Winter of the Wolf Read online

  Zeb gave him a wry look of understanding and adjusted himself inside his jeans.

  Giving a melodic and so-very-female laugh, Breanne poured something on the meat. “Of course, I’m sharing.” I want to share. You. With my brother. Shay closed his eyes. Bad wolf.

  “Herne help us.” Zeb’s mutter sounded as splintered as

  “Herne help us.” Zeb’s mutter sounded as splintered as raw-cut wood. “One cold drink coming up.” As Zeb rummaged in the fridge, Shay took himself and his very visible erection over to the oak table. A large salad bowl filed with greens occupied the center. Shay set out the stacked plates and silverware.

  She closed the oven door and turned.

  Though he knew her face was flushed from heat and not from arousal, the knowledge didn’t convince his dick to ease up. And then he saw the long gash on her cheek, mottling her fair skin. “By Herne’s antlers, what happened?” Startled at his loud voice, she startled back and bumped into the oven.

  Zeb turned, looked, and snarled. As he stepped toward her, the scent of his anger filed the room. “Who hit you?” She held her hands up as if to push them away.

  They both took a step back, but by Herne, it was difficult, and even harder when Shay noticed bite marks on her wrists and arms where she’d pushed up the sleeves of her sweater.

  The tip of her ear was ripped. Shay’s eyes narrowed. There was a lumpy area—bandages—under one jeans’ leg. “Your leg, too.”

  “And side,” Zeb said. “You fought someone.”

  “We’re not angry at you, lass.” Shay gentled his tone.

  “Just tel us what happened.”

  The unhappiness that filed her eyes wrenched his heart.

  The unhappiness that filed her eyes wrenched his heart.

  His instincts couldn’t be denied. He took a step forward and folded her in his arms.

  After a second of resistance, she melted against him, al soft curves and sweet female.

  He closed his eyes as the satisfaction of being needed filed empty places inside him. Unable to let go, he looked over at Zeb and got a wry smile in return.

  Want to keep her; can’t keep her . Their pack of two must run alone. With a sigh, Shay puled back and took a firm grip on Breanne’s upper arms. She’d stay put until he had answers to his questions. “Talk to us.” Tears sheened her eyes, but she blinked them away. Such a tough female wolf. Such a battered one.

  Zeb sat down at the table.

  The silence forced her into speech faster than yeling would have. “I met Thyra.” A spark of anger showed. “Apparently a pack has an alpha female as wel as a guy.”

  “A female did that?” Zeb asked in disbelief.

  “Oh.” Breanne sighed. “She certainly did.” Stunned, Shay released her. She took a seat at the table across from Zeb.

  “We should have checked out the females for you,” Shay said. “I’m sorry, Breanne.”

  Zeb’s jaw was tight as he echoed, “We’re sorry.”

  “Oh, guys.” She reached across the table to pat Zeb’s

  “Oh, guys.” She reached across the table to pat Zeb’s hand, and surprise blanked the cahir’s face. Shay almost smiled. The male wasn’t used to forgiveness.

  “Actualy, I doubt a warning would have helped,” she said.

  “If somebody shoves me, I’l push back. That’s al it took.

  She decided I needed to be disciplined.”

  “She did that much damage? In my pa”—by the God, what was he saying?— “I’ve never seen an alpha female do more than nip.”

  “This fucking pack is as warped as a board left in the rain.” Zeb’s face softened. “How bad are you hurt?” Breanne shrugged. “You guessed it al. I’m okay.” Her voice sounded hoarse, Shay realized. He grasped her shoulder and tugged her turtleneck sweater away from her neck. Red-purple bruises ran down the sides of her throat.

  From across the table came a low growl.

  “Didn’t you stop fighting when she got your neck?” Shay strove to keep his tone level. Even in male chalenges, the victor rarely went that far.

  She puled her sweater out of his grip. “I went limp the minute I felt her teeth on my throat, and after she cut off my air, it wasn’t as if I could fight very wel.”

  “Your air?” Another growl from Zeb. “Was she trying to kil you?”

