Captivated by the She-Wolf

by Kristal Hollis

  “Who?” Ronni’s voice shook and tears sprang to her eyes. It didn’t matter if the wolfan was someone close or someone she knew casually. This pack was her family.

  “Reed.” No traces of Tristan’s easygoing temperament could be seen in the dark, deadly anger that flashed in his eyes. “Took a bullet to the shoulder and is on the way to the hospital.”

  “Someone better find those assholes before I do,” Alex snarled. Mad, and more than likely still frightened, he visibly shook.

  “It’s all right to be angry. Hell, I’m as angry as a mockingbird catching a cat near its nest.” Bodie moved closer to Alex. “Those assholes could have hurt you and your mother. But if we let their assery bring us down to their level, who really wins?”

  He cupped Alex’s shoulder, and Alex cut his gaze sharply at Bodie but didn’t shrug him off.

  “I will catch these guys and put them where they can’t hurt anyone else, but I need you to give me the time to do it. Okay?”

  Alex chewed his words a moment, sizing up Bodie before he gave a nod of consent.

  “Good man.” Bodie squeezed Alex’s shoulder. “I got this, I promise.”

  Ronni’s heart melted and a lump rose in her throat. Watching Bodie handle Alex’s fear and frustration like a pro, she knew one thing for sure. Bodie Gryffon was a damn good man, too.

  Chapter 12

  “Are you going to be in there all night?” Mary’s harsh whisper rose above the steady rush of tepid water from the showerhead.

  Resigned, Bodie slowly opened his eyes, dismissing the fantasy he hated to abandon. His body still humming from the explosive release of his previously denied orgasm, he unfisted his cock and turned into the water spray.

  After rinsing his body, he turned off the water, and exited the tiny stall. Following a quick towel-dry, he pulled on his pajama pants, turned off the light inside the closet-sized bathroom and opened the door.

  “We need to talk.” His mother turned, walked into the kitchenette and sat at the small table.

  Some of the tension the shower had banished returned.

  “Willow is asleep,” Bodie said softly.

  “We won’t wake her.”

  Probably not. His daughter slept like the dead. Still, if abruptly awakened, his sweet little chickadee turned as vicious as a riled red-tailed hawk.

  Bodie took the seat across from his mother. A small night-light was the only illumination inside the camper.

  “I don’t like this,” his mother began.

  “We’ll go house hunting again over the weekend.” Bodie rubbed his hand across the sandpapery stubble along his jaw. Damn. He’d forgotten to shave. Between Willow getting ready for school and his mother getting dressed, he doubted there would be enough time for him to shave in the morning.

  “I meant your obsession with that woman.”

  “You’ve told me.” Over and over again. Ronni wasn’t Tlanuhwa. Or young enough, though Bodie didn’t care she was slightly older than him.

  And she wasn’t pretty enough. Oh, he’d lost his temper with that one. Ronni wasn’t an exotic beauty but he could lose himself in the depths of her eyes. Her fine-boned face was more pleasing to him than any other, and her creamy skin and womanly curves made his body burn hotter than a forest fire during a midsummer drought.

  “After Layla died, I knew, one day, you would want a mate again. I didn’t expect you to take this long, though.” Mary patted Bodie’s hands, which were folded on the table. “But to go outside our people?” She shook her head.

  “The Tribunal made a mistake with me and Layla. We had nothing in common and she didn’t like me very much.”

  “She would have come to love you, in time. As I did with your father.” His mother’s plastic smile spoke volumes. “The Pairing Ceremony is our way, Bodie.”

  “Forcing people into relationships that they don’t want is wrong. It’s the twenty-first century. Ancient superstitions have no place here.”

  “The Quickening is not a superstition,” she said flatly. “It’s as real as the Tlanuhwarians themselves.”

  Growing up, Bodie had learned the stories about his Tlanuhwarian ancestors—giant, unconscionable, bird-like beasts. Vicious and deadly, they terrorized the First Nations people, destroying villages whenever the Quickening awakened them in the spring from a winter-long hibernation to seek a mate. Many people lost their lives during the dark period before the great shift that sparked a sentient change in their development.

