“Unless you’re afraid of being alone with me.” He held out his hand.
The she-wolf’s nostrils flared. Fire sparked in her eyes and pride straightened her shoulders.
Bingo!
He’d pushed the right buttons. His smile grew uncontrollably broader, until she clutched his hand. Electricity shot through his palm as if he’d grabbed an exposed wire juiced with a live current. The powerful charge scrambled his brain and his vision might’ve gone a little wonky because an overly satisfied gleam lit Ronni’s eyes.
She walked over to the kids’ table and spoke to them, then sashayed to the door without looking back. He gave Willow a nod. Her smile lit the dining room. Lucas inched closer to her, dropping his arm protectively across the back of her chair. Alex’s gaze was fixed on his mother. When she disappeared out the door, his laser-intense eyes swung to Bodie.
The warning was clear. This one would be hell to deal with if crossed.
Bodie turned to follow Ronni outside, willing steel in his legs. He wished the wobble was from something other than the she-wolf’s touch, but he’d only drank one beer and Alex’s attempt at intimidation had no real effect.
A light breeze nipped Bodie’s face as he stepped into the night. Ronni leaned inside her car and pulled out the blanket they’d used at the game. She wrapped it around her shoulders, closed the car door and walked to a nearby park bench. He sat close beside her. Closer than he normally would on a first date but he’d already seen her naked and his instinct pushed him to leave no space between them.
The moment their thighs touched, Bodie’s mind flooded with the awareness of her femininity and her vulnerability. All the while, her heat warmed him far deeper than the surface of his skin. If she hadn’t been the first to break eye contact, he could’ve easily drown in the sea of blue her gaze held.
Tilting her head back exposed the creamy expanse of her slender throat. “It is a beautiful night,” she said, echoing his earlier sentiment.
“Not compared to you.”
Something more than physical attraction awakened in him. Whatever it was, he needed to keep it in check. He couldn’t afford to lose his heart or his head when his family’s future hung in the balance.
Chapter 7
Tha-dump. Tha-dump. Tha-dump. Tha-dump.
Biting back his annoyance, Bodie pulled to the side of the narrow, two-lane road. The sun had dipped lower than the mountaintops. All he wanted to do was get home, take a hot shower and crash for the next eight to ten hours.
Last night, he’d barely slept. Every time his eyes closed, visions of Ronni’s soft-looking lips beckoned him for a kiss while her eyes pooled with depths of emotion he wanted to explore.
I should’ve kissed her. Long and deep and possessively. Instead, he’d gone with a brush of lips against her cheek to leave her wanting more rather than being presumptuous.
As he walked to the back passenger side of the truck his boots thudded against the gravel. No other sound carried. Right smack-dab in the middle of nowhere was the last place he wanted to be with a flat and no spare.
Correction. He had a spare, but it happened to be in use, as the front left tire.
Severe cutbacks in government spending had every department tightening their budgets. Approval of his request for a set of new wheels was buried somewhere in the pipeline.
Bodie knelt to examine the flat. Nothing protruded from the outer side. His hopes that a simple patch would suffice died when he leaned underneath the vehicle and saw the metal sticking out of the interior sidewall.
Sitting on the ground, he leaned against the vehicle. A few minutes ago, he’d passed the turn to the Brasstown Bald Visitors Center, but it was nearly five o’clock. By the time he hiked back to the turnoff and up the road toward the summit, anyone who might give him a ride into Maico would likely be gone.
Although he was in excellent physical shape, at the moment, he didn’t have the energy to walk several miles of deserted road to get home.
He could shift and fly, but then he’d have to abandon the vehicle, his uniform and his gun. Gathering his strength, he stood, then walked to driver’s side of the truck.
Bodie reached inside the vehicle and grabbed his phone. Due to the escalating tensions, a call to his mother wasn’t ideal, but it was the only viable option.
“Dammit!” No signal.
He walked nearly fifty feet before the call went through.
