A Silver Wolf Christmas

  She’d even considered that she might be dishonoring their aunt’s memory by even thinking of mating a wolf from the pack, when one of its members might be connected to Aunt Clarinda’s disappearance. Then again, Laurel knew in her heart that CJ hadn’t had anything to do with it. There was no sense in denying she wanted this and wanted him.

  He was looking into her eyes, caressing her hair, his gaze heated and lustful, but he didn’t make a move to go any further, as if he was afraid she still had doubts.

  So she threw herself into the kiss, into the feelings she’d been trying so hard to hide. And onto a path of no return.

  “It’s forever,” he murmured against her ear, his hot breath tickling her.

  She nodded, wanting this more than anything.

  He kissed her then, his arousal pressed against her mound, his tongue tangling with hers. She wanted out of her clothes, now.

  “We’re too dressed,” she managed to say.

  “Easily remedied.” CJ shucked off his jeans and boxers in the time she’d managed to sit up on the bed and grab the bottom edge of her sweater. Then he pulled off her sweater and ran his hands over her pale blue lace bra. The rough lace against her nipples made them all the more sensitive and eager for his touch.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, breaking off the kiss.

  “Hell, yeah.” Her words seemed to trigger his need, and he quickly removed the rest of her clothes.

  Then there they were—body to body, naked, man, woman, he-wolf, she-wolf…ready to do it.

  He didn’t ask if she was sure, just started kissing her again, his hot body working against hers, rubbing his stiff cock against her mound, showing her he wanted this.

  She spread her legs, forcing him to fall between hers. She felt the smile on his lips against hers before she wrapped her legs around the back of his, claiming him, securing him to her.

  He dipped his head and kissed along her throat, his breath hot as her skin tingled and her blood felt like it was on fire. His hand cupped a breast, and then his mouth was on it, his tongue licking her nipple, his lips closing in and sucking. She was wet for him, ready, throbbing with need, her fingernails caressing his scalp as she groaned with pleasure.

  She had imagined being like this with him when he’d caught her eye, his gaze heated. But she never could really envision how it would feel to recline on her back on his soft bed, her legs secured around his, his cock grinding against her clit.

  The intoxicating feel of him—the hot, and sexy smell of all-male wolf—felt better than right. This was it. And she wanted it, him, all of it. She slid her hands down his muscled arms, stroking him like he was stroking her breasts. Then he moved over and began to apply his fingers to her feminine bud, coaxing her into orgasm. He kissed her mouth, inserting his tongue in wickedly masculine domination.

  She sucked on his tongue. He groaned and smiled a little. So much for him being totally in charge. She smiled back, and they began kissing again. She savored the way his touch aroused her and felt the climax teasing her, just out of reach, so close she could almost taste it.

  He was driving her crazy with his touch, the scent of him, the raw, primal desire. She was carried away on a rough sea of pleasure, and she cried out his name. He didn’t wait to see if she was ready for him or not.

  * * *

  CJ was ready for her. He knew she wanted this too. His throbbing need dictated his haste as he slid into her warm, wet sheath and filled her to the max.

  He began to pump into her and kiss her, while her hands stroked every bit of his skin that she could touch. Gone was any hint of muscle strain or the feel of bruises as he claimed his she-wolf. He thought of how he would soon fill her belly with his progeny and loved her for it.

  She thrust her hips upward as he drove in, the sensation pumping him up even harder. God, he loved her. Loved what she did to him. Loved her for just being her.

  He was tense, so on the verge of relief, he growled his pleasure in a male-wolf way. Her green eyes were hot with passion, and she smiled a little at him right before he released, filling her with his seed, mating her for now and forever.

  He collapsed on her, wanting to stay right there for the moment, his cock still inside her, craving the maximum intimacy between them before he separated from her and pulled her into his arms to sleep.

  “Love you,” he said, kissing her mouth, and she tightened her hold around him.

  “Love you too.” She wondered why she had avoided entanglements with him for so many months when tangling with him like this was the best thing ever.

