River Wolf (12 page)

Gradually the stone in her expression seemed to soften. “That all sounds…really good. Almost too good.” The stiffness in her shoulders eased and she scrubbed a hand over her face. Suddenly the confusion in her scent teased his nose, sharp and spicy, with layers of anxiety. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like a raving bitch because you offered to take me for a walk rather than back into all the people. And—dammit, you did help me when I was choking. I just…” Even as she would have paced away, he slid his hand down her arm to interlace their fingers.

Tugging gently, he guided her away from the hill and the barbecue and toward the path leading behind his place and into the woods. It would be quieter there. The high level of agitation and tension pulled at him. His wolf didn’t like her being upset, even if they were both relieved her scent had returned. Where the hell it went, he still didn’t know.

“You just…?” He prompted when she failed to continue.

“I’m a stranger in a strange land and it seems to be getting stranger all the time.”

“I know how that feels.” He did.

“You?” Cocking her head, she gave him a sidelong look. “Didn’t you just tell me you grew up here? You know all these people? They all listen to you?”

“You can know someone for years and still be a stranger in hard times.” Then because it was Colby and no one else followed them or listened, he admitted a quiet truth. “Sometimes when bad things happen, everything you thought you knew, thought you believed, you begin to question. Then you begin to doubt.”

“And you wonder how you ever trusted in the first place.” Succinct, direct and exactly what he meant.

“Yes.”

A breeze carried the wild profusion of scents which comprised his pack. They were all his to protect, his to care for, and his to trust—the first two he would give his life in the effort of, but the last? The last remained a struggle.

“I sometimes wonder if I wasn’t meant to be one of those people.” Longing twisted within the words, longing and a hint of loneliness. He wanted to answer the first and erase the second.

“What people?”

“The ones who get it all right, who get the family and the friends and you know—the job they wanted. Their biggest worries are will they get to the store before it closes or have time to watch that movie after their chores are done.”

“One thing I have learned, it always looks better from the outside. Everyone can believe you have mastered the tasks and the challenges. They can believe you are happy if you never tell them otherwise. But every life has its obstacles—obstacles you and I might deem no problem, but for others?” Pausing near the tree line, he pointed to a squirrel holding on desperately to the tree, frozen lest it be noticed the wolf it had scented. “See that little guy? Even he has problems.”

Her laughter was a balm on his soul. “Yes, like where is he going to put all those nuts?”

“That and will those people notice me? And maybe he has a mate, and he needs to find her or they have babies and then they have other predators that come for them. You would assume a squirrel has a simple life. Most people look at animals and go—we should be more like them. They have nothing to worry about, they sleep, they eat…”

“…they have sex.” The way her lips shaped the word sent a bolt of lust arcing straight to his cock, but he ignored the tightening sensation.

“Yes, simple on the surface. But the life of an animal is filled with predators, survival against the weather, against man changing their environment, about living out the day to see the next. Imagine if you will fighting for every meal, every day. That if you didn’t get up and hunt enough, you would starve in winter. That every step you take could be your last if something bigger or meaner than you comes along.”

“So, stop my bitching and moaning about having a nice guest room, people pretending to care and enjoy the ride while it lasts?”

Not how he would have put it. “If you ever decide to gift me with your trust, Colby, I will never betray it.”

Facing him, she glanced at their joined fingers then at his face once more. “Odd way of phrasing it.”

“You’re running. You’re angry. You’re confused. But I think you’re lonely.”

“Yeah well, I could say the same things about you.”

Raising his brows, he allowed himself a faint smile. “I’m not running.”

“But you’re also not denying the other charges.”

“No, you’re correct after a fashion.” Which was all he would willingly admit to at their current point. Stepping closer to her, he wasn’t surprised when she retreated. He pursued, until she backed right against a tree. No fear muddied her scent, nor did she try to dart around him or pull away. “I am glad you are here.”