“Hi, Daddy.” Willow answered the phone and her sweet voice melted his heart. “Are you on your way home?”
“I have a flat. I need Enisi to come get me.”
Bodie heard footsteps, then a door opened and closed.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Willow said. “She’s crankier than usual.”
Bodie knew why. His mother didn’t exactly approve of him allowing Willow to meet up with Lucas and Alex at last night’s football game. Layla’s parents had felt the same when she was a teenager. As a result, she’d never learned how to relate to boys, or men, which caused significant difficulties in their brief marriage.
Bodie was determined to raise his daughter differently.
“Alex works at Wyatt’s Automotive Service,” Willow said. “Want the number?”
“Yeah, give it to me.” Bodie had seen the place between Mabel’s Diner and The Stitchery. “Maybe I can catch someone before the place closes.” Bodie scribbled the number she gave him on the dashboard pad. After they said goodbye, he called the automotive shop.
Silence greeted him after the ringing stopped.
“Hello? Is this Wyatt’s Automotive?”
“Who else would it be?” No sarcasm tainted the deep, quiet voice.
“This is Bodie Gryffon. I’m out on 180 with a flat and no spare.”
“Whereabouts on 180?”
“A couple of miles northeast of the turnoff to Brasstown Bald Visitors Center.”
“On my way.”
The call disconnected.
Bodie returned to the driver’s seat, cracked the passenger window and locked the doors. Since he was given no ETA, Bodie settled back for a nap.
Tap, tap, tap.
“Gryffon?”
Bodie opened his eyes and looked at a copper-headed man wearing work coveralls standing beside the truck. His name, Rafe, was embroidered on the patch sewn on the upper left chest. His vivid blue eyes were just like Ronni’s and Alex’s. Neither physically favored the man otherwise, except Alex carried himself in a similar manner. Bodie figured they must be related.
“Are you all right?” Rafe spoke low and soft, yet Bodie had no trouble hearing him.
“Yeah.” He opened the door and climbed out. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
The wolfan’s eyes slitted just a little. “I heard you were out with Ronni.”
Bodie wasn’t the type to gossip so he didn’t respond.
“She and Alex are family.” There was an edge of expectancy in Rafe’s tone.
“Ronni and I ran into each other at Mabel’s a few days ago,” Bodie replied, figuring Rafe was asking out of concern, not simply being nosy. “She was kind enough to let me sit with her at the football game and we took the kids out for pizza afterward. Alex has been a good friend to my daughter. She hasn’t been so lucky in the past.”
“Ronni has gone through a rough patch, too. She could use a good—” Rafe gave him a look that made Bodie feel as if he were standing on a precarious slope with oil-slick feet “—friend, too. Otherwise, leave her be.”
Bodie gave a slight nod and Rafe seemed satisfied.
“I checked your tires while you were sleeping. The thread is worn on all of them. The back right one can’t be fixed.”
“I’ve requisitioned replacements, still waiting for approval.”
Rafe hoisted the vehicle onto the tow truck. “Are you seeing
Ronni again?”
Bodie wanted to say that his plans with Ronni were no one’s business, but wolves were pack-oriented. Since Rafe was a male relative, it was very likely that Ronni’s personal life was very much his business.
“If she accepts my invitation,” Bodie answered honestly.
If Rafe objected, he remained silent on the subject. He hopped into the tow truck and Bodie slid into the passenger seat.
A mile or so down the road, Rafe spoke again. “Do you work up at the Bald?”
“No, I was out at the WMA checking permits and fishing licenses.” And scoping out if any of the campers matched the poachers’ basic descriptions of three men in a truck. Yeah, that was searching for a needle in a haystack.
“Work alone a lot?” Rafe asked.
“Yep, unless I’m on a coordinated assignment.”
“You might want to check in and out with someone local. Cell phones don’t always work in these parts,” Rafe said. “One day, you might need more than a tow.”
Tristan had suggested the same when they’d met for lunch yesterday, but Bodie had been a game warden since before Willow was born. Working alone was part of the job. “I can handle myself.”
