He’d painted countless portraits of wolves in the wild—sometimes howling, other times playing with their young. It was hard to get genuine imagery, since he couldn’t simply walk into their habitat and pull out his sketchbook or his easel. A handful of times, he’d lucked out and hired professionals who could guide him through reserves.
But he had never seen a wild wolf so up close. Since he’d deemed the beast injured, Ward hadn’t been careful in his approach, and if he’d taken a few more steps, they’d practically be side by side.
Naturally, he didn’t. Contrary to what Vera might believe, he was not suicidal. He was also very much aware that wolves were not cuddly pets, and that abrupt motions could earn him an unfortunate death in the claws and canines of the admittedly magnificent beast.
The wolf watched with golden eyes that glowed in the dim light of the early morning. It took a step forward, slowly, almost tentatively. It almost seemed curious, and Ward could only hope that curiosity wasn’t about how Ward tasted.
He scanned his brain for anything he remembered about dealing with such a situation, but he came out blank. Those deep gold eyes hypnotized him. Was this how a deer felt before it was felled by a predator? If so, Ward almost envied it. And what a strange thought to have at this particular moment.
So Ward didn’t move, simply taking in every detail of the creature as it approached. It was big, larger than any wolf Ward had seen even in the wild. Its fur was also far darker than that of the gray wolves Ward had painted in the past. It had huge paws, and if Ward had been inclined toward hyperbole, he would have almost compared them to a bear’s.
He was afraid at first. How could he not be? He had a huge freaking wolf in front of him, and his muscles were frozen, keeping him from moving. However, the beast gave no sign of wanting to pounce on Ward. In fact, it sat down on its hind legs, tilting its head and looking for all the world like the universe’s biggest puppy. To complete the image, it nudged Ward’s hand with its snout and then licked his palm.
Okay, this was not happening. Wolves weren’t pets. They didn’t lie back and wag their tails at random humans.
Could it be that someone had been raising this wolf in their household? It wasn’t exactly unprecedented. Ward had heard of many people who’d tried something similar, many times in an attempt to protect the animal in question.
Personally, Ward thought wild animals belonged in the wild, but there were always extenuating circumstances to consider. If the wolf had been raised in a domestic setting, it might not have the necessary skills to survive on its own. That would somewhat explain why it had suddenly appeared in front of his car, he supposed.
Either way, it seemed obvious the wolf didn’t intend to hurt Ward, and Ward still remembered that distinctive thud and the earlier limp. Despite the part of him that was screaming to bid a hasty retreat, he crouched in front of the animal, bringing them to eye level. “Okay, big guy, don’t eat me. I want to see your leg. Are you hurt?”
He gestured for the paw that the wolf had been favoring earlier, and the animal obediently offered it, confirming Ward’s guess that it must have had human masters at one point. Ward tentatively brushed his fingers over the wolf’s paw and shoulder, sinking them in the luxurious fur to seek any signs of blood.
The wolf released a low growl, but it wasn’t threatening. In fact, it the animal had been a feline, Ward would have called it a purr.
There was no injury that Ward could find, but he still wasn’t willing to let go of the situation. “I should get a vet to look you over,” he mused.
The wolf huffed and nudged Ward’s cheek with his snout. It almost seemed like a disgruntled refusal, and Ward berated himself for interpreting the animal’s response as something human. He decided to take one thing at a time.
He couldn’t leave the wolf here, and he wasn’t sure how to find a vet at this hour in Willow Cove. As such, there was only one solution he could find. “All right, big guy. Let’s get you in the car. You’re coming with me, and I’m getting you something to eat.”
Mathias had no idea what he was doing. He had spent most of the night running, trying to clear his head, seeking the source of the strange feeling. Toward the early hours of the morning, he’d gotten a better sense of where he needed to go, but then, a weird panic had gripped him, and he’d found himself scrambling blindly through the forest, pursuing that fear, knowing that he needed to be there for... For who?
Despite the intensity of the emotion, the identity of his quarry still shocked him to the core. It had struck him harder than the car he’d accidentally run in front of, which was ironic, given that Mathias had been looking for its driver the whole time. Its driver, who was a human, and Mathias’s true mate.
The moment Mathias had met the human’s eyes, his magic sang at finally finding his perfect match, and his wolf howled in triumph. All of his senses—both magical and otherwise—screamed with the rightness.
Unfortunately, he was still in wolf form, and he couldn’t exactly shift in the middle of the street. So far, he couldn’t feel anyone nearby, but there was no telling if that was the case or not given that Mathias’s senses were so focused on his mate. Besides, such a shift would draw unpleasant attention, since he’d be breaking the Secrecy Accords.
It was a moot point, since his mate was already panicking at having a wolf in front of him, and changing shapes would make things worse. So Mathias stayed a wolf and did his best to appear as non-threatening as possible.
It worked, and far better than expected. His mate seemed drawn to him even if he most likely didn’t know why, and perhaps he was less afraid of Mathias than other humans would have been in his position. And so, Mathias ended up sitting obediently in the back seat of his mate’s car, doing his best impression of being harmless.
His mate got behind the wheel and turned the car around, heading back into the direction he’d been coming from. “I have to admit I’m new here,” he said, “so I might not be completely equipped to feed a wolf, but I’ll do my best, okay, big guy?”
Mathias woofed and managed to nudge his mate’s ear with his snout. The human chuckled, waving a hand at him. “Stop. Don’t distract me. I’m driving.”
With a disgruntled huff, Mathias set his head on the back of his mate’s seat. He waited patiently and closed his eyes, reveling in the scent of his other half and the lively pulse of his energy.
It hadn’t escaped his notice that his human looked quite a lot like Will. They shared the same chocolate brown hair, the same build, facial structure, and full lips. Their eyes were different—Will’s were green, while Mathias’s mate had the deepest blue orbs, so dark they were almost black. But most importantly, their energy was similar.
It made so much sense now, why Mathias had fooled himself into thinking Will was his mate. His Sidhe instincts had shoved aside the wolf ones and zeroed in on that energy, desperate to find a connection. It had been so easy with Will, since Mathias cared about the man outside that pull, simply because of who he was.
Everything was sliding into place and for the first time in decades, Mathias’s head felt clear, his heart light. He’d given up on finding his true mate after his failure with Will. To think that it had finally happened, after all this time, was almost too much to bear.
He also suspected the resemblance between Will, and his mate was no coincidence. It was likely Will was related to Mathias’s human in some way. Will had said no more descendants of his family lived in Willow Cove, but maybe that had changed.
It could be a problem for the Lone Wolf Pack. Mathias had to tread lightly, since he had not forgotten Jessie still needed his help. As much as he wanted to stay with his mate, he needed to find the right balance—and most importantly, find a way to tell his human the truth.