Aidan had stuffed towels under the crack in his bedroom door to block out Emma’s scent once he’d realized that she was intent on hanging out in the living room and he’d be able to smell her easily there. That had been his first mistake, muting his ability to smell.

Then he’d made a second mistake. Desperate for a distraction, he’d called Roarke, knowing his brother would provide an extra incentive to keep him in his own room. Roarke hadn’t disappointed. His disapproval of Aidan’s methods for neutralizing the threat from Theo registered about nine on the Richter scale.

“So you’re telling me that last night, after shifting, you waltzed into her bedroom to check on her? You couldn’t have thought to do that before you dressed in your fur overcoat?”

“You know I can think better after a shift.”

“That’s debatable, buddy boy. A thinking wolf wouldn’t have tiptoed in to peek down at sleeping beauty knowing that she might, oh, I dunno, wake up, and said wolf’s ass would be grass. That’s the sign of a wolf who’s a few bones shy of a full rack of ribs, if you know what I mean.”

Aidan closed his eyes and let his brother rave on. Roarke was his lifeline to sanity, his anchor so he wouldn’t go out that door. Emma was willing to spend the night in his arms. She’s said as much not long ago. And now she was eating cake, the same cake he’d fantasized rubbing all over her firm little body just so he could lick it off.

“Do you want me to fly over there tonight?” Roarke sounded eager to get into the middle of this rodeo. “I could take the corporate jet and be there in no time. We could double-team Theo, and with me there, you won’t be as tempted to boink the lovely Emma.”

“No, I don’t want you to fly over.” Aidan smiled. Roarke would grab any excuse to climb into that corporate jet. Then he’d talk the pilot into letting him have the controls. He was licensed for single-engine aircraft and Aidan predicted he’d be piloting the Learjet before too much longer.

“I think I should,” Roarke said. “From the sound of things, you don’t have this situation under control.”

“Theo didn’t make a move tonight, so he may have gone to ground. This penthouse is as safe as Fort Knox, so no worries for now. I’ll see if I can smoke him out tomorrow morning. Once Emma leaves, I’ll be free to handle this any way I choose. I…hold on.” He walked over to the door and sniffed. Even through the towels he’d stuffed under the door to block Emma’s scent, he picked up a musty odor, like that of a werewolf shifting…shit!

Dropping the phone, he pulled away the towels and flung open the door.

He commanded his shift as he moved and ignored the ripping of seams. His T-shirt and sweats lay in pieces along his route. Straining toward the shift, he heard Emma scream. He entered the final phase right as he launched himself through the central panel of the door. He was counting on it being hollow. Fortunately it was.

One quick glance told him Emma was okay, at least physically. Her eyes were wide with shock, and he had no idea how he’d explain this. The nightmare excuse wasn’t going to cut it this time.

But Theo was his first concern. They didn’t have to fight if Theo acknowledged his superiority. Avoiding a fight would be a good thing, considering that Emma was there to witness it, and they were surrounded by expensive furniture. The ruined door could be the extent of the damage if Theo would cooperate.

The black wolf spun around to face him.

Aidan held Theo’s gaze as they circled each other. Give it up, Theo. You’re outgunned.

That’s what you think, old man. Bring it. I can take you any day of the week. Theo snarled and flattened his ears to his head.

Aidan didn’t discount the young werewolf’s age and agility. Chances were he’d been in a fight more recently than Aidan, who no longer felt the need to battle for dominance. He’d proved himself when he was younger, and the pack members knew he was in line to take over when his father stepped down, so the challenges had been few and far between recently.

Now he wished he’d sparred more with his brother, just to stay sharp. But he would handle Theo. The kid was risking the future of packs everywhere, and he had to be stopped. Tonight.

Aidan kept his attention firmly on the black wolf. Your choice, Theo. This can be easy or it can be hard. I’d advise you to make it easy on yourself.

You’re stalling.

I’m giving you a way out.

Theo growled low in his throat. Fuck you, Aidan.

So be it. Aidan moved in a split second ahead of Theo’s charge and lunged for the black wolf’s throat.

Emma’s scream registered but didn’t deter him. He knocked Theo to the ground while sinking his teeth into the soft skin beneath his jugular. A quarter inch more and he’d take the young wolf’s life. That was guaranteed to ruin everyone’s evening.

So he eased up, which allowed Theo to twist away and turn, closing his teeth over Aidan’s hind leg. Ignoring the pain, Aidan pulled his leg free. Being hamstrung by this young pup wasn’t his idea of a good time. But now he was bleeding all over the carpet. Housekeeping was going to hate that.

