Wolf Moon Read online

  A fox ran across her path and Sage just managed to snap a few pictures of it, the clicks of the auto shots hopefully promised at least one good one.

  Just as she was going to go deeper into the trees the wind picked up and something howled off in the distance. Sage froze, the wind whipping her hair into her face.

  Was that a wolf?

  It could just be coyotes, but either way Sage decided it was time to go back. She could take some pictures of downtown instead. She turned back around and went back the same way she came.

  Something made the back of her neck prickle. She couldn’t help but pick up her pace until she was running back to her car, bag slapping against her thigh while she clutched her camera to her chest.

  Why she was so freaked out, she couldn’t say. Maybe it was the sense that she wasn’t alone?

  Another howl that sounded a lot closer rose from the trees right as she reached her old Corolla. Sage flung open her door and slammed it closed the second she was in the seat.

  The camera went back in the bag and the whole time she put it away her hands shook. She set it on the passenger seat and took a deep breath, resting her hands on the steering wheel.

  It was just a wolf or a coyote. No big deal. Next time she’d make sure to bring something to scare off whatever she came across that was bigger than a fox. There had to be something the locals used.

  Something slammed into her window and she screamed.

  “Sage!” Jacob groaned and slumped to the ground, blood streaking her window. “I need your help.”

  6

  Jacob

  Sage babbled as she opened her door, pushing him to the ground. Her scent filled his nose and Jacob winced as she tried to help him up. She apologized as she set him back down to open the rear door.

  Another howl had him snarling. “Hurry, we need to get out of here.”

  She apologized again as she helped him up and into the back of her car.

  Everything she said was nonsense as he focused on holding his stomach together. Blood was everywhere and it left a trail that led right to him and Sage. What she was doing out here in the first place he didn’t know, but her scent in the forest was the only thing that had kept him going.

  Otherwise Jacob would be nothing more than a pile of shredded meat and bones right now.

  “I don’t remember where the hospital is,” she said, voice quivering as she slammed her door closed and turned the ignition.

  When the engine didn’t immediately turn over, Jacob laughed. This was so typical.

  He moved his hand to inspect the damage and grimaced when he saw insides poking out. Gently he tried to shove them back, but the pain was excruciating.

  “No hospital,” Jacob insisted. “We need to get the engine going…”

  Something slammed against the car, metal groaned as the entire thing rocked on its wheels. Sage screamed, her fear filling the car and his nose. His hackles rose and Jacob snarled at the wolf with glowing silver eyes.

  “Just take a minute,” he said calmly, trying to keep them both from losing it. “Take a deep breath and try the engine again.”

  If he had to, he would get out of the car and shift, but his guts were still slowly healing. If he got out, Jacob doubted he’d win this fight.

  Sage did as he instructed and took a deep breath before turning the ignition again. This time the engine roared to life and she slammed it into reverse. The tires gripped and they were moving.

  “I need to take you to a hospital, Jacob,” she told him, glancing over her shoulder as the wolf howled behind them.

  He watched as more came through the trees, watching them, knowing exactly where they were going.

  They’d crossed territory lines. This was now a war.

  “Do you know where the homestead is?” He was starting to feel lightheaded. The healing was too slow.

  “There’s so much blood,” she whispered, pressing on the gas. “I’ll get you to a doctor, I promise.”

  “No!” He lurched forward in a panic. The pain from the motion was excruciating, and he felt himself losing consciousness. “Take me anywhere but a hospital. Take me to…”

  He didn’t get to finish his sentence before he passed out.

  When he woke up Jacob heaved forward, trying to identify where he was.

  Sage’s scent was everywhere, and he focused on the female bent over him, inspecting the wound with a frown. “It’s not as bad as I thought it was,” she admitted. “It looks like it might need stitches though. What the hell happened?”

  She put his arm around her shoulders and Jacob couldn’t stop staring at her. She was even more beautiful than the last time he’d seen her. “Where are we?”

  “My apartment, but I was going to call the Auto Shop until I saw the cut. I just don’t understand why it was bleeding so much.”

  Jacob leaned on her slightly, letting her help him walk up the stairs.

  He should pull away and go to the shop. He should call his Alpha or the Second. Hell, even the Third. But Olivia was running the perimeter with Liam and Noah. Alexander was in Portland, and Kai was with Shane on the other side of their territory.

  There was no one to call, only Bonnie and Amelia and they couldn’t shift yet.

  “I don’t have much, but I do have a first aid kit,” Sage was telling him as she stuck her keys in the door. “Once I get a good look at it, I’ll tell you if we’re going to the hospital or not, no arguing this time.”

  Jacob hesitated. The shop had a first aid kit. He could recuperate there, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Sage. What if the wolves followed his trail right to her? What if they decided to make an example of her, or use her as a warning? Sage was only human; she wouldn’t survive that encounter.

  “Come on already,” Sage told him, pulling his arm. “We need to get you cleaned up and warm.”

  He stepped into her apartment and did a sweep of the space. It was completely bare of furniture. There was literally nothing in the apartment except a coffee maker in the kitchen and the microwave the apartment came with.

