by Vivian Arend
Slowly, feeling his strength, feeling the comfort he offered, the pain eased. Keil’s hand ran over her hair, and she remembered him touching her like that last night. He must think she was some kind of emotional yo-yo, running hot then cold. She took a deep breath and sniffed hard, pulling away from his embrace.
Keil reached a hand to cup her face. He wiped away a tear with his thumb. “I’m not sure what’s wrong, but I think I’ve guessed a bit. Did something happen to your mom when you were born?”
Robyn nodded. She patted her pockets searching for tissue when Keil handed her a clean hankie. It took a minute to get herself back together, Keil politely ignoring her runny nose and wet face until she felt presentable.
She flicked glances up at him as he stood waiting for her. He gazed over the lake, his strong body like a pillar of granite. What was it about this man that fascinated her? He turned to see if she was ready and held a hand to her. Robyn grasped his warm fingers, enjoying the tingling sensation that raced up her arm as he wrapped his hand around hers and led her back into the cabin.
Inside Keil refused to talk. Instead he made her up a plate of food and sat beside her while he ate his own meal. The lump in her throat settled, aided by the fact that sitting in close proximity to Keil made her mouth water and she had to swallow twice as often as usual.
TJ spoke while he ate, which made for confusing moments as Robyn misread most of what he said. He was telling her all about their pack and how they spent time together in human form as well as in wolf. At one point she was sure that he said something about mooning people down main-street Haines, but that had to have been the extra large piece of sandwich he’d shoved in his mouth.
Breakfast finished, Robyn had to admit she felt a bit better. Having an emotional breakdown on an empty stomach was too much. Keil grabbed her dishes and kissed her softly on the cheek. “We’ll wash up, you write. Tell me what’s got you worried.”
His dark eyes stayed on her until she nodded, then he turned away and got to work. He and TJ goofed off with the dishtowels and soap bubbles while they cleaned up the dishes and tidied the sleeping bags. Robyn sipped at her coffee as she watched, the love between the brothers clear.
She forced herself to pull the pad closer and write. When she finished she found Keil staring at her from where he sat waiting on the edge of the sleeping platform. His gaze ran over her body and he wasn’t trying to hide the look of desire on his face. Their eyes met, and the shock of connection thrilled through her.
The wolf thing. It had to be something to do with animal attraction that was making her want to roll all over the floor with the man. Preferably naked. She licked her lips involuntarily, and the answering flash in Keil’s eyes heated her blood to near boiling.
Damn, it was time to stop with the coffee and break out the ice water.
Keil tapped the space next to him and held out a hand for the notepad. “Come here, Robyn, sit by me while I read.” She glanced over at TJ who was sprawled in a chair in front of the stove, making notes in the cabin’s journal, before she took a step toward Keil. “He’s going to let us talk this out alone.”
Robyn sat, highly aware of the feel of his thigh touching hers as he shifted his body to wrap an arm around her torso and snuggle her tightly to his side. If she looked up she could still see his lips move.
In fact his lips were close enough to kiss if she leaned forward a tiny bit.
She whipped her head back to safety, examining the notepad and the message she’d written.
I was told that my mother and father were hunting caribou along the Dempster Highway when there was an accident at their hunting camp. Someone’s gun went off and the bullet killed my father instantly and wounded my mother sending her into shock. The others at the camp managed to get her to the hospital at Dawson City where I arrived almost two months early. When my mother died right after my delivery I was adopted. All I have from my parents is my boot knife.
I guess that’s why I never got “triggered”? I can’t turn into a wolf.
I wish I could. I bet it’s amazing.
She glanced up to see if he’d finished reading. He smiled down tenderly. “It’s going to be all right. I’ll explain a couple things first to help you understand.”
He ripped off the top sheet of the notepad to a clean page. She watched over his arm as he divided the page in three parts and drew a circle in each part. In the top circle he wrote Full-blood, in the bottom he wrote Half-blood. He left the middle one empty. He adjusted them both to sit comfortably on the platform and face her better.