“We all think that,” Rafe said. “Until the moment comes when we can’t.”
More than capable of taking care of himself, Bodie worried less about working alone than he did about a summons from the Tribunal, which came without warning and usually things did not end well for the one summoned.
If his plan with Ronni worked out, at least Bodie would have an entire wolf pack to guard his back, if and when that moment came.
* * *
“We were about to take bets on whether or not you would actually come to our spa day.” Nel’s voice was light and she smiled sweetly.
“I couldn’t wake up Alex. He sleeps like the dead sometimes.” Truth be told, Ronni had also overslept after two frustrating nights, dreaming of Bodie.
Why hadn’t he kissed her good-night? On the lips?
The vibes bouncing between them had been electric. She had desperately needed that kiss, if just for a moment, to block out all thoughts of Jeb and to feel something other than flickers of panic.
Taking her seat at the lavishly decorated table set with antique china and polished silver utensils, Ronni stared at the three human females grinning broadly, their white teeth straight and even, and without the slightest hint of fang. Still, she felt as uncomfortable as a hen in a starving wolf’s den. “What’s going on?”
“We were hoping you would tell us.” Cassie Walker, Brice’s mate, tucked a springy red curl behind her ear. The smallest of the group, she looked as fragile as a china doll, but her tenacity and sheer grit were an undeniable force of nature.
“I’m out of the social loop. I don’t know what you expect me to say.”
“Start with giving us the scoop on the hot guy you were out with Friday night.” Folding her arms on the edge of the table, Grace Wyatt leaned forward, her long, blond ponytail slipping over her shoulder. “Rafe said he hardly got any work done yesterday because of all the people who called or came by the shop to ask about your new boyfriend.”
Irritation flashed through Ronni. Since the archaic wolfan law mandated that the eldest male relative of a widowed she-wolf with children was responsible for their welfare, the pack probably assumed she had asked Rafe’s permission to start dating. “If anyone wants to know my business, they should ask me.”
“That’s exactly what Rafe told them.” Grace’s grin deepened the dimples in her cheeks.
“And why we waited until this morning to ask,” Nel said. “Although we were dying to come by yesterday. But we didn’t want to intrude, in case the date ran over.”
“It wasn’t a date and I’m too old for a boyfriend.” Ronni humphed. “Bodie and I were simply at the same place at the same time.”
“Sharing a blanket.” A teasing lilt gave Cassie’s voice a sing-song quality and she radiated with genuine warmth. Smart, even-tempered and uncannily insightful, she would make a wonderful Alphena when Brice succeeded his father, Gavin, as Alpha.
“He got cold. It would’ve been rude not to offer.” A lame excuse. She-wolves did not arbitrarily share personal items with males. “I was just trying to act like a human.”
The brows of all three human women arched in unison.
“I wouldn’t share a blanket with a man I wasn’t interested in getting to know,” Nel said.
“I would give him the blanket, but I wouldn’t snuggle beneath it with him unless I wanted other things to happen.” Grace’s green eyes sparkled.
“I thought we were having brunch.” Ronni glanced around the restaurant decorated with rich, warm autumn colors. “I don’t see a buffet—are we supposed to order from a menu?”
“It’s family-style,” Cassie said. “The servers will come around with trays filled with each course.”
“I hope they start with coffee,” Ronni mumbled. “I could use a tankful.”
“Me, too, sister.” Grace stared longingly into her empty china cup. “Rafe makes me drink the half-caf at home. Sundays are the only days I can indulge in the double-leaded stuff.”
“I hope we aren’t making you too uncomfortable,” Nel said. “All joking aside, we really are interested and concerned about the things that affect you.”
“That’s a perk of having us as family.” Cassie’s demure smile was hopeful. Until becoming Brice’s mate, Cassie had no family and few friends.
Even though the entire Walker’s Run pack had embraced her, there was a small inner circle of absolute trust and Ronni was humbled to be included.
