by Celia Kyle
“You can’t trust these people,” Max argued, his eyes blazing.
“Relax, Max,” Zeke said calmly. “Trina can handle herself. Trust me on that. We won’t allow anything to happen to her.”
Max didn’t seem to like that answer, but he said nothing else. Trina knew he was just being protective, but she also sensed there was more to his fear than her simply talking with some humans. They’d have to have a discussion later. At that moment she wanted information of a different sort.
Keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the lone woman, Trina walked past all the men who turned to look at her and the big SUV. The woman was several inches shorter than Trina, solidly built, and moved with the confidence of someone who didn’t let her stature stop her from doing anything she wanted. Her fiery red hair complemented her fair skin and, Trina guessed, an equally fiery personality.
When the woman turned to see a stranger approaching, she smiled warily, shallow dimples forming in her cheeks. That’s when Trina noticed her amazing eyes. Heterochromia iridum was the medical term for her condition—one blue eye and one brown—and the effect was hypnotizing.
“Hi, I’m Trina,” she said brightly, smiling broadly and offering a hand to the woman. “I just wanted to find out a little about your protest.”
The dimples deepened as the woman shook her hand firmly. “Nice to meet you, Trina. I’m Persia Moonshadow. I’m so glad you stopped! We’re always looking to drum up local support for these issues.”
“What issues, specifically?”
Persia gestured toward the McNish billboard, a look of revulsion on her face. She was an especially expressive human woman.
“We’re protesting the McNish Corporation’s planned development of pristine natural land here in Wolf Woods,” Persia said, passion flashing in her startling eyes. “This isn’t his first rodeo, but it’s not ours either. We’ve been following him all over Georgia for years, fighting him every step of the way. Sometimes he caves and jumps ship, but I’m sad to say, most of the time he just steamrolls us. Still, we won’t give up.”
“It’s good to know somebody else around here gives a damn,” Trina said with a sigh. “McNish is trying to encroach on my family’s land.”
The dimples disappeared as disgust returned to Persia’s pretty, round face. “Sorry to say, you aren’t the first. Sounds exactly like the Dick McNish I know so well. That’s straight out of his usual playbook. He manages to dig his grubby fingers into one piece of land and then he just keeps going, somehow managing to force neighbors off of their land too. So on and so forth. I’ve seen it happen a number of times now.”
“He’s a real piece of work,” Trina agreed.
Persia scoffed. “Understatement of the year. Your toes would curl at some of the weird shit he’s into.”
“Oh yeah?” Trina wasn’t above a little juicy gossip, especially about Dick McNish.
“Here’s a prime example of how vile he is. He’s got a hard-on for killing wild wolves. Totally illegal because, hello? Endangered species! He doesn’t give a shit about any of that, though, and worst of all, the bastard doesn’t even do his own dirty work anymore. He has hired guns for that, and I’ve seen the filthy assholes running around Tremble, decked out head to toe in camouflage. Despicable!”
“How does he get away with it?” Trina asked through teeth clenched from anger.
Persia shrugged. “Pays off officials, claims his guys are shooting the wolves in self-defense, that sort of thing. Like I said, despicable.”
Persia seemed like a fount of McNish knowledge. Maybe she had other tidbits the Soren pack could use for their benefit.
“What else can you tell me about him?”
“You mean other than the fact he’s a total dick stain, pun absolutely intended? Well, I’d wager good money that his next step will almost certainly be tearing down the trees before he’s supposed to.”
Trina’s skin pebbled with the chills spiraling up her neck. That’s almost exactly what Max had predicted.
“No way, even when the land dispute is still going through the court system?”
Persia puffed out a disgusted breath. “Especially then. Once he starts hiring locals and creating a space they might actually want, public opinion will fall his way. And there’s no court more powerful than the court of public opinion. Once he gets to that point, it’s all over.”
“Wow,” Trina breathed, shaking her head in dismay. “It’s brilliant. Disgusting, but brilliant.”
