by Kate Douglas
Mary Ellen. She’d been asking about her sister. “The guys Mary Ellen ended up with were a bonded pair, which I assume means the same as marriage, which tells me they must be gay. But they’ve bonded with Mary Ellen, too? It doesn’t compute, if you get my drift.”
“When you’re Chanku, it’s not all that simple. Not that cut-and-dried.” Tinker twisted in the front seat and angled his big body so that he looked right at her.
Lisa glanced to her right and caught him watching her. The knowledge, the sense of possession in his gorgeous amber eyes sent a shiver along Lisa’s spine, made her want to pull over to the side of the road and rip Tinker’s clothes off for a quick fuck. No, make that long and leisurely…The fantasy was so good she actually felt her nipples harden and poke against her cotton T-shirt. Her panties were already soaked. Lisa bit the inside of her cheek, an intentional sharp nip back to reality.
Tinker chuckled. When she slanted another quick look in his direction, he was grinning, but thankfully he didn’t say anything about her obvious spike of arousal. After their discussion over lunch, Lisa realized that he was fully aware when she was damp, even knew exactly what part of her menstrual cycle she was in. That was, of course, if she believed everything he told her.
So far, he’d not given her any reason to disbelieve anything, except maybe her own sanity. The sex alone was enough to make a believer out of her. She’d never experienced anything like she had today with any man or woman, much less with a man who was basically a stranger.
“Chanku, as a whole, are polyamorous, and there’s no such thing as gay or lesbian or straight, though a bonded pair will only breed with each another. We can feel physically attracted to almost anyone, though never as strongly as to our bonded mate, but that relationship is bound by love as well as the bonding link.” Tinker reached out and ran his finger along her right shoulder, down her arm to her wrist. Goose bumps followed his touch and Lisa shivered.
“Our sex drive is so highly tuned, our ability to arouse and remain aroused so much a part of our makeup, that we find our sexual release whenever and wherever we can. Mik and AJ bonded long before they met Tala, and while they always preferred each other, they never have been averse to sex with a willing female…or male.” Tinker chuckled.
Lisa sensed he remembered something special. “Like you?”
Tinker nodded, completely without shame. “Oh yeah.” There was a lot of feeling in his answer. The image of his perfect body sandwiched between two equally beautiful men almost made Lisa drive off the road.
“Those two are something else. You haven’t had sex until you’ve been tag-teamed by Mik and AJ.”
This time Lisa laughed. “I don’t know. What we’ve been up to this morning was pretty spectacular. I take it they tagged Mary Ellen.”
Tinker’s laugh was filled with memories. “Actually, I think it was the other way around. Neither Mik nor AJ expected to fall in love with a woman because they’d already bonded with each other, but that little gal has both of them wrapped around her pinky finger. I imagine they’ll be setting up their own pack at some point, though for now they’re staying in the Pack Dynamics apartments, or at least they will be when they get back from visiting Baylor, Shannon, and Jake in Maine. We all live in the San Francisco apartments—me, Lucien Stone, Tia Mason, AJ, Mik, and Tala. It’s a good place. You’ll like it.”
Lisa’s head snapped around. “What do you mean, I’ll like it?”
Tinker shrugged. “I want you to come back with me, once you complete the change to Chanku and can shift. Not necessarily to stay, but I do want you to meet the others. For one thing, you’ll need to talk to the women so you’ll know what to expect, how your body will work once the Chanku genes take over.”
Lisa took a deep breath, aware on an almost visceral level of the huge step she’d taken with that one brown pill. The fact that, when all of this finally happened, she would no longer be completely human. At least not human like she was now. She felt her heart rate speed up and wondered if she’d made a horrible mistake, wondered if…no. It was too late to think about decisions already made and roads already taken.
“What about you?” she asked. “Will you be going back?” Lisa drove into the sanctuary grounds and parked under a big pine tree. She shut off the engine, then turned and stared at Tinker.
“That will depend on you. Wherever you go, I want to be.”
