Wolf's Kiss Ch. 07

Moving slowly and carefully, Marisa reclined Shayna's half of the bench seat to keep her out of sight. Shayna stirred for a moment but remained asleep. Then Marisa reclined her own seat and flipped onto her stomach to peer out the back window.

Jake sped past the exit to the small town and wondered if maybe he should have stopped there. But a minute later, the three motorcycles slowed and turned onto the ramp to the town and both he and Marisa breathed a sigh of relief. What they didn't know was their pursuers had just gotten a call from Gerard St. Simon to fall back, he would handle it from there.

Shayna awakened a short while later, stretching and yawning, and bolted into a sitting position. She was a little disoriented until she remembered how she came to be in an SUV traveling along the highway. Marisa sat up as well and smiled hesitantly at Shayna.

"You seemed uncomfortable so I reclined the seat," Marisa said smoothly. It wasn't a complete lie but she didn't think it necessary to tell Shayna they'd nearly been overtaken by the wolves they were running from.

Shayna simply nodded as Marisa reached over to readjust her seat. She was aware of Jake glancing at her in the rearview mirror but she avoided making eye contact with him.

"Did you sleep well, love?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"Yes, thank you," Shayna replied, still not looking at him.

Jake tried to read her thoughts but was dismayed that he couldn't do so. He tried again but all he could sense was her fear and confusion. His mental link to her was weakening fast and he knew the only way to bring it back was to fully mate with her. He could feel his wolf's frustration with this new development and hoped they could rectify it soon. Shayna was his and he had to do whatever it took for her to see that as well.

They were getting closer to his home and Jake's heart beat a little faster in anticipation. Since their first night together he'd imagined having her in his home on the compound, in his bed, fitting perfectly into his world. The circumstances should have been different but it didn't lessen the feelings he was experiencing. He glanced at her again in the rearview mirror. Her wavy hair was in disarray from her nap but she didn't seem to notice as she stared out the window lost in her own thoughts. His body immediately tightened and he tore his gaze away from her to focus on the road. Marisa was going to have to stay in the guest house.

Shayna sat stiffly behind Jake hoping he wasn't reading her mind. Her stomach was in knots imagining all sorts of horrible things happening to them at the hands of the unknown wolves. Being wolves themselves, she figured Marisa and Jake stood a decent chance against an attack. But she knew she wouldn't be so lucky. The kickboxing classes she took at the gym were mainly for exercise, not for actual fighting. She prayed her limited self-defense skills wouldn't be put to the test any time soon.

It put her mind at ease a little when she remembered Jake's promise to keep her safe. She didn't doubt he meant what he said, but she also didn't want his skills to be put to the test either. The thought of him violently defending her and possibly getting hurt caused a new wave of fear to come over her and she had to bite her bottom lip to suppress the groan that almost escaped. Ruthlessly pushing her fears aside, she tried to focus instead on everyone coming out of this ordeal in one piece and getting back to the life she'd carefully planned for herself.

"Shayna, how long have you known about the existence of Werewolves?"

Marisa's question brought them both out of their private thoughts.

"I just found out tonight," Shayna answered. "I still can't quite believe it."

Marisa nodded. "I felt the same way when I first found out," she said. "It scared the living daylights out of me to know there were other beings walking the Earth that I'd thought only existed in myths and fairy tales."

"So you weren't born a Werewolf?" Shayna asked.

"No, I wasn't," Marisa replied. Looking Shayna in the eyes, she continued, "Shayna, I'm your great-grandmother."

Shayna gasped and stared wide-eyed at Marisa for several moments before she finally found her voice. "Bullshit! You look younger than me! How can you possibly be my great-grandmother?"

Marisa looked sad. "It's true. Your grandmother, Melissa, is my daughter."

As Shayna continued to stare at Marisa, her initial shock began to fade as she realized why Marisa seemed so familiar the first time she saw her. In her grandmother's house in New York, there's an old photograph on her mantel of a beautiful young woman who Shayna had to admit looked a lot like Marisa. The photo is black and white so it was difficult to make the connection before without details like her eye and hair colors. As a young child, Shayna remembered asking about the picture and her grandmother told her it was a picture of her own mother taken shortly before she died. It also always struck Shayna how much her cousin Monica resembled the picture.

