Winter with the Wolf Ch. 05

Once again thanks for your patience guys, I've been busy with the holidays. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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"What the fuck do you have me doing up here?!" Donovan's voice snarled through the earpiece.

"How dare yo-" Eric's response was cut short.

"Don't you even go there. You told me I'd be hunting a were that had the mentality of a wild animal, not a fucking predator with all his human wits about him!" Donovan barely restrained his voice from yelling. Calling Eric before he calmed down from his close encounter with Keenan probably wasn't a very good idea.

"If I give you a task it is your job to complete it without question. Do you find yourself incapable of the job?" Eric's voice went cold as steel as he tried to push as much alpha influence into it as he could. "If so I don't want to see your ass back here again. There is no room for weaklings in this pack."

"I am far from weak. I am not happy that you led me to believe there was less danger about this mission then there really is. And why am I killing a perfectly healthy wolf? He seems fine to me." It took all of Donovan's strength to speak as calmly as he could, his wolf wanting to snap at the challenge. No one should think of them as weak. "Why don't you get your ass up here and do the job if its so important to you?"

Eric paused for a moment in shock. No one spoke to an alpha that way.

"Don't come back," he said in a low voice. "I will find other ways to get to Keenan since you can't seem to do it. If I see you again I'll kill you." Eric disconnected the call.

Eric's mother, Kathy, scrambled away from her son's office door and fled from the house. She had to warn Carla and Tracy. She couldn't sit by and let anyone else get hurt. She just barely heard Eric calling for one of his betas to carry out his order as she slipped out the door.

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Keenan jogged through the woods, his arms full of Donovan's clothing. He picked up another sock and followed the trail of footprints until they came out of the woods to the road, half a mile down the street from his and Mia's cabins. He could see the tire tracks from a vehicle parked on the side of the road, now long gone.

"Shit..." Keenan muttered under his breath. He had hoped his past wouldn't chase him here but apparently it did. Eric must really want him dead to go to these lengths. It wasn't as if he didn't understand why Eric hated him. He would hate anyone that killed his father too.

The thoughts threw Keenan back to that day. He had been on his way home from work one night when his sister Tracy texted him that the alpha, Eric's father Dale, was at their apartment. Keenan had quickened his pace to see what their alpha could possibly want from his family. He could hear the yelling from the second floor as he sprinted up the stairs to the fourth floor. A dish shattered against a wall as he had burst through the door. Tracy was screaming and throwing plates at their alpha. Keenan had rushed to subdue her but froze as he realized the whole situation.

His mother was pinned beneath Dale, thrashing and fighting against him. Her clothes were torn to shreds and claw marks scored her body. Dale was moments away from raping her when Keenan had instantly shifted in rage and flung himself at their alpha. The fight that ensued he would never forget. He had never killed another person before, wolf or not. He had never felt such a fierce rage that he couldn't control.

Keenan didn't stick around to see what happened after that. His mother made him pack his bags immediately and urged him to run away so the pack wouldn't kill him for what he'd done. It didn't matter if it was in self defense or not, he had killed the alpha in an unofficial challenge and the only witnesses were his own family. He had hopped from town to town for a few months after that before finally settling here. He'd only spoken to his mother once since that day, just to make sure they were okay and to learn that Eric had taken his father's place as alpha.

The smoke from Keenan's small fire started to clear and he dragged himself out of his memories. He had burned Donovan's things to destroy the evidence. Shoving snow over the remains of the fire, he turned and made his way back to Mia's cabin.

Approaching his truck in the driveway, he contemplated the situation for a moment before deciding to unload all of his groceries into Mia's kitchen. He wanted to be as close as possible to protect her and he had bought the food to cook for her anyway. Moose lay in the hall connecting the kitchen to the stairs where he could watch Keenan and the food but still be attentive to Mia upstairs if she stirred.

A while later it had grown dark outside but the warm glow of the fire Keenan had started kept the cabin cozy. The first creek in the ceiling had both Moose and Keenan looking up, acknowledging that Mia had awoken. Keenan kicked the heat on the stove up a notch to hurry the food along so he could feed Mia the dinner he prepared when she came downstairs.

He was just pulling the chicken out of the oven when he heard her padding down the hallway and she emerged in the kitchen door. He stared at her while she took in the situation in front of her. She looked more appetizing than the chicken in his hands. Her face had that fresh sleepy look to it, her hair slightly rumpled and she had changed into some loose fitting comfortable clothes. He paused for a minute as it occurred to him what he must look like. His face was probably scruffy at this point and his plaid and jeans definitely didn't go well with Mia's apron that he had tied around his neck. He saw her crack a small smile as she read the saying on the front of it, "The more people I meet, the more I like my dog."

"How are you feeling?" Keenan asked to break the silence.

"Much better, thanks. Why are you still here?" she asked quietly.

