"You're in charge, Elgin. We'll decide Irving and Tynan's fate tonight."
"We've got everything under control here," Elgin said, with a very commanding presence, the connotation being that Leidolf and Cassie could stay at the lake as long as they liked.
"Thanks, Elgin." Leidolf took Cassie's hand and headed outside as Fergus, Elgin, and Evan saw them off. "Do you want to go fishing?" Leidolf asked Cassie.
"Fishing?"
"I saw a huntress at my lake dressed in safari gear, and before I could make her mine, she vanished in a sea of green."
"I saw a sea god dripping with water, but before I could take advantage of him, I smelled my prey, the mother wolf."
Leidolf pulled out the keys to his Humvee. "Sea god? I like that. Much more impressive than pack leader."
"Hmm," she said as he tucked her under his arm, "then I must be a goddess."
"Beyond a doubt." He glanced at Elgin and Fergus. "I shall return, but make sure no one takes my Jag out for a ride without my express permission." He gave Evan a hard look.
"Guess there's no chance of me taking it out for a spin on a date." The alpha teen grinned and bowed his head.
Leidolf shook his head at him. Shades of himself at that age, except Jags hadn't been invented back then.
Inside the garage, Leidolf grabbed a sleeping bag and another bag of camping gear. "Creature comforts I usually don't bother with when I go to the lake, but for my nymph..."
"I get royal treatment?"
He chuckled. "Here I thought you were newly turned, and instead you were a royal."
"Yeah, well, sometimes it's a good idea to play down our heritage."
They climbed into the Humvee and, with as much fanfare as royalty would get on short notice, several of Leidolf's people stopped working to wave at them.
"When the cat's away, the mice will play," Cassie remarked, and smiled, getting comfortable in the seat. She definitely hadn't had enough sleep. She glanced at the cloud-filled sky. She couldn't see it, but she knew the waxing crescent moon was headed on its way into the night sky. "Do you think Irving and Tynan are equally guilty in the crimes they've committed?"
"Yes. Even though Tynan's the follower, he's participated just as much as Irving has."
"I've, well, I've never witnessed a wolf fight to the death like that."
Leidolf reached over and rubbed her thigh. "You don't have to watch if you don't want to."
"It's different when the wolf is attacking you. Then I wouldn't have any qualms."
"They'll be attacking, rest assured."
"You won't be fighting both at once, will you?"
"It's the only fair thing to do."
She scowled at Leidolf. "So what will you be trying to prove? How macho you are?"
Leidolf didn't respond, and she realized she'd hit a nerve. "Why would you have to prove anything? You're the pack leader. Everyone looks up to you and respects you."
Then she recalled what Alice and Sarah had told her. That Leidolf hadn't fought Alfred or the others in the pack leadership to free them of the evil. That he'd been too injured even to show up. She bit her lip, hating to have brought it up. Yet, if he couldn't fight four of the wolves at once, could he manage two? The other he'd fought had been a big gray. Irving and Tynan were reds, and although they had lived long lives, they still hadn't been born lupus garous.
Cassie ground her teeth. Damn.
"You're grinding your teeth, Cassie. Why?"
She clenched and unclenched her hands, trying to alleviate the tension. "You don't have to prove anything to anyone. Least of all your pack. And certainly not to me."
Leidolf didn't say anything. She was about to tell him that she wouldn't stay to watch then. That she'd take off for North Carolina and get to know the packs there before she introduced Big Red and the she-wolf and her pups into the area.
Leidolf reached over and took her hand and squeezed. "Not for the pack, or you even, Cassie. I have to do this for me."
She bit her tongue. Despite his saying that it wasn't to prove anything to anyone but himself, she knew better. He was bound to be top wolf, and settling a matter like this would prove it. Despite desperately wanting to leave so that she couldn't see him injured, she knew he'd want her there, supporting him, cheering him on.
She tried to enjoy the scenery as they reached the turnout where Leidolf parked the Humvee. She attempted to enjoy his hand on hers, the way he brushed his body against hers as they hiked through the woods. Breathing in deeply, she tried to concentrate on the way the earth smelled so rich and full of minerals, the trees fragrant with pinesap, a hint of rain on the breeze. But the impending fight continued to clutter her thoughts.
After a brief search, they found her backpack, and she smiled to see his clothes wadded inside, too. "Looks like you planned on making a permanent residence with me a long time ago."
"Yep, suitcase, backpack, home, even zoo pen, any variation." He gave her a quick smile and she returned it.
When they finally reached the lake, he dropped the camping gear, pulled her back against his chest, wrapped his arms securely around her, and stared at the vista of Mount Hood in the distance. "When I was here last, I had wanted to change into the wolf and run all the way to Mount Hood, just for the fun of it."
"But you didn't."
"I got distracted."
She smiled. "I was searching for the red wolf and then found this naked hunk standing in the lake. Totally distracted me from my mission, too."
"But in a good way. I only wished I'd distracted you enough that you wouldn't have left. Want to swim?"
"In that cold stuff? As a human?" She shook her head.
"Want to fish?"
"I envisioned something a little more... intimate."
"In the woods?" He rubbed her arms. "Or here, by the lake?"
She pulled free, grabbed the sleeping bag, and headed for the woods. "Intimate." She smiled back at Leidolf. "Out here by the lake is more... exhibitionistic."
"It's nature, as natural as being here with only wild animals as our witnesses." He pulled the sleeping bag from her grasp and slid his arm around her shoulders. "You have to experiment a little."
"I've never had sex with a man in a shower open to the whole wide world."
He smiled. "See what a little experimenting can do?" He dropped the sleeping bag on the ground, but when she crouched down to roll it out, he crouched behind her, knees spread, caging her backside with his body, his ramrod-stiff penis pressed against her.
She looked back and smiled up at him. "Did you not want to use the sleeping bag?"
He reached in front of her and began to unbutton her shirt. "Whatever you want, Cassie." She could tell by the tone of his voice, thick with desire, he was ready to take her in the ferns, the sleeping bag be damned.
And she loved him for it, for wanting her with such passion that he couldn't control his needs, for wanting only her and no other. "Hmm, well, I'll just roll the sleeping bag out then."
No sense in having to lie on damp earth. But his fingers were stripping away her shirt, and then they were reaching around to cop a feel of her breasts still confined in the tank top and bra. The way he pressed his package against her ass, showing her just how much he wanted her and now, really got her attention. Well, his fingers stroking her nipples through the cotton fabric of her shirt and lace bra did, too.
She was already wet with need, the ache building between her legs, her knees spread as she tried to maintain her balance while she attempted to unroll the bag. Even dressed, she still felt exposed and sexy and wild.
Somehow, he managed to slip her tank top over her head and then he lifted her bra, not bothering to unfasten it. He just pulled it up, freeing her breasts, and slid the lacy bra farther until he'd pulled it over her head, too, and dropped it on the ferns beside them.