The women stood in thoughtful silence while the energy of the rest of the protestors buzzed around them.
“Thank you so much for sharing all of this with me, Persia. I promise, it will be put to good use.”
Persia’s features softened and her dimples dug deeply into her cheeks when she smiled up at Trina. “You’re totally welcome. Good luck in defending your family’s land.”
Trina rolled her eyes. “Thanks. From what you’ve told me, I have a feeling we’re going to need all the luck we can get.”
Chapter Ten
Rocks and clay crunched under Max and Trina’s feet as they walked back toward Trina’s cabin after what were the most intense couple of hours Max had experienced in a long time. He hadn’t even been so worked up when he’d blown up the construction trailer! Maybe it was just jitters from rolling with a pack again. He’d forgotten how group dynamics could affect things when there were more people to account for than just himself.
Frankly, Max had missed that dynamic.
Zeke and Val hadn’t said much on the way back to the pack house, but Max didn’t blame them in the slightest. He was a strange, lone wolf none of them really knew, even if they believed Trina’s claim he was her mate. That only made him Trina’s mate, not someone worthy of complete trust. Max had never truly led an actual pack as an alpha, but if he’d been able to manage it, he wouldn’t have discussed the pack’s greatest enemy with a near perfect stranger.
As they strolled, Trina’s fingers wiggled into his hand. He glanced down with wonder, marveling at his unprecedented luck. A gentle afternoon breeze wafted over the treetops, bringing the enchanting scent of pine mixed with earth. The tension of the day eased from his shoulders, which only made the ache in his side throb harder. He could live with that.
“Trina!” called a shrill voice from behind them.
A small boy ran after them, his tiny legs pumping hard and his face glowing with the kind of joy only a young pup could feel at seeing someone he loved. Trina’s face lit up instantly, and she ran back the way they’d come. Trina scooped him up about twenty feet from where Max watched the heartwarming scene from a stranger’s perspective. She hugged the pup to her as if he were her own child, even though Max could smell the boy wasn’t hers.
“Hey there, Little Hux,” she said, probably as much to let Max know his name as to greet him. “How was school?”
“I traded a Cosmic Brownie for an Oatmeal Creme Pie!” he reported as if he’d just made the deal of a lifetime.
Trina humored him by making her eyes go wide and gasping. “Wow! Someone’s quite the little entrepreneur.”
The kid cocked his head. “What’s that?”
“It’s someone who’s good at business,” she explained after a moment’s thought.
Little Hux, of course, had a dozen more questions about the nature of this fascinating new word he was about to give his teachers a headache with. Max couldn’t help but put his hands on his hips and smile at the scene. Trina talked to and nurtured this little kid as if they were mother and child, and she showed such natural joy at doing so.
He admired that a lot. It didn’t just tell him what kind of a person Trina was that children trusted her so much. It told him she would make a fine mother when he started putting babies in her.
With Little Hux tucked in her arms, Trina headed his way, but the pair were in such deep conversation, he let them have their moment and led the way. When he made it to the porch, he leaned against a post and grinned as she set the kid on
the ground and smiled up at him.
I want kids too, that smile said, and Max could hardly wait. What a strange turn of events, going from a vengeance-seeking lone wolf out for blood to a regular homebody wanting kids of his own. Life could certainly turn on a dime when you least expected it.
Little Hux held on tightly to Trina’s hand as they approached the porch. Max squatted down to appear more approachable to the tot, but it wasn’t until they came closer that Little Hux’s eyes widened with fear. Then he started whimpering and darted behind Trina, hiding from Max. Tiny fists clutched her pants on either leg, as if that might protect him from the monster on the porch.
Max’s heart sank.
“Hey, it’s okay, bud,” Trina said, trying to pull the boy back into view, but he wasn’t having it. “This is Max. He’s my friend. My very good friend.”
“Nuh uh,” came a whine from behind her. “That’s the meanie who chased me in the woods yesterday!”
