Reclaiming the Wolf (Cascade Shifters Book 1) Read online

  He placed a finger under her chin and raised her face until she met his eyes. Her breath caught. His gaze was hot, his eyes like liquid green gold, and it made her feel as if she were the most desirable woman in the world.

  He moved his finger from her chin to her lips. As he traced the bottom one with his warm, rough finger, he said, “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I could stare at your naked body for hours, and still not get my fill.”

  “Oh, Sy.” She touched his hand on her cheek. “I love you.”

  “If you love me now, let’s see what you say after I’m done.”

  She opened her mouth to make a quip, but before she could say anything, he scooped her up and laid her on the ground. As he covered her body with the weight of his very hard, very masculine body, Kaya, the six-foot tall wolf-shifter, actually felt delicate.

  He gave her a quick kiss before he leaned up and ran his hands down her neck, cupped her breasts, and then ran his hands over the muscled planes of her stomach. “You’re perfect to me, and always will be, Kaya-love.”

  She felt her cheeks flush. As he continued his journey down to her core, she lost the power of speech. After six months, this was really happening. Kaya was about to lose her virginity to a cougar-shifter.

  ~~~

  Sy had been going slow for Kaya’s benefit, but now, as he reached the folds between her legs, he couldn’t believe he was finally going to feel the tight, wet heat of her pussy.

  He traced one swollen lip, and then the other. At a breathy, “Sy,” he looked up. Kaya’s dark brown eyes were heavy-lidded, and while there was a touch of color on her tan cheeks from embarrassment, he could see she wanted what he was promising.

  He pushed his finger inside her tight, slick heat. She gasped, and Sy said, “Last chance, Kaya-love. Say the word, and I’ll stop.”

  Kaya started to move on his finger, and if he hadn’t already fallen in love with her, he would’ve in that instant.

  He gave one deep thrust before removing his finger. Licking her wetness off his skin, he looked Kaya dead in the eye and said, “You won’t regret it, love. I promise.”

  She wriggled. “Please, Sy. I’m more than ready for you to be my first.”

  Spreading her legs wide, he rubbed his hands up and down the smooth skin of her inner thighs. Her heart was beating so fast he could feel her pulse where her thigh met her hip.

  Her heart wasn’t the only one beating a million times a minute. The smell of her arousal, combined with the warm feel of her skin against his palms, pushed his need to claim her to the bursting point. He would force himself to take this slowly if it killed him, which it very well might, but he couldn’t resist claiming her with words.

  He squeezed her thighs and growled low before he whispered, “If I have anything to say about it, I will be your first and your last.”

  Her eyes widened, but his gaze moved to focus on the wet, swollen flesh between her thighs. He’d waited months to brand the taste of her sweet honey on his memory, and his mouth watered in anticipation.

  He leaned down and licked her from slit to clit, causing her to cry out. Fuck, her taste was incredible. He licked her hot sweetness again, and again, but it wasn’t enough.

  As he started to fuck her sweet pussy with his tongue, he felt Kaya’s claws digging into his scalp. This, right here in the clearing, was the best moment of his life. He had a woman he loved, hot and open to him, moaning his name, and who loved him in return. A life together between a cougar-shifter and a wolf-shifter wouldn’t be easy, but Kaya was a precious treasure he would do anything to protect.

  Chapter Two

  Cascade Mountains, Present Day

  Kaya Alexie signed her name for the two-hundredth time this morning, tossed aside her pen, and leaned back in her chair. Until she’d become GreyFire’s clan leader three years ago, she’d never known just how much paperwork was involved. But if she didn’t fill out the monthly shifter report for the US Bureau of Shifter Affairs, she wouldn’t qualify for the grants her researchers desperately needed. She may not like it, but she’d do anything for her clan.

  Well, almost anything.

  Rather than think about that, Kaya stretched her arms over her head and rotated her shoulders. She finished her stretches just as someone knocked on the door; her next appointment was right on time.

  Putting a leg up on her desk, she crossed the other one over it as she said, “Come in.”

  The door opened to reveal her tall, smiling second-in-command, Erika Washington.

  Closing the door, she then made her way to the chairs in front of Kaya’s desk, tossed a file on it, and plopped down. “Did you finish the report?” Kaya nodded, and Erika’s face turned serious. “Good. Because we have more important things to talk about.”

  She eyed her friend and commander with suspicion. “If you say ‘planning the autumn celebration,’ I might just have to throw my shoe at you.”

  Erika grinned, her white teeth blazing in contrast to her dark skin. “Oh, come on. It’s one of the few times you actually let down your hair and wear a dress. I’m sure all of the males are counting down the days.”

  Kaya rolled her eyes. “I knew you had a second agenda. We’ve discussed this before, Erika. I’m fine without a mate. Slapping a ring on some random male isn’t going to automatically make me a better leader.”

  Erika shook her head. “That’s not entirely true. The wolf part of us needs the stability of our leader having a mate. You’ve done wonders bringing our clan back from the near-bankruptcy caused by your uncle, but it’s time to at least try finding a male worthy of having at your side, and not just for our sakes, but for yours too.”

