Wolf Torn: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (The Dark Ridge Wolves Book 2)

  WOLF TORN

  The Dark Ridge Wolves

  Book Two

  Marissa Farrar

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  About the Author

  Also by the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  She ran through the forest surrounding their compound in the Dark Ridge Hills. Four feet struck the ground as she galloped, soft pads against rough dirt and sharp stones. Her nostrils flared, hot breath snorting in the pine-scented air. Her tongue lolled from her mouth, her lips stretched in a happy grin, as she ran through bush and splashed through river. The dappled sunlight of late evening filtered through the canopy of branches overhead, the light dreamy and fractured like that of an underwater world. Insects flitted; clouds of midges circling, and larger butterflies landing on flowers, only to be scattered as she bounded past.

  Something moved ahead of her, a quick flash of white in the undergrowth, warm-blooded and alert with fear.

  Rabbit.

  Yes, she scented a rabbit.

  Ruby felt alive with the hunt, but she was also aware of a second wolf running parallel to her path. Unable to see him through the thick expanse of trees and bushes, she nevertheless knew he was there. She smelled him on the air as keenly as she’d scented Flopsy. His musky wolf scent, distinctly male. He matched her pace in synchronized rhythm, and her keen ears heard that, too—the thud each time his paws hit the ground.

  The rabbit darted for its warren, but the second wolf leaped across its path, causing the small mammal to do a back-flip, changing direction. Ruby read this in the motion of the air, in the change of scent and the movement the creature caused. It was running back her way now. The other wolf had sent it directly into her path. The little rabbit realized its mistake a fraction too late. It tried to stop, its large hind legs kicking in the dirt, but Ruby had already lunged, her powerful jaws snapping shut.

  Her teeth closed around the back of the rabbit’s neck and she gave it a vigorous shake, snapping its spine instantly. Soft warm fur pressed against her tongue, her canines piercing the skin just enough to taste blood. Its heartbeat continued to thump for a moment longer, Ruby both hearing and feeling the pulse gradually slow. Then the heart fell still and silent, and she dropped the dead animal to the forest floor. Its glassy eyes stared at nothing, and she experienced no remorse for the death. This was how life worked: she was the predator, and this creature had been the prey. She felt no guilt at needing to eat.

  Ruby forced herself to wait before she tore into the sweet flesh and lapped at the blood. This meat was to be shared.

  Where was the second wolf?

  So focused on her kill, she’d lost track of him.

  A solid body hit her from the side, bowling her over. She let out a yelp as sharp teeth nipped her ear.

  He jumped away, a lean, light gray wolf, young and muscular. His yellow eyes glowed in amusement, and she darted for him. He leaped away, spinning around, teasing her.

  Internally, she laughed, her blood singing from the chase.

  Together, they tore at the rabbit, swallowing chunks of flesh, lapping the blood from each other’s muzzles. His tongue was rough and wet, grazing over her sensitive nose, and she pressed her snout into his fur and whined. Their shoulders barged together, winding around one another, sleek and supple.

  Above their heads, the light had grown softer, and the pale circle of the moon stood out against the dark blue of the sky. They could shift against the moon, if they needed to, but to do so was painful and harrowing. This time of the month, when the moon was full, was what suited them best.

  Normally Ruby wanted to be in wolf form whenever possible, but tonight she wanted to take the shape of a woman.

  Her male counterpart sensed what she was doing, and also began his shift back, his paws elongating to fingers, the fur melting to reveal pink skin.

  Nudity wasn’t something that caused embarrassment for Ruby. She’d grown up with the Dark Ridge wolves, and had been shifting since she’d been old enough to toddle. But it was different with him.

  Joel Golding.

  Everyone said that you instinctively knew when you’d met your mate, but Ruby wasn’t so sure. She didn’t understand why wolves had to mate for life, anyway. How depressing to think she’d only be able to have one male for the whole of her life. Joel was young and gorgeous—three years older than her own twenty years. She wanted to have fun, and perhaps Joel was to be her mate, but how would she really know this unless they got to know each other on a more ... intimate level.

  She hadn’t yet mated with Joel—too frightened that her uncle, their alpha, Gregory, might be able to scent it on her. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t have fun, and heading out into the forest together today was their way of getting to spend time alone.

  They both got to their feet, standing before one another. Naked in the woods.

  He reached out and touched her flame-red hair. “Ruby,” he breathed. “You have no idea how long I’ve dreamed of getting you alone.”

  She glanced down, and then looked back up at him through her eyelashes. “Oh, I might have an idea. Don’t think I hadn’t noticed how you started watching me, as soon as I turned eighteen.” She was twenty, now—two years of unrequited lust, of stolen glances and brushed fingertips. Two years of innocent, chaste kisses which had developed into a passion neither had given into.

  His eyes left her face, tracing down her body, and alighting on her breasts. As though she could physically feel his gaze touching her, her skin tingled, her nipples tightening into crinkled buds. Unconsciously, she sucked in her stomach and pushed out her breasts, wanting him to drink in the sight of her, wanting him to want her even more.

