4. Claire

CHAPTER FOUR

CLAIRE

I jolted awake, wincing as a couch spring jabbed into my hip. Sunlight streamed through a dusty window, showing off unfamiliar surroundings and a ripped sketchbook strewn across the floor.

The events of last night crashed over me like a tidal wave of fuckery. Kai. His drawings. The... transformation.

A wolf. A real life, snarling wolf. One who growled every time I stepped toward the door, and quieted once my ass sat back on the lumpy cushions. Who I watched mangle his artwork with growls and snaps of his slavering maw, wondering when he'd turn those fangs on me.

My heart hammered against my ribs. I scanned the room, relief flooding through me when I realized I was alone. No sign of Kai—or the wolf.

Now was my chance.

I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the protests of my stiff muscles. My clothes were rumpled from sleeping in them, but rumpled was far better than torn and bloody. I shoved my feet into my boots and yanked on my coat.

My fingers trembled with the rush of fear and adrenaline as I carefully pushed the door open and stepped into the frigid morning air. My every nerve was on high alert, expecting a snarl and flash of teeth at any moment. But none came.

The stairs creaked beneath my feet as I descended into the entryway, and I winced at every sound. But Kai—wolf-Kai—remained out of sight.

His paw prints, however, did not.

The path led away from the barn and Kai's loft. They seemed to head toward a faint wisp of smoke curling from a chimney in the distance.

How many more of him were there?

Without a backward glance, I turned and sprinted for the tree line.

The forest swallowed me whole, branches whipping past my face as I ran. My boots crunched loudly in the freshly fallen snow, but I couldn't outrun my thoughts.

What the hell had happened last night? Werewolves weren't real. They couldn't be. And yet...

I'd seen it with my own eyes. Felt Kai's body contort. The memory of his kiss burned on my lips, warring with the fear in my gut.

A twig snapped behind me. I whirled, my heart in my throat. Nothing but shadows and trees. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I was being watched. Hunted.

I slowed to a quick walk and got my bearings. The curl of smoke still rose behind me, but I angled for the handful slightly to the left of where I'd been running. No sense in getting lost in the elements all over again. Bigfoot would probably be the rescuer.

I let out a shuddering laugh. I needed to get home. I needed a solid door and several dozen locks between me and my werewolf neighbor before I lost my damn mind completely.

Werewolf. Holy fuck.

I pressed on, trying to stay calm. But it was impossible to ignore the feeling of being stalked, like prey being toyed with by a predator. A branch snapped behind me. The underbrush rustled with movement.

Closer. Louder.

My pulse roared in my ears. Just the snow. Branches creaking. Squirrels seeking their frozen stashes. Nothing to fear.

I skidded to a halt as a familiar figure stepped out from behind a massive tree. Kai. Human Kai. Dressed in too few layers for the weather, but human. His hair was disheveled, his jaw rough with stubble.

My sweater dangled from his hand, and he lifted it to his nose, inhaling deeply. Then his eyes—the same vibrant green as the wolf's—snapped to mine.

"You left."

His voice was low, a hint of a growl beneath the words. I swallowed hard, struggling to keep my voice steady. "Yeah, well, not every day the hot guy who rescues you from a blizzard turns into his own fur coat."

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You think I'm hot?"

"That's not the point!" I snapped, frustration and confusion bubbling over. I turned on my heel, determined to put as much distance between us as possible.

Kai's footsteps crunched in the snow behind me. "Claire, wait. Please. Let me explain."

"Explain what?" I spat over my shoulder. "That you're some kind of... of..."

"Shifter," he supplied. "We prefer the term shifter."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, well, excuse me. I'll be sure to use the proper terminology next time a guy sprouts fur and fangs in the middle of foreplay."

The low growl was my only warning, and in hindsight, giving my back to a creature of fur and fangs was not the smartest choice.

Kai closed the distance between us, his hands gripping my arms as he backed me against a nearby tree. The rough bark pressed into my back, but I barely noticed, too caught up in the intensity of his gaze.

