Chapter 7

Peering out the peephole, Bella found Chrissie standing on her doorstep and figured the questioning would truly begin. Taking a deep breath, she yanked the door open, relieved it wasn’t the police. “Hi, Chrissie.”

Her next-door neighbor looked a bit startled, her blue eyes wide and her lips parted. She was wearing a short chiffon skirt and flowery blouse, a little too sheer for the weather and a lot too dressy for just dropping by. “Oh, I…I wondered if you might like an apple pie. To thank you for taking me to the grocery store this morning.”

An apple pie? Chrissie had always been generous with Bella, relishing their friendship because she was estranged from her parents—they had told her the guy she married was no good and were still mad at her for not listening to them. Now she was raising her two kids on her own and Bella couldn’t understand how Chrissie’s parents could be so insensitive. But the kids were the ex’s, too, and that made all the difference in the world to the parents.

Bella sighed.

Had Chrissie thought Bella had left the house and not Devlyn? Chrissie had never baked a pie before when Bella had helped her with errands. She was after the man hunk, only she wasn’t taming that big gray.

Bella should have been annoyed, but she was more amused than anything. “Thank you, Chrissie. I have to warn you, though, Devlyn’s more of a red meat kind of guy. Not all that much into sweets.”

The kitchen door slammed shut and Bella jumped slightly. She glanced back at Devlyn, furious he’d taken off, but glad to see him safely home. He strode across the living room, his expression still stormy, his back stiff, a light sheen of sweat above his brows shimmering in the living room’s natural light.

“Who says I’m not into sweets?” he countered, his brows raised, challenging Bella. “I like my dessert, often, just as much as any other guy.”

She knew damned well he didn’t like sugary treats all that much. Was he trying to undermine her? Get in good with Chrissie for Bella cutting his masculinity down earlier?

“Well, that’s good then.” Chrissie beamed at Devlyn and handed the pie to Bella, pausing as if waiting for an invitation.

“I guess your kids are due home soon,” Bella said, hoping they were.

“Not for another three and a half hours.” Chrissie looked at Devlyn, a smile still curving her lips. Her dark curls framed her sweet face like a gray lupus garou’s might when in human form. She stood taller than Bella, too, more like the females of his pack, and she definitely had the hots for Devlyn.

Placing his hands on his hips, Devlyn turned to Bella. “I took a run to work out some tension and then picked up a couple of things for us to eat. Didn’t care for the slim pickings in your fridge. Maybe you can fix the steak for us. You know how I like it—on the bloody side. I’m going to hop in the shower.” He wiped his cheek on his sleeve. “I smell kind of…ripe.”

She couldn’t help giving him a crooked smile. Yeah, she could smell the scent of him, all male, sweaty, and totally lovable. “Um, yeah, well…”

He waited for her response. She wanted to tell him she would join him, but she couldn’t, not unless she told him she’d be his mate. Otherwise, she’d let things go too far.

He raised a brow, challenging her. “Coming?”

As a mature lupus garou, Devlyn proved hotter than the blue flicker of the flame—a wicked wolf, and all hers if she’d just give the go-ahead.

She turned to her neighbor. “Um, Chrissie, thanks for the pie. I’ll talk to you later.”

Chrissie’s green eyes bulged like a Pekinese’s.

Bella smiled. “Sorry, that’s the problem with renewing old relationships. They can be awfully demanding.”

Chrissie stammered, “Uh, yeah, well, okay. Talk to you later.”

Bella closed the door and then turned to Devlyn. “Where the hell have you been?” she snapped, irritated to think she’d worried so about his safety.

“Running. I already said so,” he retorted, his own voice still angry. He stormed off in the direction of the bedroom.

After setting the pie on the coffee table, she dashed after him. “You do not like sweets, liar.”

He turned to her, his eyes dark. “I do too love sweets, Bella. Your kind of sweets.” But he wasn’t smiling.

A surge of lust coursed through her body. She wanted him, really she did. But…“You’ve been gone for hours. You couldn’t have been running all that time.”

“I took a trip to the Cascades.”

Her heart sped up. “Because?”

“The killer might have run there sometime or another.” His hard gaze pierced her. “Were the reds aware you had a cabin there? That you took your jaunts there?”

She bit her lip. “I saw two in their wolf forms and smelled their scent on the breeze. I thought the murdering wolf might have been one of them. But I didn’t know at the time what he smelled like. How did you know I had a cabin there?”

