by Terry Spear
“As much as I can. They stay close to the Somerville ranch for the most part.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll…check into it.” If Paul had been strictly a wolf, he would have chased the three wolves out of his pack’s territory. Or killed them if they persisted in hanging around. But as a lupus garou, it wasn’t that easy.
If Paul was here all the time, he’d have more of a handle on this. But popping in every once in a while wouldn’t deter other wolves if they wanted to cause problems for the Cunningham wolf pack.
When Paul and Allan returned to the cabin, they took a wolf’s run through the forest and then did some work around the place, trimming back tree limbs stretching out to the cabin and handling a few other odd jobs before they grilled hamburgers on the back patio for dinner. The time just seemed to fly by. Paul was glad to be back home and was thinking how much he’d like to do this more often. He was a little apprehensive about who would win his services tomorrow night, though, and what he would be expected to do.
He didn’t want anyone to feel they didn’t get their money’s worth out of him, even if it was for a good cause.
* * *
At her grandma’s home where Lori lived and helped take care of things, they were getting ready to eat dinner. Lori hadn’t wanted to worry about the auction, but she knew her grandma was bidding for either Allan or Paul. Lori just hoped that no one would offer too much money and make the bidding go too high, because she didn’t want her grandma to be disappointed if she didn’t win one of the bids.
The aroma of spicy beef enchiladas smothered in cheese filled the air in the bright yellow kitchen as Lori set the dinner on the table. They settled in their seats, and her grandma smiled at her, her hair in gray curls pinned on top of her head and her eyes alight with excitement. Emma was wearing her favorite green blouse and olive-green-and-brown broomstick skirt, an outfit she fondly called her “earth clothes” because she looked like she could blend into the woods on a summer’s day. The green blouse emphasized the green in her amber eyes, and she looked so perky and happy it made Lori smile.
“So,” Emma said, cutting into one of her enchiladas, “did you want to tell me about that?”
“About what?” Lori asked, feigning cluelessness. She knew just what her grandma was referring to.
“Paul kissing you.”
Lori tried to keep a straight face, but couldn’t. She hadn’t expected him to kiss her. She only wished he hadn’t done so in front of an audience. Rose was still teasing her about it. Lori was glad Rose hadn’t taken a picture or video of the deed and posted it on Facebook.
“He was trying to get me to give up my weapon. Or appease me for scaring me to pieces.”
“Another man might have gotten angry when you hit him with the broom. I thought that was an…interesting way to handle the situation.” Emma cut up another slice of enchilada.
Lori sighed. “Totally surprised me. But you know that’s part of their training.”
“Kissing a woman in distress?”
Lori rolled her eyes. “Using the element of surprise.”
“It’s about time.”
Lori shook her head. “He’s not ready to settle down. I’m not sure he ever will be.” She took a bite of her enchilada.
“A man like that needs to find an interest that begs for attention more than the mission he goes on. I’d say he might just be looking for something else, even if he’s not fully aware of it.”
“You mean because he kissed me? It was just a rash, impulsive gesture.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you.”
“Nothing’s going on.” Which was the problem. But Lori wasn’t going to chase after him or beg him to stay with the family. She didn’t want to screw up a good thing. Right now she really cared for him and she thought he cared about her, but she didn’t want to act like a clinging vine.
“Lori Lee Greypaw, lately, every time he returns home, you conveniently make yourself scarce. He knows why too.” Emma speared another piece of her enchilada. “You were there for him when he needed to heal when you both were younger.”
“He’s a grown man. A SEAL who loves his work more than anything.”
“Have you ever stopped to think he comes home to see you?”
Lori frowned at her grandma. “He’s too busy doing things with Allan or seeing Allan’s family when he comes here.”
“And me. He always spends some time with me. You think he really wants to see an old lady like me?”
“Of course he wants to see you. You’re part of his pack, whether he wants to admit that he’s our leader or not.”
Emma humphed under her breath. “You know very well he comes by to see you, and you always skedaddle out of here for some purpose or another. If you were around more, he’d do things with you. Not just with Allan. He knows you are purposefully avoiding seeing him.” She cut into her last enchilada. “You know why he really kissed you?”
Lori let out her breath. She didn’t want to hear what Emma had to say, but she knew she was going to hear it anyway. “Why?”
“He had to prove to you that he wanted to see you. And not just to say hi. No way was that just a sweet, little hello kiss.”
Lori fought a smile. She had to agree with her grandma. She couldn’t deny that she had been avoiding him. But it all had to do with not wanting to feel more about him than he felt for her. She didn’t want him to feel he had to choose either her and the pack or the SEAL team and his missions.
“I don’t want you to draw any kind of conclusions. I doubt he’s changing his mind about staying around here for good.”
Emma took a sip of her hot cherry tea. “Catherine warned me. Allan told her that Paul blames himself for losing a hostage they were trying to rescue on this last mission. You know how Paul was when his parents died. He really takes losing someone to heart.”
Lori stared at her grandma in surprise. She’d never imagined that anything could have gone wrong on the SEAL wolves’ last mission. Paul seemed fine to her, and she felt bad that she hadn’t intuitively realized anything was the matter.