"Next time?" he growled, his face inches from mine. "The only ‘next time' you'll have is with me."

Heat flooded through me at the possessive tone of his voice. My breath hitched as his eyes bored into mine. Something wild and feral stirred in the depths of his gaze, sending a shiver of fear and excitement down my spine.

Kai's nostrils flared, and that maddening smirk played at his lips. He leaned in closer, skimming his nose up the column of my throat. A soft gasp that escaped me, my hands instinctively gripping his shoulders.

"I was reckless," he murmured against my skin, his breath hot against my ear. "I shouldn't have revealed my wolf to you like that. I'm sorry for any fear I caused."

My head spun at the conflicting sensations. The thrill of his words, the danger of his body pressed against mine.

"But I need you to understand," he continued, pulling back slightly to stare down his nose at me. There was no argument allowed. "I can't have you telling anyone about this. Not a single soul."

I dug for every ounce of bravery and met his eyes. "What makes you think I won't lie and tell the first cop I see?"

Something dark and hungry flashed in his eyes. Kai chuckled, a low, dangerous sound that sent goosebumps across my skin as he cut the last bit of distance between us. "Because I'll smell if you lie, Claire."

He inhaled slowly, his nose gliding along my skin and ending in the crook of my neck. "And because you smell as wet as when you kissed me." His tongue darted out, teasing against my pulse. "Be a good girl, and I'll kiss you somewhere else."

My cheeks flamed at his boldness, and a fresh wave of arousal coursed through me. Fuck, this was all too much. His body, his words, his sheer presence... I felt like I was drowning in him.

I shoved at his chest, struggling to regain some semblance of control. "Don't get cute with me, Fido. I want answers."

Kai held up his hands in surrender, but I didn't miss the way his nostrils flared as he drank in my scent. He swallowed, hard, and the warm brown of his human half muddied the bright green eyes of his inner wolf. "Ask me anything. I'll tell you the truth."

I stalked away from him, putting some distance between us and buying myself a moment to think. I ran a hand through my wind-whipped hair, the motion calming some of my frazzled nerves. "How?"

Kai shrugged, and I tried to ignore the truly unfair way his muscles flexed beneath his thin shirt. "We're born this way. It's genetic. We can shift between human and wolf forms at will, though strong emotions can trigger an involuntary change."

"Like last night," I muttered, teeth catching my lower lip at the memory of our kiss.

He nodded, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "Exactly like last night."

The snow suddenly looked incredibly refreshing. Necessary, even, if I wanted to have a shred of hope of cooling volcano-level heated cheeks ever again.

"And how many of you are there?" I asked, voice miraculously steady. "Is the whole town full of... shifters?"

"Just a handful belong to the pack here," Kai admitted. "Crescent Hollow—the town on the other side of the mountain—they have bigger numbers. But there are packs all over the world."

I'd been to their bookstore. And bakery. The diner. Tavern. The knowledge of their existence was staggering.

"Packs," I repeated. "Like... wolf packs?"

"Some are," Kai hedged, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "There are others, too. Different shifters. Different dynamics. It depends on the species. But we're not animals, Claire. We're people. With jobs and lives and?—"

"And a furry little problem?" I quipped.

Kai barked out a laugh. "Something like that."

Our eyes locked, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe. He was magnetic, his very presence demanding attention. My eyes flicked to the swell of his biceps, the scruff along his jawline, the way his eyes shone with undisguised hunger.

I should have been afraid of him. Terrified. And part of me was, yes. But another, larger part was intrigued. Enthralled. By the man, by the wolf, by the entire secret society living in plain sight.

We walked in silence for a moment. I could feel his eyes on me, studying my reaction. "Did you have to lure me out into a blizzard for a first date?"

He grinned, eyeing me from the corner of his gaze. "You weren't supposed to see me at all. And for the record, most shifters don't appreciate having cheese thrown at them."

