A Wolf's Heart (Wolf Mountain Peak Book 1) Read online

  “I certainly do not intend to treat you as my subjects,” Monica stated, using a soft tone. “It’s very nice to meet you. I presume you know my name,” she added, turning to the staircase.

  “I love it when she talks fancy,” Raul muttered under his breath as his brothers resumed their seats. “You’re meeting our sister tonight, too. Her flight’s in three hours.”

  “Great,” she chirped. “Are you able to pick her up? Has the road been repaired yet?”

  “Yeah, the road’s been fixed,” he informed her as she joined them in the kitchen. Raul scooted the chair next to his out from the table, gesturing her toward it. “Coffee?”

  “Yes, please.” Monica gave a polite nod, but soon, the smile on her face began to fade. Raul’s brothers had settled their gaze on her. They wouldn’t address her, but their stiff expressions sent shivers of worry slicing through her. All the same, she would not voice her annoyance. She had only just met them, and an argument would not help her make a good impression.

  “I was just telling them about that asshole,” Raul said, handing a mug of coffee over to her. “I’m sorry about your window. I’ll pay for the damage.”

  “Sorry?!” Monica exclaimed, furrowing her brow. “He broke it, not you. Thank you.”

  “I’m still wondering why you didn’t just rip his throat out.” Ray’s words stunned her to stillness as she raised her mug to her lips. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “It took every ounce of restraint to not kill him,” Raul admitted, the curling of his lip vividly reminding her of the night she had treated him. “But I figured a broken arm was enough. I don’t think he’s coming back, though. I scared the crap out of him.”

  “Please tell me you were joking,” Monica uttered in a firm tone, glaring up at Ray. “I mean, kill someone just like that?”

  “I would, but…,” Ray paused. “I’d be lying to you.”

  “Hey!” Raul barked out, casting a fierce glance over at his brother. “What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to scare her off or something?”

  At that, both of their faces lost their hardness. Dean and Ray glanced at each other sideways as laughter swept over them like a wave. Monica couldn’t help but sigh in relief, watching as Dean banged his massive hand against his brother’s shoulder.

  “You filthy little mutts,” Raul groaned, shaking his head in disapproval. “I should kick your asses for this.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Monica stated with assurance, turning to look at him. “It was a joke.”

  “A bad joke,” Raul retorted with his eyes still fixed on them.

  “Look, can you please drive me back to my house?” she requested, her tone of voice now much sweeter. “I’m going to need some clothes.”

  “I’ll go,” he said with a nod, his baritone lowering. “We shouldn’t be seen together.”

  His last sentence upset her. Monica could understand why he had said that, but it bothered her nonetheless.

  “Am I a prisoner here?” she wondered out loud, her voice reeking with sarcasm.

  “Of course not,” Raul exclaimed, turning his attention to her. “It’s just–”

  “Then let’s go,” she interrupted, her voice firm, before looking back at Dean and Ray. “It’s been a pleasure, gentlemen. Excuse us.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Okay, what just happened?”

  Yes, Raul was not used to people making decisions for him. In a way, it felt strange and annoyed him that Monica had forced her decision upon him. He wasn’t expecting such a response from a female, let alone a human. However, as he realized what she had just done, his heart leapt with joy. It wasn’t the fact that she had disregarded his will. It was her character that he admired. This minor argument proved to him that Monica possessed a quality that he had been searching for all his life, but had never been able to find: courage, or ‘guts’ as he used to call it. In that brief, shining moment, he found himself even more attracted to her.

  With an enigmatic smile, he started the engine of his truck, feeling blessed that he had met her. Luckily for him, Monica did not look at him. She preferred to talk about the beautiful meadows that surrounded the road out of Paxton, and comment on the height of the trees that lined it. Still as they left the last hairpin behind them, Raul’s luck ran out.

  “You’ve been awfully quiet,” she remarked, worry shadowing her eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you mad at me?”

  “Nothing’s wrong.” He shook his head lightly as his smile widened. “And no, I’m not mad at you. I’m just enjoying the ride.”

