Hunting Wolf: Black Mesa Wolves #3

by Harper, J. K.

  His tone was so hopeful Rielle almost stumbled over her words in a rush to thank him. As she spoke, she gave herself the chance to admire him even more. His muscles gently flexed beneath his shirt, the top buttons of which were undone just enough for her to see the start of his very—manly chest. She pictured the hard abs beneath the shirt, tapering down to his waist, and his long, strong legs.

  Mouth suddenly dry and head spinning just a bit, Rielle busied herself setting the drinks onto the table. But when she glanced up at him, Caleb's mouth was drawn up into what could only be called a very wicked, knowing grin. He'd caught her checking him out. And he'd definitely liked it.

  During their very civilized tea time, Rielle learned more about Silverton's history, Kurt's incredible library, and the worlds of knowledge at her fingertips anytime she wanted to visit.

  “Anytime!” Kurt waved expansively around, fired up by his own enthusiasm for his collection. “These books, my dear, are here to be enjoyed by those who know precisely how to do that. In fact,” and he turned to Caleb, who sat across from Rielle, taking hearty pulls of brandy, “this gentleman here knows a fair amount about some of these titles.”

  Otsana smiled and said, “I'm not sure how many people ever refer to Caleb as a gentleman. Although he is certainly capable of being just that when he puts his mind to it.” She directed a pointed look at her son, who shifted in his seat with a suddenly abashed expression. Even so, he sent Rielle a wink.

  Caleb's foot had gradually crept across the floor beneath the table until it touched hers. Despite the shoes between their actual feet, she felt a clear spark zip up her legs just from that casual contact. Praying she could keep at least halfway shielding her physical reaction to him from Otsana, Rielle replied as smoothly as she could.

  “Really? Which ones?” Then she inhaled quickly, fearful she'd managed to offend Caleb. “I didn't mean—”

  “I do read, you know,” Caleb interjected. His expression was more playful than ego-bruised, however. His foot pushed against hers and he waggled his eyebrows at her. The big wolf was messing with her. Oddly, she felt a rush of warmth centered somewhere in her chest at the silly banter. She never bantered with anybody. It felt really nice.

  “All the battle titles, of course,” Kurt said. “Strategizing, planning, training, general and specific history of warfare. He's been coming to this library since he was quite young. There are few people who know as much about how to effectively plan, conduct, and prosper from well-laid out battle plans as Caleb here.”

  Rielle looked at the big, sexy wolf, filling his chair with his personalized bundle of coiled energy and ingrained watchfulness, with a new emotion. It felt somewhat like respect. She still didn't understand the draw of fighting. However, the fact he turned to books to increase his knowledge was something she completely understood. It also pointed to a facet of Caleb she'd not allowed herself to believe about him: he apparently was a deeper thinker and seeker of knowledge than she'd thought.

  Feeling slightly contrite of how she'd long judged him, she decided to play back.

  “Fascinating. What exactly do you need battle plans for, Caleb? Surely there aren't that many wars being fought around here?” She kept her voice sweet and innocently curious. He couldn't cough up the truth about wolf shifters around a human. Surely he'd come up with some sort of excuse over the years.

  It seemed he had. “All the MMA cage fighting I like to do, Rielle,” Caleb replied as smoothly as she'd posed the question.

  She couldn't control her startled expression. “I—what?”

  Caleb laughed, the big sound splashing over the room and washing through Rielle. She could almost feel it rumble through her, warming her from the inside.

  “Cage fighting? Are you serious?” She'd thought Lily had been joking when she'd referred to her brother as being able to win at a world cage-fighting death match.

  “Sometimes,” he said easily. He reached for a scone and loaded it up with rich butter and raspberry jam as he talked. “I started with boxing when I was younger. Somewhere to put all that misplaced steam I had, or something like that.” He rolled his eyes at his mother.

  The fact Otsana didn't appear in the slightest bit perturbed said she knew about it, too. Rielle suddenly felt like a bemused Alice in Wonderland. Did everyone in here know something she didn't?