"Most people aren't hounded for months by giant stray dogs," I shot back. I spotted the familiar spires of Briar House poking over the trees and angled their way. "If I'd known he was you, I would've?—"

"Thrown more cheese?" he teased.

We walked in silence for a moment. The overall holy-shitness of it all kept up a steady stream of slaps to the face, while still winding up for a fatality. I'd wanted to save a dog and now occupied a reality where shifters were real.

I flicked a look to Kai at my side. "Why did you watch me?"

Kai's steps faltered. His expression was a mix of guilt and something else—longing, maybe? He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, seemingly struggling to find the right words.

"It's... complicated," he finally said. "There's this thing with shifters, about m?—"

We stepped from the trees surrounding Briar House. Relief flooded through me at the sight of home and the idea of clean, warm clothes, but it quickly died as Kai cocked his head and narrowed his eyes.

I followed his line of sight and frowned. The front door stood slightly ajar, a thin ribbon of darkness visible in the gap.

Kai's arm shot out, stopping me in my tracks. "Did you leave it like that?"

I wracked my brain, trying to remember. Everything before stepping into the blizzard felt like a lifetime ago. "I... I don't know. Maybe?"

His eyes flashed green, and his nostrils flared as he scented the air. A low growl rumbled in his chest, setting my nerves on edge.

"Stay here," he commanded, his voice rough with the hint of a snarl.

Part of me wanted to argue, to assert that this was my home, dammit. But the memory of a similar ajar door brought on a tightening throat at what lurked behind that sliver of darkness.

The seconds stretched into an eternity. My breath caught, imagination running through the threats muttered in my ears. Demands for cash. Greedy looks. Question after question.

Where is he?

A hand pawing at my body.

Where is the money?

Rotten stench on hot breath.

Where is he?

A shout shattered the silence. My body moved before my brain could catch up, and I sprinted toward the house. I burst through the door, following the sounds of a scuffle to the kitchen.

My jaw dropped as I skidded to a stop. Kai had a stranger pinned against the wall, his fist drawn back for another blow. A bruise was already blossoming on the man's face and blood trickled from his split lip.

Kai turned his head, and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes were pure green, wild and furious. Dark fur dusted the back of his neck. His teeth were bared, sharp canines on full display. He looked half man, half beast—a terrifying, fascinating combination of both.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Kai snarled.

The stranger's eyes were wide with fear, his hands raised in surrender. I opened my mouth, ready to... what? Scream? Try to pull Kai off the stranger?

"Stop! Don't hurt my mate!"

We all turned toward the new voice. A very pregnant woman stood in the hallway, her face a mask of panic. Her clothes were rumpled and travel-worn, dark circles shadowing her eyes. Despite her obvious fatigue, there was a fierce determination in her gaze as she protectively cradled her swollen belly.

Kai's fist lowered. His face settled back to fully human as recognition dawned. "Shauna?"

The tension in the room shifted, confusion replacing the immediate threat of violence. I felt like I was watching a play where I didn't know my lines, lost in the subtext of unspoken history.

I didn't like it.

Shauna flicked a look to me, then took a step closer to Kai. "We were looking for you. The door was cracked, so we waited, but..." She gestured vaguely at her stomach. "Nature calls. A lot. We just slipped in to use the bathroom."

I blinked, trying to process this new information. "Wait, you know each other?"

Kai's jaw clenched, a storm of emotions playing across his face. "You could say that."

Shauna approached Kai cautiously, her eyes darting between him and the man he had pinned against the wall. With gentle but insistent hands, she drew Kai's arms away from the stranger.

"Kai, please," she said, her voice soft but urgent. "We need your help. We've got nowhere else to go. It's home . "

The emphasis on ‘home' carried a weight I didn't understand, but its effect on Kai was immediate. His posture stiffened, then sagged, as if the word had simultaneously energized and drained him.

Kai's eyes met mine, a silent apology in their depths. He glanced at Shauna and the strange man, then back to me.

"I guess we have some catching up to do," he said gruffly. A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he jerked his chin toward the door. "Let's take this elsewhere."