No more Mister Nice Guy. He lunged for Theo’s throat again, and this time he held on and issued his ultimatum. Give up unless you want your carotid artery severed.

You won’t kill me. I’m a Henderson.

The kid had a point, damn it. I’ll claim self-defense. From the corner of his eye, Aidan saw Emma approaching. She had the hotel hair dryer raised as if she was about to bring it down on somebody’s head. Whether it was his or Theo’s, he couldn’t be sure.

He’d take his chances. Don’t look now, but Emma’s about to bean you with a hair dryer.

No way.

‘Fraid so. So your option is to surrender to me or I’ll hold you down so she can knock you senseless. Which story would you rather have circulating?

Shit. I surrender to you.

Werewolf’s honor?

You got it, big guy.

Aidan relaxed his grip and let Theo wiggle out from under him. Emma must have still considered him a threat, because she smacked him a good one on the head with the hair dryer. He went down for the count.

The moment he was unconscious, he began shifting back to human form. Emma seemed transfixed by the sight. She stood there rigidly, her hand over her mouth.

Aidan padded into the master bath and nudged the door closed with his paw. By the time he came out wearing a towel, Emma had thrown the comforter from the bed over Theo while she continued to stare at him.

She glanced up when Aidan emerged from the bathroom. He met her gaze without flinching. In some ways he was relieved that she finally knew. But damage control was going to be a bitch.

She swallowed. “So it was you last night.”

“Yes.”

“Not a figment of my imagination. Not a nightmare.”

“No.”

“You asshole!” She hurled the hair dryer at him, and the cord snaked out behind it.

He ducked, and the dryer smacked against the wall before dropping with a thud to the carpet. The plug had caught him on the arm as it went by. He’d have a welt there soon.

“Coming into your bedroom as a wolf was a tactical error,” he said.

She opened her mouth as if to say something and then closed it again. Finally she shook her head. “Forgive me. You’re talking about tactical errors and I’m still trying to…to get my head around…”

“I know.” Instinctively he moved toward her.

She held up her hand like a traffic cop. “Keep your distance, Aidan. I don’t know who you are, or what you are, and until I get my bearings, picture a large bubble of protection around me, okay?”

“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Just for the record, this is a whole new experience for me, too. I’ve never revealed myself to a human before.”

“So you’re not…human.”

“I’m mostly human. But I can shift into wolf form, so that means that I—”

“I know a little something about werewolves, Aidan. I’ve been writing about them for six years. I just never expected to meet one.” She glanced down at Theo’s prone form. “Or two.”

“We should probably see if we can revive him.”

She glanced at his leg. “And stop your bleeding. You’re making an unholy mess. Is that real blood?”

“Yes, it’s real blood! I’m not an alien, for Christ’s sake. You write about this stuff. You should know.”

“I make it all up!”

“Well, you happen to be correct about most things. I’m a man in this form, and I bleed like a man, but I’ll heal faster because of the shift.” And he was making quite the mess. In the excitement of the moment, he’d forgotten that Theo had created a sizable gash in his calf when he’d tried to cripple him. No doubt about it, Theo would have followed through if he’d hit Aidan’s Achilles tendon. Good thing that hadn’t happened.

“Get some washcloths from the bathroom,” Emma said. “You can hold one on your leg and I’ll sponge Theo’s face. That might wake him up. Oh, and bring the tie from my bathrobe. I left it hanging on the back of the bathroom door.”

“What’s the tie for?”

“Theo, of course. When he’s conscious, he could be a lot of trouble. We’d better tie him up before we revive him.”

“We don’t have to tie him.”

She frowned. “I’d rather be safe than sorry. I don’t want the two of you getting in another fight, either as men or beasts. Once is plenty for me.”

“There won’t be another fight.”

“How can you be so sure? He’s whacked, Aidan. Not that you aren’t, too, but you’re whacked and semi-normal. He’s thoroughly whacked.”

He decided to ignore her whacked and semi-normal comment for the time being. “Think about what you’ve written, Emma. Werewolves are pack animals. Once an alpha has subdued another pack member, he returns to his subservient position. You had that very situation in Shifty Business.”

“You mean I was right about that? Cool!”

“You were right about a lot of things.” He wondered how and when he should tell her that she’d been under investigation because of being so right. “On top of that, once Theo discovers he was knocked unconscious by a woman wielding a hair dryer, he won’t be any trouble at all. He’ll never want the rest of the pack to know about that. We have blackmail material that will last a long time.”