  “You must have driven up and down this road a million times already,” Monica said with a hint of tension in her voice. “That can’t be it.”

  “It’s a euphemism, Monica,” Raul explained, his eyes glinting with amusement as he averted his gaze from the road to face her. “I meant I’m enjoying us. What we have.”

  “Oh,” she let out a gasp of surprise. “Well, so am I, but I’m not silent.”

  “I just like listening to your voice,” he confessed in a soft, calm tone. “It’s feminine, but not too squeaky. It’s not too girly, either. It soothes me.”

  “I’m sorry.” The stiffness on her face vanished as Monica tilted her head. “You meant to pay me a compliment and I was just–”

  “You just need to relax,” Raul suggested as his truck rolled to a halt. “Don’t read too much into things. Just because I’m not talking doesn’t mean I’m mad at you or anything. Now, let’s go get those clothes.”

  The small, dried-up pool of blood close to the curb caught his gaze as he got out of his truck. Monica pulled her keys out of the pocket of her jeans, heading toward her front door as Raul threw a few furtive glances around him. Other than a single green Toyota coming their way, there were no other cars on the road.

  “It’s time you saw what a mess I really am,” Monica joked, unlocking the door.

  “Oh, I doubt that,” Raul smiled, following her inside. Shivers went down his spine as he found himself back in her all-too-familiar living room. The couch he’d been laying on, the one she had been sleeping on… He stared down at the cushions on the smaller couch, remembering her peaceful image as her hand came into view.

  “Earth to Raul. Earth to Raul,” she stated in a robotic voice while waving her hand in front of his face. “Are you still with me over there?”

  “No painting can do justice to what I saw that night or the day after,” he whispered to her as he brought his gaze up to meet hers. “Not even the best poet in this world could put that picture into words. I don’t know if there’s any language rich enough to describe that scene.”

  “What are you doing to me?” Monica whimpered, snaking her arms around his neck. “You need to stop spoiling me with all those compliments, Mr. Wolf. You leave me longing, you know that?”

  “Well,” Raul gave an amused snort, “I’m not doing it on purpose. It’s just the way I feel.”

  “It’s wonderful,” she whispered emotionally, leaning in toward him as he pulled her into his embrace. “Just like everything you’ve said and done for me.”

  Monica tilted her head up, but disappointment spread all over her face as he leaned back. They were standing right behind her broken window. The two of them could easily become a spectacle, and that was the last thing Raul wanted.

  “Not here,” he said calmly. “Where’s your bedroom?”

  “Second door on the right, down the corridor,” she replied. “But, there are two open suitcases on my bed. My clothes are all over it. I was unpacking when everything happened last night. Come on. Just one kiss?”

  The sweetness in her voice might have tempted him further, but Raul remained adamant. He knew very well he wouldn’t be able to force restraint upon himself. Most likely, they would end up having sex in her living room.

  “Sorry, doc, we can’t. Not in here, anyway,” he continued speaking in a mellow tone. “I’d love to, but I’m
pretty sure I’ll lose control. I’ll make it up to you, though.”

  “How?” Monica huffed in frustration.

  “Last night, you said we haven’t been on a real date. I’ll tell you what. Let’s get those clothes of yours and go back to my cabin. I’ll pick you up tonight at eight, and we’ll go someplace romantic. How does that sound?”

  “You’re on.” She smiled in anticipation, kissing him on the chin. Easing out of his embrace, she started out of the living room. Only when Raul entered her bedroom did he discover the real state of ‘mess’ that existed. Her clothes were indeed on her bed, but huge boxes occupied almost every corner of the room. One of them stood out in the upper left corner. It was labeled with a single letter: ‘W.’

  “What’s that?” he wondered out loud, making his way toward it as Monica neatly placed her clothes back into her red suitcase.

  “Open it,” she encouraged.

