by Terry Spear
“Me too,” Kate said.
“We’re going on a hike, just to enjoy the park liked we’d planned to,” Ryder told Edward.
“Good show. We’ll do our duty here,” Edward said.
“Thanks. We’ll keep in touch.” Ryder signed off and pulled a park map out of his backpack. “Which trail did you want to go on?”
“How about this one?” Lexi pointed to a trail on the map that was a little over a nine-mile hike. “Kate and I have never been that way, and that will be a nice half-day hike.”
“Looks good to me. We’ll start at a pond near the mouth of the river, climb to around eighteen-hundred feet on switchbacks taking us through the old-growth redwood forest, and see the coast from up above. It’s an enjoyable hike.”
“Sounds good to me,” Mike said, Kate agreeing.
Carrying backpacks containing water, food, weapons, and everything else they thought would come in handy, they all started their hike and ended up at the pond. There, the land was level and mallard ducks were floating on the water. Lexi had to take some pictures of the pond and ducks, and then she and Ryder walked together on the trail, while Mike brought up the rear with Kate as they began to move into the redwoods, ferns and sorrel bordering the path. Some of the tree trunks were covered in bright-green moss, mushrooms sprouting here and there, a bright-yellow banana slug slithering over a fallen tree, purple violets and white trillium flowering all over.
Ryder knew the men who were serving as a protection team were professional enough not to say anything in front of Lexi or Kate, but when he saw the Special Forces team on his own, he would get plenty of ribbing about making a move on the billionaire she-wolf. Not that he’d known she was a billionaire at first, thinking only that she was just the she-wolf next-door kind of girl, but the chemistry between them was undeniable. Pheromones didn’t lie.
Since Lexi hadn’t settled down with a wolf yet, he suspected she just hadn’t found a mate who was right for her. He assumed it wasn’t all about her money either. One of Rafe and Aidan’s friends was a billionaire, too, so if it was about that—well, hell, before Rafe and Aidan had mated even, she could have chosen either of the twin brothers or their billionaire friend. But for wolves, it had to be more than that. A compatibility and a deeper need to be with the wolf that urged them to move forward and court and take the courtship even further. A mating between wolves meant forever.
If he and Lexi ever became an item, he knew humans would consider him a gold digger; wolves would understand why they’d be together. Though it didn’t mean they wouldn’t give him a hard time over it. He could just see the tabloids now: Male Model Hits the Jackpot with Cosmetic Mogul, courtesy of Don Morgan.
Ryder would never live it down.
Frowning, Lexi turned to him as if she knew just where his thoughts had gone. “I mean it when I said not to go causing trouble for Silky Spring of Spring Cosmetics.”
He’d forgotten all about that situation. It brought him back to reality in a heartbeat. “Gotcha.” He was actually ready to go to war against the woman and had been thinking on and off about how to go about it without causing Lexi grief.
Lexi glanced at him and raised a brow.
He smiled. Of course he was going to look into the other company’s practices, and he had every intention of putting a halt to them.
“You ought to invite her to a party and kill her with kindness,” Kate said.
“We don’t want to do anything that could backfire on us,” Lexi said. “My company has a good reputation, and I want to keep it that way. There’s enough room for other businesses to make it on their own if they work hard enough at it. She’s just taking a lazy and mean-hearted approach.”
“It sounds personal,” Ryder said, “since she’s not targeting anyone else’s products. Have you had a run-in with her before?”
“Not that I recall. I meet thousands of people online, not so many in person, but I host cosmetic parties about three times a year. Maybe I did run into her, but I just don’t remember. As much as Kate and I have looked over the pictures and videos taken at the parties, we didn’t see anyone who looked like her.”
“Unless she was in disguise. Wearing a wig, maybe?” Ryder still suspected it was personal, and that’s why she was only targeting Lexi’s company. “What about you, Kate? Did you ever have any contact with her that you can recall?”
