Chapter Eleven
Tyler walked outside after dinner, breathing deeply of the night air. Tonight he was giving his wolf his body. He’d needed it before tonight, but after he’d almost kissed Parker again, he was desperate to shift and let the wolf take over.
He stalked toward the woods, head down. He was beginning to seriously doubt his ability to keep away from Parker, to resist her. It didn’t help that he didn’t want to, not in the least. The only thing stopping him was the worry that if he took it further, he would hurt her or the baby. Because there was no doubt in his mind that if he kissed her, it would end with her in his bed.
Ty reached the woods and pulled his shirt off before easing the zipper of his jeans down. Just the thought of kissing Parker, the thought of her in his bed, was enough to make him hard. Breath hissing out of his body, he got the zipper the rest of the way down, and then hurried to shuck his boots and his jeans. He hunched inward, and the sound of his bones breaking echoed off the trees as a blinding flash of pain shot through his body. It all happened in the blink of an eye and a moment later, his massive black wolf was shaking out his fur.
His ears perked up and he listened with hearing that was even better than it was in his human form as the wolf turned its huge head and gazed back to the house. Back to where Parker was. Apparently, the longing he felt for her was just as potent in either form.
Giving his head a shake, Ty turned around and took off at a run, streaking through the woods. He made it to the river before he slowed down, and then he took his time, sniffing his way along the bank until he came to the clearing. He sat for a moment, looking up at the sky.
Everything was always clearer in his wolf form. More simplistic. He had instincts, he had needs like hunger, but there wasn’t the bombardment of emotions, weighed down with human concerns.
As a wolf, everything was clear.
And what was the clearest of all was that he wanted Parker. All of her. The wolf thought Ty was stupid for holding back, an idiot for putting off what he thought was inevitable. Parker was theirs. The pup was theirs. Take her and keep her.
Huffing a sigh, Ty stood up, thinking he would run for a little longer before he headed back to the house. Turning for the woods, he stilled as he scented the air, his hackles raising as he scanned the surroundings.
That smell didn’t belong here. Didn’t belong on the farm, on his property, and sure as hell didn’t belong so close to Parker and his pup. He inhaled deeply, confirming his first instincts were right. There was another wolf shifter around. The scent was different than that of a normal wild wolf. This one was a female. He didn’t know any female wolf shifters, and that only made his hackles raise more.
He couldn’t allow an unknown wolf shifter around his little family.
Lowering his nose to the ground, he found the scent trail and began following it. Hitting a dead end a few minutes later when the trail ended at the water’s edge, he growled low in his throat in frustration before turning around and following it back the other way. Through the woods, winding in every direction, before it led him back to the woods around the house. His eyes narrowed at how close to the house the trail was, and he continued tracking it as it led him in a large circle around the house. It never left the woods, so whoever it was hadn’t come closer to the house, but that wasn’t much of a consolation. Anywhere on the property would have been too close.
He threw back his head and howled in frustration. This wolf shifter had to know what they were, and it was watching them. Coming onto their property from the river, where they couldn’t track without leaving MacKeltar land. Ty and Chase never left Red Moon in their wolf forms. They couldn’t attract attention, and huge wolves, much larger than a normal wolf, would attract the wrong kind of attention if they were seen.
Chase came jogging into the woods a few moments later. “You shouldn’t howl this close to the house. You’ll scare Parker.”
Shit. He hadn’t even thought of that. Ty quickly shifted back to human form, immediately telling Chase what he’d found. “The trail ends at the river, where we can’t track it further,” he finished.
“Another wolf? A female? You’re sure about this?” Chase asked.
Ty shot him a look. “You think I would mistake something like that?”
“Shit. We’ve never had an unknown shifter here before. I don’t like this, at all. If they were here for a good reason, they would have talked to us.” Chase started pulling his clothes off. “I’m going to check it out, take in the scent so I’ll recognize it again.”
“Be careful. I’m going to go check on Parker. I don’t like that this shifter shows up just when Parker gets here.”
Chase nodded and shifted into his light brown wolf, nose down to catch the scent as he walked away. Ty turned to get his clothes and then dressed before he made his way back to the house, moving at a fast clip. He felt anxious and he knew he wouldn’t calm until he laid his eyes on Parker and reassured himself and his wolf that she was okay.
Parker finished washing her face, studying her reflection as she patted it dry with a towel. She wondered what Ty saw when he looked at her. He obviously found her attractive, and although she tried hard to see what he did, she didn’t understand it. She was still just plain old Parker. With a sigh, she put her glasses back on before opening the door and stepping out. She turned toward her room but paused when she heard heavy footsteps on the stairs.
Turning, she saw Ty reaching the top of the stairs. He hesitated when he saw her, a look of relief crossing his features that confused her.
“Hey, Ty. You get finished up outside?”
He didn’t answer, just walked forward and didn’t stop until he was almost touching her. She looked up, frowning a little, and was just opening her mouth to ask him what was wrong when he lowered his head and took her mouth with his.
Her breath left her body in a whoosh as he backed her up against the wall, plastering his body to hers. She lifted up on her tiptoes, one of her arms wrapping around his neck while she rested her other hand on his cheek so she could feel his jaw working.
He caressed her lips with his for a moment before sweeping his tongue into her m
outh to duel with hers. Parker moaned as her arm tightened around his neck and she arched more body more firmly into his. Her blood was heating quickly and she could feel herself getting wet just from his kiss alone.
He’d had this effect on her four months ago, too. Full blown, instant need, right from the start.
Ty rolled his hips, rubbing his already hard length against her belly as his kiss got more aggressive. Tangling a hand in her hair, he guided her away from the wall and walked her a few steps down the hall and into his room. He kicked the door shut with his foot and then pushed her up against the bedroom wall, intensifying the kiss even more.