  She realized then she wasn’t wearing anything to bed—forget pajamas or summery nighties. He finally moved over and pulled her against him. She wasn’t certain that he’d want to sleep that close. On the couch—sure. There hadn’t been room for them to move apart. But in his king-size bed they had plenty of room. He didn’t let her go though, and she was just as happy to snuggle against him all night long.

  Before she drifted off, she wondered how her sisters would react. Then she frowned. “I’m not hurting you, am I?” He might be feeling sore again, and she didn’t want him to feel any discomfort. She could snuggle with him later, when he was all healed up.

  He snorted and held on to her tighter. She smiled and snuggled closer. “Love you.” And she meant it with all her heart. As sleepy as she was, she couldn’t stop thinking about the white wolf he’d seen though.

  “I want to search for the white wolf,” she said, but CJ was so quiet, his heart rate slow, his breath soft against her hair, that she figured he had fallen asleep. She repeated softly, “I want to find the white wolf.” Because she was certain the wolf was reaching out to them in some way, and she wanted to offer friendship in return. If her sisters could manage the hotel, and if CJ was feeling healed up enough to go with her, she wanted to search for the wolf first thing tomorrow morning.

  Chapter 17

  Early the next morning, CJ was up fixing coffee and crepes filled with eggs, ham, and cheese, feeling that everything would be right with the world if they could only solve the disappearances of Laurel’s aunt and the other hotel owners. But he also wanted to learn who the white wolf was.

  He hoped he had done the right thing last night in not telling Laurel about the human skeletal remains in the pit. He hadn’t thought about it until waking this morning, and then he’d worried. He hadn’t even known if the remains were male or female. And he didn’t want to upset Laurel with what could be when it might not be at all.

  Because of the fall he’d suffered, he realized his thoughts hadn’t been focused enough to really examine anything in the pit. Not that he could have seen all that much that night, as dark as it had been. Even after they’d tossed down the glow sticks and he’d seen the human skeleton, all that he’d been aware of was that the skull was a human’s, and that two of the ribs had framed one of the stakes. Which had reminded him of how damned lucky he’d been.

  The doorbell rang and he stalked through the living room to see who was visiting at this hour. Normally, anyone coming to see him would call to let him know ahead of time. One good thing about living here: no solicitors, so he knew it wasn’t a salesperson.

  What he didn’t expect was to see when he opened the door was Ellie standing on his front porch, looking distraught. “Ellie, come in.”

  “You found a body.”

  Her words felt like an accusation and hit him hard. Her gaze shifted to a point behind him, and fearing where this would lead, he turned to see Laurel, her expression one of disbelief, lips parted, red brows slightly raised. Then she frowned. “You found a body? Whose? Where? When?”

  She looked so pale, he wanted to comfort her, but he suspected she’d be ready to slug him when she learned just when and where they’d found the remains.

  “Docs Weber and Mitchell will be examining the area and the skeletal remains. We don’t even know if it’s male or female, one of our kind or strictly human,” he said, speaking the truth.

  “Did th
ey find clothes? Remnants of clothes?” Laurel asked.

  “I was kind of out of it last night.” CJ hated admitting that.

  Laurel narrowed her eyes at CJ. “Wait. Where were the remains found? And when?”

  Ellie was wringing her hands, looking like she really wished she hadn’t opened the can of worms.

  “In the pit where I fell.”

  Tears filled Laurel’s eyes. “You knew and you didn’t tell me last night?” Her words were almost whispered, as if she didn’t have the strength to give them any more power.

  CJ took a deep breath. “Laurel, it could be anyone. Nothing to do with your aunt. There wasn’t any reason to upset you when there could be no reason to do so.”

  “You were afraid to tell me last night because I might be too distraught and not have agreed to a mating!” Now Laurel’s face was red with anger, her lips pursed.

  He wished Ellie wasn’t here to witness all this and that he could deal with it in private with Laurel.

  Ellie’s jaw dropped. “You’re mated?”

