Her Guardian Wolf

“Tell
me a story.” A slow smile spread across Kiera’s face. The kind of smile that
promised I’d be rewarded handsomely for accommodating her request. “Dallas did
it for Lyssie last night, and I’d hate to get left out.”

Don’t
get me wrong, I was totally on board with that possibility. Kiera was an
amazing woman who deserved a worthy mate, and I was interested in applying for
that position. She didn’t need a babysitter, but tonight, that’s what I was.

“Our
fairy tales aren’t the ones you grew up with.” More like dark and gritty
cautionary tales meant as lessons to smarten us up, make us think on all four
feet. Kiera beckoned me from a doorway that I assumed led to her bedroom. I
wasn’t exactly the big bad wolf, but I couldn’t be trusted to keep my hands to
myself in there. “They don’t always have a happy ending.”

 “That’s okay. I want to hear them.” She
grabbed my arm and pulled me with her into the unknown. “Don’t spare me the
gory details. I can take it. Tell me what it’s like to be a wolf.”

I’d
never explained this to a human before. As far as humans in Granger Falls were
concerned, werewolves existed in legends only, stories old people would bore
their grandkids with about karma. We took care of things human law couldn’t.

And
that was why I was here with Kiera tonight.

Kiera
climbed on her bed and curled up under the blankets. Gorgeous as always. She
never wore makeup, and her brown hair was disheveled, an open invite to run my
fingers through it that I always had to turn down. Her lashes cast shadows on
her cheeks in the low light. My wolf rumbled inside me. I was starving for this
woman’s touch, but the hunger strike had to continue. A little while longer,
anyway. She patted the edge of the bed, and her eyes flicked up, bracing
herself for rejection.

Get over yourself. She’s going to
think you don’t want her. Nothing could be further from the
truth. Her bed was too soft as I sat on the very edge. It smelled like a
woman--shampoo and fruity body lotion. I swear I could feel her heartbeat, a
soft little thump against my soul. My mouth watered. Times like this, my animal
twisted around any human desires and made them impossible to ignore.

“This
all used to be wolf land,” I started, clearing my throat. “Before the town
started to expand, the wolves thrived for centuries. Running, playing, hunting.
We were the kings of Sawtooth. Faster than the bears, and more ferocious than
the elk and the bison. When the villages popped up, we could protect the
residents. They kept our secrets, and we could still stay in the shadows. For
some wolves, that was their job—to take care of problems. Others, like my
family, kept the peace. We held everyone accountable. The balance worked for
centuries. Every wolf had a mate, but unlike some species, we weren’t promised
to each other at birth or fated to be together. We actually fell in love with
our partners. Once we found our mate, the bond lasted forever.”

Kiera
hugged a pillow to her stomach, hanging on every word like I read to her from a
thick book of fairy tales. It was pretty close to that now. That way of life
didn’t exist in Sawtooth National Forest anymore.

“Do
you have a mate?” she asked.

“No.”

She
narrowed her eyes in confusion. “None of you have mates?” It was more of an
accusation than a question. “Major’s too bitter to possibly be getting laid on
the regular, but you and your brothers…”

Kiera
had Major nailed already.

“All
male wolves in Sawtooth under the age of forty are single unless their families
had enough money to purchase them a mate. All the she-wolves were claimed
before they could walk. At least they didn’t get our hopes up, then snatch them
away later.” I smiled sadly. “I grew up in a family of four boys with a single
mom. My dad passed away when I was ten. I’m sure you don’t need to do the
math.”

“If
women everywhere knew there was a forest full of eligible bachelors in Idaho,
they’d be flocking here by the busload.” Keira’s eyes lit up. We’d like that
too, but we’d never claim them. No wolf in the pack had ever taken a human as a
mate.

“How
is this even possible?” she asked.

“It’s
not wolf land anymore.” I lay on my side at foot of the bed, finally letting
myself relax. “The town took the land, thinking it belonged to no one. Our prey
perished, and we were forced to be more human than animal. Members of the pack
died without anyone to replace them. Our system fell apart, and the packs
shrank. By some fluke or maybe karma, no one knows, very few she-wolves have
been born in the last forty years. The packs started fighting over them, but
the wolves who’d been able to transition to human life with the most ease
offered their families money for the right to have their sons mate with their
daughters.”

“Wow.”
Kiera blinked in disbelief. “It’s like Narnia. A whole world in the forest and
we’re like clueless on the other side of the wardrobe.” She laughed, scooting
closer to me. “Are the females treated like princesses or slaves?”

If
Kiera was my mate, there’s no question she’d be my goddess. That’s why she had
me on edge. “Somewhere in between. We knew growing up that we wouldn’t have a
mate, so women were always forbidden fruit.” Kiera bit her lip and heat rolled
off her body. I sat up, stopping myself from having a taste of her. She’d taste
like peaches and vanilla. My favorite. “We always wanted what we couldn’t
have.”

“You’ve
been with a woman, right?”

More
than she’d ever want to hear about. We played with human women, but we put our
toys away when we were done with them. “Of course.”

She
laughed. “Thank God. I’m totally not judging you. But…never mind. Back to the
story. Everything you told me sounded like it happened a long time ago. What
about now?”

It
hadn’t. So much had changed in our lifetimes. Now the little girl wolves were
completely segregated. They were all born to wealthy families now, leaving the
working class wolves a bunch of lonely, frustrated men. “I can’t tell you
that.”

How did she get so close to me? Kiera’s arm brushed against my thigh, big brown eyes
unblinking, waiting for me to continue. There was nothing more to say. “Why
not?” she asked.

“Because
everything’s changing.” That was the whole reason I was here. “And it will
never be that way again.”