Chapter Three
Xander helped Greer into the front seat of his black Ford Bronco while inconspicuously inhaling her sweet scent. The musk of sweat, deodorant, and some kind of floral lotion did nothing to hide the underlying smell of attraction radiating off of her. Combine that with the rapid beat of her heart every time he met her gaze and he knew the desire he felt wasn’t one sided.
Not that he should even be thinking about wanting Greer, or any woman right now. He’d tracked his prey from Blue Creek to Twilight, and there was no way he was letting anyone get in his way.
Even if he experienced a draw he’d never had with any other woman, wolf or otherwise.
But as the last of the Thor Pack, he had a duty to avenge his family’s death. That had meant spending the last five years hunting down the clan of rogue shifters who had come through and killed everyone he loved. The guilt ate at him still; if he hadn’t been off with his friends from the Wolfe pack, if he had just been there…
There wasn’t anything he could do about it, least of all wish he had made a different decision that weekend.
He’d gotten five of the seven rogues. Three wolves, a bear, and a cougar. He’d tracked the leader, a shifter by the name of Pax Steel, and his bitch, Dakota Fletcher here and when he’d spotted a cougar watching him from behind Greer, he’d known it was Pax. He’d taken off after him, determined to rip the son of a bitch apart, but he’d heard Greer cry out. He’d slowed in time to watch her collapse and couldn’t leave her vulnerable.
His family’s killers would have to wait one more day.
He’d gone back to the spot he’d left his clothes, which hadn’t been far from where Greer had passed out, dressed and raced back to her. It had been the right move.
When Xander leaned across her to grab the seat belt, she beat him to it.
“I hit my head, but I’m not brain dead. I can buckle my own seat belt.”
Xander couldn’t help but be amused by her. Even in the woods, when she’d first seen him as a wolf, she’d hidden her fear well. He could smell it of course, but her attempts at talking to him, as if she’d realized he was more than an animal, endeared her to him.
After he’d watched her fall, he’d stood there staring at her because it had been a long time since he’d had such a strong attraction to a female. Her coat and sweats hid most of her curves, but he knew they were there. Her heart shaped face, full lips, and wide brown eyes were enthralling, and the honey hair that had escaped from her pony tail appeared so soft, all he could think of was running his fingers through it.
His reaction to her had made him want to shift right there, and reveal what he was. Actually, show her that she had nothing to fear from him.
Except I’d have been naked on top of a were-wolf.
That would have probably freaked her out more.
Besides, Xander knew first hand not all humans were shifter-friendly, especially in this part of Idaho. The Gray Wolves introduced years ago had become a problem for farmers and ranchers in the area, and a lot of them had adopted the shoot on sight mentality when it came to any predator they saw. He’d taken a slug in the back leg just outside of Carey, Idaho and had been thankful the man hadn’t been a better shot. It had hurt like hell to dig out, but he’d healed.
“Do I have something on my face?” she asked.
He realized he’d completely zoned out. “What?”
“The way you were staring at me made me think that maybe I had a booger hanging from my nose or something.”
“No, no boogers.” Xander decided not to mention that she had dirt streaked across her face like someone had been playing tick tac toe on her skin.
“You know, I’m feeling better. I think if you just drop me at home, I’ll be okay.”
“No dice, sweetheart. You got knocked out. That means you get checked out.”
He shut the door of his SUV and ran over to the driver’s side. He could sense the frustration radiating from her before he even opened the door, but that was too bad. He’d seen the way she’d tumbled down and it had been rough. He’d have called an ambulance if he’d had his phone on him.
Xander buckled in and after he turned the key in the ignition, set the GPS.
“If you’re trying to get to the hospital, just make a left and then take a right onto Moonbeam to get to the highway. Then it’s another left.”
Xander shut down the GPS and shifted into drive with a grin. “Alright, Garmen, can you repeat that slowly? I’m not from around here.”
He watched her teeth gnaw on her lower lip, but it didn’t stop her gorgeous mouth from tipping up in the corners. Or the slight scrunching of her warm brown eyes that told him she was trying not to smile.
To his surprise and delight, she spoke in a slow, robot style register. “Make a right onto Meteor Drive.”
He chuckled as he pulled forward and did what she said, thinking it was too bad she was taken. His two older brothers wouldn’t have balked at going after another man’s woman, but Xander hadn’t liked his college girlfriend hooking up behind his back. He didn’t like that uncontrollable rage, the urge to turn and rip the guy to shreds so strong…
Xander hated to lose control like that. After he’d found his family had been slaughtered, he’d lost it. He’d found one of the killers easy enough, stuffing dollars down the g-string of an exotic dancer at a shifter strip club a month after their deaths. He’d nearly destroyed the place as he’d beat the other wolf to a bloody pulp. If Xander hadn’t been a long-time friend of the Wolfe’s, he would have been taken out. It had been the alpha, Tristan Wolfe who had warned him to control his rage, and not let revenge take over his life.
He’d left Blue Creek, searching for the rest of the killers. There was no thinking of his family without the wrenching pain that followed, so he buried those memories. All that kept him going was the knowledge that he was going to annihilate the animals that tore his family apart.
Then his truck had flipped outside of Denver. He’d been pinned in, unable to shift, and hurt bad. Another vehicle had come around the bend and when the driver stopped and climbed out, Xander had smelled wolf.
Clyde Larsen was able to wrench him loose, and once he’d shifted and healed, Clyde had brought him back to his home and family. Watching the large group of loved one’s joke and mess around with each other had been his undoing.
It was Clyde and his pack who had saved Xander’s humanity.
It was actually Clyde’s brother who owned the house Xander was renting, and while his adoptive family had been good to him, he could never forget his strong father, warm, caring mother, or his brothers.
They needed him and nothing was going to stop him from finishing what he started.