  “We’ve evolved, Mom.” Modern Tlanuhwas were peaceful people. “We aren’t ruled by base instincts.”

  “Then what draws you to this woman, night after night, if not the Quickening?”

  “I like the way I feel when I’m with Ronni.” Playful, passionate, protective. “And we have great chemistry.” Explosive, actually.

  “That’s how it starts.” His mother’s fearful brown eyes rounded. “An overwhelming physical attraction.”

  “Lust, Mom. It’s called lust. And the overwhelming part happens when a man hits a dry spell.” Going on six and a half months now. “That doesn’t mean I’ve lost my self-control. And I’m certainly not going to clobber her over the head, drag her up to my nest and eviscerate anything or anyone that comes near her.”

  “The Quickening is a serious matter,” she snapped. “It is a catalyst in awakening the beast.”

  “Mom, we’re not primitives like our ancestors. We have rational minds and the reasoning ability to manage our impulses. The dark ages ended long ago. For the sake of future generations, we must put these superstitions to rest.” He glanced toward Willow’s bedroom door.

  “So you are turning your back on your heritage?”

  “No, I’m simply trying to move forward. And I fully intend to keep seeing Ronni.” If he hadn’t been there tonight, she could’ve been seriously injured or killed. His mind wouldn’t stop replaying the horrific moment when he’d thought she’d been shot.

  From a forbidden place within, cold, lethal images formed in his mind. He knew the thoughts were wrong. Still, he felt a sliver of satisfaction envisioning himself plucking out the hunters’ eyes and entrails.

  “Bodaway!” Mary leaned across the table and clasped his face, pulling down his lower lids. “Your eyes!”

  “What are you doing?” he snarled as she jerked his head back and forth, up and down.

  “Your eyes are glowing red.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “The beast is beginning to stir. You must be careful!”

  “What you saw was the reflection of the night-light on my retinas.” He knocked her hands away. “I’m Tlanuhwa, not a Tlanuhwarian. Those creatures no longer exist.”

  “You’re wrong.” Worry wrinkled her brow as she eased into her seat. “One lives inside us all.”

  “Stop letting your imagination overrule your common sense.” Bodie stood, intending to return to the bathroom to shave before he pulled out the couch to sleep. “I don’t want you telling Willow any of your fantastical stories. All she needs to hear is that we are Tlanuhwa. We evolved from the Tlanuhwarians. We are a peaceful species now. And she is free to make her own choices.”

  And so would he.

  * * *

  “This isn’t a good time.” Ronni glared at Jeb standing at the front door.

  “I heard what happened last night.” Jeb’s low voice rumbled.

  “Then you know that Alex and I are fine.” She refused to flinch at his intimidating scrutiny. “We’re about to leave. Anything you have to say can wait for tonight.”

  “We got off to a bad start yesterday. I’d like to try again.” Jeb’s sudden apologetic demeanor raised Ronni’s suspicions. The man she once knew was not one who asked for do-overs. He took what he wanted and didn’t give a damn about it. “Let me take you and Alex to dinner, just the three of us.”

  She might’ve been a high sc
hool dropout, but she wasn’t stupid.

  “If you don’t want to come to supper tonight, that’s your choice. I won’t offer again.”

  “Rafe said he would be here tonight. I’d prefer just me, you and Alex.”

  “I’d prefer it if you would leave us alone.”

  “Now that Zeke is gone, you and Alex are my responsibility.”

  “I don’t need you to be responsible for us. I can support Alex and myself.”

  “Under wolfan law, I have blood-kin rights.”

  “You have no rights as far as we are concerned. You were dead to us and we’ve gotten along just fine without you.”

  “You know why I had to leave.”

  “I’m grateful that you did, but you should not have come.”

  “I’ve changed, Veronika.”

  She noticed he didn’t say for the better.

  “When I heard about Zeke,” he went on, “I returned home and cleaned house.”

  “How is that a change? You were always brawling with someone over something.” People in Pine Ridge cowered in fear of Jeb. All breathed a collective sigh of relief when he left.

  “I didn’t do this for myself. I did it for Zeke. I took care of the sorry bastards who attacked him.”

