“Idiot hopped-up human.”
They looked at the next message. Hey, Mystic Red. Want to be my sweet thing? Don’t you just hate zoos? If I could, I’d free all of the wild animals. And eat the grazers. I never did catch your name, so guess Rosa will have to do for now. Email me and we can arrange to get together. Sooner than later. Lovesick in Oregon. Al
She shuddered. “Alfred.”
Devlyn looked back at her, all at once his posture dark and wolfishly protective. “What?”
“He’s the one from the zoo. The one who wanted me.”
“Red lupus garou,” he muttered. “Damn it, Bella, what if he’s the killer?”
“What if he is? We could catch him then.” The email butler, dressed in his tux, walked across the screen and then stopped and faced them. “You’ve got mail, Madam.”
Devlyn clicked on the next message.
Hey, Rosa, I posted to your old message. Guess you were afraid I wouldn’t catch it. So how about a date? A romp through the Cascades? Email me. Al
Devlyn rose from his chair and shoved it aside. “I don’t like this guy.”
“He’s smaller than you. You can beat him if we get into a bind.”
His expression turned stormy. “Damn it, Bella. You think I can only whip smaller guys?”
The darkness in his voice startled her. She hadn’t meant to cut his masculinity in half. She touched his lightly haired chest. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant you could protect me.”
“Like hell you did. You think I can only whip a smaller red’s ass but that I’d buckle under when the competition’s a little more my size.” With his long stride, he stormed off to the bedroom.
She fought chasing after him to console him. It wasn’t their way, and he wouldn’t appreciate it. It would emasculate him all the more. Her stomach clenched into knotted ribbon. Damn lupus garou male pride.
Turning to the computer, she typed in a reply. Hi, Al, hadn’t seen your previous response. Meet me tonight at the Papagalli’s Dance Club. See you there at seven. Rosa The response was immediate. Hey, Rosa, what’s your real name?
Had he been waiting for her response all of this time? Desperate to get in touch with her? Or was he an Internet junkie too?
She stared at the question. What was her real name? She typed: Rosa.
All right, Rosa it is. I’ll play the game for now. Don’t you think a place a little less crowded would be better? Al
Having no intention of meeting lover boy in private, she tapped her fingers on the desk, considering the best response. I love Papagalli’s. Besides, I believe in courtship, don’t you? Rosa
Whatever you want, Rosa. But ... I don’t believe in long courtships. See ya, sweet thing. Al
Then a new message popped up. Male rufus lupus seeking female. Have cabin in the Cascades for hunting and wild romps in the woods. Where can we meet? Charlie She reread the message. Was it just some nutty human? Hey, Charlie! What do you prefer to hunt? Rosa
Deer. What about you? Charlie How about two-legged mammals? How about redheaded women? Are you the killer, Charlie? She tucked her hair behind her ear and then typed, A male rufus lupus. Rosa
I like a lupus with a sense of humor. Can we have lunch this afternoon? Charlie Don’t you work? Rosa
A significant pause followed. She chewed on the inside of her cheek. Come on, come on. Let me know what you do.
Independently wealthy. But if you’re working ... maybe tonight? Charlie Liar. Do you know Papagalli’s? Rosa The dance club? Charlie Yep. Make it for seven? Rosa
The more the merrier.
See you there. Oh, what will you be wearing? Charlie Something black. And you? Rosa
Something to match. Charlie Most everyone wore black to the club, and she had no plan to stick out. Another lupus would smell her scent.
Humans wouldn’t have a clue as to who she was, and best to leave it that way.
The kitchen door to the garage slammed shut, sending her heart skittering. Jumping up from the chair, she nearly knocked it over in her haste and headed for the garage. She didn’t believe Devlyn would run off and expose himself to the world while the police were looking for them just because she’d angered him. She yanked the door open.
He’d taken the SUV.
Her heart sank. Damn him!
Still, she hated herself for having said he couldn’t fight a gray, stomping his male wolf ego into the ground.
Trying not to worry about him, she toasted a slice of bread and coated it with wild blackberry jam, the smell reminding her of picking berries fresh over the summer. The tart sweet flavor touched her tongue, and instantly the image of Devlyn crowding her while she leaned over blackberry brambles filled her mind with wishful thinking. Attempting to clear her mind of the foolish notion, she finished her toast and headed out to the greenhouse.
The fragrant scent of Colorado wildflowers comforted her and she pruned, watered, and weeded for a couple of hours before she returned to the house. Because of the time she’d spent in the zoo, the website contracts she received were piling up, so she headed back to her office, trying to ignore the fact that all she really could think about was Devlyn and making up with him.
But the making up would come only after she got over being mad at him for leaving like he did and worrying her sick.
While she designed a redwood forest for a lumber company, her email butler walked across the screen.
She clicked on her email messages. Ten new messages. But the address of the sixth message caught her eye: Argos.
Bella, I’m worried that we haven’t heard from you. Can we meet somewhere? I have some news I’m sure you’ll want to hear. Argos She rubbed her temple. Was Volan dead? That’s the only news she’d want to hear. Had another wolf infiltrated the pack and was now the leader?
Argos, where are you? Bella
I’m here, in town. I’m using the main library’s computer, but there aren’t many patrons and I fear someone’s following me. Can we meet somewhere later? Argos She took a deep breath. Argos and Devlyn could both protect her if she were meeting the killer red wolf tonight. She considered telling him about the wolf they were trying to catch, but decided against it. He’d be just like Devlyn—his only concern would be returning her home. Argos wouldn’t agree to her risking her life over a red lupus garou from another pack.
Papagalli’s Dance Club. Seven. Bella See you there. Argos Email messages were an addiction. She had no ability to shut them off; instead, she began to read all of them. Most had the same kind of message. Red male lupus wishes to meet with female of his kind. Can we arrange to rendezvous and when? Like soonest? She responded to all of them: Meet me at Papagalli’s Dance Club.
The biggest crowd Papagalli’s had ever seen on a Thursday night would show up. She sent the last of the responses zinging into cyberspace and then returned to working on clients’ web pages.
A nagging at the back of her mind gnawed at her— that Devlyn was living a James Bond life of danger when he stormed out of the house. He had no right to worry her. But she knew he had to get away, stretch his legs, work his anger out on his own. Still, she had every intention of giving him a tongue lashing when he returned home for worrying her so.
She groaned as the thought of his tongue sliding down her skin popped into her mind. Maybe a little bit of wolf courtship would smooth out the rough edges of what she’d said to hurt his ego.