“Lexi and I already talked about it. I went through all the emails and texts I’d sent, but I didn’t have any contact with her. It’s possible she believes some perceived injustice has been done to her, but we really don’t know what or why.”
Ryder’s phone rang, and he saw it was the bodyguard Special Forces team leader. “Yeah?”
“Do you know who we’re dealing with?” Edward asked.
“Yeah, Joe Tremaine’s hit men. Joe’s the guy who murdered a DA and the witness testified against him, sending him to prison. No one had ever done that before. Any witness who even thought about testifying against him in other capital murder trials mysteriously vanished, even when they were in police custody and supposed to be protected.”
“Right. So why are they after Lexi? Don’t tell me. Her father was the witness.”
Ryder glanced at Lexi, thinking how stalwart she was, despite being so vulnerable, as they continued to follow the switchbacks up the hill. “Yeah.”
“Her father is on Joe’s hit list.” Edward sounded worried. Not about him and his team, but about Lexi and her father.
“Right.”
“She’s not meeting her father here, is she?” Edward asked. “I thought he was dead. He must be in witness protection. The U.S. Marshal’s office will kick him out of the program if she meets up with him and they learn of it. Not to mention he’ll blow his cover and could easily be murdered.”
“Uh, yeah. But we’ll keep the secret.” They had their own way of handling situations. Her father must not have been in a pack, or his pack members would have protected him.
“Hell, Ryder. I mean, we’re game, but this is dangerous for both of them no matter what.”
“You just keep tabs on the men. We’ll watch the women.”
Edward snorted. “You don’t want to switch places with me, do you?”
“Or us!” one of the other men shouted in the background.
Ryder smiled. He knew that was coming. “Sorry, no.”
“You’re not sorry in the least. Gloating a little, I imagine. But back to business. The thugs just started to head over to Lexi’s place, but we intercepted them. They immediately called their boss and said they were having a little trouble here. Then they returned to their cabin to continue the conversation in private. One of our men put security videos and listening bugs in their place, but if they’re like us, they’ll be looking for them. I’m sure Joe Tremaine would like to order a hit on all of us, but they want Lexi alive in case she can lead these men to her father.”
“All right. Good on the security measures. With any luck, they won’t believe you’ve set anything up. I imagine they’re wondering where all the muscle is coming from.”
“She’s a billionaire. I’m sure they realize she can hire all the muscle she wants. Not that she has to. Rafe is footing the bill on this one. He likes to keep his friends safe.”
Which reminded Ryder that he’d never met Lexi at any of Rafe’s shindigs that he and Mike had to attend while protecting Aidan and Holly. Then again, they were fairly new on the job, and Lexi could have been visiting with the brothers before he and Mike started working for Aidan.
“Keep up the good work. If we run into any trouble at this end, we’ll let you know. We’re headed up to the ridge with a view of the ocean,” Ryder told Edward.
“Know it well. Talk later.”
Ryder slipped his phone into his pocket and turned to speak to Lexi. “Mike and I just started working for Aidan about a year ago, but I
was wondering why I’d never met you before.”
“If you had seen me at one of Rafe’s parties, would it have changed the way you viewed me when you met me here at the park?” Lexi paused to take a picture of a banana slug peering at her from a tree. Then she saw a blue jay settle on the path way up ahead, and she snapped a shot of it.
“While we were rescuing the bear cubs? If I’d met you in some other setting first, it would depend. If you were rescuing seal pups on the coast where Rafe lives, I’m sure I would have viewed you in the same way I did while you were handing a bear cub off to me. But if you had been all dressed up, sipping tea and eating fancy little cakes the first time I saw you, it might have been more of a shock to see you all muddy, scraped up, with your hair, shorts, and T-shirt soaking wet and plastered to you in the pouring rain.”
Lexi laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure Kate and I were a sight.” She snapped some shots of fungi on one of the trees.
