She had a new agenda, this one far clearer than any previous. Her pace was rapid enough Evan had to push to keep up. Even though he was following, the new terrain made it difficult for him to move at his highest speed. She seemed to delight in taking last-minute corners, using small trails off the main path, especially ones passing under low bushes or other obstacles that challenged his larger form. It was a game of one-upmanship, and he had no difficulty in accepting the challenge.
When they broke free of the trees, the world had changed. Instead of looking down on the city of Whitehorse, they were in the valley on the far side of the mountain. The horizon seemed so far away, with nothing but wilderness stretching before them.
Amy rested beside him, both of them breathing heavily from their exertion. Evan lowered himself to the ground, relaxing and allowing himself the luxury of just being. The wolf was at the foreground. The wolf was pleased.
And when Amy settled beside him, close enough their haunches touched, a tiny seed of hope germinated.
There was so much to decide. So much forgiveness to work through. Having Amy with him made everything inside that was wolf stand up and cheer. Bringing forward the pain of the past was going to be nasty, and his human heart feared hurting her irrevocably.
The tightrope between the two paths scared him the most.
Chapter Seven
Amy rocked her easy chair, the view from the wide deck of the cabin almost as spectacular as the one that she and Evan had enjoyed on their run.
She sipped from the glass of wine she’d poured to help steady her nerves. It had felt incredible to be able to run with a fellow wolf, one as strong as she was. She often spent time in her wolf form taking care of others in the pack, but it wasn’t the same. Then she was the one in charge. She was the one constantly looking for clues of what was needed in the pack.
Today?
Running through that door with Evan at her side had been different from anything she’d experienced before. She wasn’t sure how it was possible to feel affected on so many levels.
Inside her chest was a hard, heavy spot. For the last five years, ever since she had begun to seek the truth about what had happened to her family, that layer of rock and ice had been building around her heart. Evan said he still had more to explain, and that was true. But what he’d already shared made sense. His brief summary made a difference, and now she wondered if she’d been chasing, not justice, but a nightmare.
She hated being wrong. She hated the thought she might have spent time and energy seeking to punish someone who didn’t deserve it. Guilt layered over years of loathing and anguish.
Evan pushed through the door and joined her. His hair was wet from the shower.
“It’s all yours,” he said.
She rose, stepping to the left to get around him. He moved at the same moment, unintentionally blocking her path.
Twice more they shifted position, twice more they jerked to a stop mere seconds away from making full physical contact. Evan rotated his shoulders to the side and opened a path. “Please. Go on.”
Stepping past him was incredibly hard. Amy’s wolf had been content while they were in the forest, but now that they were back at the cabin, the creature was no longer as patient. What her wolf wanted was to halt in mid-stride, curl up against him and rub all over.
And that was just to begin with—the beast had a very vivid imagination, and she used it mercilessly. Amy made sure the shower was icy cold, and she scrubbed as hard as she could, but even then his scent lingered. Wrapped around her.
Tonight was going to be hell no matter what.
She wasn’t in the shower for long, but by the time she got out and dressed in a comfortable pair of sweats, she discovered Evan in the kitchen digging through the fridge, a pot of spaghetti boiling on the stove. He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m starving. I thought you might be as well.”
Amy nodded. “Did you find the spaghetti sauce in the freezer?”
They worked together to make the meal, and it was far too casual. There was something wrong, Amy thought, about standing beside the man and teetering between revenge and lust.
Her wolf couldn’t understand why they weren’t moving on to the next stage of mating, i.e. jumping his very delectable bones.
Her fully human heart couldn’t let go of the thought that this was the enemy who she was bumping into as they made a salad. As Evan ripped chunks of lettuce from the head and her gaze fell to his strong hands, her sense of guilt strengthened even further.
She had to find a way to deal with this dilemma. She was a strong individual, but the conflicting desires between her two parts would pull her world apart if she wasn’t careful.
If it were only her life to worry about, Amy would let chaos run its course, no matter what the end result. Only she wasn’t free to take that route. Her situation meant too many others were relying on her. Too many plots had already begun that she had to make a decision about, and quickly.
“Eat outside on the deck?” Evan asked once the meal was ready.
“Great.”
They balanced plates and drinks. Evan pushed open the door with his shoulder and let her go first.
“Do you want to tell me what happened to you after the accident?” Evan spoke quietly after they’d settled in their chairs. “Or do you want to talk about what you’re doing here in Whitehorse? Or do you want to ask me questions?”
The idea of going back through the hell her life had been for so many years would make her lose her appetite. And telling him why she’d come to Whitehorse—that burden could wait until after dinner was over. “Tell me something about yourself. Your education, or what you did after you left Hudson Bay.”
Evan’s expression grew a touch lighter as he twirled spaghetti on his fork. “I traveled for a while. Ended up in Europe, which was a complete surprise, both getting there and how they do things. I spent a few years working in Germany and Russia with a paramilitary organization.”
Well, now, that was unexpected. “Para, as in shifters, or semilegal mercenaries?”
Evan tilted his head from side to side. “In a way, both. We were all shifters, and while not all of our activities involved working in shifter-only communities, a lot of the assignments did. The roughest ones were in Russia. Most West and Central European shifters tend to be more civilized, at least on the surface. What I’ve come to think of being the norm in the shifters found south of the forty-ninth parallel. Our wolves tend to be rougher.”
“The wolves in the Yukon are a different lot,” Amy agreed.
“Caroline said it’s not just the shifters. She said the humans who come North tend to have a different attitude than folks from the South. Something about wanting to do things their own way and loving the isolation.”
A new and unwelcome sensation struck as Evan casually mentioned the other woman’s name.
Amy stabbed a piece of salad with her fork. “Oh, right. The human.”
Evan stiffened ever so slightly. He glanced at her, concern the strongest emotion she sensed. “You don’t have to worry about Caroline.”
“Who’s worried?” Amy could’ve kicked herself for even responding to his comment, but her wolf’s hackles were up. Damn her world.
Evan put his plate on the small table beside his chair. He knelt before her and placed both hands on her knees. “From the moment I discovered you were in Whitehorse, I haven’t touched another woman. I know we have more to discuss but, Amy, even if you need to learn to trust me on other things, trust me on this. You are the only woman I want.”