Free Dreams of Wolf [Half-breed Shifter Series Book 2] by Miranda Stowe Page B

That’s just plain cool.” She reached out, her fingers hesitant. The
deer—Knox—tilted his head down, letting her touch his antlers. Her hand
trembled slightly as she caressed the boney protrusion. The ivory tines were
warmer than she thought they’d be, a living extension of the man inside. She petted
his pelt next, charmed by the coarse fur and the feel of his muscles bunching
and moving underneath.
    Sitting back,
she winked up at him. “You probably get this a lot, but…nice rack.”
    The deer
flashed back into a man who tackled her onto her pillows with a wolfy growl.
“Always gotta be the smartass, don’t you?”
    His lips spread
and eyes twinkled as he spoke, so Jaycee figured she’d said the right thing.
Puckering her lips with a fake pout, she sniffed. “But I thought you liked my
ass just as it is.”
    “I do. Oh, I
do.” Without much struggle from her, he flipped her onto her stomach and began
to nibble on her fleshy cheeks.
    The lovemaking
that followed totally rocked her world.
    Afterward, she
wrapped around Knox like a second skin, loathe to fall asleep because no matter
what he’d told her earlier, she knew he’d be gone when she opened her eyes.
    Stroking his
sleek, tanned skin, she asked the question again, “What happened to you twenty
years ago?”
    He didn’t
answer immediately; she wondered if he’d already fallen asleep. Just when she
was sure he was out, he murmured, “Half-wolf, half-stag shifters are rare in my
world…like unheard of. To a wolf, deer is lunch. Not a life partner. But my
grandparents mated anyway, and created my mother. After she became an orphan,
she stumbled across my father’s wolf pack, and he took her as his. No one ever
knew about her other half. After I was born, she had to keep my stag side
hidden as well. I was raised always knowing I needed to keep it hidden but
never understanding the importance behind it.”
    Jaycee
swallowed, bracing herself for a bad turn in his story that was sure to come.
“So what happened?”
    “My mother
became a whore,” he sneered the word. “Her lover was the only other person who
knew our secret. He kept quiet while they were together. She wanted to leave me
and my father and run away with him, but he didn’t want a commitment from her,
just a couple fucks. He soon grew tired of the sex and her pleading, and told
my father what she was, essentially revealing what I was too. My dad broke her
neck immediately and then turned to me as if to slay me next.”
    Gasping, Jaycee
clapped her hands over her mouth. “Omigod. What did you do?”
    He shook his
head. “I ran. I was so scared, and only eight years old. My mother had just been
murdered by my father. I had no idea where to go. But that didn’t matter. I had
to escape. I knew they could follow my scent, so I shifted into my stag. I
guess they didn’t think to sniff out a fawn, because they never found me.
    “Years later, I
came across a young shifter from my father’s pack, someone who’d been born
after I was already gone. I asked about my father, and the wolf told me he was
dead. He and my mother’s lover killed each other right after her murder and my
escape. The story had become legend in the pack. And the little stag-boy who’d
gotten away was only a myth. Even the wolf telling me the story didn’t think I
existed.” Knock turned to Jaycee with a penetrating stare. “But I do exist.”
Taking her hand, he set it over his chest, where she felt a steady, rhythmic
thump. “Remember that when you open your eyes, my love. The man whose heart you
hold is still here inside this chest, whether he’s a wolf, deer or human. And
he needs your acceptance.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Nine
     
    Jaycee’s dreams
merged with reality as the sun rose and shifted beams of light through her
window blinds, nudging her awake. Her dream lover’s heartfelt words echoed
through her head as she stirred.
    You’re mine
now .
    I’ve
searched for a place to