For a moment, Kendall sat stunned, unable to move or to think. Then, as though a switch had been thrown, all her reactions came at once. Adrenaline surged, right along with panic.

“Greyboy, the timber wolf? No, oh no! How could that happen?”

She was out of the car and running for the wolf enclosure, Pedro running along beside her, as distraught as she was.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” he repeated again and again. “I was making my rounds, closing everything up for the night, and I found this.”

She flung herself in through the open gate, peering into the small dark opening to the den. No wolf eyes stared back at her. It was true. He was gone.

She turned back to Pedro. A part of her still wanted to deny it, to make it not be so, to find the flaw in the reasoning. The gate was standing open. How could that be! “Did you leave it? Did you see anyone leave it?”

“No.” He was shaking his head, his face as agonized as her own. “No, I didn’t even touch this gate today. Danni fed him just before she went home. But I know how careful she is. I trained her myself.”

Despair shook her. “Then how? How?”

He shook his head, eyes mournful. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

A fire burned within her. Suddenly she had to know how this had happened, who had done this awful thing. “Think. Was there anyone here while I was gone? Did you see anyone hanging around?”

He shook his head. “No, I...” A memory flashed into his mind. “Wait. There was a pickup truck parked out on the road for awhile when I was watering the birds.”

She felt cold and certain. It fit. She knew now. “The Johnsons,” she breathed.

He frowned. “I don’t know. It might have been them. But I didn’t see anyone come in. They would have had to have jumped the fence, since the gate was locked. I locked it myself right after you left.”

“It was the Johnsons.” She knew it with certainty she would have banked on. “I knew they would have to do something eventually.” She looked at the empty pen and mentally shook herself. “But there’s no point in dwelling on that for now. We’ll handle them later. The question is, what do we do now? You didn’t see where he went?”

Pedro shook his head. “I didn’t notice a thing until I saw this gate swinging open.” He looked at her, worried. “Do you think the wolf will head toward town? Do you think we ought to warn people?”

She stared at him, knowing that might very likely kill any hope she had of turning public opinion her way. And yet, if there was the slightest danger of anyone being hurt, she would have to do it. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “If we knew which way he was headed...”

“Brett Carrington,” Pedro said firmly. “Call him.”

Her impulse was to refuse. She couldn’t call him now. What would he think?

But there was no time to think, there was only time to act, before something horrible happened. She ran to the office and dialed with shaking fingers. Danni answered the telephone.

Kendall didn’t waste time on preliminaries. “Danni? Can Brett come to the phone? I need him right away.”

“Sure, Kendall. What’s the matter?”

“The male timber wolf has gotten out. He’s gone.”

“Greyboy? Oh no! I... oh no, not Greyboy. He’s my favorite...”

“Get Brett, Danni. Quickly.”

Time stretched interminably and finally Brett’s voice came on the line. His quiet confidence filled her with a sense of relief that weakened her muscles and made her knees feel like rubber. She had to fight it. The temptation to dissolve into tears and let him take over swept across her, but she held it off.

“Can you come right away?” She was proud of how steady her voice sounded. “I’m afraid we are once again in need of your expertise.”

He arrived in minutes. Another hour or so of daylight remained and he got busy immediately, looking over the compound for clues.

“What do you think?” Kendall asked him when he’d finished. “Do we need to notify the authorities? Do you think he’s headed toward any populated areas?”

He turned to look at her. “I think he’s headed as far away from populated areas as he can get.” A frown shadowed his eyes. “You’re not coming this time,” he warned.

“No.” She agreed. “Pedro will go with you. I’ll stay here to make sure nothing else happens.” She hesitated. “It’ll be dark soon. Can you search in the dark? Won’t it be dangerous?”

“There’s a full moon tonight. We’ll do what we can.” His eyes narrowed as he looked toward the hills. “You just have to think like they do,” he said softly.

Turning, he went to his car to get his equipment. She watched, arms crossed over her chest, as he put a tranquilizer gun in his belt and then reached for the rifle. This time she didn’t bother to quarrel as he slung the Winchester over his shoulder. He had to do what had to be done. She trusted him to make the right decision.

