Ryan had observed her the same way just now. He seemed to be intrigued with her. Most likely because he’d never met anyone quite like her. At least that’s what she thought.
But then she was back to thinking about his naked body. Healthy. Right. Sleek hard muscles toned to perfection, darkly pebbled nipples and an indented navel meant for licking, skin glistening, his sex stirring even as she had admired it, jutting out from a bush of dark brown hair, muscular legs, and large feet, all very well proportioned, caught her imagination. She’d definitely not seen him in that way before.
She had believed that once she had turned into one of their kind, seeing a naked man built like Ryan wouldn’t affect her. She guessed that was a naïve thought. Especially when she had to take a look at his package— twice. Would it make any difference if she had been a werewolf for eons and had seen others strip and shape-shift whenever in a pack?
Maybe. Like living at a nudist colony and being used to seeing everyone nude all the time. No big deal. Even though the pack members didn’t shift all the time. So they weren’t often naked in front of other pack members. And they changed so fast that, to the naked eye, the shift was mostly a wondrous blurring of forms.
She had thought she wouldn’t be affected, being a nurse and trying to look at him in a clinical way while maintaining an air of aloofness. Right. She hadn’t succeeded. Now she couldn’t shake loose the image of his powerful build, thinking how it would be with someone like him in the throes of passionate lovemaking. Her face flushed at the thought.
“Carol!” Darien snapped again. She recognized the fear in his expression, although he often schooled his face to hide such emotions.
He stalked toward her, dark hair, dark eyes, a warrior ready to do battle. His brothers flanked him, all eyes on her, tensions running high, their postures ready to pounce if she attempted to run. Where was she supposed to run to? She was clueless about so many aspects of being a lupus garou.
Lelandi had warned her how vulnerable she would be on her own as a newly turned lupus garou. But she didn’t want to live alone, either. Despite the pack’s restrictions on her, she still loved the whole lot of them. She loved their protectiveness, their caring, and the way they seemed clueless sometimes as to how to deal with her uniqueness.
Even so, she thanked God that she hadn’t yet changed into a wolf. But the urge to shift would make it impossible for her to fight it forever. She had no plans to go anywhere. This was home, such as it was, and at least she worked in the hospital, now that she was one of them—kind of. Working as a nurse had been the job she’d dreamed of since she was a girl and had broken her leg. She wanted to help others in need, just like the medical staff had helped her. So this was it for her.
“I’m coming,” she said in a grumpy way, as Darien and his brothers drew closer. She really wished they wouldn’t watch her so much. She was fine and didn’t need them hovering over her like a bunch of old motherly hens. “I thought the three of you were at work.”
Jake and Tom looked her over as if to ensure she was okay and then quickly searched the surrounding area, trying to locate Ryan’s tracks.
“Is that why you left the house? Because you thought I wouldn’t learn of it? ” Darien took her arm and escorted her back to the house. He turned to peer over his shoulder at his brothers, took a sniff of the air, and grunted. Towering over her, Darien gave her a hard look.
“What the hell were you doing out here alone with McKinley? Just because my brothers and I weren’t home and Lelandi was sleeping, that doesn’t mean it’s safe for you to be running around in the woods by yourself at night.” Then he considered her, his eyes narrowing. He shook his head. “He’d better not want you for a mate.”
Her lips parted in surprise. She should have known Darien would recognize who Ryan was, but why would a gray pack leader be interested in a newly turned red wolf? Then again, why in the world would he want to see her so badly, potentially incurring Darien’s wrath?
She sighed. Ryan was virile, rugged, and sexy with a body that wouldn’t quit. Hell, he was a feast for impoverished eyes to be sure. She hoped she’d acted less like a schoolgirl who hadn’t seen goods like that on a man in a long time and more like a nurse concerned with his medical needs. But more than his physical good looks, Ryan was protective and caring and dedicated. Was he really interested in getting to know her better?
She smiled, each step becoming springier as she headed for the house. She’d always had a thing for alpha males. Not that she had any intention of being bossed around, even if one had her best interests at heart. Her fascination with alphas was that they were a challenge. Betas didn’t hold much of an appeal.
But then her step slowed. When he’d been here before, she had read in his posture and in his censure that he didn’t believe in her psychic abilities. With that kind of attitude, he couldn’t be interested in her.
She stiffened and cast a look over her shoulder in the direction he’d gone. So then what was he really doing here?
Later that night, after not locating the red wolf who had run off in the woods next to Darien’s house, and irritated beyond reason, Ryan came to the conclusion that the lupus garou was wearing some kind of hunter’s scent concealer. Otherwise, Ryan would have caught up to him at some point. Which meant the red was up to no good.
Sneaking through Darien’s territory, the red had been careful not to mark the area, just as Ryan hadn’t, although the instinct was hard to control as an alpha in wolf form. Ryan had smelled the scent markings made by Darien and other pack members when he had crossed the invisible boundary into Darien’s territory earlier. The markings were a warning to other wolves and predators that the land was already occupied.
Ryan came across wolf tracks and red fur snagged on a pinyon pine branch, but the smell of the wolf’s current location eluded him. When Ryan sniffed the fur left behind, there was no odor at all.
He traveled after the red wolf for a couple of miles, but the trail led to a river and stopped on the rocky bank. Even though the trespassing wolf was Darien’s problem, not his own, a nagging thought continued to plague Ryan as he turned and headed through the forest to town. Why had the wolf been watching Darien’s house?
His actions didn’t make any sense, and Ryan couldn’t help worrying about Lelandi and Carol, the only two red wolves in Darien’s pack. Except for Lelandi’s doctor from her former red pack, who was on loan to Darien’s pack for the time being. But the doctor lived nearer town, not close to Darien’s home. And he was a male. Which made Ryan believe that the red male lurker was interested in Carol or Lelandi. Or both.
Reluctantly, Ryan followed the tree line and finally reached the back side of the Hastings Bed and Breakfast, where his rented room looked out on the Douglas firs, perfect for privacy. He’d left the window open so he could easily let himself back in. When he jumped at the opening, though, he realized too late that someone had shut the damned thing.