The doorbell rang. She pulled in a breath, calmed herself and calmed her wolf who was again prancing around inside, excited to be meeting other shifters. Sally didn’t know if she was the only wolf in the world so out of sync—she had yet to ask others—but she had a wolf who was more social than her human.
It didn’t matter right now. She strode to the front door and pulled it open.
“Hello.” She looked down at the little blond boy first. He stared at her with big eyes, a bit wary but also interested, excited about something new. A good sign, and she found herself smiling naturally. “You must be Storm.”
She made it a point not to obviously pull in a breath, as the boy himself did. Very wolflike, and she didn’t want to reveal herself to Storm or his guardian.
Storm bit his lip, perhaps in reaction to her scent, and nodded.
Sally inwardly braced herself as she raised her gaze to greet Zach the possible horse shifter.
“Come in, Mr…?” She took in an expressionless face, brown eyes, auburn hair.
“Call me Zach.”
She stepped backwards and gestured them inside. “Please call me Sally.”
Zach nodded while Storm concentrated on getting out of his winter gear. She breathed in, once the door had shut, caught Storm’s distinctive wolf scent and something from Zach. He was different, though if she hadn’t been told he might be a shifter, she wouldn’t have realized he had a not-quite-human scent.
Attractive, a kind of wild-man smell that pleased her wolf whose ears pricked, whose tail lifted.
Not here, not now, not anywhere. Sally rolled her eyes at herself, and at her wolf who wanted to make friends and who remained undiminished by past violence.
She glanced at Zach, wondering if he’d noticed her strange reaction, hoping it all remained inward and invisible. Fortunately, he focused on helping Storm divest himself of boots, mitts and jacket, which would have all gone flying if Zach wasn’t gathering them up and setting them right.
He straightened to inform her, “I’ll be staying.”
“Yes, of course. You’ll be part of the lesson.”
He stiffened. “Pardon me?”
“You’ll be part of the lesson so you can help Storm with his practice at home.” She smiled.
Zach blinked. Just once. “I know nothing about music.”
“All the better,” Sally declared, absurdly pleased to have put him in a quandary about this.
“Jason’s mom sat with him,” Storm piped up.
“She did,” Sally agreed.
“Please, Zach?” Storm tugged Zach’s hand, and the man’s expression, one of appearing out of his depth, hardened into something like determination. It was quite sweet. He looked at her again, a more assessing gaze now, and she wondered if he’d identified her as wolf. But he kept to the topic at hand.
“I guess,” he said as a wry note entered his voice, and it was very appealing, “I’m about to learn something about music.”
“She was nice!” Storm announced on their walk home. Excruciating piano lesson completed, thank God, they were off to pick up milk from the corner store. Yes, most of their groceries were delivered, arranged by Connie, but they always ran out of milk.
“I’m glad you think so,” replied Zach.
“Do you think she was nice?”
“Yes,” he said. Any other reply would lead to endless questions. Storm expected Zach to like everyone. A glance down revealed a small, furrowed brow. Storm, being a wolf, was perceptive about truths and lies.
It hadn’t been a lie, but he offered Storm a reason for the ambivalence he must have sensed around Zach’s answer.
“I don’t know piano, so it’s new to me.” To be precise, he’d never had anything to do with music that he could remember and had no feel for it. Sitting there listening had left him feeling uncomfortable and ignorant. “Sally is certainly musical.”
“Jason likes her too,” Storm said with a bounce, deciding Zach liked Sally after all. “I want to be musical.”
“You will be.” There was no reason Storm couldn’t excel at things Zach hadn’t the first clue about. He just wished he didn’t have to be involved, listening to Bach and staring at the black-and-white keyboard. He suspected Connie had purposefully neglected to mention to him this important aspect of the Suzuki method—parental involvement.
Music wasn’t the only thing which made Zach uneasy. The woman did. Sally had been attentive when it came to Storm, observing him, watching any interaction between Storm and himself. Maybe it was normal. People were often surprised by a male guardian, and at least her demeanor hadn’t suggested she was being judgmental.
