After eating dinner, she fell into an exhausted sleep. Darcy woke at dawn, her usual routine. Hard to break after three years with Ella, watching over her, making sure she stayed safe.

Dreams were rare for her kind. They lived in the reality of now, not the shadows of their imagination. But last night she’d dreamed of Adrian, his powerful body mounting hers, the burning intensity of his gaze as he took her, hard and fast.

She needed a shower. A shower and coffee. Surely they served coffee around here.

After a shower and dressing in white shorts and a blue-and-green striped top, she went into the kitchen, made a fresh pot. When it was ready, Darcy poured herself a mug, added cream.

Taking her cup, she went outside to the front porch, breathing in the fresh, damp air. A hint of a chill lingered, quite enjoyable after the stale air conditioning in the house. A necessity for Florida’s warmth, but Darcy preferred the open outdoors.

She sat on a white wicker chair, sipping the brew, enjoying the jolt to her already stimulated system.

Birds chirped in the nearby trees as the leaden sky sluggishly gave way to rose and purple streaks of dawn. She heard a spinning sound and jerked her head to the right.

Wow. Her mouth watered. Dressed in a black racing suit that covered his arms and powerful thighs, he rode with incredible speed toward the house.

Adrian pedaled with smooth grace then came into the curved drive and stopped, dismounting in a fluid move. Her breath hitched.

Everything about him screamed sex. Sex on a stick. On a pricey racing bike she knew cost more than most people made in six months. Sex in fur.

Each curve of his strong calves, the powerful bunches of muscles on his thick thighs, the arc of biceps and the rippling abdominal six-pack, was a walking billboard for females to sigh and coo and strip, offering their naked bodies for his pleasure.

And yet this lethal wolf wanted only one woman in his bed—her.

Flattery will get you nowhere.

He removed his black bike helmet, muscles working beneath the sheen of black Lycra. One foot propped up on the railing before her, she waited.

Adrian lifted the bike and carried it to the porch then set it down, next to his helmet. He strode over to her, gave the foot on the railing a pointed look.

Taking her time, she set her foot down.

“Enjoy your exercise?” she asked.

“Always. Every morning.” He wiped sweat off his brow with the back of his hand.

She could see how riding appealed to Adrian, plotting out routes and timing, with various goals to meet. He had a meticulous, methodical nature as an alpha, not given to impulses and spontaneity. Oh, she suspected he could make a decision quickly, without regrets. But Adrian was a planner. He’d planned to ensnare her from the moment they’d met.

“You ride because you’re so precise.”

Adrian shook his head. “I ride because it gives me time alone to think.”

This revelation surprised her. Then again, she was a loner, and Adrian led a large pack of werewolves. He’d have little privacy, and the amount he had, he must cherish.

He glanced around. “Have you broken your fast yet?”

At her headshake, he opened the front door. “I need a shower first. Then allow me to prepare a small feast for you. Few are up at this time of morning.”

Maybe he’d worked up a sweat, but she liked him like this, his chocolate brown hair in disarray, his toned body perspiring and smelling like male musk and the unique fragrance of spices and Adrian.

It made him a little more…human. Approachable.

Barely had they reached the kitchen when his cell phone buzzed.

Muttering a curse, he replaced the phone back on his belt. Adrian bowed to her. “I apologize for my foul words, Darcy. I have an emergency I must attend to. One of my people is giving birth.”

“Need help?”

Soon as the offer left her mouth, she regretted it. Why should she get involved? It meant getting closer to a people she had no intention of seeing after her time here had ended.

“Yes. I could use your help. This is Selina’s sixth pregnancy, and it’s been a difficult one. We’ll take the golf cart.”

As they ran outside and climbed into the cart, waiting on the driveway, unease filled Darcy. “Doesn’t she have a midwife? Or someone else to deliver the baby?”

“Yes. That is not why I am needed.”

They drove down the street to a smaller, two-story house tucked in a cul-de-sac. Adrian slid out, walked around and offered his hand.

Ever the gentleman wolf. Even when sweaty and obviously distressed, though trying like hell to control it.

They raced inside.

