Page 51 of Big Bad Wolf

“Don’t rush out on my account,” Lena chirped, filling her plate at the stove. “But you might want to move your after-breakfast activities to Ruby’s room.”

With Lena’s back to them, Rafe finally looked up. His pupils were still blown wide, the black swallowing up the silver, and his lips were swollen from kissing her. He took a quick step toward her.

“Stay inside. I’ll be back soon.” The words were a rushed growl against her cheek followed by a rough push of his lips against hers and then he was out the back door and gone.

Lena carried her plate to the table with a smirk on her face, despite the exhaustion in her eyes. “Did he just run out of here barefoot?”

“He … uh… I think he left his shoes on the deck.”

Lena nodded, chewing thoughtfully. “He’s an odd one, Ruby, but I like him.”

Ruby noticed she had a hand on her chest over her rapidly beating heart. She glanced out the back window and could have sworn she saw a flash of gray fur tearing through the trees.

“Yeah, I like him too.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Rafe ran.

He ran until his lungs burned, and the scent of Ruby and strong coffee was finally replaced with pine and dirt and dead leaves. He ran until the trees blurred together, and the earth beneath his paws nearly erased the feel of Ruby’s soft body beneath his fingers. Nearly but not completely. And nothing could stop the sounds of her moans and whimpers from playing over and over in his mind. The wind through his fur only reminded him of Ruby’s fingers in his hair, tugging and demanding.

He had fucked up. He’d given in when he’d only wanted to protect her. Especially from himself, because regardless of what Ruby said, he was a monster. A fact that had been drilled into him forever.

Oh, if his father could see him now, pining over another human woman. Rafe could hear the old man’s sneering voice, could feel the scrape of the man’s claws over his skin.

Rafe shook off the memory, pushing himself to run faster.

He’d left all that behind, but now he felt it dragging him back. Back to those fights, back to his father’s demands, back to his backward, dying pack. The pack that his father had refused to bring into the modern world, leaving them fending for themselves in the backwoods of Maine. Rafe had left all of it, like the coward that he was.

He wouldn’t let Ruby make him forget the things he’d done. The life he’d lived. He would figure out what Wyatt wanted, and then he’d go back to his cabin and forget Ruby. Ruby who took care of everyone. Ruby who thought she had nothing to fear.

Rafe let his wolf brain take over, letting the world become nothing more than smells and sounds: a family of skunks in a nearby log, a snake slithering beneath the dried leaves, the sun warming his back. Simple sensations. Simple thoughts. Maybe he should be a wolf more often.

It didn’t take long to get to Theo’s cabin, not in wolf form anyway. Running through the trees was much more direct than driving over winding back roads.

He shifted in the overgrown front lawn and grabbed some clothes from the front porch. They always left some lying around for moments like this.

Rafe was bigger than his brother, and the T-shirt stretched tight across his chest. He took a peek around the house, looking for signs of life. The cabin was similar to Rafe’s, small, isolated, an old pickup around back for trips into town.

He rapped his knuckles on the door.

No answer.

He knocked again, louder this time and threw in a shouted “Theo” for good measure. He didn’t have time to waste, not if he wanted to get back in time for Ruby’s shift at the bar.

Shuffling sounds and a muttered curse came from behind the door, and then Theo tugged it open, blinking in the sunlight.

He squinted up at Rafe. “Oh, fuck. What are you doing here?” He stepped aside, rubbing a hand over his stubbled jaw and let Rafe into the dim interior. All the curtains were drawn tight against the daylight.

“It’s after noon. Why were you still asleep?”

Theo flipped on the light and gave his brother a lopsided grin that Rafe was sure some people would find charming. He found it irritating to the extreme.

“I had company last night.”

Rafe grimaced. “Still fucking every human, nymph, and witch in a fifty-mile radius?” There was no shortage of pretty, available creatures in these woods or the surrounding towns, and his brother seemed to be acquainted with all of them.

Theo clapped a hand on Rafe’s shoulder like they were pals. They had never been pals, not even before their father pitted them against each other. They had been brothers who fought, argued, wrestled, and drove Nell crazy. If he was honest, it hadn’t been all bad, but Rafe chose not to remember that. Then he would have to acknowledge what he’d lost. One more thing his father had stolen from him.