  Ignoring her sister’s comment, Laurel stormed off in the direction of the front door. “I’ll ask Darien to keep Trevor at the hotel to watch our guests. You don’t need to be there.”

  CJ stalked after her to stop her. “Wait, Laurel, damn it. There wasn’t any reason for me to mention—”

  She gave him a dagger of a look. “Can you tell me honestly that you didn’t consider that it might have upset me so much I wouldn’t have mated you? At least not last night?”

  He couldn’t lie about it. “Of course, I considered it. But—”

  “Fine. If we can’t share important issues with each other…” She again headed for the door.

  He reached out and grasped her arm. “Laurel, wait. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to withhold anything from you so that you’d mate me last night. I swear it.”

  She nodded, but he could tell she didn’t believe him. Then she pulled away. “If you need to see us in an official capacity, have Peter send Trevor to talk to me.”

  There was no way in hell Laurel was cutting him out of her life. CJ smelled the crepes burning, and smoke started to curl into the air. “Shit. Wait, let me get the pan off the burner before I burn down the house.” He bolted for the kitchen but heard the door slam on the sisters’ way out. “Damn it to hell.”

  He turned off the heat on the burner, then moved the pan to the back of the stove top. He yanked out his phone and called Doc Weber. “What did you learn?”

  “Good morning to you too. Feeling any better after your fall?” Typical Doc. Current medical issues had to be addressed first and foremost. Dead bodies were of secondary concern. Especially when the case was so old.

  “Yes, sorry, Doc Weber. Good morning. So what did you learn about the remains?”

  “White, male, approximately forty years old, can’t tell if he was one of our kind since we don’t leave any traces of the wolf in us. The stake he fell on gouged at one of the ribs, had to have penetrated the heart and broken another rib. The fabric left behind appears to be of the kind worn around the time that Mr. Wernicke disappeared. I’m sending out what’s left of some of the fabric to a forensics lab to have them date it. It’s deteriorated so much that I’d say the gentleman has been down there for years.”

  “Can you prove it was Warren Wernicke?”

  “The dead man was wearing a diamond stickpin. It was found attached to a remnant of the clothing. If we go over the photos we have of him, we might see that stickpin. Then we’d be more assured it was him. Unless someone stole it from him and was wearing it. Or he gave it away. Or there was another like it.”

  Too many other scenarios. “Can you tell if he was murdered or just came across the pit by accident like I did?”

  “If he had been struck, it wasn’t anything that would have killed him or caused severe injury. No sign of blunt force trauma. It looks more like he just fell and the stake piercing his heart killed him.”

  “Someone had to have covered the pit over with deadfall. Two other animals had fallen through.”

  “A wild boar and an elk. Yes. And someone had to have covered up the hole three times. The boar was off to the side, but one hind leg was beneath the human’s left fibula—shinbone. The elk had landed on the other side, but the hindquarters were resting on top of the human’s pelvic girdle. It’s impossible to tell whether the man just fell in or was lured there on purpose.”

  “Who could have dug anything that deep?”

  “The movement of groundwater created the natural pothole in the limestone. It’s been there forever, but someone set it up as a natural trap for animals.”

  “Or humans. Was the meat carved off the boar? Was someone actually using the pit for hunting purposes at one point?”

  “Yes, on the boar. No, on the elk.”

  “Then we need to know if someone actually set it up to kill a particular person, or if the one who died met his death there accidentally.”

  “Agreed.”

  CJ’s cell beeped at the same time that someone began knocking on his door. “Gotta go, Doc. Call you later.”

  “I’ll let you and Peter know if I learn anything more.”

  “Thanks. Out here.” CJ answered the other call and headed for the front door. “Yeah, Peter? I was just talking to Doc Weber.”

  “I have a copy of his initial medical findings and a picture of the stickpin. Are you feeling all right enough to return to the hotel and watch what’s going on over there?”

  CJ answered the door, found Eric standing there, and motioned for him to come in.