  “Cage fighting,” Kurt said, smiling with pride. Clearly, he'd known about it as well. He sized up Caleb before shaking his head. “And you turned out to be such an excellent one at that.” Beaming at Caleb as though at his own son, he went on, “I always told you when you were little that reading wasn't as dreadful a concept as you thought.”

  Rielle arched an eyebrow at Caleb as she took a sip of tea.

  “Kurt taught me about some of the old fighting masters,” Caleb said. “As soon as I found out there were actually interesting stories to read”—Otsana snorted delicately—“I was hooked. Visited Kurt every month, sometimes twice, when I could get mom or dad to take me up here.”

  Although it was common to use such human terms about the Alpha and his mate when actually around humans, Rielle still found what seemed to be a slight lack of respect disconcerting. Despite that, she kept a polite expression on her face for Kurt's sake. She couldn't, however, stem her curiosity about how a human had so closely befriended two wolf shifters.

  “How did you meet Kurt, anyway?” She directed the question at Otsana, but kept her gaze on Caleb so she had the pleasure of taking in his features and what she would swear was a smolder in his eyes as he looked back at her. His foot rubbed against hers under the table, and her eyes widened a fraction at the contact. It felt so oddly erotic, and so wonderfully suggestive. She willed her face to keep still as she waited for his answer.

  Caleb tossed her a lightning quick grin, one filled with an answer to the suggestive motions his foot made against hers. Was this how he always flirted?

  Mine, her wolf growled low but firm. My date. Only mine. Rielle almost giggled at the sudden absurdity of her wolf on a date. Even so, she felt the tug of possessiveness from her wolf, fixed on the large, sexy male wolf across the table. Feeling her wolf's presence so much more closely wasn't quite as unnerving as it had been for months. She was even, just maybe, liking the sensation a bit.

  Otsana answered, her eyes lively as she kept an eye on each interaction. She was the perfect mate for an alpha like Channing Bardou: alert, highly intelligent, and aware of almost everything that happened. Not for the first time, Rielle admired her pack's leaders. A faint tickle of guilt at her own self-imposed distance from her kind niggled at her. Deep down, her wolf sighed.

  A slight nudge on her foot brought her gaze back to Caleb. As his eyes narrowed just a bit, he cocked his head a millimeter at her, curiosity in his face. He'd noted her sudden pensiveness. Despite her slight head shake, indicating now was not the time, she felt a rush of pleasure. He'd noticed. It made her feel—meaningful to someone.

  “Channing and I met Kurt many years ago at an author reading at a private house in Durango. He instantly noticed me gazing at all the books, and came right up to tell me about his own collection.” Despite Otsana's light tone, Rielle sensed a subtext beneath the words. “As it turned out, he enjoyed many of the same authors we did, and he already owned a significant portion of the library you see here today.” Otsana waved an elegant hand around the room. “Kurt is quite good with children, and I thought his knowledge of historic battles might be a way for Caleb to express some of his,” and here she hesitated so briefly on the word Rielle almost missed it, “aggressions in a safe environment.”

  “Mom.” Now Caleb definitely sounded a bit embarrassed.

  Otsana smiled at her son. “I just meant that we knew you would be thrilled to read about ancient warriors and battle plans and military strategy. It was a way to help you focus. And not only did it work, you also found a mentor in Kurt.”

  The look Otsana shot Kurt was filled with genuine appreciation, and something else Riell
e still couldn't put her finger on. Caleb was oblivious to the exchange as he busied himself with another scone and avoided looking at anyone while his mother told tales about his cubhood, but Rielle sensed hidden nuances swirling through the room.

  After tea, Kurt graciously offered to take Rielle on a stroll through his gardens. As Caleb rose to join them, Otsana shook her head. “Stay here with me. I want to have a quick word with you while Kurt shows off his prize roses.”

  “Prize everything, in that garden,” Kurt returned with mock huffiness, though he looked at Rielle with a quick, cheerful wink as he once again tucked her arm under his and ushered her out.

  Caleb watched them go, the ferocious expression on his face mingling that keen interest he'd been showing in Rielle as well as what might be a touch of—jealousy? Or maybe it was possessiveness. Rielle smiled at him as she was escorted out. One corner of his lips turned faintly upward at that. Her wolf murmured again, low and fierce, Mine.