In the living room, a group of four anxious women waited, along with five children, ranging in ages from two to twelve years. Immediately she could hear horrible sounds of rage and pain coming from the second floor. Everyone looked scared. Soon as they saw Adrian, sighs of relief echoed through the room.

Adrian went straight to the older Lupine with gray hair bound in a tight bun. “Report, Olivia. How long has it been like this?”

“Thank the goddess you’re here.” The woman cast her gaze upward, where snarling and banging ensued. “He’s been out of control since the contractions started every four minutes. Her blood pressure is high, and so is the baby’s. I can’t get in there, Adrian, and neither can my team. We could lose them both!”

“Where?”

“First door on the left.”

“Stay here.” His gaze swept over the crowd. “Darcy, with me.”

Normally she’d protest his authoritarian attitude, but the sense of urgency overrode all else. Darcy scurried after him up the stairs.

Adrian paused at the first door. His dark gaze locked to hers. “Go after me, do not say anything and most of all, do not engage him. If he attempts to chase or attack you, back away and leave, closing the door behind you.”

Worry riddled her. “What about you?”

Adrian touched her cheek. “I am alpha. I will be fine. Ready?”

Taking a deep breath, she nodded.

Adrian opened the door.

Shock filled her, though she tried to conceal it. On the big king-sized bed in the room’s middle lay a female Lupine with gray streaks of hair, a thin sheet modestly draped over the middle of her naked body. She sobbed and writhed, in obvious pain. Around the bed’s edge paced the largest gray wolf Darcy had ever seen.

It had to weigh at least two hundred pounds. Snarling each time the woman screamed in pain, it seemed oblivious to everything.

And then it saw Adrian and growled, baring its teeth. Darcy’s heart skipped a beat. The wolf could easily tear him apart or shred him like paper.

But Adrian stood straight and tall, without fear. “Bryon, stop it. Now.”

Firm, quiet and lethal. Adrian went to the huge gray wolf as if it were a puppy and stared him down. When the wolf growled at him, he wrapped a hand around its muzzle.

And snarled back.

The wolf quieted, his gaze filled with fear, and backed away. Adrian released Bryon’s muzzle and spoke in a firm, commanding tone.

“I know you are afraid and seeing your mate in pain crazes you, but you will shift back into your human skin. You are not helping her, and with your behavior, you risk losing your beloved and your unborn child. The midwives cannot attend to her while you are in this form.”

The wolf backed away and sat, watching Adrian.

“Olivia,” Adrian called out. “Come here.”

Olivia rushed into the room and moved over to the pregnant woman’s side with a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. Worry shadowed her features as she listened to the woman’s belly.

Another contraction seized Selina, and she screamed. The wolf howled, but Adrian gave him a stern look. “Quiet, Bryon,” he ordered.

Olivia shook her head. “Adrian, the fetal heartrate is much too fast. We need to calm them both down.”

She couldn’t help deliver a baby or calm a raging mad wolf. But she could assist.

Darcy shifted into a wolf, sprang up onto the bed and lay next to the moaning woman. Selina gripped her fur, yanking it. Damn it hurt, but she’d been wounded by pros. Darcy reached up and licked the woman’s face, tasting the salt of her tears.

Then she rested her head on the woman’s huge belly, feeling the baby move beneath her. Hearing the too-rapid heartbeat.

Adrian looked at her. “Darcy, the baby needs to hear your wolf voice. Bryon used to sing to the baby each night in wolf form. Sing, sweetheart. Sing, and it will calm the baby.”

Instinct drove her. Darcy began to howl deeply. She kept it up, her mind chanting over and over again, please be okay.

Gradually the baby’s heartbeat slowed down.

The midwife and her team prepared to deliver the baby. Darcy lifted her head from the woman’s belly as the midwife urged Selina to push.

A gush of blood and water, and the baby slid into the midwife’s waiting hands.

Wonder mingled with relief as the squalling newborn was washed off and dried. She had helped. Maybe not deliver the child, but she had helped.

Darcy leapt off the bed and shifted back, conjuring the clothing she’d worn when first entering the room. Surprise filled her as Olivia handed over the newborn to Adrian instead of the mother.