  But Sage didn’t stop or try to make excuses. She pulled him gently and led him into her bedroom. At least there was a mattress. Brand new by the smell of it with flannel sheets and big, thick blankets over everything.

  She didn’t stop there either. Jacob let her pull him into the attached bathroom. “Let’s get this off of you,” she murmured, pulling the shredded shirt over his head.

  How many times had he imagined this exact situation? Minus the blood and gore of course. Jacob was silent as he lifted his arms to cooperate, hiding the grimace of pain as his stomach twinged.

  Eyeing the gash in the mirror, he was relieved to see it had closed during the drive. At least he wouldn't have to explain why he was no longer dying.

  Sage bit her lip as she took a washcloth and turned on the hot water in the sink. “Your shirt is soaked with blood,” she whispered. “I don’t understand.”

  He didn’t bother trying to make excuses. Jacob just watched her as she wetted the cloth with warm water and started wiping the blood away from his bare chest.

  He couldn’t help himself anymore.

  Reaching out he touched a strand of hair that framed her face and she looked up at him in surprise, lips slightly parted. Her eyes looked green today. Jacob caressed her cheek with his thumb, holding her as he inspected every glorious freckle on her face.

  “Thank you,” he murmured. “I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there.”

  The Cascade Mountain Pack was trying to take everything they’d built over the last year, and now Sage was a part of this town and Jacob didn’t want things to go back to the way they were.

  What would they do to her? What would they do if she was his mate?

  “Hey, I’m just glad I was in the right place at the right time,” she said. That gorgeous color rose in her cheeks. “Let me get you cleaned up.”

  Then she was wiping his chest again and Jacob couldn’t help
but smile. “Let me shower. It’ll be faster. Even if I like having you give me a sponge bath, it’s not very practical.”

  Sage blushed again and mumbled an apology before heading out. Jacob grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop. She was so incredibly shy he had to remember not to joke so much with her.

  “You’ll be here when I get out?” he asked, hoping she’d look him in the eyes again.

  “If that’s what you want,” Sage told him, glancing up only once before turning to the linen closet just outside the bathroom door. “I don’t want to intrude. Here are some clean towels.”

  Taking the towels from her he shook his head. “No, you’re not intruding. You saved my life. I’ll be only a few seconds.”

  Jacob watched as she closed the door with a polite smile on her face. He could smell her fear fading, the desire she had whenever he saw her, and something else that was difficult to pinpoint – apprehension?

  He turned on the shower and knew he had to find out if she was his mate. Today. He couldn’t keep doing this – giving her false hope. If she wasn’t his mate, he had to leave her alone.

  They had rules for this exact reason. Now Sage was in danger because of him.

  Jacob sighed and stripped, checking the gash one last time. It didn’t look like it needed stitches anymore.

  At least there was that.

  7

  Sage

  The sound of the shower running was loud in the silence of her empty apartment. It bounced against the walls until she felt like she was going to go insane.

  Looking down at her hands she shook her head. They were covered in blood as was her car. How had so much blood come from that cut? It was a decent size across his abdomen but still…she could have sworn it had been worse than it was when she wiped it clean.

  What exactly happened to him? Was it those wolves? How had he even survived that?

  Sage felt numb from the shock and fear. The way that wolf had thrown itself against her car, how Jacob had passed out in the backseat…

  She ambled over to the kitchen and turned on the water in the sink, watching it as she waited for it to warm up.

  Slowly she washed the blood from her hands, unable to get the memory of the wolves out of her head. The way they stared at her…she could have sworn they wanted to tear her and Jacob to pieces and she had no idea why.

  There had been wolves out there, chasing Jacob.

  Why was he in the forest in the first place? Had he been hiking? Alone?

  The shower shut off and Sage came back to reality. She turned off the faucet and stared at her hands. They were stained with blood. Some of it was still under her nails. But at least she didn’t look like she’d killed someone anymore.

  Looking down at her sweater she saw it was ruined, covered in red as well.

  She stripped off the sweater and tossed it in the garbage, shivering in nothing but her tank top. “I don’t have anything for you to wear,” she called out, wondering if she could get the blood out of his jeans.

  Maybe she should wait until it was dark so people wouldn’t see the stains as she carried the clothes to the laundry room. She didn’t want people asking questions she didn’t really know how to answer.

  Sage turned on the electric kettle and then headed into her room, opening the closet to search for something, anything, Jacob might be able to wear.

  “That’s okay,” he said as he opened the door. “I’ll just wear what I had on.”

  She scoffed, something she almost never did. It must have been the shock and the irritation she could feel building beneath her skin as more questions came up without any answers. “I don’t think you understand the state of your clothes. I might be able to wash them, but I doubt it.”

  “Hey, are you okay?” Jacob asked, suddenly a lot closer.

  Sage whirled around, hand to her chest. How did he move so quietly?

