Wolf Tracks: Tales of the Were (Grizzly Cove Book 17) Read online

  She’d have to ask him sometime about shifter attitudes toward sex. She’d already heard from other sources—her distant cousins and her sister—that they weren’t all that phased by nudity, since they had to strip to assume their other shape. Well, they didn’t have to strip, technically. Jim’s change on the beach in Virginia was evidence of that. But, if they didn’t want to mostly destroy their clothing, getting naked before shifting saved their wardrobe. As a result, nudity didn’t seem to be such a big deal among them.

  It was strange to think of such a society. Helen had been raised in a culture where people covered up even more than most modern folk who lived elsewhere. The so-called plain people who lived all around their farm in rural Pennsylvania valued modesty. Women wore long sleeves and below-the-knee skirts and thick stockings, without any skin showing. Men wore long pants and button-down shirts, for the most part, though they did sport short sleeves in the summer.

  To be wild and free enough to run around naked. That just boggled Helen’s mind. She couldn’t imagine how it worked with groups of shifters, but she assumed, if they’d grown up that way, it didn’t seem odd to them. Helen thought these stray thoughts as she came down from the second orgasm of the day. Jim moved up her body, leaving her legs spread while he finally attacked the lacy fabric of her bra.

  Soon, all rational thought fled as he lowered his lips to her nipple, sucking at her right through the lace on one side, while on the other, his questing fingers peeled back the lace cup to expose her breast first, to the cool air of the room, then, to the heated touch of his talented fingers.

  “Sweet mercy!” she swore as his skilled touch drove her toward another climax. She’d never been so responsive to any man. She hadn’t known she could respond this way, but Jim was showing her things she never knew about her own body.

  “Oh, I like that,” he said, looking up to meet her gaze, his mouth still near the tip of her lace-covered breast. “Begging for mercy. I don’t think anyone’s ever had quite that response to me.”

  He bared his teeth in a grin then held her gaze as he lowered those pearly whites to the place where lace met skin. He bit at the lace, peeling it back with his teeth in a move that made her squirm with desire.

  When the fabric was out of the way, he closed his eyes as he sucked her nipple into his mouth. Helen’s eyes rolled back in ecstasy as she gave up to the sensations he was provoking in her body. A moment—or maybe it was a lifetime—later, he left her. She felt momentarily bereft until she opened her eyes to find him standing at the side of the bed, taking off his clothes as he watched her body sprawled naked in front of him in wild abandon.

  She tried to close her thighs, feeling a bit too exposed, but he stopped her. “Don’t move. Just let me enjoy the way you look while I do this.”

  This turned out to be getting naked in a slow strip while he watched her body…and she watched his. Her mouth watered when his shirt landed on the floor. She wanted to touch and taste every rippling muscle on his tanned torso.

  And when he dropped his pants, she had to lick her lips. Her throat was suddenly dry at the sight of his tall, thick erection. He gripped it, sliding his own hand up and down a few times as he watched her. Then, his gaze shifted to meet hers, and he smiled. A slow, sexy smile that made her fall just a little bit in love with the rogue werewolf who was about to possess every inch of her body. And then some.

  “Like what you see?” he asked, stalking closer.

  She nodded. “Very much.” Why was her voice so breathy? Could it be the insane desire to have him inside her? Yes, that was probably it. Damn.

  “That goes both ways, sweetheart. You’re a vision,” he told her in a soft voice that touched places deep inside. Scarred places that had been hurt by unkind words of other men. She might be the healer, but Jim was healing wounds she hadn’t even known she’d had with his approving gaze and compliments. “I hope you’re ready because I don’t think I can wait another minute,” he whispered in a rough voice as he rejoined her on the wide bed.

  “I can’t wait, either,” she told him in that breathy voice that seemed to have taken over her vocal cords. “Come to me, now, Jim. Don’t make us wait.”