  Ruby was able to appreciate him, too. His tousled honey hair and green eyes, the freckles across the bridge of his nose. Young, and alive, and vibrant. His body was lean and muscular, but not bulky. Joel had an older brother, Holton, who was his complete opposite—dark and brooding, with shoulders and arms thick with muscle. Holton’s mood had only gotten worse since their sister, Alyssa, had run off with some rogue wolf. She was only eighteen, and her disappearance had caused a stir in the pack. Their alpha, Gregory, had also been in a foul mood since she’d run away—rumor was he’d been hoping to take Alyssa as a mated mistress. Ruby was pleased Alyssa had managed to escape that situation. Even though Ruby loved her uncle, the thought of being mated to someone like him would be enough to make her run off, as well. Word was that Alyssa hadn’t even run away, initially—she’d been kidnapped, but then had chosen her kidnapper over returning to her pack. Ruby couldn’t imagine how many shades of fucked up that made her. No wonder Holton and Gregory had been so pissed at the situation. She’d tried to talk to Joel about it, but he’d shut her down, telling her Alyssa wasn’t their business anymore, and they’d be best not adding kindling to the fire.

  Dragging her mind from Joel’s sister, she reached out to touch Joel’s bare chest. A spattering of hair covered his skin between both nipples, and another line ran down from his navel to get lost in the thick bush of blond curls. His cock stood out from them, proud and erect, and she wondered if she had the guts to wrap her fingers around it. She wasn�
��t a reserved person, far from it, but she knew, if she touched him there, that would be the start. They would fall to the ground and mate in the dirt like a couple of animals, and that would be it for her. She’d return to the pack and all of her pack members would smell sex on her. She would have been mated by one of her own kind, and they would be bound together for life.

  The wolves were allowed to have sex with humans—that didn’t count as being mated. Plenty of the males—and some of the females—went into surrounding towns for easy lays, but that wasn’t Ruby’s style. As much as she wanted to mess around with someone, she also didn’t want to just hand herself over to anyone. She wanted a guy who would be willing to get down on his knees and worship her, and she knew she wasn’t going to find him in some crappy bar in town.

  “Ah, hell, Ruby,” Joel groaned. “Please, give me more. I need more.”

  She could taste him, couldn’t she? That wouldn’t count? But would he stop at that, or would he demand even more?

  “You’re going to make such an amazing mate,” he murmured.

  Mate, he’d said it. Damn. Her buzz fizzled and she stepped away.

  “Joel, we need to talk about that …”

  He frowned. “Talk? Hell, no. This isn’t about talking.”

  “Please, Joel. You know I care about you, but mating is a big step.”

  His eyes grew darker. “It’s a step I’ve been dreaming of for two years. Don’t do this to me, Ruby. Don’t lead me on, all this time, and then tell me this isn’t what you want.”

  “It is what I want.” She resisted adding, ‘I think.’ “I’m just still so young.”

  “My sister mated at eighteen.”

  “Yeah, and none of us even knew the guy. She might be miserable, for all we know.”

  “Don’t say that!” he snarled.

  “Well, you were the one who brought up your sister,” she shot back.

  His erection had started to deflate.

  “Please, Joel,” she said, reaching out to take hold of his wrist and pull him closer. Her breasts brushed his chest, and she saw the hitch in his breath, how she affected him. She deliberately pressed herself closer. Why was she talking herself out of this? Gorgeous, sweet, loving Joel who’d been her friend her whole life. How could she ask for any better?

  “You’re right,” she said, standing on tiptoes to graze her lips against his. “I’m talking crazy.”

  He dragged her toward him, pressing himself hard against her, his cock digging against her stomach. He pushed again, as though dry-humping her belly, and let out a groan. He kissed her, his tongue thrusting into her mouth. His hands ran over her bottom, squeezing and kneading her flesh. He tried to lift her, and she knew what he was doing. Only a slight shift in their positions, now he had lifted her, with her thighs around his hips, and he’d be inside her. That would be it then. She’d be mated.

  For life.

  A sudden, long, mournful howl broke through the forest’s lullaby, and the sounds of Joel’s moans.

  Both their heads snapped toward the sound. They recognized their alpha’s howl anywhere.

  “Shit,” said Ruby, her heart thumping. “What’s going on?”

  “Do you think it’s been noticed that we’re gone?”

  “I don’t know, but so what if we had? It’s not like we’re not both adults.”

  The howl came again, impossible to ignore.

  They stepped apart.

  “Perhaps Gregory is getting more protective, since my sister …” Joel suggested.

  “Yeah, maybe that’s it. But whatever it is, we’d better get back. You know Gregory doesn’t like to be ignored.”

  “Dammit,” swore Joel. “Talk about bad timing.”

  Yeah, thought Ruby. Or perhaps it was perfect timing.

  Chapter Two

  As they ran, naked, through the forest, back in the direction of their homes, they shifted back into wolf form, the process a smooth transition now the moon was full and bright above their heads. One moment, they ran on two feet. The next, they fell forward, and galloped on four paws.

