Chapter Four

After arriving home, Maggie sat in the car for not quite a minute before she felt as though she’d herself pulled together enough to face her mother. It’d taken almost the entire drive home to get her body to stop shaking.

She took a deep, calming breath and opened the driver’s door before she stepped out onto the driveway. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit some of the shaking had to do with the kiss she and Dolf had shared. Kissing him had been like nothing she’d experienced with other men. It’d made her crave more of him, to rub up against him and relieve the ache that had pounded deep inside her pussy. But then, he’d put his arms around her and his eyes had gone wolf, which had ruined it all.

Maggie walked to the front door of the house and opened it. After she stepped inside, she heard the sound of her mother’s voice coming from the living room. She headed in that direction and found the door to that room open. Stepping into it, her gaze landed on the two people who were there with her mum, which caused her to draw up short.

Her mother noticed her first. “Maggie, you’re home. Cydney and Wulfric stopped by for a visit. I told them you were out, but they decided to hang around until you got back. And they brought someone with them.” When Maggie didn’t make a move to proceed any farther into the room, her mum said, “Don’t just stand there. Come and say hello. You don’t want to be rude.”

Maggie walked around the couch to where Cydney and Wulfric sat. It wasn’t until she stood in front of them did she see what at first glance looked like a large dog sitting at Cydney’s feet. After a second look at it, once it had come to its paws, Maggie realized she’d been wrong. That was no dog, but a wolf. She would’ve backed out of the room as fast as she could, but before she had the chance, the animal closed the distance between them and sniffed and licked her hand.

Her mother chuckled. “It looks as if you have a new friend,” she said. “He seems to like you.”

Maggie met Cydney’s gaze as the wolf’s head butted her in the leg as if he wanted her to pet him. “Cyd, who—” she cleared her throat, “—what’s his name?”

Her friend gave her a smile that said she knew damn well Maggie didn’t like being put in a situation like this. “It’s Brand. Oh, and by the way, he needs to go outside. Why don’t you take him, Maggie.”

“Take him out to the back garden, dear,” her mum said. “He really is friendly.”

Before Maggie could protest, the wolf gently took her wrist in his mouth and pulled her toward the room’s entrance. Not wanting to make a scene her mother would question, she went along with him. But once outside in the hallway, she tried to jerk her arm free. The fear that seemed to be never too far away slowly threatened to take her over.

“Stop,” she hissed.

Brand ignored her and towed her along until they reached the door that led to the garden at the back of the house. He released her then. Maggie quickly opened it and stood to the side, hoping against hope he’d continue on without her. And then, she’d shut him out of the house.

That plan backfired when Brand maneuvered behind her and used his body to push her out the doorway. Once outside, she stomped across the grass to a section of the garden sheltered from the house and neighbors by some large trees along with some hedges. The wolf caught up and kept pace with her.

Maggie came to a stop after she was certain no one would be able to see them and turned to face the animal that looked up at her. “All right. What do you think you’re doing? And don’t just stare at me like that. I know you understand me. Cydney told me you guys can, even after you shift.”

Her heart felt as if it leapt into her throat as the wolf’s body blurred and a large man with long, black hair that fell past his shoulders, took its place. His dark, blue-eyed gaze met hers. She vaguely remembered Brand when the warriors had rescued her from the werewolves’ den.

“Fixing you,” he said in a deep voice.

At his short answer, Maggie remembered Cydney telling her Brand only spoke when he had something to say, and when he did, it was short and to the point.

“How?” She yelped as he shifted back into a wolf, licked her hand, then just as quickly, turned back into a man.

“Like this. I’m going to keep doing this until you’re no longer afraid of me. And in turn, of Dolf.”

True to his word, Brand shifted half a dozen times into his wolf form, then back to human again. Each time, he urged her to touch him in some way. By the sixth one, Maggie had to admit seeing him as a wolf didn’t seem quite as scary. She could handle it now.

But her fear returned in a sudden rush when Brand shifted from wolf to werewolf form. She opened her mouth as if to scream, only to have a large, furred hand clamp over it, silencing her before any sound escaped.

“No, Maggie,” Brand said in a gruffer sounding voice than his normal one. “Look at me.”

She shook her head as her eyes widened, while she breathed at a fast pace through her nose. He was so much bigger in this form, scarier, standing at almost seven feet, looking half human and half wolf.

Brand pulled his hand away from her mouth and took hold of her chin, forcing her to meet his wolf-eyed gaze. “Look at me,” he repeated. “I won’t hurt you.”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“Yes, you can. I’m not hurting you. You’re perfectly safe.”

With her chin held firmly in Brand’s grip, Maggie didn’t have much choice but to stare at him. She looked into his eyes. Even though they were those of a wolf, she didn’t see anything feral in them. If anything, they stared back at her with patience lurking in their depths.

By degrees, her heart rate slowed until it almost beat normally. Her fear didn’t completely disappear, but she was no longer terrified. It still didn’t mean she was ready to accept a man like Brand, or Dolf, into her life with open arms, though.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded and swallowed. “Yes.”

“Then you’ll see Dolf,” Brand stated.

“No.”

“Yes, you will. You’re his mate.” He let go of her chin.

“It doesn’t matter. Just because I’ve gotten a little over seeing you like this…” she let her words trail off before she waved her hand up and down in front of him, “…I don’t want to be a part of what you are. What Dolf is. I ended up in the middle of it once. What are the chances it’ll happen again?”