Her scent had unnerved Zach, and he couldn’t pinpoint why. It was almost familiar, yet entirely new to him. He remembered individual scents well, so they hadn’t met before, he didn’t think. He gave an internal and irritable shrug. He wasn’t around women enough—Connie didn’t count—so it had felt strange to sit in Sally’s living room for half an hour.
She was pretty, he could admit as much. Having to stay there, with nothing to do but listen, it had been difficult not to observe the gray eyes, the brown-blonde hair, the quick smile when she interacted with Storm. She managed to be tall yet fine-boned. Supple.
Zach stifled a sigh at the last observation. This was one reason he tried not to interact with people. He didn’t want to react. He just wanted to be—be there for Storm until Storm was old enough to function on his own.
Maybe he could talk Connie into being an important part of the Suzuki method, given she already had a piano in her house.
Two pianos for Storm. Nothing done by half, as if to make up for absent parents and a werewolf heritage.
Zach glanced down at the child, amazed anew he was part of Storm’s world. He remembered when he’d first spotted a lost wolf pup and had almost ignored him, had almost trotted on. It had been the forlorn way Storm had yipped at the moon, as if he didn’t know what to make of it, the way he’d circled around to lie down to sleep.
The way he’d shifted to a too-young boy all by himself in the woods.
Zach had shifted then too, and in the early-morning light, he had carried the child home to frantic grandparents who didn’t know who to turn to because of a missing wolf child.
It had been the end of one life and the beginning of another. He sometimes couldn’t get over it, or the relief that had assailed him when he realized he could become something more than a feral horse.
If only he could figure out what that more entailed.
As soon as Storm and Zach left, Sally phoned Jancis.
“Your handler speaking,” Jancis answered in an over-the-top jaunty tone.
Sally rolled her eyes, but it had made her laugh. “They left.”
“Oh yeah? Fast work, doll. I knew you’d be good at this—”
“Espionage stuff,” Sally cut in.
“At piano teaching,” Jancis corrected. “Now spill.”
So much easier than the alpha seriously requesting she tell him every detail of their first meeting.
“Storm is a very sweet, if squirmy, little boy. Typical wolf. Appears strongly bonded to Zach.”
“Good. I mean”—Jancis adjusted to her role—“is that good?”
“I think so. Zach has all the outward hallmarks of a caring guardian. Patience, humor, gentleness.”
“Great. I’m so glad. Though I’m not surprised.”
“Why not?”
“Because Zach saved Storm’s life. Rory buried the body, by the way, in case you were wondering.”
She hadn’t been. Sally tried not to think about vicious rogue wolves, much less dead ones.
“What else?” Jancis prompted.
“Well, Zach was pretty taken aback by having to come into the piano room and be part of the lesson. He knows nothing about music, so I guess it made him edgy.” He was wary, as if Sally might want to rub his lack of knowledge in his face.
She’d met shifters who would overcompensate because of
their perceptions of their own deficiencies. However, Zach didn’t seem like them.
“Did he recognize you were a wolf?” asked Jancis.
The big question, and Sally blew out a breath. “I don’t think so. Unless he did a terrific job of hiding his reaction to me.”
“Huh, interesting. What about Storm?”
“Oblivious, I think. With kids it’s hard to tell. At some level he must know but doesn’t recognize its importance.”
“He might tell Zach.”
“He might.”
“If you’re just his piano teacher, that shouldn’t be a threat to Zach. Dad wants you to continue on, of course. If Storm remains in a safe situation, the next step will be to reach out to them on behalf of Wolf Town.”
“All right.” At least she was curious to see more of this duo, and the first step had been easy. Too easy, a part of her warned.
“You doing okay?”
“I am. I’m fine.” She sighed at her tepid response. “I guess I got used to having you as a roommate.”
“Hey, I miss you too. I’ll come down for a visit at some point.”
“I know you’re busy, Jancis.”
