Chapter 5

“What in the name of all that is holy…”

Ruby really wished she had an answer to her sister’s whispered question, but she was just as shocked as Lena. Maybe even more so. Last night she had dragged an injured wolf into their living room and now, in its place lay a completely naked man.

“Shhh…” Ruby hustled her sister out of the living room and into the kitchen.

Lena’s pale eyes were wide in disbelief when Ruby turned to face her. “What is going on? Who is that? What should we do?” Her sister’s voice rose with every question and Ruby shushed her again. She needed to think before he woke up.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, pacing from the small breakfast nook to the kitchen counter and back. She took a lap around the table before stopping in front of Lena. Her sister twisted the belt of her bathrobe between her fingers.

“Should we call the police? Or an ambulance? He’s bleeding.” Lena glanced down at the bloodstains that trailed from the back door, through the kitchen and into the living room at the front of the house.

Images from the night before flashed through Ruby’s mind: the wolf following her home, the terrifying fight, the blood, and her insane determination to help the animal that had saved her life. She’d rolled him up in an old rug she found in the shed and dragged him home. Well, she’d dragged him halfway across the yard and then gave up. She’d managed to coax him to his feet and got him to limp the rest of the way inside.

And then what? She’d gotten as far as the living room and collapsed on the couch, the wolf asleep at her feet, figuring she’d call the vet in the morning, with only a vague notion in her mind that bringing a giant injured animal into her home was a terrible idea.

Except now instead of an injured wolf she had an injured man instead. A perfectly normal Sunday morning.

“No police. I know him.”

Lena’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “You know him?”

Ruby nodded, striving for casualness, as though having a naked man lying on their living room floor was a typical occurrence in the Bellerose household.

“And what is he doing in our house?” Lena waited, her gaze boring into Ruby. Even before her strange episodes, Lena had always been able to see straight to the heart of her. “Ruby, what is going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

She didn’t have time to think up a lie before a groan from the living room abruptly ended the conversation. They both hurried out to the living room to find Rafe still sprawled out in all his glory in front of the sofa like some kind of erotic coffee table. The thought of placing her coffee mug on Rafe’s impressive abs nearly sent Ruby into a fit of hysterical giggles.

He groaned again and ran a hand down his face. The muscles of his arm bunched and flexed, his stomach going taut with another groan, and while one part of Ruby’s brain was still frantically trying to figure out what the hell was going on, the other half paused to take a moment and appreciate the creature in front of her.

She already knew he was big, but in the confines of her tiny living room, he looked massive. Dark hair covered his broad chest and trailed down his abs to his … dear God. Ruby snapped her gaze away. He was asleep, for goodness’ sake. She wasn’t that much of a pervert.

Although there weren’t many places she could look that didn’t make her cheeks heat. The other two times she’d seen him, it had been dark, but now sun streamed in through the windows and streaked across Rafe’s golden skin. His hair that had seemed black before was actually chocolate brown and hung down to his shoulders. Ruby’s fingers curled at the memory of sinking into the thick fur at the wolf’s neck.

His eyes were still closed but she remembered their silver stare. Dark stubble covered his face and his mouth was set in a pained grimace. Pained. Right. He was hurt and here she was gawking. His shoulder was still bloody, but somehow didn’t look nearly as bad as it had last night. The flesh seemed to have knit itself back together and other than some ugly teeth marks and a few bruises, it looked significantly better. How—

Rafe stirred again, fluttering his eyes open with another low groan. Next to her Lena tensed, still worrying the ends of her robe. Ruby watched the realization of where he was slowly dawn across his face. Rafe turned to look at them from his position on the floor.

“Shit.” He let out a long sigh, still not bothering to sit up or cover any part of his very distracting anatomy. His gaze stayed locked on Ruby’s and she gripped the edge of the couch tighter, glad it stood as a barrier between them. She needed as many shields as she could get right now.

Lena cleared her throat and tossed him a throw blanket. He caught it with his good arm and pulled it over his lap, slowly working his way to a seat.

“Sorry. Uh … I’ll get out of your hair.”

Ruby let out a strangled laugh and Lena looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. She probably had. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Rafe raised an eyebrow.

“I have questions.”

“Right, okay. I will go grab you some clothes then.” Lena hurried out of the room, the steps creaking under her feet as she made her way upstairs. Ruby could only imagine what she was thinking, that this was some kind of bizarre lovers’ spat.

Ruby climbed over the back of the sofa and perched on top. Rafe’s mouth tipped into a small smile. He wrapped the blanket more firmly around his waist and maneuvered gingerly into the old armchair.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked as soon as Lena was out of earshot. “Last night I dragged a wolf in here, a wolf with your exact injury, and now…” She waved a hand in the general direction of all his muscle-y nakedness.

Rafe studied her, his silver gaze lingering on her bare feet. She tucked them under the nearest cushion. He raised his eyes back to hers and sighed.

“That was me.”

“That was you? That wolf?”

“Yes.”

Ruby pinched herself hard under the arm. “Ow, damn it.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Just making sure.” She rubbed her arm, ignoring the small smile dancing around Rafe’s lips. “So the wolf was you and this is you, so that makes you…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. It was too absurd.

