Wolf on the Hunt (20 page)

“I let him outside earlier. He curled up on the sofa when he came back in.”

She was surprised Shadow would do something like that when he always slept, if not beside her then at least in the same room as her. Then it occurred to her that her dog trusted Louis to protect her when he wasn’t around.

Louis framed her face with his strong hands and kissed her. “Now we should get coffee,” he told her, making her laugh.

“Coffee,” she agreed. “But I need a shower first.” She was hot and sticky, everywhere.

“Great idea.” He maneuvered them to the edge of the bed, keeping them joined as he stood. She grabbed at his shoulders but need not have worried. Louis had a secure grip on her.

He walked to the bathroom and she dropped her head on his shoulder and moaned as the friction between her legs sparked desire once again. “You’re going to kill me,” she warned him.

He reached into the shower and turned on the taps. “But what a way to go.” He stepped beneath the cool water and Gray yelped and then laughed before turning her face into the spray.

Chapter Twenty

Louis leaned against the side of the house and watched Gray paint. She’d started on the canvas just after breakfast. The intensity of her focus was enthralling. She seemed lost in her own world.

He wasn’t worried about her being taken unawares by anyone. Not with Shadow lying on the porch next to her and Cherise curled up in one of the Adirondack chairs happily sketching away.

He rubbed his bare chest, conscious of the sense of well-being filling him. He could happily watch Gray for the rest of his life. He caught the scent of another wolf. Not surprisingly, it was Cole. His friend obviously had the same idea he did—to keep an eye on his woman.

Gray chose that moment to turn her head and glare at him. “Go away. You’re messing with my concentration.”

Louis pushed away from the wall and strode over to her side. “I didn’t mean to do that.” He was surprised she’d even realized he was there. He glanced at her work but so far it was nothing more than a vague outline of the forest.

“And don’t look at my painting. I don’t like people looking until I’m finished.” Her scowl would have driven off a weaker man.

He dropped a kiss on her lips and gave her neck a quick nuzzle. “I’ll leave you alone. Promise.”

“I’m not holding my breath,” she muttered.

Louis grinned and hopped over the railing, landing lightly on the balls of his feet. “I’ll be back later.”

“Be careful.”

She was frowning, and he almost went back to her. Only the knowledge that she’d get frustrated with herself and him if she allowed herself to get further distracted from her work kept him away.

Cole was waiting for him just inside the tree line. His friend was already in his wolf form. No matter how many times he saw Cole, his friend never failed to impress. He was one big wolf.

“You’ll keep an eye on them while I’m out on patrol?” Louis knew he didn’t have to ask but did so for his own peace of mind.

The wolf inclined his head but then began to shift. Seconds later, the wolf was gone and Cole was standing by his side. “Don’t worry. I’ll watch them.”

“Thanks,
mon ami
.” Louis knew he could count on his friend.

“You will mate with her.” Cole pitched his voice low so the women wouldn’t hear them.

Not a question, but Louis answered anyway. “That’s the plan. I need to let her get used to us and to the idea of staying here. I don’t want to scare her away.” And that was always a concern with Gray.

Cole nodded and shifted again. He was a man of few words, but a man who could be absolutely relied on. Louis peered through the trees and watched the women for a few more minutes. It was already past time for him to be out on patrol.

He cursed his reluctance to be away from Gray. He also cursed his father and former pack. If they’d just leave them alone, everything would be fine. They had hunters in the woods shooting at wolves. That could also be laid at Pierre LaForge’s feet. If Anny hadn’t been attacked, no one would have known there were wolves in the woods. They’d been living here for almost three years without a single problem with the locals.

Louis wanted to shift but didn’t dare. He had to go farther afield while Cole was staying close to the houses. There was no telling if there might be hunters out in the woods. They might spot him if they had binoculars. And if he came across them, the last thing Louis wanted was to have to confront them naked.

Wearing nothing but jeans and sneakers, Louis started to run. As much as he wanted to stay close to Gray, he wanted her safe even more. If that meant he had to patrol for the next fifty years, so be it.

He raised his head and sniffed the air. It was another warm day. The sun was already high in the sky, but it was cooler beneath the shade of the trees. The forest was alive with activity. Small animals hurried about the business of searching for food, birds flew to and from the trees and insects buzzed all around. There were no smells out of place, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a threat out there.

He knew how to avoid detection. He wouldn’t underestimate his enemies.