“I get time off.” After a pause, she asked in a different tone of voice, “So, is he hot?”
Most shifters were hot. “He’s young.”
“Yeah? How young?”
“I don’t know.” Sally could feel herself blush and was glad Jancis couldn’t observe her over the phone.
“Early twenties, late twenties, or early thirties?”
“Early thirties,” Sally admitted.
Jancis laughed. “He’s a whole six years younger than you, granny. Maybe. And you didn’t answer my question.”
“I’m not here long.”
“All right, I’ll just assume a yes, he’s hot, and stop pestering you. I’ll also fill in Dad, leaving out the hotness factor—”
“Jancis, shut up.”
“—and he might call you himself. Don’t worry, Dad would get annoyed with me too.”
Sally couldn’t think of a thing to say.
“Don’t be offended, Sally.”
“I’m not offended.”
“Good. Look, try not to get too bored and lonely. Since you got the ball rolling early, you probably won’t be there all that long.”
Sally had to smile at the irony. She’d been on her own for ages, had insisted to herself she wasn’t a pack creature, over her wolf’s objections. Yet eight months in Wolf Town, and she missed the people. It wasn’t just her wolf who missed her pack. She missed Jancis, who was currently annoying her by chattering on about hotness factors.
“Look after yourself too.” Sally knew Jancis struggled more than she let on, being a non-wolf in a wolf family, being part of a community and yet feeling she wasn’t quite what she needed to be. You didn’t have to be a shifter to feel you didn’t fit.
“I always do.” Jancis, as usual, dismissed Sally’s concern for her. “I’ll be curious to hear more about this new shifter in your life.”
“I’ll keep you informed,” Sally promised.
They said their goodbyes, and as Sally hung up, she remembered Storm with his bright smile, curious eyes, and his adoring expression whenever his gaze landed on Zach. The boy was a wolf through and through, but his guardian was not, and they were living among humans. It was up to Sally to establish a greater shifter community for them, if that was within her ability.
Chapter Six
The following week, Zach was dreading the piano lesson, out of all proportion to what it was.
“Ning is taking piano lessons from Sally too,” Storm announced on their way over.
“Terrific.” Hopefully Storm wouldn’t notice Zach never said terrific, especially in such a hearty manner. It appeared Jason’s family had lured all the kids at the Montessori school into taking Suzuki lessons. There were some similarities in philosophy which made that an easy step. As Zach understood it, both were supposed to let the child determine the rate at which they learned.
When he rang the bell, Sally opened the door promptly, not quite smiling, but she smelled pleased. A good sign, Zach told himself, good for Storm this woman enjoyed seeing him. The problem was something about her scent rankled Zach, and he couldn’t figure out what it was or what it meant.
He’d thought it had been his imagination last Wednesday or just the newness of the situation. Yet her scent had haunted him the entire week. Not a normal reaction on his part.
It had bothered him so much he’d discarded his initial idea, to tell Connie to become involved in the piano lessons. Rightly or wrongly, Zach felt he should be here, or Storm shouldn’t be here at all.
He glanced at Sally as she chatted with Storm, settling him into the lesson, and felt a little silly about his suspicions, vague as they were. She wasn’t warm, exactly—she had a guarded air about her—but she was taken by Storm. Which softened Zach a little.
Though not enough to trust her. Since the attack during the moon run, Zach’s trust was at an all-time low, as he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for some acquaintance of Hambly to step up and take his place as predator.
Zach sometimes thought there was something essentially wrong with him, unable to trust anyone but Storm. Maybe his personality flaw was in action now as he eyed a quiet-spoken piano teacher and wondered what her game was. He barely listened to the music or the lesson, in this haze of suspicion. Perhaps all those years away from humanity had damaged his ability to judge people or interact properly. Such thoughts made him uncomfortable, especially when he was determined to remain engaged in society.
Well, next week would be the week of the full moon, so he’d cry off on the lesson for the sake of Storm’s health and have two weeks to figure out what the hell was wrong with his response to this woman. Whether it was him or her.
