Running Free (Northern Shifters)

by Jorrie Spencer

  Zach again made it clear he’d seen no signs of others wolves, outside of everyone from Wolf Town.

  “Do you think Storm is safe with his grandparents?” asked Angus.

  “They have security,” said Zach, “so, yes. They’re a cautious elderly couple.”

  “I noticed that.”

  “They have an alarm system. A bodyguard at all times. I think he’s safe.” Zach paused. He didn’t want to admit it, admit his failing as a guardian, but it was important, more important than his ego. “Storm is most at risk during the full moon. He doesn’t stay as close to my side as I’d like. While I’ve proved capable of defending him, I don’t want that to happen again. Last week went fine because Storm was still spooked, but…”

  “There are more moon runs to come.”

  “Yes.”

  “We’re going to send someone down this week,” Angus told him. “My son, to be exact.”

  To Zach’s surprise, Sally gave a slight roll of her eyes. “Rory?”

  Angus’s tone was dry as he responded, “He’s very good, actually.”

  “Yes, fine, he is.” To Zach she mouthed, “He just irritates me.” For whatever reason, Zach found this reassuring.

  To his surprise, Angus raised the subject of Zach’s brother’s photo. “I’m sorry for springing that on you the other day.” He didn’t bother to ask why Zach had denied it was a picture of his brother, and Zach didn’t explain. Perhaps for the alpha this was regular horse-shifter behavior, wacky creatures that they were.

  When Angus asked if he wanted to make contact with his brother by phone, as a first step, Zach responded with an emphatic no. “This situation with Storm has to get resolved first.” Between Storm’s safety and Zach being besotted with Sally, he didn’t believe now was the time to deal with a long-lost brother. However much a part of him wanted to. He didn’t trust himself, didn’t trust the past. He feared somehow getting overrun by it.

  “All right,” said Angus, with no apparent desire to argue the point.

  Zach took in a breath to steel himself for his next statement. It felt like taking a plunge into unknown waters. “I’d also like to visit Wolf Town, see what it can offer Storm.”

  Sally looked at Zach. He hadn’t mentioned this to her. But if Zach was deciding to trust Wolf Town, which he was given Rory’s arrival, he’d like to get a better idea of the place and its people. He was weary of being ignorant.

  “You’re welcome at any time,” Angus declared.

  “I’d visit without Storm first.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Then they closed down the conversation, with Angus making more welcoming noises and Sally watching Zach carefully.

  After she hung up, she bit her lip. “Your visit is a good idea. It will normalize male wolves for you. It’s a pretty regular town, even gets dull at times.”

  “It hasn’t normalized male wolves for you,” Zach observed.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You stay away from them.”

  She placed a hand on her hip and looked annoyed. “Are you saying, because I haven’t had sex with wolves in Wolf Town, I can’t interact with them in a normal way?”

  Zach felt on shaky ground. He’d misstepped here, clearly, and didn’t know what to say next. Insisting she had issues with male wolves didn’t seem like quite the way to go.

  She looked away from him for a moment. “I’m sorry. I’m a little touchy. It has not been the males in Wolf Town who have stalked and threatened me, or you, Zach. They’re good people there.”

  That might be, and yet… “I can’t even figure out if you like Angus or not.”

  “Oh, I like him. He just irritates me.”

  “Do all the male wolves of Wolf Town irritate you?”

  She laughed. “No, but a lot of them do. I think it’s a good thing. I only get irritated with people I’m fond of.”

  “Like me, now?”

  She sighed, her smile slipping away. “I’m not very irritated with you, Zach. Because you’re right, you know. I have a complicated relationship with male wolves, including Angus. But I would do a lot for him. He’s a decent person, I trust him.”

  He was going to have to trust Angus too. There was no way around it short of taking Storm on the run, which had its own risks and appealed to Zach less and less. He used to want to run, all the time, but something was changing here, and part of that lay with Sally. The further he moved away from his feral time, the more he became invested in people. He just hoped he didn’t prove himself foolish in his judgments, because it wouldn’t be only him who paid.

