Seduced by the Wolf

Chapter 23

As soon as Alice heard Leidolf howling in the distance, she raced, heart pounding, into her sister's bedroom where Sarah was lying on the bed, reading Romancing the Wolf by Julia Wildthorn, headphones piping music into her ears. "Sarah! I was standing on the back porch watching a squirrel scurry up a tree when I heard Leidolf howling. And another wolf, too. Then more. Lots more, only I'd never heard the other wolves' howls before."

She slipped backpack straps over her shoulders, prepared for any eventuality. Clothes for Cassie from her wardrobe and clothes for Leidolf from Dad's. Just in case they needed them.

"What?" Sarah asked, her eyes round as she bolted upright and yanked off the headphones.

"Cassie. Maybe it was her howling also. I don't know about the other wolves."

"What are you talking about? Dad said Leidolf went after Cassie in the woods at Mount Hood National Forest. They wouldn't be here."

"I heard them! They were howling for help."

"From nearby? Which direction?" Sarah's mouth gaped. "The zoo," she whispered.

"Yes, the zoo. Come on, we've got to go."

Sarah jumped from her bed and tossed the book aside. "Did you try calling Dad?"

"He's still deep in the forest along with most of the other men. No phone reception. The women are tending to Felicity's babies. A couple of the men are watching Sarge and those twin brothers who keep causing so much trouble. So we're it. Evan said so."

"What?"

"He's on his way here. Since we live next to Forest Park and the zoo is here, we're the closest ones to the scene of the crime."

"This is not one of your mystery novels," Sarah warned.

"No, it's worse. We're to go to the zoo, sneak around to the wolf exhibit, and scope out the situation." Pulling on a sweater, Alice headed down the hall.

"You've got to be kidding. Dad will kill us."

Alice ignored her sister's prediction of impending doom. They didn't have any choice. "Evan's pickup isn't working, and the only vehicle he still had keys for was the Jag's."

Sarah stopped halfway down the hall. "Which means?"

"He's driving Leidolf's Jag. It was the only way."

Sarah groaned.

"He drove it already. He knows to be careful."

"Yeah, and he'll speed all the way here, have a wreck, and be charged with stealing Leidolf's car..." Sarah shook her head and hurried after Alice. "Where are you going? Dad said for us to stay here while he was away."

"When Leidolf is calling for us to come rescue him and we're it, we have to do something." Alice jerked open the kitchen door, hurried outside, and stalked through the backyard. When she reached the rock wall that separated their property on the dead-end street from Forest Park, she climbed over it and slipped through the Douglas firs.

Sarah raced after her. "Forest Park is closed at this hour." She chewed on her lip and then looked at Alice. "Why did you call Evan?"

Alice smiled.

Sarah groaned again. "I supposed you've been seeing him without any of us knowing."

"He's nice."

"He's trouble. Dad said we weren't to get near him. Besides, the zoo is closed at this hour. We'd never be able to... oh, yeah. We haven't sneaked in there since we first moved here, afraid if Dad caught us... What if the zoo staff catches us?"

"If we get caught, we get caught. We'll just be two teens having a little adventure. Nothing bad."

"Unless we get... how in the world did the zoo people catch them? Leidolf will really be mad. Maybe we can sneak them out without the pack ever knowing." Sarah rushed after Alice. "Aren't we waiting for Evan?"

"He'll park at our house and join us. He knows where to meet us."

"We're not allowed to shift without an adult being present, you know. I mean, we can't shift around a boy when we're not supervised." Sarah blushed. "You know what can happen."

"We're not shifting, Sarah. Just going as humans."

"Promise?"

"Listen, of course I know what can happen." Frowning, Alice stopped and faced her sister. "How do you think Mom got pregnant?"

Sarah's jaw dropped.

Alice began stalking through the woods again, staying away from the human trails and headed straight for the zoo.

"That's not true," Sarah said, her voice rising. "Take it back."