  Ronni pressed her hand over her eyes, trying not to see the image forming in her mind of Zeke stumbling into the house. Bleeding and battered and barely clinging to life. Just to tell her how much he loved her and Alex, with his dying breath.

  “It wasn’t quick. I made them suffer.”

  She wiped away the tears beginning to fall. “Then you haven’t changed.”

  “I said I did it for Zeke!”

  “He’s still dead, Jeb. What was the point?”

  “I had to make it safe for you and Alex to come home.” Jeb’s jaw twitched.

  “We are home. This is where Zeke wanted us to be. He knew there was something better for us in Walker’s Run and we have what he wanted us to have now.”

  Without taking her eyes off him, she turned her head slightly and called behind her. “Alex, downstairs now! You’re going to be late for school.”

  “We need to come to an understanding.”

  “No, you need to understand that Alex and I aren’t leaving Walker’s Run.”

  “Having me back in your life is a shock. You need some time to adjust.”

  “All the time in the world isn’t enough to change my mind.”

  Heavy footfalls pounded the stairs.

  “Don’t make this difficult.”

  “From my side of things, you’re the one making things difficult.”

  “What are you doing here?” Alex stood next to his mother. Tall, with a quiet assertiveness he’d inherited from his father and Rafe’s influence had honed.

  “Checking on you and your mama.” Jeb studied Alex’s face and Ronni knew he was remembering Zeke at that age. “You aren’t safe while poachers are a viable threat in the territory.”

  “Bodie said he’d catch ’em.” Alex bumped past Jeb. “Mom, let’s go.”

  Ronni collected her purse and keys from the entryway table and locked the front door. Jeb caught her arm.

  “How long have you been seeing that ranger?”

  Long enough to fall hard and fast into lust.

  “Not your business, Jeb.” She pulled free of his loose grip.

  “For God’s sake, Veronika. He’s not even wolfan.”

  “But he is a good man. And a damn good kisser.” Not only had Bodie given her the best kiss she’d had in forever, he’d also pulled all of the tension out of her last night in a long overdue orgasm.

  She started toward the car. “Don’t come to my store and stay away from Alex’s school or I’ll tell Gavin that you’re stalking us.”

  “I have a right to see my family.”

  “Supper is at seven. It’s all the time you’ll get.” She got in the car and closed the door.

  “Why are you smiling like that?” Alex gave her a funny look. “I didn’t think you liked Uncle Jeb.”

  “He’s not the one I’m smiling about.”

  Chapter 13

  “I appreciate you checking on Ronni and Alex last night after the trouble.” Rafe sat on Ronni’s cream-colored leather couch, a hand-crocheted throw neatly folded across its back. The man’s eyes were intense, never missing a flicker of anything in his surroundings.

  Though Rafe was younger than Ronni, she seemed to look to him for support and it wasn’t difficult to see the adoration in Alex’s eyes whenever their cousin spoke to him. Having no extended family of his own, Bodie found himself a little envious of their close-knit ties.

  “Once I knew what was going on, I had to come.” Bodie’s gaze drifted to the kitchen. Ronni was bent over, pulling something out of the oven. Her jeans hugged curves that he was dying to run his hands over, again.

  Rafe didn’t seem to mind that Bodie had jumped from being a “good friend” to being in a relationship with Ronni so quickly. Admittedly, the whole thing had happened at a more accelerated rate than he’d planned. But extreme situations called for extreme measures.

  If human, he probably would not have involved himself in such a complicated situation. Since he wasn’t, Bodie felt confident in his ability to handle himself.

  Besides, after last night’s scare, his instinct would not allow him to simply walk away from Ronni. Following the plan was no longer an option. He was in this for the long haul because what Bodie wanted for his family was all around him.

  Last night, he’d been too hyped up to sense it. But walking through the door tonight and into Ronni’s opened-arm greeting, he knew this was where he wanted to roost.

  “Tristan said you’re helping the Co-op’s security team tonight,” Rafe said easily.

  “I’m doing a fly-over in my Cessna.” A licensed pilot, Bodie had offered to provide aerial assistance in the search for the illegal hunters, in the event they were out again tonight.