  Breaking into his thoughts, Sally announced, “I’ll head out now.”

  Zach felt at a loss. He didn’t want her to go. But she’d slept late, and it was only a couple of hours before Storm’s return. Best she not be here and set up expectations for the boy.

  “Listen.” She pulled on a jacket. “I want to be clear on one thing. I did not come here to seduce you in order to convince you to go to Wolf Town or let them come here.”

  “It never occurred to me you would seduce me for such a reason.” What would she gain out of such a thing?

  She grinned. “It never occurred to me, either.” She ducked her head a little.

  For the first time, he recognized something akin to shyness or uncertainty within her. Perhaps she thought he wanted her to go. He stepped up to her, placed hands on her hips, and she, delightfully, leaned her body into his so they were flush against each other.

  “I like you a lot,” he managed. Not eloquent, but her eyes darkened and her uncertainty eased. She wrapped arms around his neck and kissed him.

  A part of him wanted to back her up against the wall and kiss her again, deeply, madly. Instead, he let her retreat. Too much was going on in his head. He needed to sort it out.

  “We’ll see each other again, right?” That sounded a bit too tentative, so he tried a second time. “I’d really like to see you again.”

  One side of her mouth curved up. “Piano this Wednesday.”

  “Well, yes.” He ran a hand through his hair, searching for the words to make this departure okay.

  “Let’s keep in touch by phone,” she added.

  He nodded, forgetting he disliked the phone.

  “Bye, Zach.”

  “Bye,” he responded, unable to say more though he felt so much more.

  She let herself out and he waved.

  Wednesday’s lesson was difficult to get through. Zach supposed the piano lessons had already been that way for him, but now it was entirely different. He couldn’t keep his gaze off Sally as she taught Storm. Every time she moved, every gesture, entranced him. He was embarrassed enough he became abrupt with Sally as they left.

  Not only that, he’d been aware of the presence of another person in the house. Subtle things, like shoes near the front door and the faint scent of what he now knew was werewolf. It made him edgy. He hated it for all the wrong reasons. Especially given this Rory son-of-Angus was spending most of his time prowling a large area around the suburb, assessing whether other werewolves were about.

  “Did you like the piano lesson better today?” Anxiety wreathed Storm’s words and guilt struck at the boy observing Zach was tense.

  “I’m getting used to them,” he allowed. It felt like a lie. He was not used to Sally at all, even if he was paradoxically closer to her than he had been. And he wasn’t used to the presence of Rory-who-he-hadn’t-met being in his territory.

  “Gramma says you’re going away this weekend.” Big eyes gazed up at him. “You’ve never gone away before.”

  “True enough.”

  “Gramma says you’re going to Wolf Town.”

  It would have been Zach’s choice to give less information to Storm, but Connie had thought differently and she might even be right. “I’d like to see what it’s like, yes.”

  “Can I come?”

  Zach glanced at his charge, then kneeled to give Storm a reassuring hug. “I’ll be home on Sunday
when you come back, just like all the other Sundays. You won’t even notice I’m gone, I promise.”

  Storm nodded, some of his worry receding.

  “For this first visit, I think it’s better if I just go.”

  “In case the wolves aren’t nice?”

  Connie from time to time talked to Storm as if most wolves weren’t nice, unfortunately. Zach rose and took Storm’s hand again. “Well, I wouldn’t go if I thought they weren’t nice. I want to see what the town is like.”

  Rather weak but Storm nodded again, as if that made complete sense. “You’ll be back Sunday.”

  Zach gazed down at his boy. “I will absolutely be back on Sunday.”

  On Thursday he broke his promise to himself not to hassle her and walked over to Sally’s midmorning. After all, they were leaving for Wolf Town tomorrow. He only wanted to touch base with her. And he wasn’t a bit bothered this Rory was probably spending more time with her than he was. If only he didn’t grind his teeth about it, that might be more convincing.

