by T. S. Joyce
“Dead rabbits?”
Nicole laughed and nodded. “I didn’t know werewolves existed yet, I had just moved to Alaska, and I had this massive wolf bringing me dead things. I thought he was trying to lure me outside to eat me.”
Kate giggled and settled onto her folded legs. “This makes me feel better. I was starting to think Dalton and I had both gone insane.”
“Uuuh, Dalton has gone insane. Do you know how many times he’s called us?” Nicole’s dark eyebrow arched up. “Ten times, at least, and from a damned satellite phone, just asking for us to check on you. That fight with Dr. Vega has him worried something fierce. He made Link drive out to the medical center during one of your shifts just to make sure that asshole doctor wasn’t giving you grief. Dalton hates being away from you like this.”
“Well, Dr. Vega spent most of the week in the police station. He didn’t pass a sobriety test, and he was full of death threats. He sobered up enough not to land in the psych ward in Anchorage, but from what I hear, it was a close call. He’s not allowed within a hundred yards of me, and he was officially fired from the medical center this morning for misconduct. He won’t bother me anymore.” She wished she felt as confident as she sounded. She was still pretty shaken by his whole tirade. Janice and Lacy were too. “Dalton was right. Something is really wrong with Dr. Vega.” She almost pitied the man. That considerable amount of hate must weigh heavily on him. What a sad and empty life.
Nicole gave Link a loaded look, and a million things passed between them in an instant.
“What?” Kate asked.
“You should be careful around him,” Link said. “It’s a small town, and at some point you’ll cross paths. Don’t provoke him, don’t even talk to him if you can avoid it. Over the last year, I’ve found several traps on our land. Big ones. I confronted the owner of the trap line, who is trespassing, but each time he seems less and less apologetic.”
Horrified by the idea of one of the wolves getting stuck in one, she asked, “Who’s setting the traps?”
“Emanuel Vega.”
The blood drained from her face, leaving her skin cold and tingly. “Oh my gosh, Link. He really knows, doesn’t he?”
Link squatted down beside her and Nicole and forced a smile. “We’ll figure everything out. It’s not the first time in our history we’ve dealt with disgruntled humans. Let me worry about Vega. Today is a good day.”
With a shaky sigh, she nodded. “If there is anything I can do, you’ll let me know?”
“Of course. What I mostly need you to do is be wary and safe around him, though. He’s dangerous.”
“But I don’t understand why he’s so angry. You are members of the community. You help people. Everyone in town knows if they need construction work, you’re the man to do the job, and you charge fairly. You stay under the radar.”
Link let off a dark laugh. “Well, my family didn’t care so much about staying hidden. I’m starting to get the feeling their bad decisions are haunting us. We’ll figure it all out, though.”
Kate’s phone rang, and butterflies fluttered around her stomach as she recognized the number. It wasn’t the satellite phone Dalton had been using to keep in touch while he was out in the bush, but his cell phone number instead.
“Hi,” she answered breathlessly.
“Hey, beautiful,” he greeted in that deep, sexy voice of his. “How is moving day going?”
Besides the news about Vega the pecker-face werewolf trapper? “It’s going okay. We’re about done boxing everything up. It’ll take a few trips because I can’t get my truck to start and all we have is Link’s Bronco, but we should get it done by tonight.”
“I wish I could be there.”
“Me, too. I miss you! And I need your muscles.”
Dalton’s chuckle made her close her eyes at how good his laugh sounded over the line. It had been an eternal week without him.
“Well, I have a surprise for you. A delivery.”
“A delivery of what?”
“Of muscles.” A knock sounded at the door.
Hope unfurled inside her, and she stood, then padded to the front door. With one baffled glance over her shoulder at Link and Nicole, who were grinning knowingly, she opened the door.
Dalton stood there, looking like a tall glass of water in a scorching desert. Long, powerful legs splayed, muscular chest and shoulders pressing against the thin fabric of a blue sweater, the top two buttons of which were undone to expose that sexy crease between his pecs. A dark beard covered the bottom half of his face, and his eyes were lightened to a caramel brown that danced and sparked as he smiled down at her. Slowly, he lowered the phone from his ear.