“Short biology lesson, Robyn. Full-blood werewolf, both Mom and Dad have the genes. Pass the dormant gene to baby. Baby triggered with hormones in milk, can turn to wolf around puberty.” He lowered the notepad for a moment. “And if you think that teenage humans are moody, wait until you see an angst-ridden fifteen-year-old wolf. Very scary.”
She snorted at him, and he winked and continued.
“Half-blood, only one parent has wolf genes. They’re still passed on to the baby, dormant, but for some reason even milk from a werewolf mom won’t trigger them. The hormones have to come from something else.” Robyn watched as Keil wrote milk across from the top circle. He paused before writing sex across from the bottom circle.
“Half-blood wolves can get triggered by having sex with a full-blood. The hormones released during unprotected sex work fast, and since wolves can’t get STDs, it’s both effective and safe. There’s a little added complication for males because of something called ‘FirstMate’, but females don’t have to worry about it.” He stopped and Robyn swallowed hard.
Well. That was a bit of a surprise.
One circle left to fill in. She watched as he wrote her name in the empty space.
Oh shit. She knew where this was going.
She grabbed the pen and flipped over the page, crawling away from him on the platform to write. She might have the hots for the man. No way was he going to use a biology lesson to get into her pants.
You want to have sex with me?
The flash of hot desire in his eyes answered the question faster than his mouth could.
“Hang on, Robyn. There’s one more thing I need to explain. And that’s all I’m doing, explaining. You get to make any decisions you want based on what I tell you. Trust me.”
Robyn hesitated and then insistently shook the notepad at him. If he didn’t ’fess up she was going to hit him.
“Hell, yes, I want to make love with you. But that’s because you’re my mate.”
Robyn’s fingers were awkward as she scrambled to respond. Convenient. Maybe I should ask TJ if he wants to fuck me too.
Keil burst with a roar that she felt down to her bones. “No one else is going to fuck you, especially not TJ!”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw TJ fly backward off his chair to land in a puddle on the floor. “Holy crap, Keil, what are you telling her?”
TJ must not have liked how Keil answered because he cowered lower on the floor. “Well, hurry it up, listening to one side of your conversation is scaring me to death.”
Robyn considered for a moment and held up her hand to Keil. She snuck over to TJ and wrote him a note. Even if they’d rehearsed this, she didn’t think TJ was fast enough to try and pull one over on her. He’d be forced to tell her the truth.
Keil says he’s my mate. What does that mean and how can I tell if it’s true?
“Hey, bro, she’s asking me about you.”
Robyn stepped back toward the sleeping platform keeping her eyes firmly on TJ.
“Of course I won’t touch her. First, promise you won’t hurt me.”
TJ crawled off the ground. He wrinkled up his face and gazed upward as he rubbed a finger over his lips, as if trying to remember something. Shortly he nodded to himself and turned to face both Robyn and Keil.
“Okey dokey. Mates are like getting married, only better for five reasons.” He held up a hand and lifted a finger with each comment he made.
“First, mates have similar interests and tastes. Second, the chemical attraction between mates makes it impossible to miss knowing they are ‘the one’. Third, sex between mates is super hot and stays that way for their entire lives. Fourth, mates are connected deeper than physically, there’s a mental and emotional connection too. And finally, mates never, ever fool around on each other.” TJ looked at Keil who stood with his mouth dropped open in amazement. “Pretty good, hey, Keil? Tony and I wrote that up for the pack chicks when they wanted to do a wolf version of a Cosmo ‘Find Your Perfect Mate’ quiz.”
TJ grabbed Robyn by the hand and pulled her with him as he went to stand next to Keil. “How you can tell it’s true is easy. Remember, bro, you said you wouldn’t hurt me. Robyn, give me a kiss.”
“TJ.”
“Just on the cheek! Check out my scent and how it makes you feel. Then kiss Keil. That’ll explain better than words.” He turned his face to the side, keeping a wary eye on his brother.