Alice let out her breath. "Sarah, you have to know why they kicked us out of Dad's pack. His uncle was furious that Dad and Mom went off on a hike when they were teens, got lost, stripped, but before they shifted, they got... distracted. After they found their way home, everything was fine, for a while. When Mom started showing..." Alice shrugged and started walking, slower this time.

Sarah didn't say anything for a long time. Then she asked, "That's why we weren't accepted at three other packs? They learned we were a mistake?"

Alice raised her brows. "Don't ever say that to Dad. Of course, we weren't a mistake. We just came... a little earlier than we should have. And it all worked out. Now we're in a pack that accepts us just like we are."

Sarah harrumphed. "How come I didn't know?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "You don't make it a habit to eavesdrop on others' conversations."

"No wonder Dad doesn't want us around Evan. He's afraid we'll end up like Mom." Sarah's eyes grew big. "Has Evan kissed you?"

Alice smiled.

"If Dad finds out..."

"Sarah, I already told you, we won't say anything, and neither will Leidolf. No one ever has to know."

"If we don't get caught. And what about Evan? What if he wants to tell everyone how he helped rescue our pack leader?"

"He won't." But Alice didn't sound as sure of herself as she wanted. What if Evan did tell the rest of the pack how he rescued Leidolf? He might. He'd leave Sarah and her out of his rescue version if she asked him to, she was fairly sure. "He won't tell anyone," Alice said, with a little more conviction.

"Yeah. Whenever you're unsure of a situation, you repeat yourself."

Alice ignored Sarah, hating when she was right.

They stalked through the woods toward the zoo with another mile to go before they reached the perimeter. What next? They'd have to sit tight until Evan arrived.

"How long do you think it will take until Evan gets here?" Sarah asked.

"Two hours. That's how long the drive is from Portland to Leidolf's ranch. Zoo closes at seven, and probably not much staff will be here after that."

"I wonder how Leidolf got caught," Sarah said again.

"Rescuing Cassie." Alice put her hands to her chest in a dramatic gesture. "True love. Nothing will separate them. The zoo men took her hostage. He came to rescue her, and he got zapped with tranquilizers. That's what had to have happened."

Sarah chewed on her bottom lip. "What if Leidolf got shot first, and Cassie came to his rescue instead? Julia Wildthorn writes how her heroines save pack leaders sometimes. So maybe Cassie was trying to rescue Leidolf and then she got shot."

Alice tried to envision the scenario. "She did try to aid him the first time he was tranquilized."

Sarah nodded.

Alice shook her head. "Nah. Got to be the other way around this time. This time, Leidolf was rescuing her when..."

A branch snapped several feet away, and the girls came to a dead stop. Her heart racing, Alice listened, trying to identify what had made the noise.

"There," Carver said, catching sight of the red wolf watching them from across the river. Half hidden in the dark woods, her fluorescent eyes shined like a welcoming beacon in the night. It wasn't Leidolf or Cassie but the one they had chased after initially. He stalked back into the woods.

Elgin and Fergus ran after him.

"I'm shifting. She's here for a reason." Carver unbuttoned his shirt.

"I'm going with you," Elgin said.

Carver grabbed his arm before he could begin to strip. "You're in charge while Leidolf's not here. You and Fergus. If I drown, no problem."

"Your daughters," Fergus said quietly, always the voice of reason whether it was wanted or not.

Carver jerked off his shirt. "Right. So I won't drown. Just think of this as delegating responsibility."

"Yeah, but we're supposed to be the ones giving the orders," Elgin said, casting Fergus a wink.

Fergus nodded as Carver paused, his hands on his bootlaces. "What are you waiting for, Carver? Get to it," Fergus commanded.

Carver gave a half smile, jerked off the rest of his clothes, and shifted in the dark woods. Then faster than he'd ever moved before, he raced for the river in wolf form. Although he wasn't sure what he was going to do once he reached the red wolf.

