[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]bedroom.
James stormed into the hall. Bits of forest debris were
tangled in his wild hair. Mud streaked his bare chest and right leg.
He scowled at David and went into the bathroom.
David smiled, relieved. At least one had come home. James
had blamed himself for Sherri leaving. He d gone off into the
woods for the last week and a half, likely hunting with the real
wolves. David had listened for his pack brother s lonely calls each
night and heard them, though they were distant.
He scooted his chair in and clicked on the window to open
his e-mail. Three weeks was long enough. He didn t dare call her
yet, but an e-mail was safe, not as intrusive.
Dear Sherri,
I m sorry about what happened here. We both are.
Talk to me.
David.
He hit send and shut the PC down for the night. With James
home, he had an excuse to make dinner, and cooking took his mind
off things.
In the kitchen he set to work, defrosting pork chops, peeling
potatoes, prepping green beans. He even mixed up a bowl of
homemade buttermilk biscuits, his roommate s favorite next to
steak. He had the meat sizzling in olive oil atop the skillet when
James leaned against the kitchen doorframe in solemn silence, his
hair damp from the shower.
Did she call? he asked.
David shook his head. No.
I m not sorry, he grumbled, stubborn as ever.
I am. David reached up for the pepper grinder and shot
his pack mate a glance. He looked absolutely miserable, worse off
than he d been when he first met him. You look like crap.
I showered.
Still look like crap.
James narrowed his eyes. Go get her back.
I don t know where she is.
Go find her! His voice was full of anger, the voice of a man
used to getting his way.
No. She doesn t want to be with us. If she did, she d have
stayed.
She does want us, he growled. She just doesn t want to
admit it.
How do you know what another person wants, James? You
can t.
He seethed out a ragged sigh. She does.
Set the table.
James glowered a little while longer before he complied. As
he completed the simple chore, David heard him complaining
under his breath and couldn t help but smile. They were so
different from each other.
When they sat at the table together, the only family ritual
they tended to uphold, he turned to James and said, You ve
always been more of the alpha. Maybe you should go get her.
Alpha. James broke out in guffaws. Right! I think you re
deluding yourself. You re the responsible one. If not for you, I d still
be running feral in the woods, and I d probably never shift back to
the form I was born into.
True. But if not for you, I d never shift to wolf.
It s been a while since you did. James nodded, challenging
him. Tonight s as good a night as any. Hunting s been plentiful
down by the stream. Rabbit. Deer.
I m not that much in to hunting.
He drank, his eyes watchful over the rim of his glass. He set
it down and said, I know. But you like to run. Run with me
tonight.
David ate, not ready to answer for a long time.
James kept watch, tapping his foot beneath the table so
noisily that it was the only sound they heard.
I know you want to.
Go find her and I will.
Find her now?
In a few days. If she answers the e-mail I sent.
Hmph.
They finished their meals and cleaned up. James started a
roaring fire. He curled up nude on the couch and basked in the
warmth. David sat in the reading chair by the window, watching
the flames flicker and dance, his mind elsewhere.
Well? he said, bringing up James s suggestion in one
word. They had sat there for nearly an hour.
James raised his face and smiled. You re ready? His hands
gripped the back of the couch. He lunged, shifting mid-air and
landing on four paws. His silky gray and brown fur caught the
firelight. He had mesmerizing golden eyes that blinked, looking
mischievous, reflecting the nature of the beast. Always the show-off
with that side of him, he pranced to the door and scratched.
David went to let him out, but not before he ran his palm
over his best friend s furry head. All right. I m coming. He
undressed slowly, remembering the look on Sherri s face when
he d last shifted. He folded his clothes and set them on the small
bench by the door. She wasn t the only one who had a hard time
accepting what he was.
Slowly, he willed the change into happening. With a grunt,
he became the wolf, sauntering at the side of his pack-brother, the
only family he had left. Together they darted away into the night,
nipping and barking their camaraderie.
Chapter Eleven
Sherri set the file in the OUT basket, satisfied. The work was
easy enough, but interesting so that it kept her challenged. Ever
since punching Roger in the face, things were looking up. She d
toured two apartments so far and neither were exactly what she
wanted, but she had an appointment to see a third that evening.
Across the hall, her co-worker smiled, convivially. They had a
lunch date, and she enjoyed Melanie s company. In fact, the people
she worked with were all nice, easy to get along with, even her
boss, Sam. She signed out for lunch and quickly switched over to
check her personal e-mail.
Three more messages from David. She hadn t opened any of
them, but she hadn t marked them as SPAM or deleted them either.
Trying to put the men out of her mind was becoming more difficult
as each day wore on. She filled her empty time off work by reading
books or watching the History channel, anything to not think about
the curve of David s lips when he had leaned in to kiss her or the
heat of James s body that first night how much she really had
needed what he d done. There was no denying her attraction to
both men.
She d made it through a little more than four weeks.
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