  Breanne frowned. “I think she got carried away. She let go when Angie arrived and said something about the Cosantir.” when Angie arrived and said something about the Cosantir.” Anger burned in Shay’s guts, hotter than the oven behind him. He was powerless. What he wanted to do… “Males can’t interfere in female business.”

  “Fuck that. I’l kil her,” Zeb rumbled.

  Shay gave him a half-amused look, despite his agreement.

  “You might try. I don’t think you could.” A male’s instinct was to protect the female, no matter how angry he got. Did Gerhard know his alpha female was doing this?

  With a sigh, Shay cupped Breanne’s face, wincing at the gash. “At least, you’l heal more quickly now than you would as a human.”

  “That’s—Oh, the food!” She puled away and ran to the oven. “Just in time.” She started puling pans out, and the scents filing the room made Shay moan. “You guys finish setting the table and get drinks while I make gravy.” Gravy? Shay stared as she dished up roast beef, potatoes, and carrots. She puled something else from the oven, and he recognized a scent from his childhood. “Rols? You made rols?” Hel, he’d bare his throat for home-cooked rols.

  He and Zeb barely managed to restrain themselves until she sat down. Then it was war.

  Finished long before, Breanne propped her chin in her hand and watched the two of them. “I guess al those muscles burn a lot of calories.”

  A female noticing a male’s body was a good sign. The A female noticing a male’s body was a good sign. The next step was to get her delicate hands sliding over al those muscles. He cursed under his breath. If he didn’t stop thinking like this, he’d be in misery before the ful moon.

  Breanne would be at the Gathering this time.

  The thought of how she’d rub against him, growl her need as he took her, as he’d bury himself so deep inside her slick flesh that—he shook his head—it was going to be a long, uncomfortable week.

  Criminy, the guys ate as if they’d been starving for a month. Bree loved watching them.

  She saw Zeb’s surprise when he started to use knife and fork on the roast and realized he only needed the fork. His eyes had half-closed in pleasure with the first bite of potatoes.

  Shay had wolfed down five rols, and his blissful smile was as evident with the last as the first. He finaly leaned back with a groan and patted his stomach. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a finer meal. Ever. Your humans in Seattle must be missing you mightily.”

  Her smile faded as she remembered the regulars who had visited her restaurant. She hauled in a breath. That’s my home. I need to go home. “I miss them too.” Shay took her hand and kissed her fingers. “Sorry, a leannan. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

  “Bree.” Zeb’s black gaze had softened as if he could feel

  “Bree.” Zeb’s black gaze had softened as if he could feel her pain. “Do you want to cook for a crowd?”

  “Here?” She glanced at Shay who looked confused.

  Zeb leaned his elbows on the table. “Thorson, the bookstore owner, said the Wildwood held a barbeque every other Sunday during the season. Al you can eat for a set price. Open to lodge guests and townspeople alike.”

  “Realy.” Shay’s eyes narrowed. “That sounds like a lot of work for—”

  “A barbeque wouldn’t be that hard,” Bree interrupted.

  “That must be why that gril out back is so big. If one of you does that part, I can manage the rest of the food.”

  “I’m good at barbequing.” Zeb noted her surprise and added, “The Elder I stayed with…” A flash of grief darkened his eyes and tightened the muscles in his jaw. “Elder Lain only k
new how to barbecue.”

  “Then Shay can handle the people and money.” Bree grinned, delight rising in her. A chalenge. “It’s what he’s good at, after al.”

  “Hey, my fried chicken is fantastic.”

  “When it’s not burned,” Zeb said, earning a glare. “The shed’s ful of redwood tables and chairs. They’l need cleaning and refinishing.”

  “The gril needs work as wel.” Shay tapped his fingers on the table in calculation. “It’l take time to get the word out.

  Let’s plan on the last Sunday of the month.” Let’s plan on the last Sunday of the month.” Not quite two weeks. She could figure out a menu, get familiar with this kitchen’s quirks, and pick up any equipment she needed, although the kitchen was surprisingly wel equipped. Someone here had liked to cook. “That’s a workable time.”

  “Keep your receipts for the supplies. We’l have this business separate from the lodging one, so you can get a percentage of the profit,” Shay said. “I have a feeling it’l do wel. There aren’t many social diversions in town.”