  The doorbell chimed and Bodie walked to the door without giving thought to whether Rafe should’ve been the one to greet the dinner guest.

  “Right on time,” Bodie said, rather than offering a welcome because Jeb was definitely not welcomed in Ronni’s home.

  Jeb’s steely eyes peered straight through Bodie. He felt a ruffle beneath his skin but kept his expression neutral.

  Nose slightly twitching, Jeb stepped inside the house. His gaze rounded the room before targeting Ronni’s cousin.

  “Wyatt.” Jeb’s intimidating stance had no effect on Rafe, who remained watchful and relaxed. Bodie guessed the interaction was some sort of wolfan posturing. Of the two, he would be more concerned with Rafe. Something about him felt more predatory and lethal.

  Not to undermine Jeb’s strength and determination, because he definitely could pose a threat. However, Rafe’s quietness and the slightly feral look in his eyes gave Bodie pause. He hoped it did the same to Jeb.

  Jeb looked up at the kids lined on the balcony. Alex, Willow and Lucas peered down, their faces a mix of curiosity and wariness.

  Bodie had been surprised to see Lucas, but Ronni said he frequently stayed for supper and overnight. His parents worked at the hospital and sometimes they had overlapping shifts.

  “Evenin’, Alexander.” Jeb stepped toward the staircase.

  Now Rafe stood, definitely establishing boundaries.

  “I prefer Alex,” the teenager answered back, narrowing his eyes at his uncle.

  “Supper is almost done,” Ronni’s strained voice called from the kitchen archway. “Kids, come set the table.”

  Alex led the group downstairs, Willow between the two boys. A warm feeling ebbed inside Bodie at their protectiveness toward his daughter.

  From what he’d observed, the Co-op’s wolf shifters were definitely family-centric and civic-minded
and he wanted his family to be included in their circle of protection.

  Once Ronni took the kids into the kitchen, Jeb started in that direction. Rafe moved to block him.

  “Have a seat,” Bodie said. “If you go into the kitchen, Ronni will put you to work peeling potatoes or washing dishes.”

  Annoyance curled Jeb’s lip but he sat in the chair Bodie had previously occupied. Bodie took the rocking chair, which was more comfortable than it looked, and the crocheted afghan folded across the back held a tinge of Ronni’s scent. He found himself turning his head slightly toward it to inhale more of her enticing fragrance.

  Rafe wasn’t much of a talker with Bodie. He became less of one with Jeb’s arrival.

  “How long are you in town?” Bodie asked Jeb.

  The older man stopped the visual inspection of the room to size up Bodie. His gray eyes were harsh and full of the cold reflections of a man used to hard living; his roughened knuckles had likely paid the way.

  “He’s leaving in the morning,” Rafe said.

  The tension in the room skyrocketed, all of it stemming from Jeb, whose light-skinned face darkened, and his hands curled into meaty fists. Rafe merely gave him a mild look.

  “Wow, that’s a quick turnaround.” And good riddance. Bodie wanted the man far, far away from Ronni. “Where are you from?”

  “Kentucky,” Jeb said, glaring at Rafe.

  Apparently something had transpired between the two men, or rather wolfans, and Jeb was still sore about it.

  “Kentucky, huh.” Not nearly far enough away. Bodie had been hoping for something more remote. Like Pluto.

  The weighted silence seemed to stretch an eternity.

  “Supper is ready,” Ronni called from the dining room.

  Relieved, the men walked to the table beautifully decorated and loaded with a platter of fried pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn on the cob and a squash casserole.

  Ronni sat the kids first, Alex on the right side in the middle seat, Willow across from him, with Lucas to Willow’s left. Rafe took the right seat from the head of the table. Bodie was directed to the left seat. Jeb clearly wasn’t happy to not be seated at the head and grudgingly sat to Alex’s right. Ronni sat at the head of the table, as she should in her own house. At the foot of the table, the place reserved for Bodie’s mother remained empty. Bodie had passed along an apology that she was having a migraine and unable to attend. Truth be told, she had refused to come.