Rafe and Jade suddenly stopped as a grizzly catching a trout upstream came into view. Then they and the others headed back the way they had come. This was the perfect way for Toby to learn pack dynamics, though having siblings would even be better. But he would learn by seeing what the adults did and imitate them, just like he imitated them when they were in their human forms by pretending to be an adult.
When they were around the bend in the river, and far enough away from the grizzly, Rafe waded in to catch a fish. He caught one before everyone joined him. He loved catching fish this way. No waiting for the fish to take the bait—just a watchful eye and a quick pounce, and he had dinner. Even Toby managed to catch a fish, and his tail wagged as he added it to the pile. Then they carried them to their campsite, shifted, dressed, and cleaned and cooked the fish; all except Toby who curled up by the fire as a wolf pup and watched the goings-on.
They ate the fish and then settled in front of the fire to make s’mores. Toby wagged his tail, his tongue hanging out as he waited for Rafe to give him one.
“You have to be human to eat chocolate,” Rafe said. “As a wolf, it could make you really sick.” At least with dogs it did. No one he knew had tested the theory as a wolf, but chocolate wasn’t normally on the wolf menu.
When Toby woofed, then shifted, his hand outstretched for a s’more as he stood naked next to Rafe, everyone laughed. “Not a wolf,” he said.
“Can you change back into a wolf?” Jade asked, helping Toby into underpants, then a shirt, his jeans, and a warm hoodie. Then she helped him on with his socks and boots.
“Not now.” Toby reached for the s’more again.
Jade washed his hands with a wet wipe. “So you just changed without making yourself change.”
“I can’t now. I got all my clothes on.”
She smiled, crouched down in front of him, and looked him in the eye, his hands in hers. “Toby, if you didn’t have your clothes on, could you shift again?”
He looked at Rafe.
“Tell the truth, Son. Can you shift whenever you want?” Rafe asked.
Toby looked at Jade, his mouth turned down and his chin quivering. He nodded.
“Ohmigod, Toby, that’s wonderful!” Jade said and hugged him tight.
He chanced a look at Rafe, as if he wasn’t sure everyone would be impressed with that.
“That’s great, Toby.” Rafe gave both Jade and Toby a hug. “That means you can shift when we do, so you can go out and remain as a human when we leave the house.”
Maybe still not during the phase of the full moon, but if Toby had any control over when he shifted, that was truly good news.
“So you could have shifted before?” Jade asked, as if she wasn’t sure Toby wasn’t pretending.
He nodded. “Can I have a s’more now?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Jade asked, releasing Toby so he could eat one.
“I wanted to be a wolf.”
The other guys laughed. Rafe smiled at them. This was such a new experience for all of them—not just a child who was newly turned, but how the mind of a child worked. He couldn’t remember ever having a child’s logic. It had been too many years ago.
“Okay, being a wolf could be a good thing at times,” Jade said. “But sometimes it’s dangerous for us, Toby. Remember what I said.”
He nodded, scarfing down the s’more and wanting another.
Before they went to sleep that night with the stars twinkling against the black sky, a shooting star left a shimmer of stardust in its wake. A hoot owl “hoo-hoo-hooing,” crickets chirping, and a lone wolf howling were like a symphony to the lupus garous. The night air was cool, perfect snuggling weather.
“Everybody getting tired?” Aidan asked as Toby curled up on Jade’s lap, his eyelids growing heavy.
“Not me,” Toby said, which had everyone smiling.
“Who wants to sleep with me in my tent?” Aidan asked. “I’ve got playing cards, Super Heroes, stories to read, glow sticks, and a lantern.”
“Me!” Toby said.
Smiling, Rafe thought that he would be forever in his brother’s debt.
Snuggling with Jade in a sleeping bag for two in their own tent, Rafe began to kiss her while Toby and Aidan were talking away across the campsite. “This has been the perfect honeymoon,” Rafe said. “All the money in the world couldn’t have bought me this much enjoyment.”
They had lightweight camping gear, all purchased for the trip because they hadn’t gone camping or hiking in years. But otherwise, it was simple and fun, and Rafe couldn’t have loved her or Toby or the trip any more than he did now.
“I agree,” Jade said, loving him for all that he was and all that he had done for her and Toby. Her son might never have had a father if it wasn’t for Rafe. But now Toby had several. She was infinitely glad for the time she could share alone with Rafe, making memories with him, but also spending this time with her son. “I can’t remember a time when I got away from it all and had this much fun. I’ve been wondering about something that you and Aidan said, about getting into trouble when Toby left the house that night.”
“Oh, that. Well, there were lots of times we got into trouble, but the one we were thinking of was how we loved to fish in the river that ran near the house. Recent heavy rains had caused it to overflow its banks. And the water was running a lot faster. That made it all the more exciting and adventurous for us. So for three days, Mom wouldn’t let us go out and fish. The moon was perfectly full that night, and Aidan and I climbed down from our loft and sneaked out to the river.”
“And you nearly drowned yourselves.”
