Of course, he found it hard to ignore a person when she walked straight up to him. He turned, bringing himself up short as he found her standing right beside him, her clear blue eyes looking up and straight through him.
"Why are you the man for this job, Jason?" She fired her question point blank, with no hesitation, and completely out of the blue.
A growl built in his chest, but he checked his anger. Her question held no malice, her body language relaxed and non-challenging, so he gave her the answer. "Because I'm the best."
She nodded, her eyes never wavering from his, despite the golden curl falling loose across her gaze. "So we're both here for the right reason."
Spunky. Jason had to give her that as he stared down at her. Standing there in layered tees hugging a generous rack, with a pair of jeans that might as well been painted over her tight behind, she had no idea what kind of danger she stood up to. His wolf aspect wanted to prowl around her, stalk her, pounce. Even without the strength shapeshifters had over humans, he could easily crush her. Instead, the kind of pouncing he wanted to do involved a lot more fun. Thinking back to the first time he'd seen her, he liked her better in red. Better yet, he liked the idea of seeing her in nothing but skin.
"Now we know why each of us is here.” She tapped a finger against his chest, tempting him to bite at the slender fingertip. Not a bite really, more of a nip. But teeth would definitely be involved. "We can get to what we came here for. Let's get working."
"Whatever you say, Red." If nothing else, he decided, at least he’d have a good view over the next couple of days. Once he completed the installation, he could be on his way and she'd be back in her city.
"Aren't you concerned about why we're putting in this system?" Another one of her questions.
"We all know why we're here." He shrugged but his voice sounded grim even to his own ears. The kills in other territories weren’t only the problems of the other packs and prides. "The hunters need to be stopped, the territories need more security."
"This system can help keep people safe." The conviction in her voice admirable, she projected a fire and strength not too many people had. "But do we know anything about them, the hunters?"
"Humanoid." Jason grunted as he lifted another heavy sensor and began fastening it to an array. "They hunt with technology we've never seen before, probably more advanced than the technology in your cities, too."
"Do they shoot their targets?" She seemed to be an endless stream of questions. She had a mouth on her for sure, and he'd have been more annoyed if her mouth didn't look so incredibly kissable. "Do they always kill?"
He would have preferred a different topic, but he answered her questions. "They use tasers or shoot darts. Incapacitated, the prey can't move. It takes a long time before the hunters really kill them."
The last answer silenced her after a soft oh. He could practically smell the smoke coming from her pretty little head as her thoughts turned his words over and over.
An hour passed as he concentrated on assembling the sensors and she tapped away at her computer programming before she asked him another question.
"Are you always this talkative or is it just me?" The sarcasm dripped from her voice.
With one hand balancing a support bar and the other fastening a sensor in place, he shrugged without looking away from his task. "I'm not one for small talk."
"Oh, good. Here I thought you only had an issue with me."
Finished with the task, Jason turned and leaned over her, where she sat at a console displaying windows of code and administration panels. "Oh no, Red. Don't take it personally. I ignore pretty much everyone."
Big blue eyes blinked once and then narrowed. "Yay. I feel so much better."
He chuckled and turned to get another sensor.
"I'm sorry, by the way." Her voice came softer, gentler.
Confused, he swung around.
"Earlier…" Puzzled, he watched her bite her lower lip as she considered what she wanted to say. He wanted to lick at the resultant hurt, suck on it gently. Her words brought him back to reality. "Earlier, I talked about pack without thinking. I'm sorry if I hit a sensitive spot."
He clenched his jaw and counted a slow ten, waiting for the old resentment to ease back to the ever-present simmer. She’d offered an apology, more than most took the time or consideration to give him. She didn’t deserve the lash of his temper. "You didn't know. We're square. Let it go, Red."
She shot him a searching look, and he wondered how any human males had ever had the fortitude to deal with her intense personality. The girl should have been a shapeshifter. After a moment, she nodded and turned back to her displays and configurations.
After another solid block of working in silence, she straightened and rolled her shoulders with a mild groan. He glanced at her with reluctant sympathy. Sitting at that console for any length of time had to be murder on the shoulders and back. At least his work had him moving as he assembled the sensor arrays and hooked them up for her to run her diagnostics. She wasn't doing herself much good as she attempted to rub some of the soreness out on her own.
"Here." He stepped behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. For such a small person, she carried a lot of tension, the muscles of her neck and shoulders so taut, like cords of steel. Working carefully, he eased them. He had to be careful. Humans bruised easily, built more delicate than shapeshifters. Still, as one knot after another rolled under his thumbs, she allowed her head to fall back and a sigh escaped her lips. His inner wolf stirred under the surface in response to the sight of her very beautiful face and the feel of her silken gold hair brushing against the tops of his hands.
"That…" Her eyes closed as she tilted her face up to him, completely relaxed, her expression softer, "is fantastic."
"Compliments appreciated." He couldn't help smiling. Maybe she should have been one of the cat shapeshifters, a leopard maybe. She obviously liked being petted. "I'll take another thank you in exchange."
Her startlingly blue eyes shot open, staring straight up at him, her perfectly plump lips parted as she drew breath to say something.