He began to run, loving the feel of the wind against his bare skin. He easily jumped a three-foot-high rock without pause. Blood pumped through his veins and his muscles coiled and bunched with each movement he made. He loved to run. It made him feel alive.

Keeping all his senses sharp, he ran across the land they’d claimed as their own. This was his home. The people here were his family. Gray was his woman, his mate.

He would let nothing harm her.

Louis stopped on the edge of a small drop-off. The cliff gave way to an almost sheer wall and ended about fifty feet below. He wanted to howl so badly his chest hurt with the effort to suppress it.

He growled, the deep sound sending several small rodents and a raccoon scurrying for cover.

Hands on his hips, he surveyed the land, searching for any anomaly, any movement out of place. He sniffed the air once again.

There was no one around, but something was out there. He could feel it in his bones.

Eyes narrowing, he slowly scanned the area in front of him once again.

Nothing.

Louis turned away and started running once again. As he made his way around pack land, he wondered how Gray was doing.

Gray put down her brush and sighed.

“I can leave if I’m bothering you.” The voice surprised her. She’d all but forgotten that Cherise was there.

“It’s not you,” she told the other woman.

Cherise tapped her pencil against the edge of the sketchpad in her lap before setting both on the table beside her. “They’re hard men to put out of your mind.” She put one foot on the edge of her chair and wrapped her arms around her bent knee.

Gray put her brush in the bottle of cleaner that sat on the railing. She was done for the morning. “He frustrates me,” she confessed.

“How so?” Cherise asked.

She grabbed a rag and scrubbed paint from her hands. “He’s just so—” she waved the rag in the air, “—sure of himself. Convinced his way is the right one.”

The other woman grinned. “It’s the nature of the beast. They’re male werewolves. It’s in their DNA to be aggressive and dominant.” Cherise put her second foot on the edge of the chair, circling both knees with her arms. “But they’re different from most. They’re more progressive, able to take suggestions and listen to other opinions.”

Cherise tipped her head back and sighed. “Trust me when I tell you that is not always the case with werewolves.”

Gray desperately wanted to know the other woman’s story but also didn’t want to pry. “What was it like growing up in a pack?”

Cherise dropped both feet to the porch floor and stood. She wandered to the railing and peered outward. “It was good. My parents loved me very much. I had friends I played with. I was homeschooled. It was the only life I knew.” She turned back to face Gray. “Until the day I lost it all.” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I don’t know how much Louis has told you.”

“Not much,” Gray admitted.

A faint smile touched Cherise’s lips. “That’s like him. He’d want to protect all our secrets.”

Gray didn’t like the kernel of jealous that formed in the pit of her stomach. The feeling of exclusion, that she didn’t belong, started to grow. She reminded herself Louis would protect her secrets from the others until she was ready to share them. If she was ever ready, that is. That’s just the kind of man he was.

“I was sick when I was young.” Cherise propped her butt against the railing. “That’s very rare for a werewolf. We don’t get ill.”

Gray had never been sick a day in her life. Now she knew it was a result of her werewolf biology.

“I almost died,” Cherise continued. “I recovered, and that was the end of it.” She took a shaky breath. “Until I got older and couldn’t shift.”

That wasn’t good. According to what Louis had told her, Gray knew that werewolf packs didn’t like anyone who was different. “What happened?” The other woman’s expression was so stark and tortured, Gray wasn’t certain she wanted to know.

“My daddy was killed and my mama and I ran. A werewolf who can’t shift is no better than a half-breed in their eyes.”

“Ouch.” Gray winced at the slur to her heritage.

“Yeah.” Cherise dragged her fingers through her shaggy black hair and her gray eyes grew stormy. “My mama and I ran for years, living and working in cities until the past finally caught up with us.”

Gray knew what it was like to lose the people you loved. She reached out to Cherise and touched the other woman’s hand. Cherise turned her fingers so they could hold hands.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Me too.” Cherise stared blindly out over the yard. “But running from the past brought me here.” She gave Gray a brave smile. “And that wasn’t so bad.”

Cole strode around the corner of the house. Thankfully, the man was wearing jeans. These men did like to run around half-naked, if not fully naked, Gray had noticed. Not that they were hard to look at, quite the opposite actually. Still, it was a little disconcerting at times.

Gray wondered just how long Cole had been listening to their conversation. He went straight to Cherise and wrapped her in his brawny arms. “Everything okay,
ma belle
?”