“Found paperwork in your office when I went to email Argos.”

“You could have asked. So, did you find any clues?”

He shook his head. “But what bothers me is, if they knew you were there, why didn’t any try to approach you?”

“They did, except they must have smelled the hunter nearby and took off right before I was shot. I’d only smelled their scent in the area the weekend before. Tons of forests exist in Oregon. The clan must normally go somewhere else, probably closer to Portland, maybe around Mount Hood.”

“Then somehow one of them must have been in the area near your cabin, getting away from the rest of the clan. Maybe the one who murdered the human girl was with her there and he picked up your scent. If he let it slip to anyone else, any of the eligible males would have been searching for you after that.” Devlyn snorted. “Good thing I came along when I did.”

Despite agreeing with him silently, she hmpfed back.

He motioned to the bedroom. “Join me?” His offer was more than a proposal to shower with him. It was tantamount to joining him as his mate.

“I’ve already showered.”

Turning his back to her, he stalked into the bedroom. “Fix lunch, then. I’ll be out in a few.”

His demand and dismissal should have bothered her, but they didn’t. What annoyed her were her own actions, or rather inactions. She listened to the shower turn on and his shoes drop on the floor. If she joined him, he’d be one satisfied wolfmate, but she couldn’t do it. It would be like sacrificing him to the devil wolf, Volan. She couldn’t stomach the idea that the pack leader would kill him.

When Bella didn’t join Devlyn in the bathroom, he knew he’d have a hell of a time convincing her that he was the only one for her, but he wasn’t giving up. Then it occurred to him. What had she been doing the whole time he’d been gone?

He finished his shower, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around his waist.

With a quick stride, he returned to her office and checked her email. He read through the messages she’d sent in response to her red wolf invitation, not believing she’d invited half of the world to a dance club that night. More worrisome was Argos’s cryptic message to her.

The old pack leader wouldn’t return for her unless something terrible had happened, but he would have said if Volan had been killed.

He turned as Bella entered the office.

“Your bloody steak is ready.” She glanced down at his towel. “Going to dress, or eat like that?”

He rose from the chair and crossed the floor to her. Taking her shoulders in his hands, he massaged them lightly. “Which do you prefer?”

Her gaze took in his bare chest. “Men don’t come to the dining table half-dressed.”

“Just the answer I was waiting for.” Yanking off the towel, he dropped it on the floor. “Ready?”

She glanced down at the towel and then back at his eyes, ignoring his full-blown erection. “I hope you intend to pick up after yourself.” She turned and headed down the hallway.

Following her, he enjoyed the wiggle of her cute little butt covered in the tight black denims. “Is that what you’re wearing tonight to meet all of your suitors?”

“Something a little sexier.”

“Don’t see anything unsexy about the jeans.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Did you practice your smooth words on human females for all of those years?”

“Did it have the right effect on you?”

She gave a half grunt. “No. So what do you think about my plan?”

“Sounds like it could be a circus.” Sitting down at the head of the table, he smelled the rich blood of the fresh meat, warm and rare like he preferred.

She sat down opposite him. “Yeah, I thought maybe the more possible candidates we could draw out—”

“You could draw out.” He still couldn’t curb his anger with the notion of her acting as the killer’s live bait.

“I thought if a red acted aggressively about my seeing others—”

He pointed his steak knife at her. “What if that’s the problem? What if he can’t deal with other reds and because of that is having a difficult time finding a female to mate with him? What if the only ones he’s able to interest are human, but when he changes into the wolf, they’re terrified of him? As a wolf, he could bite her and still change her, but it’s not the same as having a mate who is willing. Most males nowadays wouldn’t want a female who has to be forced to accept him.”

“You’re right.” She sliced off a piece of meat. “So then we find one who cowers or is angered when others are interested in me.”

“Might work.” He guzzled down a glass of water. When she raised her brows, he said, “Run took a lot out of me.”

“From what I saw, it didn’t take much out of you at all.” She licked her lips. “Chrissie was drooling over you. I could have beamed her for thinking she could have…” She quit speaking.

“Could have me, when you already want me?” A healthy appetite for sex quickly displaced the anger and anxiety he felt.

“Why would anyone not want you? I mean, you’re so…so…”

“Untameable?”

She bit her lower lip, her gaze drifting down to his naked chest.

“Say it, Bella. You want me. It’s really easy. Just say it. I won’t bite…too hard.”

