Raluca squeezed his shoulder muscles, first gently, then with more and more force. Finally, they released beneath her hands, softening and relaxing despite themselves.
Nick let out a long sigh. “Fuck, that feels good. I forgot. Shifter strength. Thanks, Raluca.”
“Dragon strength,” she murmured, and applied herself to the taut muscles of his back, slowly working her way downward until he lay sprawled on the bed, as relaxed as if he’d melted into it.
“So,” Raluca said. “Your story. I still wish to hear it.”
Nick sighed again. “I’ll just get more tense if I talk about it. All that amazing massage work will go to hell.”
“Then I will do it again.” Raluca stroked his soft black hair, knowing she would never tire of touching it. “Nick. If you do not wish to speak of your past, then say so. And if you wish me to stop asking, then say that as well. We agreed not to guess at each other’s meanings. You are making me guess.”
Just as he’d warned her, Nick’s shoulders began to tense. She dug in her fingers again until his muscles were forced to relax.
“You weren’t kidding,” Nick said. “Okay, here’s the deal. I do want you to know my story. From what you told me, it’s not like my life was any worse than yours, just differently awful. And I can tell you about it — I’m not all fucking traumatized like Shane or Fiona, it’ll be a cold night in hell before you catch them talking about their pasts — but it’s bloody and brutal and not the kind of story you tell to a fucking princess. Former princess,” he amended.
“I have been the victim of two murder attempts,” Raluca pointed out. “I consider that to be brutal.”
“Yeah, I haven’t forgotten that. But that’s people trying to do shit to you. You’ve never done anything violent yourself.”
“Nick,” Raluca said. “Are you afraid that if you tell me what you’ve done, I’ll be disgusted and horrified and run away screaming on my pretty, pretty princess shoes?”
Nick’s brief, bright smile flashed, then vanished. Casting his gaze low, he muttered, “Yeah. Yeah, that is exactly what I’m —” He see
med to choke on the word afraid, finally substituting, “— worried about.”
Raluca put two fingers under Nick’s chin, tipping his head up and forcing him to look into her eyes. “Who got poisoned today? Who put a bulletproof vest on you? Who ate a Big Bacon?”
“Half a Big Bacon,” Nick retorted instantly.
“Only because you told me I need not eat more. Had you not stopped the dare, I would have finished it.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I stopped you. I was afraid you’d make yourself sick. You are one fucking tough ex-princess.”
“Tough enough for your story?” Raluca inquired.
“Of course you are. I’m not worried you’ll be scared. I’m worried you won’t want to be with a man who —” Nick broke off, then reached out and caught her hand, clutching it like a lifeline. “Don’t let go of me, Raluca.”
“Nick.” Raluca closed her hand over his, holding him tight. “I never will.”
Chapter Six
Nick
Nick’s Story
Wolves need a pack. It doesn’t have to be all wolves. I do fine with Protection, Inc., and I’m the only wolf in it. But we need to belong to a group. If we don’t have one, it fucks us up.
My mother wasn’t a wolf. Dad walked into a diner and asked for a cup of coffee, a waitress came over to pour it for him, he looked into her eyes, and boom. That was it. Mates for life.
Problem was, he was supposed to marry another wolf, or at least another shifter. He told Mom what he was, and once she got over the shock, she asked him to bite her and make her a shifter, too. It seemed like it would solve all their problems. Once she became a wolf, his pack would accept her, and she’d get healing powers and shifter strength and could turn into a wolf. Good deal, right?
Except it didn’t work. Some people just can’t shift, even if they’re born into a wolf family. Or even if they’re bitten. Mom turned out to be one of them. No shifting, no healing powers, no strength, no nothing.
Mom was disappointed, but the really big deal was that Dad’s pack kicked him out. If you’re a wolf, then your mate is automatically part of your pack, and his pack didn’t want humans. Especially since they figured that not being able to shift was probably genetic, so if she couldn’t shift even after she was bitten, her children wouldn’t be able to either.
So Mom and Dad packed up and moved to Santa Martina. That was how much he loved her: he left his pack for her. And she was an orphan, so she didn’t have anyone else. But they had each other, and pretty soon they had me, and then the three of us made a pack. I could shift almost as soon as I was born, so Mom home-schooled me until I was old enough to know not to turn into a wolf pup in public. Dad worked all day in a steel mill.
We didn’t have much money, but we were happy. On weekends we used to drive out of town and go camping. Me and Dad would turn into wolves and run around, and Mom would chase us. I remember one time it was snowing, and Dad shook snow all over Mom, and she nailed him with a snowball. I turned back into a boy so I could throw snowballs too, only I forgot that I wouldn’t have any clothes on. Next thing I knew, I was naked in snow up to my thighs. I couldn’t shift back fast enough. Mom laughed so hard, she fell into a snowdrift. And then all three of us were covered in snow...