Wolf's Kin (Monstrous Hearts #3)

Chapter One

The mountains loomed dark and sullen against the bright blue sky, their jagged shapes nothing more than shadow from peak to gulch. The thin roads cutting through them stood out like veins, pumping cars into pockets of civilization. One in particular glittered from the amount of traffic on it, a sluggish line of roofs burdened with kayaks, bicycles, and other luggage—tourists escaping to the wilderness for the weekend.

Alice studied that distant highway as their own truck barreled down the back trail Colton had found, her gaze jumping ahead to the narrow tunnel of the mountain pass. It looked like a mouth there among the split stone and scrubby pines, as if the earth itself swallowed the road and every car on it. She found herself biting her lower lip, the near-pain taking the edge off her growing anxiety.

Then Colton's hand stroked along her leg, firm and reassuring, coaxing her to stop even before he spoke. "What's wrong?"

His deep voice always sounded rough as a growl, always sounded terse and indifferent. A few reluctant syllables were all most people could get out of him. But when he looked at her, she could see in his eyes everything that he refused to put into words. Everything that she meant to him.

It steadied her breath. It chased off the heaviness that had settled behind her ribs. It drew out her smile despite her face feeling stiff as a mask. She didn't think she'd ever get used to him, this monster from the shadows. So many months they had lived together, so many times they had explored each other body and soul, and yet baring her heart to this beast hiding as a man still left her feeling raw and open and overwhelmingly free.

As his hand gently squeezed her thigh, encouraging her on, she said, "I was thinking about my mother and wishing I knew why she left. Why she picked that day, why she took me along in the car... and where she ended up. I realize they're all questions that will never have answers and that why doesn't matter, not really. But sometimes I still want to know."

Old questions, old pain, and voicing them suddenly made her impatient to strip them from her thoughts, at least until night came. She shook her head and looked over at him, asking the first question that came to mind. "How did you find this trail? There's no one else on it."

"I know the area and all the nearby towns." Despite the constant twists and turns in the road, his hand remained on her leg as if he couldn't keep himself from touching her. "Not the hotel you're staying in, though."

"It's very new. Denise heard about it from a friend. She said it's deep in the woods because it's supposed to feel old world, like you're stepping into a fairy tale."

Colton gave a short growl that was his version of a scoff. "People in fairy tales end up dead or wishing they were."

A laugh bubbled out of her. "I think they're using the romantic versions as inspiration. Magic, enchantment, and wonder instead of torment, loss, and murder. From what Denise said, the hotel even looks like a castle."

"We'll find out soon enough," said Colton, turning onto a paved road. The open view of the mountains disappeared as pine trees loomed around them. The ground straightened. "It's only a mile off now."

Her heart beat a little faster. Four days and three nights without him. Tonight without anyone. She dreaded it but put on a brave front, determined to see this trip through. The late afternoon sunlight warmed the green in his eyes and picked out the stubble already shadowing his face, and she couldn't help reaching out to brush his jaw. "You'll probably have a full beard by the time I come back."

Something changed in his expression, there and gone as swiftly as a breath, but she still saw it and knew that he didn't like the idea of leaving her. That he would miss her. "You sure about this? You've been quiet since hearing you'll be alone until tomorrow."