20. Maya

20

Maya

Just as I reached for the button of his jeans, the door crashed open. Immediately, he rolled his body over to cover me, but it was only Duke, staring at us wildly.

"Jesus, I thought one of you was dead," he growled. "Did you really think now was a good time for that?"

Turning his back, he stomped out, and Rhyson rose. "Get dressed," he said coldly.

Whatever heat was between us had rapidly cooled. Mentally calling myself, and my wolf, all kinds of stupid, I rolled off the bed and searched the bag for some clothes. "Where are we?"

"A settlement run by a man named Gideon. They took the monster down in the river. You were unconscious, and there were too many of them. I don't think we're in danger, but I would stay alert."

Unconscious. The memory of the monster touching me until it threw me on the ground rose in my mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut and shuddered. "Maya," Rhyson said softly. "I was right behind you. He didn't do anything to you."

Pushing the fear aside, I quickly dressed. He'd come after me. That was something. "This thing that happened to my wolf today, it's never happened before, but I am worried that it'll happen again. She's not…I don't want to say that she's not stable, but since I can't connect with her, she's…."

"Feral?"

"Wild." Over my shoulder, I shot him a withering look. We both knew what it meant to say a wolf was feral. They didn't live long. "You can control her. Appease her. I need to know how to do that on my own, or I may put us all in danger again. I could have killed Juniper today."

"She's a fighter."

"But she trusted me, so her guard was down," I snapped. "I get that you don't want me or don't want to help me, but I can be a real danger, so if you insist that I stay with you, then I need someone to help me. Maybe there will be someone here."

"A shifter who can't control their wolf…"

"Is nothing more than an animal," I snapped before he could finish it. I'd heard it most of my life. "I'm aware. And maybe you're foaming at the mouth to put me down, but I'm not quite ready to give up."

He didn't refute my claim, so I stormed out of the cabin and into the one next door. Juniper was on the bed, getting her arm bandaged by Tessa. She took one look at me and scowled. "You back for more, bitch?"

"Not at all." Humiliation washed over me, and I tugged on my hair. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I obviously have some problems with my wolf, but it's never been that bad before."

"Whatever. If it happens again, I won't be so nice." She paused and sighed. "Sorry, I'm feeling bitchy because we got our asses kicked. I heard how you protected Tessa and Dante, so I guess you're forgiven."

"Kind of you," I said wryly as I looked at Nash. He didn't seem to want to let me anywhere near Dante. Apparently he didn't feel the same. Not feeling welcome in either cabin, I left and sat on the front steps.

A wolf roamed nearby, and I held my breath as we looked at each other. I'd been so consumed by my feelings, my fear and my need, that I hadn't asked all that many questions. Gideon's settlement. Who the hell was Gideon? How many wolves were here?

"You're awake."

Stiffening, I turned my head sharply to the left as an elderly man ambled my way. He gave me an easy smile. "Sorry for scaring you. I suppose we haven't been introduced. I'm Gideon."

"Maya. I hear I have you to thank for the rescue."

"It was a team effort." He glanced at the cabin. "I gave Rhyson a radio but realized when he didn't answer that it's not charged. Luckily, I was able to return quickly. Is there anything that your healer needs? My own has returned if she needs a second set of hands."

By hunching his shoulders and ducking his head, he was clearly trying to make himself seem smaller and put me more at ease. He stopped a respectable distance away from me and put his hands in his pockets. It was a level of respect that I'd never seen from another man. Even Rhyson hadn't tried to make me feel so at ease back when he thought I was just a poor heartbroken victim.

It was refreshing. Slowly, I stood. "I will go ask."

"No need," Juniper said as the door opened and she stepped out. On the other side, Rhyson and Duke exited his cabin. I watched Gideon closely. Rhyson might be hiding the extent of his power, but there was no hiding that he was powerful. It was the same with Duke and Juniper. Every wolf nearby would know that they were not to be messed with.

Gideon didn't even pull his hands out of his pockets, nor did he straighten. At no point did he feel on-guard or threatened. "Good to know. Rhyson, I came to tell you that the radio I gave you was dead. I'm sorry. I'm tired and a little distracted."

"It is late. Would you allow us to stay the night?"

"Of course! I was already planning on it. I'm having some food prepared for you. You're welcome to stay as long as you need, but I've already alerted the perimeter guards to allow you to leave whenever you're ready."

"Guards," Rhyson repeated.

Gideon flashed a smile. "They call themselves that, but we're not that militant. I was hoping that I could speak to Maya here about the creature. It's the third one we've seen this year, and we're still trying to figure out how they're created."

"Created?" Rhyson repeated.

"They're wolves," Gideon said solemnly. "The one we had to kill today was Trevor. He wasn't part of our settlement, but he would come for supplies, especially in the winter when food was scarce. He was only nineteen."

Nineteen? My heart broke.

"We have no idea what's turning them or why. Our best guess is magic. Most of them just run and destroy. Trevor is the first to try to take someone." Gideon turned to me. "Could we speak? I mean, with your permission, of course," he said to Rhyson. "She is your mate."

"We're not mates," Rhyson said coldly. "Maya can make her own decisions."

Could I? I almost laughed at the irony. It seemed that no matter what I did, decisions were never my own.

Gideon wanted information, and so did Rhyson. Slowly, I stood and dusted myself off. "Maybe we could take a walk? I need to work out a kink in my hip."

I didn't even glance back at Rhyson as I walked down the steps, and nobody moved to stop me. I didn't have intentions of going far, but I did want to try to get some lay of the land.

"I wish I could tell you that he gave me every detail of the days leading up to his change, but no dice. I'm not even certain that he could talk."

He fell into step with me, still keeping his hands in his pockets. "You were human. Why didn't you shift when he attacked?"

"My change is slow. I wouldn't have been able to defend myself if he caught me mid-shift, and Dante was already unconscious." I told him how we'd started a fire, and I pulled a log out. "He's faster than I would have expected anyone of that size to be."

A path led through the quiet of a patch of woods into a clearing, and immediately, I caught my breath. There were wolves everywhere.

Everywhere.

Young and old, gray, black, and red wolves bounded around. They far outnumbered the human forms walking around. I glanced upward. The moon was almost full, and that was when wolves wanted to shift the most.

"Don't be alarmed. They won't hurt you," Gideon said quietly. "It's been a long few days with us tracking Trevor. It didn't end well, but the tension has broken, so they're free to roam. The little ones are watched more closely when there is danger nearby."

And he didn't consider anyone in my group to be dangerous. How interesting.

"So Trevor took you," Gideon prompted.

I swallowed my fear and tried to think of anything that might be helpful. "He wasn't randomly crashing through the woods. He turned multiple times to get to the river. When he stopped, he dropped me and sniffed me." I shuddered at the memory.

"The baby. He smelled your baby."

"I think it upset him because that's when he picked me up and threw me to the ground. I passed out after that."

"I'm glad you're safe and the baby is safe." Gideon paused. "Is the father traveling with you?"

The air shifted around me, and I felt Rhyson staring at me. Startled, and unsure how that was possible, I turned my head and sure enough, he was leaning against a tree and staring at me.

"No. The father was a one-night stand. He's not father material."