“I would be if…”

“If?” he prompted.

“If I knew why I was still here. I agreed to be here till tomorrow. I went to that school and I got a catalog. I should have been dropping Luc off and gotten the hell out of here and yet, all I’m doing is finding reasons to stay.”

Pleased beyond all expectation at her response, he dipped his head. “Excellent. Allow me to give you one more reason.” Then he brushed his mouth against hers, refusing to think through the consequences or all the reasons why he shouldn’t kiss her.

He wanted to taste her dammit. Just once.

T
he touch
of his lips against hers electrified her senses. From a casual touch to a firm, unyielding grip demanding and giving in equal measure. She curled her fingers into the crispness of his shirt. The scent of him, hot masculinity tinged in pine, newly-turned earth and summer grass was headier than any cologne she’d ever sampled. For a split second, he broke the kiss, his dark eyes locking on hers.

A shiver raced along her spine as his gaze dipped to her mouth. “I’m not sure I got that reason clearly…could you show me again?”
Fuck it.
If she were going to play with fire, she might as well burn.

“If you insist,” he murmured in a voice so low, she half-thought she imagined it. Fisting her hair, he angled her head for better access and, when his mouth took hers, the arc of electricity sizzling along her spine seemed to spread until every nerve tingled. Her nipples tightened and, when his tongue delved against her mouth, she opened for him. The invasion fried her synapses. His arm locked around her waist and then her feet were no longer on the ground.

Hitching her knees to his hips, she met his tongue thrust with a stroke of her own. Her skin burned and her heart stuttered. A half step and she felt the rough bark against her back, but nothing bit into her flesh through the t-shirt. Belatedly, some part of her brain acknowledged the steel band of his arm kept her from coming into contact with the wood.

Damn, she couldn’t get enough of him. The way he tasted against her tongue, the scrape of his teeth against her lower lip and the coiled power of the muscles beneath her hands. Every contact ignited lightning strikes in her blood, searing away reason and logic until all she could feel was him.

Something hard bounced off her shoulder, and the moment splintered. Brett pulled away with a rumbling growl vibrating in his chest. The sound slicked her sex and her tummy twisted with a ripple of desire. Blinking, she followed his gaze to the pair of teenagers gawking at them.

Holy shit…
Disentangling her legs, she tried to slide down him and no missing the stiff steel of his erection as she rubbed against him. His low growl deepened and his fingers flexed against her side. With care, he set her on her feet before bending to retrieve the football. One of the teens grimaced then Brett flung the ball toward them. The second kid caught it and his pronounced wince suggested the force behind the throw.

“Go away,” he said in a deceptively soft voice, and he didn’t have to tell them twice. They took off at a sprint.

Heart pounding, Colby braced for Brett to face her. Sure enough as soon as he faced her, he reached for her once more and she pressed her fingers to his lips. “Hold it, Magic Mouth.”

Brett grinned against her fingers, the fierce expression dissolving into humor, but the heated look in his eyes licked over her like flames threatening to consume what was left of her good sense.

“Your point was made.”

“Really?” He caught one of her fingers in his teeth then laved his tongue over the pad. Liquid heat gathered between her thighs. “I can definitely expand on the reason.”

Sex appeal. Intelligence. Language skills. And the growl…
He’s the whole package.
“We don’t know each other well enough to expand on anything.” She wasn’t rejecting him completely. Hell, she was on fire from one deliciously awesome kiss. “Brett, I don’t know you or, correction, I’ve known you twenty four hours now?”

“Thirty two, but who’s counting?” Being the focus of so much intensity kept her on uncertain footing. The urge to give into him swept through her. Who could they hurt? She wasn’t involved with anyone. He didn’t seem to be…
I thought him and the doc, but…
After seeing Gillian with Owen, she had no question of where the doctor’s interest lay.

“Not you, clearly.” The teasing helped the ache in her gut, but not the shiver racing over her skin. When he released her finger only to capture her hand with his then flatten her palm to his chest, he left her trembling.