  “A percentage?” She’d never worked for anything but a salary. Now she had a deal with the diner, and she’d have money coming from the lodge. A business of her own. A thril like the finest champagne bubbled up. “That wil be acceptable,” she managed, trying for a blasé tone.

  When both men laughed, al she could do was grin.

  * * *

  Two nights later, Bree dropped onto the shaggy rug in front of the living area fireplace and groaned. Heat radiated from the crackling fire with soothing warmth as she roled onto her stomach and stretched. God, everything ached.

  She heard a thump and a low voice. “What’s wrong?” She opened her eyes.

  Zeb knelt beside her, worry on his scarred face. “Are you Zeb knelt beside her, worry on his scarred face. “Are you hurt?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t see you.” His book lay on the floor, the cover showing a blood-drenched body. Why did someone who fought helhounds want to read gory mysteries? “You are so strange.”

  His lips quirked. “You’re not injured.”

  “Oh yes I am, you sadist.” She tried to sit and groaned, flopping back down. Her eyes closed. “Do you know how many tables I sanded clean?”

  A low chuckle. “Sore?”

  “You have no idea.”

  She heard him move, then felt him over her, straddling her, knees on each side of her hips.

  Panic blasted through her. She pushed up.

  He swatted her butt lightly and growled, “Stay put, little female.” As his scent swept over her, reminding her of a shadowy glade she’d found near a stream, she relaxed.

  His weight shifted, and his oversized hands closed on her aching shoulders, squeezing and releasing as his thumbs dug into the knots beside her spine.

  “Oooooh, yes.”

  His rare laugh rumbled out. He eased up, running his palms up and down, the warmth loosening more tension. “Did Calum have any news for you from the other territories?” She felt a twinge of grief and let it go. “Not much. My She felt a twinge of grief and let it go. “Not much. My parents might have lived in Gray Cliff in Rainier Territory, but helhounds wiped out the town a while back.” She sighed.

  “Did you know there’s a shifter on the Seattle police force?”

  “Heard that.”

  Bree smiled at the obvious disgust in Zeb’s voice. “He said the summer I was found, the area was ful of flooding and car accidents, as wel as a few murders and a helhound. There’s no teling what happened to them.”

  “That bother you?”

  “A little. You know, I always thought I’d been abandoned, but Calum said shifters are fanatical about children. That makes me feel better.” He pushed on her low back muscles, and she sighed. “What were your parents like?” The hands hesitated, then continued with long strokes.

  “No fathers—my littermates and I were ful moon bred. My mother died a few years after we were born, and my uncle got stuck with us.” His voice was flat.

  “Not a good father figure?” Bree asked lightly.

  “He hated people. Hated cubs. Didn’t talk. Much like me.”

  “Hardly. You like people. You just don’t want anyone to know.”

  His hands stopped, and she shut her eyes. Put your foot into it, didn’t you, Bree ? But it was true. With that uncle, it was amazing Zeb hadn’t turned out a total jerk instead of just was amazing Zeb hadn’t turned out a total jerk instead of just rough and gruff.

  He was silent, but his hands resumed their work. Within a few minutes, he’d reduced her to a boneless mass of gelatin.

  She started to drift off to sleep.

  “Over you go,” he murmured and roled her onto her back.

  Her eyes popped open.

  He straddled her, weight on his knees—and before she panicked, she realized he was studying her. Waiting for her to do just that.

  “You good?”

  This was Zeb. “I think so.”

  But… He was going to massage her front? His hands settled above her breasts. His thumbs dug into the aching muscles under her colarbones, moved toward her breasts, but stopped short. He massaged her upper pectorals and shoulders, then up and down her arms, squeezing right to the edge of pain. Knots dissolved, and blood flowed into the uncramped areas. She sighed.

  Finaly, when she could swear she was melting between the thin cracks in the wood floor, he lay down beside her.

  She opened her eyes.

  Head resting on his hand, he watched her.

  “Thank you.”

  He raised one eyebrow as if to remind her of Shay’s game, then cupped her cheek. With his thumb on the other game, then cupped her cheek. With his thumb on the other side of her jaw, he held her stil.

