All's Fair in Love and Wolf

  The wife said, “Yeah, if we hear from him, we’ll let him know you’re here to help him.”

  “And Burt?” Jenna asked.

  “We don’t know where he is either. We figure he’s staying wherever the ghost hunters are filming a show,” the man said.

  “Okay, thanks,” Sarandon and Jenna said at the same time.

  They left to look up the next man on the list. When they finally tracked him down in a coffee shop, he motioned for them to take a seat with him. “Yeah, I know Alex. Is he really in trouble? He stayed with me yesterday.”

  “Where is he now?” Sarandon asked, hating that they’d missed him.

  “He left. I assumed he had a construction job to work on. That’s his business.”

  As soon as they left, they talked to Alex and Burt’s dad on the phone. “CJ was taking Burt to Silver Town for questioning concerning Alex’s whereabouts, but Burt knocked him out and stole his car, clothes, and everything else. Burt’s in a lot of trouble.”

  “Are you sure about all this?” Anton sounded shocked to learn of it.

  Did everyone know about Burt’s criminal activities but his parents? “Yes. CJ had to see a doctor for the concussion after Burt knocked him out. Burt stole CJ’s badge, car, and gun, and now the state police are looking for him. Why would Burt be afraid to speak with another deputy sheriff and the sheriff of Silver Town if he had nothing to hide?”

  Anton swore. “You think he’s been involved in the theft?”

  “Yes. If Burt turns up there, let us know. We’ll try to protect him, but we can’t guarantee anything, not after what he’s pulled.”

  “Have you had any luck locating Alex?” Anton asked.

  “Not so far, sir.”

  “My wife is at the grocery store now. I’d rather… Well, I’d rather she didn’t know this latest news. It’s bad enough that Alex is in so much trouble. I’d rather wait until Burt’s picked up by the police and charged.”

  “All right. Just let us know if you hear from either Burt or Alex.”

  “I will. Thanks. I’m…sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “They’re my sons. I raised them. We were much too lenient with Burt, I’m afraid. Let me know if you hear anything.”

  “We will.”

  After they finished the call with Anton, Jenna called her mother. “We’re still looking for Alex, and now Burt. Did you change the reward poster to say Alex was pretending to be Sarandon? We don’t want to have people reporting sightings of Sarandon.”

  “The men look so much alike that I’m sure if anyone sees Sarandon, they will still think he’s the suspect,” her mom said.

  “I guess that’s so. I’ll have to protect him.”

  Sarandon smiled.

  “What? You don’t think I can?” Jenna asked him.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, truthfully? I do.”

  “Okay, Mom. I’m out here.”

  “How are we doing on time?” Sarandon asked Jenna.

  “Alex needs to be at the court tomorrow afternoon, so we really don’t have much time left.” Jenna kept thinking they’d catch up to Alex, but at this rate, she wasn’t sure. They’d had to pay bonds in the past—a hazard in this business. But they’d never come this close to the deadline without being sure whether they’d have to pay one off. Well, the deadline hadn’t run out yet. “Let’s have a late lunch at my place and figure out where to go next. You know, I keep wondering why Alex or Burt would have been roaming around my family’s territory as wolves.”

  “If Alex is a beta wolf, maybe he was trying to get up the courage to approach your family. He would know they put up the bail bond for him. Maybe he’s running scared. Not sure what to do. Maybe he allowed Burt to convince him he had to run. And now Burt’s not there to tell him what to do.”

  “Not according to Burt.”

  “And you believe anything Burt has to say?” Jenna asked.

  “Not a word.”

  When they arrived at Jenna’s home, she made them grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.

  “These are great. Something I never fix.”

  She smiled at him while he scarfed his down fast. “Want another?”

  “Yeah, sure. Can’t eat just one.”

  When she went into the kitchen to make a second sandwich, she washed her hands in the kitchen sink and saw something out the window. A wolf. “Don’t look now, but I see a gray wolf in the woods, watching the house. Because of his bigger size, I’m sure it’s a male.”

