She’d hit upon the one thing he would find nearly impossible to resist. He couldn’t remember ever being this hungry with no immediate way to fix the problem. He longed for that meat.
Standing with one hand on the doorknob and one hand holding the platter at shoulder height like a waitress in a restaurant, she glanced down at him. He licked his chops again, unable to help himself. The smell of that steak drove him crazy.
After she opened the door, he could knock her down, take the meat, and be off. But thinking such a thing filled him with shame. She’d been nothing but kind to him. If he shoved her to the floor, she could hit her head, or twist an ankle, maybe even break a bone.
He, of course, wouldn’t be around to find out what had happened to her. He’d find out eventually what sort of damage he’d caused by talking with Ted, but what if he knocked her unconscious and the bears came back?
The knob clicked softly as she turned it. “I know you don’t understand what I’m saying, but if only you did, I’d want you to think about the wisdom of resting here for another day. I’d want you to think about eating this steak and then lying on the quilt in my bedroom while you regain your strength. If you run away, you’ll have to fend for yourself, and you’re not well yet. It could be risky for you.”
She had a point. He’d have to make it around the lake and into his cabin before he could shift again. Shifting outdoors in broad daylight was asking for trouble. So he’d have to go home as he was, slowed by his injuries.
A black wolf moving through the woods during the day could be spotted, chased, possibly even shot by a rogue trophy hunter. When he was fit, he had a decent chance of escaping that fate, but he wasn’t at the top of his game. Then, if he even made it to his cabin, sneaking in undetected would be tricky.
And he was so hungry. He wouldn’t be able to eat until he got home, either. Lack of food was making him dizzy. That would also hamper him on the journey home.
Yet every moment he spent with her in this cabin was filled with danger, too. He was essentially trapped here, and all his Were instincts screamed that he couldn’t let that continue. He had to leave and take his chances getting home.
Maybe he could grab the meat before he left, though. He wouldn’t knock her down to get it, but two could play the game she had in mind. While she tried to coax him in, he’d try to lure her out.
“Okay, wolf. Make the right choice.” She opened the storm door, and then the screen.
Freedom! He bolted out the door, but stumbled on the steps and almost fell.
“Careful!”
Embarrassed, he straightened and kept going. He really was weak, damn it. He needed that steak to boost his energy level. After ducking around the corner of the cabin to find privacy for the task at hand, he returned to the steps.
Climbing them winded him, which was alarming. If he couldn’t navigate three steps without panting, what chance did he have of making it home safely? He’d always counted on stealth and speed, and he had neither.
The steak might revive him though. He’d carry it into a secluded part of the woods, eat it, and then maybe rest a little. If he found a good enough hiding place, he’d wait until dusk to finish the trip.
Both the screen door and the storm door were still open as promised. Rachel stood about five or six feet back from the door and she lowered the platter so he could see the meat. “Come and get your reward, wolf.”
He edged toward the door and stopped short of the threshold. Come toward me, Rachel. Tempt me with that steak.
As he’d hoped, she came closer. “You can smell it, can’t you? I see your nose twitching. Lucky I didn’t break your nose last night. I feel guilty about that.”
He had far more reasons to feel guilty about last night than she did. He put one paw into the room. As long as the door stayed open behind him, he could get away. She couldn’t close it from where she stood holding the platter.
Once he realized that, he grew bolder. He might not have his old speed for long, but he could manage it for a few seconds. Stepping cautiously toward the platter, he gathered himself. Grab the steak and run. That’s all he had to do. She couldn’t get to the door fast enough.
Seizing the meat in his jaws, he whirled at the same moment the screen door slammed shut. What the hell? The steak dangling from his jaws, he turned toward her in confusion. How did you do that?
“Sorry, wolf.” She held up a narrow spool of fishing line. A nearly invisible filament stretched from the cardboard spool in her hand to the handle on the screen door. “It’s for your own good.”
She’d outsmarted him. Damn it. But humiliating though that was, he couldn’t help admiring her ingenuity. Apparently he wouldn’t be escaping today.
As that truth settled over him, he waited for anger and frustration to heat his blood. Instead he felt a far more dangerous emotion. Relief. It seemed that he wasn’t all that eager to leave, after all.
Chapter Five
When Lionel drove up around ten that morning, Rachel heard his truck and closed her bedroom door before going out to meet him. She’d debated whether to tell him about the wolf at all, but she trusted him completely, and discussing the odd situation with someone else would help ease her mind.
Lionel climbed out of his old blue Dodge with a smile on his broad face, as always. He was built like a linebacker, which made him very handy to have around when she had to wrestle large pieces of wood into submission. She didn’t have a little brother, but she would have wanted him to be sweet and funny like Lionel.
He wore his dark hair down past his collar, and he shoved it away from his forehead as he walked toward her. She smiled at the unconscious gesture. When she’d hired him two years ago he’d been less sure of his place in the world. Today he carried himself with the loose-hipped, casual stride of a nineteen-year-old who had decided he was someone of value, after all.
Part of that confidence might come from the talisman on a silk cord around his neck. She’d carved the small wolf for him last year, and it had become his badge of honor. It signaled to everyone in Polecat that she thought enough of him to give him a job and one of her carvings. She was grateful for the impulse that had prompted her to do both of those things.
“How’s it going, Miss M?” He’d come up with that nickname on his own. His grandmother was a Bette Midler fan and he’d grown up hearing about The Divine Miss M. Because he hadn’t felt right calling her Rachel, he’d decided on Miss M, and Rachel was honored to share a nickname with Bette Midler.
