“What would you have me say, Caleb? 'Red lupus garou female seeks mate. Horny right now. Only a red lupus garou male need apply’?” “You might have half of the lupus garou population in several states applying for the position. Lord knows how many are looking for a red.” Sitting down at the keyboard, he typed, Little Red Wolf seeks mate. Preferably big gray wolf terminally in lust with her. She hit his shoulder. “Be serious.” Grunting, he deleted the words. “I am serious.” He typed, Rufus lupus female seeks mate in Portland, Oregon, area only. “A red wolf seeks a mate? The humans will think she's a nut and—” “The lupus garou will know she’s one of them, a loner, looking for a red wolf pack to join.” “Okay, sign it as Rosa.” “But what if Thompson—” She combed her fingers through Caleb's shoulder length brown hair, highlighted by the sun, satiny-smooth to the touch, soft, where the rest of him was hard. "He probably wouldn’t be looking at the personal
Peering out the peephole, Diana found Chrissie standing on her doorstep and figured the questioning would truly begin. Taking a deep breath, she yanked the door open, relieved it wasn’t the police. “Hi, Chrissie.”Her next-door neighbor looked a bit astonished, her blue eyes wide and her blushing lips parted. She was wearing a short chiffon skirt and flowery blouse, a little too spring-like for the weather and a lot too dressy for just dropping by. “Oh, I, well, I wondered if you might like an apple pie. To thank you for taking me to the grocery store this morning.”An apple pie? Chrissie had always been generous to a fault with Diana, relishing their friendship because she had been an only child and was estranged from herparents—they had told her the guy she married was no good and were still mad at her for not listening to them. Now she was raising her two kids on her own and Diana couldn't understand how Chrissie’s parents could be so insensitive. But the kids were the ex’s, to
She glanced down at the towel and then back at his eyes, ignoring his full-blown erection. “I hope you intend to pick up after yourself.” She turned and headed down the hallway. Following her, he enjoyed the wiggle of her cute little but covered in the tight black denims. “Is that what you're wearing tonight to meet all of your suitors?” “Something a little sexier.” “Don’t see anything unsexy about the jeans.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Did you practice your smooth words on human females for all of those years?” “Did it have the right effect on you?” She gave a half grunt. “No. So what do you think about my plan?” “Sounds like it could be a circus.” Sitting down at the head of the table, he smelled the rich blood of the fresh meat, warm and rare like he preferred. She sat down opposite him. “Yeah, I thought maybe the more possible candidates we could draw out—” “You could draw out.” He still couldn’t curb his anger with the notion of her ac
Her heart pumping at twice its normal speed, Diana fled the fire. The searing heat singed her fur, the pads of her paws, and choked the breath from her. And then he appeared, the gray wolf, a large, fearless juvenile, intent on only one thing: grabbing her and carrying her across the swollen river. She whimpered and Caleb tightened his hold on her. “Diana, you’re safe.” The nightmare . . . the damnable nightmare that she'd had for years. She ran her hand over Caleb's arm, wrapped securely around her waist. Folded over her like a butterfly's protective cocoon before hatching, he made her feel safe and secure—until he turned her over to Ragnar. “Did you sleep well?” he murmured against her hair. “Yes. And you?” she whispered back, not entirely ready to shrug off the relaxed state she was in despite the vivid nightmare. “I had an ache when you squirmed against me.” She smiled. “You seemed restless and whimpered in your sleep. Are you still having night
After eating, Caleb and Diana returned to the bedroom to dress so she could face the crowd of female-hungry reds. She frowned at the meager selection in her closet—meager mostly because she worked out of her home or took a run on the wild side on the weekends in the woods sans clothes. “We should arrive early, don’t you think, Caleb?” Diana pulled a slinky emerald-green dress over her head. “I was going to wear black, but I’m not in the mood. What do you think?” When he didn’t answer, she glanced in his direction. “You look good in that, Diana. Too good.” His expression was brooding but mixed with a wolf’s lust. “Do you want me to wear something else?” “Do you have anything ankle length with a high neck and long sleeves? Preferably black . . . and baggy?” “No. How can I catch the killer if I hide?” “I don’t want you exposed to him in the first place.” He buttoned his black shirt with jerky movements. She figured he didn’t want to expose her to the other
Before Caleb could rush to the parquet floor, the music changed to a fast-paced dance and Alfred released Diana. Curbing his temper, Caleb sat back down at Nicol’s table. “Hell,” Nicol said to Caleb and motioned to another man—about the same shorter stature, around five-ten, with brown hair tinged with red. “Ross is headed this way. Guess he’ll think I couldn’t score again.” Caleb took his eyes off Diana and stared at Nicole. “You said you hadn’t courted any lupus garou.” “No, human females. They’re all right, but nothing like one of our own kind. Too tame.” “Ever thought of changing one?” Nicol’s eyes grew big. “Why would I want to do that?” “To have a mate. I considered it a time or two,” Caleb fabricated—anything to convince Nicol to talk about his relationships with human women. “I thought I might find the one I liked and then, if she were agreeable, change her. Like in your pack, we have a shortage of females who are the right mating age. So . . . yeah
As soon as Caleb laid Diana on her bed, the email butler on her computer said, “You’ve got mail, Madam.” Caleb growled, not wanting any distraction to keep him from fully claiming his mate. “You didn’t shut your computer down.” “Sorry. By the time you return, I’ll be ready for you.” He kissed her lips with feral possessiveness and then ran his tongue down her neck. “Better be.” Unbuttoning his shirt, he strode out of the bedroom, but when he reached the computer, his fingers poised to turn it off, a message from Argos caught his attention. 'Diana, I haven’t returned to Portland. I found someone had sent a message from my computer saying he’d meet you there, but it wasn’t me'. Argos Caleb cursed under his breath and typed in a reply. 'This is Caleb. Who had access to your computer? We're safe for now, but I need to know who sent the message'. He added: 'Who knows her home address?' C The message came back quickly. 'Thank God, you're all right. I’ve been
He pulled her onto the dance floor and held her close. “I’ll protect you, Diana. He can’t hurt you here. Just play along with me on this and then we’ll go home.” Ragnar would never return to hurt anyone again. Caleb would take over the pack. End of worry. But she couldn’t shake the fear of getting caught. Not by the police, but by the one she cared for more than anyone else in the world, her true love who would hate her for what she’d done. But he’d be alive, she reminded herself. He’d be alive even if he couldn’t love her anymore. The crowd shimmied to the heavy rock beat. Red, blue, yellow, and green lights swirled overhead and across the waxed dance floor. Women’s flowery perfumes and men’s spicy colognes couldn’t disguise the perspiration covering the humans’ skin while they worked their bodies to the music. But then the faint sound of a siren wailed in the distance. Diana's heartbeat kicked up a notch. She caught sight of Alfred again, dancing with a blond. Ross d