Christmas Wolf Read online

  “I am no Neanderthal.”

  “Then let me go.”

  “Not possible.”

  She moved against him a second time.

  “I wudna do that if I were you.”

  “Why? Is the big bad wolf going to eat me?”

  “Don’t tease, kitten. I might have accidentally bitten your neck, but as for the rest of you, well, I’d verra much rather lick what you have to offer.”

  His cat went still.

  “That’s better.”

  Then she elbowed him, right in the side, right in the sore spot where the broken ladder tread earlier had jabbed him.

  Stars clouded Rhys’s vision. Apparently, running in the wild to vent anger interfered with healing abilities.

  He sucked in a deep breath.

  His peaceful night just went out the window.

  Chapter Four

  That elbow jab wasn’t as effective as it should have been as Rhys MacGregor still had her pinned to the door.

  Maybe she should let Fran and Eithne have a go at the man, especially after he’d bitten her. Who in the world sinks their teeth into a cat? Her wolf was a beast.

  She took a deep breath. Abandoning Rhys wasn’t the answer. And in truth, she didn’t want to let the man go, despite his knack for nibbling on cute creatures. All she needed was to get the guy off her back, literally, and she’d have a shot at getting out the door. Then things could go back to the way they were meant to be. Back to the way they were before he’d bitten her. “You can’t keep me here.”

  “I’m not letting you go.”

  “You don’t own me.”

  “Some would say I do.”

  “Wow, now that’s a bit cavemanish, don’t you think?” She tried to turn, but couldn’t.

  A large malamute dog appeared at her side. He stared at her, his brown eyes very sincere. “I see you have reinforcements.”

  “He’s just my pet, Robbie. He won’t hurt you.”

  She figured as much as the dog only gave off a calm vibe.

  Robbie barked.

  “I got this, buddy. Go back to the bedroom.”

  The dog gave her a glance, then traipsed off.

  “If you think you’re going to command me like you just did that dog…”

  “Robbie isn’t a typical pet.”

  “And you think I will be?”

  “I didna say that. If you’d just give me the chance to explain…”

  “I’m not interested in anything you have to say, Rhys MacGregor.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  Fudge. She never was good at keeping secrets. “I saw a photo of you in the local paper when you did a charity event several years ago, with Bane.” Thank goodness she had a thing for reading the society column in the news. “You’re the alpha’s butler.”

  Rhys huffed, his breath warming her neck. “I’m more his adopted son, but yes, I do work as head butler of Wolfsden Keep. But only because it pleases me.”

  “I never meant anything ill by it.”

  “I know. And I didn’t take it that way, but needed you to understand my position in Bane’s household.” He paused. “The MacHendries are my family now. I’m a member of their pack.”

  She’d known parts of Rhys’s history for years, but the full story must have been even more harrowing based on the tone of his voice. “I’m sorry for anything you’ve gone through, but your past doesn’t give you the right to keep me.”

  “I never said it did. But I’ve bitten you and I’m afraid that complicates matters. I’d also appreciate you telling me your name. Your collar didn’t state any.”

  “It’s Greer. Greer O’Keene.”

  He must have been mulling over that information because he suddenly became very quiet.

  “My name shouldn’t mean anything to you.” At least she prayed it didn’t, but if Bane had ever mentioned to his shifters that the O’Keene sisters were his pack’s banshees, Rhys was going to know she was the woman who would one day come for his life.

  “No. I don’t believe we’ve ever met. I’d remember you. But for some reason the name sounds verra familiar.”

  She maneuvered her fingers over the doorknob, put all her might into turning the darn thing. It didn’t move.

  “My kitten is quite stubborn.”

  “I’m not your kitten.”

  “You might not see it that way yet, but trust me, you are.”

  Rhys’s fingers remained entwined with hers. The guy was beyond strong. “You should be on the floor right about now. My elbow is usually quite powerful.”

  “Believe me it was, but you canna put me down. Not in your condition. And until we address that matter, I’m not letting you go.”

  What was the dude talking about? He was insane, thinking he had a right to hold her in his cabin.

  She shifted her leg.

  He pushed her closer to the door. “Don’t even think about going there.”

  The clean, crisp aroma of lemon verbena filled the air. Holy Morrigan, but the man smelled good. How could such a handsome, normally caring guy, suddenly turn so callous? Especially with the biting thing. That bothered her even more than him thinking he could detain her at will. Didn’t he realize those canines were like razors?

  “Of course, I did.”

  “How can you read my mind, while in human form?”

  “Aww, my wee spunky kitten. That is just one of the magnificent talents I have.” He slid his strong arms around her waist and pulled her closer, freeing her from having been slammed against the door, which was a good thing, as her cheek was starting to go numb. “This is another.” He leaned in and nibbled her ear lobe.

  She arched her back, a wondrous little zing racing down her spine.

  Talk about being proficient at the baser talents. Rhys MacGregor knew exactly how to land her in trouble and she was more than happy to allow him to do so. Despite him being a beast.

  He moved on to her neck, to the sore spot where he’d taken a bite out of her earlier. His tongue ran over her wounded flesh, made the area tingle. And not in the bad way she had expected it to feel. But still, she couldn’t have him doing this.