“Clearly.” He tipped his head to the side. Damn, it really did feel like he could see all the way to her soul. “Stay?”

“I’ll stay,” she began and at his broadening smile, she added, “But in the guest room.”

“For now.”
Damn man sounded so agreeable
.

“We should go back to the picnic.”

“We don’t have to.”

“Yeah.” She gave into a small temptation and stroked his chest through the shirt. “Whether we have to or not, we should. You have guests and I’m not quite ready for whatever the hell this is we’re doing.”
Liar, liar. Pants. On. Fire.

“Colby.” God, she loved the way he said her name. It seemed to elevate her, make her so much more…and usurped her sense of self.

Turnabout was fair play. “Brett.”

The grooves at the corners of his mouth deepened, and it pulled taut the mottled skin of his burn scars. Odd how she barely noticed them until she stood so close, memorizing his features. “Nothing will happen without you saying yes…you can say no. You can run all you want.”

“Not going to stop you from chasing is it?”

His expression grew sober. “You intrigue me on multiple levels. There is something wildly special about you, Colby Jensen.”

If that was a line, damn he delivered it well. “I don’t think you’re any kind of slouch.” Unpredictable. Daring. Charming. Scary as hell.

And amazing all at once…

“Promise me a week?”

“How about we take it one day at a time?” A week was a lot to commit to.

“I would love to be able to say yes, but I have a great many obligations—friends, family, business. I want the time to spend with you and to get to know you. I want you to have a chance to know me.” He brushed his knuckles along her cheek. “Give me a week?”

Moistening her lips was a reflex, but the way his gaze locked on her mouth sent a fresh zing of sensation through her already overwrought system. “You have to stop looking at me like you want to eat me up.”

“But I do want to eat you up—and down and anywhere else we may find ourselves.”

She was about to be a puddle. Closing her eyes, she tipped her head back. Maybe if she didn’t stare at him, she’d get her shit together. “You’re not helping.”

“You said no more kissing.”

“Actually, what I said was hold it, Magic Mouth.”

“True…” Before she could fully process the admission, his mouth closed on hers and she groaned at the invasion of his tongue. He cradled her face in his hands, giving her no escape from the onslaught devastating her system. When he finally released her lips, his gaze fixed on hers and his dark eyes gleamed, as if they glowed from within. “Where would you like me to hold my Magic Mouth now?”

Laughter burbled beneath her passion and she gave him a playful shove. It didn’t even rock him. Pushing a stone would have been more effective, but still he backed away a pace, giving her breathing room. The slow grin he wore buoyed her.

“I’m hungry.” No way she could win the she didn’t want him to kiss her debate. God, she wanted him to kiss her.
New life. New leaf. Think things through, don’t just leap…
No matter how attractive the landing pad was.

With a knowing glint, he inclined his head before offering his arm. “Then if you’ll allow me, we’ll return to the picnic so that you may eat…or I can take you to my room and bring you dinner in bed.”

Bastard
. Her stomach went taut at the offer. “Picnic is fine. I’m supposed to flee and you’re supposed to chase.” That’s how it went in the movies. The women played hard to get and if the men really wanted them, they didn’t let a little rejection slow them down.

“Don’t worry, I’m right behind you.”

She didn’t doubt it for a second.
Colby girl, what are you doing?
She wasn’t only playing with fire, she danced in it.

T
he next three
days passed in a blur of activity tangled with bliss and frustration. Bliss, because Colby made good on her word to remain at his home. Frustration because she kept to the guest room while sharing drugging kisses and driving him wild with the scent of her desire. His frustration only magnified because his pack realized his door was open again.

Colby hated early mornings, so he waited to make breakfast until after ten most days. The more he grew to know Colby the more he discovered her likes and dislikes. She preferred bagels to toast, fried eggs to scrambled and loved real hash browns fried from shredded potatoes. He planned to make some while she had her coffee and sandwich—after ten in the morning and not likely earlier.