  “Not a brown wolf like Burt?”

  “Gray.”

  Sarandon started to move toward her.

  “Sarandon, don’t move. If he sees you come to the window to look out, he’s bound to bolt.”

  “I have an idea. And a very good reason to move in your direction. I know what I’m doing.” Sarandon slowly joined her and rested his hands on her shoulders, then nuzzled her cheek with his. Then he leaned over further and kissed her neck. “What’s he doing?” he whispered against her hair.

  “Still watching. What you’re doing is distracting me even more.”

  He smiled. “That’s the plan. At least to keep his attention. Not to distract you.” He slowly pulled her T-shirt up and over her head and then tossed it aside.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You’ll see. Just some heavy necking, removing our clothes, and then we’ll move this to the bedroom. Or appear to be moving this toward the bedroom,” he said as he ran his hands over the silky bra covering her breasts.

  She melted to his touch, trying to keep her eyes open so she could keep an eye on the wolf but wanting to lose herself in having Sarandon touching her, making her feel loved, needed, and sexy.

  “We need to do something about him before he runs off,” she warned, but her voice was ragged with desire.

  “We will,” he mouthed against her neck, his hands massaging her breasts. He turned her around so she was facing him and he could see over her shoulder, though he continued to kiss her neck to make it appear he was caught up in turning her on and not getting a glimpse of the wolf. “I wish we knew what Alex looked like in his wolf form.”

  Jenna pulled off Sarandon’s shirt and tossed it to the floor. She began kissing his cheeks, then his bare shoulders as he ran his fingers through her hair.

  “We’re on a mission here,” he groaned.

  She smiled. “You can’t make me all hot and bothered and…distract me a bit from the mission, and then not expect me to reciprocate.” She licked a trail down to his navel and began unbuckling his belt.

  He slid his hands around to her back and unfastened her bra.

  “Is he still there?”

  “Yeah.” Sarandon tossed her bra in the air so the wolf would see it too.

  The window was too high for the wolf to see any lower than their chests, but Sarandon figured the wolf would get the gist of what was going on, or at least be hoodwinked into believing the wolves were getting it on.

  “We are going after him as wolves, right?” Jenna felt that Sarandon’s moves were a prelude to sex, not to shifting. Not to mention he was fully aroused as she pulled down his pants. Gloriously aroused.

  “Yeah.” His response was husky and needy. “I’ll sweep you up in my arms as soon as we’re naked and carry you in front of the dining room window and into the hallway to make it appear we have every intention of taking this to the bedroom. Once we’re out of his view, we’ll shift and make a mad dash for the wolf door. If we’re lucky,” he said, pulling off her jeans, “we’ll catch him before he can outdistance us and learn who he is.”

  “Okay, damn it.”

  He smiled at her. “We can finish this later.”

  Once they were completely naked, he swept her up in his arms, carried her through the dining room, pausing to kiss her, while she wrapped her ar
ms around his neck and kissed him deeply back. She didn’t want to end this!

  Which was totally wrong! She was always focused on the mission first. And if the wolf in the woods was Alex, they had to get him. But, man, did she not want to give this up.

  Then Sarandon hurried her to the hallway as if he was in a rush to have sex with her. As soon as they were out of view of the windows, he set her on her feet, briefly kissed her, and they both quickly shifted.

  They raced for the wolf door, and he let her go first, though she suspected from the way he’d dashed for it, it was killing him to let her out first. He wanted to take the wolf down. Probably to protect her. So for him to hesitate and allow her to take the lead meant everything in the world to her.

  Would he always do this, or only when he was trying so hard to please her? She loved him for it, no matter what.

  The wolf was still in the woods, sniffing around, not paying attention until they crashed through the wolf door and tore off in his direction.

  His ears perked up, his head swinging around to observe them, his expression startled. He quickly turned and ran off.

  And the chase was on.

