“Listen to me, wolf. You stay away from that ranch and the livestock, okay? I don’t want anything happening to you! They might shoot you, and trust me, bullets are not a good way to die.”
The wolf put a paw on Jenny’s arm as if to say she understood. Then she raced off the porch and bounded into the woods.
The white wolf raced through the forest until reaching the meadow. A man clad in black, his ebony gaze intent, stared at her.
The wolf shapeshifted, feeling the amazing power transformation of turning into Skin form once more. She loved being wolf, but this was even better.
Because in this form, she could kiss her mate.
Nikita approached Tristan the Silver Wizard and slid her arms around him, doing exactly that. He made a humming noise beneath the smooth pressure of her mouth, and leaned against her, then pulled away.
That damnable intent look slid over him again, as if he had something bothering him, but would not share.
“What? What’s wrong?
Instead of answering, he gave a crooked grin. “Was the steak good? It looked good.”
“That’s all you noticed? The food? You’re always hungry.” Nikita smoothed down her blue gown.
“Hungry for you, my love.” He winked.
She had learned in her time with him to be patient. “How’s the Timberline pack? Any threats?”
“Not now. I saw that Skin, Professor Chance, studying them. He is genuinely concerned with conservation and wolves.”
“He looks like a good-hearted Skin.”
“Don’t go flirting with him, my love.” Tristan winked again.
Nikita did not smile. This was too serious. “Tristan, I can’t keep an eye on her all the time. What are we going to do with Jenny? What if she shifts into a wolf again and someone sees her again? She puts all our people at tremendous risk! Why can’t we simply coax her into mating with Troy?”
The Silver Wizard, the love of her life and the guardian and judge of all shifters, glanced at the forest. “Leave her be for now. She must work things out on her own.”
“But…”
Tristan kissed her forehead. “My love, you must understand this part of our guiding and judging Lupines. They have to follow their own paths.”
“Even when those paths are filled with risk?”
His mouth thinned as he glanced at the forest again. “You know the rules as well as I, Nikita.”
Her stomach roiled. “I do. Jenny is allowed that one mistake. One more and you will be forced to destroy her. You must, for the sake of keeping our peoples’ secret safe.”
But instead of nodding, Tristan stared into the forest. So odd, unlike him, as if Jenny were a puzzle he could not figure out.
“Not quite.”
“You’re forgiving her… twice? Why bend the rules for her? Because she was scared?” Niki searched his face. “Or something else? You’ve always told me our people must learn to blend into this world or you will be forced to send them into the next.”
“There is something about her, and until I can verify my suspicions, we cannot and should not touch her. Only keep watch over her.”
Watch over her? “And if she gets into trouble again? What if someone tries to shoot her?”
“Jenny can take care of herself.” Tristan kissed her cheek. “Now, let’s return home. I have a different kind of hunger to appease, and only you can slake it.”
Chapter 4
Once he had a home like this, only smaller. But the sight and smells made emotion well in his throat. Troy pushed it away. Not good to show any weakness.
The front door opened to a wide, polished staircase and hardwood floors smelling of lemon polish. Dale and Snake escorted him into a living room large enough to hold a herd of cattle. Smells of grilled beef wafted through the room, making his mouth salivate. Other smells put him on guard – the scent of several Lupines, horses, dust and cedar, all with an undertone of wolves.
This was not a friendly, New Age kind of pack he’d known back in California. They were Lupines and would fight to the death for their home and for their leaders.
He liked them already. At least here his talents could be put to good use.
A fire crackled in the stone fireplace and leather sofas were arranged around a coffee table. Some cowboys lounged in chairs by the windows as they talked. Everyone looked up to see them, and more than a few gazes narrowed.
He wouldn’t expect anything else. Strangers were always suspect in the good packs.
Dale gestured to a nearby chair. “Have a seat, and I’ll get Aiden and Nia. They’re in the kitchen.”
Troy declined the invite, sensing another test. Sitting before he met the alpha couple might be considered rude.
Snake had no trouble fitting in, for he sat the chair Dale had indicated, spine razor straight, unlike the others whose legs dangled over the armrests.
Perhaps Snake was new to this pack as well. Or he didn’t want to relax his guard around Troy. Or both.
Troy surveyed the surroundings. After looking at him, the other Lupines returned their attention to conversation, but he sensed they side-eyed him. Good. He wouldn’t trust a stranger, either. Rogue Lupines could tear apart a room in minutes before being taken down.
“How do you know Zoe?” Snake asked.
Whoa, sensitive question. “We met out west.” Vague enough answer.
Snake’s mouth compressed. “Dale seems to accept you, but I have questions. Before you bunk with us, you need to answer them, Trojan. Don’t want a lone wolf sneaking up on me and cutting my throat while I sleep.”
Snake put two fingers to his eyes, indicating the Skin sign for “I’ll be watching you.”
Troy shrugged. “Maybe I’ll find a patch of ground and sleep outside. Goes both ways. Who’s the say you wouldn’t do the same to me, Rattler?”
Snake didn’t blink. “One question you can answer now is, where’s the female? You have her smell all over you?”
His heart skipped a beat. Snake’s olfactory senses were as sharp as his own.
Nostrils flaring, he detected Snake’s own scent. “Might ask the same of you,
