Kane couldn't understand for the life of him why Tara wanted to go back to work. She should have stayed home and rested after the night they had, but she had insisted almost with a desperate tone that she return to work the next day. He'd given in because he couldn't resist her. It almost seemed as if she was trying to run away from him. He watched her rub her back after shelving a pile of files. He knew it wasn't the files that were causing her muscles to become sore. She glanced at him. A slow arrogant and possessive smile spread across his face.
Tara turned away quickly, her face turning completely red for two reasons. One, he had managed to turn her into a sex maniac overnight and even now her body craved him. Two, she wanted to slap that arrogant smile off his face. He had proved himself to be right last night, there was definitely nothing wimpy about Kane.
She went back to work trying not to think of the most passionate night she'd ever had in her life. She thought she knew all about sex and love making even though she'd only been with two guys in her entire life, one in college and the other one was Ross.
"Does your body hurt, my life?" Kane's voice suddenly said. She turned around thinking he was behind her and saw him standing across the room watching her.
She dropped the files on her toe, but barely felt it.
"Be careful, you're getting distracted from your work," Kane voice teased in her head.
"What the hell?!" Tara yelled out loud.
People stopped what they were doing to stare at her. She blushed and began to work again. "Why didn't you tell me this would happen? First Kendrick, now you! How are you doing this? You wasn't able to do this before...wait, Kendrick bit me and you bit me after our...oh my god!" Tara communicated back with him using the telepathy she'd grown use to with Kendrick.
"How nice, now we're all connected like one big family," she heard Kendrick's amused voice in her head. He had been unusually quiet until now.
She put down the files and walked away. Kane watched her go into the women's restroom as if that could keep him from reading her thoughts. He laughed.
Tara stared at herself under the glowing light bulbs above the mirror. She looked so different now. She knew people noticed because they stared at her for long periods of time as if trying to figure out what had changed.
Everything had changed.
The way she carried herself, the way she spoke, the quiet danger lurking in her eyes was just some of the changes. Her skin glowed vibrantly and her hair looked like she'd just stepped out of the most expensive salon in town. She ran her fingers through it admiring the healthy luminous glow it gave off.
For the first time in her life, she considered herself beautiful and sexy and she felt it too, even Kendrick had noticed the change from the way he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her all day. He had smiled at her and spoke, but kept his distance. Tara wondered if it was a wolf thing since she and Kane were newly mated.
One thing was for sure, she had never had so much confidence about herself until now. Was this the perks of becoming a wolf? Kane and Kendrick had no problems with confidence, it was completely natural to them and it was one of the things that attracted women to them, including herself. However, Kane's confident was dark and dangerous, which gave him a mysterious, sexiness that some women couldn't resist, but was too scared to explore and Kendrick was a vicious wolf hiding behind the body of a very charming, friendly man who people flocked too, but had no clue just how dangerous he was, like lambs to a wolf in sheep clothing. She shivered. She really didn't know which of her wolves was worse. Wait did she just say "her wolves"? That was new...
She lifted her long hair from neck and stared curiously at the newest symbolic mark that Kane had given her. She rubbed the raised skin gently to see if it was still sore. Kane had shown her something no normal human would ever experience. Becoming one was not only the joining of their bodies, but also their spirits and apparently leaving a huge mark on her neck. The wound was already beginning to heal and shape into a strange circular red symbol completely identical to Kendrick's, it almost looked as if she'd gotten a tattoo just as he'd told her.
Erotic visions of their lovemaking suddenly displayed across the mirror like a movie. She could see Kane's naked body wrapped around hers as she knelt on her hands and knees. His muscles moving under his skin as he pushed deeper and deeper inside of her. She thought he would kill her that night. Never had such a huge organ been inside her, it had stretched her until she thought she couldn't possibly stretch any further without him ripping her to pieces. Then her fear began to subside as the pain faded into that of pleasure. Pleasure she had never felt before in her life. She thought she would die of pure ecstasy.
Tara memories were arousing to Kane as he shared them with her. His own memories of their lovemaking began to show. Her soft pleas for him to stop were lost to him. He had been too lost in pleasure to listen once he had buried himself inside of her. She had been so tight, so hot, so wet...her body had been made perfectly to fit his. He had never experienced anything like it and when he finally climaxed, she had come with him, both of them shouting out their ecstasy together. It was then a blinding red light had surrounded them causing his fangs to come out and pierce her delicate skin. He couldn't stop himself from drinking her blood even as she screamed in pain. It had only taken a second for the engulfing light to bind their souls and to leave his symbol branded into her skin. They had both passed out afterwards.