“And we won’t stop pestering you until all the deets are spilled.” Grace leaned to the side, allowing the beverage server access to her cup. Once the coffee was poured, she lifted the cup to her face and inhaled deeply. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”
Nel and Cassie were served hot tea.
“I’ll have what she’s having.” Ronni pointed at Grace. “And I’ll need a refill in about five minutes.”
“Me, too,” Grace piped up.
Despite the curls of steam rising from the cup, Ronni lifted it to her lips. The hot liquid sizzled her tongue and slid down her throat, spreading a comforting heat through her body.
The three women continued to look at her but no further teasing ensued. It was up to Ronni to complete the bonding ritual by satisfying their curiosity or shut it down by changing the subject.
If she did the latter, what was the point of coming?
“Bodie’s daughter and Alex are friends,” she began. “Bodie and I ran into each other at Mabel’s. He’s been so busy at work that he hasn’t met a lot of people, so he sat by me at the football game.”
“Where is he from?” Grace asked.
Ronni shrugged. They hadn’t really talked about the past. Hers was too painfully close to catching up with her to mention.
Nel picked up her teacup and blew over the rim. “Tristan said Bodie works out of the DNR office in Gainesville. He moved here a couple of months ago. His daughter and mother came a few weeks later.”
“He’s a game warden?” Grace peered at Nel above her coffee cup. “Does the pack need to be worried?”
“Well,” Cassie began. “When Gavin, more or less, told Bodie to stay out of the Co-op’s business, Bodie informed him that the wolf pack falls within the realm of his responsibility. Then, he pointed out that he has law enforcement power and is willing to use it.”
Ronni choked on the coffee she’d swallowed. In essence, Bodie had unwittingly threatened the Walker’s Run Alpha. It was a very good thing that Bodie wasn’t wolfan.
“What did Gavin do?” Nel asked.
“He told Bodie what actually happened and what little the sentinels knew about the three poachers,” Cassie said. “Bodie really wants to catch them,
too, and suggested working with our security team. Believe it or not, Gavin agreed. He feels that Bodie could become a trusted ally, eventually.”
Speculative eyes landed on Ronni again.
“Don’t look at me. I barely know the man.” Ronni took an unhurried drink of coffee.
“What does your instinct say?” Cassie asked.
At the moment, nothing trustworthy. Ever since Ronni had met Bodie, her instincts were a scrambled jumble of confusion.
“Tristan really likes him,” Nel said when Ronni didn’t speak up. “Bodie reminds him of Mason.” Brice’s older brother had been Tristan’s best friend until rogue wolfans killed him. Brice had survived the attack because of his brother’s sacrifice, and no one in the Walker’s Run pack had forgotten the loss.
“Then he must be a good man,” Cassie said quietly.
“No pressure or anything,” Grace said, “but are you planning to go out with Bodie again?”
“We haven’t actually gone out a first time, yet.” Friday night was simply a shared outing with their kids. And although she might want Bodie to invite her on a date, she’d rather wait until after the situation with Jeb was settled.
Delicious scents wafted toward Ronni and she watched servers with loaded trays parade from the kitchen. Their table was the first served and a smorgasbord of food was placed before them.
While Nel and Cassie began with fruits and lighter fare, Ronni and Grace dug into the meats and quiches.
“I can see how the football game might’ve been an accidental meet-up, but grabbing pizza afterward, that was a date.” Grace licked the bacon grease from her fingertips.
“The kids were on dates.” Ronni speared another sausage link. “Bodie and I were chaperones.”
“He kissed you good-night, didn’t he?” Grace asked.
“A peck on the cheek is not a kiss.” Actually, Ronni wasn’t sure what it was. Though Bodie’s lips had barely grazed her skin, her face had warmed and the heat had spread through her entire body. He simply stood there, eyes closed, until her tightly coiled breaths synced with his soft, rhythmic puffs and then he’d said good-night and walked away.
Captivated by the She-Wolf Page 6