  As he reached the end of his street, a car pulled up beside him.

  He knew the way he startled at the sound of his name being called was an overreaction, but he wasn’t used to being hailed, especially when he was lost in a haze of jealousy. Turning, it took him a moment in the bright winter sun to see who had pulled up beside him.

  “Hi, Zach,” she called again, voice too loud, waving too vigorously before she arose from the driver’s side of her van. It was Mrs. Whitmore, Dana, of all people. He hadn’t thought she knew where he lived.

  Though perhaps she didn’t and this was a coincidence.

  “I was just looking for you.”

  Or maybe not.

  She laughed. “Yes, you. There’s no one else on the sidewalk I could be talking to, is there?”

  She was inviting him to laugh along with her when it was the last thing he wanted to do. He did batten down his ridiculous urge to run from this small-framed woman. There was no smell of alcohol on her breath as she approached, which was good. He still didn’t know what to say though.

  “I thought you and I could arrange a playdate with Storm and Jenna.” She smiled.

  Though Storm’s classmate in his mixed-age school, Jenna was a year older, and they had no interest in each other. Zach didn’t see why Dana was suggesting this.

  “Mrs. Whitmore—”

  “Please, call me Dana. You make me feel like my ex-mother-in-law.” She placed a hand on his arm, and he flinched.

  Apparently she wasn’t entirely insensitive, because she removed her hand. He was incapable of pretending he didn’t dislike the contact.

  She continued on blithely. “Storm could come over after school today. I plan to bake cookies with them.”

  “That’s very nice…” began Zach, trying to find the right words to refuse her.

  “Good!”

  “No.” Her eyebrows lifted at his tone, which he tried to moderate. “Storm doesn’t go to other people’s houses.”

  “Well, that’s a little strange.”

  “He’s shy,” Zach said curtly and started to move away.

  “Hey, no need to be rude.” She was no longer smiling and laughing.

  “I didn’t mean to be rude. Thank you for the offer.”

  “I hoped you would come as well.” She stepped forward, and something in Zach twanged. She was forcing herself to act this way, and he didn’t know why. He wished Sally were here. Maybe she could make sense of this encounter. Dana’s face cleared and she again forced a smile. “Please.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Since it was beyond him to explain how it wasn’t a good idea, Zach strode off. He almost feared the woman would chase him, by foot or in her car, but he heard the car continue down the street in the opposite direction.

  Sally, he thought with a kind of relief. At least he could make sense of her. He could talk to her.

  He could have sex with her.

  Okay, better to not think about that right this moment. Which was harder said than done as he made his way down the block to her street, then up her drive to her doorstep. Her visitor put a damper on his feelings though. He wondered if Rory was home as he knocked.

  He used her doorknocker. The bell drove him bonkers, and he suspected most shifters found the noise shrill. No one responded. He went as far as placing his ear against the door—not that his hearing was so powerful it would tell him definitively the house was empty—but it did seem quiet.

  A glance at the garage gave him little information, given it was closed, and he couldn’t bring himself to peek in the window at the side of the house. He didn’t want to come off as a stalker.

  He needed to conquer his aversion to phones, as that would be the best way to contact her. His disappointment was out of proportion to her absence, but he wasn’t ready to go back to his house so he walked the neighborhood, despite some lingering concern Dana would jump out of the car at him again. When he circled around to Sally’s house on his way home, he was pleased to see her garage door open and her carrying groceries inside. No Rory in sight.

  “Hi,” he said as he got close, his smile too big, but it was hard to tamp it down. Besides she didn’t mind.

  “Zach.” There was delight in her voice, and she walked over and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Come on in.”

  He snagged the last bag of groceries and followed her. “Am I ever glad to see you.”

  Christ. That sounded a little more desperate than he meant, and she looked worried. “Did something happen?”

