Dreams of Wolf [Half-breed Shifter Series Book 2] Read online

  Roaring, Mathis grabbed a handful of her hair, yanked her head back, and rammed into her once more time before he followed, shouting out his own release. When their orgasms finished, they both collapsed into the dirt, Mathis flopping on top of her and crushing her body beneath his.

  She loved that too.

  They panted in unison, curled together like the lovers they’d just become. Mates. He stroked her hip before lifting his face to smooth her hair down her back. She hummed in satisfaction and closed her eyes, a slight smile curving her lips.

  “We’ll do this again,” Mathis said. “Whenever I want it, you’ll come to me, and then you’ll come when I’m inside you. For as long as I want you.”

  Clarissa nodded. “Yes.” Anything he wanted, he could have. She was his now.

  Chapter One

  Twenty years later

  An enormous gray wolf stood at the edge of the woods, glaring at her.

  Nanny to the Griffin family, Jaycee Roland froze with terror, even managing to stop the oxygen from stirring in her lungs as she gawked right back at the beast. “Don’t move,” she whispered, obeying her own command.

  Its eyes were brown, a dark chocolate, compelling brown, not the yellowish-green hue of the wolves she usually saw in pictures. Of course, wolves didn’t walk right up to humans like this in any of the pictures she’d ever seen either.

  The intense brown eyes watched her without blinking, making her breath hitch and air stutter back through her chest cavity. She could actually see the wheels in its head turning as its mind worked, its overly intelligent gaze studying her and calculating her every move.

  Was it sizing her up, trying to figure out how many bites it’d take to reach her gooey center? She didn’t particularly want to find out.

  “Jaycee,” Dane said from her right elbow, sounding way too logical and clever—and not at all scared—for a mere six-year-old. “He’s not going to hurt us. He’s just—”

  “Shh,” she said, holding out her hand to keep the boy safely tucked behind her.

  There was no way to know the mind of a savage beast. And she wasn’t about to risk the lives of her wards simply because a six-year-old thought something as untamed and primal as the creature before her was harmless.

  She might not be Mary Poppins, but Jaycee Roland thought she came damn close in the nanny department. Only moments before, Dane, Rhea, and Brynn had been screaming with laughter as they scattered across the backyard away from her seeking fingers. She wasn’t sure how she always ended up being “it” during their daily game of tag, but the kids howled with delight whenever she bent her fingers like a gnarled old hag and cackled, “I’m going to get you, my pretties.”

  The Griffin’s yard was open and spacious. Tall trees leading into a thick woods bordered the property, providing just the right amount of privacy and making the perfect playpen for three lively triplets. Their house was located at the edge of a dead-end street. Only five other homes lined the block, so the neighborhood was fairly quiet and peaceful. A great place to raise a family.

  Except for the occasional wolf that lingered in the area.

  Okay, so this was the first wolf sighting she’d experienced, or even heard about. The beast had appeared out of nowhere, stepping into the edge of the yard and out of the trees as if it had been summoned.

  The children actually noticed it first. Pausing and lifting their faces to the air as if they smelled the damn thing, they spun around in unison, then lit into grins, dashing toward the wolf.

  Jaycee thought she’d have a heart attack. She almost dislocated a hip sprinting to stop them before grabbing two of their arms and shoving her babies behind her.

  Swallowing, she listened to her knees knock together as she hovered in front of the triplets.

  “Hi,” Dane spoke to the wild animal, once again trying to peek around Jaycee in order to talk to it. “I’m Dane. What’s your name?”

  “I’m Brynn,” his sister was quick to put in just as Rhea asked, “Can I feel your coat? It looks awful warm.”

  The wolf growled and hunkered its back, its fur bristling as it showed the children its teeth.

  Afraid or not, Jaycee had no plans of letting some mutt harm the Griffin family. She was their nanny, damn it, and no one threatened her wards. It was time to kick ass.

  Well, her version of ass-kicking.

