“You can’t be serious.” Her father was acting as weird as Divine had this morning. “There’s no such thing as vampires, demons and werewolves. They’re just a myth.”
“Yes, there is.” He tucked a knife in each of his boots. “We’re dealing with werewolves and the only way to kill one is to break its neck, cut out its heart, decapitate it or poison it with silver. Regular bullets will slow it down some, but will mostly just piss it off. That’s why the bullets and the knife blades are coated in silver.”
Oh, God. Her father had lost his mind. There was no other explanation. Divine had been talking more and more about these creatures for the past year, even going as far as to claim she’d seen a vampire lurking in the shadows one night. Werewolves, Divine declared, mostly kept to the heavy woods outside the cities, roaming wild and free. Everyone gave them a wide berth or they paid the price, as wolves weren’t exactly known for being sociable to anyone outside their species.
“Dad?” Alex didn’t quite know where to begin. She wondered if she should call an ambulance. Maybe her father was having a stroke or something. Although he looked as healthy and vital as ever.
James shook his head. “I’m not crazy, Alex. Werewolves are real.”
Wolf Creek pack. Her eyes flew to the man waiting patiently on the other side of the room. Did that mean he thought he was a werewolf? She swallowed hard, trying to grasp the situation. What did he want with her father and her?
Her father stepped back and pushed the bookcase toward the wall where it caught with a soft click. The whole situation was surreal. Alex had only gotten out of bed an hour ago, her life a predictable routine that she enjoyed. It was safe. Now in a matter of minutes that world no longer existed.
Joshua’s eyes were flitting back and forth from her to her father. She could see the wariness in them when they glanced toward her father, but they were filled with something totally different when they fell upon her.
Lust. Pure, unadulterated lust.
She’d never seen that look in a man’s eyes before. At least not directed toward her. The worst part was that it didn’t disgust her or frighten her as it ought to. He was a werewolf for heaven’s sake. Or at least thought he was. She wasn’t quite convinced there was anything to this but deluded madness.
She felt a yearning growing deep inside her, one she didn’t fully understand. Heat suffused her body, pooling between her thighs. She longed to walk up to this stranger and rub her breasts against his muscular chest and grind her pussy against the hard bulge in the front of his jeans.
What was wrong with her?
“Alex.” The bite in her father’s voice startled her and her eyes flew to him. He was watching her with an unreadable expression on his face. Part sadness, part determination and part resignation.
“What’s going on?” Enough was enough. Time to get to the bottom of this. She had to know what was going on. Surely it couldn’t be as bad as anything her imagination could conjure.
“Sit down.”
She thought about arguing, but sank down in the plush, purple chair that sat next to the sofa. It was her chair, had been since she was a child. She needed the familiarity and the comfort it offered. Her father sank to his haunches in front of her. She noted that he made sure his back wasn’t to the other man. “Tell me,” she prompted when he hesitated.
“I was married a long time ago.” His voice softened, as he got lost in the memories. Alex was shocked. This was the first she’d heard of this. “She died in childbirth. I lost both her and the child at the same time. It was more than I could bear, so I left my old life behind and started a new one.”
“I’m sorry.” Reaching out, she stroked her hand over his face, wanting to comfort him. His grief was like a living, breathing thing, still fresh after all these years. She wondered what it must be like to love someone so deeply it still hurt after so long.
Her father wrapped his fingers around her hand and held it to his chest. She could feel the steady thump of his heart. “When I found out Charlene was pregnant with you, I was overjoyed, but scared to death.” His eyes seemed to glow pure molten gold as he stared at her. “I couldn’t lose you.”
“You didn’t.” She didn’t question her need to reassure him. For the first time in her life, she finally understood why he was so protective of her.
“No. I didn’t.” He sighed. “But it meant I could never go back to my old life. The people there wouldn’t have accepted you. They might even have tried to hurt you. I couldn’t allow that to happen.”
Now they were getting somewhere. “You mentioned that downstairs. I don’t understand what you mean. You know these people, these werewolves, don’t you?” She couldn’t believe she was actually buying into the whole werewolf thing, but her father was deadly serious.
“Yes.” He closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds and when he opened them again the sorrow was gone and only the determination remained. “I am one of them.”
Alex jerked away, her back hitting the seat cushion behind her. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You…” She broke off, unable to continue. Rubbing her damp palms over her jeans, she took a deep breath and tried again. “You’re a werewolf?” The implications were staggering. If what her father was saying was true, her entire life was a lie.
“Yes, I am.” He paused and then took both her hands in his, ignoring her attempt to pull away. “And so are you. Not a pure-blooded werewolf, but a half-breed.”
“What does that mean?” Her voice was little more than a whisper even though she was screaming inside. It was as if she no longer even knew herself. Who was she?
“It means that you will come into adulthood soon. We mature later than humans because we live much longer.”
“How much longer and what do you mean ‘come into adulthood’?” She was very afraid that the last thing had something to do with the unfamiliar feelings she’d been having lately. The late nights spent writhing on her bed as heat consumed her.
“We have a lifespan of about five hundred years or so. I am one-hundred-and-sixty years old.”
Alex heard a buzzing in her ears. Impossible. He didn’t look a day over forty. Her father tensed and swiveled, placing himself square in front of her when Joshua stepped closer.
“He’s telling the truth, Alex.” She could hear Joshua speaking as if from a great distance. She shook her head to try to clear it, but that only made her dizzier. “You are more werewolf than human. I can smell it. I can sense it. You will go through the change after you mate.”
“Enough. Back off, Striker.” Her father’s voice was low and cold, cutting through the younger man’s words. “It is her choice. I will not have that taken from her and I will kill anyone who tries to force her.”
Joshua nodded respectfully and backed away. Alex sensed he was merely biding his time.
“Dad?” She wanted him to tell her this was all a bad joke, that her life hadn’t been one big lie up until now. But from the grim look on her father’s face, this was anything but a joke. This was very, very real. “Change? Mating?” She blinked rapidly as the room revolved around her.
Her father swore and she felt his hand on the back of her head pressing it toward her knees. “Breathe, Alexandra. Just take one slow breath at a time. Focus, honey.”
Alex concentrated on pulling air into her lungs and finally the buzzing in her ears subsided and she felt stronger. She raised her head and met his worried gaze. “Explain it all to me. I need to understand.”
“Females come into heat for the first time when they are in their early twenties. It varies from woman to woman, but it is always within a two-year span from age twenty-one to twenty-three.” He sent a hard glare toward Joshua and the younger man faded back toward the kitchen. “You’ve been feeling restless lately, maybe having sexual feelings for the first time in your life. Your body is yearning for something, but you’re not sure what for.”