The White Wolfs Curse Read online

  Michael, methodically rubbing the sticks together, finally produced not only smoke but a tiny flame, as well. He put straw over it and blew gently, finally coaxing it into a fair sized fire.

  Impressive. There was no way she would have been able to do it, and even after watching him do it she didn’t think for a second she would be able to do it herself.

  Damn it Erica. Why’d you have to go and insult Fador like that? She was so caught up in her own thoughts she was startled when Michael intruded.

  “He should be finished with that in a minute and we can start cooking it. You’ll like rabbit. Tastes just like… rabbit!” He grinned at her playfully, but it fell when he took in the look on her face.

  By now, her stomach had churned and clenched until she wasn’t sure she could eat even if they really were as good as he claimed. They sat in silence a few moments, with Erica the first the break it.

  “He told me about your escape plan.”

  Michael turned a surprised look her way.

  “Oh? What exactly did he tell you?”

  Strange. What are they trying to hide? Why can’t they just spit it out already?

  “Oh, he explained all of it to me. I thought it sounded brilliant. Especially your part.”

  Michael’s smile and sudden laugh told her she had messed up her bluff somehow. He fixed his stare on the fire. Damn. So much for getting a little information.

  “Clever girl. You don’t have to worry about the escape plan, honey. You have no business risking your life in your condition. We’ll take care of everything. You’ll stay here where it’s safe. That’s it.”

  Her curiosity was piqued by his reference to her condition, but she recognized the note of finality in his voice. Why the hell won’t they tell me anything at all? And…what in the world does he mean, my condition? She knew she wasn’t going to get anything else out of Michael and it would be useless to try. The brothers might look a lot alike, but she was definitely starting to recognize some subtle differences in the two. Fador was more easygoing than his brother. Neither seemed inclined to talk, but Michael was a lot harder to engage in any sort of conversation. Examining his face, she saw the lines around his eyes weren’t nearly as deep as his Fador’s. He’s the serious one.

  Michael stood as his brother approached carrying the rabbits and several palm tree leaves.

  “About damned time.” He walked up to his brother and something seemed to pass between the two of them. They turned as one toward her. Erica felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end at the look in those pale eyes. Moments later, they turned away again and Fador nodded once. Michael walked away and Fador, smiling, came and sat beside her on a rock.

  “I hope you’re hungry. I can’t promise these will taste great, but if you’re anything like me you’re probably hungry enough now not to care as long as it’s food, right?”

  “Where’s Michael off to?”

  “Oh, he’s just going to go scout. Make sure it’s safe here. That’s all. Don’t worry about him. Michael can take care of himself.”

  Erica had the feeling more was going on than the two of them were sharing, but she was at a loss as to how to convince them to trust her with the truth. At least he doesn’t seem angry any more.

  “Here, tear all the ends off these leaves and we’ll use the flat parts for plates.”

  He lifted the spit and forced it through all three rabbits, one at a time, before carefully placing it back over the fire. He added several more pieces of wood to feed the flames. The smell of burning wood was quickly replaced by the aroma of cooking meat.

  “Hey, look…. I’m sorry about earlier. What I said… I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”

  She found it was actually harder to tear the leaves than she’d originally anticipated, but continued to pull and twist at the ends, happy for something she could focus her gaze on without obviously avoiding his. When she looked up, she met his intense blue eyes and her breath caught in her throat.

  “Don’t worry about it.” He lips lifted in a smile that melted her insides. “I didn’t mean to over-react like that. So, anyway, what are your plans?”

  “My plans?” She hadn’t thought too much about what she would do when she got back. She was so preoccupied by what was happening around her that she hadn’t really stopped to think about it. The world she had left just seemed so far away now. I can’t go back to the city. Mr. Hiroshi was in on it. He… It was still so hard to wrap her mind around that one … that her boss was in on the whole abduction. Even if he hadn’t planned on killing her, she knew she could never go back now. They weren’t even off the island yet and there was no telling if they’d manage to make it off alive.

  “I’m… not sure.”

  “You don’t have a family to get back to?”

  “No. No one’s waiting for me. I have a few friends, but….”

  “I understand. We’re in the same boat.”

  “You have each other.”

  He smiled and moved to sit closer to her. He took her hand in his and studied her fingers but she got the impression he was only avoiding her eyes.

  “My brother’s all I have. Thing is… I donno, sometimes that isn’t enough.”

  “So…?”

  “Ah, never mind.” He shrugged. “I have problems saying what I mean. I’m not really used to talking to people.”

  “You don’t seem to have as much of a problem with it as your brother does.”

  “No?” He let go of her hand and turned a little, staring into the fire. “I guess we were just hoping you’d come along with us.”

  Erica felt her sex clench at that and a delicious shiver ran up her spine. Oh, calm down Erica. He probably doesn’t even mean what you’re thinking he means!

  “Umm… where?”

  He shrugged again. “Does it really matter?”

  He’s right. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do, no where else she could go at this point. I always wanted something more in my life. A life a little less ordinary. Maybe this is my wish finally coming true.

  “You don’t have to answer right away. We’ll both understand if you decide not to come with us. Just… think about it, all right?”