  Jenna couldn’t believe how Sarandon played the game. God, the wolf was hot, and she definitely wanted him in her life for good. Not only was he the sexiest wolf she’d ever known, but his ploy had actually worked! She really hadn’t thought the wolf would stay glued to his spot in the woods, observing them the whole time.

  Because she knew the woods better than Sarandon, she ran the wolf toward a small box canyon, the cliffs only climbable if the animal was a mountain goat or a cougar. The wolf wasn’t from this area, but he was the one they’d smelled the second time they’d recognized a wolf’s scent out here, so he didn’t realize she was chasing him right where she wanted him to go. Sarandon seemed to remember the location and helped her steer the wolf in that direction.

  The wolf looked up at the canyon walls and realized he couldn’t go that way. He whipped around but saw Sarandon and Jenna approaching cautiously.

  He stopped in place, panting, his tail tucked between his legs, his ears down. If it was Alex, Jenna almost felt bad for him, except for the fact that he’d led them on a merry chase, created trouble for Sarandon, and was only now looking defeated when he had no place to run.

  At least he didn’t appear to want to fight them.

  Sarandon shifted, and she growled at the other wolf to let him know if he attacked, she was taking him down.

  “I’m Sarandon Silver, your half brother, if you didn’t know.”

  Was Sarandon guessing? She didn’t have a clue if it was Alex.

  “I’m not pressing charges against you for using my ID and claiming you were me, but you have to come with us and clear everything up. Now. We’ll do everything we can to help you out. All of us. Jenna and her family, me and my brothers and cousins. You’re family, and family takes care of their own. Will you come with us willingly? Or am I going to have to injure you so you have no choice but to comply?”

  Jenna figured Sarandon would have to threaten the wolf. It appeared to be the only way to get him to agree.

  The wolf nodded.

  “Okay, I’ll tell you right now, I’ve taken down wolves much bigger than you, and I’ve dealt successfully with more than one at a time. So don’t test me.”

  Now that, she was surprised about.

  Sarandon shifted back into his wolf form and motioned with his head for the wolf to go toward the house.

  To Jenna’s relief, the wolf acquiesced and loped back with them.

  When they reached the wolf door, they waited for the wolf to enter. Jenna followed him, and Sarandon came in after that.

  Sarandon woofed at her, and she nodded, grabbed her clothes with her teeth, and dragged them to the first room she could reach, the guest room. In there, she quickly shifted and dressed. She left the room and stalked down the hall to her bedroom to get her Taser and gun, then returned so Sarandon could shift and dress.

  He didn’t leave though, just shifted right there as if he wanted to keep an eye on the wolf, not trusting him not to try to escape or attack Jenna, despite the fact that she was armed. Sarandon had to know that this time, she’d use the Taser on the wolf.

  “I’ll get you a pair of my boxer briefs, and you can wear them while we talk,” Sarandon said, pulling on his own briefs. He glanced at Jenna and she nodded, letting him know she really could handle this.

  Then Sarandon left, and she waited. She swore the wolf was sweating this out, glancing at her and her Taser and the hallway where Sarandon had disappeared. When Sarandon returned, he dropped the boxer briefs on the floor in front of the wolf. The wolf shifted and hurried to pull them on.

  Jenna closed her gaping mouth. Man, did he look like Sarandon.

  * * *

  Alex stared at Sarandon before he took hold of his hand and shook it. “You’re my brother.”

  Sarandon saw Jenna’s jaw drop when he pulled Alex in for a hug. “Hell yeah. We’re brothers, and we shouldn’t have had to wait this long to discover the truth.”

  Alex looked so surprised that he didn’t respond at first, but then he hugged Sarandon back. He could see Jenna’s eyes welling up at the sight of the first meeting between him and his half brother.

  Sarandon motioned to the living room. “Why don’t you take a seat, Alex.”

  Jenna offered him a glass of water as he sat.

  “We need to get you to Colorado Springs so you can turn yourself in,” Sarandon said.