  That was all he seemed to need to hear. He knelt between her spread thighs, still holding his hard cock in one hand, using it to guide the head into the channel he’d prepared so lovingly to receive him. He entered her slowly, taking time to be certain she could take him. He wasn’t a small man, and Helen wasn’t entirely certain all of him would fit. Somehow, he made it work, sliding in by slow degrees, letting her get used to the feel of him before adding more.

  Sweet merciful heaven! That felt good.

  When he was fully seated, he paused, meeting her gaze and waiting. What in the world was he waiting for? She almost wanted to scream, but the moment was too perfect—too beautiful—to mar with angry sounds.

  “You okay?” he asked, and her heart melted at the gentle concern mixing with the swirling fire of desire in his gaze.

  “Better than okay,” she promised him.

  He growled low in his throat. A sound of approval from his inner wolf. Then, he started to move.

  To say his style was wild and free would be an understatement, but there was also the cunning strategy of the predator in the way he played her body, fast then slow, then fast again. He made her cry out numerous times as completion neared, then he would back off, milking it for all it was worth, drawing out the sensations to drive them both close to insanity.

  He nipped at her ear. He even bit her shoulder, but it didn’t hurt. It felt sexy…and daring. When he had played with her long enough, he finally allowed her to crash over the edge into a swirling mass of pleasure so deep, it had no beginning and no end. It was all pleasure. All ecstasy. All bliss.

  He followed where she led and joined her in orgasm a moment later. It was at that point that reality came crashing back. He hadn’t worn a condom. Helen had never made love without protection, but she had learned from Kiki that shifters didn’t carry human diseases and they weren’t exactly fertile unless they were with their destined mate.

  She wasn’t sure how that made her feel. On the one hand, she wasn’t sure she was ready to be a mother, though she’d always assumed children would be in her future at some point. On the other, she really liked Jim. Heck, she was well on the way to falling in love with him. She wanted more than just one night with him. She was thinking relationship, at the very least, if that’s what he wanted, too.

  But did she want to be his mate? How would she know if they were truly destined to be together for the rest of their lives? Was that something only the shifters knew? Or did their human mates feel it, too? Helen hadn’t gotten to ask her sister about that one. At this point, she was almost afraid of the answer.

  Helen talked herself down from the ledge. She was getting ahead of herself, as usual. They’d made love only once. Whether or not there would be a repeat was still very much up in the air. As for the lack of a condom, it only really mattered if he was her mate. Since he hadn’t said anything to that effect yet, she would assume it was either too early to tell or she wasn’t his mate. In which case, it was highly unlikely that what they’d just done would result in pregnancy.

  For just a moment, she let herself fantasize about the possibility that they were fated mates and she would get pregnant with his baby. What would it be like? A little girl who could turn into an adorable wolf pup? Or a little boy just like his papa? Either one made her heart fill with joy.

  Jim lifted off of her and rolled to his side, but he didn’t move away. No, he tucked her up close to him at his side. Like he wanted the closeness after the ecstasy as much as she did. They weren’t cuddling, exactly, but it sure felt good to her touch-starved senses.

  Helen didn’t often touch other people because it always caused her gift to go into action if there was the least little thing wrong. Even a hangnail wasn’t too little to set off her gift, but with Jim, it was different. His own metabolism was
so high that most of the daily little hurts that affected everyone just disappeared on their own due to his innate magic and the ramped up self-healing abilities of his shifter nature.

  Her gift didn’t fire, and she wasn’t drained. On the contrary, touching Jim, being with Jim, especially making love with Jim seemed to fortify her on a cellular level. She felt invigorated. Replenished. At peace and full of life at the same time. It was a heady feeling that she was very sure she could easily become addicted to, if given half a chance.

  “You make me feel good,” she told him, wanting to share the revelation of her post-ecstasy thoughts. Her mind drifted in bliss, and everything seemed brighter and more joyful.

  He hugged her close. “You make me feel good, too, little one.” Jim bestowed a kiss to the top of her head that made her feel warm inside. As if he really cared about her.