Tara's skin began to grow damp, the mirrors began to fog as she continued with her memories. Later that night Kane had made love to her again and again taking complete possession of her body and there was nothing she could do about it, but enjoy it.
"Tara, if you do not stop this, I will come in there and take you right now," Kane's voice growled into her head.
Suddenly the door opened and Rhonda walked in. She stopped and looked around at the foggy mirrors. A strange, sweet, yet alluring scent filled her nose. "What the hell is that smell? Did someone just have sex in here?" She turned to Tara noticing her deep breathing and damp skin.
"Whatcha doing in here girl?" She walked up to her. "I can help you scratch that itch if you need it."
Tara stared at her, her mouth slightly opened from shock. Rhonda was coming on to her!?
"Damn you smell so good and you looked too fine today. I don't know what happened to you over the weekend, but you are damn sexy today. You know, I always had a crush on you, you know that right? I just didn't know how you'd react if I told you that I wanted you."
"What...what?" Tara backed away from her until her back hit the wall.
"Come on, Tara. Let's be real. This is San Francisco, haven't you ever wondered what it was like to be with another woman?" She reached out to touch Tara's face.
Those were the last words Rhonda said before she started screaming in pain. Tara suddenly found herself outside the building. She leaned against the wall as Kane's huge body towered over her.
"You are new to this, I understand, but I am still furious," Kane said slowly and methodically. His green eyes were glowing dangerously, flecks of red flames danced inside the pupil.
"What just happened back there? Why was Rhonda screaming?"
"You cannot be near anyone when you are aroused. Do you understand? Even human women cannot resist the scent of an aroused female wolf."
"Kane...what did you do?" Tara began to grow frighten when he didn't answer her. "What did you do?!" She yelled.
"He cut the hand she tried to touch you with completely off," Kendrick said suddenly appearing beside them. "You have to be careful Tara. Kane cannot control his instincts when it comes to you and you," he said turning to Kane, "why are you behaving so reckless by letting Tara or yourself be around people so soon after your first mating? You are acting like a besotted pup, by letting her have her way when you know better. The sex must have been out of this world to cause you to lose your common sense, Kane." He suddenly stopped and took in a deep breath. His eyes glazed over as he got a whiff of Tara's arousal. "My gods..." he whispered staring at her. "Well, I guess I understand now..."
"Get the fuck away from her before I cut off your nose!" Kane growled at him and took a step towards him.
Kendrick growled at him. "Did you forget she belongs to me as well? I have given you your privacy with her out of respect, but we are the same person Kane and I will have her soon." He stared at Tara for a moment before disappearing.
"Why?" Tara asked Kane. "She came on to me ...sure, but she didn't deserve that! Besides it was my fault, obviously. Why didn't you just whisk me away instead of cutting off her hand! She has a child for goodness sake."
Kane raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to make me feel regret? I have no regrets when it comes to you. She is lucky I didn't take her life. I was being kind to her and if you continue to argue with me on her behalf I will return and finish what I started."
For the first time, Tara got her reality dose of how ruthless Kane could be. She had always known he had it in him, but now she had experienced it. She should have been afraid. From a human's point of view, he was clearly a psycho, yet she wasn't afraid, only annoyed...
"I'm taking you home, where you will be safe from everybody until you learn what to do and what not to do around people. Why did you insist on returning here anyway?"
"I wanted to cling to some form of my humanity. I didn't want to completely disappear..." Tara said trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to overcome her.
Kane swallowed the lump in his throat. He did not want to see her cry. He pulled her close to him. "I'm sorry if I've upset you. I am not experienced in human ways. I know this is new and frightening to you, but I don't believe you will completely lose your humanity. You and your wolf have to learn to work together."
"This job, it made me feel like I was still myself, but I'm not am I? I really have changed..."
Kane couldn't reply. There was nothing he could say to change the fact that she would never be a normal human again.
"Do you think they will come after me?" Tara asked worriedly after a long silent drive back to her home.
"No," Kane replied. "Kendrick will handle it. Rhonda will have no memory of you being with her." Kane parked in front of her house got out and opened the door on her side.
Tara blinked. "You can do that?" She got out of the explorer and stared at him in amazement.
"Kendrick stayed behind as a witness. He's a very fast talker. One of his skills is his ability to manipulate people into believing whatever he wants."
"Like brainwashing?" Tara asked.