Lisa shook her head, totally confused by the powerful sense of commitment in Tinker’s words. “You’ve known me for what, two hours? How can you say that?”
He shrugged and looked away. “I just know it. Know how I feel. You’re the one I want.”
The certainty in his voice was almost frightening. Lisa frowned. “What if I don’t want you?”
Tinker’s sigh was audible in the small cab of the Jeep. When he turned back to her, his smile was sad. “I guess I never thought of that. Is it the race thing? Are you uncomfortable with me because I’m black? I’ve been wolf for so long. Being Chanku blurs the racial lines for us. It makes the race thing trivial, but if my being black is a prob—”
“What?” Lisa laughed, and shook her head. “Oh God, no, I’m not uncomfortable because of your race. I actually thought we looked damned sexy together, and face it, the sex is very hot.”
Lisa realized she was blushing. Now she was the one who sighed. “That’s my problem. I’ve only had girl relationships. I’ve always thought of myself as lesbian. I’m not so sure about this polyamorous stuff. I honestly don’t know how I’d be in any kind of long-term relationship with a man, or from what you’ve described, a group of men.” She put her hand on his thigh and caressed the soft denim of his jeans. She felt the strength and warmth of his muscles beneath her palm, found herself staring at the back of her hand and the way her fingers molded his leg. She couldn’t look him in the eye when she admitted, “Then, again, you’re very convincing.”
When Lisa looked up at him, Tinker was grinning broadly. “We’ll just take things one day at a time,” he said. “In the meantime, let’s go with the old boyfriend bit.” Tinker got out of the Jeep as Lisa climbed out on her side. He walked around the back and grabbed her hand, then pulled her into his arms for a kiss.
His unexpected move caught her so by surprise, Lisa met him with her mouth open. Tinker took full advantage. His lips felt mobile and warm, slanting firmly across her mouth, his tongue finding entrance with one quick thrust. One hand held her solidly between the shoulders; the other cupped the rounded curve of her ass. He ended the kiss just as quickly as he’d begun and turned her loose, then winked at her, throwing her totally off balance. “You realize,” he said, his voice huskier than usual, “no boyfriend of yours in his right mind would ever be an ex. I can’t imagine anyone letting you go.”
She didn’t have an answer for that. Couldn’t do anything but stare into his dark, amber eyes and feel as if the map of her life had suddenly reconfigured itself, as if her future were no longer in her own hands.
No, it was now in the hands of this very sexy, very unusual man. Something Lisa had sworn she’d never allow. The memory of her mother and her many lovers flitted through Lisa’s mind. Flitted in and shoved out as quickly as possible. Still blinking like a woman in a daze, Lisa took Tinker’s hand and led him into the High Mountain office.
Hal Anderson took care of the dazed feeling the minute Tinker held open the door for Lisa to enter ahead of him.
“Where the hell were you? I’ve been looking all over for you, Quinn.”
Lisa glanced at Tinker. His body stiffened, and he appeared ready to punch out the little jerk. She winked at him to let him know everything was under control, and then she scowled at Anderson. “I went home to shower. I needed to clean up after collecting roadkill this morning. Why? What do you want me for?”
“Who’s he?” Hal glared at Tinker and pointed rudely at him.
Lisa might have laughed at the little man’s posturing if he didn’t piss her off so much. Millie West, the secreta
ry sitting quietly behind Hal, rolled her eyes. Millie had never been all that sociable, but she’d worked here longer than anyone and had obviously had her fill of Anderson.
“He happens to be a friend—actually an old boyfriend of mine. He’s here visiting for a while.” She turned to Tinker. “Martin McClintock,” she said, adding as much contempt as she could to her voice, “this is Hal Anderson, the sanctuary’s on-site supervisor. The woman behind him is Millie West. She actually runs the place.”
Anderson glared at Lisa when she mentioned Millie, who waved to acknowledge Tinker, then returned to her work.