“Oh no, bud,” she insisted, spinning around and stooping down to comfort the kid. “You must be mistaken. You said Levi—”
“It wasn’t Levi! It was him!”
Trina shot him an apologetic glance, but Max dropped down to sit on the top step, his heart hurting.
“He’s right,” he said quietly, hating that Little Hux was so afraid of him. “I did chase him yesterday.”
He’d thought the boy’s scent smelled familiar, but he’d been in a bit of a frenzy at the time, and so many damn kids lived in the forest that he didn’t put it all together at first.
Trina’s mouth fell open, both surprised and confused, and she looked between Max and Hux as she struggled to find a response.
“Hey, Hux, I’m sorry about doing that,” he said, speaking as softly and gently as possible.
Little Hux looked dubious as he peeked over Trina’s shoulder, as if trying to figure out just how much of a big, scary meanie he really was. He didn’t seem to want to get any closer to the porch, but at least he edged out to stand next to Trina instead of cowering behind her. Baby steps.
“You and your friends were walking near to where I happened to be,” Max explained. “I noticed you fell behind the others. Does that happen a lot?”
“Uh huh,” Little Hux said with an exaggerated nod. “I like to pick flowers for teacher.”
Max’s heart melted a little more. Damn, the kid was a real sweetheart.
“There are a lot of pretty flowers in the forest. Aren’t there? I like them too. But you might have been a little too distracted by them. You see, there were some humans out there too, humans I was afraid might hurt you.”
“But humans don’t hurt us,” Little Hux objected. “My teacher and a bunch of my friends are human.”
“I know,” Max said, “but there are a few new humans in town who want to hurt wolves, even our kind of wolves. They hurt me yesterday after I scared you.”
Trina paled, and Little Hux’s tiny brow furrowed as he turned huge, brown, puppy-dog eyes on him. “Why did you scare me, mister?”
“Max. You can call me Max, if you want. And the reason I wanted to scare you was because when you fell behind, I was afraid those particular humans might hurt you, even though you were in your human form. I shifted, just in case, and could smell them getting closer, but I think you were too interested in your flowers to notice them. I hid behind a bush and made some snarly, growly sounds, hoping you’d catch up with your friends. There’s safety in numbers, Little Hux.”
All the blood had drained from Trina’s face by that point. She grabbed Little Hux’s shoulders and gave him an imploring look.
“Bud, I need you to make me a promise, okay? If you ever smell or hear humans on pack lands, I want you to run home as fast as you can. If my cabin is closer, you can run here, okay? Please, bud, this is very important. Can you promise me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the kid said, his eyes concerned about the worry in Trina’s eyes. “I promise.”
“I’m very sorry for frightening you, Little Hux,” Max said. “I don’t normally go around scaring pups. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I hope one day you can forgive me, and we can be friends, but it’s okay if you don’t want to right now.”
The boy scrutinized Max for a long moment, then he released Trina and climbed the steps so he was eye to eye with Max. They looked at each other for another long moment. Then Little Hux did the most incredible thing ever.
He crawled onto Max’s lap and hugged him.
At first, Max didn’t know what to do. Laugh? Hug the kid? Crow like he’d just been elected the mayor of Cool Town? Because he felt like doing all of those things.
Max hadn’t been around pups for… jeez, two years, at least. He’d forgotten how easily they could weasel their way into his heart. Chuckling at the welcome rush of emotions as chubby little arms squeezed his neck, Max hugged Little Hux lightly and gently ruffled his hair. With a hilarious huff of indignation, Little Hux pulled back and smoothed it back in place.
Holding the boy in his lap made him realize exactly how much he wanted pups of his own. With Trina. And judging by the shimmering moisture in her eyes, she was thinking the same thing. “He’s upgrading,” she finally said with a wink. “I’ve been replaced.”
“Nuh-uh!” Little Hux shouted, scooting off Max’s lap to fly into Trina’s outstretched arms. But not for long.