“Dalton!” Kate jumped and clung, wrapping her legs around his waist as she kissed him. His beard was sexy as heck, but it prickled her and made her laugh as he pulled her closer and thrust his tongue past her lips. Dalton, Dalton, Dalton, her Dalton. She’d missed him so much, and he was here. Here! “You beastly bearded man, you’re tickling me!”
Dalton rubbed his cheek against hers roughly and laughed unapologetically. When he settled her on her feet, he was grinning big, and his eyes were the color of evening sunlight. Brawny, beautiful, fearsome Alaskan werewolf, and he was hers.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were still on the fishing tour.”
“The tour ended this morning, and I busted my ass unpacking us, taking care of the horses, and restocking the woodpile. I had to get chores done, but I’d asked Tobias to come pick me up so I could try and make it in time to move you. I hated thinking about you doing this without me.” His gaze landed on her temple, and the smile dropped from his lips in an instant. “Shit, Kate,” he murmured, running a light fingertip just under her stitches. “You said it was nothing but a scrape.”
“I don’t want to talk about Dr. Vega.” Ever again. “I want to forget about him and move on.” Overcome with emotion, she hugged him tight and buried her face against his chest. Every ounce of uncertainty had trickled from her body the second she’d kissed him. Finally, after the everlasting week she’d had, she felt safe again.
Dalton cupped her head, hugging her tightly. She could feel his words just as well as hear them. “Don’t go to pieces on me, woman. I need to introduce you to some people.”
She looked up at him. “What?”
Dalton leaned down slowly, sipped her lips, then jerked his head to the side. “We’re going to get your things in one trip.” He turned her slowly, moving so that his wide shoulders didn’t block the street anymore. Up the stairs behind him, Chance grinned at her through a scruffy blond beard, and just behind him stood a couple of giant, familiar men, one tiny, golden-eyed woman, and Elyse and Lena. The Silvers.
“Hey, Kate,” Ian said, his bright blue eyes dancing as he shook her hand. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Hi,” she said, stunned as Chance gave her a quick hug in passing.
Tobias climbed down the stairs toward her and offered his hand for a shake, too.
Oh, she’d known them before this because Galena was a small town and everyone knew everyone, but this was her first time seeing them since she’d found out they hid freaking grizzly bears inside of them.
One by one, the Silvers trickled into her tiny apartment. Elyse gave her a back-cracking hug with one arm, holding her baby boy with the other. Lena followed suit and told her “Welcome to the family.”
The last Silver mate stopped in front of her, head canted as she studied Kate. “I’m Vera Silver,” the golden-eyed woman said, offering her hand.
“I’m Kate Hawke,” she said, feeling breathless. “You saved Link. You saved Fina.” She didn’t mean to fan-girl out on her, but, well, there it was. Vera was good and was working to help shifters in ways no one had been able to do in history. Pursing her lips in embarrassment, Kate forced herself to stop shaking Vera’s hand.
“I made you beer and beef jerky, and I’m going to save your girl babies. We’re going to be friends.”
/> “Okay,” Kate said on a stunned breath as Vera pulled her into an organ-squishing hug.
“Accept my affection,” Vera whispered.
“I wouldn’t fight it,” Dalton teased from beside them. “She’s relentless. Her time on Perl Island made her a clingy weirdo.”
Vera snapped her teeth at Dalton. “Accept it,” she repeated to Kate.
Feeling a little like she was in a dream, Kate lifted her arms and hugged Vera back, hard, who then released Kate to go greet Link inside. Vera examined Link’s eyes immediately, pulling his cheeks down, one and then the other, while he ruffled her chestnut curls. And when she seemed satisfied, she hugged Link up tight. She hooked arms with Nicole, then headed straight for Fina as the others greeted Link with low murmurs and chuckles. Her apartment was filled with happy reunions and laughter, and she couldn’t help the smile that stretched her face.
