“Which do you suppose is true?” Harper mused softly.
He shrugged, but before he could frame a response, Mick approached. Just what he needed. The lover who currently wasn't speaking to him and the witch who brought out a protective streak that was not only alien but made him feel uncomfortably vulnerable.
“Mick,” he greeted casually when he really wanted to yank the other man to him and kiss the irritation out of him. “Have you met Harper yet?”
“At lunch yesterday.” When she'd been with Liza, not Jonas. He should have been happy with the brief separation. Instead not having her in sight had left him surly and antsy.
Mick smiled, all charm and smooth confidence, and lifted Harper's hand, then pressed a kiss on her palm. Jonas turned to hide his surge of jealousy, though he wasn't sure if it was because Mick was showing someone else so much attention or because of the scent of Harper's arousal, sweet and intoxicating, which filled his senses. Arousal that was for Mick, not him.
Mick gave him a knowing look and a wink when Jonas turned back to face them. He struggled to bury his feelings, the jealousy and confusion, and knew he was successful by the disappointed look that came over Mick's face. He covered it quickly enough, turning back to charm Harper.
Jonas followed them to the buffet, then to an unoccupied table, and stayed silent as Mick slowly drew her out. There was something, an air about her that called to him. Sweet. Fragile. Breakable. She was not the kind of woman he was normally drawn to, but he couldn't deny that he was.
He just listened as they spoke, his wolf scratching against his skin to escape.
His wolf side was nothing but pure instinct, and its instinct was to protect.
She wasn't what he expected, wasn't what he wanted. He needed a warrior, not a frail witch who couldn't fight him, who couldn't meet him on equal terms. He didn't want a mate he had to hold back with.
Harper, pretty and alluring as she was, was not for him.
Chapter Two
Harper shouldn't have followed him.
She knew it. It was several days after the celebration where Jonas had first looked at her with heat in his eyes instead of only contempt and Liza had warned her to stay inside tonight, on the full moon, but it was also her brother's birthday.
She hadn't dared contact him to let him know she'd arrived in Redhawke, that for the moment at least she was safe. But even if she couldn't risk the communication, couldn't risk her father discovering her whereabouts, she wanted to do a blessing ceremony for him. She'd discovered a tiny glade on a previous walk, the ideal serene place for her protection prayer, and had returned to it late in the afternoon. She'd finished before the sun began to set.
On her return she passed Jonas's house. He was on his back deck, slowly removing his clothes, folding them methodically to place on a table. She couldn't move, stayed hidden and frozen as each magnificent, hard inch of his body was revealed. If he hadn't made his disdain so damned clear at the celebration a few days ago, and so many times since, she might have sashayed forward and propositioned him.
She couldn't believe he didn't hear her sigh of appreciation when he strolled forward, all those big, tight muscles gleaming and contracting. And his cock… Wow.
They really came in that size? Her fumbling college days suddenly seemed much less the education than she'd thought.
So no one could blame her for spying, could they, when he stopped in the clearing behind his home and transformed into a wolf? Because, really, who could walk away from that wonder?
His large black wolf fought with another, just as big but almost solid white.
Well, more blond than white, and that's when she realized it must be Mick, the pack's healer. They snarled and circled. They drew blood, and once she thought she heard a bone crack. Finally, sides heaving, they fell apart, on their bellies, and shifted.
Mick naked was just as beautiful as Jonas. She wasn't surprised when Jonas growled and pinned the other man. Shouldn't have been surprised that they were both hard, that Jonas's cock pressed against Mick's ass, declaring his dominance over the healer. What surprised her was how much it turned her on.
And it just got better.
Mick twisted in his hold and flipped Jonas over. They were face-to-face. Chest to chest. Cock to cock.
She wanted to leave, to ease her way out of view. That was real emotion, real desire she saw, and it made her want. It made her hurt. She'd never seen so much raw feeling openly displayed. What would it be like to be on the receiving end?
What would it be like to be free to express it?
She hadn't been living with the werewolves long, but it was already long enough to know her former cold, insular world of magic was sadly lacking. This was just further proof of it. And she wasn't a part of it. Not a part of the open affection and love she witnessed so often lately.
She had to get away before they discovered her. Maybe get out the vibrator she'd bought on her last trip to town. But when she took a cautious step backward, eyes still soaking in the scene before her, her breath caught, and she sank to her knees to watch.
Mick broke away from Jonas's grip and started to kiss his way down the other man's body. He used his tongue. His teeth scraped over Jonas's nipple, and he cried out, harsh and guttural. Jonas's back bowed, and when she looked down his body, he was grinding his cock against Mick's erection.
Mick moved lower, until his lips brushed against the head of Jonas's cock. He gripped the werewolf's hips, holding him still while he looked up at Jonas. She wished she could see his eyes, his face. All she saw was his profile, both their profiles, all