"Sort of, he has undoubtedly mastered the human trait of "charm" in wolf style. Don't worry about it. Tara, I do not want you to work there anymore. It was my poor judgment to give into your whim to return. You are a new born wolf and still need to be taught many things before you can be around people. "
"That job is the only thing I got going for me, what about money and a place to stay?" Tara looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.
Kane sighed. "You still do not understand do you? Your life belongs to me now. You will not return to the home you once knew in your human life, my home is yours. As for money, I once told you it was nothing to me, everything you need will be provided for."
"Wait, are you expecting me to just hop up and leave everything behind? That's rather unreasonable isn't it Kane?"
Kane growled and stared deep into her eyes. His hands came down heavily on both sides of her head trapping her body between his and the truck. "You are my life mate now. I am responsible for everything you do. Do not question my authority, Tara." He spoke in that calm methodical way Rhonda had once described.
Tara shivered. She wasn't afraid he'd hurt her, but the sheer intimidation of his voice and that dangerous look in his eyes was enough to warn her not to push the topic, something else happened to her, something she had no control of. The immediate need to obey him overwhelmed her.
"You will go into the house and pack your clothes. We will never return to this place again," Kane ordered.
Tara nodded obediently. He moved out of the way and she began to walk to the townhouse. Kane couldn't help but feel a little guilty at controlling her so soon, but Tara needed to be with him or else she would make another mistake and get someone killed. She clearly did not understand her situation. He'd taken mercy on Rhonda since she was sort of a friend to Tara although Kane never liked the girl to begin with. The bitch had actually tried to seduce his Tara, he knew she would have tried to sooner or later, but Tara's scent had spurned her into acting on impulse.
He followed her into the house and helped her pack. Tara said nothing the entire time. He tried to read her mind, but there was nothing, not even a single thought. Did I do this to her? Kane thought. He did not like the mindless zombie like way she was reacting to him. Yet, he didn't release his control of her until they were safely back at his home.
He took in the suitcases and sat them in the living room. Tara followed him in and stood beside him. Kane released his hold on her.
Tara stood there for a moment, finally feeling like her old self. When she realized what had been done to her, she turned to him and glared. "What did you do to me?"
"I am your Alpha, Tara. You must obey me."
"I was never told that you could control me once we mated, had I known that, you would have never seen me again," Tara threatened. Kane could feel the anger and indignity growing inside of her.
He was also angry at her words. "Never seen you again? The day Kendrick explained our ways to you; he did not tell you the complete truth. He made you believe you had the choice of accepting me or not. You didn't, Tara. You never had that choice."
"You're lying!" Tara yelled. "You turned into a human just so I would accept you!"
"I turned into a human as a favor for you, Tara. Believe it or not, I did not want to take you by force. I thought it would make your acceptance of me easier. I did value your human feelings."
"And now that I'm not completely human, you feel you don't have to?"
"No, I still value your feelings Tara, but your safety will always come first. You are mine now, joined together with me in spirit. The wolf in you understands why I did it even if your human side does not, which is why it was easy to control you. Now that you've transformed, living together will not be as bad if you were only human. You will understand soon."
"If you do that to me ever again, Kane, I swear I will begin to hate you. No one likes to be controlled. I am still half human and that side of me detests what you've done!"
Kane reached out to hold her, but she moved away before he could touch her. "Tara, I do not like to see you so upset at me. It bothers me...greatly."
"Get used to it if you pull that mind controlling crap on me again!"
"Tara, I cannot promise I won't do it again if I fear for your safety. Your human side makes you rebellious to me. You will have to accept the ways of the wolf."
"I don't have to accept anything! How dare you come into my life and expect me to change everything I've ever known within a day!" Kane watched her run away. He knew she was still somewhere in the house since her scent was still close and wondered if he should go after her or give her a moment to calm down.
"Wow, she's got a temper. You think she inherited that trait from you?" Kendrick asked.
Kane turned around to find him leaning against the wall. "How long have you been here?"
"She must be a total distraction for you not to notice," Kendrick laughed. "I was here when you two arrived. I was waiting for you."
"What do you want?" Kane asked tiredly. He sat down on a huge couch.
"Already having trouble with the misses?" Kendrick continued to tease.
"Did you come here to laugh at me?" Kane asked not finding anything funny.
"Well, you know, I have to catch up on my soaps," Kendrick walked over to the fireplace. "Be gentle with her Kane, she is still half human."
"Are you going to tell me how to treat my life mate now?"
