Save me.
"What the hell?" She gasped and whirled around to find nothing but night air.
"I'm losing it. Grandmother always did warn me—"
The distant wolf howl shattered the quiet night. She stiffened in both fear and sudden comprehension. Werewolf. Damn if her beloved Grandmother hadn't been right all these years. She had never wanted to believe it.
Suddenly he was breathing heavily behind her growling and grunting. Slowly she turned to look at the creature that until that moment she'd thought was a part of her Grandmother’s imagination.
He was tall, then again she'd never heard from her Grandmother, of any short werewolves. Soon human flesh and skin overwhelmed the wolf traits to leave a tall, very attractive, but wounded man at her feet. She should have been scared but strangely wasn't. She knelt close to the prone figure. She could see claw marks across his muscled chest. Thankfully he wasn't bleeding profusely.
He opened his eyes and grunted against the pain. She was instantly mesmerized by his gaze. Wild beauty. Had he said it or her? Pain momentarily closed his eyes. She found herself uttering words she'd only practiced to soothe an irate Grandmother.
"I am descendant of the Custos Memoria. You are safe, Lupus. While I live," she brought her wrist gently under his nose, "I swear no harm will befall you."
He inhaled her scent. She knew that he would be able to scent the truth but she hadn't known she'd react so strongly to him. Such intensity and it was all focused on her. Intimidating yes, but oh so exhilarating. Breathe, she reminded herself.
"Regina."
She frowned. "How do you know my name?" Never mind that his voice caused delicious goose bumps over interesting areas of her body.
His whispered reply wasn't discernible. She dumbly watched as he stretched an arm, despite the pain, to delicately touch her cheek. Such a gentle touch that she leaned into it. He looked into her eyes and repeated her name in soft wonder.
The way he said her name made her look at his mouth, such inviting lips. What did they taste like? His eyes softened and belatedly she realized that she'd spoken aloud. His hand moved and gently he pulled her to him— toward that incredibly sensual mouth.
She abruptly pulled away breathing heavily not breaking eye contact. He said her name again this time half-groan, half-plea. She heard the stark need in him and it was precisely the slap of reality she needed. Suddenly her Grandmother’s voice was in her head.
"Werewolves mate only with their own kind." Then more of her Grandmother’s words. "What does Regina mean? Primarily Latin for ‘queen’ and what some of the Lupus call their female leader."
"I am not your queen." She understood that he hadn't been calling her name. He thought her one of them. Why did she feel disappointed? "I am human, and not for you."
"Mine." He said savagely before losing consciousness.