  Her eyes took him in, glistening with water from head to toe, towel wrapped around his hips. It hung so low she couldn’t help but look, wondering if the towel might just fall…

  Clearing her throat, she looked back up at Jacob, ignoring the knowing twinkle she saw there. “Let me take a look at the gash, then you can get under the covers. I turned the heater up and have hot water boiling for tea and whatever else we might need.”

  Jacob reached out again, but she ducked under his arm and went into the bathroom. It looked like some kind of murder scene in there, blood everywhere. Sage paused as the pool of blood from his jeans spread until it touched her bathmat.

  This was too much blood.

  When she turned around Jacob was standing there patiently, waiting for her to inspect him.

  Sage didn’t bother trying to make nice. She reached out and studied the gash. Then she frowned, leaning closer to get a better look. This didn’t even look like a ragged slice anymore. It was nearly closed.

  “I don’t understand,” she whispered. “It’s almost healed. There’s nothing to stitch up.”

  “It must not have been as bad as it looked,” Jacob said. But there was something about the way he sounded.

  Sage glared up at him. “You’re lying to me. I’m not sure about what, or why, but I can hear it in your voice. I was there! Look at this!” She was starting to lose her cool, but she couldn’t help it anymore.

  Pointing at the blood all over her floor, and then the blood on her shirt. “Explain this, Jacob. And don’t lie to me this time.”

  He opened his mouth and she could feel it. Sage shook her head. “Don’t. If you’re going to lie to me again, you can just leave. I refuse to let another liar into my life.”

  Everyone in L.A. was always lying and she was sick of it.

  It was one of the major reasons why she’d left. Sage was tired of people pretending to be what they weren’t. And now here she was in a place she’d thought was exactly as it seemed, and this guy was trying to make her feel like a crazy person.

  But there was proof. There was blood everywhere.

  He was silent for a moment as he appraised her. Sage gave him a minute to really think about the situation. If he was going to lie to her again, she was done. She would kick his naked ass out of her apartment, no matter how hot he was.

  This was something she would not budge on.

  “You passed out from blood loss in my car,” she reminded him. “It’s soaked into my seats, my clothes…and those wolves…” Sage shuddered as she remembered the way the first one slammed into her car like it could get in by sheer force of will.

  “I can’t tell you,” Jacob finally said. “Not unless…”

  “Unless?” she demanded, planting her hands on her hips and arching a brow at him.

  “Unless I can smell the back of your neck.” He winced at that and ruffled his wet hair, as if he were embarrassed.

  Her hands dropped to her sides as she processed that. “My neck?” she asked. This sounded weird, but…what was the harm in it? “Fine.”

  Sage went to her kitchen and pulled out the hunting knife she kept in the drawer closest to the door. It was sharp as hell too. “But if I feel like you might try to murder me, I’m going to stab you.”

  Jacob held up both of his hands and moved toward her slowly, the towel just barely hanging onto those hips. “I promise I won’t even touch you. It’s just…I’ll explain everything once I know.”

  Knew what exactly? “Just get it over with,” she told him, pointing the knife right at his belly where he’d been hurt, but now the skin was red almost like a scar.

  No matter how weird the whole thing was, Sage couldn’t help the way her heart started racing as he approached. Jacob was true to his word though. He didn’t touch her, but she could feel the heat of his body against her chilled skin.

  The smell of her soap on him was somehow relaxing despite the dichotomy of it. Pink velvet cupcake with pine trees was not a combination she thought she would like.

  When his hand brushed her long hair from the back of her neck, she gasped. It was stupid and g
irlish, but Sage had never felt anything quite so…intimate before.

  The second it took for him to lean down slowed, like sap from a tree in winter – as though something big was about to happen.

  Sage held her breath as his nose barely brushed against her skin. The sensation made her shiver and she closed her eyes so she could memorize the moment.

  Why did she like this so much?

  Then his hand rested on her shoulder and Jacob pulled her against his chest with a deep sigh. “Mate,” he murmured against her hair.

  The word rippled through her. Sage had no idea what it meant, but she knew it was important. She could feel the way it settled something deep inside Jacob and everything she’d been feeling for him over the last few weeks rose up, practically choking her.

  Sage heard the knife clatter to the floor as she turned and pressed her face into his bare chest, holding onto him like he was her only lifeline. She didn’t know what was going on, but somehow, she knew deep down that Jacob would protect her, would keep her safe, and he would never ever lie to her.

  “I think we should sit down,” he said. “And I’ll tell you everything.”

  8

  Sage

  Her bed was the only place to sit, but Sage didn’t want to get it dirty. So, she told Jacob to give her a minute to rinse off.

  It was the fastest shower she’d ever taken in her life. Just long enough to wash the blood from her body and hair. Then she wrapped up in her favorite fluffy robe and padded into her bedroom.

  There was a space heater on the floor, and she turned it on to help fight off the chill. Something about a lack of furniture made the entire apartment feel cold despite the heater running.

  Jacob was texting when she came out and he ran his hand through his hair before tossing the shattered phone on the floor. He sighed and adjusted his legs so the towel still covered everything.

  “Better?” he asked as she came to sit beside him.