  Kurt hadn't been joking about his flowers. The gardens out back were magnificent and lush, albeit tucked into sizable greenhouses. He shrugged in minor apology as they stepped over the threshold into one. “Air's a bit too rare up here, and the growing season far too short, for proper gardens to flourish outside. These have to do for me. And they do quite well,” he added with obvious pride coating his words.

  “These are amazing!” Rielle still felt somewhat spun around by the fascinating strangeness of the evening. From the library to this odd but interesting human to Caleb's revelation about cage-fighting—and she really would have to ask him more about that later—she still felt a bit like she'd fallen into that rabbit's hole and emerged into a rather bizarre landscape. “This entire evening has been an enchantment.” She found herself subconsciously slipping into Kurt's speech patterns. “Where are you from originally? Certainly not here. Your voice sounds very American, but I don't really think you were raised in the wilds of Colorado.”

  She smiled as she spoke, and pulled away from him to take a closer look at some delicate, blushing rose blooms and the healthy greenery, all arranged throughout the space with a very neat, deliberate precision.

  Kurt chuckled. “I knew you'd pick up on it. Caleb said you're extremely perceptive.”

  Rielle flushed with warmth again as she thought of the big wolf waiting for her inside the house. She wandered over to some pretty light purple flowers climbing a trellis and leaned close to take in their scent.

  “I was born in Norway, and stayed there until I was a young man.”

  “Mm-hmm,” Rielle said politely as she inspected the flowers more closely. Clematis, maybe?

  “We were being persecuted in our native land, and finally engaged in bloodshed. We lost many and needed to find a safer place to start fresh. So we moved to the colonies and made our way to the wildest mountains we could find. Those ended up being here in what is now called Colorado. ”

  His words penetrated her thoughts with sudden clarity. Slowly, Rielle straightened up and turned to face Kurt Tunstall. He was standing several feet away, hands lightly clasped behind his back, watching her very intently. Her wolf came close to the surface, alarmed by Rielle's confusion and sudden wariness.

  “I'm sorry—did you say colonies?” Her mind did some quick math. He was in his 70s, possibly 80s? There were no colonies to speak of when he was a young man. Colorado was a state already. Rielle knew her wolf stared out her eyes, thoroughly alarmed, focused, and suddenly deadly.

  “Yes, my dear,” he said in a calm voice. “Do have your wolf settle down. There is nothing to fear.”

  Rielle's mouth literally dropped. She backed up. Kurt smiled, and for an instant she thought she saw regret in it.

  “My name is Kurtis Tunstall, and my family began the Black Mesa Wolf Pack over 300 years ago.”

  Chapter 8

  Under his mother's suggestion, Caleb helped her clear the table after Kurt had escorted Rielle outside. He could still smell Ree's delicate, tempting scent in the room. It kept his wolf alert and eager.

  “This was a good idea,” his mother said as they carried delicate china plates back to Kurt's kitchen. The kitchen was crazy big, filled with sleek appliances and cooking things Caleb figured wouldn't be out of place in some fancy restaurant. He'd always had good meals every time he visited Kurt.

  “Coming here?”

  “Yes.” His mother gently deposited the nice glasses next to the sink before turning to look at him. Her expression made him suddenly wary. He knew that look. He was about to get some sort of lecture.

  “She is a lovely girl, Caleb. She's always kind to everyone in the Pack, not to mention strangers she has just met.”

  “Mm-hmm?” He drew out the sound into a suspicious question.

  Otsana laughed gently. “She has been a softening influence on you, my most ferocious son. And you have recognized that.” Something that sounded like pride touched her words.

  Caleb snorted. “I don't think she sees me as remotely soft. In fact, I think she's seen me at”—he stumbled a bit—“um, maybe some of my more, uh, ferocious best.” He scratched his nose, suddenly uncomfortable in his own skin. “But that's why I wanted to bring her here. I knew she'd love this place, and they could talk history and all sorts of stuff together. For a human, he's pretty cool.”

  Otsana's green eyes studied her son, that smile making her penetrating gaze slightly less intense. Slightly.