When a car pulled in and parked out front the same moment he poured her coffee because she’d opened her bedroom door, they took it too damn far. Aggravation roiled through him. Setting her coffee next to the fried egg and cheese toasted bagel he’d prepared for her; he scowled at the interruption waiting to knock on his door.

Leaving the food, he stalked to the front door. If he cut off the issue before they walked inside, they wouldn’t stick around for coffee and chatter. His pack liked Colby, a blessing and a curse. They wanted to keep her, too. The cock blocking, however, was old.

Pierce waited for him by the vehicle. Fortunately for both of them, the caution on his Hunter’s part meant Brett didn’t have to snarl. The urge remained, but he put the action in check. Even before Brett made him the lead Hunter, Pierce didn’t show up out of the blue for nothing.

After closing the door behind him, he strode toward the waiting wolf. Instead of a dress shirt, he’d donned a cotton t-shirt for the day he’d planned to take off. If possible, he wanted to bribe Colby into a hike so they could get away from the house. The sun had dried the grass, dragonflies buzzed through the air and the heat kissed his skin the moment he stepped outside. Wolf and man were both ready to shed some civility and rough it outdoors—even if roughing it meant taking hiking trails for Colby’s sake.

“Sorry for the early drop in, but I’m heading to Atlantic City to pick up the Thompson Trio.”

Irritation derailed into a fresh direction, Brett sighed. “What did those delinquents do now?” Multiple births weren’t unheard of in pack life. In fact, every generation included their fair share. Brett, himself, had been a twin though his brother had died in utero. Sometimes, he wondered what if the sibling survived? Would he have been Alpha? Thoughts of his long-lost brother crept in at odd times, although he hadn’t even thought of him in years.

Nineteen and full of piss and vinegar, the Thompson trio were never where they were supposed to be. At times, Brett suspected their parents had thrown in the towel and left the discipline to the Hunters.

“Believe it or not, their car broke down.” Pierce’s wry tone spoke volumes. “So, instead of calling for help, they figured they could fix it themselves.”

He didn’t groan. Hell, on any of the road trips he and Luc had taken at a similar age, they’d have tried to do the repairs themselves.

With an absolute sanguine expression, his Hunter continued. “When that didn’t work, they decided to pool their money and gamble for what they needed so they could get a mechanic to fix it.”

The urge to smack his forehead struck. It would be less painful than his current conversation. In addition to being trouble magnets, the Thompson trio were also math geniuses. Each had received acceptance to all of the Ivy League schools, but each had elected to take a year off before starting college. A normal habit for most wolves—they needed time to run and stretch their wings.

“They were counting…”

“…cards. Yep, and they got busted.” Damn, Pierce really was the right wolf for the job. Despite the faint hint of amusement in his voice, he didn’t crack a smile once. “I finished pulling the information together for your earlier request.” He held out a large manila folder. “Everything I could find and what my contacts overseas could pull together. I had to daisy chain through the Enforcers, and they reached out to one of theirs in Italy who used their pack contacts…you don’t care how much work it took do you?”

Accepting the thick folder, Brett nodded. “I appreciate all you do. I’m sure you vetted your sources.” Everything he could want to know about Colby and her family. Since the brief incident three days before, her scent hadn’t vanished again. Nor had she shown any wolf tendencies he could identify. Instead, she seemed almost calm as if the brewing passion between them relaxed her while it left him on edge.

“If you need anything else, let me know.”

He did want to know one specific item. “Have you read this?”

“Some,” Pierce admitted without apology. “The reports from South Korea I inserted directly in the same messenger pouches they arrived in.”

“The investigator in South Korea?”