Her sister and brother-in-law might not have come through, but these almost strangers were now picking up boxes stacked three high as if they weighed no more than a rung of computer paper, smiles on their faces as if they were happy to be here.
“You look emotional again,” Dalton said, hugging her tight to his side.
“I’m not,” she lied.
He swept her off her feet so fast her stomach dipped, then climbed up the stairs to the yard. The snow was completely gone now, and little shoots of green grass poked up everywhere as the midday sun beamed down. It was warm enough that she wasn’t even freezing without her jacket on.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked. She should really be helping the others.
“Your truck. We need to pull it around to load.”
“It’s not working. The engine won’t turn over. I have to take it into the shop.”
Without missing a step, Dalton settled her on her feet and pressed his lips to hers, backing her toward the old blue Ford sitting underneath the awning beside her landlord’s car. “I’ll get you both running,” he promised between kisses.
Warmth dumped in her middle, and she could feel her heartbeat between her legs, pounding with need. “You know about cars?” she gasped as his lips plucked at the sensitive skin of her neck.
“I do.” He backed her to the front of the Ford and popped the hood with one hand, successfully blocking them from the road.
“We can’t do this here,” she said. The Silvers were already loading up, walking back and forth to their trucks that lined the curb out front. She could hear them talking and joking!
“We won’t. You will.” Dalton pressed against her, pinning her to the grill of her truck as he ground his erection against her. “Fuck, woman, I’ve missed you. It was torture being out there with a bunch of dudes, and thinking about you. Thinking about the things we’ve done together.” He slipped his hand down the front of her jeans and pressed his finger inside of her as she rocked against his palm. “All I wanted to do was come home and hold you. Come home and feel this.” He dragged his fingertip through her wet heat, then slid into her again. “I wanted to come home and feel you come for me.”
The pressure was already blinding. Too fast. She was already there. To stifle her moan, she clamped her teeth hard on his chest. A soft snarl, one she’d missed indescribably much, rattled from him as he pushed his finger into her again and again. Her orgasm blasted through her in deep, quick pulses, and Dalton slowed his rhythm as she clutched his sweater.
Breath ragged, she released his skin from her bite and went limp against him. Dalton cupped her neck, just beneath her ear, and kissed her gently, but the stony erection pressed against her belly said he was still thoroughly worked up. Dalton smiled against her lips, nipped her once, then leveled her with those sexy, golden eyes. “Next time you bite me, you better mean it.”
“Bloodthirsty,” she accused in a weak voice.
Dalton slid his hand out of her jeans and hugged her close, his warm body pressed against every inch of hers. With a wicked grin, he murmured, “Not bloodthirsty. I want your mark. Now, go try to start the truck. I need to hear how it sounds when the engine tries to turn over.”
Boneless, she stumbled this way and that like a noodle until she pulled the door open and scrambled inside the cab of her truck. She turned the engine. It stuttered for a while, but never caught. She leaned out the door to watch Dalton as she tried again.
He was standing with his arms locked on the frame, frowning as he looked at the innards of her ride.
“Hold up,” he said, then began unplugging and checking things she had no guess at. He glared at the end of a line, blew on it, then plugged it in again, muttering to himself. He pushed and pulled, and at last said, “You need a new belt soon. This one’s cracked to hell and won’t last much longer, but she’ll hold for today.”
“Is that what’s wrong with it?”
“No, that doesn’t have anything to do with it not starting. Try again.”
She twisted the key, and the engine stuttered and almost caught this time.
“Again,” he said, gripping the frame as he stared inside.
She turned the key, and this time it caught and held. Holy moly, Dalton was a sexpot. She hadn’t known he was so good with cars, but thinking about it, she wasn’t surprised. Any time she complained about something not working in her apartment, he’d fixed it within a day.
His hands were covered in oil, but he didn’t seem to mind one bit as he closed the hood and said, “Go ahead and back her up to the edge of the driveway so we don’t have to walk so far. She’ll start again, but I need to pick up a few parts before I head back to Silver Summit.”