“Okay, I’m gonna go back to the pack house now,” the pup informed them as he sprang up and rushed off like a whirlwind, leaving Max and Trina grinning in his wake.
“Kid’s going to make the others regret calling him a runt, soon enough,” Max pointed out.
“He sure is,” Trina agreed. “Now, come on, I need to change your bandages.”
Max knew the drill. Once in the clinic, he stripped his shirt off and lay back on the gurney, pretending not to notice Trina eyeing his naked chest. But this time, when she reached for the gauze wrapped around his body, he couldn’t help himself. Grabbing her by wrist, he pulled her onto the bed with him and stole a quick kiss.
“While we’re just lying here, why don’t we get started on a family right now?” he growled, feeling himself swell as she squirmed in his grasp.
“Let me go, Max,” she said, half-laughing, half-scolding.
Max reluctantly did as she requested, but anytime she was within reach, he kept at least his fingers on her body. More if she let him.
Trina smoothed her always-mussed hair with no success, he was pleased to see. When he tucked his hands behind his head to show off his chest, he took a special delight in the color that flooded her cheeks. She could try to be professional if she wanted, but he knew how to get under her skin. “You’re impossible,” she laughed as she started removing the bandages and cleaning his wound with a stinging concoction that made him wince.
“Anything’s possible with me, my dear. Why don’t you come a little closer and find out?”
“Because I have a job to do,” she reminded him with a fake-snooty sniff as she inspected his stitches.
“Yeah, patching up the big, bad, wild wolf from the woods. Being alone out there so long makes my instincts go a little haywire, but if I didn’t know better, I’d think something about that excites you.”
“You think so, huh?” Trina said, pretending to be busy taking out fresh bandages.
Max reached out and caressed the swell of her ass, getting her attention back on him. “I think you’d like something that makes your world feel a little more unpredictable, a little dangerous.”
She clamped her lips shut, but the blush spreading all the way down her neck told Max he was striking a chord. He pulled her back onto the gurney with him, but he didn’t bring their lips together.
She did it for them.
Pushing him down, Trina straddled Max and then grabbed his arms, wrapping them around her body. When he slid his hands down the curve of her hips to grasp her sumptuous round ass, she whimpered against his mouth. That fed the fire that had blazed within him since the moment he�
��d caught her scent on the breeze. The time had come to finally affirm their bond.
On a gurney.
Holding her firmly so she didn’t fall off, he guided her to her side, twisting and scooting over at the same time. Bad move. Sharp pain stabbed him in the side so violently he grunted and then sucked in air through his teeth, almost in a hiss. Trina broke free from their kiss.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
As much as he wanted keep moving down the path toward claiming her, Max couldn’t ignore the fresh, hot pain and the wetness pouring down his back. Propping himself up, he looked down at a half-gaping bullet hole in his side. The other half remained neatly stitched, but blood oozed from the wound in a steady stream, pooling under him.
“Oh my god!” Trina gasped when she followed his gaze.
The pain was already easing, but she didn’t see it that way. Flying off the gurney, she nearly tipped the damn thing over, which would have hurt a hell of a lot more than a few pulled stitches. Thankfully, the contraption kept its feet while Trina rushed for some supplies.
“Trina, it’s fine,” he insisted, not that she listened.
“No, I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have jumped you like that. You’re not ready. Plus, you had a long day and way too much activity. Stupid!”
He wouldn’t allow anyone to speak about his mate that way—not even his mate. When she reached over to press some gauze on the wound, he took her gloved hands in his. Beautiful eyes as blue as the sunniest summer sky jerked toward him, filled with fear and regret and self-recrimination.
“I’m fine, my love,” he said, his hands sliding up and down her arm, tugging ever so slightly. “It’s okay. My fault completely, not yours. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. I swear.”
He almost had her. Her resolve wavered and he thought he saw a hint of a smile tickle the corners of her mouth, but then a veil dropped over her features and she turned away, quickly ripping off the now-contaminated gloves and replacing them with fresh ones.