“You know he’ll move forward like he’s done in the past. He’ll pretend nothing happened and won’t work through it.”
“What happened?”
“Catherine said Allan wouldn’t give any of the details. Just that there were four hostages, and one was killed before they could save her.” Emma reached over and patted Lori’s hand. “You were the only one he finally opened up to after his parents died.”
“He had been taking care of us.”
“Yes. Too busy and unwilling to deal with his own grief while the rest of us were in shock over what had happened. He’s a natural-born leader like his parents were, and you, young lady, were the only one who could help him to heal back then.”
“If he doesn’t want to discuss what has happened…”
“Maybe not at first. But make yourself available to him. Let him know you’re there for him if he wants to confide in you. You can’t keep running away every time he returns.”
Lori snorted. “He doesn’t even notice that I’m not here.”
Emma tilted her chin down. “You can’t tell me he would have kissed you the way he did if it didn’t mean anything. He notices when you’re not here. He always asks about you. I bet you anything, his kissing you was a way to show you just how much he’s missed seeing you. Like you’ve taken the easiest way out by avoiding him, he’s taken a similar path in not chasing you down.”
“That would be the day.”
“Prove me wrong.” Emma cut up some more of her enchilada. “Actually, Paul already proved me right when you smacked him upside the head with the broom and he kissed you.” Her eyes sparkled with mirth. “He probably feels you aren’t ready for him.”
Was that what he thought? No way. He was too hung up on
his missions.
Lori let out her breath. “All right. I’ll…hang around this time. I already did, didn’t I?” Which had everything to do with Catherine entering Paul and Allan in the auction, and Emma getting the notion to bid on them. That meant Lori had to watch out for her grandma. “Not to change the subject, but why don’t I do the bidding at the auction for you?”
“Nothing doing. It’s my bid, my prize. If you were doing the bidding, he might think you have the hots for him and want him for something other than…work.”
Lori smiled and shook her head. She loved her grandma. “And what will you have him do? If you win a SEAL’s services for the weekend? You just had a bunch of work done on your house…by professional repairmen.”
“I’ll find plenty for him to do.”
Lori leveled her with a warning look. “No matchmaking.”
“You think I’d spend a whole bunch of money just so you can go on a date? No way. The two of you have to figure that out on your own.”
Well, Lori didn’t think so. Her grandma was levelheaded and frugal, and usually did a great job with her expenditures. But still…Emma kept worrying that she’d leave this world, and Lori wouldn’t have a mate. And she could be leaving sooner, rather than later. A wolf geneticist had confirmed that the pack’s shifter longevity was at stake when he dropped by to take blood samples from pack members to learn if he could do anything to stop the shifter aging from mimicking the human aging process.
“Be sure to wear that teal dress that looks so pretty on you.”
Lori raised a brow at her grandma. “I was going to wear jeans like everyone else.” She wasn’t about to dress up to try to catch Paul’s eye.
Emma let out an exasperated breath.
“I’m wearing jeans.” And Lori wasn’t changing her mind about that.
“All right. You young folk don’t know how to dress when you go out.”
“We’re not going out. It’s just an auction. And everyone will be wearing jeans. Well, except for you.”
“I’ll be the best-dressed gal there.”
Lori laughed and took the dirty dishes into the kitchen. “You will.” She just hoped her grandma wouldn’t be disappointed if she didn’t win. But also, Lori had to find a way to get Paul to open up to her.
* * *
The next day, Lori taught martial-arts classes and scheduled herself to be off from teaching classes for the next week—though she’d have to slip in and do some that her assistant didn’t have time for—so she could see Paul and learn what had happened on his last mission.
She had an early dinner with her grandma before they had to go to the auction. When Lori began clearing the table, Emma glanced at the clock on the stove and said, “Oh, oh, we’re going to be late.” She rushed to help Lori put stuff away.
“We have another hour and fifteen minutes before we need to be there.”
“I want to sit right up close to the front. I’ll never see over the other people’s heads, and what if no one sees my number?”
Emma had never been this interested in any kind of auction. She’d never even bid on anything in the past. Which again concerned Lori. She was going to have to really watch her grandma.
They arrived an hour before the auction started, found several chairs right up front, and saved a couple of seats for Catherine and Rose.
The place filled up fast and Lori was glad she and her grandma had come early, if only to show their support for their pack members. When the men walked single file to the stage, the women all whooped and hollered. What really caught Lori’s eye was Paul’s Hawaiian-style palm-tree shirt. She’d gotten it for him as a joke three years ago.
She’d never expected him to still have it, figuring he’d gotten rid of it right after she gave it to him. At the time, he’d jerked off his T-shirt right in front of her and his SEAL team members, and put on the Hawaiian shirt. Then he’d gotten a whole lot of teasing from the other men. Now to wear it to the auction?
Emma patted her knee. “He’s got your shirt on. I told you he cares for you. It’s like he’s wearing your favor in a jousting match. He’s one brave man.”