And now, looking at Marisa in the flesh with a new awareness, she could definitely see the resemblance to most of her relatives on her father's side of her family. Shayna mentioned the photo to Marisa and she nodded.

"I remember taking that picture. It was actually after I was turned that I had it taken. I knew I couldn't stay with my family for long and I wanted my children to remember me," Marisa said, sounding as sad as she looked. "I'm glad it survived."

But Shayna was still confused. "Why do you still look so young? It was over 80 years ago that you were supposed to have died."

When Marisa hesitated, Jake spoke up. "Shifters age extremely slowly. We can live for a thousand years and not look older than a middle-aged human."

Shayna looked up at him. She initially assumed that he was about thirty years old but she now suspected he was much older.

"How old are you?" she asked. She felt compelled to ask but wasn't sure if she really wanted to know yet.

Jake's expression gave nothing away as he gazed at her through the mirror. She was so tense that he didn't want to answer her question. Although he couldn't read her mind, he could see the enormous strain she was holding in. But now that she'd learned the truth there was no turning back and there was no lying to her either.

"I was born in 1692," was his softly spoken reply.

Shayna quickly did the math, brows rising as she looked at him. "You're over three hundred years old?" she asked incredulously.

He slowly nodded his head and felt her apprehension crank up a few notches. He was going to reassure her later that he still had a whole lot of life in him. 'She should know that by now,' he thought to himself with a little smirk. The time he spent loving her delicious little body should leave no doubt that he wasn't going to turn to dust anytime soon. But if she needed reminding, he would be happy to oblige.

Shayna looked away from the heated look he gave her when their eyes locked in the mirror. She could feel the flush creeping up her neck to her face in embarrassment that he would so blatantly display his lust for her.

Knowing Marisa didn't miss their exchange, Shayna dared not look at her but instead fished in her backpack as if trying to find something. She was already experiencing information overload and there was a dull throbbing ache in the right side of her head. The last thing she needed was a reminder of why she was in this predicament in the first place.

Finally, she turned her attention back to Marisa. "You were born human?" Shayna asked.

"Yes," Marisa answered. "To make a long story short, I had just gotten married to a wonderful man and we were living in a cottage on the edge of his parents' property. We were literally living smack in the middle of the woods, which was remote even by 1920's standards. I was home alone at the time and had decided to take a walk. I had done so several times before and it was totally safe, or so I thought."

She paused a moment, lost in thought, before she continued. "I was attacked by some kind of animal. I had no idea what it was at the time. All I remember is that it was huge and moved so fast, I didn't even see or hear it coming. My whole body felt broken and I was in so much pain. I could feel it dragging me by my leg for a few seconds before I passed out. When I awoke, I was lying on a table and a young woman was bandaging my wounds. When she realized I was awake, she spoke very soothingly to me but I passed out again. I was still in a lot of pain."

After another brief pause, Marisa spoke again. "Eventually I was able to stay awake for longer periods of time as my body healed. And I started healing pretty quickly. I learned what happened to me and that my rescuers were of the St. Simon Pack. I had been dragged onto their territory and when I was found, they didn't expect me to survive, but here I am."

Jake's suspicions grew even more but he held his tongue. She'd started talking about her past and he hoped she would get to the reason Gerard was pursuing her.

"I'd been recovering for a couple of weeks, gradually getting to know some of the pack when Gerard St. Simon returned home from some trip or something. And when we first met, we were instantly drawn to each other. The pull was so strong, I'd never felt anything like it in my life, not even with my husband whom I loved so much.

But my new reality was so confusing and frightening that I resisted my attraction to Gerard for as long as I could. However the mating instinct is strong and I didn't hold out for long. Since it was obvious I couldn't return to my old life, I agreed to become his mate. After that, preparations for the mating ceremony immediately got under way. Gerard insisted it take place as soon as possible so everything was moving along quickly."