  Ruby shook out her russet fur, trying to ignore the tantalizing scents of small mammals running for the undergrowth around her. She wanted to dart off and catch something afresh, but needed to focus on what Gregory wanted. He only used that particular type of howl if he needed to gather them for something important, and she had no idea what that something might be. Had he noticed she and Joel had gone? If so, he would be angry with them, for not asking his permission to mate first.

  They reached the outskirts of their compound, and separated, Ruby heading east, while Joel went west. They had left a compact pile of clothing each, hidden just inside of the forest’s edge. They would shift back to human, and re-dress, and enter the compound from different points, so the rest of the pack wouldn’t take a guess at what they’d been doing. Of course, Ruby realized, she also had Joel’s scent all over her, now, and hers was all over him. Even with clothes covering their bodies, someone else might catch the change in aroma and put two and two together.

  She just hoped that person wasn’t Gregory.

  Ruby reached the spot where her clothes were hidden, and shifted back to her human form. She sensed the wolf retreat inside her, though even when dormant, it always affected her on some level. She blamed her feisty nature, and her inability to be content with anything, on her wolf. It was the easy option, easier than blaming her upbringing—the loss of both her parents when she’d been twelve, so she’d been raised by the pack. Her uncle had been there for her, but having him and Valerie as substitute parents was never going to make a girl feel wanted. Perhaps that was her problem—she desperately wanted to find love, but was so scared of making a mistake and getting it wrong, that she never wanted to commit.

  Poor Joel.

  The howl came again, and she hurried to get dressed. At a run, she made her way through the compound, toward the meeting house at the center. Though most of the month they lived regular hours like humans, at this time of the month they lived their lives by the full moon. Anything of importance was done during this special time, and so to have a meeting called at this hour was unusual but not unheard of.

  Most of the pack had already gathered. She glanced around, catching sight of the faces she’d known her whole life. Her best friend Florence stood with her family, focused on the meeting house, her blonde hair tucked behind her ears, her blue eyes wide with expectation. Across the other side of the gathering, she spotted Joel and offered him a small smile, which he returned. They’d made it back in time and, hopefully, no one had noticed they’d been gone.

  Gregory was in wolf form outside the front of the meeting house. As she watched, he lifted his big, shaggy black head and howled again at the moon, the sound both haunting and beautiful. Gregory was the most powerful wolf in the pack—both physically and mentally. He and his mate, Valerie, controlled everything the rest of the pack did, and they followed him implicitly. She noticed Joel’s brother, Holton, in human form, standing to one side and near the back. Holton was Gregory’s Beta, the second-in-command. She imagined things must have been tense between them since Holton and Joel’s sister had left.

  As the last of the pack gathered, Gregory shifted back to man, and stood up straight. One of the subordinate wolves, Chance, hurried forward to cover their alpha with a robe.

  “I’ve gathered you today for an announcement,” Gregory began. “I’ve been thinking long and hard about a recent division in our pack, something that has been giving me sleepless nights. I cherish each and every one of you, as though you were my own children, and I’ve felt the loss of one of you like the loss of one of my organs. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.”

  Ruby did. He was talking about Alyssa leaving with a rogue wolf.

  Gregory continued. “I always believed us being packmates was enough to keep us together, but I’ve started to wonder if there is a way to bring us even closer. So, now, I’m going to announce the joining of two of o
ur families. I’m aware this isn’t traditionally how we mate but, over the last few weeks, I’ve discovered that tradition isn’t always enough. Sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zones, if it means keeping us strong as a pack.”

  Ruby glanced over at Joel again. A slight frown had creased his brow, an expression she felt sure matched the one on her own face. Nervous butterflies flitted around her stomach. What was her uncle up to?

  “As you know,” Gregory said, “I tragically lost my sister and her mate, eight years ago. Since then, Valerie and I have been raising Ruby as our own daughter, and I consider her to be as close as a niece can be.”

  Ruby tried not to snort at this piece of information. She didn’t think her uncle was even capable of being emotionally close to someone, but it was this cool-headedness that allowed him to be a good alpha, and someone able to make tough decisions when no one else would. However, she didn’t like the way this was going. What did she have to do with what he was saying?

  “I wish to join two of our oldest families, my own, and the Goldings.”

  Her heart hitched, and she flicked her gaze back to Joel. His mouth had dropped open. Had Gregory become aware of their secret meetings and decided enough was enough, and that they needed to be mated? Was he worried she would cause him embarrassment, if she continued heading down her current path, and so had decided to take matters into his own hands?

  “Ruby,” he called out, “where are you?”

  The small group parted, leaving the way open between her and her uncle. He focused on her, and stretched his hand toward her.

  On shaky legs, she walked forward, between her fellow packmates, and then up onto the platform of the meeting house where her uncle stood.

  As she stepped up, she felt Joel’s brother, Holton, watching her with his dark, brooding stare. Did he know she’d been running off with Joel, too? Was he angry with her?

  She allowed her uncle to take her hand and pull her to a halt beside him. Then, to her surprise, he turned and nodded at Holton, who also stepped forward to stand on the other side of Gregory. The nervous fluttering in her stomach intensified, making her nauseated, and her mouth ran dry. What the hell was going on?