until there was a constant stream of blood entering her mouth. The woman in his arms infuriated him. She never listened to a damn thing he said to her. She defied him in every way possible. Other women would have longed for his attention. Nerina wanted none of it.

  As the blood flowed into her mouth, she began to moan. It was working. She tilted her head forward and began to drink in earnest. To humans, their blood was sweet and heady. Not only did it offer healing qualities, but it was also a potent aphrodisiac. Nerina moaned as she sipped the last drop he was able to give her. She was going to make it. He’d have to tell her their secret, and he hoped in doing so she would share hers. She was still shivering from the cold and because his body temperature ran higher than any humans, Victor went about taking off her clothes for the second time in two days. He laid her clothes out in front of the fire so that they could dry and then he pulled her into his arms. Setting her against his chest and wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm.

  Holding her was a huge mistake. The more he thought about her, the tighter his arms wound around her body. His hands splayed across her now warming belly. Her ass was flush against his groin and his chest rumbled with a growl, threatening to spill from his lips. His wolf was now officially on board with bedding of the human who lay in their arms. She was no longer scarred. No longer flawed in a way that wasn’t desirable to his beast. She was still human, still weak in terms of strength, but she was blemish free. Fuckable.

  Not going to happen wolf. Lock that shit down.

  He’d try but there was no telling how long that was going to last. Why did she have to be human? At least if she were Pack, then he could claim bedding rights and she’d understand what that meant. She’d expect nothing in return but maybe a few nights between the sheets. He couldn’t even claim her as his second mate. Not that Sasha would go for it, but still it was an option to any Alpha. All Alpha decisions were made based of the immediate need of the Pack. Right now, they needed to grow in numbers. The Hunters had been slaughtering his kind for centuries. And now they’d somehow tracked him here. He’d been so careful yet he’d made a mistake when he’d left to track down the Silver Bow of Artemis, leading them here. Now he just needed to understand how Nerina fit into all of this. After centuries of war, his family was starting to re-establish their numbers. Even if this wasn’t their native home, they had not been tracked for more than a hundred years. He’d brought the fight to his family’s doorstep.

  

  It was unbearably hot. Too hot if she was in her cabin. She never got her cabin this warm, like ever. So how was it so warm now? Opening her eyes, Nerina noticed that not only was she not in her cabin, but there was something ver
y hot and heavy pressed up against her. She didn’t have to guess, because it was hard to miss a steel-hard cock seated in the seam of her ass. But whose cock? Okay, she was dreaming. That was it. She was dreaming, or she had died and gone to heaven. A woman’s heaven. Where warm bodies and solid arms locked in a tight embrace. A heaven where a man’s hand was palming her breast in way that said she belonged to him and only him. Praise be to the Almighty above, she scored big time!

  Nerina reached behind her back to grab his erection and gasped. Well, what do you know, the length alone was impressive. Heavily veined and thick all the way around, and not just at the tip. Yup, she’d died and gone straight pass the pearly gates. Or maybe it was hell. It was too hot to be heaven.

  Take it girl. It’s been two years, two long, lonely battery operated years.

  That was too long for any sane women to go without the touch of a man. Whoever he was groaned in her ear. Hot breath fanned across her cheek while the hand holding her breast squeezed. Delicious tingles broke out across her skin and Nerina ground her ass into the length that was currently pulsing against the crease of her ass. Teeth scraped the back of her neck making her grip the cock in her hand harder. This earned her a growl, a growl that reminded her of a wolf. The horrible reality of what happened to her snapped her out of her sexual haze. Like alcohol poured on an open wound, Nerina cringed. The bear. The woods. Her body being flung into a tree. Being knocked unconscious after it did a number on her back and ribs. She knew she had gashes in her stomach from the giant paw that had clipped her. The arm around her waist and the hand at her hand moved to her neck where it gripped. Not hard, but strong enough to hold her immobile.

  The voice in her ear sent icy-cold fear surging through her body.

  “Don’t move.”

  Nerina’s spine tightened. Not in fear, but in anger.

  “Why are we naked, in a cave? Or how about you one up me and explain why I felt like I was dying, which obviously was a figment of my fantastic imagination. I distinctly remember being tossed like a rag doll by a big ass bear.”