He turned to say good-bye. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “We’ll find him.” Suddenly his fingers were touching her cheek, brushing softly. “We’ll find him,” he repeated.

Without conscious thought she reached up and covered his hand with her own. “Be careful,” she whispered.

His eyes clouded. “I won’t hurt him unless I have to.”

“No.” She shook her head, her eyes wide and honest. “Be careful of you. Don’t take any unnecessary risks.” Her voice trembled slightly. “Come back safely.”

She meant every word. He stared at her, something new lighting his blue eyes. Without warning, he bent and kissed her on the lips, firmly but gently. And then he was gone, calling to Pedro, striding down the dirt path that led to the hills. She watched until they were out of sight, but he never looked back. The wait was going to be unbearable.

She went around the compound, double-checking every other gate and door. Night was falling when she returned to her trailer. Too edgy to relax, she set about making a nice thick soup. She wasn’t sure anybody was going to want to eat it when she was done, but she couldn’t just sit and wait. She had to do something. And soup seemed like such a soothing, reassuring thing to fix.

All the time she was chopping up vegetables and boiling water she knew she was keeping herself busy so she wouldn’t have time to think about how she’d felt, watching Brett walk off into the wilderness, how she’d felt when he touched her cheek, when he kissed her.

“You’re acting crazy,” she told herself aloud, chopping harder at the celery. “You’re imagining things. You’re seeing things in his eyes because you wish they were there. Stop it!”

He would find Greyboy. She had every confidence in him. Somehow she knew once Brett was on the scene, things would go right. He was just that kind of man.

When he came back, then what? Despite what she tried to tell herself, she knew things had changed, something had shifted. There was a new electricity between them. She knew he’d felt it too.

She longed to feel his touch again. Didn’t she deserve it? Didn’t she deserve to have a man, just once, who could show her what love could be like?

But how could she ever guarantee that would be what would happen? What if it all went wrong again, the way it had with Gerald? She closed her mind, pushing away the dark thoughts. She would think about something else.

The Johnsons. What was she going to do about the Johnsons? Should she go to the police? Or would that make matters worse? And what would the Johnsons do next time?

Suddenly the intercom from the front gate buzzed, and she froze. If this was the Johnsons, coming back, what would she do? She remembered Brett urging her to have a gun for protection and now she wished she’d listened. She had nothing. Looking about her, she glanced at the drawer holding her knives. Her breath was coming very quickly.

The buzzer sounded again, more insistent this time. Steeling herself, she flipped the switch. “Yes?”

“Kendall, it’s Danni. Let me in.”

Kendall sagged with relief. “Danni, what are you doing here?” It was now well after dark. “How did you get here?”

“I rode my bike.”

“But your sisters...”

“They don’t even know I’m gone. They’re out on a double date with their boyfriends, making wedding plans as usual.” She snorted with disgust. “Let me in, please? I can’t stand it, I’m so worried about Greyboy.”

Kendall hesitated. “Oh, all right. I’ll come out and unlock the gate. Just a minute.”

At least there was someone to eat her soup. She hurried out and let Danni in, then led her back to the trailer and sat her down at the little dinner table.

“Brett will find him,” Danni said again and again between sips of steaming soup. “I know he will.”

Kendall felt the same way but she didn’t express her confidence out loud. Sitting across the table from Danni, she watched her, noting how familiar her blue eyes looked at certain times.

“You really love that big brother of yours, don’t you?” she said casually.

Danni looked up as though she were surprised. “I guess so.” She shrugged. “Sometimes.”

Kendall dismissed the sulky tone, attributing it to normal teenaged reluctance to show overt affection for anything within her own family. She smiled and was warming up to go off into a long speech about how much she admired what Brett had done, raising his whole family on his own, staying with them all these years, but she never got a chance to get started. Her words seemed to have tapped a darker vein in Danni.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Danni was saying, “how the people you love can make you the maddest?”

Kendall stopped, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“Like Brett.” She waved her spoon and looked off dreamily. “I say the meanest things to him sometimes. I get so upset.”

Kendall didn’t think she had the experience in family relations to go into advice-giving, but maybe just murmured sympathy would be enough. “I suppose that’s normal,” she offered.