Tinker merely smiled and waved at Millie as if there were no tension at all. “Nice to meet you, Ms. West, Hal. Call me Tinker.” He held out his hand, and after waiting just long enough to be impolite, Anderson reached out for a quick shake.
“Old boyfriend, huh? Didn’t think you had any of those, considering your preferences, Quinn.” Lisa ignored Anderson’s rude comment. He directed his next words to Tinker. “I hope you realize Lisa’s got a schedule she needs to keep. She’s an employee here, not one of the volunteers.” Anderson glared at Lisa, and she fought an overwhelming urge to stick her tongue out at him.
Childish, but it might have made her feel better. The guy was an idiot. She’d disliked him from the moment they’d met. So unlike the immediate connection she’d felt with Tinker.
“I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Lisa jerked her attention from Tinker back to her supervisor. “Why? I wasn’t gone more than a couple hours.”
“Did you leave the fenced compound like I told you last night?”
Lisa frowned, unsure what was coming. “Of course I did. And I shut the gate behind me and locked it.”
“We’re missing another wolf.”
“What?” Lisa looked at Tinker, then back to Hal. “Which one? What pack?”
“The ones in that same enclosure where I saw you. You’re sure you didn’t let one out?”
The look Anderson gave her was filled with suspicion. As if he’d think she might turn a wolf loose around here? The animal wouldn’t last a week, not with all the trigger-happy hunters in the area. “Of course I didn’t. Which wolf is missing?”
“One of the half-grown pups. A male. The biggest of the litter. I think it’s number two-sixty-one. When one of the volunteers fed them this morning, only three pups showed up with the adults. We checked the area and couldn’t find the missing pup. We did, however, find fresh tire tracks near the back fence.”
“Tire tracks? Like maybe someone stole him? But why?”
“You tell me.”
Lisa ignored Anderson’s pointed comment. She turned to Tinker and grabbed his hand. “That’s the fifth wolf to go missing since I’ve been here. We can’t figure how they’re getting out. The gates are locked and the fences too high for them to jump. No one’s reported a wolf running wild, and believe me, we’d be the first to hear about it.”
“You neglected to tell your friend that the first wolf disappeared just after you started working here.” Anderson let the comment hang in the still air, then spun around and headed back to the office. “Get to work. The temporary holding pens on the north side need cleaning. Don’t say anything yet about the missing animal. I don’t want word to get out until we figure out what the hell is going on.” He slammed his door. The loud crack punctuated his order.
Once outside in the warm sunlight, Tinker wrapped an arm around Lisa as she let out a deep, long-held breath. He sensed her disbelief and heard a quaver in her voice.
“He’s such a jerk. He’s accusing me of turning the wolves free or, even worse, stealing them. He knows I hate the fact they’re caged, but what other life is there for them? Most of the animals have been socialized by humans too much to survive in the wild. That pup’s parents were raised in an apartment. The female was pregnant when they were brought here by animal control, and she had the four pups here at the sanctuary. That pup’s never even lived wild. I’d never dream of turning him loose or taking him.” Lisa turned and looked at Tinker, her face so forlorn it made his heart ache.
“You don’t know for sure he’s accusing you, sweetie. It doesn’t matter. You know and I know you would never let them out.”
“But that’s the fifth wolf now. Five of them gone since I started working here. Most of these animals were kept illegally as pets or captured when they were puppies. They don’t know how to survive in the wild. This sanctuary is the best place for them. Some of the wolves were kept in dark basements or tiny apartments or tied all day long in hot backyards. Damn people.” Lisa pulled out of Tinker’s light grasp and headed across the dusty parking lot, kicking up little puffs of red dust with every step. “I can’t figure how they got out, unless someone actually stole them. It doesn’t make any sense to turn them loose. Someone would report wolves running free. I don’t know what to think.”
“It’s a big forest. Could they just disappear?”
Lisa shook her head. “This one is still a pup. He’d want to stay close to his family, at least for another year or so. I wish I knew what was going on.”
“Ask them.”
“What?” Lisa spun around in midstep and stared at Tinker. He grinned back at her.