“We? What do you mean, we? Come tomorrow morning, I’m outta here.” Her voice was full of bravado, probably false bravado.

He wanted to avoid this discussion until they’d both calmed down. “We’ll talk about that later.”

“What do you mean by that?” Her voice rose in pitch.

“Let’s take care of Theo and figure out the best way to get him home. Then we’ll discuss the options.”

“There’s only one option. I’m leaving for Denver in the morning to continue my book tour.” Her chin lifted in defiance.

In truth he wasn’t sure how to handle this. Security had been breached, and precautions must be taken. He couldn’t just let her fly off to Denver by herself. Not after she’d witnessed something like this.

“I’ll get the washcloths.” He went into the bathroom.

She followed him. “Look, Aidan, I don’t care how rich you are or how much real estate you own. I don’t care if every single Wallace is a werewolf.”

Thinking discretion was the better part of valor, he pulled white washcloths from the towel rack and stuck two under the faucet.

“I’m a free citizen of the United States of America,” she continued bravely, “and I’m going to Denver in the morning.”

He squeezed out the washcloths. “These should work for Theo.”

She took the washcloths and tossed them on the counter. “I mean it, Aidan. Don’t mess with my book tour. It’s important to my career.”

“I know.” He took a dry washcloth and pressed it against the wound in his leg.

She was standing close to him, close enough that her scent had begun working on him again. In the heat of battle, he blocked out any irrelevant sensory impressions, but after a battle, there was always the urge to release tension in some way. A run through the woods worked. Sex worked.

“Here, let me do that.” She crouched down beside him. Apparently she no longer felt the need for the bubble of protection she’d claimed earlier.

“I’ve got it. Go see about Theo.” He didn’t dare look at her. From this position he could see down the front of her little black dress.

“You’re a real bossy-pants, Aidan, do you know that?”

“Just go check on him, please.”

“All right.” With a sigh she rose, grabbed a washcloth from the counter, and walked into the bedroom.

He watched her go, his attention captured by the way her firm little backside moved seductively under the stretchy black material of her cocktail dress. His tailbone began to ache.

She called to him from the bedroom. “He’s gone!”

Tossing the washcloth in the sink, Aidan left the bathroom. Sure enough, Theo was no longer lying unconscious on the floor.

Aidan wasn’t all that surprised. If he’d been in Theo’s place, he would have cut out the minute he regained consciousness. But the kid couldn’t have made it down the elevator and through the lobby naked.

Then Aidan figured it out. “Looks like he took the top sheet from your bed and wrapped himself in that so he could ride the elevator to the lobby.”

Her eyes widened. “And then what? He couldn’t hail a cab wearing a sheet. No cab driver is going to take a chance on picking up what looks like a loony.”

“I’m sure once he made it out to the sidewalk, he found a dark alley and shifted back to wolf form. He’s running now, and praying nobody ever finds out how thoroughly he was humiliated tonight.”

Emma walked over to the bedroom window and pulled back the curtain. “I don’t have a lot of sympathy for him after the way he’s behaved, but I still hate to think of him alone out there in the cold, especially when he’s hurt. I popped him good with that hair dryer and he had some gashes on his throat, too.”

“He’s a wolf, Emma. This is how a wolf reacts to humiliation. That was my goal, to humiliate and intimidate him. I wanted his complete surrender and I got it.”

She shivered. “That seems harsh.”

“He was prepared to reveal himself to a human and break pack law. He had to be dealt with.”

She gazed at him. “But he succeeded, didn’t he? He did reveal himself to me. And so did you.”

“Yes.”

She continued to stare at him, and judging from her expression, she was beginning to realize the enormity of the problem. “Well.”

This would be the time to offer some comforting platitude like it’ll all work out. But he was too honest to give her false hope. He wasn’t sure how it would work out.

Her attention moved to his leg. “You’re still bleeding. Let’s at least solve that issue. Go on back in the bathroom and let me see if I can get it to stop.”

“All right.” Tending to his wound seemed like the sensible thing to do, so he followed her suggestion, or rather, her order. He understood why she, too, might be getting a little bossy.

Her previous worldview had been shattered, and in sorting through the wreckage, she was trying to regain some measure of control. He could allow her to dictate how his wound should be tended, but he couldn’t let her decide how the next few days would go, or maybe even the next few weeks or months.

He wondered if she realized that her life had changed forever and it was never changing back.