  “There’s been a slight change of plans,” CJ said to Peter as Eric walked into the house and shut the door. “Laurel wants Trevor to stay there instead, if it’s all right with you.”

  “Anything…wrong?”

  “Hell, yeah. I didn’t tell her about the skeleton we found in the pit last night, and now she’s pissed off at me.”

  “We didn’t even know who it was, and it didn’t turn out to be her aunt.” Peter sounded annoyed with her.

  “Right, but…well there’s more.” Hell, CJ hated to admit any of this, but he’d rather his boss and his brothers know what happened than for them to think Laurel was being completely unreasonable. “We’re mated.”

  Dead silence.

  Eric shook his head, but he was smiling. And heading for the kitchen.

  “So she’s pissed because… Okay, got it. I’ll have Trevor stay there, and you can try to run down who our dead man is.”

  “Thanks. I’ll get right on it.” CJ ended the call and followed his brother into the kitchen.

  Eric stared at the blackened pan. “Looks like breakfast didn’t go over too well either.”

  “I’ve screwed up everything this time.” CJ poured hot water and dish soap into the plugged sink and shoved the cooled pan into the soapy water to let it soak.

  “Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time and it won’t be the last.”

  CJ frowned at him. “Thanks. I know that. But how do I fix it?”

  “If it were me? I probably would have done the same thing. And been in the same bind the next morning. Have you told Darien that you’re mated to Laurel yet?”

  CJ let out his breath. He really didn’t want to do this now. But he made the call to Darien and said, “Okay, Laurel and I are mated wolves. Just needed to let you know.”

  “Hot damn, CJ. That’s good to hear. I’ll tell Lelandi, and we’ll let the pack know.”

  CJ wanted to groan out loud. “Okay, I’ve got to talk to Eric about the case.”

  “Good show. Talk to you later.” Darien ended the call with CJ.

  “Darien’s glad, I take it,” Eric said.

  “Yeah, he is. I just didn’t want to let him in on the latest development.”

  “Understand. The two of you will work it out. So what was Doc’s finding?”

  CJ showed him the findings Peter sent him over the phone, including the picture of the stickpin.

  “Se
nd the picture to my email, will you? I’ll forward it to Brett since he’s digging into all the photos of that period. Maybe he’ll see a man wearing that pin.” Eric frowned as he studied the picture. “Why would a man be wearing something so dressy when he’s running around in the woods?”

  “That was one of my thoughts too. Was he chasing after someone? Lured there? I’m guessing he wasn’t just out for a Sunday stroll in the woods when he fell into the pit. It’s too far from any road.”

  Eric read through the report. “And since his clothes were there, that meant he hadn’t been in wolf form. Okay, what else did you need me to do? Don’t ask me to fix things between you and Laurel though. You’re on your own there. Oh, and by the way, congratulations.”

  CJ snorted. “I think that was the shortest mated relationship in history.”

  “You’re mated for life.”

  “I know. But I don’t think she’ll have anything further to do with me.”

  “She’ll come around. Give her time. First, the skeleton wasn’t her aunt. And second, you didn’t mention it because you didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily. Which was heroic.”

  “But then I mated her.”

  Eric smiled. “Good move.”

  “Hell, Eric, now she doesn’t want to see me again.”

  “Learn what happened to her aunt. Then maybe she’ll realize why she wanted you to be her mate in the first place.”

  “And if I learn her aunt was murdered?” CJ shook his head. “Somehow I don’t see how that’s going to get me out of hot water with Laurel anytime soon.”

  Chapter 18

  “Ohmigod, I can’t believe you mated with CJ and didn’t tell us! You can’t seriously be thinking of breaking up with him. You can’t as a wolf. He didn’t tell you about the skeleton because he didn’t know anything about it and didn’t want to unnecessarily upset you,” Ellie said. “He was devastated. I wanted to give him a hug and tell him everything would be all right between you, since you have such a forgiving nature, but I was afraid you’d turn all wolf on me and bite me.”