  “I mean,” she tried to explain, “this…refreshes my energy. It makes me whole.” She wasn’t saying it right. She tried again. “Sex has never felt like this before.” No, that wasn’t quite what she meant. “It doesn’t drain me. It makes me stronger. My gift, I mean.” She shook her head. “And it’s muddled my brain, too. I can’t find the right words.”

  Jim chuckled and drew her close for a lingering kiss on her lips, this time. “That’s okay. It sounds like it’s a good thing, which makes me happy. For the record, I’ve never felt exactly like this before, either. You are one special, special lady, Helen.”

  He kissed her again, which led to other things… Which led to another, even more intense session of lovemaking that left them both wrung out and in need of sleep.

  They slept in each other’s arms, dreaming dreams of the future and letting go of things past.

  Jim almost couldn’t bear to leave Helen’s bed, but he still had to do reconnaissance of that old feed mill. Such work was better done in the dark, and there were still a couple of hours left before dawn. With any luck, he could go, check out the place, and be back before she even noticed he was gone.

  Jim crept from the bedroom as quietly as he could, watching Helen carefully to make certain she stayed asleep. He could hear her soft breaths and noted no change in the pattern of her sleep as he closed the door and padded, naked, to his side of the suite. Once there, he threw on some of his new clothes and equipment then headed out of the suite.

  He encountered no one on his way downstairs, but Miss Felicity was in the parlor, and she saw him as he crossed its open archway heading for the front door. She signaled to him, and he stopped, going into her parlor to see what the old dear had to tell him. She held up a single key with a knowing smile.

  “This will get you back in the front door. I may be old, but I’m still a wolf, and I like to prowl at night. I just got back from a little jog down the street. I can’t really run like I used to, due to my arthritis, but I still get around a bit. I’ll sit here for a little while before I go to my room, but you’ll need a way back into the house if you’re going to go out prowling.” She smiled at him as she handed him the key.

  “I’ll return this to you,” he promised. “Thank you for your trust.”

  “I talked with young Joseph earlier,” she said, making Jim realize just how old this lady was, if that’s what she called the Alpha. “He said you were here to help and that he knew your family. I trust his judgment, and therefore, I trust you. Plus, you’re a handsome young devil.” There was a saucy glint in her eye as she said that last. “I like the way you look out for that girl you brought with you,” she added.

  “Helen is special,” he felt compelled to say, as if he was admitting to his first grade teacher that he’d failed to do his math homework.

  “It’s good you think so,” Miss Felicity said primly. “She’ll come to no harm in this house. You have my word on that.”

  Jim felt her words like the vow they were. “Thank you, Miss Felicity,” he said, feeling grateful enough to bend down and kiss her on the cheek. “I admit I’ve been worried about how the townsfolk would treat her. She doesn’t get out much, and she needs a protector. With you on the job while I’m doing mine, I feel much better.”

  Miss Felicity smiled up at him. “Go on, now. Do your duty and rest easy. Things will be all right here while you go do dangerous things.”

  He noticed, even as he left, that she didn’t bother telling him to be careful. Miss Felicity was used to wolves. She was one herself, and she knew the human warning to be careful just made his inner wolf scoff. Though, he had to admit, if Helen had told him to be careful, he probably would have taken it as a sign that she cared for him. Funny how that worked.

  Jim headed out the door, locking it behind him and pocketed the key. Miss Felicity had just given him a measure of trust. He wanted to make sure that any threat posed by those at the old feed mill was eliminated, by way of repayment of that gift of trust. That mission firmly in mind, he headed for the wooded patch on the edge of the downtown area. He’d eyed it before as they walked, as a likely place to stash his clothes while he let his furry side out to prowl.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jim scented all sorts of interesting things on his way to the old feed mill, including the unmistakable scent of adolescent wolves. It got stronger, the closer he got to the run-down property out beyond the border of the town, and he realized that old feed mill must be one of the places youngsters congregated away from adult supervision. There were a few spots like that in every territory. The shifter version of lovers’ lane. Someplace teens could go to bond and explore together.

