Seduced by the Wolf

Chapter 22

When the day had turned completely to darkness, the clouds blocking any hint of stars, Leidolf and Cassie left the relative security of their timber cabin and headed out on their mission of searching for the two female reds.

Leidolf tried really hard not to watch every move Cassie made as she raced through the woods, while she continually stopped to smell for the red wolves and then ran off again. He loved to observe her in her wolf form, the way she moved so fluidly, darting one way and then the other. The way she held her head and tail high, alert, alphalike. The way she concentrated on the mission as if nothing or nobody else existed. He was searching also, but he loved watching her pursuit of the two reds.

She suddenly turned her head toward him, her ears twisting back and forth as she listened for...

Hell, he heard it, too. Pups whimpering for their mother. Cassie dug around in a bunch of leaves, sniffed, and then turned. She headed for a thicket of blackberries and shoved her nose into a hole. Pulling her snout out of the hole, she wagged her tail and made a little woofing sound. Tinier woofs responded.

Leidolf joined her and then nudged her face in greeting. He'd catch some fish for the mother. But what he hadn't expected to see was Cassie with a full-blown case of empathy for a mother wolf and her brood. Seeing her excitement at finding the pups made him desire having children with Cassie even more.

With a final glance back at her as she sat near the den in guard mode, he took off toward the river.

Cassie lay near the den, watching over the pups and hoping to see the mother soon. When Leidolf left, she couldn't have been more proud of him. She knew he was getting food for the mother, and for now, he'd let her do what she needed to do, provide protection.

But that's when the real trouble began. She thought she smelled a human. She lifted her nose and breathed in the air. No, two. She froze in place. No, no, no. The zoo men were somewhere close by. She prayed they hadn't seen her or Leidolf. That they hadn't spied the mother wolf.

Then a shot sounded in the woods nearby and a familiar twinge of pain went through her shoulder as a reminder of the past, even though she hadn't been shot this time. She wanted to make sure Leidolf was all right, but she couldn't leave the pups alone. No matter what, she couldn't abandon them.

Everything was really quiet, way too quiet, and she feared the zoo men were watching her in the woods. She couldn't see them, but she still smelled them. If she took off running and they tranquilized her, they might not ever know the pups existed.

It was a standoff. Her not moving. Them not revealing themselves. Another shot rang out in another direction. Her heart drummed in panic. Leidolf. Where was Leidolf?

Before she made out the rest of him blending with the forest, she saw Thompson's blue eyes. He had his rifle readied. He planned to shoot her. She rose. He shouldered his rifle. She turned and pulled a pup from its hastily dug den.

"Holy cow," Joe said, emerging from the trees. "She has a litter of pups."

Thompson lowered the rifle, pointed it at the ground, and smiled. "We're going to take care of you, Rosa. You and the other wolves and your pups." He raised the rifle again and fired a shot.

Cassie cursed Thompson as the dart struck her in the flank. She collapsed and dropped the pup.

"Think there are any more of them?" Joe asked, hurrying with Thompson to check on Cassie, who was lying prone on the ground, the damned tranquilizer quickly zipping through her body.

If she could have, she would have bitten the bastard. She wanted the pups and their mother taken care of, not her!

"No. From the looks of the tracks where we were tranquilized, there were three wolves. Two others besides Rosa."

"Wait," Joe said, lifting her back leg. "She's not nursing. We'd checked her before and found she hadn't had pups."

"Then she's the babysitter. Maybe the sister of the other. Okay, well, let's get them to the cages, take them back to Portland, and have the vet check them out." Thompson poked his hand into the den. "Man, look at this. One, two... three... and four. Two males and two females."

"Hey, so the male we got was the mate of the one who had the pups, don't you suspect? So Rosa still needs a mate."

"Big Red will be happy to learn of it," Thompson agreed.

Cassie groaned.

Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw another red female and blinked. Aimee? The drug was making her hallucinate if she was now seeing her long-dead cousin.

Thompson turned around to see what she was looking at so hard, but the wolf flipped around and disappeared into the trees, the branches she brushed against swaying slightly. Cassie blinked and dropped her head to the ground. The wolf couldn't be real.

When Leidolf woke still in his wolf form, he smelled dozens of animal smells and realized he was in a cage in some kind of room full of medical supplies and metal exam tables. Shit.