  “I’ve managed fine so far, and it’s not like you can just force things to happen just because you want them to. I envy leaders like Kian Murray, who has a mate he can lean on, but it’s harder for female leaders. You know what shifter males are like. Too many of them want to dominate and take over, and the hell if I’ll let that happen.”

  Erika put her hands on Kaya’s desk and leaned forward, causing the small braids of her hair to swing around her shoulders. “I’m not asking you to step into an arranged marriage. I’m just asking for you to socialize at the autumn celebration.” Kaya opened her mouth, but Erika cut her off. “Not just talking with people, but actually accept offers when males ask you to dance.”

  “Hmph. And to think, I thought I was the one in charge here.”

  “Kaya, I’m serious. It’s time to forget about Sylas Murray and find a nice wolf-shifter to mate with.”

  It’d been years since anyone had mentioned that name to her, and for good reason. “I stopped caring about that damn cat the day he broke my heart.”

  Erika raised her eyebrows. “Liar.”

  Kaya sighed. “Will dancing with some males get you off my back?”

  Her friend smiled. “Part of my job is to look after you. Good thing, too, or you’d never stop working.”

  Work was what had helped her focus and find her place in the clan, but she didn’t want to have that discussion with Erika. Instead, Kaya smiled at her friend and said, “Fine, I’ll do some dancing. But don’t start making plans for any mating or pup celebrations just yet.”

  Erika clapped her hands. “Good.” She waved a hand toward the file she’d placed on the desk earlier, and leaned back into her chair again. “Now that’s settled, I need to talk to you about the bids for our latest malaria drug. The discrimination against drugs developed using bits of shifter DNA is starting to lessen. If the FDA approves it next year, this drug might be the key to our clan’s financial stability.”

  Luckily, Kaya was used to Erika’s whipping from one topic to another, and didn’t bat an eye at the sudden change of topic. She picked up the file her friend had brought, opened it, and said, “Okay, walk me through the proposed bids.”

  Erika had just started to go over the expected profit margins when the phone on her desk started ring
ing. She glanced down at the screen and saw the name of one of her most experienced sentries currently on duty. Since he wouldn’t call unless something important had happened, Kaya picked up the receiver and said, “Tell me what’s up, Jonathan.”

  On the other end of the line, Jonathan said, “I found some intruders near Marker 12. All three of them smell like cougars, which is fine, I can handle that. But they have some sort of bag with them and any time I try to inspect it, they growl at me and tell me not to open it.”

  “There must be something else, or you wouldn’t have called me. What aren’t you telling me?”

  Jonathan’s voice became tight. “One of the cougars is Sylas Murray, and he says the bag might contain the beginnings of an epidemic. He wants to talk with you.”

  Kaya leaned back in her chair. Regardless of whatever she felt about Sy, she knew Kian, the cougar-shifters’ clan leader, would only have sent him to GreyFire’s land if it was important.

  She ignored Erika’s quizzical look and took a deep breath before she answered, “Give him the phone.”

  “I locked him and his two cougar friends inside the sentry shelter. Give me a second.”

  As she waited for Jonathan to unlock the door and go inside, she steeled herself for the upcoming conversation with Sy. She might be clan leader of the biggest wolf-shifter pack on the west coast, but her stomach churned with nervousness at the thought of talking with the man she’d once loved enough to consider leaving her clan behind for.

  Would he be civil? Or kind? Or had the army hardened him and completely changed the teasing, cocky man of her teenage years into a stranger? There was so much she didn’t know about him anymore.

  But she shouldn’t care. She needed to sound strong, cool, and collected. The last thing she wanted was for Sylas Murray to know how much she’d thought of him over the years. At least the conversation was over the phone. It was much easier to keep her voice steady that way.

  Erika was frowning at her, but luckily Jonathan’s voice came back over the line and she could put up a hand to stall Erika’s questions. Jonathan said, “Okay, here’s the cougar bastard.”

  She smiled at his tone. Knowing her clan had her back gave her the necessary courage to remain calm when Sy’s voice came on the line. “Kaya?”

  She’d always loved the deepness of his voice, but time had added a bit of gravel to it as well. “Yes, it’s me. Now tell me why you’re trespassing on my land and babbling about some epidemic.”

  The line was silent a second before Sy replied, “I think you’ve taken this clan leader thing a little too seriously.”

  She growled. Apparently, Sy was one of those shifter males who didn’t take kindly to a woman being in charge. He never would’ve said that to his brother or the male leader of the bears.

  Well, screw him. She was going to pull out her alphaness and not hold back. “I don’t care what you think. Tell me why you’re on my land, or I’ll have Jonathan call the law enforcement liaisons and they’ll cart your ass off to jail.”

  “Hey, part of the reason I’m here is to try to save all your asses, so you should try being a little nicer to me.”

  Kaya pinched the bridge of her nose. “Now is not the time to challenge me, Sylas. Unlike the games when we were teenagers, I can win this one. This is your last chance to tell me why the fuck you’re on GreyFire’s land.”

