by Anna Lowe
What was going on?
The drive to the national forest was short and awkwardly silent, and when they parked at the trailhead, Todd immediately hemmed and hawed and moved aside.
“I won’t be far behind,” he said, letting them get a head start.
“Sure,” Sarah said, taking Anna by the arm and hurrying ahead.
Anna looked back, but he was already hidden by a bend in the trail. “How will he know which trail we take?”
“He’s a bea—” Sarah started, then caught herself with a cough. “He’s a Black River mountain man. He’ll stick with us, no problem.”
Anna looked back dubiously but followed her cousin’s lead. Before long, they were striding along the winding trail under tall stands of scented pine. The carpet of pine needles littering the ground muffled their footsteps, and the only sounds were the flutter of bird wings through the woods.
“It’s beautiful,” Anna murmured. Clusters of rust-colored rocks dotted clearings between rich stands of green pine, a landscape unlike any she’d ever seen. The air was crisp and clear without being painfully dry, and in the shade, the temperature was just perfect.
“In Montana, we’d be hiking through the first snow,” Sarah laughed.
“Do you miss it?”
Sarah went from thoughtful to sad before brightening again. “I miss my parents. I’d give anything to go back up there and show them their grandson.” Her voice cracked, and she swallowed hard. “But I have a new life now, and I love it. I really love it.” Her voice practically sang. “I love discovering Arizona. I can’t wait for Teddy to get bigger so we can take him on longer hikes, too.”
Anna smiled. “I can totally picture Teddy looking out from a hiking backpack on Soren’s back. He’d feel like the king of the mountain.”
And damned if her imagination didn’t conjure up its own vision: a hike with a baby of her own, carried by Todd, who wrapped his fingers around hers as they walked.
“Of course, we’ll have to put off longer hikes if we have another,” Sarah mused, then threw a hand over her mouth. “Oh, God. I’m sorry.”
Anna forced a smile. She’d been around enough friends with babies to have received that mortified, I-just-remembered-not-to-say-that look. “No problem. I’m glad for you. And this way, I get to be an aunt, right?”
She told herself that would be almost as good as being a mother.
“Anna…” Sarah said.
She shook her head. Really, being an aunt would be great. And besides, she didn’t truly have to face up to the fact that she couldn’t have kids for another ten or fifteen years, when she hit forty or forty-five, right? In the meantime, she could just pretend she wasn’t interested.
“Are you still in touch with Jeff?” Sarah asked.
Anna snorted at the mention of her ex-husband. “He’s in touch with me. Does that count? Every year, he sends me a Christmas card with a picture of his growing flock, along with that curvy blonde he decided was worthy of bearing his children.”
Yeah, her voice was bitter. But she couldn’t help it. It had taken Jeff exactly thirteen months to leapfrog from her third miscarriage to hooking up with Madame Ovary and becoming a proud father — of three, by last count.
“What a jerk,” Sarah muttered.
No kidding. But at least she’d found out what a louse the man was before it was too late. Yes, she wanted kids, but kids with the right kind of guy. A true partner who was steady. Loyal. Honest.
Her mind flashed through a dozen faces of men like so many images on a slot machine, and Todd popped up in the winning row every time.
“I’m glad it worked out for you and Soren,” she said, trying to change the subject. “You two are made for each other.”
Sarah beamed.
“And the baby looks a lot like him. That’s so cute.”
Sarah’s face fell briefly, then went carefully neutral. “Nice view, huh?” she murmured, gesturing with one hand.
It was nice. Spectacular, really. Anna stepped closer to the overlook and took in the rocky outcrops, green mountains, and a long, winding valley that looked like the road to paradise. A dusty version of paradise, but a serene one. Anna closed her eyes, taking in the smells along with the sights, and her toes curled inside her hiking boots as if to take a bite of the earth under her feet.
“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Anna asked as they walked on.
“Sure.”
“How well do you know Todd?” She nearly winced at the obvious interest in her voice.
Sarah studied her. “He’s a great guy.”