Robyn bit her lip. She didn’t need to do this “test” of TJ’s, she knew what he was saying already. She knew she was sexually attracted to Keil. Completely and utterly attracted.
But doing the test meant she could kiss Keil again.
She leaned toward TJ and took a long breath in through her nose. Nothing but the smell of dish soap and the slightly earthy scent of a male missing his morning shower. She touched his cheek with her lips and felt like she did when she kissed Tad.
Connected, like family. No fireworks.
She shifted her weight and stared up into Keil’s beautiful eyes. She started to take a deep breath but stopped quickly. His scent filled her. She could taste him, feel him slip down into her lungs and throughout her whole body. He smelt like the air of a starlit night, and dark-chocolate fondue and raw, passionate sex. Unable to stop herself, she ignored his offered cheek and grasped him by the hair, pulling him down to her reach so she could clasp their mouths together. As Keil reacted, their tongues tangling together, Robyn acknowledged that she’d never felt anything like the satisfaction she experienced at every contact with the big man in front of her.
Well, it seemed she was getting hitched.
Chapter Five
“This doesn’t mean we’ll do anything until you’re ready,” Keil said when he finally managed to drag himself away from Robyn. “We can take our time, get to know each other first. Now that I’ve found you, I can wait.”
Her bright eyes shone back at him.
TJ bumped up from behind.
“Umm, Keil, but what about—”
Keil swung his elbow and connected with TJ’s gut.
“Ugh.” The air whooshed out of TJ, but he struggled on. “I’m just saying—”
Keil turned to face his brother, careful to hold Robyn close enough that she couldn’t read his lips. “No, you’re not saying another word about this. Understand?” It was a command, said in a tone that TJ couldn’t ignore. Robyn wasn’t the only one with the Alpha voice.
TJ froze. He dropped his eyes. “Understood.”
Keil pushed Robyn away a bit and winked at her. “It’s been a tough morning and I think we could use some exercise. Ski to the top of the pass for lunch?”
She nodded with enthusiasm and slipped away to change.
Keil wanted to give her some time alone to think about everything she’d learned, but his wolf refused to let her head out unprotected. Split personalities were tough to deal with at the best of times, and right now, Keil’s wolf was pissed. It didn’t see what the problem was and why there was no marking and mating happening.
Me too, bud, Keil thought.
He let his eyes trace over Robyn’s hips as she tucked in her long-sleeved undershirt. In his mind he could already feel the weight of her body slipping over his shaft as he held onto those hips and helped her ride him. His aching cock pressed up against his ski pants and he had to adjust himself.
Again.
Yup, he was all for making the sacrifice to help her be able to shift to wolf.
Part of him wanted to send TJ back to civilization ahead of time, giving them some privacy. Only with the way TJ skied, he couldn’t be left alone. The boy would probably get lost, or break a ski, or have some other disaster,
Damn. Trapped in the bush with his mate and an unwanted chaperone.
No, it was for the best. He needed to give Robyn time to adjust. Time to talk to her family and be able to accept the changes that would take place if she triggered her wolf. It wouldn’t be fair either to make her full wolf and his mate if he died in the challenge on Sunday. It would be far better to wait until after the weekend when he’d have the proper time and energy to court her.
Even if it made every cell in his body scream in protest at the thought of waiting.
He watched as Robyn removed three avalanche monitors from the shelf and set them to the same frequency, checking the blinking lights to be sure they worked.
“No way, Keil. Oh man, you know I hate wearing those things. Tell her I don’t have to,” TJ whined.
Robyn held out the devices to the men, her eyebrow rising at the sight of TJ pulling back and hiding his hands behind his back.
“I hate them.”
Robyn’s shrug said she didn’t care what he thought as she stepped up to him, slipped the strap over his neck and fastened the waist belt. She reached up and patted TJ’s pouting cheek while she batted her eyes and gave him an evil grin.
“I feel like a dog with a collar.”
Robyn snorted and turned to make sure Keil wore his monitor correctly.
