Excruciating pain woke her, a familiar agony that made her think of evil red eyes and the cell she'd been shackled in. What the hell? The image of a cadaverous, grinning facsimile of a man faded in her mind, replaced by the blazing light of agony as her body melted back into her human self. Awash with sobs, and shaking like a leaf in a strong wind, it took her a few moments to realize arms held her, rocking her. She clutched the body that offered her comfort, anything to help dispel the nightmare. Unfortunately, her mind would give her no respite and kept replaying over and over her horrible change and then . . . the blood. Oh God, the blood. "Jaxon!" she wailed, the realization of what she'd done making her sob anew. "Hush, Bailey. He's going to be fine. He's a tough bugger. But what about you? Are you okay?" Hysterical laughter threatened to burst forth, and her eyes filled with tears. "N-N-No, I'm n-n-not all right," she stuttered. "Oh my God, Wyatt. It
Gavin breathed a sigh of relief when he came across Bailey and Wyatt, thankfully unharmed, the cries he'd heard those of the mating kind. He slapped Wyatt on the back as he curled an arm around Bailey's waist. "Congrats." A blush pinked her cheeks, and Gavin laughed as he kissed her to show her that he wasn't bothered by her newest mate. "Relax, darling. I'm not going to go into a jealous fit and challenge Wyatt or anything." "That's good," she replied softly. Then her expression turned morose. "How's Jaxon? Wyatt said he'd be okay. Is he very angry?" "A better question is, should he be punished for letting you run off in the first place?" Gavin growled, still not over his anger when he'd found out what happened after he dispatched the rogues and returned to camp. "It's not his fault," she said, jumping to his defense. "Nobody knew I was going to-to . . ." Her voice trailed off, and she bit her lip. "It's not an embarrassing disease, sunshine," Wyatt
The closer they got to their final destination, the more Bailey's stomach tightened into a ball. Despite what she'd learned about the compound, and the reassurances of her lovers, whom she rode with, she found herself terrified. Oh God, what am I getting myself into? In spite of her fears, she couldn't deny she needed to go there, needed to find out what had happened to her and her body. And, if she were really truthful with herself, she didn't want to leave Gavin and Wyatt. Actually, she didn't want to leave any of them, and she didn't have just her new inner wolf to blame for that. She enjoyed being around them. They made her feel alive in a way she'd never felt, even when her parents lived. The passion both Gavin and Wyatt showed her blew her away. The kind of pleasure she discovered with them was usually reserved for romance books, not overweight call-center operators, which brought to mind another thing. With them, she never felt fat. Tom, her scuzzy ex, had enjo
Lessons on helping Bailey accept her wolf began the next morning, with the decision made that Parker and Dana would act the part of teachers instead of using strangers. The arrangement suited Parker just fine, as it would allow him to spend time with Bailey. However, he'd imagined it as a pleasant interval spent talking, and maybe flirting. He'd not counted on her fear of the whole shifting process making her ornery. It took a lot to hold back a sigh of impatience at her now millionth time repeated, "But it hurts." "I know, baby, but that's only because you're new to the whole shifting experience. Over time, you'll get used to it." Seated in the shade of a tree, away from the hustle and bustle that comprised daily life in the compound, Bailey sighed and looked down at her lap, where her fingers restlessly weaved together. "So you all keep saying. Might I say that as a pep talk it sucks? Why can't I just stay in this body? I could hide in the basement on full moo
Gavin paced Nathan's office, disturbed by the report he read. He slapped it down on the desk with a curse. "How the fuck could we not know this was possible?" "Care to explain?" Wyatt asked, seated in a casual pose. Only Gavin's long acquaintance with him let him know his friend was anything but. John, Nathan's second-in-command and pack doctor, launched into a summary. "We've been digging into Bailey's roots. We first traced her father's line since it was easy, given we had his last name and date of birth. Nothing jumped out at us. He's a born and bred American, from a long line of humans. Where it got tricky was when it came to tracing the mother." Over the last few days, as Bailey settled into pack living, Gavin and Wyatt had unobtrusively gleaned information from her on her family. What little she knew, that was. Having wanted to keep her good humor intact, and her fear at bay, they'd decided against outright questioning. It had taken longer, but Gavin consi
Falling into an enjoyable routine proved surprisingly easy, and Bailey couldn't recall ever feeling this content. Then again, she'd never had four men striving to please her at every turn. Already more than a week here and she couldn't imagine life without any of them. But that still didn't mean she'd jumped into bonding with Parker and Jaxon just yet. With Gavin and Wyatt, it had just kind of naturally happened. However, while Parker and Jaxon stole quite a few kisses-to her panty-wetting enjoyment-interruptions and distraction kept things from going any further, and she was too shy to claim them directly. At least they didn't seem to mind the wait, even if they did tease her all the time. Perhaps, if the lusts they roused weren't being satisfied nightly by Wyatt or Gavin-sometimes with both men at once-she might have given them what they so blatantly desired. Truth was, though, she liked things the way they were, and she didn't want to rock the boat or create cause for je
Parker couldn't believe it when Bailey stayed and finally embraced her beast. Even more amazing, she remained to fight alongside him. Not that he needed her aid, but he'd never tell her that, not given the courage she displayed with her actions. Pride made him howl as he took out the rogues who'd interrupted their mating tryst. Stupid, ill-timed bastards. Another fifteen minutes, tops, and he would have claimed Bailey as his own. More annoying, once he took care of these upstarts, he'd have to go back to warn Gavin, Nathan, and the others, his chance to resume where they'd left off irrevocably lost. It made him vicious, and in short order, he and Bailey were the only wolves standing. Parker called up his human half, but when he looked at Bailey-her coat a curly black like her hair-she whined. "Poor baby. Is your wolf not ready to go back in its cage? I warned you this would happen." A chuckle he couldn't help made her glare at him and bare some teeth. It m
Nervousness made her pace and gnaw at her nails while Parker, a content look on his face and his eyes hooded, watched her from his position on the couch. "They're going to be fine," he reiterated. Still, she worried. While she and her newest mate had returned more than two hours ago, made love twice, and even eaten, they'd yet to hear word on the others. Fear over their safety comprised part of her anxiety, but the other part of her angst she blamed on fear. She'd claimed Parker, her gentle giant, but how would Wyatt and Gavin react? And Jaxon, would he get angry at being the only one left? The raucous noise of their return preceded their entrance into the house, Jaxon leading the cacophony with his usual humor. Gavin strode over to her and kissed her first, followed by Wyatt. Then Jaxon tried to sneak a smooch but ended up tripped by Gavin and missing. Covering her mouth lest she laugh at his chagrin, she then watched wide-eyed as her first two mates went over and sh