"How come he gets to go after the girl?" one of the other bachelor males complained. Since many of them weren't royals, having had too many human influences in their genetic backgrounds, they had no way to shift anyway during the new moon and would have had to track her down in human form.

"Because I said so," Elgin explained, his voice hard. "While Leidolf's gone, that's all you need to know."

That's all that Carver heard before the sound of the rush of the river filled his ears. He sure as hell wished he could wolf paddle faster than this. He hadn't realized how slow he was at swimming as a wolf, not ever having needed the feat in an emergency. He kept his eyes on the female as she stayed where she was in the woods. Occasionally she'd look over at the other men as if wondering if they'd come, too, but she didn't seem afraid of him. However, once he made it to shore, he suspected she might change her mind and run.

In that case, he would just have to change it back.

As soon as he reached the shore, he shook the excess water off his coat and looked back at the men, all who watched him with great expectancy. Fergus motioned to Carver to fetch her. Then he turned to observe the female. She stayed motionless, her gaze on his. Yet something about her expression told him she was going to make a run for it, her ears slightly flattened, her tail down.

He trotted toward her, sure that if she ran, he'd catch her soon enough.

She dashed deeper into the woods, and he heard the men shouting across the river. "Go get her, Carver. You can do it!"

"She's yours once you catch her!

"Good luck!"

He smiled, but only because he was catching up, or she was already slowing down. He'd reach her soon.

The last of the zoo visitors were gone, lights were off, and Leidolf lifted his head and then stood. None of his pack members had shown up to rescue them, so it was nearly time for him to set Plan B into motion.

He walked to the area hidden from the viewing windows, only he'd have to stoop once he shifted. Cassie watched him, and he thought she looked a little hopeful that he'd get them out of this bind. He had hoped that Carver's daughters might send word to other pack members about the mess they were in. He and Cassie couldn't wait for dawn to come, which meant the arrival of new visitors to the zoo. And the nuisance of having to wait until dark fell and the zoo closed again.

He shifted and sat down on the rough concrete. Cassie hurried over to join him, licked his cheek, and then stretched before she shifted. As soon as she changed into her human form, he admired her beauty. He would never get enough of it, from her red curls to her milky skin. Silky, sensuous delight. He pulled her naked body into his arms, and she sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Now what, hero of mine?" she whispered.

He smiled and kissed her nose. "Now it's time to rescue the damsel in distress."

"Hmm, seems you're in the same predicament as me. Your people are probably in Mount Hood National Forest still, don't you think? Waiting for your return? And the location of your ranch isn't that close to the Oregon Zoo, is it?"

"Carver's girls should be home. They live on the perimeter of Forest Park, close to the zoo. About two miles from here."

"Would he have left his girls home alone?" Cassie asked, cuddling with Leidolf in the cold, damp cement wolves' den.

"Maybe. We'll give it a shot. If the girls were home and heard us, they'll know to call my ranch house and alert whoever is left there, maybe Laney or one of the men. They'll know what to do."

"And if they don't?"

"It'll take them two and a half hours or so to reach us. It's been nearly that long. If we have no word from anyone in a few minutes, we'll do it our way."

"Which is?"

"We'll climb over the fence, although I hadn't wanted us to be exposed in that manner. Too much speculation if we get caught--two more naked people in the zoo? Two more red wolves vanish?" He shook his head. "I had hoped some of our people could have gotten us out while we remained in our wolf forms in the event someone spotted us trying to escape."

"Couldn't we just jump the fence as wolves?"

"Too high."

Cassie sighed. "Bella couldn't manage either."

"The exhibit was different back then. The moat and the wall were such that she couldn't make it out. An elk exhibit didn't border the wolf exhibit at the time with just a fence in between, either."

"If we make it out of this all right, I have a question to ask you."

Leidolf tightened his hold on Cassie. "You might as well just ask now. We have nothing better to do to kill time."

She sat quietly for some time, her fingers stroking his arm, the silence killing him.