Anna wondered why her cousin looked so pained.
“A really great guy. A lot like Soren.” Sarah looked away and bit her lip. She took a sip of water from Anna’s bottle before continuing. “You like him, don’t you?”
Anna couldn’t stop an instinctive Who, me? expression from taking over her face. But who was she kidding? Yes, she liked Todd. She’d been spending days and nights dreaming about the man. Wondering if she was right to hold back or whether she ought to make a move.
“Look, Anna,” Sarah started. Her voice was low and hesitant. “I have to talk to you.”
Anna took a sip of water from her bottle, preparing herself to hear about whatever it was that haunted Todd so much. He was out of earshot, and though she didn’t like talking about people behind their backs, it might help her understand him better.
Sarah hemmed and hawed for a while, and Anna watched her out of the corner of her eye. Sarah, the lucky thing, had grown up as Todd’s neighbor. She’d spent so much time with Soren, she had to have known Todd, too. So why the shyness, the beating around the bush?
“You remember when Soren and I broke up for a while?”
Anna nodded, remembering the teary phone calls. She’d reassured Sarah as much as she could because she knew it would somehow work out. And it had.
“I guess Soren asked Todd to keep an eye on me when he was gone…”
Anna chuckled. “A little like now?”
Sarah’s smile was thin, her face strained. “I guess. Anyway, I got to know Todd pretty well.”
Anna listened eagerly for her cousin to say something like, He’s perfect for you!
“But… well…”
What? Anna wanted to shake the words out of her. What?
“Todd is Teddy’s f—”
Whatever Sarah was trying to say got cut off by a short, sharp bark. Something between a howl and a snarl. They both stepped back, scanning the hill to their left.
“What was that?” Sarah cried, pulling on Anna’s arm.
Something moved behind the trees, and a pair of bloodshot eyes flashed at them through the leaves.
Anna’s blood ran cold. “Is that a wolf?”
Sarah clutched her arm. “Back up slowly. Stay close.”
They’d had their share of animal encounters in the past, but something about this beast seemed different. The eyes that darted between the two of them were the eyes of a predator, not an animal caught by surprise. It lowered its muzzle and stepped forward, snarling openly.
Anna had never had a wild animal approach her. Most fled the second they spotted humans. The bears she and Sarah had occasionally seen in Montana had quickly turned away, disinterested, and even the bobcat they’d once stumbled across had quickly decided to retreat.
This animal, though, stalked forward, one deliberate step at a time, showing its fangs.
“Maybe just a coyote?” she asked out of the corner of her mouth.
“Wolf,” Sarah murmured, her voice full of dread.
Anna didn’t know there were wolves in Arizona, let alone big, nasty ones. She hooked elbows with Sarah and leaned down to pick up a stick. For now, she kept it at her side, but if the wolf came any closer, she’d brandish it and yell. That always worked, right?
The wolf stepped closer, snarling, and a stream of saliva dripped from the corner of its mouth.
“Is it rabid?” she whispered.
Sarah’s bod
y was stiff and tense. “Not rabid. Something worse.”
What was worse than rabid? Anna didn’t want to find out. She raised her stick and opened her mouth to shout.
What came out, though, wasn’t just a shout. It was a roar. By the time she realized it wasn’t coming from her, she was sprawling across the ground. Sarah pushed her into a dive as a massive shape barreled out of the woods behind them and made for the wolf.
Anna rolled, and everything blurred. Then her knee knocked into a rock, and Sarah grunted beside her.
Todd. Her first thought was that Todd had raced up to chase the wolf away. But since when did Todd — quiet, reserved Todd — roar like a lion and tackle wild animals with his bare hands?
“Come on! Run!” Sarah urged, pulling her up.
They sprinted back down the path. Anna threw a glance over her shoulder but couldn’t see anything amidst the trail of shaking branches left in the wake of whatever had chased down the wolf. Both had raced out of sight behind the ridgeline, but another roar sounded, along with a ferocious canine snarl.
“Jesus, what was that?”