She shook her head and changed the subject. “You know, when I tried to decide whether to buy a wooden table or a more modernistic glass-topped one, I chose wood because it reminded me of the great outdoors. Only now, if I had glass, it would give me a better view.”

He grinned. “Bad Bella.”

She chuckled, never having enjoyed her home so much as she did now with the big gray wolf sharing the space. “I sure could get used to having you around.”

“I’m all yours.”

But would he agree to stay with her? Here? Away from Volan?

“What do you think is up with Argos?” she asked. “Do you think Volan could be dead?”

With the serrated edge of his knife, Devlyn sawed at his meat. “No. Argos would have said. I don’t like it that someone’s following him. He’s not as agile as he used to be. Not as wary either.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t go tonight.” Poking her fork into her meat, she considered Devlyn.

“What? And disappoint all of those panting suitors?” He couldn’t help the sarcasm that laced his words. He didn’t want her seeing red lupus garou, damn it, and he didn’t want them catching sight of her or thinking that they had a chance with her either. He carved off another slice of meat. “We’ll go. I’m not delaying our return home to the pack any longer than I have to.”

“You shouldn’t have left the house earlier like you did,” she scolded, her brows knit in a cute little frown.

“Did you worry about me?”

“What do you think? Here I’d have these dates I couldn’t break, and you’d be sitting in jail downtown. Who would protect me?”

“Are you sure you weren’t worried you wouldn’t have me to snuggle up to tonight?”

She gave a small growl.

He grinned. Yeah, she worried about him and wanted him, if she’d only allow herself to commit to him. He was wearing her down, bit by bit. Maybe, after the dance club, he could encourage her to say yes.

She took another bite of meat and then licked her lips.

Preferably before the dance club.

Bella turned from Devlyn, unable to stand his attentions any longer—the way he watched her lick the steak blood off her lips, the hungry look in his eyes, daring her to say she didn’t love him or to say she did, the smile that stirred when she considered his bare chest.

He was so quiet that she glanced up from her meal to see if he was still there. Looking satiated, he leaned back in his chair. “So what do we do until tonight? Want to take a nap? We barely got any sleep. You must have been up before the sun rose.”

“You won’t want to sleep.”

He winked, his lips curving up. “You’re right. But we’ll have a long night ahead of us, and you know how we are…lovers of the night. We won’t do well without an afternoon nap. Game?”

“I’ve got to do the dishes.”

He stood, and her eyes riveted to his erection. Heat pooled between her legs and her gaze returned to his. He grinned. “Really, just sleep. I can’t help it if every time you lick the salt and blood off your lips, it gives me ideas.” He grabbed his plate and walked to her end of the table. After planting a kiss on the top of her head, he seized her plate and carried the dishes into the kitchen. “I’ll take care of these while you get into bed. Be there in a few minutes.”

He was right. The lupus part of them required a long afternoon nap. Then they’d enjoy the night. Well, maybe not so much enjoy it tonight, but they’d be better prepared, more alert. If they slept.

“All right. But,” she said, pointing down the hallway, “remember to pick up your bathroom towel.”

“Gotcha. Don’t you love domestic life?”

She snorted. “Right.”

Life with Devlyn would be anything but domestic.

Before she retired to the bedroom, she entered her office, planning to check her email and then shut down her computer.

Twenty-two more messages. She blinked. Most had to be humans, looking for what they must have thought was a wild woman. Well, she was a little on the wild side.

She scanned through the messages, but one in particular caught her attention.

Hey, Rosa! Why did you say you wanted to see me at the club but had already told Alfred you were meeting him? Even Nicol said you invited him. I don’t want to make this some kind of a group mating scene. What’s up? Ross

Ross must have been the other at the zoo. Bella’s heart fluttered at high speed. Jeez, was he the killer? Oh hell, she never thought there’d truly be several from the same lupus garou pack that would contact her.

She turned when Devlyn walked into the room. He lifted his towel off the floor. “I thought you’d be in bed already.”

“We have a problem.”

He joined her at the monitor and read the message. “Damn.”

“What do I do now?”

The look that flashed across his face startled her. It was as warm as a breath of sunshine and there was something more that she couldn’t read. He touched her hair and then kissed her cheek. “We’ll figure something out.”

He reread the message. “Okay, how about, ‘Sorry, Ross, but I don’t know any reds in the area. This is as much a selection process for me as anything. It’s a female’s choice, too. If you don’t want to come tonight, we can make another date. I won’t make a choice until afterward.’”