“Yeah. We took the boat out and quickly capsized it in the rough water. Somehow, Aidan got hit on the head, and I was struggling to swim him to shore when a very growly Dad rushed into the river in his wolf form and pulled Aidan out. I managed to make it to shore in one piece on my own.”
“Was your dad really mad at you?”
“Nah. He said he’d had his own misadventures in his youth. But he told us not to tell Mom. ’Course, first thing she did the next morning after she served us breakfast was ask where the boat had gone. We both looked at Dad. He made up a tall tale about it being washed away with all the flooding, kissed her cheek, and said he was off to find it. ‘Coming, boys?’ he’d asked. We grabbed our caps and took off after Dad. We learned later Mom had known about it all along. Might have had something to do with our sopping-wet clothes.”
Jade smiled, loving Rafe, knowing he was the perfect daddy for Toby.
That was the last thing she thought of as she kissed Rafe back, intending to make love with him as quietly as she could while the sounds of nature and her son and Aidan playing in their tent filled the night air.
“Jade,” Rafe said, rubbing her sweet spot, covering her mouth with his, and muffling her sounds of pleasure. “It’s just the beginning.”
Like Paige Tyler and Christine Warren?
Then you’ll love Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply by Terry Spear!
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For more info and updates about the series go to:
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Like J.R. Ward and Christin Feehan?
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Can’t get enough of those
superhot shapeshifters?
br />
Read on for a look at:
Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply
Silver Town Wolf series
by Terry Spear
To Love a Wolf
SWAT (Special Wolf Alpha Team) series
by Paige Tyler
From Terry Spear’s
Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply
Pepper Grayling couldn’t believe it when she heard two wolves fighting in the woods. She’d caught a glimpse of both male wolves, the snarling, big tan and gray that bit at Waldron Mason, and Waldron himself, a beige wolf with a white front and a smattering of gray hairs. The mystery wolf had snapped at Waldron before he raced off. The way he didn’t tuck tail meant he wasn’t cowed by the aggressor. And that had intrigued her.
She was furious that Waldron was pulling her away from her own pack to deal with him when she wanted to ensure Susan was properly cared for. As quickly as she was able, she stripped off her clothes, shifted, and ran like the devil to chase Waldron down. Whoever the other wolf had been, he had posed no threat to them. When she ran after the two wolves, she smelled their scents. The mystery wolf was indeed Eric Silver. No way would she want Waldron to hurt Eric after he’d helped Susan!
She was so angry, she could have killed Waldron for his unwarranted actions.
When she spied Waldron still chasing after Eric, she tore into him, growling and snapping to let him know just how angry he’d made her. He whipped around as if to attack, then recognized her and realized that by attacking, he’d lose any chance of courting and mating her—not that he had any—so he backed off. From his narrow-eyed, harsh gaze, she could tell he was irritated to the max with her. If he could have, he would have continued to hunt the other wolf down and finished him off. She worried about Eric—she smelled his blood on Waldron. How badly had Waldron hurt him?
But she knew Eric had been injured even before this because she’d smelled both an antiseptic and blood on him when she first met him.
She listened but didn’t hear any sign of Eric. Growling at Waldron again, she turned and ran off. She continued to pay attention to the sounds around her, making sure he wasn’t following her back to their campsite. She didn’t want to have to say a word to him about any of this when she reached camp. All she wanted to do was see that her cousin Susan was taken care of.
When she didn’t hear Waldron following her, she wondered if he had gone back after Eric.
As for Eric, she already had trouble with one alpha male wanting to court her. She sure didn’t need a second one bugging her, if Eric had any such notion. Still, she felt bad that Waldron had attacked him, and she really hoped he wasn’t hurt too seriously.
* * *
Later that night, after a doctor had x-rayed Susan’s leg and found a hairline fracture, Susan and Pepper settled on the couches at Pepper’s home in the woods for a late-night glass of wine and chips. Susan had her wrapped leg propped up on Pepper’s coffee table to help reduce the swelling.
“You should have played in the creek with us instead running off and starting a rock slide,” Pepper said, unable to let go of her annoyance with Waldron. “It would have been safer that way.” Had Waldron been watching the women playing in the creek before he attacked Eric? Most likely. She was certain Waldron wouldn’t have been spying on the rest of the pack.
She still couldn’t believe that Eric Silver had stood up to her about taking Susan to see his own pack’s doctor. The challenge in his expression had said he didn’t agree with her and that he wanted to do things his way. She didn’t know anything about Eric’s pack, and she had no intention of relying on a doctor she didn’t know. She and her pack might not have a wolf doctor, but they trusted the human ones they saw. Not that their doctors knew anything about the lupus garous.
She still could envision Eric finally bowing his head in concession, giving in to her ruling.
“Yeah, but then the most handsome of wolves wouldn’t have carried me back to the cabin,” Susan replied. “I couldn’t believe it when Richard told Eric he couldn’t take me to see their doctor. Their pack actually has a doctor! Now how cool is that?”