  Oh, the adults knew all about it. They’d probably used the same spots to gather when they were youngsters. Shifter kids didn’t go to such places to use illicit substances or get drunk. Most drugs didn’t have much of an effect on shifters since they had such high metabolisms, and for the same reason, drinking wasn’t that much of a thrill to shifter kids. Smoking wasn’t something any shifter with a strong olfactory sense would enjoy, either.

  Shifter kids went to places like the abandoned mill to learn the limits of their shapeshifting abilities and run, usually in animal form, with kids their own age. The old mill offered a plethora of scents to learn and discern, and many obstacles to jump or navigate. It was a playground for a shifter teen where they could explore their own abilities and match wits and skills against their friends in a competitive, yet friendly way.

  Jim dismissed the teen wolf scents and concentrated on anything else that might be in the area. He began his recon in a wide perimeter around the property he was interested in. He made several passes, closing in a little bit more on each pass. He didn’t smell anything, other than those teenage tracks which where a few days old, as he moved closer.

  Jim prowled the area, finding the usual scents associated with the perimeter of a Pack territory. The stronger Alpha wolves in the group probably helped check the boundary line between Pack lands and the rest of the world. Joe no doubt had a group of lieutenants whose job descriptions included helping keep this very large territory free from trespass or interlopers. Anybody nosing around the invisible boundary line that marked where the town—and therefore the Pack-owned lands—ended would likely find themselves under surveillance, at the very least.

  If they had evil intent, they would discover a very different response. Wolves weren’t known for their patience with transgressors. They were more likely to bite first and ask questions later. Periodically, that caused problems with the outside world, and that’s where the human positions of mayor and sheriff and the like came into play. Among the Pack, Joe was the Alpha. The leader. To the human world, he was the town’s mayor. Same concept, different titles, slightly different levels of discretion and authority.

  Likewise, the town’s sheriff was also the Pack’s enforcer. An enforcer had broad discretion to mete out punishment as directed by the Alpha and Pack law. In a Pack this size, the enforcer was an extension of the Alpha. In fact, in a Pack as large as this one, many functions were delegated to other Pack members. The Alpha of a group this size had a l
ot on his plate. It only made sense that he would need help keeping everything running and everybody happy.

  So it was that Jim scented several very distinct trails running in roughly the same paths, parallel to the town boundary line. He recognized Joe’s scent immediately. Likewise, the sheriff’s scent trail was very distinctive and strong in the area. There were others, too. Most likely, they belonged to strong members of the Pack who were likely employed as sheriff’s deputies or other first-responder types of positions. Police, firemen, ambulance workers, emergency medical technicians, and the like. Those were all good places to put dominant wolves who felt a strong compulsion to protect and serve.

  Giving the subordinate dominant wolves respected places within the pack hierarchy also helped to keep the peace and the cohesiveness of the group. Joe was a smart and generous Alpha. He gave the other strong wolves in his group a chance to show their stuff, rather than subduing them into compliance. Experienced Alphas often had such power structures. That was often the mark of a very successful Pack.

  Jim was gratified to discover that his initial impressions of Joe and his people were correct. The scent trails told the story. This was a tale of dominant wolves sharing space and authority for the good of their Pack, and an Alpha who knew how to best help his people, by letting them be who they were born to be, without forcing them to suppress their own strengths. Joe was old enough, and wise enough, to let them all be the best they could be and use those talents for the good of the whole.

  Jim’s brother, Brock, was trying to do the same. With guidance from both Joe and their Uncle Arch, Brock was guiding Jim’s home Pack into the successful model Jim saw working here in Big Wolf. Jim was thinking about this as he went along, not really finding anything that concerned him as far as his mission went but learning a bit more about the town and its people from the age and frequency of the different scent trails. Until suddenly… All scent was gone.