He smiled. He had been too. Naked, muddy, dripping with rainwater. “You looked like a rugged naturalist, a heroine in bear-cub-rescue mode, and were a beautiful sight.”
She only smiled back but didn’t comment on how she’d perceived him at their first meeting. He didn’t want to ask while Mike and Kate were tagging along after them.
“How do the others feel about protecting us when my father and I are not supposed to meet?”
“You’re a wolf. They feel as protective of you as Mike and I do.”
“Are you sure? They don’t need to be here.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. The more there are of us, the more we can protect you and your dad.”
“All right. And thanks. So what do your mother and father do?”
“They retired from the Air Force. Dad was a navigator, and Mom was a pilot. But they own a gift shop on the California coast near the Oregon border now. I went into the army because I wanted to be Special Forces.”
“A Green Beret, cool,” Lexi said. “My father had been a family physician in the army. Mom was a pediatrician, both stationed at Fort Sam Houston. When they retired, they worked at a civilian hospital there. I didn’t want to join the military, despite all the benefits.”
“Or be a doctor.”
“No. I went in a completely different direction in life. Do your folks accept what you do now?”
“Yeah. Of course they worry about me, but they worried about me when I was in combat zones while serving in the army too.”
“How far away do they live?”
“About an hour. Mike’s parents are their next-door neighbors now. They have a little café next door to my parents’ kitchen, wine, and cheese gift shop. They’re good friends and have cooking parties once a month.”
“Aww. That’s where you and Mike picked up the cooking business.”
“Yeah. Mom and Dad loved to cook when they retired, so they opened the gift shop. They couldn’t believe it when Mike’s parents opened the café next door and learned they were wolves. Anyway, they ended up getting a house near my parents so they could run as wolves on the combined acreage. They went on a Caribbean cruise together last Christmas.”
“Oh, how nice. My folks have been lone wolves mostly because they never met any wolves while they were in San Antonio. Oh, except one time while they were at Fort Sam Houston, a CID agent came in with strep throat and my dad treated her. She returned to Denver that year, or they would have invited her to their home for Thanksgiving. You know how it is when we meet fellow wolves.”
“Absolutely.” Except when she’d first met Ryder! He knew she’d had issues with male wolves then.
* * *
Two and a half hours later, they finally reached the point where they could see the coast from the cliffs. The ocean waves were crashing against the beach, sea lions barking on the rocks, and behemoth stones pointed toward the sky, some surrounded by the turbulent water and some standing tall on the rocky beach. Lexi began taking pictures of the water and rocks, but she stayed far away from the edge of the cliffs.
“Did you want to get a little closer to the edge to see the baby sea lion down there?” Ryder asked, holding his hand out to her.
Lexi was so far away from the cliff’s edge that Ryder knew she couldn’t see the sea lion calf. “I can see it just fine from here,” she said.
Ryder was eyeing her with suspicion. “Do you want me to take a picture of it?”
Lexi finally inched closer to the edge, and he could smell her fear. He was surprised because she’d climbed down the other cliff to reach the bear cubs, and this one was perfectly stable. Unless she’d had a tumble when she climbed down the cliff to rescue the bear cubs and it had unnerved her.
Mike and Kate were peering down at the sea lion calf. Kate had her camera out and was taking some pictures. Ryder offered his hand to Lexi again, and she finally took his hand, but he didn’t pull her closer to the edge. He let her decide how close she was going to get, but he was holding on to her so she wouldn’t be quite so afraid. She was trembling, though, and he finally pulled her closer, offering his strength. “Do you see the calf down there?”
She finally trusted him enough to keep her safe and moved close enough to the edge to see the calf. “Aww, she…or he…is adorable.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist so her hands were free to take several pictures. He was glad she felt safe enough with his help to see the sea lions.
“The view of the ocean is beautiful from up here. And it’s always fun when the sea lions are sunning on the rocks.” Ryder was glad he and Mike were able to enjoy the hike with the ladies too.