He finally let out his breath and said what he had to say, even if she couldn't find the nerve to ask her question. "Cassie, you're not a lone wolf at heart."

"I've been one forever."

He dragged his fingers through her hair and held on tight. "You did what you had to do in the beginning as a necessity. But later..." He looked into her green gaze, her spirit drawing him in. "... later, you did so because you were used to being alone."

"I didn't want to lose anyone else I cared about."

"You can't stop that part of yourself from being." He leaned down and kissed her lips, her mouth softening against his. "You can't hide what your heart is truly telling you. That you want babies. You want to be part of a pack. You want to have a family. A mate. Physically you're very aware of your needs. Psychologically, I feel you're still in part holding back."

"You can't understand. I know you said your sister died, but you can't feel that it was your fault, not like in my situation. I did want to ask you how you came to be a loner, though."

He touched his thumb to her bottom lip and briefly caressed it. "I left my family back in Colorado to keep from getting myself killed tangling with the leader who had taken over when my father had become injured. I traveled all over the States until I settled in a cabin in the mountains, far from civilization. But I missed my family and having a pack, their idiosyncrasies, the good and the bad. My father..." He took a deep breath.

"He was injured in an avalanche. His entire pack died. When I arrived here, I saw the troubles the pack was having, but I couldn't fight the ones in charge. Not all of them. It was like living the whole horrible scenario all over again. At first, I fought the notion that this pack needed me. Then I realized they were just what I needed to live again."

He stroked her cheek. "I still love to get away, but pack business takes priority, and I needed that focus again in my life. You study wolf packs because you want what they have--the pack dynamics, the closeness, the loyalties." He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Playing games. You've just been afraid to be part of a lupus garou pack. Now that you've found me, you have to realize this is where you belong."

When she didn't say anything, he lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "Cassie?"

"I'm a wolf biologist."

"Of that I'm well aware." He kissed the top of her head.

"I wouldn't give up my job for anything. The wolf pack that took me in saved my life. Then hunters killed them. Every last one of them. For a price. They were paid to kill them! The pups, too. I only escaped by turning into my human form and then the men caught me. They believed I was a wild child raised by wolves. I was, but not in the way they thought. I escaped them and moved farther south."

She leaned her head against his chest. "I have to show that wolves are not monsters, just survivors like everyone else." She gritted her teeth. "All I could think of was how I could have saved them. They were my second family, and I lost them, too."

"I promise you won't lose us also. And I can't afford to give you up, either."

"But I'm a wolf biologist."

Which he still wasn't happy about, but he schooled his reaction.

She gently pulled the hair on his arm and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I won't give up studying them and sharing what I learn with the world."

He dropped the subject. He didn't want her studying wild wolves and putting herself in danger, despite promising her he'd allow it. "The feral wolves are the only ones you intend to care for?"

She twisted her mouth and then gave a little ladylike snort. "As if you truly believe that."

"I have a pack to run."

"So run it. Nothing will change. Only I'll return and we'll have mind-blowing sex, and then I'll leave to do my studies again."

He sighed darkly. "I have a question for you. Did Sarge force you to take him with you?"

Cassie smiled. "Yeah, or he'd rat me out. He wasn't hurt, was he? What about your Jag?"

"The Jag's the former leader's sports car. Nothing mattered to me but that you were safe."

"And Sarge."

Leidolf grunted.

Cassie ran her fingers over Leidolf's chest in a teasing caress, stirring him up. "You talk tough, but if you'd really felt he needed to be terminated, you would have done it. Admit it. You have a soft spot for the guy."

"I would have killed him if he'd harmed you in any way. Or if he'd killed anyone when he was a werewolf hunter. But for his cooperation, he got off a lot easier than the rest of the Dark Angels. You sure he didn't threaten you?"

"If he had, he'd have seen some wicked wolf's teeth. He'll come around. And I suspect you believe he will also."

"Maybe you can help to influence him to settle down."

She laughed softly. "When I left him in the car by himself, headed down the hill? Don't think he'd be happy with me in the least."