She nodded, typed in the message, and sent it.

When no one responded, Devlyn nudged her arm. “Let’s lie down. He’s probably not at the computer. After we nap, we can see if he replied.”

“Just sleep, Devlyn.”

“Of course. I want you alert and ready tonight.”

He slipped his hand around hers and pulled her from the chair, his touch gentle and warm, like a boyfriend on a first date. She looked up at him, wondering what had gotten into him. Did he think he had to act human to change her mind about him?

She glanced down at his erection, stirring a surge of interest. She couldn’t help the deep chuckle that erupted from her lips.

He gave her a squeeze. “Yeah, you make it happen, Bella, all of the time. When you agree to be my mate, I’ll have to wear a lot fewer clothes most of the time.”

“You can’t wear any fewer than what you have on now, stud.”

“Your neighbor would approve. When I walked into the living room, I kind of imagined she wished she could see me the way she saw me earlier in the day.”

He released Bella and took his towel into the bathroom. Unbuttoning her blouse, she watched him walk back into the room. “I have a feeling Chrissie thought I drove off this morning and not you. I believe,” she said, pulling off her blouse, “she thought she might visit with you a bit and see what she’s been missing since the divorce.”

“She wouldn’t have gotten it from me.”

Although Bella was glad he made the remark, she wondered how many human females he’d been with over the years. It shouldn’t have mattered, but a smidgeon of envy ran through her veins. Well, more than a smidgeon. Gallons. If Chrissie pushed it any further, she’d see a new side of Bella—a wolf’s territorial side.

“Dollar for your thoughts.” Devlyn unbuckled Bella’s belt.

“A dollar?”

“Inflation.”

“Just thinking how the wolf in me might respond if Chrissie makes any more advances toward you.”

“Hmm, now that’s sounding mighty possessive.” Devlyn nuzzled her face, as if he were starting the wolf courting process.

“I’m a mite territorial, sometimes.” She nipped his ear. “We’re supposed to nap.”

“We will.” But the darkness of his eyes and the huskiness of his voice said otherwise.

After unfastening her bra, he slipped the straps off her shoulders. His warm fingers trailed down her arms to her fingertips in a sensual brush. Pulling her hands to his face, he kissed them, his gaze focused on her fingers.

“You sure know how to warm a girl up, but—”

He kissed her lips gently. But when she wrapped her arms around him and tried to kiss him back, he broke free, his actions confirming that he wanted to control how far they went.

When she tilted her chin up, he kissed her neck with gentle brushes of his lips against her sensitive skin. “You smell of wild rose, Bella.” He ran his tongue down the hollow of her throat while she scarcely breathed. “Breathe. I don’t want you passing out.”

Running her fingers through his damp hair, she hmpfed. “Right.” Yet she did feel light-headed with him touching her so tenderly.

He traced her nipple with his fingertips and she drew in her breath. Leaning down, he swept his tongue, wet and warm, over the tip of one breast and then sucked.

She groaned softly.

His fingers slipped down to her jeans and struggled to remove them. Her whole body thrilled with his touch; remembering to breathe was the least of her worries.

How she wished he’d give up the quest to fight Volan and stay with her forever. She’d do anything for Devlyn then.

He discarded her jeans on the carpeted floor and ran his fingers over the waistband of her panties. Again she tried to touch him, but he growled at her.

“I’m supposed to growl at you, Devlyn,” she said, kissing the nape of his neck when he took the nipple of her other breast in his mouth, “if you go too far with me. You’re supposed to whine for more.”

Lifting his head, he gave her an evil grin. “We’re not in our wolf states, Bella. For now, I’ll growl when you go too far with me.” He yanked her panties down and knelt and then buried his face in her crotch. “But you sure smell fine.”

She tangled her fingers in his hair and was ready to give in to him when he stood and eased her onto the bed, growling a curse under his breath. “Sleep. You’re going to make me an old wolf before my time.”

Crawling into bed, she wished the erection he held out to her could be put to good use, as her body readied itself for his penetration, moist, hot, and aching deeply, longing for satisfaction.

“I’ll join you in a moment.”

“Can I…”

Shaking his head, he walked out of the room. She groaned and turned away, knowing he would relieve the tension she’d created in him, by himself this time. But she couldn’t have him without putting his life in real danger. Volan was danger. And she knew if he learned she wasn’t coming home soon, he’d be coming for her.