"I didn't want you to be alone when you woke up. And I thought I could make you dinner in the mean time...I can leave if you want?" He set the chicken down on the counter and pulled the lemon herb sauce off the stove. He quickly stashed the cooking magazine he picked up into the nearest grocery bag.

"No, no its fine I didn't mean to sound like I didn't want you here, I just am surprised that you'd want to stay."

Keenan looked at her standing in the doorway, lightly hugging herself. He tentatively stepped toward her and slowly slipped his arms around her, pressing her body fully against his and pulled her into the warmth of the kitchen. He felt her relax in his arms and he could barely contain his smile. This felt normal and natural to him and his wolf but he could tell from her body language that this was still strange to her and she wasn't used to such easy and close physical contact with another person.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a soft and gentle kiss that made his skin tingle. Just before he could deepen it she pulled away and slipped from his arms.

"I have to feed Moose." A small huff sounded from the area by the fireplace and a furry curled tail followed Mia to the closet that contained the dog food. Keenan busied himself by building plates of food for Mia and himself and setting the table.

Mia glanced over her shoulder as she filled Moose's bowl, stealing glimpses of Keenan moving around her kitchen. He seemed so relaxed and normal in her home, like he had been here all along. Her defenses were screaming at her to be careful, that he was going to hurt her in the end. Something would happen, he would lose interest, she was boring, another woman would come along...but she couldn't bring herself to listen. She stared at him as he concentrated on placing her piece of chicken just right on the plate, wearing her apron, searching her drawers for silverware. She couldn't miss out because she was afraid. She shoved all of her insecurities and doubts in the back of her mind and felt her heart swell as she embraced the idea of him in her life.

"Mia if you don't put that bowl down soon we are going to have to mop the floor."

Mia started and looked down to see Moose drooling heavily in front of her.

"Ahaha, sorry Moose." She put the bowl down and turned, pretending to busy herself in the closet as she swiped at her eyes to remove the unfallen tears. Her sight clear, she spotted a bottle of wine on a shelf and grabbed it.

"Do you like wine Keenan?" She held up the bottle of reisling.

"Sure, I'll grab the glasses."

Moments later they had poured their wine, drank some, and sat side by side at the kitchen island, chatting and eating like they'd been doing it for years. Though there was space between their chairs Keenan sat with his long leg stretched to gently touch hers and his arm brushed her side.

"The food is really good, better than what I usually have the energy to make after work." Mia said between mouthfuls.

"I'm glad you like it, I'm not much of a cook really..." He cut a piece of his chicken and held his fork to her. "May I?" His blue eyes pierced into her.

"I have my own silly, I don't need to eat your dinner this time." Mia blushed and looked at her plate to avoid his intense gaze.

Keenan felt his wolf bristle but he ignored him.

"Please? I love to feed you."

Mia smiled in embarrassment as the thought crossed her mind that he was a little strange and wondered if he was into weird things in bed too. She slammed the mental door on that thought and leaned forward to take bite he offered. The smile that spread across his face when her lips met his fork was enough to make her melt. She quickly chewed and followed it by a huge gulp of wine. Maybe if she drank enough his charms wouldn't make her feel like a squishy girl.

"Mia I wanted to talk a little bit about us." He said as he put his fork down and slid a hand on to her leg, rubbing it gently.

Mia barely caught herself from expecting the worst at this words. "What about us?" She clutched her wine glass a little closer to her chest, silently wishing it had more wine in it.

"I really like you and...I just, sorry I'm terrible with this kind of stuff. I just don't want to push you away if I'm being too forward or fast for you. I've never really dated before, I don't know what the general standards are and I don't want to screw anything up."

Another gulp of wine and Mia let out a sigh of relief. She stared at his hand on her leg, not sure of how to respond. She had never been with a man so interested in her and genuine. She looked up at his blue eyes that seemed concerned to hear her response and she made her decision. She drained her wine glass, slid out of her seat and stepped into him, between his spread legs. Standing on her tip toes she kissed him hard, not holding back.

Keenan let go of his breath that he was holding and felt his cock jump to life at her bold advance. He met her kiss with the same ferocity, tangling his tongue with hers. She was crawling on to him so much he could barely get out of his chair. Snaking his hands down to clutch her bottom he lifted her up, her knees squeezing his hips. He clumsily stumbled towards the couch again with her in his arms. She seemed so confident, he sat back on the couch and let her have her way on top of him. He knew it was the wine talking, he knew he couldn't mate with her yet, but he'd be damned if he didn't enjoy as much of her as he could.

Keenan suppressed a groan and squeezed his eyes shut when Mia ground herself against his erection. He kept them shut when he knew that his eyes had changed to the silvery blue of his wolf. He used his other senses instead, his hands feeling their way up Mia's soft belly towards her breasts while she nibbled and bit at his neck. His balls ached at the thought of her biting him in a mating claim and he rolled his hips against her. He could smell her arousal thick and heavy in the air and he didn't know how on earth he was going to put an end to this.