But Danni didn’t seem to hear her. Her eyes were staring at something far away, something Kendall couldn’t see. “I hardly even remember our parents. It’s always been Brett. He’s been everything for me. But...my sisters always come first with him. He loved them first, and I guess he just loves them best.”

Something cold gripped Kendall’s heart. She wanted to deny what Danni was saying, deny it quickly.

“What are you talking about?”

Danni looked at her as though she couldn’t understand why that might need explaining.

“It’s true. You might as well say things that are true. It’s no use trying to pretend they’re not.” She shrugged. “Brett thinks I’m mostly a nuisance. I just get in the way. Did you know he had an offer for a big job in San Francisco, running a huge park system or something. And he had to turn it down. It’s because of me that he has to stay here.”

“Danni, I’m sure that’s not true.”

“It is true. I live with him. I should know. It’s like the three of them are all one bunch, and then there’s me. They’re older and he cares about them more.” Her eyes were curiously cold. “But it’s okay. They’re getting married, both of them. And when they’re gone, it’ll be just him and me.”

There was an off note here. Kendall could feel it.

Something was very wrong with Danni’s emotional logic. But who could blame her? Brett had done all he could, but losing her parents like she had done was bound to affect her in fundamental ways Kendall could only guess at.

Her own parents had been important in her own life when she was very young. But for some reason, by the time she was thirteen, they had withdrawn from her life. Suddenly, they wanted her to go to boarding school, and once she was ensconced in a good one, they let her know they were divorcing. She rarely saw her father after that, and her mother was busy with her own job in the publishing industry. She moved to New York to be “where the action was”, or so she said. Kendall rarely saw her after that and though she was sad when her mother died in a car accident just before she married Gerald, it never really hit her as hard as she thought it should have. That was just another thing that made her feel guilty.

So her own childhood had been less than stellar, but that didn’t give her any unique insights into Danni’s. She had no real experience and wasn’t sure what she could say that might help Danni regain firm footing in reality. “Listen, Danni, I’ve seen your brother with you and I know he loves you to bits. He’s so proud of you. It beams out all over him. You’re the only one who doesn’t see it.”

Danni shrugged, unconvinced.

“And you know what?” Kendall went on. “I don’t know your sisters very well, but I have a feeling they love you just as much.” She smiled and reached across to touch the girl’s hand. “After all, you’re pretty darn loveable. I kind of like you myself.”

Danni looked embarrassed, but pleased. She didn’t answer directly, changing the subject back to Brett and what he might be doing in the hills, where Greyboy might be, what the chances of finding him were. Danni was too worried to go home without knowing the outcome, so Kendall had her call home and leave a voice mail for her sisters, then made her lie down on the bed in the next room.

“I can’t sleep,” Danni protested, lying stiff as a board. “I’m too worried.”

“Just try to relax,” Kendall told her as she pulled an afghan over her.

“I can’t sleep. I know it.”

Five minutes later she was out cold and Kendall went back to her solitary wait, sitting on the couch, wondering what was going on out there in the dark. Time dragged by and she drifted off herself, waking with a start when Brett was suddenly in the room.

“What...?” She rose, half sitting on the couch, her black hair spilling around her shoulders. “Oh, what happened?”

He seemed taller than usual, standing over her, his face lined with shadows. “Your wolf is back in lock-up. He’s okay.”

Relief flooded her, but she was still groggy. She reached around, not sure what she was reaching for but feeling as though she should be doing something. “Oh, I should go...”

His hand on her shoulder stopped her. “That’s all right. I had to shoot him up with tranquilizers, but he’s already coming out of it. Pedro’s taking care of him. It’s two in the morning. You need to get to bed.”

“So do you.” She stared up at him for a moment. His hand was still on her shoulder. He was so close, so rugged. A mountain man just come in from the wild. She felt small, powerless, ready to be overwhelmed. Between them both was the knowledge that they were trembling on the verge of something here. She tried to pull back by talking very fast.