“It’s lovely,” Lexi said, but she was still trembling a little.
Her brows furrowed, Kate watched her and appeared to be worried too.
“If you’re done with your picture taking, we can move over there and have something to snack on and drink,” Ryder said, taking Lexi’s hand again and moving her further away from the edge.
They removed their backpacks and pulled out their protein bars and bottles of water.
“This is truly beautiful,” Lexi said. “We had seen the reviews and thought it would be a nice hike. It really is great.” Now that Lexi was away from the cliff’s drop-off, she took a deep breath and let it out, looking much more relieved.
“Mike and I always have to come up here when we visit. There’s another longer hike that we do, but we take a tent and sleep overnight on that one,” Ryder said.
Lexi sighed. “You were supposed to be here to enjoy yourself, not have to be a bodyguard.”
“We’re enjoying our time with you,” Ryder assured her.
“Hell, yeah. A couple of beautiful she-wolves with us on a hike? Much better than just the two of us roughing it on our own up here,” Mike said.
Ryder appreciated Mike speaking up to reassure Lexi that this was better than just spending all his time with another male wolf. He’d thought maybe Kate and Mike would hit it off, but she seemed a little aloof with him, as if she were afraid he might think she was interested in him and she didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. Mike must have sensed it, too, so he was strictly being a friend and not showing any interest in the she-wolf. It made Ryder curious whether Kate was interested in another male wolf but nothing had come of it—yet. He couldn’t help himself when it came to showing his interest in Lexi.
She didn’t seem to be pushing him away either.
After they finished their snack, they began the hike down. On the descent, the trees were smaller, the bark lighter on the ocean side, the huckleberry shrubs larger and denser. It was an easy path bordered by trees all the way down. Even lower, the trees turned to red alders and small spruce, the understory now lush ferns and sorrel.
Ryder was glad they’d had this diversion before they met with her father and did what they could to safeguard him. But he was still curious about what made Lexi fear the cliff’s edge.
&nb
sp; Chapter 13
After she and Mike, Ryder, and Kate had returned to their cabin and washed up, Lexi wasn’t surprised when Ryder brought up the business with the cliffs. He and Kate were too curious for their own good. Mike was not as inquisitive, though Lexi imagined he was just as interested in learning about it as they were.
“Did you fall from the cliff when you went to the rescue the bear cubs? You don’t seem to be afraid of heights except when you didn’t want to get close to the edge of the cliff to see the sea lions.” Ryder asked.
“Yes, I fell. So did Kate. But that wasn’t why I was so reluctant.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry to bring it up. I just noticed your scratches and bruises and worried that was what it was all about.”
“It had to do with an earlier incident, five years ago. I was angry with a boyfriend. He told me I would never be successful at what I do, and I needed to get a real job like my mom and dad had. He really admired them, but not what I was trying to do. Ironically, he didn’t work, so he really had no business telling me what to do.”
“You’re not seeing him any longer, are you?”
Lexi frowned at Ryder. “Of course not. I needed positive influences in my life, not negative.”
“Like me.”
She chuckled. “Anyway, I got angry and went for a hike as a wolf in the woods along a cliff I’d never been to because it was off-trail and isolated. Mom and Dad were busy working at the hospital. I didn’t figure I’d be gone very long. I could run through more rugged wilderness as a wolf, far away from the human population. My mistake was not telling anybody where I was going. I didn’t see my parents all the time. They were working long hours, and I didn’t live at home with them any longer. So they didn’t realize I was gone right away.
“I felt some of the pebbles give way near the cliff’s edge, and I should have been more careful and put some distance between me and the cliff. But I was angry at Wayne and not really paying attention to my surroundings, fuming about what he’d said. You know how it is. You keep thinking about everything the person said or did, wondering if they’re right or wrong. I was trying to see his point of view, but he had rich parents who were still paying his way while he did whatever he wanted.”