“You heard me. We’ll ask them. I’m not sure you can do it yet, but I might have some luck. They may not be able to communicate everything, but I imagine they’ve got some ideas of where their packmates go, or at least how they get out.”
“You mean you can talk to them? To the wolves?” The look on her face was priceless.
“Didn’t you tell me you thought you were communicating? Take that a few steps further and imagine understanding the visuals they give you. The mental images make more sense to Chanku because, once you’ve shifted, you understand what they mean. It’s like a whole new communications center in your brain. I’m not promising we’ll learn anything useful, but I’d at least like to try.”
Lisa threw her arms around Tinker’s neck and kissed him. “You’re amazing, did you know that? Absolutely amazing.”
He laughed and held her close, kissed her back. “Of course I am, sweetie. And don’t you forget it.”
Lisa stood silently behind him as Tinker stared at the three temporary quarantine pens lined up in a shaded area. Seeing the beautiful animals caged instead of free saddened him, though he knew this was their last chance for survival. Each one had access to its own indoor kennel, and stout chain-link fencing divided each space. One dark gray wolf paced restlessly in the first enclosure. In the second, an older animal with a white face and blue eyes sat silently in a corner, watching them. A pair of pale gray wolves lay together in the final pen, so perfectly matched Tinker knew they had to be siblings.
“I know you’ve got really large enclosures here. Why are these in such small pens?” He glanced at Lisa, then turned his attention back to the animals.
“They’re recent arrivals. Still in quarantine, actually. The two over here were captured as pups and raised in a tiny apartment until they got too big and too dangerous for their owner. They haven’t got a clue how to be wolves, much less survive in the wild. The one with the blue eyes is a crossbreed, about ten percent husky and the rest wolf, and this big fellow was humanely trapped after showing a preference for fresh lamb.”
Tinker raised an eyebrow. “On the hoof?”
Lisa nodded. “Yep. Normally he would have been shot as a predator, but luckily there’s at least one sheep rancher who believes in live trapping and removal. That’s pretty unusual, but we’ll take it. Most ranchers think the only good wolf is a dead wolf.”
“They’re beautiful animals. I hate seeing them in such small quarters.”
“It’s temporary. If they can get along penned this closely, we may be able to release them all into one of the larger enclosures together. So far they’re tolerating one another, which is a hopeful sign. They are, after all, pack animals.”
The wolves paid Tinker little attention. The crossbreed
in the middle pen watched him, but when Tinker opened his mind to the creature’s thoughts, he found nothing beyond a sense of confusion at the strange surroundings.
The older wolf continued to pace, but his mind was sharper, the images more frantic as he weighed various methods of escape. Tinker tried to catch the creature’s attention with his thoughts, but the wolf merely slanted him an angry glance and continued to pace.
Lisa touched Tinker’s forearm. “Any luck? I need to get them into their individual kennels so I can clean out the pens.”
He shook his head. “No, though if these are new arrivals, they might not know anything. The older gray’s the only one who might make any sense, but he’s really agitated right now.”
Lisa laughed as she dug into the bucket of scraps she’d brought with her. “They’ve only been here a week or so. This will calm the old guy down. They usually fall asleep after I feed them.” She walked around the back of the kennels and tossed meat scraps into the first one.
The pair of wolves scented the air, stood up, and sniffed the doorway leading into the enclosed kennel, then slipped through the opening. Lisa quickly shut the door and trapped them inside. She repeated the process with the other two animals until all of them were safely inside their kennels eating. Grabbing a rake and a shovel off the wall, Lisa handed the rake to Tinker and opened the gate to the first enclosure.
The sun beat down on them as they finished up the last of the three pens. “How’d you get all the good jobs?” Tinker leaned on his shovel and grinned at Lisa.
She returned his smile with a glare. “Ask Hal. He does the assignments. So far, beyond feeding and general maintenance, I appear to be in charge of the daily search for fresh roadkill and wolf poop cleanup. Even Seth gets better assignments, and he’s just a kid.”