He looked around the room and saw a ragged-looking red wolf sleeping off the tranquilizer inside another cage. The mother wolf. No sign of the pups, though. Farther over, he saw Cassie in a cage. She was sound asleep, too. Hell. Were they at the zoo? Probably a holding room of some sort to check them out. Make sure they didn't have worms or other medical problems.

An elephant trumpeted in the distance, the sound muffled. Yeah, they were at the zoo. Damn it.

He sat up and woofed at Cassie, trying to get her attention. Instead, the mother wolf lifted her head, but she was too groggy, and she dropped her head down and blinked at him.

"The female that had the pups was treated for worms," a man said, shoving the door aside, as Thompson walked inside with him. "And she had a bad case of ear mites."

"You're awake," Thompson said, observing Leidolf. "He's a good-looking red wolf for living in the wild, don't you think, Dr. Chavez?"

"Healthy, good weight," the doctor agreed. "Good-looking teeth." He waved a hand at Cassie. "Same with the female. The mother wolf's half-starved, though. Can't figure it out. Her mate would have been bringing her and the pups food."

"What if he's not the mother's mate?"

"You said they're the only red wolves you've found. The male and female have to be the alpha pair."

"It would seem so. What about the other? She's of breeding age. Health-wise, can we mate her to Big Red soon?"

"We'll have to put them together and see how they take to each other. In the wild, she wouldn't have had a chance to mate, unless she'd started a pack of her own. Here, if she's agreeable, he's all hers." The veterinarian smiled.

"I think this one's Rosa," Thompson said, peering into Cassie's cage at a crouch. "She didn't want Big Red before. But maybe now that she's a little older, she'll be more interested in him." Thompson stood. "She wouldn't find another red male in the wilderness. She's lucky to have Big Red as a mate."

Leidolf rose to his feet. Hell, they planned on giving Cassie to a real red wolf? And Leidolf was joining the mother and her pups? When his people learned of his being paired off with a regular lupus, accused of being the father of the pups...

He shook his head, irritated with himself. He didn't even want to think of what they would say. Not to his face, of course.

"When are you going to let her see Big Red again? Maybe since she's been away from him for a while, she'll be pleased to see a familiar face." Thompson glanced back at Leidolf. "He looks anxious. Maybe we should let him go to his mate."

"As soon as she wakes, we'll move them to a holding pen."

Cassie lifted her head, and Leidolf saw the look of disbelief in her eyes. He felt the same way, only he was responsible for her. How did he get himself and her in such a bind? More importantly, how was he going to get them out of it?

Cassie rose to a sitting position in her cage as Leidolf desperately wanted to go to her, to comfort and protect her.

Thompson rubbed his whiskered chin as he looked her over. "She looks in as good a shape as when we found her last year, despite getting shot."

Someone knocked on the door to the room. A young woman poked her head in. "Pups need their mom. Can they join her?"

As if on cue, the she-wolf sat up. She still looked a little groggy, her eyes a little dazed.

"Let's move them to the holding pen," the doctor said. "Rosa looks ready enough to pay Big Red a visit. Have you got a name for the alpha pair, Henry?"

Thompson rubbed the beard on his chin and then folded his arms as he looked at the she-wolf. "I'll think on it." He turned and observed Leidolf. "Same with him."

The woman had disappeared and suddenly reappeared with a bunch of men. They loaded the cages on carts and pushed them out of the room, down a long hallway, and then to a metal door.

"She goes into the next holding area," Thompson said, motioning to Cassie. "We'll have Big Red join her here once she's settled."

Leidolf thought for the first time since he'd laid eyes on Cassie that she looked really stricken. He wanted to tear anyone to shreds who took his mate away from him, but his human half warned of the consequences. Instead, although it killed him to do so, he behaved himself and held her gaze as long as he could to reassure her, until his cage and hers were rolled into their respective pens.

Inside the room, the walls were metal, the floor concrete. A trough of water sat against one wall. There were no windows, no bars, just a room to get to know his "mate," the supposed mother of his pups, who was already there. And a viewing door, with a nice-sized window.

The men opened the cage doors, and a couple of more men brought in the she-wolf's pups, leaving them next to her, and then the men all stood back, watching the reunion. The she-wolf checked out her pups, inspecting them as they eagerly stepped on each other, trying to get to her teats for supper. She was so absorbed in the return of her brood that she ignored the men in the room and the alpha male who stood far away, watching her.