“That makes me a werewolf.” He winced a little at the word as though the admission hurt him, but he still held her gaze.

“Jesus Christ.”

He huffed a laugh that sounded so similar to the wolf sound he’d made last night she nearly tipped backward off the couch. She ran her hands through her hair, combing it with her fingers and then twisting it into a knot. It was long enough that she could tie it up like that, no hair tie needed. Rafe watched every movement like she was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. Goosebumps broke out across her skin and heat pooled in her belly.

“Here you go.” Lena’s voice broke through the sudden tension in the room. She tossed Rafe a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, apparently not wanting to get close enough to him to hand them over. They must be left over from Trevor, the last boyfriend who’d been scared away by Lena’s “issues”, as he’d so kindly called them.

Lena’s gaze flicked between them. “I’m going to make some coffee. Anyone want some?”

“Yes. A lot.” Ruby said with a nod.

Rafe huffed again and the phantom memory of his wolf breath skated across her skin.

“He’ll take a cup too. We still have things to discuss.”

Rafe gave Lena a sheepish smile. “I’m Rafe, by the way. Thanks for the clothes.”

“Lena. Nice to meet you.” She gave Ruby a questioning look before wandering back into the kitchen, but Ruby had no answers for her at the moment. At least none that didn’t make her sound like a lunatic.

She swung her gaze back to Rafe and struggled with what to say next.

* * *

God, she was even more beautiful than he first thought. The way she was perched on the top edge of the couch gave him the perfect view of her long legs and firm thighs. He wished he wasn’t quite so naked right now because the sight of her slender neck, exposed when she lifted the mass of hair off her shoulders, was enough to make his dick harder than it had been in weeks. Or possibly ever.

But it wasn’t the sight of her lush curves or dark gaze or even the slightly smudged red lips—the lipstick worn off just enough it made her look thoroughly kissed—that sent his heart racing. No, it was the sight of those little bare feet. So vulnerable, so personal. He felt like he’d seen something he was never meant to. Her toenails were painted bright pink.

Unfortunately, besides being intimate and adorable, her tiny feet had only sent his blood racing at the memory of last night’s attack. She could have been killed. She was too vulnerable. What if he had actually stayed away like she’d asked? A cold dread sank into his stomach at the thought.

He didn’t recognize her attacker. Definitely not a member of his former pack, or at least no one he had known. But he wouldn’t be surprised if his brother was somehow behind this whole thing.

“What are you thinking about?” Ruby asked, sliding the rest of the way onto the couch.

Her cinnamon-spiced scent assaulted him in the small room. He discreetly pressed down on the blanket in his lap.

“Nothing really.” He cleared the raspiness from his throat. “Why?”

Ruby shrugged, still watching him. “Your face went all dark and frowny like you were angry.”

He shook his head, his hair brushing across his bare shoulders, reminding him how exposed he was. “Uh … maybe I’ll get dressed before we talk?”

Ruby nodded, her face flushing pink. “Of course, sorry. The bathroom is right through there.”

He followed the small hallway to a laundry room and half bath. The room was barely big enough for him to fit into but he managed, struggling into the too-small sweats and T-shirt in the cramped space. He felt ridiculous. The shirt clung to his body and the pants were too short by several inches. Not to mention they didn’t exactly leave him enough room to have any hope of concealing his feelings for Ruby.

Christ. He raked his hands through his hair, wincing at the ache in his shoulder. It still wasn’t fully healed but by tonight he should be fine. He wondered how the other wolf was doing and where the hell he’d come from.

He emerged back into the living room to find Ruby curled up on the couch with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands. His coffee sat on the small side table between the chair and sofa.

“How’s your shoulder?” Ruby asked when he sat.

“Better.” He took a sip and closed his eyes in relief. Healing took a lot out of him. Not to mention fighting, which he hadn’t done in years. The memory of the other wolf’s blood spilling into his mouth nearly had him spitting out his coffee. He had sworn he would never taste that again. And yet just the memory of it had him wanting to hunt down that wolf and finish what they’d started.

“You’re doing it again.”

He looked up to find Ruby staring at him over the rim of her mug.

“Doing what?”

“That angry stare thing. Like you want to kill someone.”

He swallowed his next sip too fast. It burned the back of his throat. “I would never hurt you.”

Ruby’s eyes widened slightly but then returned to normal. “I know.”

Her confidence in him was unnerving. He’d given her no reason to believe he wasn’t a monster. In fact he’d just confessed to the exact opposite and yet she still sat across from him.

“But you would have killed that other wolf. Werewolf?”

He nodded yes to both her questions. It had been a while since he’d been around people and he couldn’t seem to string together enough words. She waited quietly.

“I would have killed him, if I had to. And yes, he was a werewolf.”

It was Ruby’s turn to nod and sip her coffee. It had been a long time since he’d confessed to anyone what he really was and he was shocked that she hadn’t run away yet. Instead she studied him with a focused curiosity.

“So why did that werewolf attack me?”