  ~~~

  Sy wished Kaya was standing in front of him so he could give her his best glare. The woman took things more seriously than his twin brother, which was saying something. Since Kian’s recent recovery, his brother had spent most of his days hashing out details with his mate about how to improve the clan’s future and stability.

  Remembering his brother, Sy took a deep breath and focused on his mission. He’d promised to see this through, and “clan leader mode” Kaya or not, he would do it. “Earlier this week, three mentally unstable wolf-shifters attacked Kian and Trinity. I don’t know if they are yours or not, but something was wrong with them. Their eyes glowed purple.”

  “Purple?”

  “We don’t know much about wolf-shifter biology, but I’m guessing from your tone this isn’t normal.”

  “Just because I’ve never heard of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. What’s in the bag you won’t let Jonathan investigate?”

  He eyed the large black bag being protected by his two clan members. “When Kian was attacked—he’s fine, thanks for asking by the way—he killed two of them in self-defense. Our other clan members trapped the remaining wolf, but it refuses to shift back into human form. We need to know what caused their insanity and weird symptoms in case there are more purple-eyed wolves roaming the mountains. To do that, I brought one of the dead wolf-shifters to GreyFire because we need your help.”

  Each of the shifter clans had focused on specializing in one area, mostly to remain competitive. Until recently, very few shifters had gone to college. The DarkStalker cougar-shifters had become stellar engineers, but lacked sufficient skills in the medical sciences, which GreyFire excelled at. He was confident Kaya would help them, but he had no idea at what price.

  Her voice came back on the line. “Let’s say I help you. What’s in it for GreyFire?”

  “If this sickness is contagious, we need to find a way to stop it from spreading. I’m sure an epidemic is the last thing you want.”

  He could hear something squeak on the other end of the line, as if Kaya were leaning forward in her chair. “Has anyone from your clan showed symptoms? If you’ve infected Jonathan, or any other of my clan members, by coming here without thinking things through, then consider the truce between our clans over.”