  Straightening her back in her bravest show of annoyance, she set her fisted hands on her full hips and snarled, “Don’t you dare growl at my babies. Go on now, you big bully. Shoo. You don’t want these children anyway. You’d have to go through me first, and I assure you there’s more fat than meat on these bones. I’d be a big disappointment to your taste buds.”

  She could’ve sworn the wolf blinked in confusion, tilting its head sideways. It was almost amusing save for the fact she was close to pissing her pants in fear. Then it narrowed its eyes and loomed a step closer.

  She stomped her foot. “No,” she said in the harshest voice she could manage. “You were not invited. You need to leave.”

  The beast showed its teeth, but no growl rumbled from its throat. If she didn’t know any better, she would’ve sworn it was trying to intimidate her with a flashy show when it really didn’t mean any harm. But she had no idea what its intentions were, so she waved her fingers back toward the forest as if batting it away with an invisible broom.

  It snorted out an indignant sniff, its brown eyes boring into her for another five seconds, and then it swung away before disappearing back into the trees.

  She wilted, plopping down onto her knees with relief.

  Dear Lord, talk about heart-attack city. She was surprised she hadn’t expired on the spot. “Oh, my God,” she uttered. “Did that really just happen?”

  The triplets scampered out from behind her. “Wait,” they called, darting toward the trees. “We didn’t get your name.”

  “Children,” Jaycee boomed, thinking her babies had gone insane. But what were they thinking, chasing after a wild beast like that? “Inside, now.” When none of them listened, she added, “It’s snack time.”

  Attentions sufficiently diverted, the three youth cheered and veered toward the house.

  Taking a moment to set her hand over her pounding heart, Jaycee watched them go, glad they were still safe and un-chewed. Then she hurried after them, glancing once—okay, twice—over her shoulder to make sure no big bad wolf followed, deciding it wanted her for an afternoon snack after all.

  Once safely locked inside, she wasted a couple minutes arguing with the triplets about who was going to sit where because they never agreed on seating arrangements. Ready to strangle all three by the time she had their snack ready and laid out on a serving tray, Jaycee stepped forward like a drill sergeant, pointing and commanding until Dane, Rhea and Brynn finally settled and slumped into their assigned chairs. Rolling her eyes, Jaycee fed them.

  To be honest, she envied the Griffins their picture-perfect life and three adorable toddlers. But she loved the children fiercely, so that envy tilted a lot more toward pride than spite. She’d been with the family since they were infants. For the first four years, she’d been a live-in nanny.

  But then she’d met Donald.

  For a while, she thought he was the one. The two of them bought a place together across town and set up house like any couple in love would. Jaycee assumed Donald would propose someday, marry her, and start a family so they could raise their own perfect little children, just like the Griffins. But six months ago, Jaycee came home early from work to find Donald fucking one of her friends on the kitchen counter.

  Since then, she went home alone and tried to keep up with all the mounting bills by herself. Since then, she’d latched onto the triplets more intensely in order to drown out her own loneliness. Since then, she’d felt like a complete failure.

  Scaring off the wolf was a huge triumph. For her.

  Brightening, she paused by the windows and glanced one last time toward the woods, glad the beast had give
n her a moment of achievement. Then with a sigh, she turned away, concentrating on feeding the kids.

  * * * * *

  Knox stayed hidden long after he watched the woman hurry inside, her healthy hips swinging a luscious ass back and forth as she moved. He still couldn’t believe his ears. There she’d stood in front of him, a female human, cowering and reeking of fear. Her panicked blood rushed so fast and loudly through her system, he would’ve guessed the noise came from a river flowing nearby if he hadn’t already scouted out the area and knew better. She’d been scared shitless, and yet she had still managed to make fun of her own weight.

  He wouldn’t have classified her as fat anyway, but maybe voluptuous with soft, womanly flesh, ripe with curves in all the right places. She’d be like sinking into a soft pillow. He would’ve been more prone to label her as scrumptious, though actually eating her had been the last thing on his mind. He’d been leaning more toward fucking her senseless when he’d first laid eyes on her.

  True, it had been the little kittens who had initially drawn him to the house. He’d smelled the jaguar jamboree a couple miles away. Curious as to why a group of shifters would reside so close to a human community, he’d been compelled to investigate. Seeing the three young running around in their human form, playing with a human woman who didn’t even smell like she was related, confused him.