  Watching the play of the fire light in his clear blue eyes, she succumbed to the temptation to brush her hand across the stubble on his cheek. His firm lips looked so sweet and she hadn’t really had the chance to try them yet. He turned at her touch and she leaned in, pressing her lips against his, tasting their sweetness with her tongue.

  Everything I thought they would be.

  He took the palm leaves from her, discarding them on the rocks and wrapping an arm around her, pulling her closer. He kissed along her jaw and down her neck, the edge of his teeth scraping lightly along her skin. Erica heard rather than felt him unzip her dress and in the next moment he had it pushed down, exposing her breasts to his hungry mouth. He pulled one nipple between his lips and it was instantly engorged, hardening as if in offering to him. He lazily flicked his tongue over it, teasingly back and forth across the sensitive flesh, sending a current of hot delight through her. Moisture gathered in her pussy and a moan escaped her throat.

  Fador stood, pulling her to her feet and discarding her dress before lifting her into his arms and carrying her out of the shelter of the rocks. He lay her down on the sand, lowering himself to his knees over her, the look of desire in his pale blue eyes making her yearn even more for his touch.

  How in the world did these men manage to get so far under my skin? She wasn’t sure it really mattered at this point. Their touch was addictive and she craved it constantly now. She lifted her arms over her head, offering herself completely for his taking.

  Chapter Eight

  He slowly removed her panties and kissed a burning trail from her knees up to her pussy, pressing a lingering wet kiss on her clit and sucking on the tiny, sensitive bud. Heat fogged her mind as a jolt of electric pleasure ran along every nerve in her body. Desire flooded her being like a h
eady drink and when he finally pulled away and started kissing a trail across her stomach to her breasts, she was desperate to have him inside of her.

  “Please….” Her body squirmed under him of it’s own accord, hips moving rhythmically in time to his as his cock slid maddeningly back and forth against her leg, just out of reach of her throbbing pussy.

  Drawing one nipple into his mouth, he squeezed the other between his fingers. Erica gasped as his hard cock brushed higher against her thigh, closer to the spot that needed it, but still too far away to satisfy her need. She spread her legs wide, inviting him inside. The head of his cock brushed against her cleft, rubbing against her already tingling clit and sending a hot arc of electricity through her body. She lifted her hips and tried to get the tip inside.

  Fador released her breasts and put his hands on either side of her, slowly moving over her to bury himself inside to the base of his cock. His mouth crushed down onto hers, stealing her breath in an all-consuming kiss as he moved in and out of her pussy, teasing her to new heights of pleasure. His smell, his taste and the very feel of him mesmerized her. Erica reveled in the merging of their bodies, her release overtaking her as the head of his cock grew inside her. She gasped as his hot cum filled her, his cock jerking hard inside her pussy.

  He slowed with a shudder, finally pulling out completely and laying on his back beside her on the sand. He pulled her close, nuzzling her head. She lay with her eyes closed, basking in the aftershocks.

  Through the haze of pleasure, Erica slowly realized he was speaking to her.

  “— Know about you, but I could eat a cow!” Fador got to his feet, taking her hands in his and pulling her up. She stood and watched his retreat to the shelter of the boulders. The nerves all over her body were still throbbing and watching his sandy backside as he moved only made her want him again. Brushing herself off, she hunted down her dress and undies and struggled into them before joining him for lunch.

  * * * *

  “Clever girl.”

  He’d almost fallen for it, as much as he hated to admit it. At his age, he’d always been so sure about everything he did, but somehow she made him question himself constantly now. He could tell Fador was just as enthralled by the little vixen as he was, which made her claim that he had let her in on the plan somewhat plausible.

  “Until she said my part was brilliant.”

  It wasn’t, and that was what was eating him alive. He knew she needed protection, but—

  “I should be the one taking all the risks, not him. It’s my responsibility.”

  He was of half a mind to set the plan into action all by himself, but thought better of it as he crawled on his belly over a ridge and looked down on the humans below. As much as he hated to admit it, and even though he would never dream of saying it aloud, he knew Fador was right about everything. Asshole doesn’t have to gloat so damned much about it.

  He inched forward slowly, looking out from beneath some brush, hoping no one would notice his movements this close to the encampment.

  Ten men. Including the men they’d killed, that left four unaccounted for. Did they decide to cower and run away, or are they out hunting for us? They had to have discovered the bodies by now. By the dress of the men below, he could tell most of them were paying customers.

  They’ll be looking for us in the woods, then. Cursing under his breath, he remembered the small fire and the roasting meat. Dead giveaway if they go out that far, but she had to eat. We couldn’t expect her to eat it raw. Even we can’t stand it raw. They’d eaten their meat that way several times, but never as anything other than a last resort. Easing back, he turned and trotted back the way he had come, eyes and ears open to even the most minute indication of ambush from the hunters.

  He turned by a large tree and headed further into the woods, following the cloying scent of fear that caught his attention as the wind turned toward him. So there you are. Slowing at the sound of their heavy footsteps through the brush, he came around from behind and watched them.

  All four men were standing together over what was left of the fat old man he had killed.

  “—Of the wolves had to have done it.”