  He’d threatened the truce once before, almost eleven years ago. “Well, then let’s just hope my luck hasn’t changed from the last time I nearly broke the truce.”

  “Nice to hear you view breaking my heart as a lucky escape.”

  Fuck, he hadn’t intended for it to come out that way. He’d been doing so well up until now. “Kaya—”

  “No, don’t go there. I don’t need your apologies or pity. Just tell me if there have been any symptoms inside your clan.”

  He was dying to ask her why she’d brushed him off without a word all those years ago, but decided getting Kaya to agree to help them was more important right now. “It’s been nearly four days since the attack, and no one’s shown any symptoms, not even Kian, who was bitten several times by the infected wolves.”

  “That’s all well and good, but what about you and your people? Or even the bag you brought the dead shifter in?”

  Sy was starting to understand just how little she viewed his intelligence these days. “I may be many things, but I’m not an idiot. My people and I were tested thoroughly, but nothing showed up. Also, the FierceRiver tigers in India designed the bag we brought with us. Not even the Ebola virus could escape once that thing is sealed up. As an added precaution, the outside of the bag was thoroughly disinfected before we left home.”

  The FierceRiver tigers rivaled GreyFire’s skills in medical science. He knew Kaya would trust the bag to do its job, but would she trust him and his clan? As one of Kian’s inner circle of guardians, it was his job to oversee anything his brother couldn’t do himself. It was the only reason he’d agreed to step foot on GreyFire’s land.

  He’d tried to warn his brother about Kaya hating him. He just hoped his brother had been right about how Kaya would take care of her clan and not focus on what had happened between them in the past.

  Deep down, however, he was a little disappointed he couldn’t be doing this in person. He was curious to see what an older version of Kaya Alexie looked like.

  Since she still hadn’t answered him, he said, “Well? Are you going to help us or not?”

  After another second, she growled into the line, and he nearly smiled. “I had put you on mute to discuss things with my second-in-command. Unlike you, some of us like to think things through first.”

  She was referring to him leaving
her, but he wasn’t rising to the bait this time. “So, what did you come up with?”

  “You’re going to stay there with Jonathan until a biohazard team can retrieve the wolf. Then you’re going to leave and wait for my call.”

  “I’m not going home until I know the results.”

  “Sy, you staying on my land isn’t going to accomplish anything. Go home. I’ll call Kian when I have something to report.”

  There was a reason his brother had made him promise to stay until they knew the results. Their truce with the wolves was tentative at best, and while he wanted to believe Kaya ran things differently, the previous GreyFire leader had kept important information from DarkStalker in the past.

  On one occasion, when a group of illegal human poachers had come to the area, that lack of information had ended up taking the life of a mother cougar-shifter and her two cubs.

  He quickly assessed the situation and decided there was only one way to ensure he stayed on GreyFire’s land. Sy shifted his weight and lowered the phone before spinning around and landing an uppercut to Jonathan’s jaw. Thanks to Sy’s faster feline reflexes, the wolf didn’t have time to brace himself and the punch landed clean. Jonathan fell to the ground unconscious.

  His two clan members merely stared at him in curiosity, knowing he only would have punched out the wolf with a good reason. Sy put the phone back to his ear to hear Kaya saying, “Sy? What’s going on? Sylas? Are you there?”

  He flexed his hand and said, “I just punched out your sentry, so now you’re going to have to detain me. I’ll be waiting.”

  With that, he clicked off the phone and went to work on securing the wolf’s hands behind him. He couldn’t let the sentry escape before he was sure he and his two clan members could stay.

  Chapter Three

  Two days later, as the last GreyFire researcher left her office, Kaya let out a sigh of relief. Whatever had affected the dead wolf-shifter was no longer contagious, at least as long as no one came into contact with the dead wolf’s stool. And since everything related to that wolf-shifter was locked up tight in the infectious diseases research wing, her clan was safe. For now.