“I do this for a living, Robyn, you’ll get no complaints from me.” Keil reached and adjusted the straps around her waist, unkinking a section of elastic to make it lie flat against her body.
His fingers traced along the straps smoothing over her torso, and his heartbeat increased at the feel of her under his hands. He looked up and saw her watching him. She swallowed hard, and her tongue darted out to moisten her bottom lip.
“It’ll feel better if it’s even under your coat.” Keil’s hands paused for a moment touching the tops of her hipbones. She was halfway into the embrace of his arms, and he wanted nothing more than to complete the move and pull her to him. To feel her pressed along his whole torso. To lower his mouth to hers and taste her.
She shifted as he leaned closer, temptation pulling him, her eyes drawing him like a magnet. Closer her mouth came as he reached farther around her body with his hands to caress over her back.
A sudden sharp pain shot through his left buttock, shoving him hard into Robyn’s body as they careened backward toward the table.
“What the—?” Keil roared as he grasped Robyn and swung her around to avoid crushing her.
Behind them TJ threw gear left and right as he dug through his pack. His ski poles were tucked under his arm, extended backward, and every move he made shot the pointed tips in their direction.
“You bloody fool!” Keil attempted to grab the moving poles but they kept dancing out of reach. A sudden extra enthusiastic twist by TJ forced the poles hard toward them.
Keil pushed Robyn to the side as he shouted, “TJ, freeze!”
The solid thunk of the ski tip spearing into the wood table finally pulled TJ away from his rummaging to look closer at them.
Robyn and Keil stood side by side, the ski pole quivering as it jutted into the room from between their hips. TJ’s innocent expression was beyond irritating.
“What?”
“TJ, you’re a menace to everyone around you.” Keil growled as he yanked the offending pole out and held it to his brother.
“How did that get there?”
Keil twisted toward Robyn and, placing a hand on her shoulder, made sure she could see his lips move.
“Is there an appropriate sign to tell my younger brother that he’s a shithead and if he doesn’t watch it, I’ll tie him to the outhouse with a short leash?”
Robyn made a show of turning to face TJ and shaking her arms. Then she slowly raised
her hand and flipped TJ her middle finger.
“Yeah,” Keil said, “I thought that should about cover it.”
They skied single file down the lake, Robyn following Keil as he broke trail. He insisted on going first and Robyn fought back a laugh. He was very much like Tad, refusing to let anyone work harder than him.
Still, it gave her time to let her mind wander as she simply followed the ridges he left in the snow. While everything she’d been told this morning seemed to be impossible, the proof of TJ’s change into his wolf form made it clear that this wasn’t some practical joke they were trying to put by her.
There was also the matter of her instant attraction to the large male striding in front of her. Robyn lifted her gaze to watch him ski, efficient as he worked to make tracks in the foot of soft snow that lay on the surface of the frozen lake. Something about him fascinated her.
Like a deer in the headlights of a fast-approaching truck, she was waiting for the impact to knock her silly.
The pheromones between the two of them were cooking hot. Before the little ski-pole incident, she thought she was going to end up as a snack. Heck, she’d wanted to be nibbled on. Tingles ran all over her body even thinking about Keil and his touch. The way she’d been wrapped up around him when she woke this morning, the reaction of his body to her touch. The strange way he was able to comfort her in the middle of the night. The usual repercussions from an earache would have her moving slow for the whole day, with a nagging headache to boot. One touch of his hand, a little cuddle, and the pain had drained away.
They were like a stick of dynamite and a Bic lighter. Too much more time together and something was going to blow.
She sighed as she wished for the hundredth time that Tad were here to bounce ideas off. Her brother. Was he a wolf too? He’d never said anything. If this was news to him, was he going to be surprised.
Of course if he already knew she might have to kill him.
She could already hear him complain about her acting irresponsibly and doing this trip alone. Tad always said she was going to end up meeting some strange wackos in the backcountry. He probably hadn’t thought she’d meet someone who wanted to turn her into a werewolf.