It was difficult to watch the other couple, to see the love and connection between them.
You could have that
, a voice in the back of her head chimed in. Could she? Could that kind of love and trust grow between her and Louis?

It was tantalizing to consider. She knew she loved him. She knew he wanted her. It was a good place to start.

If she stayed.

“Want to see what I’ve been working on?” Cherise asked her man.

“Absolutely.”

Her friend gathered up the sketchbook and handed it to Cole. He flipped open the cover and started looking. His eyes narrowed and he glanced at Cherise. “These are amazing.” Cole pinned her with his laser green eyes. “She’s good, is she not?”

Gray nodded. “She has a natural talent.” She noticed the page Cole had open. It was of a squirrel running up a tree. Gray could easily picture the little guy getting into mischief.

“I’m really enjoying myself,” Cherise told him. “I used to draw when I was a kid, but I stopped.” The other woman didn’t say when she’d stopped, but they all knew it was when tragedy had struck her family.

“You have real potential,” she told her new friend. “Fine art, illustration, art cards. There’s lots of opportunity for you to develop your skill into a career, if that’s what you want to do. Or you can keep it as a hobby. It’s totally up to you.” Gray was hoping for the former because Cherise really had talent.

“I’m taking business courses online right now,” Cherise began.

“You can do both,” Cole told her. “Or you can put the online courses aside for now. You need to do whatever makes you happy.”

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive.” Gray could sense Cherise’s indecision. “I wish I had more of a business background. It would help me handle my career better.” She’d always felt the lack of business knowledge had hampered her. She was learning but slowly. It wasn’t her strong suit.

“If you decide to sell your own work online as original sketches, limited-edition prints or art cards, you’d have to set up an online store or join one of the big ones already available. But that’s down the road. Right now, all you need to do is enjoy drawing.” Gray didn’t want to push too far too fast. “Have some fun. Give yourself six months to a year and develop your skills and styles. Try some different mediums.”

“You’ll help me, won’t you?”

For the first time, Gray didn’t feel the walls closing in around her. “Sure, I’ll help. Even if I’m not here, I’ll only be an email away,” she added, just so Cherise knew she’d help even if she and Louis parted ways.

“Thank you.” Cherise hugged her and she returned the embrace. Gray was beginning to really like these people, especially Cherise. She’d never had another good friend who was shared her passion for art.

Gwen stuck her head out the back door. She’d been in the office all morning working on her novel. “Anny just called. She made oatmeal raisin cookies. Anybody hungry?”

Cherise and Gray looked at one another and then back at Gwen. All three women burst out laughing. “Okay, silly question,” Gwen conceded. She stepped out and closed the door. Shadow, who’d been watching them all, stood and went to Gwen to get petted.

Gwen rubbed the dog and then practically bounced down the stairs. “Come on. I need coffee and cookies.”

“I think she’s already had too much coffee,” Cole muttered.

“I heard that,” Gwen shot back.

Cole almost smiled. His lips twitched. Gray held her breath but it didn’t quite happen. The big man wrapped his arm around Cherise and nodded at Gray to go ahead of them.

“Will my things be safe here?”

“They’ll be fine,” he assured her.

Taking him at his word, Gray started after Gwen. Coffee and cookies sounded really good right about now.

* * * * *

Pierre LaForge stood at the center of the group of men he’d brought with him. There was some grumbling in the ranks but not much. This time, he would crush his sons and any future rebellion. He’d been too lenient with Jacque and Louis by allowing them to move to Salvation.

They’d betrayed him and the pack they’d come from.

“Go in pairs and observe only. Make sure you get some rest too. We’ll attack tonight after dark.” It was always best to hit your enemy when their guard was at their lowest. “Don’t shift. Stay in your human form, for now.”

His men nodded and faded into the surrounding bushes.

“You should have killed those hunters,” he told Jean Paul.

The big man scratched his beard and contemplated his words. “I thought about it but figured that would only bring a shit storm down on us. More authorities, more men with rifles combing the woods, and with no way of knowing how long they’d stay. Figured you’d want to move quickly and not have to wait.”

Pierre hated that the other man was right.

Jean Paul shrugged. “Besides, we can always kill them later if you want.”

The other man’s bloodthirstiness pleased Pierre. His sons had always had a holier-than-thou attitude. Too good to simply kill because it was in their nature to do so. He blamed their mother for that character flaw.