Page 54 of Wolf's Redemption

Bek held up her hands. “Wait a minute. Just hold up a sec. You saidyouare a werewolf. How did that happen?”

There was no way Erin had been a werewolf before she came here. Having such a secret in the twenty-first century wouldn’t be so easy to hide. Not with CCTV, cell phones and social media.

“Gaharet turned me.”

And we’re back to the whole turning people into werewolves thing.Like some sort of black and white horror flick and a part-man, part-wolf with slathering jaws biting down on a screaming human. Bek shivered and drained the contents of her mug.

Erin’s hand strayed back to her rib cage. “He didn’t have a choice, Rebekah. One of Renaud’s mercenaries stabbed me. I would’ve died if he didn’t.” She rubbed at the spot on her side as though it still pained her. “Turning me saved my life.”

Erin refilled her mug. Bek didn’t stop her.

“And…who’s this Renaud guy?”

“Archeveque—archbishop—Renaud.” Erin screwed up her face. “How do I describe Renaud? Conniving, self-serving, corrupt, not above murdering people to get what he wants.”

Had she seen the news of the Catholic church lately? Although murder was a new low for a priest.

“As I said, there were only seven werewolves left when I arrived, but there used to be a hundred or more. Men, women and children. Then a werewolf betrayed them and gave Renaud information on their weaknesses. He’s been using that knowledge to hunt them. We believe his intent is to trap one. Ulrik is the first he hasn’t killed.”

“Weaknesses? Like silver.”

Ulrik’s allergy to silver was pretty intense. It was one heck of a weakness.Ifthey could overpower him and get it close to his skin. She’d seen Ulrik’s strength, his speed and his skill in a fight. He’d disarmed that kid guard between one blink and the next. It would take an awful lot to overpower him.

“You catch on fast,” said Erin. “Silver is a weakness for werewolves. So is wolfsbane. Wolfsbane renders a werewolfunable to control their form. Shifting requires a lot of energy. If you’re constantly shifting from human to wolf, it won’t take long before you’re exhausted and vulnerable.”

Wolfsbane?Bloody hell. Iamstuck in a shifter romance.Speaking of…

“What the hell was Ulrik’s problem when we first arrived? I take itLordGaharet is the alpha. We trekked all this way to find him, then Ulrik gets all pissed at him. Was that some kind of challenge, or something?”

Did she really want to know the answer to that? She knew what it sounded like. The only thing missing was the guttural growling of the word ‘mine’. No. That couldn’t be right. She’d not read Ulrik as that kind of guy. She rarely got it wrong. Spider being the exception. Though as hurt as she’d been when Spider had betrayed her, she hadn’t been all that surprised.

“It’s a wolf thing.”

Erin’s knowing smile had Bek fidgeting in her seat.

“Gaharet did the same thing to Ulrik when he introduced me to him.”

Before Bek could process the implications in that statement, the door opened and the two men entered. Men, and yet not only men. Werewolves. It was obvious now she knew their secret. The way they walked, prowled really, and the aura of danger about them. If Ulrik gave off bad-boy vibes, then Gaharet was all alpha. He oozed power and dominance, and though she found it difficult to look him directly in the eye, she stiffened her spine and resisted the urge to cower.

With a smile hovering on his lips, Lord Gaharet fetched two more mugs and set them on the table then poured mead from the wineskin. “Ulrik.”

Ulrik ignored the mug in Gaharet’s outstretched hand. He fixed his gaze on her, intent swirling in the depths of his eyes. Every wickedly delicious thing he wanted to do to her, with her,was reflected in those whiskey depths. Every nerve ending, every synapse, fired to life and heat spread through her body, the power of a thousand suns settling at the crux of her thighs. Her clit pounded out an urgent ‘hell, yes!’ Ulrik’s nostrils flared and a strong, musky scent filled the room.

What had Erin said? ‘Excellent hearing, perfect eyesight and a really, really good sense of smell.’ Bollocks. He couldsmellher arousal.Theycould, too. In the confined space of the little cottage, they couldn’t miss it. Bek shifted in her seat.Awkward.

Ulrik held out his hand to her. “Rebekah, come. I will take you to the pond to freshen up. We can talk.”

Her, Ulrik, a pond and a waterfall. There wouldn’t be much talking going on. Bek eyed his outstretched hand. In her periphery, Erin and Gaharet shared an amused glance. Did she care what they thought? Nope. Not one iota.

She extricated herself from the table and took his hand. “Sounds like a plan.”

They stepped out of the cottage and into the blessed cool air. In the time since they’d arrived, the sun had dipped from the sky and the forest was nothing but deep shadows with a hint of moonlight. Her hand clasped in his, they walked down the path to the pond.

“Rebekah,” Ulrik began.

“You’re a werewolf,” she blurted out. “So are Aimon, Kathryn, Gaharet and Erin.”

His grip tightened around her hand a little. “I am.”

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