  He’d been on his own for twenty years now, wandering the earth, scavenging for food, taking care of himself, and he’d seen a lot of strange things in his day, but a trio of shapeshifting cubs living like humans was a first.

  But he forgot all about the young as the human female captured his full attention.

  She smelled good.

  She treated the cubs as if they were her own, putting her life at risk before theirs. As scared as she was, her bravery impressed him.

  Knox had waited for the cubs to explain he was like them, but the male cub met his gaze behind her back only to hitch his chin toward the trees, telling Knox to move on. He had to wonder if the female even realized the young she protected weren’t entirely human themselves. Deciding he needed to do a little more undercover investigation instead of displaying open curiosity, he backed toward the trees.

  Slinking deeper into the woods, Knox remained just enough out of reach that he could barely hear the female voice inside the house as she corralled the cubs into chairs. He shifted into his stag and returned to the edge of the lawn, staying out of sight.

  Her smell continued to entice him, even in his stag form. She breathed hard, half-hyperventilating as the alpha cub tried to soothe her.

  “It’s okay, Jaycee. Honest. He wasn’t going to hurt us.”

  “Dane, that animal wasn’t a dog. And he wasn’t tame.”

  Outside, Knox snorted. No, he was not—he fully agreed.

  “He’s wild and savage and probably had rabies. Something had to be wrong with him. I’ve never seen a wolf approach humans like he did.”

  “That’s because he wasn’t—” One of the little female cubs started, only for her brother to shush her.

  “He wasn’t what, honey?” the woman asked.

  “Nothing,” the girl mumbled.

  “That’s it,” the human said, sounding resolute. “We’re staying inside for the rest of the day.”

  The rest of the day ended up being only about five minutes longer. As Knox loitered behind their yard, he listened to the woman feed them their afternoon snack. They were halfway through their milk and fruit slices when a minivan pulled into the driveway outside.

  The woman who exited bore the smell of shapeshifter all over her. A jaguar. Knox dragged in her scent to realize she was the cubs’ mother. He frowned. What the fuck was a shapeshifter doing, driving a car, living in a human house, and leaving her young alone with an unrelated female?

  “I’m home,” she called as she pulled open the front door. Her cubs clambered from the kitchen to greet her. The first words out of their mouths were news of Knox’s appearance.

  “We saw a wolf. He walked right into the backyard,” her cubs were eager to inform her.

  “He wasn’t a wolf-wolf,” one of the girls said under her breath.

  The mother took a moment to respond. Then she slowly said, “A wolf?”

  “We didn’t get to talk to him,” the other girl explained. “Jaycee frightened him off before he could say anything.”

  “It was the scariest moment of my life,” the human murmured. “He stared at me, right in the eye, for a full minute before turning and trotting off. Ooh. It still gives me shivers.”

  Knox liked the idea of giving her the shivers, except the shivers he wanted to deliver had nothing to do with fear.

  “I thought he was going to kill us all.”

  “I’m sure he was merely curious,” the mother jaguar assured them, though Knox detected a note of distrust in her voice, as if she wasn’t so certain of her own claim. “But he’s no doubt long gone by now.”

  “I hope you’re right,” the human female answered. “I don’t fancy the idea of peeing my pants more than once in my life.”

  The jaguar chuckled. “Regardless, I wouldn’t worry if I were you. Wolves don’t generally attack for no reason.”

  As their conversation turned away from him and the cubs went off to play upstairs, Knox speculated about their mother. She hadn’t sounded very pleased about his appearance. He wondered if she had a problem with all shapeshifters or wolves in general. Jaguars weren’t his favorite species of shifter, but he’d never had a problem with one before.

  “Jaycee,” the jaguar said, regaining his attention as she said the human female’s name.

  Jaycee. He liked her name. It would be easy to call out whenever he came inside her.

  “I’ve been thinking, and after discussing it with Shaw, I want you to know if you’d ever like to move back into your old room here, we’d be happy to have you.”