"Something isn't right," Thompson said, his voice low, as if to avoid disturbing the wolf family reunion.

Joe shoved his hands in his pockets. "The male should have greeted her and the pups."

If Leidolf had, he'd risk the female tearing into him and upsetting her pups. Best to be standoffish and let the zoo staff sort it all out by themselves.

"Maybe we're upsetting him," Joe said. "Maybe if we leave them alone, he'll join her. Notice the way he keeps watching us? Not her. He doesn't like it that we're in here with her and the pups."

Thompson folded his arms. "Something more isn't right. I can't put a finger on it... but, well, if I were to put it in human terms, it is almost as though he has something going on with Rosa."

Joe's brows shot up. "Well, hell, if that's the case, maybe we should put the two of them together."

Thompson shook his head. "He has to be the alpha male, and the female wouldn't have had pups if she wasn't the alpha female. Look at his stance. Tail high, ears perked up, back rigid, gaze focused on... me. In fact, the whole time we've been speaking, he's been watching me. Even when you spoke, he continued to stare me down."

Joe chuckled. "He knows you're always in charge."

Thompson smiled at Leidolf. "All right. Let's check on Rosa and see how she's getting along with Big Red." Thompson turned, and one of the staff members opened the door. Then the four of them filed out and Thompson closed the door.

Leidolf didn't take his eyes off the door, and sure enough, Thompson soon looked through the window. Thompson grinned as Joe took a peek also. "See, he's still watching me, almost as if he thought I'd check on him."

"Yeah, we'll have to give them some privacy for a while and then come back later and check on them. But I halfway suspect he'll still be watching the door for danger, or maybe an escape route. Eventually he'll let down his guard and join his mate."

Not in this lifetime. But Joe was right. Leidolf continued to watch the door. And knew just what he had to do next.

Cassie shook off the tranquilizer's effects and stared at the wolf observing her in an enclosed room. She sniffed the air. He was a male and a red, but because of their genetics, he smelled just like a wolf, as much as she did to him. Which wasn't good. A few times when she'd been with a real wolf pack in her wolf form, some over-rambunctious male had thought to mate her. If it hadn't been for the alpha leader of the pack discouraging the junior males--only one litter per alpha couple in the pack--she might have been in trouble.

For now, she was on her own, which she'd never been before when facing a situation like this. Big Red looked awfully interested. Still, he held back and sniffed the air.

She stood her ground, her back to the door. It was definitely a standoff. Neither moving an inch in any direction, their gazes locked, hers saying stay away, his saying he was already love-struck.

Footfalls headed in the direction of her cell, but she continued to watch Big Red. Whoever was approaching wasn't half the problem the wolf could be.

She wondered how Bella Wilder had handled Big Red. Probably snarled at him to back off. A male wolf wouldn't usually attempt to take advantage of a female if she wasn't willing. That didn't mean he wouldn't keep trying if she was ripe for the action.

The door opened, and Thompson and Joe stood in the opening watching her.

"She doesn't look like she's any more interested in Big Red than she was earlier," Thompson said, sounding disappointed.

Joe added, "She's still wearing the pants in the family."

"Let's switch them and see what happens."

"Are you sure?"

Thompson nodded. "If it doesn't work, we'll switch them back."

As soon as the men took Leidolf in a cage into the hall, he overheard their plans to move him in with Cassie. Even though he didn't want to be on exhibit for the zoo staff, he had to show them Cassie was his mate, not the mother with her pups.

When they rolled Leidolf's cage into the room, Big Red's ears perked up. Leidolf exited the cage and hurried for Cassie. But Big Red made a move toward her, and Leidolf growled low and got in between them.

Big Red bared his teeth, but Leidolf advanced so suddenly, Thompson said, "Holy shit, get one of the males out of here, now!"

Brandishing tranquilizer guns, the men stalked into the room. Leidolf backed off and corralled Cassie against the wall. Hell, he didn't want the men to shoot him and make the mistake of keeping Big Red with her.

She quickly licked Leidolf's face in a show of affection. And again.

"Him. Take Big Red out. These two are together." Thompson smiled. "Hot damn, looks like we'll have more wolf pups soon--if not this year, next for sure."

Joe slapped him on the back. "I swear the way they gaze into each other's eyes, they're speaking volumes in wolf language."

"They are." Thompson motioned to one of the men. "They've been checked out. You can move them into their exhibit."

