Page 27 of Shattered

“Who’s there?” When no one answered, she called out again. “I’m warning you, I have a gun. I will shoot you and then call 9-1-1. This is a stand your ground state. I wouldn’t mess with me, buddy.”

Silence greeted her.

It was unnerving. Her heart hammered. Her hands trembled. Whatever lurked in the shadows was still there. She could feel it with every fiber of her being, watching her... Waiting for her to make the wrong move, and then bam, it’d pounce. Aurora scrambled up the stairs as if the devil himself was at her heels. When she reached the landing, she stopped, sure she’d made it to safety. She pulled her keys from her pocket and positioned them between her fingers to use as a weapon just in case. If whoever chased her was ready to fight, well, she’d get down, too. He, she, or it, might inflict its damage, but she’d make sure she did her own, too, to make it easy to find the suspect.

A whimpered whine came from behind her, and she stilled. She’d heard that noise before. Aurora glanced over her shoulder as a shadowy four-legged creature stepped out into the dim light. She let out a sigh of relief then laughed. It was a harmless dog.

No, scratch that, it wasn’t a dog.

It was a big fucking wolf, one Aurora knew by sight, even after only seeing this particular wolf one time. Mackenzie’s wolf sat on the black asphalt of the parking light, watching her. His tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth, and his eyes were a bright, clear shade of blue. He yipped at her again in greeting while he continued to watch her. What was she supposed to do? Did she go inside and hide, or did she go back down the stairs and say hello? Would it encourage him to keep coming back? Did she want him slinking around like a Peeping Tom?

Deep down, this man, this lone wolf called to the deep recesses of her soul. Even knowing who it was, Aurora was smart enough to remain where she was. His family wasn’t around to protect her, and from the conversations, she’d overheard, Mackenzie could be unpredictable. Hell, the man didn’t even have any memory of what he’d done to her during the Halloween party.

Who was she kidding?

Mackenzie’s actions the night of the party hadn’t scared her one damn bit. If she wanted to be truthful with herself, he’d turned her on. Big time. Days later, she remained achy and needy. Her clit throbbed at odd times, like right then and there. Aurora’s panties dampened, and the ache became a persistent pulse of energy building within her. However, she couldn’t admit any of it at the moment, especially with the wolf continuing to watch her.

Urgh!He needed to go. If he stayed any longer, Aurora knew she’d be tempted to go back down the stairs. The only thing preventing that was her sleeping niece. If Abby woke, she’d be looking for her, Aurora couldn’t be found outside frolicking in the woods with the shifter. Even though that’s what she wanted to do.

It sucked always having to be the responsible one.

Aurora placed her hands on the old, battered wood railing and leaned over to whisper to the wolf below, knowing full well he’d hear her. “Go home, Mac, it’s late.”

Instead of leaving, Mackenzie laid down, his big head resting between his big paws. His long, pink tongue licked slowly at the bare patch of skin on his leg. Images of him using that tongue on her sex, had Aurora moaning in need. The wolf stopped mid-lick and cocked his head to the side while he watched her. His eyes were filled with hope and arousal.

Aurora squared her shoulders. Whatever he had planned couldn’t happen. Not there. Not outside. Not now. Abby’s bedroom window was close to where she stood. She didn’t need the little girl waking up, coming to find her, and seeing Mackenzie. The little girl would talk incessantly about the late visit. She closed her eyes to steady herself then said, “Mac, please, just go home.”

Mackenzie didn’t leave. If she thought the damn wolf had a rational bone in his body at the moment, she’d been sorely mistaken. He lifted his hind leg and began licking himself. Of course, onlyhiswolf would think cleaning his balls at a time like this would be perfectly normal.

She snorted.

“Stop that.” Her cheeks flushed, not from embarrassment, but from desire. She’d gotten a glimpse of Kalkin Raferty’s private area the night of the party, and had wondered, not for the first time, if his older brother was packing the same-sized equipment as her boss.

Mackenzie stopped, one of his ears was raised and the other went down almost as if he used them for radar. He appeared contrite, and she fought back a smile before trudging back down the stairs and over where Mackenzie sat in the parking lot.

“Why are you even here?”

Mackenzie met her near the stairs, stopping inches away from her feet.

“You know you’re not even going to remember any of this, right?” She reached out to him. “You sure as hell don’t remember nipping me.”

He didn’t reply, instead, he nuzzled her palm.

“You’re such a pretty wolf,” Aurora cooed.

Mackenzie preened and pushed insistently at her lap.

“Hey,” she grumbled. “None of that now, Mac. Knock it off.”

Aurora used her hands to push his massive head away. He was determined, and within seconds, he’d pushed her thighs apart and as embarrassing as it was for her to admit, was smelling her sex through her jeans. Again, it shouldn’t have turned her on. Yet, it did. A lot. “Yeah, like this is completely normal. I can’t even meet a man under normal circumstances.” She frowned, knowing full well the wolf understood her.

He groaned long and deep between her legs. The vibrations caused Aurora’s core to clench in need. The second he left, she was going to her bedroom and using the little vibrator she’d bought a couple of years ago when she’d resigned herself to being alone. She may be single, but she sometimes had needs, just like any other woman. Although, it rarely happened. However, when it did, the pink plastic toy adequately took care of those needs. That is, until the party.

In fact, for the longest time, Aurora considered herself to be an asexual. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, she just didn’t have the same desires as others did. Didn’t find people, men or women, sexually attractive? Sure, it could have had something to do with Abby and being in and out of hospitals for months on end. Or the sheer amount of energy it took to raise her niece which left her drained and blah. Now, after meeting Mackenzie, she wondered if maybe she’d been wrong. Was she sexually confused? Lost? Alone? If she ever voiced it, would she be shunned or worse, laughed at?

The wolf twirled around, facing away from her in a blink of an eye, drawing her attention back to him. The hair on his scruff stood on end. He’d heard something or someone before she had. She’d been so lost in thought, she hadn’t been mindful of her surroundings. A low, warning growl filled the wolf’s chest, and he bared his teeth in warning.

Aurora instinctively knew he’d rip anyone who came near to shreds if they weren’t friendly, and had she been on the other end of his wrath, she’d have peed her pants.

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