Bound to Her (3 page)

A few minutes later, Tiffany appeared, carrying a tray with a pot and two tea cups. She set it down on his desk, poured a cup and handed it to him.

Luka took it and let the faint, smoky smell of green tea drift towards his nose. He kept an eye on Tiffany, watching her pour herself some before taking a seat on the leather chair across from him.

Leaning forward, Luka set the tea on a table beside him and clasped his hands together. “So, tell me about Michele.”

Tiffany took a sip before setting her own cup down. She straightened her shoulders, ran a hand through her hair and sighed slowly. “Well, for starters, she’s a different beast than I am. She’s not human as you probably smelled. I don’t know what she is. My senses aren’t as acute as yours.”

Luka’s brows furrowed. “She’s a wolf.”

Tiffany leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs. “I thought so.”

He nodded.
“Then, why the aversion to wolves?”

“Ever since we were little, she’s had a fear of them. I’m not sure why, honestly. She won’t talk about it. It’s much easier for her to cover up what she is and to mask her scent so no one will know. Up until I started dealing with you and took it upon myself to befriend you,” she smirked, “I had a problem with wolves, too.”

Luka made an indecent noise. “You sure never showed it.”

Clasping her hands together, she began twirling her thumbs. Looking down, she paused then looked back at Luka. “We had an accident with wolves when we were younger. I don’t remember the details, but I remember waking up one morning with an intense hatred for your kind. I vowed I’d find and destroy every last one of you if it was the last thing I did.”

Luka crossed his feet and leaned back, listening.

“I don’t know what or why, but my sister had joined me in the desire until one morning I found her in her bedroom covered in blood, devouring what looked like the neighbourhood thief.”

An eyebrow rose, then lowered slowly. Luka became aware of the gentle slowness of her breathing.

“I asked her what happened, and she started crying. Said I’d think she was crazy.”

His tone remained neutral.
“A normal reaction.”

She nodded. “Yeah, but this is my sister. Our parents weren’t the best with us and left us to ourselves at a young age. After we moved in with an aunt, Michele started behaving oddly, even for a teenage girl. I kept close tabs on her the same way I do you.” She smiled, her voice remaining soft and sweet. “Our aunt died, and by that time I was old enough to get a job, so I did.
And supported us.
But Michele couldn’t handle a lot of what happened, so she kept to herself. Without the long bullshit story, I accepted her for what she was. She told me about that night and showed me how you transform. It looks very painful.”

“Yeah.”
He nodded. “It is for new shifters. Who in your family has the lupine blood?”

Tiffany shrugged. “That’s just it. I’d assume it was father, but I don’t know. They both died before I could ask them.”

He scoffed.
“Figures.
The genes can be carried by either parent, but it’s usually the mother that has the dominant traits. If there’s even an eighth of lupine in her blood, chances are the child will be born a shifter.”

A loud crash that forced Luka out of his chair sounded from the kitchen.

Tiffany stood, too.

Luka waved a hand. “Stay here. Shut this door and lock it. I’ll let you know in the usual way if it’s okay.”

She nodded and went behind the desk.

Luka smiled. “I smell trouble.” He raised his nose to the air, stepped out of the office and shut the door behind him. He stopped.

Waited.

The panting, snarling sounds grew louder. Something glass crashed against the floor.

Setting a hand to his forehead, Luka sighed. “Oh, not my fucking
Reidel
wine glasses.
You bastards.”

He approached the kitchen, hands open and prepared for grappling. The snarling grew louder. When he walked through the doorway, he saw the two staring at each other.

One wolf was huge, with dark brown fur and a murderous glint in bright yellow eyes that would easily be seen in the darkness. Mud-covered paws mixed with flecks of sand left wolf prints on the floor.

His lip curled up in disgust. “Man, I just cleaned that fucking tile.” Luka looked at the other wolf.

She was smaller in stature, but the murderous rage in her stance couldn’t be missed. Her eyes were that soft brown that…

It clicked. “Michele?”

She moved to acknowledge him before she lunged forward at the intruder.

The other wolf jumped towards her, catching her by the throat.

They landed and rolled, slamming against the oak cabinets.

Luka wanted to stop this, stop the damage they were causing to his kitchen, but he needed to see if Michele was truly in any trouble. The other wolf outweighed her by a good one hundred pounds.

She kicked out with her hind legs, hitting him in the ribs and breaking the other wolf’s grip on her.

Righting herself, she lunged for the weak point in his stomach and snapped her jaws down hard.

The other wolf yelped and kicked out in frustration before shoving her off with his weight.

She started snapping at him, barking and growling, jaws open.

He stood on all fours, backed up and leapt over her onto the sink. Glaring once at Luka, he turned and jumped through the broken window, making the hole even larger than it had been to begin with.

Michele just barely missed his tail when she landed on the counter.

Luka set a hand on his head and made a clicking noise. “Why the fuck did you two destroy my kitchen?”

He surveyed the
mess,
saw the collection of expensive
Reidel
glasses strewn about in shattered pieces by the wine rack. By the window, a pile of glass had been crushed under Michele’s less than delicate footsteps.

She jumped off the counter and stood about three feet away with an expression in her eyes he couldn’t read.

But the emotional scent, bitter and tart, was heavy enough for him to understand.

The wave of it all nearly knocked him off his feet.

He took a tentative step forward. “Why, Michele?”

She didn’t respond.

Letting her catch her breath, he studied her. Her fur was a deep shade of midnight blue with an occasional silver streak running through it. The pendant on his chest had been glowing the entire time.