  The whole Dana thing bothered him, though he felt silly talking about it. On the other hand, it was on his mind.

  “I talked to Mrs. Whitmore today,” he said, to test out how that sounded. Not too dire, he supposed.

  “She accosted you a second time,” Sally said flatly, as if there was no question this is what happened.

  Well, accost seemed rather strong, but he did find the woman aggressive. Zach scrubbed his face, trying to put a finger on what bothered him. “She was rather insistent Storm and her daughter—who have nothing to do with each other—have a playdate and was offended when I said no.” He paused. “I found it weird, but maybe that’s just me. Being weird, that is.”

  “Being entirely too good-looking for your own good, you mean.” She flicked him a glance as she placed juice in the fridge. Then straightened and laughed. “Oh my God, your expression, Zach.”

  Somehow Sally laughing at him was different than when Dana had laughed. Like she had affection for him, instead of trying to get something out of him.

  Then she did that delightful thing where she walked up to him and wrapped herself around him. He didn’t know why she felt so right in his arms, and he didn’t care.

  He nuzzled her temple.

  “Ugh.” She stepped away. “Lessons in half an hour. We can not start anything.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment, but his was mitigated by her disappointment. Maybe she missed him too.

  “Listen, what do you want to drink?”

  “Milk,” he said promptly.

  As he chugged his half liter, she asked, “Is there something you needed to talk to me about today?”

  He shrugged, not wanting to say he’d just wanted to see her before their trip to Wolf Town. They left tomorrow, late afternoon after Storm was packed off to Connie and Arch’s. “I thought we might need to talk about our plans.”

  “I believe everything’s set. Are you having second thoughts?”

  He considered. “No. I want to do this.” Visiting Wolf Town required a leap of faith, but at least these were people Sally trusted, and Storm would remain safely with his grandparents.

  “You’re okay with me driving, right?”

  “I can’t drive and I don’t own a car.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a yes,” she said wryly.

  He didn’t care if she had lessons soon, he wanted one kiss. Taking her hand, he drew her to him, tipped up her face and caressed her cheek. S
he was watching him, but not resisting. Closing his eyes, he took her mouth and tasted her. She sank fingers in his hair and kissed him back for one lovely moment, then pushed him away.

  “Go,” she said quietly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” There was promise in her eyes, and he took comfort from that before he made his leave.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next twenty-four hours passed quickly. Sally hadn’t been surprised, exactly, to have Zach appear on her doorstep. She understood he was drawn to her for more than one reason. Her pleasure at his arrival was something she treasured, squeezed tight to herself. He was courting her, however shyly, and she liked it.

  Sure, there was some sexual frustration—like last night—but between Storm and piano lessons and Rory’s arrival… They would just have to take their time. It was better that way.

  Her human reasoned all this out while her wolf considered it nonsense, this taking it slowly. Well, that wasn’t new, was it? The split between human and wolf. She’d navigated it before, she would do it again. They were both on the same page when it came to being attracted to Zach, and felt protective of him too.

  He’d been rattled by this stupid Whitmore person, and Sally had to be careful not to bare her teeth every time she thought of the woman. She couldn’t remember being possessive about someone before, especially someone she’d just started seeing.

  It was rather invigorating, she admitted as she drove into his driveway at four p.m.

  She’d barely got out of her car when he emerged from the house, bag in hand, and turned to lock the front door. So she waited until he slid into the passenger seat. As they both shut the car doors, it became evident Zach’s tension was mounting since yesterday, and she almost regretted they hadn’t had a quickie before they hit the road, to relieve the stress.

  Almost regretted. It had never been her experience that sex simplified matters, and they did not need complications today.

  She shot him a look. “Is something wrong?”

  “No.” He sighed. “Storm cried when he went with his grandparents today. I realize it’s normal to cry when you’re a kid, but he’s worried I won’t come back, and that bothers me. He’s too insecure.”