Olivia lowered her voice. “It is a mark of respect and high honor for a newborn to receive the alpha’s blessing soon as she comes into the light.”

Adrian cradled the baby, kissing her forehead. “Welcome to the world, little one,” he whispered.

Then he held the baby up to show to the wolf who’d finally transformed into a giant of a man, clothed in ordinary jeans, a polo shirt, sweat streaming down his forehead. “A girl?” he asked.

“Congratulations, you have a daughter.” Adrian carefully handed over the baby, who began to cry again.

Bryon sat on the bed with the baby, giving her over to the eager Selina. Adrian nodded at Darcy.

When they were downstairs, Adrian sent the children upstairs to see their new sister. “Tell your father I want to see him immediately.”

As they waited, Adrian paced the living room. Suddenly he turned and lightly gripped her shoulders.

“Thank you,” Adrian said quietly, his gaze filled with sincerity. “You helped to save her. You helped to calm her with your wolf song.”

Pride filled her at his words. Darcy concealed her feelings with a mild shrug. “I only did what anyone would.”

“Anyone? Doubtful. Most Lupines would be too fearful of Bryon. Ah, here he is.”

As the Lupine came forward, Darcy gulped. In wolf form he was intimidating, but as a Skin he was awe-inspiring. Almost seven feet tall, big and bulky with muscle, he stood taller than Adrian.

Adrian held all the power though. It showed in his carriage and his quiet voice.

He turned to Bryon. “You have your daughter. No more young. That’s an order. The next time your mate gets pregnant, I’m kicking you out. Not your mate or your young. Only you. You will not endanger her life any more. Do you understand?”

Bryon dropped his head. “Yes, my alpha.”

Wow. Ordering a Lupine not to breed? It was like commanding a bird not to fly. As they left the house and headed to the golf car, Darcy whistled. “Talk about controlling. How can you ask him to not have sex with his mate? It’s their life, their family.”

Adrian stopped in midstride. “I did not ask them to stop having sex. That would be cruel. I ordered him to stop having children. Selina is in delicate health. The Lupine physician said another child could kill her. This was a pregnancy that she was not happy about. But Bryon wanted to try for a girl.”

Darcy lifted her chin. “And that gives you the right to interfere? What about ’Selina’s choice?”

“Her choice was to cease bearing young, but she wished to please her mate. This is why I had to step in now. When it comes to keeping my people safe and healthy as possible, I will do anything. Including ordering a stubborn, sometimes selfish male to stop breeding.”

Back at his house, he told her to help herself to breakfast, for he needed a shower.

Darcy watched him bound up the stairs. In the kitchen, the cook was preparing bacon and eggs.

“Breakfast will be served in about fifteen minutes,” the cheerful, robust Lupine informed Darcy.

Well then. What else to do? She should inform Adrian.

Telling herself it was the polite thing to do, Darcy headed into his bedroom. Sounds of the shower shut off.

Adrian emerged into the room, toweling his hair.

Stark naked.

Wow. She gawked at him. Hard not to do. Water slicked his golden skin, beaded in the dark hairs on his chest, dripping down the line of hair marching past the indentation of his belly button to the thicker swatch at his groin.

At her fascinated stare, his penis gave an interested twitch and then flared to full erection.

Adrian showed no shame. Instead, he threw back his shoulders and met her gaze, as if daring her to look her fill.

Daring her to do more.

“Yes?” he inquired.

“Ah, um, I came to tell you breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes.” She licked her mouth. Damn, her throat was dry.

“Fifteen minutes,” he murmured. “Unfortunately, not enough time to do with you what I wish.”

Her eyes nearly popped out. “What?”

“For that, I will require plenty of time and privacy.” His wicked smile widened. “And perhaps a few ropes and some oil.”

Was that a squeak fleeing her? Adrian chuckled.

Sucking in a breath, Darcy turned around and fled. She wasn’t ready to play this particular game. As much as she desired him, wanted him sexually, she feared what would happen.

Because once Adrian took her into his arms to make love to her, she wasn’t certain she’d ever want him to let her go.