"Don't you mean our life mate?" Kendrick corrected. "We have to work together Kane for this strange relationship to work. The sooner you accept me as her Alpha also, the better it will be for all of us."
Kane stared at Kendrick as if seeing him for the first time. "The dream that was shown to us showed us who we truly are knowing this should have made it easier for me to accept you because you are a part of me as I am of you and yet..."
"It's that damn stubborn, possessiveness of yours and the fact we just found out who we really are. I suppose it will take a while for both of us to adjust. Our life mate is quite powerful isn't she?" Kendrick smiled somewhat proudly. "If it wasn't for her psychic skills we would have never known where we came from." He paused a moment and walked around the room. "Dude...we are gods, well at least part of a god, but we're not half human, not even of the wolf people, but a god, a fire wolf from a century ago. We share the soul of an ancient powerful wolf god...how fucking cool is that? It explains everything! Why we can change into more than one shape, why we're bigger and stronger than the wolf people, why our hair is so damn red! Seriously I was beginning to wonder if we were just a couple of freaks."
"Be quiet, Kendrick, now is not the time or place to discuss this. Tara is furious with me. She does not want to understand our ways. I can feel the rebelliousness in her. She will fight me. Usually, I would enjoy the challenge, but not if she's hurt by it."
Kendrick let out a low whistle. "I do not envy you at the moment. Why don't you let me spend time with her, she is mine as well as yours and I understand humans a lot better than you do."
Kane stared at his brother or himself and a slight smile appeared on his lips. "Do I continue to call you my brother since you are actually a part of me?"
"You could call me your other half or soul mate, but that would sound rather gay. Let's not complicate things. I will continue to be your twin brother," Kendrick chuckled softly.
A loud bang and continuous yelling made them wince and turn to look at the ceiling.
"I see she finally found a room for her anger..." Kane mumbled dryly.
"Damn, I've never seen her so mad," Kendrick turned and gave Kane a teasing grin. "Sucks to be you at the moment, I do believe she's contemplating on how to choke you in your sleep tonight and get away with it."
Kane sighed and tried to speak to Tara but she blocked off their mental connection. He gasped and took a deep breath at the sudden break. It felt as if someone had just slammed his body into a brick wall.
"She's learns very fast, that was almost instinctive," Kendrick said in shock.
"Tara!" Kane roared her name and started to proceed up the steps.
"Kane, let me handle this. You are in no shape to deal with her, you're too upset and will only make things worse between you and her. She isn't angry at me, she'll listen to me."
"Do what you must," Kane said. "She is also yours as you say."
"Oh now you give her to me," Kendrick grinned and shook his head.
"One more thing, brother of mine, if you ever call me a besotted pup again I will haunt you down and kill you slowly," Kane threatened.
Kendrick eyes widened. He slowly nodded and watched Kane walked out the back door. It wasn't hard to find Tara, her natural scent had changed from strictly human to wolf and human mixed together, a touch of feminine delicacy mixed with wildness and danger, a tantalizing smell.
"What do you want?" Tara asked when he appeared in front of her. She was huddled in a chair in a room on the opposite side of the house, hoping to be as far away from Kane as she could.
"Is that how you welcome your life mate?" Kendrick asked giving her his most charming smile.
"I'm not in the best of moods right now and I don't need another bull headed wolf telling me what to do with my life."
"We both know Kane has a very dominating personality. I don't think that's going to change, but he means well."
"It's wrong what he did," Tara pointed out.
"Perhaps to you...we don't see it that way. The male will always be the alpha to the female. His job is to protect her at all costs even if it does seem cruel. It is the way of the wolf."
"I'm not all wolf! I still have half of my humanity!"
"Doesn't matter, you're his...that's all that he cares about," Kendrick said as comforting as he could. "That's all I care about, also."
"Are you're here to speak in his favor?" Tara looked at him suspiciously.
"No, I actually came to tell you not to worry about work. Rhonda doesn't remember what happened. She walked into the restroom and had some sort of nervous breakdown from sniffing cocaine. It wasn't hard to make it up since she really is on the stuff. They gave her a drug test and found it in her system. They also found a knife in her purse."
Tara gasped. "You set her up. This isn't right..."
"Well, she actually set herself up, the fact that she was already on drugs made my work very easy," Kendrick shook his head, "but Rhonda doesn't matter; your safety is what matters. I'll admit that I was angry that she dared to touch you in that way. We wolves are very jealous and possessive creatures. It is one of our many unpleasant flaws I'm sorry to say, but you will have to learn to live with it."