Lori loved that shirt, but she especially loved it on him. It was all because of a big discussion Hunter’s SEAL team members had been having at Allan’s family’s house. Everyone, except for Paul, agreed that no man in his right mind would wear a flowery pink shirt. Well, she couldn’t find a men’s shirt that featured just pink flowers, but the Hawaiian shirt had pink palm trees and green flamingos. Even better. She had been surprised when he wore it in front of the other guys to prove to them he would.
Rose and Catherine finally arrived, slipping down the aisle to sit with them. Rose hurried to take a seat next to Lori. Catherine sat on the other side of Emma.
“He’s wearing your shirt. I told you he wouldn’t give it up, if only to prove a point,” Rose said. “Or because he wants to show you how much he cares for you.”
Lori folded her arms. “I agree he’s proving a point. I didn’t think he would wear it here. The cowboys are giving him a worse time than his SEAL team did.”
Dusty motioned with his thumb to Paul and shook his head. Dusty was smiling, but it wasn’t a friendly smile.
“You’re worried about Paul,” Rose said.
“Paul? He can fend for himself just fine, alpha that he is. I just don’t like seeing anyone being picked on.”
“Right. Especially after Paul kissed you yesterday.”
Lori knew she’d never hear the end of it.
“You’re not going to tell him that the Cooper brothers were up at the lake cottage, are you?” Rose asked, sounding worried.
“I don’t plan to. What we do is our business. We made a mistake and we handled it. Just like we’d do in any case. Not that Paul or Allan are ever around to help out anyway.”
Rose chewed on her bottom lip. “Paul won’t think we handled it well, or that we should have allowed the other wolves to see us.”
“Then he should hang around and not be running off all the time.”
Rose waved at Allan when she caught his eye. “Mom’s made a bargain with your grandma. They won’t outbid each other for Paul or Allan.”
Lori was afraid that others would. “What if someone else gets them?”
“If the price goes too high, Mom will go for one of the cheaper prospects. She doesn’t need that much work done around the place. But she wanted to help out the O’Keefes in any way that she could.”
Lori settled back in her seat, hoping Dusty wouldn’t give them any trouble if her grandma did manage to win Allan or Paul’s services.
“So…if Emma wins the bid, what is she going to have him do? She just had a bunch of work done on her house. I didn’t think she needed anything else fixed.”
“That’s what I thought.” Lori wondered again what her grandma was up to. She really couldn’t imagine Emma paying a lot of money just so that a SEAL wolf could spend more time with her granddaughter. He wouldn’t be anyway while he worked on whatever project her grandma came up with.
Yet, Lori reminded herself her grandma’s animal spirit guide was the fox, because a little red fox had shown her how to watch and wait, how to blend in, and then how to take advantage of a situation. When she was young, Emma was called Little Fox because she was wily and able to work around tricky dilemmas, encouraging action and moving quickly to overcome obstacles.
She’d been patient for far too long, and Lori wondered if her grandmother had decided to make her move—to make some changes in the pack dynamics. Even though her grandma wasn’t the pack leader, Emma was the eldest member of the pack, and as such, she truly was both adaptable and at times the trickster.
Chapter 4
When Paul and Allan arrived at Town Hall, they found the parking lot full. Paul had expected to be standing on stage well before the auction began, but all th
e seats in the town hall were already filled, which was surprising, considering the size of the town. The audience ranged from sweet, silver-haired grandmas to wide-eyed teenage girls and women more his age, like Lori and Rose, all smiles, with a smattering of men. All of them cheered the bachelors on as they walked across the stage and took their places.
Paul felt like a celebrity and couldn’t help being amused, his cheeks burning a little because he wasn’t used to all this attention. Allan was grinning and enjoying all the interest.
Paul glanced at his competition.
The bank loan officer was a little stocky and had glasses propped on the bridge of his nose. He probably could give anyone great financial advice, and he might be a real handyman of sorts. The high school teacher taught carpentry—which meant he would be sought after for that reason alone. The three high school seniors could probably do a variety of tasks. They played on the football team and had been promised extra credit in social sciences if they signed up to do this.
The three wolf ranch hands looked like they could rope some steers, break some horses, and haul some hay. The redheaded, green-eyed Cooper twins and black-haired, blue-eyed Jerome Huffman were all wearing typical Western attire—cowboy boots, Western shirts, cowboy hats, blue jeans, and fancy belts.
The trio had been outcasts, causing problems for their own pack—not hunting like they should have been, not guarding the pack when they were supposed to—but that proved to be a mixed blessing for them. When their pack killed a rabid elk and consumed it, the three omega wolves hadn’t been allowed to eat any part of it. They were lucky to not have contracted rabies and were able to escape their pack’s killing spree.
Allan wore a pair of jeans, combat boots, and a blue button-down shirt that made him look as though he was ready to go on a date. Paul had on his palm-tree shirt. He’d worn it on three different missions, sure that it confused the bad guys into thinking he was just a tourist on vacation. Since all three missions had been successful, he considered it his lucky shirt.
But as to what he and Allan could do for weekend projects? They were well trained to hunt down the bad guys and deal with them with finality, protect the good guys, and survive in any wilderness environment. He wasn’t sure what he could do here.
