Embracing the Wolf (Anna Avery #2)

The day I was attacked and turned into a werewolf was something I would never forget. The pieces slowly came back to me a couple weeks ago. That’s how I learned Eve was the one responsible for my hairy transformation every full moon. It was also the reason why I was able to see her kills through dreams. Whatever my gift, it was the strongest with her because she changed me. Her feelings washed through me and caused my wolf to hate humans just as much. So much so that the Leaders suspected I was the murderer.

“You may not have let her finish me off, but you didn’t save me. You left me for dead on the mountain. If Adam wouldn’t have found me, I would have bled out and died.” That he was trying to claim a gold star for something Adam did pissed me off. I remember thinking Anthony was beautiful while I lay dying at his feet. Now that I knew what kind of person he was, there was nothing beautiful about him.

Anthony let out a humorless laugh. “Everyone thinks Adam’s the golden boy.” He opened the truck door and got out, slamming it behind him. He stood beside the truck for a moment, looking off in the distance. “Ask him,” he said, bringing his gaze back to me. “Ask him how he happened to miraculously be at the right place and time to save your life.” He gave me one last look before he turned and headed back toward the house. I turned in my seat to watch him and gasped when I saw Adam’s truck kicking up dust.

I hopped out of the truck when Adam stopped in the middle of the street. He raced toward Anthony so fast; they went down in a ball of muscles and blond hair. Adam pinned Anthony to the ground, his fist striking his brother’s face so hard, a sickening crack sounded.

“Adam, stop!” I rushed forward, pulling on his shoulders. Anthony had a cut above his right eye. A small trickle of blood ran down his face. Adam jumped up off him.

“Stay the fuck away from her,” Adam yelled, pointing a finger toward his brother. “If you want to take me down, do it face to face, you coward.”

I took a step back, speechless and a little afraid. I’d seen Adam riled up, but he was downright pissed off. His entire body radiated anger and washed into my own body. I felt just how tightly wound he was. I was afraid that if Anthony so much as spoke, Adam would make sure they were his last words.

“Adam,” I said, coming to stand in front of him. I reached up and cupped his face, forcing him to look at me. “Adam, I’m okay. He just wanted to talk.”

Anthony began to get up behind me, and Adam’s eyes shifted over my shoulder. He started forward, but I shoved against him. “Look at me,” I ordered. Adam’s eyes slowly found mine. The edges were tinged in gold, and his body was rock hard beneath my hands. His face softened a hint while he stared at me, but I could feel the volcano simmering beneath the surface.

“I don’t want to fight with you, Brother,” Anthony said.

Adam stared over me at his twin. “If you mess with her,” he nodded down to me, “then there’s going to be a fight. If you so much as talk to her again, it’ll be the last thing you ever do, Brother.”

Anthony snorted. “And I thought I was hard up for Eve.”

Adam shoved forward, and I did my best to keep him in place. Had I not been standing between the two brothers, Anthony would be a smudge on the road right now. Adam wouldn’t tolerate me blocking his path for too much longer. The fury racing through his body bombarded my mind and left me on edge. I had to calm him down before he did something he would regret—and I helped him. So, I did the first thing that popped into my head. I wrapped my arms around his neck and reached up to kiss him. I didn’t bother with taking my time. My tongue slipped into his mouth as my lips worked feverishly to occupy his mind. His mouth moved against mine, but not with its usual vigor. I opened my eyes to find him staring at his brother. Annoyed, I fisted handfuls of his hair and tugged his head. When he looked down at me, I quirked a threatening eyebrow. He smiled against my mouth and snaked an arm around my waist. He bent slightly as he lifted me up so that my feet dangled inches off the ground. When he began kissing me, I could feel his anger ebbing.

“Better?” I said against his lips.

He took a deep breath and sat me back down. He cupped my face and placed a kiss on my forehead. “Very clever using my affections for you against me.”

I smiled. “What can I say? I’m all about keeping the peace.”

Adam wrapped an arm around my shoulders and held me against his side. Anthony stood just eight feet from us. The cut on his face had already stopped bleeding. I watched him as he watched me.

“I don’t care what Dad says,” Adam said. “You and I will never be okay.”