Marisa watched Shayna closely as she spoke. A lot of her history would soon repeat itself with Shayna as Jake had already staked his claim on her as his mate. But she was human still and it was obvious that she had no idea what it would take to truly mate with Jake.

"The higher ranking members of the pack knew that I was having a hard time letting go of my past and this was very frustrating for Gerard. I refused to be intimate with him until the mating ceremony because I still felt attached to my husband and I didn't want to be unfaithful to him. I figured the mating ceremony would symbolize me shedding my human life and embracing my new life as a Were. But he didn't see it that way."

"Why was he being so difficult? You'd just been through so much physically and emotionally," Shayna said. She was already decidedly anti-Gerard St. Simon and this depiction of him only made it worse.

Marisa shrugged. "He thought I should have accepted my new life the moment it became clear to me what I'd become. He was so impatient that we argued about it the night before the ceremony. After the argument, he stormed off and went into the woods to cool off. When he hadn't come back after an hour or so, I went after him.

As I got closer to the edge of the woods, I could hear him talking very loudly. He was venting to his best friend and I guess he didn't hear me coming. I figured it would be best to let him vent and head back to the main house but then I overheard Gerard say he wanted to kill my husband once I became his mate."

Shayna gasped, holding her hand to her chest. "He didn't!"

Marisa shook her head. "No, he didn't. I left the St. Simons that night when most everyone was asleep. I made it look like I had gone into the river and committed suicide, but I really went back to my husband. I knew I was taking a huge risk, but I didn't want him to die, especially because of me. I convinced him to leave with me that day, to put as much distance as possible between us and the pack."

"It was never my plan to remain with my husband," Marisa continued. "I just wanted to ensure his safety then disappear again. We went south, ending up in North Carolina. We bought a house and settled in but I went into heat before I could execute my plan to leave. Nine months later, I gave birth to triplets - one boy and two girls. But one of our daughters was stillborn."

"Melanie," Shayna said. "Grandma told us about her sister who was stillborn. She says she still feels like a part of her is missing."

Marisa smiled wistfully. "It's very intuitive of her to be able to feel it."

Shayna's inner turmoil eased a little as she thought of her grandmother. She'd always doted on Shayna and her cousins and Shayna loved her so much. But being part Were also explained some weird things about her. Like how at more than 80 years old she seemed so full of life and energy all the time. She never acted or looked her age.

Jake interrupted her thoughts. "So what happened then?" he asked. He needed as much information as possible to inform his alpha and to better be able to protect Shayna.

Marisa turned her gaze to him. "I left shortly after the babies were born. It was obvious that I wouldn't be able to stay much longer. My body was undergoing changes that I didn't understand and I almost shifted while I was nursing my son. I had become overwhelmed with emotion at the time and something else just came over me. Before I knew it, my hand was turning into a claw and I scratched my baby's arm. I don't know how I regained control, but I knew that moment that I couldn't stay.

"It was difficult and God knows I didn't want to go, but I had to come clean about what had happened to me. I'd told my husband the truth that I'd been attacked by an animal in the woods. But I didn't tell him that the family who found me and nursed me back to health was actually a pack of Werewolves and that I'd been turned at some point during the attack. The rogue that attacked me had attacked others, people and animals alike but I was the only known survivor. Since the animal hadn't been caught – at least not to the knowledge of the human population – it wasn't hard to convince my husband that I was scared and wanted to leave for a safer place."

Shayna was rapt, watching Marisa closely as she spoke. Jake looked as if he wanted her to hurry up.

Marisa continued, aware that they were almost at their destination. "But now I had to tell him the truth. He didn't believe me until I showed him the scratch on our son's arm. He didn't want me to go but we both knew it was for the best. So I left a few days later. I traveled around the world looking for answers and guidance but I periodically went back to North Carolina to check on my family. I remained incognito so I wouldn't disrupt my husband's life and watched our son and daughter grow up from a distance. I've traveled more and more as the family grew and relocated and branched off into new families."