  Knox perked to attention, curious about the jaguar’s invitation. It was strange enough to find shifters living among humans, but to actually invite a human—who knew nothing of their animagus side—to stay with them grew more and more puzzling.

  “Oh.” The breath whooshed from Jaycee’s lungs. Knox wished they were standing in front of a window so he could see her expression. “Thank you,” she rushed the words, “but I know you don’t need me here twenty-four hours a day anymore. With the children sleeping through the night, there’s no need—”

  “I know. I just…I thought it might be easier for you. I know how difficult it must be to maintain your bills all alone with Donald gone.”

  The name Donald sent a crackle of tense, electrical energy from the room that reached Knox a hundred yards away. He pawed at the ground and thrashed his antlers, irrationally jealous of whoever the fuck Donald was.

  “Yeah,” Jaycee muttered, her tone bitter. “Well, I’m getting by. Don’t worry about me, Riley. I’m fine.”

  “Are you? Really? I’ve been meaning to ask you how things have been going since…since…”

  “Since he fucked Daria and I kicked him out?” Jaycee finished.

  Riley chuckled. “Yeah. Since then.”

  “Well, I won’t say it’s a hundred times better without him. But I haven’t come home to find my boyfriend sticking his cock into one of my friends since he’s been gone. So, there’s a plus.”

  Riley laughed again. “At least you have a good attitude about it.”

  “Seriously,” Jaycee said on a sigh. “The only thing I really miss is his penis. I’ve been so horny lately, I think I’d sell my soul for some good old-fashioned hot, raunchy sex.”

  Outside, Knox’s loins went heavy and hard. His dick pulsed, and he decided he’d have this woman. Before the day was over, he’d get his own penis inside her and give her some of the very good old-fashioned hot, raunchy sex she craved.

  He’d never been with a human before. But if the jaguar mother would play homo sapiens, then by God, so could he.

  Chapter Two

&n
bsp; After Jaycee left the Griffins’, she stopped by the grocery store on her way home. Once she reached her house, she made herself a light supper and ate it on her wicker furniture in her screened-in back porch, sipping wine with her meal and staring sightlessly at the thick woods lining her backyard.

  Throughout it all, she felt eyes on her, watching her every move, making her skin tighten and loosen as if a million insects were crawling on her. She glanced around a few times, but other than some blurry, flashing images of a gray wolf, she caught no one staring.

  That damn wolf had spooked her more than she thought.

  If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear it was stalking her. Outside the grocery store, she’d glanced into the tree line and caught a glimpse of white, gray and dark fur. But it was gone so quickly, she shook her head, telling herself she must be mistaken. The beast had to be in another county by now. But on her walk home, she’d felt the same stare, prickling the back of her neck.

  After finishing her supper, she carried her empty plate and glass inside and cleaned the dishes. Eyeing the rest of the wine in the bottle, she resisted temptation and put it away, deciding to retire for the night. Nothing was more pathetic than getting drunk all by herself.

  In her bedroom, she stood alone in the dark, remembering so many nights she’d spent in that bed with Donald. God, she should definitely redecorate. Except she didn’t have the money.

  She stripped out of her clothes, slipping off her bra and panties. From his side of the bed, Donald used to watch her undress with glittering eyes, making her think he found her attractive. Then he’d go and make some kind of crack about her weight, crumbling her self-confidence.

  As she slid naked under her covers and purposely scooted toward the center of the mattress, Jaycee reminded herself that having no one around to call her fat was better than having a worthless jerk in her bed.

  She sighed.

  Telling Riley the only thing she missed was sex hadn’t been the full truth. Yes, she missed Donny’s penis, as mediocre as it had been. But she also wanted someone to come home to, to fall asleep with and wake up with. Then she wanted a nice, thick, long cock lodged inside her because Bob was no longer doing it. Her battery-operated boyfriend couldn’t touch her with warm, talented fingers, he couldn’t whisper in her ear, couldn’t use his mouth in new and interesting places. He just lay there and vibrated. No post-coital snuggling, no afterglow conversations lasting late into the night.