“An ally.” His Hunter understood the unspoken question. The pack wasn’t used to having someone in the heart of the pack that wasn’t aware of them. He wasn’t ready to tell Colby about the wolves yet. Not when they remained so uncertain of each other…

“Good. Thanks, Pierce. I meant it when I said I appreciate all you do and the timeliness.” He’d only asked him for the information a few days before. “As for the Thompson terrors, bring them home and order them back to their parents for the rest of the week. Next Monday, I will have something for them to do.” Running wild was a normal stage of development. Running stupid, however…

“Happy to dump them on their parents.” He almost sounded gleeful about the idea. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“You have my permission to always speak freely. I need your input.” Asking for help didn’t demonstrate a weakness, welcoming criticism didn’t either. He needed to hear their thoughts, even if he didn’t agree with them.

“I think Miss Jensen is good for you and whatever is in that packet, it’s her past and some of it is just her genetics.” Which suggested something in the report troubled him. “That said, you may have more issues closer to home than what exists there.”

“Go on.” Instead of relief at the Hunter’s support for his interest in Colby, apprehension fisted in his chest.

“The Danes think she’s Luc’s and there’s rumbling.”

Babette lived to gossip. She ran a salon a few miles away from their sleepy little burg, and thrived on everything she heard from her customers. The gossip extended to the pack, but Brett didn’t have the time or the inclination to worry about the inanity. The maternals generally took care of it among themselves.

“She’s not Luc’s mate.” Mating happened differently for different couples, but one truth held for all of them. Once a mate had been discovered, nothing separated them. Love triangles might work on television or film, but they didn’t happen in packs.

The Hunter glanced to the house, his expression troubled. “Whether she is or not…it shouldn’t be fanning the flames of rebellion.” Tapping his hand lightly on the roof of his car, he added, “Not even a verbal one. The pack doesn’t need it.”

No, they didn’t. Straightening, Brett didn’t let his internal frown reflect in his expression. Rebellion was not a word he wanted to hear bandied about lightly and particularly not in reference to Luc. The wolf had just returned or had he come home seeking something more than being needed by his friend?

“Sir, I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t think it worth mentioning. There are rumbles. Not everyone is happy with…” He didn’t say it.

“They don’t have to be happy with me.” Arctic chill flowed in his veins. “They simply have to obey.”

“Yes, Alpha.” All pretense of warmth in the day evaporated. Pierce didn’t move as Brett considered his news. Gossip within the pack promoted ties, but also misinformation. Stemming gossip was no easy task. In fact, one stood a better chance of halting the planet’s rotation than ordering the pack not to whisper to each other of romantic entanglements and scandal.

“Keep listening, Pierce,” was all Brett would say. If it were just rumbling, it would die down.
If it’s not?
The whisper of his conscience cut at him. He’d trusted Marco. Trusted him with his life. Trusted him with all their lives and paid a steep and hefty price. He trusted Luc.

But could he really afford to? Or was the issue with Luc’s parents? The Danes had been as much a part of his childhood, growth and ascension as his own parents. Marco had also served him from the first year he took the pack as Alpha. If he could betray him, anyone could.

“As you wish, and I’ll make sure the Thompsons get home.”

The thick file seemed heavier somehow, so he tucked it under his arm and nodded to the Hunter. He stood in the yard, the sunshine cold on his cheeks while he waited for the Hunter to pull away. Remaining until he could no longer hear the vehicle, he wrestled with his choices. Gossip happened, but to give it his attention lent it credence. To ignore it, however, could leave him at a disadvantage if it were a genuine issue.

For fuck’s sake, we do not need another problem.
He could call his mother and ask her to intervene gently.
But I have relied on her and Dad too much.
At the end of the day, they were his parents and he was Alpha. The burden was his to accept or not.

The screen door banged, announcing her arrival seconds before her sweet honeysuckle and vanilla scent enveloped him. The honeysuckle was a top note of her scent, ever-present and one he’d not let himself enjoy until he’d ascertained she wasn’t Luc’s.