A knock at the door cut her off.
He stepped to the door and opened it, letting in Ben with a basket of food.
"Oooooh." Excited and energized, she popped up out of her seat with more appreciation than Jason had gotten for giving the shoulder rub, though he refused to be annoyed over being trumped by a basket full of food.
Yeah, actually, he was.
"You forgot again, didn't you?" Even though Ben clearly spoke to Carri, he shot a piercing look at Jason, crossing the room and placing the basket on a clear section of counter space. Jason leaned against the counter, crossing his arms. Whatever had Ben irritated didn’t worry him.
"We were busy." Unrepentant, she peered into the basket. When her stomach rumbled, she blushed and gave Jason a look daring him to make fun of her.
Well, he couldn't resist the invitation. "It's only midmorning. A little early for lunch, isn't it?"
She opened her mouth, but Ben beat her. "Carri has a condition, Jason. She's hypoglycemic with complications. Insulin resistance, for one."
You should take better care of her. Ben didn’t speak the words, but Jason heard them. It didn't matter if he hadn't known. Wolves, especially the dominant males, cared for those around them. The more dominant the male, the more responsibility he had in the pack to protect those needing protection. But as a lone wolf, Jason had no pack to worry about, to care for.
Old anger simmered through his veins as he recognized the accusation in the alpha male's eyes. On pack territory, Jason had to toe the line according to expectation, even if he’d only been brought on as a consultant for this project, a temporary visitor. No room for consideration given, no attempt to understand.
Holding his wolf tightly reined, Jason curled his lip at her. "So you're not only human, you're a broken human?"
She watched him. Her gaze steady and face blank, she offered none of the an
ger he’d hoped for in response. "Yeah. I'm broken." Ben growled but Carri continued rather than be cut off again. "I need to remember to eat every couple of hours. If I go too long, you'll smell a sweet ketone scent.”
Deprived of the fight he’d tried for, Jason prompted her, poked at her. “So you smell sweet when you’re sick? What happens next?”
She sounded tired, as if she’d given the speech too many times. “I'll get dizzy, speech faculties will degrade. You'll hear a characteristic slurring, and responses jumbled rather than clear." Her voice fell into a flat clinical cadence. "Shortly after, I'll faint.”
“So what, you take a nap?” Though he didn’t want to, he became concerned. Her condition sounded more serious than a dizzy girl needing a snack. The wolf aspect of his nature grew restless, agitated and he resisted the urge to pace.
She shrugged, her expression resigned. “If left too long, I bottom out, potentially fall into a coma.”
“You’re kidding.” He bit the words out. He couldn’t imagine her like that, her vitality snuffed out.
She rattled out the next words quickly, as if trying to reassure him. “Quick remedies for the situation are foods with a high bioavailability of sugars, such as fruit juices. Then, I need to have a real meal with a reasonable ratio of protein and complex carbohydrates.” She still sounded like a person reading a script, like she’d said it one too many times. He gritted his teeth. She probably had.
She fell silent, her shoulders slumped, her previously animated body language muted. Ben still growled. It occurred to Jason how much it cost her to have to admit it. She gave the impression of being the independent, bullet-proof type.
He shrugged, forcing himself to appear nonchalant. "So eat." He held up his hands as Ben's aggression spiked. "She won't eat if we start a pissing contest. You came to take care of her. I'm only here to do a job, and she’s not it."
Ben quieted after another minute. Reading the other male, Jason felt reasonably safe to turn his back and return to work. He measured his breaths as he focused hard on the fastening and clamps, forcing his inner wolf to back down. She wouldn't eat if he let his aggression match Ben's, her family, the one with the right to care for her. All Jason did, all he had the right to do, was make sure not to get in the way.
"There's lunch here for both of us too," she called over to him. Maybe she hoped to clear the heavy air in the room. He didn't feel like responding, didn't want to hear the consideration she extended to him.
"Jason." Ben's voice rough with the effort to control his aggression. "I want to see you outside."
Jason straightened and headed out the door, ignoring the soft words Ben had for Carri as he followed Jason out of the building. Once free in the cold air, Jason let his anger loose to burn the chill off his skin.
"Don't think I didn't smell it," Ben said.
Arousal hung in the air when Ben had shown up. Jason wasn't going to apologize for it when it’d been Carri's, not only his, but hers as well.
"You leave her alone." Not a request or a warning. He’d issued an order.
A lone wolf had no business showing any kind of interest in the alpha pair's adopted granddaughter.
Jason pasted a small smile on his face and faced Ben. "You heard her. She's broken. What am I going to do? Invite her for a run in the woods and bring a basket of food with us? Tempt her back to my lair with a little trail of treats?" Easy to believe his own words as they fell like stones. "Relax, Ben. She's safe from me. I'm not interested in the care and maintenance of one little human.”
2
"Tell me again why I have to come."
Carri gave him an exasperated look as she pulled at his wrist. Jason could have stopped, letting her pull until her strength gave out on her, but inexplicably he let her drag him to one of the pack's neutral clearings.
A few days of work and, with the weekend at hand, Jenna and Ben decided to throw a BBQ for their darling 'granddaughter'. Jason wasn't invited. Carri, however, didn't care.