  He removed the packing tape from the sides of the box, his curiosity growing by the second. The sight that greeted him when he opened box stunned him. Books filled the entire box, but not just any books. One that made the top layer depicted the shadow of a wolf in the wilderness, gazing up at the full moon. It was Jack London’s White Fang. Raul picked it up and then saw another book about wolves underneath – The Call of the Wild by the same author. He rummaged through all the books in the box, but it only confirmed his initial suspicion. The entire box was full of books about wolves, fiction and non-fiction.

  “It looks like someone’s obsessed with wolves,” he teased, looking down at her over his right shoulder.

  “Guilty as charged,” she said as she gave a short chuckle. “I think I’ve read White Fang more than a hundred times. It’s the first book about wolves I ever read. That was it. I think I fell in love with them. Their ways, their societies, their struggle to survive… The only thing I don’t like about them is their viciousness to one another. I can understand that, though. After all, we’re still talking about a wild animal.”

  “Then you know about mates,” Raul concluded, his voice dropping down an octave.

  “Yeah,” Monica chirped. “The alpha couple mates for life.”

  “All shifters do,” he corrected, his confident footsteps leading him closer to her. “Once we’ve found the right fit, we stay true to each other. We only mate once; we don’t take a second mate, even if our partner dies. Unlike humans, we don’t cheat, and we don’t leave the first chance we get.”

  “Stop saying those things.”

  Her command confused him. If anything, Raul believed she would like what she had just heard. “Why?” he asked, curiosity written all over his face.

  “Because,” Monica sucked in a deep breath, “I can’t believe what I’m about to say,” she said, mostly to herself. “My friend, Kate, would probably laugh if she heard me talking like this, but it makes me…,” she paused. “I want to do naughty things to you. You’re describing the perfect husband. It makes you irresistible to me,” she added, her voice lowering to a raspy whisper.

  “I’m just stating the facts here.” Raul shrugged his shoulders, her tone of voice arousing him as he leaned over her. “That’s what–”

  He didn’t have time to finish his sentence. Monica tossed the t-shirt she had in her hand across her bed and lifted her hands to his face. Cupping his cheeks, she tilted her head up and pressed her lips against his mouth. Her move was so sudden that he almost lost his balance. Still, Raul welcomed it with all his heart. Monica’s kiss sent warmth inside him, raising every hair on his body, satisfying the wolf within him. He had been craving her for a while, and rejecting her advances had taken a lot of effort, but now, he was not going to pass on the opportunity to touch her. Sadly, though, only a few seconds into their kiss, their moment was interrupted. A foul voice rose in the air, one that he had been dreading to hear.

  “Hey! Human fucker! Come out and play!” It belonged to Bryant. In a split second, Raul felt his adrenaline rushing through his veins. He pushed Monica aside and strode across her bedroom, eager to face him, ready for anything. The wolf inside him no longer hungered for her. Instead, he longed to destroy the wretched creature that had threatened the well-being of his family. Raul stormed out of her house, wary of any other scents. He caught none. Bryant was all alone, standing across the street, arms folded across his chest with a wicked smile on his battered face. He was tall, close to Raul’s height, but he was rather scrawny, and he had yet to recover from his injuries.

  “What’s the matter, fucker?” Raul barked out, clenching his fists. “Are you ready for another beating?”

  “Someone fucked up,” Bryant growled, his green eyes blazing. “Someone fucked up big. What are you doing here, Bradford?”

  Raul kept his mouth shut, chest heaving as his arm muscles flexed. He started forward, burning with determination to end this once and for all. Sprinting across the road, he felt his fangs lengthening as his opponent assumed a fighting stance. But Raul was not going to exchange fists with him. On the contrary, he was going for the kill. He lunged toward him, his right arm jerked back to punch him, the smirk on his face sending his adrenaline into the ozone layer. The thundering jab he landed on Bryant’s cheek sent him flying into the air. He landed flat and hard on his back, inches away from the edge of the hillside, roaring in pain and anger. Raul pounced on him, his eyes lighting with rage as he grabbed him by the throat.

  “I don’t need the wolf to end you, you filth,” he growled, sinking his nails into Bryant’s skin as he struggled to free himself. “You threaten my family, you die.”