From the steady beat of her heart to the way the grass crumpled under her feet, he was aware of every step she took to reach him. Two steps behind him, she paused. The faint whiff of coffee promised him a treat if he turned around.

“Good morning.” Her voice wrapped around him like an embrace, and not for the first time since he’d found Colby in his kitchen, he distrusted his reaction.

None of which was her fault. “Morning.” He pivoted, and she held out the fresh steaming coffee mug. “You found your breakfast, I hope?”

“You’re going to spoil a girl, feeding her regularly and having coffee ready when she wakes up.” Curiosity filled her eyes. A curiosity he’d seen there more than once over the last few days. She didn’t understand him, yet she seemed to comprehend his needs more than anyone else. Accepting the mug, he murmured a thank you. Colby didn’t trust him and held back in every interaction, whether they chatted about a news program or exchanged blood burning kisses. Twice he’d pulled her into his lap and she’d allowed him to hold her but inevitably she withdrew.

He could
make
her stay. The opportunity seemed ever present anytime they grew physically close. But he didn’t want to force her into anything nor manipulate her.
Yet, am I not manipulating her?

“Business?”

Raising his eyebrows at the question, he took a sip of coffee.

“The envelope, you were talking to someone—I thought maybe a messenger or someone from that mysterious office in town you never go to.”

His wolf raked his claws along his insides silencing the lie he considered telling her. Whether Colby could scent dishonesty or not, she didn’t deserve it at all. Protecting his pack and their identity was one thing, keeping secrets about her? “He works for me—after a fashion. More locally than at the office, which is in Manhattan. I rarely go there because I don’t care for the city.”

“Too crowded?” Wariness crawled through the curiosity in her eyes. He hated the way she withdrew, loathed the need on a very primitive level.

Packing away the potential for violence Pierce’s observation awoke, he nodded to the porch and they walked over to the step. The short distance gave him time to admire her choice of clothing—white shorts which showed off the natural honeyed tone of her legs and a dark green tank top, which reminded him of the forests in spring.

She sat on the top step and he settled next to her, not quite touching. When her bare thigh settled against his leg, however, he relaxed a fraction. Despite her cautious nature and gradual retreats, she wasn’t running away from him. Not truly.

Setting the envelope to the side, he focused on her. When he reached out to run a finger down her cheek, in part to remind himself she was there and in part to test her reaction, the quizzical look overtook the wariness once more. “Something’s wrong.”

Something was always wrong. “Not at the moment.” Not when they could enjoy the day together. “If I invited you to go hiking with me today, would you go?”

“I don’t know. Are you going to invite me?” The tart response succeeded in parting the dark clouds of his mood.

“I’m considering it. But it occurs to me I don’t know if you like to hike or nature for that matter.”

“Nature is fine. Not a big fan of snakes.” She shuddered. “Or bears.”

Snakes he understood immediately. “Met many bears have you?”

“Two, actually.” She wrinkled her nose. “The first one was when I was really little. Trapped us in our car for a couple of hours because it was settled right in our driveway. Mom didn’t even notice it till she parked. Eventually it wandered off.”

Intrigued, he trailed a finger from her cheek to her shoulder then down her bare arm. When she captured his free hand and locked her fingers with his, he allowed himself to relax further. “And the second?”

“I had to put my trash out, it was late, and I didn’t look before I opened the door and ran down to the curb. We have—had bear resistant trashcans. Didn’t even see it until I was nearly on top of it.”

His wolf stilled at the potential threat described in her memory.
She’s right here and she’s safe.
With as much bare skin as he could glimpse, he saw no claw marks. “You do not get to leave the story
there.
”

After taking another long swallow of coffee, she set it aside then released a sigh. “It was kind of weird.”

“I’m listening.”

“Promise to hear the whole thing and not make fun of me?” That she even had to ask stretched his nerves taut. Someone along the line had made fun of her. Had belittled her experience.
Idiot.