"You need to have a little fun." She insisted, apparently convinced he kept too serious and perhaps she had a point, but dealing with the energy of her personality every day exhausted him.
Besides, a different young male had shown up each morning with a basket of food from her grandmother, the ploy so obvious it made Jason sick, or would have if he cared. Every smile Carri gave them, every minute they lingered to chat and trade witty comments grated on Jason's nerves.
On the other hand, watching her enjoy every bite soothed his temper. He’d never encountered someone with such a love affair with food. There seemed to be few things in the world she wouldn't eat and so far, he hadn't encountered one of them. And when she savored a particular treat, her eyes would close, her face practically glowing, her little sounds of satisfaction had him wondering how she would sound during other kinds of pleasure.
But he didn't need to be dwelling on that.
"Hanging out at this thing, watching people burn perfectly good steaks and burgers, is not my idea of fun." He admitted to himself he probably exaggerated, but then again, not many people could use a grill to bring a good cut of meat to its full potential. Too often, they over-smoked the grill and charred the outside until they’d reduced the flavor to carbon.
"Don't tell me you always eat your kills fresh?" She sounded fascinated rather than repelled by the idea, still doggedly intent on dragging him into being social.
He snorted. "Not always. But I don't normally trust someone else to cook my meal." He paused, realizing she’d done it again. She had a way of goading him into conversation and saying things he never told anyone else, not because he guarded his personal life so closely but because no one else had ever been curious to know.
As a lone wolf, he spent most of his time traveling through the wild, sometimes staying in wolf form for days at a time just because it came easier than carrying a pack and supplies. When a pack hired him for his technical skills, he stayed for the length of the project in a guest house. Females interested in a little fun were plentiful and he had his pick if he wanted a quick fling, but none of them wanted to know much about him beyond his prowess in bed. After all, a lone wolf had no pack, and no pack wanted a lone wolf. Everyone assumed he must be alone for a reason. Then the entire pack was just as happy to see him leave once his services, either professional or in bed, were complete.
"Hello? Anyone home in there?" He blinked, emerging from his brooding thoughts to see she’d waved a hand in his face.
The afternoon had been cold, so she wore her usual layers and the deep red coat with the hood pulled up over her head so she wouldn't lose body heat. The full hood framed her face, setting off the honey gold of her hair and brilliant blue of her eyes.
She fell silent as he studied her, a rose stain rising in her cheeks under his scrutiny. He liked it, liked the way the color spread across her high cheekbones as her words caught in her throat.
"I'm here, Red." His voice rough, his gaze caught her more effectively than a physical binding. The scent of her filled his nose and his mouth watered for a taste of her silken skin over the quickening pulse he saw at her neck.
"Jason..."
He smiled as he heard the husky indecision in her voice, his predatory senses sharpening. All those other pups prancing by her, and she stood with him, her body responding to his proximity, her scent sweetly aroused.
He reached out to touch her hood, tracing the line of it until the back of his hand brushed her cheek, so soft, so delicate. He leaned in, his lips hovering so close, her warmth heating them. And he waited, letting her make the choice to come to him.
And she would have, he knew, if her stomach hadn't growled loudly enough to scare off several squirrels.
Jerking back, she clutched her belly, groaning with embarrassment as her face colored until it matched her jacket.
Chuckling, he reached under her hood and mussed her hair. "Let's go feed you, Red, before I have to run down a rabbit for you."
"Would you?" She cocke
d her head to one side as they started walking again, side by side. "I mean, would you actually bring me a fresh kill if you thought I needed to eat right away? It would be inconvenient wouldn't it? We'd have to skin it and dress it, cook it."
He didn't answer, nudging her with a shoulder instead. She stumbled a couple of steps to the side and returned with a spark of temper in her eyes to plant a punch in his shoulder. He grinned at her attempt, happy she could play fight. She had a decent left jab too.
Deep down, he admitted he would hunt for her, provide for her, if she would accept a kill from him. He didn’t want to think of the ramifications of that particular truth yet.
They entered the clearing moments later, and Carri sensed Jason’s withdrawal back behind the barriers he’d erected around his real personality. The animation on his face fell away to blank, sullen silence while his eyes lost their spark and turned flat. Even his movement, usually fluid with deadly grace, became stilted as if he’d strapped a steel rod to his back.
Her heart sank as he put distance between himself and the rest of the world, suddenly far away even though he stood right beside her. Her stomach twisted as she noticed the world around him ignore his withdrawal, as if no one would miss him.
He’d surprised her with the invitation to kiss, though she hadn't realized she’d been waiting for the moment until it happened, hanging suspended between them. As they crossed over to the big picnic table where Ben and Jenna waited, she muttered in irritation, "Stupid stomach."
"What's that, Carri?" Jenna had heard her out of context comment, but just as well.
While Jenna wasn't nearly as smothering as her mother, she took very particular interest in Carri's personal well-being. Well-being, as she learned, not only consisted of physical and mental health, but of emotional fulfillment as well, and one of the best paths to all three required a partner.
Red's Wolf Page 2