“A wolf,” Sarah said, taking huge, leaping bounds.
“No, I mean… I didn’t see what chased it away. Was that Todd?” The more she thought about it, the more she was sure it couldn’t have been him. It felt like him, somehow, but hadn’t she seen a powerful, furry animal streak past on four feet?
“It was Todd,” Sarah said in a strangely certain voice.
Anna halted in her tracks. “We have to go help him. We can’t leave him alone.”
Sarah looked back. The woods had gone eerily quiet. No growls, no roars. Not even a bird call. It was as if the whole forest was holding its breath, wondering if the danger had passed.
“Believe me, he’ll be okay. We should get out of here, though.”
“But—”
Sarah pulled her downhill at a more careful trot. “I’m still new to all this, but I think we’d better get home.”
New to all what? Anna looked at her cousin. Sarah knew all about wilderness and animals and safety in the woods. She’d grown up with the Rockies as her backyard. Maybe Sarah meant she was new to rabid creatures attacking her out of nowhere? Well, that was a first for Anna, too.
“Are you sure Todd will be okay?” she asked. Her heart pumped madly, and every nerve in her body was on high alert.
Sarah reassured her all the way back to the trailhead parking lot, where they waited by the car. They scanned the edge of the woods, ready to jump into the car at the first sign of danger. A torturously slow twenty minutes ticked by before the lengthening shadows flickered, and Todd stepped out of the woods.
His hands were dirty, as if he’d been scrambling on all fours, and a leaf stuck out of his hair. His jeans and shirt, however, were unmarred. Not a drop of sweat, not a thread torn loose.
“Todd.” Anna held her breath, looking at him.
His eyes traveled up and down her body just the way hers studied him, checking for injuries. He was the one who’d gone after a wolf, for goodness sake!
“Did you see the wolf?” she couldn’t help asking.
Todd didn’t always hear everything, she knew, but his silence seemed deliberate this time.
Finally, he nodded as if satisfied that she was all right and exchanged a long, worried look with Sarah. The kind of look that had been bugging Anna all week because it made her feel like she was the one who couldn’t hear.
“It was a wolf, wasn’t it?” she asked.
Todd nodded slowly, looking right into her eyes. “Yeah, it was a wolf, all right.”
“What did it do when it saw you?”
He cracked into the first cocky grin she’d ever seen on his modest face.
“He ran. Believe me, he ran.”
Chapter Seven
Todd stretched his feet out as far as they would go under the dash of Soren’s truck. Miles of highway stretched out before them, and although it was late afternoon, he could feel the temperature rise with every foot of their gradual descent.
“In town, we’re up at five thousand feet,” Soren said. “The ranch is down at four thousand, but it’s still bearable there. It’s when you drop way down to Phoenix that things really heat up.”
Todd watched Soren talk, trying to match the motion of his lips to the words his cousin shot into his mind. It didn’t seem like he’d get his hearing back anytime soon, so he might as well figure out lip-reading, just in case. That, or he could just hang around bears for the rest of his life. Bears and Anna, because everything she said, he heard.
Because she’s my mate. His bear nodded, all matter-of-fact.
If only it were that simple.
Soren stuck a finger out over the steering wheel. “There it is. Twin Moon Ranch.”
Todd caught a glimpse of a few rooftops way, way out in the middle of nowhere off the west side of the road. One second, he saw them, and the next, they were gone. Which, he supposed, suited the wolf pack perfectly. All shifters were secretive, keeping a low profile from prying human eyes. Soren and his unusual little bear-wolf clan were among the few who lived right in the middle of a town.
Todd closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, thinking of home. He could see what Soren liked about Arizona, but dang, there was only one home for him. Montana.
Anna would like it there, his bear murmured.
Yeah, he’d bet she would. But his bear had to quit thinking along those lines.
She’s our mate. How can we possibly keep away?
