Before they could do more, another wolf, this one larger and more silver than the others, joined them by the small pool of water.
“Honored sister, we welcome you home,” the large one said. Cocking his head, he studied her. “I think, perhaps, my welcome is too late. You’ve been claimed by a catamount.” The wolf’s sigh was clear. Unlike the others, this one possessed an aura of dignity and carried himself like royalty. “But that’s of little consequence, really. I’m sorry to rush you, but you need to find our totem, now. There’s a hunting party coming this way, and I have no idea when they’re due to arrive. Could be today, could be tomorrow.”
“Like we can believe anything you lying dogs have to say.” Burke’s ears flattened and he hissed at the leader.
The wolves growled in response and stepped closer, until the leader barked at them to stop. Rachel caught a spicy scent from the lead wolf he seemed to be projecting intentionally. “Don’t be more of an ass than you already are, Burke. This isn’t about defending your mate, or about my idiot brethren trying to overtake Cougar Falls. This is about protecting the town from invading humans. I’m not lying. ”
Rachel took her eyes off the leader to watch Burke, and his sense of amazement washed over her like rain. “Monty? Holy shit. I thought you were dead. ”
The wolf shuffled on his paws. “It’s a long damned story. But not now. Time’s wasting. On our blood bond, I’m telling the truth.”
Burke shook his head, snarled once more at the wolves flanking Monty, and turned to Rachel. “Much as I wish it otherwise, he’s not lying. It’s go-time, Rachel. Now or never. ”
Chapter Seven
Confusion filled Rachel on so many levels she didn’t know where to begin. The wolf, Monty, was obviously a lost acquaintance of Burke’s. But his comments about invading humans, about her being Burke’s mate?
“Rachel.” Burke nudged her with his broad head. “We have to find it. Do what Charlotte wanted you to do. Find your inner beast.”
Hello, she already had. “I’m standing on four feet aren’t I? And don’t tell me you’ve forgotten last night already.” Glaring at Burke and Monty, who seemed to be grinning at them, she tried to concentrate. Aunt Charlotte had mentioned following her beast. Well, her inner beast had traipsed all over the damned woods after Burke and seen nothing resembling a twenty-foot tall totem pole.
“Monty, you can stay.” Burke nodded toward the surrounding wolves. “But the rest of them need to get the hell away. This is hard enough as it is. We don’t need the extra pressure.”
Monty gave a short bark and the others slunk back into the woods, leaving Rachel, Burke and Monty alone.
“Want to tell me why anyone would want to go hunting right here in our town?”
Burke asked Monty.
“It’s worse than that. A group of a dozen or so professional hunters is paying through the nose to bag some wolves, cougars and foxes promised them by a fucking traitor in the Gray Wolf clan. And we’re not talking run-of-the-mill sports nuts. We’re talking specialized killers with no qualms about murdering nonhumans.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly. The rogue made a deal with them to exterminate most of the Shifters a small faction of the Gray Wolf clan wants gone. With the totem lost, anyone can find this place. And once the town’s finally been cleared, I’m assuming that faction will turn on the expendable hunters and any of the wolves not agreeable to the situation. You know how much wolves hate hunters. Anyway, I volunteered to find and keep safe the new guardian. Once the totem’s in place and Rachel’s under wolf control, a new Order can begin for the pack.”
Rachel began to understand the danger they were all in, and she stepped instinctively closer to Burke, eased somewhat when their bodies touched.
Monty surprised her by shifting to human form. Tall and lean, he looked both haggard and incredibly strong. A handsome Shifter, he had dark hair threaded with silver and ice-blue eyes that promised honesty. He held his hands up in a sign of surrender.
“I’m not the threat here. Look, if I had wanted the rogue’s plan to work, I wouldn’t have warned you about it. You know me, Burke. I’m the same brother I was all those years ago, no matter what’s happened since. But I don’t want the gray wolves taking over Cougar Falls, and I really don’t want those damned humans tainting our town. You have to put the totem back in place.”
Burke shifted into human form suddenly, but put his hand on Rachel’s head, cautioning her to stay as she was. “Why should I believe you, Monty? You up and disappeared years ago. Not a word in all the time you’ve been gone.” Funny, but Burke sounded hurt under his gruff disbelief. “I thought you were dead, and now here you are when the town’s at its most vulnerable. How do I know this isn’t some ploy to put your hands on the totem and get me out of the way so you can try to control Rachel?”
“Please. I could have ordered the wolves to stay, or I could have ambushed you an hour ago when you watched her make her first change.” Monty huffed a breath and lowered his arms, crossing them over his chest, not a bit embarrassed about his nudity.
Then again, when a man looked like he did, what did he have to be ashamed about?
“Look away from him, right fucking now.”
Shoot. She must have unintentionally projected her appreciation to Burke. “I’m still a woman, Burke. You people really need to wear clothes, you know.”
Monty stared at them curiously, and she realized he didn’t understand them. “He can’t hear us?”
“Not when I use this particular pathway to talk to you. And don’t change the subject.” His hands were curled into fists, and she could smell his aggression.
“Burke, we don’t have—”
“Yeah, yeah, Monty. No time for this. I fucking get it. Rachel?”
She glanced away from Monty. “Look, I’m only human. Okay, so maybe I’m not.
He’s an attractive man. But he’s not you.” She stared into Burke’s eyes, the need to tell him the truth overwhelming. It was almost as if Aunt Charlotte were there whispering ghostly encouragement. And that was plain weird. But like Burke had said, it was go-time. The truth needed telling.
“I love you, Burke.”
The change that overcame him was instantaneous. He flowed into his cougar form and touched his forehead to hers, his scent overpowering.
“God, Rachel. I love you, too. I want to mate with you, I want to marry you. I want—”
“Hell, Burke. You’re both giving off some really strong scents. Do you have to do this right now?” Monty glared down at his rising erection. “Not all of us have a female to share in your happiness, you get my meaning?”
The human part of Rachel was embarrassed she’d forgotten about a naked Shifter standing so close. She kept her eyes glued to Burke, who now found his friend’s nudity amusing. Men.
Burke directed his thoughts back at Monty, and she followed his mental pathway.
“Sorry, Monty. Rachel, baby, we’re sure as hell going to get into this later. But right now I need you to tell us exactly what Charlotte said in her letter. And all of it this time. I know you’ve been holding back.”
Rachel growled. “So what if I’ve been holding back? What Aunt Charlotte proposed was nuts. Or at least, I thought it was crazy when I read the letter. She told me to stop dwelling on the past and have some wild and crazy sex with you.”
Burke’s shit-eating grin made Monty roll his eyes.
“And she wanted me to marry you, Burke, because she thought you were heaven-sent.”