“I... I cannot tell you how much I appreciate what you’ve done. This is really wonderful. I... Pedro and I could never have done this without you. You’ve probably saved Greyboy’s life. If we’d had to call the police, they would have shot him. Thank you so much. I don’t know how I can repay you. Besides money, of course. I’ll give you a check. How... how much?” Her voice faltered.

He held her gaze for a long moment, and she could see that he was completely aware of how nervous she was, why she was talking so much, and so fast. His hand still cradled her shoulder, his fingers pressing slightly, comfortingly.

Finally, he smiled.

But his smile wasn’t reassuring. He wasn’t promising anything. He was waiting, biding his time.

“You can pay me back right now if you just get me one nice hot cup of tea.”

“Oh.” She rose quickly, slipping out of his grasp. “Sure. You sit down. I’ll just be a minute.”

She could see his fatigue in the way he let himself sink to the couch, as though his bones had turned to rubber. She brewed the tea quickly and brought it out in a large ceramic mug. His head was back, and his eyes were closed, but he looked up when she entered the room, taking the tea from her and drinking a long sip despite the heat of the liquid.

“Thank you,” he said, his gaze following her as she crossed the room again and sat beside him.

“He wasn’t far,” he told her. “I missed him at first, went on up into that woodsy area behind Waco Mountain, in among all those oaks. Then I realized we’d lost his trail and we doubled back. Found him in that near canyon full of cottonwoods, just beyond the stream. He was hiding out in a breakdown area full of rocks. He seemed almost glad we found him.”

“I don’t understand how you could do it in the dark.”

“Luck, mostly. And experience of years and years.” He shrugged. “You get to where you can almost smell them out.”

She smiled at him, still feeling shy. “You saved my life. Thank you.”

He smiled back, not shy at all. “Any time.”

The smiles faded but their gazes still lingered, and the air between them seemed to tremble with possibility. Kendall’s heart was beating. She tried desperately to think of something to say. “I... I have soup if you’re hungry.”

“Soup?” He said the word as though he couldn’t imagine why she’d brought it up.

“Soup. I made soup while you were gone.”

“Oh. No, thanks, I’m not really hungry.”

But he made no move to get up and leave. She looked about the room nervously. “It was the Johnsons, don’t you think?” she said. “I’m sure they climbed in over the fence and let him go, just to scare me, scare the town. Don’t you think?”

But Brett was frowning. “I’m not so sure about that. Why would they release the one animal they most fear for their livestock?”

“I don’t know. But I can’t think how else it could have happened. Do you think I could get electrified wire for the top of the fence?”

He looked at her as though she’d gone crazy. “Sure, if you want to set yourself up for a potential lawsuit when the first person gets electrocuted. Be my guest.”

She’d known it was a bad idea from the start, but it was satisfying to think about. “What can we do, then?”

He stretched. “I’ll go over and have a talk with the boys in the morning.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know,” she said worriedly. “That might just rile them up even more.”

“True.” He shrugged. “That might be the chance you have to take.”

She tried to smile. “I’m not real good at taking chances,” she admitted softly.

He stared at her for a moment, then began to move toward her on the couch, almost as though he’d taken her last words for an invitation. “You should learn,” he murmured. His arm came around the back of the couch behind her.

She looked at him, eyes wide as a trapped deer in the forest. She could hardly breathe, hardly think. His eyes softened and he slid his arm around her, pulling her to him.

“You know what they say,” he said softly, his breath tickling her ear. “You should start with baby steps.” His face nuzzled against her cheek and she sighed, letting her head fall back, closing her eyes. His lips touched hers softly.

“That’s baby step number one,” he murmured against her skin. “Now here’s another.”

His mouth took hers and she melted to his touch, all will to resist slipping away. He was hot, sweet and slightly salty. His hands were strong and felt huge as they cradled her back, pulling her closer all the time. His lips moved on hers, searching for something, restless, and she felt herself lift to offer him what she had, opening wider, urging him to probe more deeply, harder. Her breasts were crushed against him now and she felt a stirring deep inside, as though something long asleep were waking.

He moved. Her eyes were closed. She could feel him pulling open her dress and she arched, wanting him to see her breasts, aching for his hot mouth to touch her. And when she did feel it, when his lips closed on her, tugging and stroking, she cried out softly, her hands going to his head, fingers digging into his hair, pulling him harder against her. A fierce fire was building inside her, a need so strong it would sweep her away.