She sat down and tilted her head. He could tell her baser instincts were running her on autopilot, now.

Using the mental link all wolves had with each other, he kept his voice calm and steady to reassure her.
You’re brave. Thank you. I recognised that wolf. He’s from a rogue pack. He’s been after me for a few weeks, now. How you’re alive after a fight with him is amazing. Do you know that?

Michele whimpered. She raised her neck slowly, jolting it when obvious pain shot through her.

You’re hurt. We should take care of that.
He extended a hand to her.

She let him. Another whimper came from her.

He stroked her fur, felt the blood coagulating around the deep wounds in her neck. She wouldn’t die from the injury, but it was serious enough to cause her pain for a while. If left untreated, it could get infected. The wolf’s natural abilities to heal could kick in, but by the way she sat there not calling her
magick
, Michele didn’t seem interested in letting that happen.

“Let me.” Luka closed his eyes, envisioning Michele naked, hair flowing around her waist, breasts bobbing with each step she took towards him. The vision continued with them embracing and her body
glowing
a silver colour that shimmered. Every muscle, fibre, tissue, ligament and bone would receive the Moon Mother’s healing light and energy.

Luka opened his eyes and saw the response in Michele’s.

Hers widened, and if wolves could shoot dirty looks mixed with intense lust, Michele would be the poster child.

A silver ball glowed brightly in and around his hands that was filled with the power of the Moon Mother and would heal Michele’s internal wounds.
 

Then, in an instant, the silver ball had been absorbed into Michele’s body.

The wound bubbled and oozed blood before clotting set in.

Tiffany, come here and bring a wet washcloth, towel and my black robe.

She couldn’t respond on the mental pathway, but he knew she’d hear and follow orders. She was good like that.

Even though he’d healed the wound, something told him if he hadn’t, and Michele didn’t change, she’d be in worse shape than before. He couldn’t stand the instant pain he felt when hurt pricked his heart from the fact he could lose his mate.

A moment later, Tiffany appeared with the requested items.

Luka took the washcloth and started patting down the dried blood, wiping away excess mess from her fur. “Can you transform back?”

Michele lifted her head, pleading with her eyes.

Kneeling down before her, he kept his voice steady and calm, putting in extra effort to reinforce tranquillity. “I could force the change. I am that powerful.”

A moment later, a light flashed and enveloped Michele’s body. In an instant, she lay on the floor, her body totally naked.

The sight of her heavy breasts caught his attention first. Luka’s groin grew harder instantly. Letting his eyes roam down the length of her body, he couldn’t help but love the long lines of her legs, the powerful curve of her ass. Sweeping his gaze back up towards her neck, he spotted the wounds made by the other wolf.

They had managed to stop bleeding long enough to start healing with the help of the
magick
.

Her skin was as opulent as he’d expected, full of rich colour that begged for powdered sugar.

He couldn’t control the involuntary motion when he licked his lips.

She tilted her head and frowned. Her eyes narrowed, zeroing in on his groin. “Satisfied?”

Luka shook his head. Extending his hand, he leaned closer to her. “I’m sorry. Here, let me help you up.”

“Are you okay?” Tiffany rushed to her sister’s side. “What happened?” Worry wasn’t hidden from her voice.

Michele stood, brushed herself off and quickly folded her arms over her chest in a smooth motion.

Luka licked his lip again. She truly was grace and beauty in one package.

Sighing heavily, Michele snatched the robe from Tiffany’s hand. Throwing it on over her arms, she snuggled it tight around her body and belted it. “There, much better.” She lifted her chin, and the sparkle of defiance returned to her eyes. “What? You act as though you haven’t seen another wolf before. Get over it.”

Chapter Three

Letting out a breath of relief, Luka smirked. “It’s not that. I was checking to see if you were okay. What happened?”

Setting a hand on her voluptuous hip, Michele turned towards his liquor cabinet. Walking over to one of the open bottles of bourbon, she picked it up, took the top off and took a long sip, gulping down quite a large amount before returning the bottle to its former place. “Fucking sitting in the car waiting for my sister,” she glared at Tiffany for emphasis, “and this asshole comes up to it, sniffs it then transforms. I’m not about to fear you assholes, so I shoved open the door and transformed, as well. We grappled and fought for a moment before he apparently realised whose house he was in front of. He said something about needing to kill you before the full moon in a few days. The rest you know.”

A closer glance at her eyes revealed she was holding back information. Luka filed that away for later when they had more time.

“So, what’s the deal, anyway? Why is someone slightly more psychotic after you?”

Resting against the table, Luka grinned. The unmistakable scent of arousal came from Michele, wafting towards his nose.
“Because I’m the ruler of this territory.”

Her eyes widened. She looked at Tiffany and groaned. “You’ve been serving the head of all of the packs in this area?”

Tiffany nodded.
“Proudly for the last year.”

Michele snorted. “He’s still a loser.”

Snickering, Luka kept his attention focused on Michele. “You want me. I can smell it. And according to the pendant, you and I need each other.”

She made an unladylike noise. “What the pendant or anyone else says has no effect on me. I am not part of this territory.”

A brow rose. “Do you live in this area with your sister?”

Michele turned her head away. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want anything to do with wolf politics.”

Luka stepped closer to Michele, keeping his eyes on her body. He watched how the ovals of her eyes narrowed with each step he took. He no longer needed the necklace to tell him what his heart already knew. Whether she wanted it or not was another matter, but he had to get her in his bed and at least make it appear to
Lajon
and the others he had a mate who would balance him.