“It won’t. The Anglo-Saxon god, Tiw, protects the mansion. Cydney doesn’t feel as if she’s in danger.”

“That’s because Cydney is Cydney, and she loves Wulfric.”

“You’ll love Dolf.”

“I can’t take that risk.”

“He’s your mate,” Brand said as if that were the answer to everything.

“So? It doesn’t matter. I don’t love him. I barely know him.”

“Only because you refuse to give him a chance. If you did, you’d see he’s yours.”

Feeling frustrated, Maggie asked sharply, “Why do you care whether I’m with Dolf or not? It doesn’t affect you.”

Brand shifted into his human form. “I care because I know what it’s like to find your mate, and then have to keep your distance. To watch her from afar while aching to hold her in your arms. It’s hell. I don’t want that for Dolf. He’s my family and I look out for him. All of them.”

Maggie was a little taken aback by Brand’s admission. While he’d spoken, a look of such longing and desperation had flashed across his face. She felt tempted to try to comfort him in some way, but it disappeared before she could do anything.

Brand took a step back. “That’s why I want you to give Dolf a chance. He needs you, Maggie. His life will be a living hell without you.”

His body blurred and he was once again a wolf. Without a sound, he loped away toward the house. She silently followed, his words running through her head.

* * *

Just before their guests left, Cydney managed to corner Maggie in the kitchen while Wulfric and Brand kept her mother busy. It wasn’t a surprise to Maggie—she knew her best friend wouldn’t leave without hearing what’d happened out in the back garden with Brand.

“So spill,” Cydney said in not too loud of a voice, “did Brand help you with, you know what? I noticed once you two came back inside he sat at your feet, and that you were petting him.”

Maggie sighed. “I’ll admit I have no problem seeing him in his wolf form.”

“And the other?”

“I’m not going to say it didn’t scare the bejesus out of me, because it did. But he forced me to take a good look at him. I’m no longer terrified out of my wits, only very uneasy.” She paused. “I don’t think I can do it, Cyd. I don’t think I can get over it enough to ever consider having Dolf in my life. Though, Brand said I need to give Dolf a chance. He doesn’t want Dolf to go through what he has.”

Cydney’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Brand said he doesn’t want Dolf to have to go through life knowing I’m his mate, and him not being able to be with me like Brand can’t be with his.”

A shocked expression settled on Cydney’s face. “He actually said that to you?”

“Yeah.”

“Holy shit, Maggie, he’s never told any of us about it. That would explain why he goes off during the day, every day, without telling anyone where he’s going. Apparently, he’s been doing it for years, before Raed met Lexi. They always assumed Raed was the first one to find his mate. Obviously, Brand was.”

Maggie bit her bottom lip. “Ah, Cyd, maybe you shouldn’t tell the others. He didn’t say it was a secret or anything, but if he’s kept quiet about it, he might not want it as common knowledge.”

“I’ll just tell Wulfric.”

“No, promise me you’ll keep this just between us. If you don’t, I’ll tell Wulfric what you did in that bar during our second year of university in Toronto.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

“So not fair. I was shitfaced drunk and so was the guy.”

“Then promise.”

Cydney sighed dramatically. “Fine, you win. I promise I won’t say a word, not even to Wulfric.”

“Good.”

“And since you managed to wrangle that out of me, I want you to do something for me.”

Maggie looked at her friend suspiciously. “What?”

“Come spend the night at the mansion tonight.”

“Cyd—”

“Don’t say no. Most of the night, it’ll be just the girls. Us, along with Lexi, Kamryn and Nika. And baby Petra, of course. You can get dropped off after the guys go out hunting.”

“And where would I sleep?”

“There’s a guest bedroom. Yeah…you can stay there.”

“What about Dolf?” Maggie asked. “He’s going to know I’m there.”

Cydney chuckled. “Oh yeah, he’ll know you are.” She then sobered. “Don’t worry about him. I’ll take care of him for you. Just say yes, or I’ll get Brand in here to harass you until you do.”

Maggie wouldn’t put it past Cydney to do just that. And she had a feeling Brand would go along with it. He came across as the type of person not to back down from something he had his mind set on. “All right, you win. You know I’m going to find this hard as hell to do. I don’t know if I’m even ready to take this step. Christ, I really haven’t walked out of the house these last two months until earlier today.”

Cydney hugged her. “I know, Mags. And I’m proud of you. I swear you won’t regret this.”

“I hope you’re right. Give me a call when the coast is clear. I’m sure my dad won’t mind dropping me off.”

Wulfric appeared in the kitchen doorway and looked at Cydney. “Are you ready to go?”

His mate nodded. “We’re all set.” Cydney turned back to Maggie. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

Once her friend crossed the room to the man she loved, Cydney walked into Wulfric’s open arms. He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. It wasn’t hard to see the love Wulfric had for Cydney. And that Cydney returned it. At one time, Maggie had thought her best friend would never find a man she could love, considering the emotionally neglected home life she’d lived through since her teenage years.

Maggie wanted what Wulfric and her friend had. An image of Dolf flashed through her head. Supposedly, she’d have exactly that, if she were to let Dolf claim her. And immortality to boot.

She sighed inwardly as Wulfric led Cydney out of the room and toward the front door. Did she want that type of forever with Dolf? Maggie didn’t really know. Right now, the question was moot. She wasn’t anywhere near ready to take the kiss Dolf had given her any further.