Talk of him leaving so soon had her heart dipping to her toes. She swiveled in the seat to face the open door. “When are you going?”
“Tomorrow,” he said, settling between her legs as she sat on the driver’s seat with the rumble of the idling engine filling the air.
“Nooo. I just got you back.”
“Black bear season starts next week, and we always get pummeled with tours when they come out of hibernation.”
She knew all about bears from growing up in bear country. “That sounds dangerous. They’re hungry and angry when they wake up.”
Dalton leaned forward and sucked on her bottom lip playfully, then lowered his kisses to her neck. “Are you worried for me, mate?”
“Heck yes, I am. I never really thought about what you do before you mentioned hunting freaking bears.”
“Aaah, but if you saw my wolf, you wouldn’t worry so much.”
“Maybe you should show me him before you leave then, because now I’m going to be dreaming of bears attacking you.”
Dalton froze, then eased away from her, his eyes gone deadly serious. “Kate, my animal isn’t like wild wolves. I want you to see him, but you still smell like fear half the time I growl.”
“I do?”
“Faintly, but yeah. Your adrenaline still kicks in. You told me you have nightmares about seeing Miller Change. I don’t want your nightmares associated with me. I want to show you that part of myself when you’re ready.”
She gripped his sweater and sighed. She didn’t like this—him hiding part of himself—but she understood. Miller’s Change had been awful. Bones breaking, snapping so loud it sounded like gunfire out in her backyard, and his body had contorted and reshaped as she’d watched in horror. His wolf had been terrifying, with white eyes and bared teeth, and he’d turned on the door, scratching and clawing, trying to get to her before he gave up and left. Everything in her that night had told her Miller would’ve killed her if that door hadn’t been in the way. The sight of him had filled her with a fear greater than she’d ever known, and Dalton was trying to protect her from being scared like that again.
Knowing what he was and seeing what he was were two totally different things.
“Hey, do you have a couple days you can take off in a row?”
“Why?” she asked cheekily.
“Because I want you to come out on one of my tours. I talked to Lennard and Jenner
, and they said they can always use your nursing skills, just in case. They said you’re welcome on any tour. Lena goes on some of Jenner’s as their photographer, but I wanted to make sure before I asked you.”
She beamed. “Really? Will I get to ride a horse? I love horses. Can I fish? I don’t have any fish in my freezer. I have a license. Will we sleep in a tent? Can you see the northern lights better out on Kodiak?”
Dalton looked utterly amused as he nodded at each of her rattled-off questions. “Yes, yes, yes, all of it. I’ll give you a list Lennard gives all our clients on what to pack. He’s excited about meeting you. He was convinced I’d never settle down.”
“Your boss is a lot nicer than mine was.”
“Lennard’s more than a boss. He’s like a father figure.”
She frowned. “Dalton, you never talked about your dad.”
“He’s the one who taught me about cars,” he said with a sad smile. “Chance used to spend a week at a time at our homestead. We were both only children, so our families passed us back and forth together so we had another pup to grow up with. Chance can fix just about anything, too, because of my dad. He looked Ute, like I do.”
“Looked.” Past tense.
“He was shot. Hunted. He was a wolf at the time. Alaska can be a sanctuary for us because we can run wild in a landscape where it’s natural to see wolves. It can also be a curse.”
“Because of wolf hunts.”
Dalton nodded solemnly.
“I’m so sorry, Dalton.”
“It was a long time ago. I was thirteen when he passed, and Chance’s dad helped raise me when I needed a man in my life. When I started my Changes at sixteen, I had guidance. Chance and I both did. We were luckier than most. The Silvers’ dad, Clayton, didn’t tell them anything about their Changes, didn’t tell them anything about hibernation, and they almost died that first winter.”
“Dalton!” Vera called. “Cease humping. The trucks are almost loaded up.”
“Already?” Kate asked, shocked.
Dalton kissed her one last time, tickling her with his beard.
“You need a shave.”