At the end of another excruciating musical half hour, Sally turned to Zach. “Now I have enough children signed on for lessons, and I’d like to organize a group lesson. Would you be open to this idea?”
The delivery was pleasant enough, and there seemed to be concern in her gray eyes, as if she understood how tense he was.
“Can I get back to you?”
“Of course.” She paused. “The group lessons encourage—”
“I don’t like Storm to be too busy.” It was his shut-down tone of voice, and people mostly stayed quiet afterwards. Not Sally.
She regrouped from his brusque retort and said, “I see. It’s a very low-key activity, I assure you.” Again, a pause. “If you’d like, we can discuss it further. You can come by during the day sometime this week. Just give me a call beforehand.”
He stared up at her from his seat as she stood above him. He’d had a few offers from single—and married—mothers, and he understood he was attractive, or at least very fit. Some of them were bored or curious about his single-dad status, but he hadn’t expected such a play from Sally the Piano Teacher.
Her body posture was all wrong for it though, almost prim and proper with her hands clasped in front. Then she turned away to hand Storm a small candy as if the conversation had been all about the child.
Problem was, Zach could smell she liked him.
God almighty. He pushed up from the too-plush chair. “Storm, time to go.”
The boy was loitering by the piano, distracted by a series of colorful pictures hanging nearby.
She took in his terse manner, and her rather pale cheeks flushed, which again made Zach feel like he was reading everything about this woman wrong. Jesus, they shouldn’t let him out of the house.
“Thank you for your time,” Zach said as he hustled Storm out the door. He was just going to ignore the whole group-lessons thing and hope it went away. He sure as hell wasn’t going to drop by to discuss anything.
He wished there wasn’t something about her that bothered him, that made him want to take up her suggestion and go visit ostensibly to discuss musical plans but to actually investigate her. As if he even knew
how to investigate people.
Sally shut the door and leaned against it, unable to decide if she felt mortified or amused. This strange, almost wheezing sensation that gripped her chest couldn’t tell either.
Poor Zach had thought she was propositioning him. She wondered if it happened much to the guy. He was uncomfortable with it, and the incredulous look he’d given her had made her cringe when he was here, and now it was about to reduce her to a fit of giggling. She worked to get herself under control.
Honest to God, she wasn’t cut out for undercover work. In this way she was wolf—straightforward. She wanted to march up to him and say, Look, I’m a shifter. I think it’s wonderful how you care for Storm. Oh, and I’m told you’re a shifter too. Horse.
And yes, Jancis was right, Zach was hot. Great body, even if his body language couldn’t be yelling hands off more loudly if he tried.
Which of all things fascinated Sally. Thing was, she was used to being pursued. Not for herself, she well knew, but because of her rare she-wolf status. Zach, on the other hand, would be even more put off to learn what she was.
It was rather freeing in its bizarre way.
He wasn’t going to drop by during the week, after his incredulity had come a brief hell no expression.
Which, yes, awkward. She reminded herself she wasn’t after the guy for sex—his misconception. Just because all male wolves found her fascinating didn’t mean other men—like Zach—did. She kind of liked that about him.
She realized what she wanted to do. The idea formed itself of whole cloth, and her wolf loved it. Her wolf was one of the few things about herself she did trust. Angus wouldn’t be too pleased by the plan, but she’d been assigned to Operation Storm, not him, and she had no problem making an executive decision here on the ground when she now had the lay of the land and a clear idea of the personalities involved.
She wanted to turn wolf and go see Zach as herself, her other self. Let the wolf make an assessment of the man. Let the man meet the wolf. She knew how to take measure of people, most wolves did. It wasn’t as if her stalkers had ever been anything but menacing from the first meeting. This man, this horse shifter, was nothing like them. She wanted to know him better, but Zach was too reserved a person to develop a human friendship with. It was beyond her ability.
Running Free (Northern Shifters) Page 4