"Served him right to mess with my mate." Leidolf tightened his hold on Cassie. "I believe it's time to find our way out of the zoo on our own."

Aimee hoped she wasn't making a mistake, taking the man chasing her as a wolf into her confidence as she leapt over another fallen tree in her own wolf form. She had to let someone know that her cousin had been captured and taken to the zoo. The mother wolf and her pups would be well taken care of. But the man who had been with Cassie needed rescuing, too. And this was way over her head. She just prayed the man in hot pursuit of her wasn't one of the villains' friends who had planned to kill her.

"Wait! I won't hurt you," the man shouted from the woods, having changed to his human form. "Are you a lupus garou?"

She stopped among a stand of hemlocks as the feathery leaves brushed her fur and waited for the man to catch up. He appeared in his very naked form covered in water droplets from the river, his hair dripping wet. His breathing came hard and fast, and he blinked a couple of times as if not believing she was real. He was cute in a hard sort of way. A sturdy jaw, amber eyes that hinted at a stormy past, no scowl, but no smile either.

He definitely appealed on a basic physical level. The way he came after her... she liked that he had guts. His voice, too, deep and commanding, yet expectant, similar to his expression, intrigued her. She was a lost cause when it came to strong men with needs.

He waited nervously, like a guy on a first date, his hands clenched until he folded his arms around his body. "Are you looking for a pack?"

How she wished she had some clothes to wear. Not that shifting in front of lupus garous was a problem when she was a member of the pack, but when not, it was a bit uncomfortable. Plus it was damn cold out.

Hell, she didn't have a choice if she was to solicit help for Cassie. She took a deep breath and shifted.

The man stared at her, stupefied at first, and then finally he said, "You're one of us. I'm Carver."

She kept her arms wrapped around her and shivered. "I'm Aimee Roux."

"Cassie's sister!" Carver hurried forth and before she could react, he pulled her into his heated embrace, warming her chilled skin.

"I'm Cassie's cousin. Her sister died many years ago. The... the men from the zoo took Cassie hostage. And one... of your men, too."

"Leidolf?"

"Whoever was with Cassie."

"Leidolf. Our pack leader. Hell. Will you return with me?"

"One of your men planned to kill me," she said. Carver squeezed tighter, and she sure could get awfully used to his heated embrace. "Irving. Tynan was with him," she explained further. "Can you protect me? Keep me safe from them?"

He knew the bastards were up to something, but he'd never suspected anything like this. "Hell, yeah. Shift, and we'll return to the rest of the pack. Looks like we're bound for a trip to the zoo. Not our favorite place."

Aimee shifted from a silky-skinned beauty to an equally majestic red-furred beauty.

Then he shifted. She darted back into the woods toward the river. He took after her, and when they reached the trees near the river, the men all drew close to the shore, expectant. Elgin wore a worried frown, and so did Fergus. But Aimee held back at the tree line. Carver licked her face and nuzzled her cheek, encouraging her to come. He would protect her at all costs.

Then he trotted toward the river, hoping to hell she would follow his lead. He didn't look back. His pack members all watched her. Then he heard her footfalls on the slippery rocks, and she bumped his left flank, assuring him she was with him on this, that she trusted him to keep her safe. He wouldn't let her down.

"Did you hear that?" Sarah whispered, as she and Alice froze in amongst the hemlocks.

Alice breathed deeply, trying to smell who was out here. "Tynan," she responded, her voice hushed.

Their father had warned them that he and Irving were up to no good. But what if he could help them get Leidolf out of the zoo? If she and her sister and Evan botched this, they could be in real trouble. With everyone. But if an adult like Tynan was with them, he would be at fault, being the eldest.

Still, Alice was hesitant to call out to him, a sixth sense warning her he was not to be trusted.

Then everything was decided. She smelled a whiff of Irving, the leader of the two men. Tromping at a run in the brush, the two men headed straight for her and Sarah.