Caroline bailed him out every time he crashed the stupid machine.
Then she was gone, and Evan sat staring until the instant-message program faded and a screen saver turned on—a series of pictures of the pack on the day he’d rented the local ski hill for a private event.
Wolves flying down the side of a mountain on inner tubes was something every person needed to see at least once in their lives.
“Boss?”
Evan shook himself alert. Shaun stood in the doorway, obviously just shifted from his wolf form as he was stark naked.
“Is everything okay?” Evan asked.
“Bears are crazy.” Shaun strode in and leaned over the back of the couch. “Caroline is fine, but there was a fight at the party. Fur flying everywhere. Tyler and I got her out pretty quickly. I escorted them home, but when she took him to her sister’s apartment I figured they were good for the night.”
“Stupid bears. Wish they’d have picked some other city to host their little jamboree. Guess it can’t be helped. What’s on your agenda for tomorrow? Can you keep an eye on her again?”
Shaun shook his head. “Caroline’s got me flying to grab people from all over hell and back.”
Evan frowned. “She didn’t tell me.”
“She sent me a text earlier today. Suggested if things went ass-up tonight, it might be nice to have a few extra bodies in the area on our side. I figured you’d approved it.”
Evan grimaced. Had he lost all control in the past day with his concentration gone? Or hopefully, it was Caroline being her usual hyper-efficient self. “Who does she want you to get?”
“Her sister and Chase, first off.”
A doctor/vet who knew about shifters, and her partner, who was a powerful shifter in his own right. “Makes sense. Who else?”
“You know Nadia Lire? The lynx who lives in Chicken?”
Evan whistled. “Shit, why didn’t I think of her?”
“Caroline said you’d say that. Her comment was ‘this is why you pay me the big bucks, so I think of everything’. Well, actually she told you to
“Har-har.”
Shaun stood and stretched his arms. “So, you approve?”
“Definitely. Bring in the reinforcements. I’ll take over guard duty on Caroline myself.”
Shaun gave a salute and headed for the door. “Sleep tight. My mate is waiting to hear all the details. This night is never gonna end.”
Evan waved his Beta out then sat back to sort through the new information. Having additional visitors in town who were Takhini supporters would be useful. Once again, Caroline had anticipated beyond the call of duty.
She also seemed to be seriously interested in the big bear dude. Which he’d have no issues with, as long as Tyler was good enough for her.
Evan’s skin itched with want for his mate, but he couldn’t afford to be less than on his game. He had to put his cravings out of his mind as much as he could, and focus on the pack during the day.
But right now there was no denying the wolf. It was time to hunt.
Evan shifted, nosing the door of his apartment shut, then headed into the darkened city in the hopes of finding a clue that would put him out of his misery.
Somewhere nearby his mate waited, unaware he existed. The need for secrecy stilled his voice as he padded down the streets in the shadows, but inside?
His wolf howled with longing.
Part Three
They have cradled you in custom,
they have primed you with their preaching,
They have soaked you in convention through and through;
They have put you in a showcase; you’re a credit to their teaching—
But can’t you hear the Wild?—it’s calling you.
Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us;
Let us journey to a lonely land I know.
There’s a whisper on the night-wind,
there’s a star agleam to guide us,
And the Wild is calling, calling…let us go.
“The Call of the Wild”—Robert Service
Chapter Thirteen
Waking for the first time in bed with a new lover was always a learning experience. Caroline smiled. It was even weirder when the lover wasn’t human.
A furnace of heat at her back combined with the soft tickle of fur gave enough warning that she didn’t scream when the first thing she saw when she rolled over was a grizzly bear hogging eighty percent of the bed.
Tyler’s eyes were open, and he was watching her.
“Good morning.” She ran her fingers through his fur, sitting up to examine him closer. “I never got a chance to admire your bear last night. Let me look before you shift.”
He rested his chin on the mattress, plate-sized paws to the side. She lifted one, and it took both hands for her to raise it off the bed.
His rumble of amusement echoed through the room.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re a big brute.”
He really was, though. Thick fur, muscular legs. She might have once owned a small car the size of his torso. There was a trace of silver in the fur around his muzzle, another lighter dusting on the telltale grizzly bulge on his back.
The wolf shifters she’d spent her life around were on the big side. Northern wolves tended to grow larger than their southern counterparts, but your average bear/wolf side-by-side comparison meant she was sitting next to one of the biggest beasts in the north.
Dating him kind of ensured she’d never freeze to death in the winter.
She straddled his furry back and dug her fingers into the muscles of his neck and shoulders, guessing where the right spots might be on grizzly anatomy.
Tyler melted under her touch, stretching his neck to one side and letting his satisfaction rumble out until there was a steady roar in her ears.
She fought the urge to giggle as she remembered scratching one of the wolves just right and having him go off into doggie-like leg spasms. She wondered if there was a bear equivalent.
After a few minutes, though, he squirmed and she stopped the rubdown. She rested on top of him and