Jake finally had the opening he needed. "My brother and I have learned recently that St. Simon is looking for you. If I know him as well as I think I do, he won't stop until he's found you. And when he does, what will you do?"

Marisa bit her bottom lip. "I don't know. But I do know that I won't endanger my family." She looked at Shayna. "My only alternative may be to come out of hiding and face him. I'll have to get some guarantee from him that he won't harm my family if I give myself up. But what could he possibly want from me after all this time?"

Jake looked at Shayna and instantly knew the answer to that question. To Marisa he said, "The only way to find out is to meet with him. If you would feel more comfortable having an alpha present, I'm sure my father wouldn't mind acting as mediator."

"Your father is the Alpha?" Marisa asked. She tried not to sound too hopeful but she knew her life was about to change drastically. Any help she could get would be welcomed.

"Yes, he is. My father is Claude Montrose, Alpha of the Montrose Pack."

Marisa nodded. Maybe they could help indeed. She'd learned of the Montrose Pack some time ago and knew they were as solid as they came. They were large in number, very well-respected, and financially independent.

She looked at Shayna and smiled. A Montrose beta was claiming her granddaughter and she couldn't help feeling a bit of pride. If Shayna decided to become his mate, she was sure she would be in good hands. Now if only she could be so lucky...

Jake turned off the highway onto a dark, two-lane road surrounded by open fields. A few miles ahead he could see the dark outline of the trees that marked the beginning of Montrose property.

Once he hit that marker, he began to relax knowing they would be in the heart of the compound very soon and he would be welcoming Shayna into his home. He'd never brought another woman to his family's compound, his inner sanctum. Shayna would be the first and last by virtue that she was his mate.

He should have felt more confident but he was actually a little nervous. He had no doubt that his family and the pack would love Shayna and that she would come to love them as well but there was still that little thing about her being a human.

Jake was prepared to smooth that over with his parents but Shayna was the one he was worried about. She'd had no time to prepare for meeting several hundred Werewolves when she'd only found out they existed a few hours ago. He was afraid of overwhelming her to the point that she didn't want to give him a chance.

One good thing was that Sebastian couldn't keep his mouth shut and already told everyone about her. So they all pretty much knew what to expect just as they knew to be on their best behavior or Jake would be kicking their asses. Except maybe his older siblings who would likely do whatever they could to embarrass him.

He took a deep breath and mentally crossed his fingers that nothing would go wrong. Sighting the front gate just ahead, he smiled and felt the calming peace he always felt when he came home settle over him.

Something streaked by in the woods and the SUV lurched to one side as the movement caught Jake off guard. He immediately righted the vehicle and slowed down as he looked out the window to see if anything or anyone was out there. The disadvantage to riding in a cloaked vehicle was that while no one could scent the occupants inside, the occupants couldn't scent anything outside. Shayna and Marisa were instantly on alert as well by the sudden movement of the SUV.

"What happened?" they both asked simultaneously.

Jake could hear the fear in both their voices and wanted to put them at ease.

"I thought I saw something but I must have imagined it," he said. "We're almost to the front gate and there are guards there. If anything is out here, they'll know."

Shayna sat back in her seat but Marisa still seemed tense. As they pulled up to the gate, a huge reddish-brown wolf jumped from the trees and landed directly in front of them. Jake brought the truck to a halt and stared at the beast, knowing instantly who it was and hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid. He was ready to jump out of the SUV at any moment and shift if it looked like the wolf was going to attack.

Shayna sat frozen in fear as she watched the big wolf slowly walk toward them until its nose was almost pressed against the windshield. It didn't move any further, just stared inside at each of them until its eyes rested on Marisa.

Marisa was also frozen in fear but her mind was whirling. She'd never seen his wolf before but she knew it was him. And he was breathtakingly beautiful. She could barely breathe as his eyes bore into hers and what she read in them almost made her cry. Such longing and pain and it was all her fault.

Marisa was about to open her door and go to him but Shayna's startled gasp stopped her. Following her gaze, she saw two armed men and several wolves emerging from the gate behind her wolf. He saw them too and with one last look at Marisa, he bounded off into the trees, vanishing from sight.