  “Why not?”

  “You don’t have a right to.”

  He gave her a bit more room and spun her around. “You smell of lilac with an undernote of neroli.” He leaned in, brought his lips to her collarbone and brushed her skin.

  Her breath caught. “According to ancient texts, the Morrigan said no one save for my mate would know my scent.”

  “Your goddess is a wise woman.”

  Impossible. From what she’d known about wolf shifters and how they marked their mates, Rhys would have had to completely taken her after he’d bitten her. And no way had she had sex with him. She might have passed out a bit, but she knew for fact nothing along that nature had gone on between them. The feline shifter in her soul would have known. “Are you certain about this whole mate thing?”

  He ran his tongue over her flesh before lifting his head. “Absolutely, kitten. This wolf is all yours. Your mate in shining armor.”

  Mated to Big Bad Wolf? This couldn’t be happening. It was one thing to be marked by MacGregor but to be officially mated to him was an entirely different matter. No way was she Rhys’s mate.

  “Oh, yes you are.”

  “You need to stop reading my mind.”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “It is.” He could not find out she was banshee. He just couldn’t. She also couldn’t be his mate because if she was, then the dynamics of Rhys’s fate had just changed…big time. And she couldn’t let that happen, even if she was peeved about him biting her. She had to remain being the banshee meant to take his life because if she wasn’t, then Eithne and Fran would step in and do the job for her. And neither of those two wicked creatures believed Rhys had a shot at living past Christmas Eve.

  A draft came in from around the door, chilled her to the bone.

  Rhys cursed and grabbed for a red and gree
n plaid dressing gown hanging from a nearby brass rack. He draped the garment over her shoulders, adjusting it so the front closed over but remained unbelted. For a ferocious wolf, MacGregor was a strange guy. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t thank me. I did it for my own benefit.” He ran his fingers over her wound. “That’s odd.”

  “What is?”

  “You’re suddenly healing at an amazing rate.”

  Darn it. The banshee in her was starting to give itself away. “It’s a gift.” Explaining further would probably only get her in trouble. And call her crazy, but telling the guy who just announced he was her eternal mate, that she was the woman here to claim his soul…his life…didn’t exactly make her sound like ideal partnership material.

  That penetrating gray-eyed-gaze of his bore down on her, made her go weak in the knees. She could stare at those magnificent eyes for hours, maybe even days. Probably why she missed that oncoming car.

  Hells bells. She was attracted to the guy. It had to be some sort of delusional mental freeze from having been out in the cold or from the fall from the tree, because no sane person should find a biting beast enticing. And she wasn’t even focusing on his human form. Holy Fae, but the man was built. Seeing him naked for that split second when he’d turned his back on her in the bedroom, had her desiring more than just a playful romp with the dude.

  She gave him the once over and noticed he was half covered up by a red and black plaid kilt, a tartan she knew any MacGregor could wear. “So, Big Badass Wolf, what are you doing on Mount Dundaire? No one lives up here year-round except for my sisters and me.”

  His tempting mouth lifted in the slightest of smiles. “You think me big and badass? A minute ago, I was a caveman.”

  “You still are. And I think you’re getting quite close to pushing your luck. So, answer my question.”

  The dude totally ignored her and went on to kissing her neck.

  She licked her lips, reveled in the sensation of his tongue flicking against her skin. A dose of molten energy poured through her core. No one made her feel like this in the past. Her big bad wolf was probably right. They were mates.

  Eithne was going to be so pissed at all of this. What she’d give to see that witch’s face drop. But first she had to deal with Rhys and figuring out a way to change his fate. “What made you come up here in the middle of a blizzard?”

  He groaned and finally stopped kissing her. “I needed a topper for my clan’s Christmas tree. We have a formal ball every Christmas Eve and I oversee the decorating.”

  She liked the sound of that as she hadn’t gotten dressed up for anything in years. “You mean one of those fancy dances where everyone gets all gussied up in gowns and tuxes?”

  He lifted his head but his arms remained around her waist. “Yes. Why is that such a surprise? The MacHendrie shifters have held a Christmas Eve Ball every year for at least the last three centuries.”

  “It’s one thing to have a Christmas party, but a fancy ball? For a pack of wild wolves?”

  A soft glint touched his eyes. “’Tis true we are a savage bunch most of the year, my pack not always the most civilized. But when it comes to the Christmas Ball, the MacHendries do put on a good show. Even the feral wolves who live in the woods clean up and don the finest kilts. It’s verra impressive.”

  “I’d like to see that.”

  “Then be my guest this year.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. But she doubted her sisters would allow her to go. She still hadn’t taken a life and until she did, she was subjected to Eithne’s rules.

  Of course, she could allow Rhys to finish marking her, then Eithne wouldn’t have a say in what she did or didn’t do. But that would also jeopardize the man’s fate and that could not happen. “I don’t think Eithne would like me going to the ball.”

  A curious look crossed his face. “Who’s Eithne?”