The earlier nightmare had Cassie worried about when Thompson and Joe first tranquilized her and talked about putting her in the zoo had now come true. A lion roared in the distance, and Cassie snuggled next to Leidolf, sleeping on a bed of straw. How in the world were they going to get out of this mess?

At least they had a pen free of other wolves, and she had Leidolf to cuddle up to. In Bella Wilder's case, her hero had come to her rescue. In Cassie's? Her hero needed rescuing just as much as she did!

Cassie rose to her feet and stretched. Sleeping on a bed of straw was not her idea of fun, even in her wolf form. She'd have much preferred having a dog bed.

As she walked through the faux rock tunnel leading from their cement cave to the outdoor part of the wolves' exhibit, she noted a fingerprint-smudged window for zoo visitors to watch the poor wolves in their cave. It was almost closing time at the zoo, and soon no one would be poking their noses at the window, spying on Leidolf and her. She hoped.

At the end of the tunnel, she peered out. She looked above and all around the opening. And took a relieved breath. No cameras. Thompson must not have had the clout to have them installed in such short order.

Shade trees covered some of the sloping terrain, while other areas were exposed to the elements. Boulders and mounds were dotted all over the place.

She jumped on top of a boulder and leapt to an even higher one to have a better vantage point to see the layout of the exhibits and plan how they might make their escape.

Behind them, elk were sleeping on sloping terrain covered in grass and other plants. A barn and paddock were located at one end. A chain-link fence between them was the only thing that separated the wolves from their natural prey.

Across the moat, a raised platform, covered to protect visitors from the rain and sun, would provide a view of Elk Meadow and all its inhabitants. That platform, the key to freedom, was where she'd love to be.

She lifted her nose and smelled. Next door, more wolves lived. She stretched her neck, trying to see what she could. Two juvenile gray wolves, both lying on their grassy terrain, watched her.

She headed across the exhibit to an eight-foot wall with a fence on top to keep the visitors to the zoo out of the pen. And to keep the animals in.

From an author's account of the story, Bella had slipped into a moat and then tried to climb out. But once she was in the moat, she couldn't crawl out, no matter how hard she tried. So they must have changed the exhibit since then. Cassie looked back at the elk exhibit. Surely she and Leidolf could leap over the fence in their wolf forms. The height was... about twelve feet. Or... was it taller?

So now what? Cassie glanced back at the den. Leidolf was standing in the opening, watching her. He stretched and then loped across the exhibit to her, hopped up on the one boulder, then higher onto the one she stood on. He licked her face, and the way his fur lay flat, his ears perked up, his tail raised high, he didn't seem in the least anxious or concerned.

She wasn't either. Yet.

Leidolf nuzzled her face as if reassuring her, and she nuzzled him back, letting him know that if he needed reassuring, she could handle it. She swore he smiled back at her.

He lifted his snout high, and she knew he intended to call for help. He howled.

How would that aid them? His own people were at Mount Hood National Forest, way too far away.

The gray wolves stood and watched Leidolf. Then the two of them lifted their heads and howled. If she could, she would laugh. Not only did Leidolf have a magnetic personality where she and his people were concerned, but he could draw real wolves to his aid.

Inside, wherever they were keeping Big Red and the she-wolf and her pups, a new pair of howls erupted.

What the heck. Cassie might as well join in the chorus. Throwing her head back, she released her own special one. Leidolf joined in again.

Footfalls ran in their direction. Rescuers? She doubted it. More likely visitors to the zoo who wanted to see the wolves howling and find out why.

Leidolf nudged her to leave the boulder. She leaped down to the lower rock and again to the grassy slope. Leidolf joined her and licked her face, then pointed with his nose toward the cave. He had something in mind.

As soon as they made their way through the tunnel where a couple of kids raced to see them through the viewing window, Leidolf encouraged Cassie to return to their straw bed. Between the window in the tunnel and another in the "bedroom," she noted a small area where no one could view them.

In the worst way, she wanted to communicate with Leidolf, present an escape plan, and hear what his was. But, no way did she want to shift and be caught as the second naked woman found in the wolves' exhibit at the zoo, the wolf long gone, just like before.

Leidolf nestled beside her on the straw and put his head over her back, but from the way his heart continued to beat with steady, strong thumps, it didn't sound like he was going into sleep mode.

He was waiting for the zoo visitors and staff to leave, and then? She was sure he had a plan.