  “We’ve been running this place for over two years now. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened.”

  “He’s right Frank. How the hell could two fucking wolves do all this damage? Charlie’s been here since the start. He used to give guided ground tours to kill polar bears for Christ’s sake. You saw what they did to ‘em. Now you’re gonna sit there and tell me a wolf got the jump on him?”

  “It just don’t make no sense. That’s all I’m saying man. It just don’t make no sense.”

  Michael resisted the urge to laugh. Of course not. It wouldn’t to you, you piece of shit. Pity Fador isn’t here. He would have gotten a kick out of it, too. Michael could have easily taken out the four hunters, even during the day, but he knew better than to try that at the moment. They couldn’t risk alerting anyone to the impending attack, and taking these men out would put the compound on high alert. Just what we don’t need. It still galled him.

  “Well, I’ve seen enough. Better phone this in. See what Mr. Smith thinks about it.”

  “What about the bodies?”

  “What about ‘em? You don’t think he’s gonna want us to drag these damned things up with the other customers in there, do ya? Better just leave them for now. Find out what Mr. Smith wants us to do with them first.”

  Michael melted into the woods and watched them leave, taking grim satisfaction from the scent of fear that wafted after them like a cloud. He waited for several more minutes before winding a path back to the beach.

  I can imagine what Mr. Smith is going to think about us blowing up what’s left of his operation here. He chuckled at that, reaching the tree line just in time to see Erica slipping into her dress before walking into the shelter of the stones. That stopped him dead in his tracks. It was fairly obvious what she and Fador had been doing. He could smell their copulation on the air. A sudden anger rose in him, bringing him it a low-throated growl and bristling back hair. He sat back on his haunches.

  What the hell am I doing? We’ve shared everything our whole life. Why the hell should she be any different? Somehow, she was. He knew he would keep her all to himself if he could, and that disturbed him even more then smelling their copulation, seeing her body language as she walked into the shadow of the shelter where Fador sat waiting.

  His thoughts were pulled back to that day their fates had entwined with that of the wolf.

  They’d spotted it at the same time, that impossibly large, impossibly white wolf. It’s icy stare held an intelligence, a wisdom, and a hatred he had never encountered before in man or beast and when it turned to run he found himself giving chase even as he willed his legs to stop. He loosed arrow after arrow, just as Fador did, praying each time that the wolf would fall to his blow but filled with a horror and fear of what would happen if it did.

  He ran until his lungs hurt, until his pants and shirt were hopelessly torn and his boots soiled, but even though his legs stung from the effort, he couldn’t stop himself. Deeper and deeper into the woods they ran, further than either man had ever been, into the oldest part of the forest where the trees refused to allow sunlight to touch the forest floor. There, they came at last to a foggy glen, the full moon shining down.

  It wasn’t nighttime. It couldn’t have been. We couldn’t possibly have been running that long….

  But the moon had been there and neither man could deny it’s presence. They stopped in the middle, and Michael knew the fear he saw in Fador’s eyes was mirrored on his own face. The spell was broken and they looked all around, but the wolf was nowhere to be seen, hidden by the thick fog or simply gone altogether.

  Michael had been the first to turn to leave, Fador standing still, rooted to the spot. When he turned to call after him to follow, Michael froze in horror as the mist rose and swirled in front of Fador, as the white wolf came
flying out and pulled Fador down.

  He heard a scream but never knew where the broken sound came from, whether from his own lungs or Fador’s. Rushing back those few steps to his brother, he fell to his knees beside him, meeting again those flashing blue eyes. The wolf tore at his throat, leaving him lying, bleeding beside his dying brother. The world seemed to spin and finally went black. When they awoke, they knew. They just knew what had happened, why their lives had been spared.

  Chosen as guardians. Cursed to protect what we worked so hard to destroy. It’s all the same thing. And when we got home—

  Michael shook off the fog of memories shaking away his dying jealousy as well and allowed the change to over take him. Standing as a man again, he strode down the beach. He met Fador’s eyes as he entered the shade of the boulders, sitting down on a rock across from him.

  “How’s the rabbit?”

  “Damned good so far. Here, see for yourself.”

  Fador handed him a rabbit on a large palm leaf. The meat was noticeably burnt on one side, but he took a large bite out of it and tried to ignore the voice that told him why that part of the rabbit was burnt.

  “They discovered the bodies.”

  Fador met his eye and shook his head fractionally, a warning not to continue along that vein with Erica beside them, but Michael chose to continue anyway.

  “They weren’t happy, needless to say. Went on about telling their boss about it.”

  Fador glared at him and he tried not to allow the laugh he felt building in the back of his throat to spill out. Then he glanced over at Erica and his heart leapt up to take its place. There was a look of fear in her eyes and he suddenly felt ashamed. Damn it Michael what the hell are you doing?

  “It looks to me like they’ve lost their stomach for the hunt. They went back to their base, so we should be safe for the time being.” The scent of Erica’s fear didn’t dissipate like he’d hoped and he ended up focusing completely on the rabbit in front of him to the exclusion of everything else. When it was gone, he didn’t really have anything else to look at, so he chose to study his hands.