His bear just didn’t get it. Montana was exactly where the Blue Blood rogues had made their boldest attack, wiping out most of his clan in an ambush that had also targeted the neighboring wolf pack and Anna’s family, all due to a crazy belief that shifters shouldn’t cross species lines. How could he bring his mate to Montana if he couldn’t keep her safe there?
Soren said the Blue Bloods were finished. He, Sarah, and the Twin Moon wolves wiped them out.
Todd didn’t answer. How could he really be sure? Purist groups like the Blue Bloods were like the snakes of Hydra’s head — if you cut one off, three more grew back. Who knew whether the wolf shifter he’d chased off was one of the Blue Bloods or not?
The second Soren heard about their encounter, he’d packed Todd into his truck and headed for Twin Moon Ranch, leaving Simon and the others to run the saloon. They sped down the highway until Soren took an unmarked turn onto a dirt lane that didn’t appear to lead anywhere. But it wound on for a full three miles of scrubby desert — a solid buffer to the outside world — before curving right and crossing a bridge over a dry creek bed.
Todd shook his head. God, did he miss the rushing rivers and cool mountain streams of home.
The truck rattled under a wide gateway, and Todd ducked for a better look at the ranch brand that hung from it. Two circles, overlapping by a third.
“Twin Moon Ranch.” Soren nodded, seeing him look. “One of the most powerful wolf packs in the Southwest.” He tipped his head from side to side. “Maybe the most powerful pack.”
The place looked like a tiny frontier town, with rows of false-front buildings on two sides. Giant cottonwoods sheltered a central square, and a smattering of houses extended all around. Beyond them lay pastures full of brown quarter horses and spotted cows, all quietly flicking their tails in the slanting afternoon light.
The wolf pack alpha eyed their approach from the porch of a slope-roofed building on the right.
“That’s Ty Hawthorne,” Soren murmured.
Typical wolf: not quite as broad as a bear, but sturdy and plenty tall. Todd could feel the power concentrated in the man’s laser gaze. The brunette at the alpha’s side was almost as tall and lanky, except for a visible baby bump. Unlike the dead-serious alpha, she looked friendly, even welcoming.
“Hi. Welcome to the ranch,” she called out as he and Soren approached.
Hi, and watch you don’t cross me, her mate’s thunderous expression said.
Alphas were always
a bit gruff, and they got fiercely protective around their mates. And if this alpha’s mate was pregnant… Well, Todd knew to watch out, just in case.
He expected the wolf alpha to wait on the porch. It was a hierarchy thing, and no one was bigger on hierarchy than wolves. But the man shocked the hell out of him by descending the stairs — all four of them, all the way to the ground — to greet Soren with a hearty handshake. The two looked at each other for a long, quiet minute, just like Todd remembered his grandfather doing with the leader of the local wolf pack at home. A meeting of equals.
He stared at his cousin. He always knew Soren would become a respected alpha someday, but to see him actually accomplish that… Well, if Todd had been wearing a hat, he’d have doffed it to his cousin.
Way to go, man. He wanted to whistle. Way to go.
Soren’s lips moved as he gestured, and Todd saw Ty Hawthorne’s eyes jump to him. The wolf shifter’s lips moved, too, and Todd tipped his head, trying to catch the words.
Nothing. Not a thing. He’d heard the she-wolf pretty clearly, but the alpha? No chance. All he caught was a faint scratch from far, far away.
Ty Hawthorne narrowed his eyes and spoke again, starting to look angry. But then the she-wolf stepped forward, bumped the alpha’s arm, and said something that looked like, He can’t hear you, dummy.
Todd hid a grin. That woman was definitely the alpha’s mate, and it was pretty clear the power she wielded.
“Does this work?” she asked, speaking and thinking the words at the same time. “I’m Lana.”
Todd nodded. “Yeah, that works. Thanks.”
Most shifters couldn’t read each other’s thoughts unless they were relatives or packmates. But powerful shifters could if they opened their minds to each other and tried hard enough. And to his credit, Ty Hawthorne tried. His brow furrowed and his eyes flashed, but that time, Todd heard him.
“Come inside. Tell me about the wolf you saw.”