  Jenna explained who she was. “We have a wolf lawyer who will represent you, which means I need to turn you in before my mother pays the bond for you.”

  “All right.”

  “Did you steal the passports and ID?” Jenna asked.

  He shook his head.

  “Who did?”

  “I-I can’t say.”

  “Why do you want to take the rap for this?” Sarandon asked, not understanding why Alex was willing to face prison time for the theft.

  “I…really can’t say.”

  “Fine. Let’s go. We’ll take you to the station, and they can decide what to do with you. Jail time? Maybe. Another opportunity to wear a GPS monitor and stay put? It’s up to the judge.” Sarandon let out his breath in exasperation.

  Jenna’s eyes were wide. She seemed surprised Sarandon was throwing in the towel and letting Alex take the blame for this, but he was done trying to convince Alex it was in his best interest to tell the truth. If he refused to do it, what could they do about it?

  “I’ll get you some of my spare clothes. They’ll fit you just fine. We can’t take you like this.”

  “What about the lawyer?” Alex asked, sounding a little panicked.

  What did he think? That Sarandon and Jenna would just let him go? That he was a wolf, and they couldn’t allow him to be jailed?

  “He’ll be waiting to see you when we take you into Colorado Springs,” Jenna reassured him. “Sarandon’s right. You need to tell us the truth.”

  “You’re not my lawyer. Anything I say could be used against me in a court of law. Right?” Alex said to Sarandon.

  “I’m your brother. I’m here to help you. Whatever you tell me is between the two of us.” Sarandon needed him to come clean so they could sort this out.

  “Like you helped our dad?”

  Now that pissed Sarandon off. Alex didn’t know anything about it. And yeah, Sarandon wished he could have saved his dad, but not when he learned he had murdered one of their kind. “He killed our cousin’s mate,” Sarandon growled. “And he was involved in other criminal activities. We even left the pack for a time over it. But no. We didn’t try to save him. We felt terrible about what he’d done. Like somehow it was our fault. When it wasn’t.”

  Sarandon could have brought up the possibility that Alex’s mother had hired a hunt
er to kill Sarandon’s mother, but he didn’t believe it would help matters. “You might have felt you were denied belonging to your blood-related pack, and we certainly will rectify that. All your half brothers and cousins will want to meet you. We need to clear up this matter first. If it means you’ll have to spend some time in jail, then that’s the way it’s got to be.”

  “Did Burt frame you for stealing this stuff? Is he blackmailing you?” Jenna asked. “Or did he push you to steal?”

  Alex looked down at his lap.

  “What about Christina?” Sarandon asked, suddenly wondering if Alex was protecting her.

  Alex’s gaze shot up to Sarandon’s. Ah, hell. Had he hit a nerve or what? And completely understandable. Sarandon would do the same for Jenna.

  Alex was a royal—all the Silvers were, including their dad and Ritka—so Sarandon knew Alex could control his shifting at any time. Maybe Christina had more humans in her family tree and couldn’t control her shifting during the full moon. Which meant going to jail for several years would be dangerous for her and their kind.

  “Hell, Alex. You know she did it! Or you suspect she did it. Is she not a royal wolf?” Sarandon asked.

  “She’s not a royal.”

  “Alex, did she tell you she did it?” Jenna asked.

  “No.” Alex looked down at the floor.

  “Okay, so how do you know she did it?” Sarandon asked. “We were thinking Burt was the one who was responsible.”

  Again, Alex looked up so sharply that Sarandon knew his brother was surprised to hear it.

  “Why do you think that?” Alex asked.

  “Did you ask him to come get you? To take you away from Colorado Springs?”

  Alex ran his hands through his hair. “No. I didn’t ask him to do it. He…he told me Christina would go to jail. All right? She would never last. She’d shift during the full moon. Don’t you see I had to do this? For her? And for our kind? There’s a hell of a lot more at stake than just me paying for the crime. It’s not safe for her to go to jail. For us either. That’s what wolves do for each other. Make sacrifices. There’s nothing else I can do about it.”