Again and again he touched her as no man ever had before him. Her body felt alive, her skin tingled, her blood pounded. She gasped as the sensations built, one upon another. She wanted more, needed more as she’d never needed anything before.

And then he seemed to slow the intensity, bringing her carefully to rest again. She stirred, disappointed, wanting his lovemaking to go on and on and never, never slacken.

“I want you, Kendall,” he was whispering gruffly. “Make love with me tonight. Right now.”

Her eyes opened and she stared at him. He’d pulled away the fabric and her breasts were bare, feeling slightly cool now that his hands and mouth weren’t touching them. She drew her hands out of his hair to cover them, but he held her back, holding her wrists.

“No,” he whispered. “Let me look at you. You’re so beautiful.”

She was coming out of the stupor he’d so easily spun her into. He was watching her, and she knew he was waiting for her head to clear on purpose.

“I don’t want to con you, Kendall,” he said softly, his hand stroking her cheek. “I want you to know what we’re doing. I want you to agree you want it too.”

A surge of anger spilled through her. Why hadn’t he just gone ahead and done what he wanted to do... what she wanted him to do? Why hadn’t he let her be overwhelmed by the sensual forces he so easily unleashed in her? Didn’t he know she needed to be swept away? That she couldn’t agree to do something so self-destructive once he’d given her the option of refusing?

“Brett...” She pulled at her clothes, covering herself and avoiding his eyes. “We can’t. Danni’s in the next room.”

He looked surprised. “Danni’s here?”

She nodded. “She was worried about Greyboy so I let her stay to wait with me.”

His face darkened, and he pulled back, his expression hard. “There will always be some excuse, won’t there?” he said coolly.

She tried to reach for him, to explain, but he pulled away, turning to stare at her. “If you don’t want me, why don’t you just tell me so?”

But she did want him! Her mouth opened but the words wouldn’t come. How could she explain? What could she say that would make him see that she did want him, need him, but that she couldn’t trust him?

He was angry. Rising from the couch, he began to pace about the small room like one of her huge cats, full of growing frustration. “Is this how you want it?” he demanded of her. “Do you really want to be alone for the rest of your life?”

Her mouth was dry, but she tried to defend herself. “I’m not alone. I have my animals.”

He spun to glare down at her. “Can they take the place of humans?”

She swallowed hard. “In a way. They’re a lot easier to live with than humans are. They don’t require explanations all the time.” She looked up into his eyes. “They don’t hurt you,” she whispered, then stopped, appalled that she’d let that slip.

His face changed. Reaching down, he framed her face with his hands. “What is it?” he demanded. “What’s hurt you?”

She tried to shake her head, avoid his searching examination. “Nothing... I... nothing...”

His fingers dug into her scalp. “Was it your husband?”

She closed her eyes.

“Of course it was,” he said more to himself than to her. His hands caressed her, moving to comfort, not control. “Tell me, Kendall. What did that bastard do to you?” he asked softly, agony in his voice. “What is it, Kendall? Tell me so I can make it better.”

She opened her eyes and her gaze was locked into his. For just a moment, she believed. One hand reached up and touched his face, her fingertips barely grazing his sun-darkened skin. No other man had ever been so dear to her. He would hold her, heal her. She could trust him. Maybe.

And then a sound came from the next room. Danni was waking up.

Kendall withdrew her hand and ripped her gaze away from his, and felt a second of emptiness before relief came. She had almost given in to his goodness and trusted him. Thank God she’d pulled back just in time.

“Kendall...” He took her by the shoulders and stared intently into her eyes. “Kendall...”

But she was safe again. Her own eyes were hooded, protected. “Danni’s waking up,” she said evenly. “You’ll want to be getting home now.”

He pulled back and stood up straight, shaking his head. “Whatever you want,” he said softly.

And then Danni was in the room and the air was full of questions about Greyboy and what Brett had done in the mountains, and Kendall felt herself pulling back into the tight little ball that always had comprised her life, …and always would.