Anthony nodded and glanced at the ground before looking back at us. “I could have killed her, Adam. It would have been so easy—”

Adam started forward again, and I groaned, annoyed that Anthony was riling him up after I just got him calmed down. Anthony held out a hand to hold back his brother.

“I’m trying to make a point. I had enough time to kill her, and I didn’t. I didn’t even touch her. You may have taken the woman I loved from me, but I’m not here for retribution, Adam.”

Adam snorted. “Right, you’re here to make amends.”

“I’ll tell you what I’m not here for—convincing your stubborn ass about my motives. Believe what you want. I’ll be gone after the summit.” Anthony began to walk away.

I stepped forward and called his name. When he turned around I said, “We’re even now. You saved my life. I just saved yours.”

The side of his mouth quirked up. “I suppose we are.” He turned back around and started walking again.

“What was that about?” Adam asked, coming to my side.

I watched Anthony’s back. “He told me to ask you how you found me on the mountain, and that he was the one that saved me.” I looked up at Adam. “Is that true?”

“You wouldn’t have needed saving if he didn’t let Eve attack you.”

“But she did, and I would have died had you not found me,” I said. “Did he have something to do with you finding me?”

Adam blew a heavy breath through his nose. “I don’t know. I doubt it.”

“What does that even mean?” When I couldn’t remember who attacked me, Adam had said he suspected it was Eve. Up until that time, he pretended not to know anything about it.

“Why would you lie to me about that when you knew I wanted to know?”

“You do know now,” Adam said. “Eve was the one who changed you, and she’s dead now. What does it matter who’s responsible for saving you?”

He had a point. The most important thing was that I was found, and I survived. So why did I feel like the pretty picture inside my head was fading? As a girl who never believed in destiny or any of the mushy shit, I wanted to believe it with Adam. I knew we were supposed to be together—the brands on our hands proved that—but something inside of me thought it was that bond that drew him into the mountains to find me, like fate was directing us to each other. I snorted at the absurdity of it all.

“How did you find me, Adam?”

He released a heavy breath, his shoulders sagging. “I got a phone call. Someone said they had seen a woman being attacked and that you were close to death.”

My mouth opened slightly, and I turned to look at Anthony’s fading body. “Was it Anthony?” Knowing that he would go through the trouble of calling someone called everything I thought about him into question. While he’d done some very questionable things, maybe we all misjudged him.

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

Adam placed his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. “I’d recognize my brother’s voice, Anna. It wasn’t him. Don’t let him play head games with you. He’s not some prince charming riding in to rescue you—”

“No, that’s you,” I said. “Only, your horse is a Silverado.”

Adam laughed. “It’s good to know you’ve got your facts straight.”

“The facts you choose to tell me, that is.”

Adam frowned and pulled me into the cocoon of his chest, wrapping his arms around my back. “I wasn’t trying to keep it from you, Chante. I just didn’t think it was that important. I figured it was a rogue or wolf from another pack giving me a courtesy call.”

I nodded against him. “You’re right,” I said. “If it had been me, I wouldn’t have thought anything about it either. I guess I was just surprised.”

Adam leaned back so that he could see my face. I looked up at him and smiled. How could I ever think he and Anthony looked alike? Their features were the same, being twins and all, but there was an inner beauty in Adam—a passionate confidence—his brother didn’t have.

“I’ll never keep anything from you, Chante.” He kissed my forehead and clasped our left hands together so the scars met. “We’re one—a team. If you can believe in anything, believe in that—in us.”

“I do,” I said a little confused. His speech seemed a little deep for a casual conversation. Sure I had accused him of lying about how he found me, but I knew Adam would never do anything to betray me.

“You promised me you’d stay away from Anthony,” Adam said, and I frowned. I had promised him, and it took exactly one day to break that promise. “I’m only asking you to be just as honest with me as I am with you.”

If he was trying to make me feel like shit, it was working. Adam had always been open about things with me. The least I could do was show him the same respect.

“I had a good reason for breaking that promise,” I told him. He did something I hadn’t expected—he smiled.

“I can’t wait to hear it.”

I proceeded to tell him about Wade’s plan, and that we were doing it to help him. When I was done, Adam turned slightly and looked off into the distance. He shook his head back and forth and his right hand curled into a fist. When he spun to face me, his eyes were as hard as steel.