Mia leaned back in his lap for to catch her breath while she gently rubbed herself against the bulge in his pants. She was just about to reach down to pull his shirt off, barely getting a peek at his chest before she noticed he had his eyes closed.

Uninhibited by the wine, she smirked "Don't you want to look at me?"

Keenan froze and struggled for something to say. Should he lie to his mate? Make an excuse? Show her the truth?

"I...I like to be blindfolded?" he said hesitantly.

Mia's subtle movements in his lap stopped. "You what?"

Nope, not the right thing to say. Keenan chuckled and tried to shrug it off as a joke. "I'm just kidding, I've never been blindfolded."

"Okay...then open your eyes." Mia's confidence was slowly waning the longer Keenan kept them closed.

She didn't want to make a thing of it but...why wouldn't he look at her?

The silence was deafening for a moment before he finally responded. "Alright, just...don't be frighten okay? My eyes look different sometimes." He cracked his eyelids open just a hairline.

"What do you mean different? People's eyes can't look different." Mia looked curiously at him as he opened his eyes painfully slow. He looked down at their laps, not wanting to raise his eyes and pin her with a wolf's gaze.

"What..." Mia was lost for words. She leaned closer and saw the silvery ice blue color of them. They seemed almost iridescent and definitely spooky. They didn't look human. "How...?" She leaned back slightly when he looked up at her. His eyes pierced through her like no one else's ever had and she felt unsure seeing such an inhumane feature on his face.

Keenan felt her withdrawing from him and he shut his eyes again, gently loping his arms around her waist hoping to keep her from pulling away completely. "Its...kind of a family thing. I don't know how to explain it. I'm sorry."

Mia tried to focus on what was happening in front of her. Her wine haze was clearing and she saw Keenan with his eyes shut again, for her comfort. She recognized the feeling of insecurity from him and something within her roared at her to fix it, to make him feel safe with her. Insecurity had no place on a man like Keenan, so strong and loving. Mia reached out to gently touch his face and he tilted his head up to her in response but still kept his eyes closed. She placed a gentle kiss on his lips, not sexual or lustful but reassuring him.

"I...might take a while to get used to it...but-" Mia was cut short by a vibration coming from under her.

"Shit...sorry" Keenan retrieved his phone from his pocket and opened his eyes to stare at the caller ID. "Uh...I have to take this."

Mia crawled off his lap and wiggled over to sit on the other side of the couch. "I understand."

Keenan took a deep breath and took Mia's hand, not wanting to lose all contact with her. The call had brought him to his senses and his eyes had shifted back to human. He flipped open his phone. "Mom?"

"Hey big bro! Hows it goin furball? Look so, Mom and I are gunna come bunk with you for a while, we need your addy."

"Tracy? What...? Why? You need what?"

"Addy. You know, your address? Where you live, slash sleep, slash eat? Eric is being a bad boy and we needed to hightail it out of smogville. We are driving up the mountains now, can we get some directions please?" His sisters peppy voice sounded over the phone.

Keenan stared at Mia for a moment, lost for words, wondering what the full story was and not his sister's usual to-the-point highlights. "Are you okay? I don't have any beds for you to sleep on and I...am with a friend."

"Oooooooo what kind of friend? Mom, Keenan's got a lady friend! What's her name?" Tracy asked.

Keenan heard his mother in the background scolding Tracy and asking her again for directions. Tracy was so loud he knew Mia heard the whole thing.

"Its your family? I have an extra bed if they want to stay here." Mia whispered to him. "We have plenty of food too." The words were out before Mia could consider why she would invite strangers into her own home. She couldn't even believe she had met Keenan only days ago.

"What's that? Your lady friend says you can sleep in her bed and we can have yours Kee?" Tracy snickered, knowing full what what Mia really said.

"Tracy..." Keenan growled through the phone.

"Oh hush and give us directions you big grump."

A few minutes later Keenan resisted throwing his phone across the room. He ran his hands through his hair and exhaled trying to not let the stress of the situation build. His mom and sister in Mia's house? Three wolves with a human? With his mate who he was just getting to trust him? With Donovan lurking around? How much worse could it get? He almost flinched when he felt a small hand touch his stomach. He looked down at Mia's concerned face as she crawled closer and held him.

"How soon will they be here?" she asked.

"A little less than an hour."

"Alright...we should probably put some food away and keep some warm for them." She started to get up and Keenan immediately missed her warmth.

"Wait!" he caught her wrists before she left.

"About the...eye thing, it doesn't bother you?" he asked carefully.

Mia took a moment before answering, smiling gently. "If I can't learn to live with it I'll just blindfold you."