  “Indeed. And what you just said proves my point. You have a very good heart, Caleb.” She reached out to pat his arm in reassurance. “And you are thinking about Rielle's needs.”

  Caleb shifted on his feet as his thoughts swung to exactly what Rielle might need from him. His wolf sat up, focused strongly on the dark little female wolf. Sternly, Caleb reined in all such thoughts for the moment. Bad enough his mother definitely had sensed the attraction between him and Rielle. She sure didn't need to pick up on the direction his mind went when he imagined Rielle's soft lips opening to his in total abandon.

  “She is very good for you, Caleb. You need her. And quite frankly, she needs you, too.”

  Caleb drummed his fingers against his thigh as he leaned back against a dark grey granite countertop. “Hmm,” was all he could muster. Why were women always needing to be so touchy-feely and have to discuss things like this? Especially his own mother, for crying out loud. He looked around the kitchen, suddenly desperate to escape.

  Otsana patted his arm again, the gesture an unconscious mix of the natural intimacy of wolves and a mother's seemingly endless need to protect her cubs, no matter how old or “ferocious” they were. “I suspect Rielle will be learning a great many things in the near future. She is also greatly needed by her pack right now.”

  Caleb tensed as he picked up on the hint of concern in Otsana's voice. His wolf whined, worried by the Alpha's mate's worry.

  “She is a vital part of the Black Mesa Pack. And you, my son, need to remind her of that. I think you are the only one who truly can, right now.”

  “She's part of the Pack. She knows that.” Despite his words, he wondered how well Ree understood that. Sure, she'd been forced to stay at the den recently, interacting more with her own kind than she had in years. But she still seemed kind of distant when she was there. Like she wasn't sure she belonged.

  Hmm.

  “Wait a minute,” he said. His brain furiously turned over, trying to figure out what Otsana meant. “Of course she knows she's part of the Pack. She's our historian. She's Pack. She's—” He cut himself off. He'd been about to say, She's my mate.

  Whoa.

  “Short of her Alpha's order to interact more with the Pack,” Otsana added with a wry twist of her lips, “I believe Rielle thinks she would be content to spend more time in the human world. Of course we allow that. For any Pack member. But she has let herself be drawn too far away from her wolf. Her Pack needs her, Caleb,” his mother said very gently. “And I do believe you need her.”

  Argh. Sure, that might be true, but hearing hi
s own mother say it was making him twitch.

  Caleb began to sidle toward the kitchen door and freedom from brain-twisting conversations.

  “She settles you,” Otsana said, eyeing her son carefully. “And intrigues you. Yes?”

  Caleb heaved a nervous sigh at his mother's insistence on discussing squicky things like feelings, but he nodded. The more he got to know the bewitching little dark wolf, the more he wanted to know her. In fact, he kind of wanted to understand every single little thing about her. And he wanted her to understand everything about him.

  He wasn't even sure that last part was possible, given he didn't know what the hell he was thinking or meaning half the time himself. But somehow, he sensed Rielle just—got him. She sure as hell could soothe him just by her presence. Well, except sometimes with that tongue of hers, which seemed to lash at him when he acted like an idiot.

  Thinking of her tongue made him shuffle his feet again. Man, he needed to end this, and quick. His mother already had a knowing little grin on her face, along with all that maternal pride and worry and whatever else jumbled up into one expression.

  “Um, yeah.”

  “Remember you intrigue her, too. And she needs you. Her wolf needs you,” Otsana said. Uneasiness roughened her voice again. Caleb frowned, despite still heading for the door.

  “Okay.”

  Otsana smiled, the worry fading from her face. “Enough from your mother, then. I just want you to understand how important you are to her.”

  Despite the weirdly naked vulnerability he felt at listening to his own mother discuss his love life with him, Caleb also felt suddenly warmed inside as he thought about the sweet little wolf in question. He wanted to go see her right now as much as he wanted to escape this conversation. “Got it. Thanks. Um, I'll go see how Kurt's flowers are doing. Make sure he isn't putting Rielle to sleep by going on about them too much. Be right back.”

  He made real break for the door and fled outside toward the garden. He thought he might have heard a tiny chuckle from his mother, but decided it best not to look back.