  “Bradford,” Bryant choked out, his face slowly turning blue as Raul tightened his grip. “You broke the rules, asshole.”

  He had heard enough. His inner wolf was dying to burst out of him, eager to satisfy his lust for blood. But Raul would not shift. He relished in the agony he was causing, watching the fear consume his opponent as he struggled to catch one last breath. Nevertheless, before he could finish him, he felt two arms circling around his chest. Someone tried to yank him back, but Raul was so consumed with rage that he would not let go.

  “Murder in broad daylight,” a hoarse voice hissed. “You must have gone mad.”

  Raul didn’t need to glance at the man behind him. The voice was much too familiar. It was Warrick. His words acted like a wakeup call. Raul was only seconds away from making a big mistake, one that he could possibly come to regret. His grip around Bryant’s neck loosened, and so did his alpha’s hold on him. Slowly rising to his imposing, six-foot-four stature, Raul glared at Bryant as his rival coughed, trying to catch his breath.

  “I would bite your fucking head off if we were any closer to Paxton,” Warrick snarled as Raul turned around to face him. “Fighting against Bryant? Having sex with a human? I can smell her on you!”

  “Go for it,” Raul growled, letting his beast peer out of him as he clenched his fists. “What are you waiting for?”

  “Like I said, not out here,” Warrick snarled, his face hardening further as they gazed into each other’s eyes. “We do it our way: midnight, tomorrow night. Clover Lake. You kill him? The human stays safe. We won’t harm her as long as you stay away from her from now on.”

  “You won’t?” Raul asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

  “No.” Warrick shook his head firmly.

  “Whoa, wait a minute.” Raul raised his hand to chest height. “Are you saying I need to kill Bryant, your lieutenant, and she goes free? Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I’m not.” Warrick assumed an ever-firmer tone. “You may have screwed up, but Bryant screwed up, too. He should have known better than to threaten your sister. Don’t be late.”

  The beast within Raul purred with satisfaction. Why wouldn’t he? He had an ideal chance to eliminate Bryant, and he couldn’t wait to do so. The wolf would take care of the threat, and a win would ensure Monica’s survival. It sounded perfect in every way. Still, that was precisely what worried Raul. Hi
s kind never ignored the rules; he doubted whether they would make an exception about him. Shifters were not famous for their leniency or their forgiving nature. He found it extremely hard to believe that he would get away with the blatant violation of two rules just by winning in a fight.

  In any case, Raul couldn’t deny that this was the only way for him to ensure that Monica would stay alive. He couldn’t afford to question Warrick’s motives or guess his intentions. His alpha had been clear right from the start. He had to proceed with this. Avoiding attending the fight would most definitely have dire consequences for Monica.

  But something else troubled him, something that far outweighed everything else. Whatever the outcome of his fight against Bryant would be, it meant the end of his relationship with her. They had been exposed already. Raul had endangered her life once. He would not do it again. Even though he was feeling close to her, even though he was starting to believe she would make the perfect mate, he had to end things with her. On the off chance that his pack would forgive him for breaking the rules once, they would not do so twice. Should they keep seeing each other, they would both be killed.

  His mind filled with that terrible scenario, Raul watched as Monica paced toward him with two suitcases in her hands, wearing her usual, serious expression.

  “I heard some commotion,” she said. “What happened?”

  “Nothing out of the ordinary,” he replied while maintaining an even tone of voice and clenching his jaw.

  “Well, I’ve got everything I needed,” Monica spoke, the lines of her beautiful face breaking into a broad smile. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Predictably, Raul’s encounter with Warrick and Bryant had a profound effect on him. Even as he readied himself for his date with Monica, he remained expressionless, every now and then bitterly smiling to himself at the thought that their first date would be their last. The sounds coming out of her room did distract him. The shower faucet being turned on and off, her hair dryer, her high heels on the hardwood floor… Under any other circumstances, he would be dying with curiosity. What would she be wearing? Would she use too much makeup? But not tonight. Raul’s heart was filled with sorrow. This did not feel like a real date. On the contrary, it felt more like a glorified goodbye.