  Damn. She was getting too close to revealing the banshee in her soul. She had to be more careful. “My eldest sister. I live with her and our middle sister Frangag.”

  She stared at Rhys. Those gray eyes of his shifted in hue, grew a bit darker, a bit more magnificent now than when he was in wolf form. They also bore a hint of mischief, a soft, sweet little bit of wickedness she longed to learn more about.

  She bit her bottom lip and thought about dancing with the man on Christmas Eve. It would be a nice change to attend a formal affair for once in her life. Her sisters never allowed her to go anywhere unless it involved a lesson where they felt she needed extra training in learning how to take a soul. And she’d near had her fill of those moments. “I’ll consider coming for Christmas Eve, but for now I need to leave.”

  “I’m not letting you go.”

  “Again, you don’t own me.”

  “You’re my mate. I most certainly…”

  She put up her hands. “Stop thinking along those lines, dude. I am so not the type of woman who can be kept.”

  “And yet your soul is bound to Eithne.”

  “That’s not the same thing. And how do you even know that? I didn’t tell you all the details of my relationship with my sister.”

  “As your mate, I sense parts of your past. Not your whole life, but some of it. The more profound parts.”

  She wasn’t sure she liked that little notion. What if he learned she was banshee? His banshee? “Do all wolf shifters have that ability?”

  “No. It depends on a combination of the individual and his or her mate.”

  “Are you saying I’m open to you knowing all about me? Open to you knowing the deepest depths of my soul? Because I don’t think I am.”

  A slight laugh fell from his sexy lips. “Unfortunately, it is something like that.”

  “But I don’t want you knowing all that about me.”

  “There are advantages to me knowing you, kitten.”

  “Name one.”

  “I’d rather show you.” He moved his right hand up her side, over her midriff and across her breast. He stopped at her nipple and flicked his thumb over the sensitive bud.

  The man was insufferable. No way was she giving in to him, even if he was gorgeous, sexy, and had the best damn unruly brown hair she’d seen on a guy in years. Made her think he’d just gotten out of bed, which she knew was not true, but the thought of his tall, muscular body naked against those soft sheets on the bed in his room made her breath hitch.

  He stroked her a second time.

  She was so not giving into the beast.

  Absolutely not.

  He pinched her, rolled her now hard nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

  “Oh…” She was so definitely his mate.

  That wicked smile crossed his lips once more.

  “You are going to pay for that,” she said.

  “Really?” He didn’t let up, his fingers going above and beyond their job.

  She nodded.

  “How, exactly?”

  Not a single word fell from her mouth and the silence wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t speak with his left hand taking a similar trail as had his right, only up her other side. And just like it’s more than proficient partner, it sought her left breast and teased the hell out of her already protruding to the max, left nipple. Betraying little thing.

  Rhys lifted his kilt and pushed his leg between her thighs.

  She bucked forward, rubbed her aching nub against his knee.

  How could her body be doing this with a man she had only just met? Yes, she had been following him for ages as his banshee, but that was always from a distance, never close enough to really get to know the guy. But more important, how could her body be so in tune to the man who in wolf form, had nearly killed her?

  Her hot Scot froze. He pulled away, dropped his hands from her breasts. “I ne’er attempted to kill you.”

  She was going to have to be more careful now that she knew he could read her mind.

  It took a moment for her voice to return. “Well, you did take a chunk out of my neck.”

/>   “I saved you from that oncoming car. How else could I have gotten you out of the way?” He stepped back.

  So, that’s why the bite hadn’t gone further. He only meant to rescue her.

  She had misjudged Rhys. Totally. “I’m sorry. I thought…”

  “It doesn’t matter. We’re mates and nothing can come between us. Even if we’d like it to.”

  This was not how she pictured her love life ending up.

  ~~o0o~~

  That was the dumbest, stupidest, cruelest thing he could have said. It also wasn’t exactly true, but revealing the fact that one mate could give up the other for the better sake of that other soul, didn’t seem like a good idea when he needed to convince Greer to allow him to finish marking her as his or she’d die. Frightening the woman was the last thing he wanted to do.

  Still, he shouldn’t have been so terse with her. But what did she expect after having called him a killer? Well, she hadn’t actually said the word. But she thought it and that was just as bad. “I think we should have a good look at that wound of yours, make sure it’s healing properly.”

  “I can do that myself. Thank you.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep breath. “You could. But I’d rather help you.”

  “I don’t need help. Least of all from you.”

  He never remembered Bane mentioning the fact that feline shifters leased the cottage up the road. He was under the impression it belonged to a family who had distant ties to the MacHendries but who were not shifters. “What were you doing out in the blizzard?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “We’re immortal. We have all eternity.”

  She gave him a curious look, one that fell somewhere between sadness and fear.

  He didn’t like her being frightened. Or being unhappy.

  “I had just argued with my sisters and they took off for work.”

  “They left you in the middle of the road during a snowstorm? Even Bane, acting strictly as my alpha and not my adopted father, would never turn me out in so brutal a manner.”

  “You don’t know my sisters.”

  He studied her eyes, their green hue reminding him of brilliant emeralds. “They won’t harm you tonight. That I can promise.”