“Cool.” Pepper thought it was great, but she didn’t want to get involved with another pack. She was surprised another one lived only four hours south of where she and her people lived. Still, since each pack tended to run in its own territory, Pepper could see how they wouldn’t have encountered each other before.
Susan snorted. “You wouldn’t know a hot wolf if he knocked you down and licked you all over.” She smiled. “Now that gives me some interesting ideas. Let’s see.” She lifted her phone off the table.
Pepper wondered what she was up to.
“He said his name was Eric Silver, and he’s a park ranger.” Susan pulled up an Internet browser. “Yep, here he is. Giving a lecture to a group of senior citizens. With his dark hair and eyes, his height, and that gorgeous smile, he looks like every woman’s fantasy.” She sighed dreamily. “And,” she said in a pointed way, “he’s all smiles with the gray-haired women and men, so he wasn’t putting on a show just for you.”
“He wasn’t putting on a show for me. He wanted me to do what he said. If he’d wanted to put a show on for me, he wouldn’t have suggested taking you to Silver Town.”
“He’s clearly an alpha wolf, not a beta. And he’s a park ranger, so he knows something about taking care of people in the park who are injured.” Then Susan frowned. “Ohmigod, you don’t think he’s the wolf Waldron attacked, do you?”
“Yeah, he was. Though I’m surprised Eric returned to our campsite as a wolf.”
“See? He’s interested in you. Or, well, maybe he ditched his clothes somewhere nearby and was watching us as a wolf. Although”—Susan elongated the word, putting her phone over her heart and looking up at the ceiling—“in my fantasy of him, he would be thinking only of me and not of you.”
Pepper laughed.
“Did you bite Waldron?” Susan asked. “Richard said you took off after him, and you smelled of blood when you returned. Not your blood. I was in the car by then and missed out on all the action.”
“Waldron was chasing him, though I didn’t see any sign of Eric. Waldron had bitten him, and I had to do something to get Waldron’s attention. He was definitely in hunting mode and determined to catch hold of his prey.”
“And kill him?” Susan sounded horrified.
“If he could have gotten hold of him, I’d say that was a good bet.” That brought back memories of the alpha who had killed her mate—though her mate had been a beta—and Pepper shuddered.
Susan closed her gaping mouth. Then she set her empty glass on the table. “So, where did you bite Waldron?”
“His tail, the first part of him I reached. I didn’t bite too hard, but I still drew some blood.”
“Was he pissed off at you?”
“We had a wolf-to-wolf confrontation. Yeah, he was pissed, but I wasn’t backing down either, and if he wants me to look at his courting favorably, he has to mind me.”
“Oh, wow, I bet that nearly killed him.” Susan shook her head, taking another chip from the bowl and biting into it.
“Yeah, he didn’t like it. If we’d been mated wolves, I’m certain he would have growled and snapped at me to back off.”
“You’re not going to, are you? Consider courting him?”
“No way. Look how aggressive he was toward another male wolf who hadn’t provoked him in any way. We aren’t even courting.”
“Agreed. But now, Eric? He’s my kind of guy.”
Pepper waved a potato chip at her. “You should have given him your number.”
“I would have, but I was a wolf. I wish he’d given me his business card.”
“He might have. But you were a wolf.”
“I should have shifted and given him a big smile and a big thank-you for his help.”
Pepper laughed. “You’re way too shy to have done that.”
“Yeah. I keep telling myself I need to overcome that. I couldn’t belie
ve Waldron was watching our pack tonight. Well, and that he tore into the other wolf. He’s becoming a real stalker.”
Pepper refilled their wineglasses. “He thinks he’s protecting his ‘property.’ But I won’t be his mate no matter what.”
“Richard said Eric growled and snapped back at Waldron. I’ve never seen anyone stand up to him. Besides you. I wish I’d been there.” Susan sighed.
“Eric is a real alpha wolf. I was surprised he didn’t stay and fight Waldron to the end.” But Pepper was glad for it. She wouldn’t have wanted to see Eric hurt further since he’d already been wounded. Even now, she wondered if he was okay.
She didn’t want to call and check on him though. She let out her breath on a frustrated sigh.
She hadn’t expected to have any trouble on their camping trip into the national forest. She was a forester and used to working with groups on forest management. Many of her pack members worked in some forestry job or another, with Susan supervising their own forest nursery and Christmas tree farm. Some of the pack members worked there or on other tree farms, and some worked on other forestry projects, such as tree removal. But they hadn’t had a chance to visit this forest together as a pack in five years or so. It had been a vacation, and before Susan injured herself, they’d been having a blast.
Pepper had a lovely log home for pack meetings, with 250 acres of woods and a covered stone patio for outdoor gatherings. Most of her pack members had log homes of their own situated all over the territory to give them privacy, but close enough together that they could gather as a pack whenever they needed to.
“What if Eric could chase away Waldron permanently?” Susan asked.
“Then what? What if he expected something in return for his help? Our pack? Our land?”
“You? If I were the pack leader, I’d seriously consider it.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not interested. We’ll continue to deal with Waldron like we have since he moved into the area with his pack two weeks ago.”