"Ahh!" Tara screamed when Kendrick suddenly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her against him. She stared into those beautiful green eyes that were so much like Kane's except sharper, razor sharp. She could feel his annoyance and the anger he'd hidden from her until now cutting into her very soul as he stared deeply into hers.
"You see Tara, I don't think you really understand the seriousness of being our life mate? If anything happens to you, we will destroy everyone and everything and then destroy ourselves if you cannot be saved. Unleashing our fury on the world is not something you want to witness in person; you saw what happened in the dream.... now do you really want that to happen again?"
Tara shook her head nervously.
Kendrick smiled and eased his grip on her. "Good girl. I'm glad we have an understanding." His eyes lost their razor like anger and softened as he wrapped one arm around her, bringing her close against his body. The other hand reached up to tenderly smooth back her hair. "You shouldn't fight Kane, he's only doing what comes naturally to him and that is protecting what is his. You should be happy that you finally have not one, but two people, well wolves that love you more than life itself. We would do anything for you. You have nothing to worry about ever again. You don't have to work; you don't have to worry about food or shelter. We will spoil you like crazy." He paused for a moment, his cheeks turning slightly red.
Tara blinked wondering about his quick mood swings, perhaps they were both psycho wolves.
"You're so damn beautiful; I can't believe you're really mine. I wanted you to be, I've always wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you, but we didn't connect like you did with Kane because there was something missing in me, the emotions I needed to connect with you, but they are here now and they are quite intense. I don't like this overwhelming feeling of helplessness when I'm close to you. It makes me feel weak and I don't care for that feeling." He pushed her away as if that would help get some control over himself.
Tara stared at him and tilted her head. To her surprise she began to sniff him. She couldn't stop herself from the strange act.
Kendrick stood still and let her, a smile appearing on his lips. "The wolf wants to come out and play, that's right, you've never met me before have you my little wolf, you've only been with Kane since your transitioning." He gently traced a finger down her cheek, over her full lips.
Tara suddenly bit him. He was surprised to find his finger between her small teeth, it wasn't a hard bite, it hadn't hurt, well maybe a little, but she hadn't drawn blood. He regarded her through half closed lids... "that's kind of sexy," he whispered, "but you do not bite the hand that's going to feed you, little one or the hand of your Alpha."
Tara curved her tongue around his finger, pressed her lips tightly together and slowly slid it out of her mouth causing Kendrick to wince. A shiver ran down his entire body. She didn't want to, but she couldn't stop herself from glancing down at the sudden bulging erection threatening to burst out of his pants. "You're my alpha?" she asked in a voice not quite her own. This voice was sultry, smooth, and confident with just a hint of mischief.
"Do you really pretend to not know when you carry my symbol on your neck?" Kendrick raised an eyebrow.
"I have your symbol, but you have not completed the binding ritual, not like Kane. I am completely Kane's, not completely yours..."
Tara wanted to stop herself from saying those words. Was she trying to piss off Kendrick?
"If you are my Alpha why haven't you made me yours? What are you waiting for?" She was challenging him and seducing him at the same time.
Kane suddenly burst into the room. "Leave Kendrick," he ordered.
"Oh I see," Tara said. "I see, I see, I see," she laughed. "How funny! You are the same person and yet you are holding a part of yourself back? Keeping this part," she pointed to Kendrick, "away from me, but why, why do you do this to yourself? Are you jealous of yourself? Are you fighting yourself? How silly! How funny! It doesn't make sense!"
Kane watched his life mate laugh at him knowing it was the wolf and not his human Tara speaking to them, but the wolf had made a good point. Why was he holding back, why was he still acting so possessive when Tara belonged to both of them. Kendrick was him! He was doing himself an injustice, if she wasn't bonded to both of them, then she really wasn't completely his.
Kendrick turned to Kane. "I want her." It wasn't a request, but a demand.
Kane sighed, for once defeated in his stubbornness. "Take her."
The wolf chose that moment to disappear leaving a very nervous Tara in its place. "Wait...what did you say?" she asked Kane and backed away from Kendrick as he approached her. "Kane? Kane!"
She yelled out for him, but it was too late. Kendrick had wrapped his arms around her from behind holding her prisoner against his chest. The room suddenly turned blurry. For a moment Tara thought she was passing out until she realized Kendrick was doing that neat little trick where he and his brother suddenly appeared or disappeared out of nowhere. The question however was where on earth was he taking her?