  His lips were as warm as his hands. Propped up on his elbow, he lazily indulged in his kiss, teasing and then demanding a response. His hand moved from her waist upward, brushing the side of her breast. With each slow stroke, her skin grew more sensitive, until her nipples were tightly bunched and aching. Her back arched her up toward him.

  The thump of footsteps on the porch announced the arrival of Shay.

  Bree sat up quickly, staring at Zeb. “Go sit in your chair,” she ordered.

  A crease appeared in his cheek as he ran his finger over her lips. “You look wel kissed, little female, and no wolf could miss the scent in this room.”

  The scent. A flush scalded her face. As Shay opened the door, Bree jumped to her feet and escaped up the stairs.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cold Creek, North Cascades Territory ~ Full moon

  “Vicki didn’t return today.” Shay strode into the library

  “Vicki didn’t return today.” Shay strode into the library corner of the lodge. His guts felt as if the fly fisherman had tied them into intricate knots. “Calum says she wrenched her ankle. She’s staying in Elder Vilage for a few more days.” Zeb’s book dropped to the floor, and dread roled over his face like black thunderclouds. “You’ve got to be fucking joking.”

  “No joke. By the God, Zeb, we have to warn Breanne about what to expect. We shouldn’t have put it off.” But waiting for Vicki had made sense, since just a year ago, she’d been human, and she could have explained Gatherings.

  Now they were caught in their own iron-toothed trap.

  “Does Breanne have any female friends?” Zeb considered. “A couple of the wolves, but the alpha bitch ordered al the females to stay away until Bree does a public apology. To finish off her lesson.” Pack politics. Shay’s teeth snapped together. He’d like to sink his fangs into Thyra and shake some courtesy into her.

  But only the alpha male could do that. “Nobody else?”

  “No females.” Zeb scowled. “We should’ve pushed harder, brawd. Kissing and fondling aren’t enough to prepare her for tonight.”

  “If we’d pushed, she’d have run. At least she trusts us.” Shay paced across the room. “She’s newly changed. Maybe the heat won’t hit her yet.”

/>   “Maybe. Or maybe it’l overcome her fears.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe it’l overcome her fears.” Shay kicked the edge of the rug, wishing it were Thyra.

  “There’s nothing we can do.”

  “Nope.” Zeb frowned. “Oh fuck.”

  “What?” Shay glared. “We don’t need anything else.”

  “Damn fucking right.” Zeb scrubbed his face like an annoyed raccoon. “Did you talk with her about lifemating or male-female ratios?”

  Shay stared at him, dismay rising. Humans only mated one male to a female, but shifters… “By Herne’s hooves, surely she’s noticed?”

  * * *

  The diner’s customers had cleaned out the pastry shelves, and Angie had reported they’d begged for more. Bree couldn’t stop smiling as she trotted up the steps to the lodge.

  Her smile faded. Angie had also said she wasn’t alowed to chat until Bree publicaly apologized to Thyra. Angie’d been pretty steamed about the decree, but apparently, the alpha female had the power to enforce her rules.

  Mood spoiled, Bree closed the lodge door with a slam.

  The thought of apologizing to the bitch unsettled her stomach worse than the rat she’d eaten a few days ago. But she couldn’t find a way to avoid it. Not if she wanted to make friends with the women in the pack. Thank God, Vicki was a friends with the women in the pack. Thank God, Vicki was a cougar and not under Thyra’s control.

  After hanging up her coat, Bree took a step and stopped.

  Shay sat at the library table where she’d set up a jigsaw puzzle, Zeb in a chair nearby, both watching her with concern.

  Worry slickened her palms. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” Shay rose. “We need to talk to you about something.”

  “Okay.” Did they want her to leave? Her feet dragged as she crossed the room. She sat on the couch next to Zeb’s chair. “What’s up?”

  “It’s…” Zeb looked at Shay helplessly.

  Shay sighed. “We’ve been teaching you the way of the Daonain. How to trawsfur. How to be a wolf. But there’s more to our customs.”

  “Like the pack laws?”

  “Not just pack,” Shay said. “Al the shifters—men and woman. I’m talking about mating.”