“I’m fine.”
“Just wondered, because you don’t usually come out to meet me. Is there a problem?”
“Sort of. Well, I hope not.” She’d discovered early in their relationship that Lionel picked up on her moods very quickly.
He had an artist’s soul, and she’d encouraged him to try carving as a way to express his creativity. So far she’d seen no evidence he was doing it, but he could be working in secret. That would be like him, to want to surprise her.
“So what’s going on?”
She took a deep breath. “I have a wolf in my bedroom.”
His face turned a dull red. “I don’t think you should be telling me that, Miss M. I know you’ve been going online looking for guys to date, but –”
“Not a guy-type wolf, Lionel. An actual wolf. A big, black wolf.”
His embarrassment was replaced with alarm. “Wow. Did you kill it?”
“No! Would I do something like that?”
“I didn’t think so, but I can’t see how you’d get a real wolf into your bedroom unless he was dead, and I thought maybe you needed help getting rid of the evidence, which I would totally do for you, even if it meant we’d get in trouble.”
“I could still get in big trouble for not notifying Game and Fish that I have him. I took him in the house because he’s hurt.”
“Bad?”
“I think he’ll make it.”
Lionel exhaled noisily. “Good. That’s very good. But listen, you shou
ld call Game and Fish right now and make up some story about why you didn’t contact them earlier. I’ll back you up.”
“I’m not calling them, Lionel. Last night this wolf came swooping in and attacked a grizzly that was about to chew me to bits.”
“No way!”
“That’s how he got hurt. He might be a hybrid, but I’ll bet he once belonged to someone because he’s used to people and obviously thought he should protect me. But I think he’s on his own now. I plan to turn him loose once I’m sure he’ll be okay. That’s only fair.”
Lionel gazed at her, his dark eyes filled with concern. “What if he has rabies?”
“I’ve seen no evidence of that. Remember, I’m trained as a vet.”
“Okay, maybe he doesn’t have rabies. I suppose you’d recognize the signs. But he’s still a wild animal. Wild animals can seem like they’re friendly until bam! They turn on you. There was this guy in India whose pet hippopotamus ate him.”
“This wolf saved me from a bear. He’s not going to turn around and eat me.”
“You can’t know that for sure. Has he ever growled at you?”
“No.” She realized that wasn’t exactly true. “Well, once, but I think that was because I tried to shave his fur so I could dress his wounds. He’s afraid of either the scissors or the razor, or both.”
“But he did growl. You say he’s in your bedroom?”
“Yes.”
Lionel’s eyebrows rose. “Did you sleep in there last night?”
“I did. So what?”
“So what? He could have attacked while you were sleeping, that’s what!”
“Well, he didn’t, and I don’t expect him to.”
“Meaning that you’re going to sleep in the same room with him again tonight?”
“I was planning on it.”
Lionel shook his head. “Bad idea, Miss M. Maybe he was too weak to attack last night, but with another day’s rest, he might be a whole different wolf.”
“I’m not worried.”
“Well, I am. Can I see him?”
“All right, but you have to promise me you won’t tell anybody about this.”
Lionel looked genuinely offended. “Like I would.”
“I’m sorry. I know you wouldn’t. But…I feel protective of this wolf. I’m sure it’s the same one I saw years ago.”
“You mean the one you took a picture of? You’re absolutely sure? Because wolves can look alike, you know.”
“This one’s very distinctive. His black coat’s the same, and his green eyes are exactly like the one in the picture. Plus the hair on his forehead grows so there’s a faint diamond pattern to it. It’s the wolf I saw, no question. Every wolf I carve is basically him.”
Lionel gazed at the ground as if pondering something. Finally he looked up again. “This is starting to sound like what my grandmother studies, that tribal stuff about kindred animal spirits.”
“I remember you telling me about that.”
“She’d probably say you have some kind of special connection with this wolf.”
“I think I do. So you see why I can’t bring Game and Fish into it. I want to handle this my way.”
“I’d still like to see him.”
“I want you to. I’m curious as to how he’ll react to another person, especially a guy.” She glanced at him. “I’m making you an accomplice, though.”
“Like I care about that. I was ready to help you bury the body.”
She grinned. “You’re a good friend, Lionel.”
“So are you, Miss M. The best.”
“Ready to see my big bad wolf?”
“Lead the way.”
As they walked toward her front door, she looked over at him. “Just so you know, if I did happen to have an actual guy-type wolf in my bedroom some day, I wouldn’t tell you about it.”
He laughed. “Good. ‘Cause that would be way too much information.”
Jake both heard and smelled them coming and decided to crawl under the bed. He could understand why Rachel wanted some support in her wolf-saving venture, but he’d rather not have Lionel get a close look at him. The fewer humans who could ID him, the better.
Rachel had the good grace to call out to him before she opened the door. “Wolf? I’m bringing Lionel in to see you. He’s a good guy. He won’t cause you any problems, I promise.”
Lionel’s voice penetrated the barrier of the door. “Miss M, you do realize the wolf doesn’t understand a word you’re saying, right?”
“I’m not so sure.”
“Oh, boy.”
“What?”
“I learned about that in school. It’s called anthropomorphizing, and it means –”
“I know what it means.” Rachel sounded irritated. “I don’t think this wolf is like a human. But if he lived with people, and he’s really smart, he could understand some basic words.”
“Yeah, like sit and stay. But you just gave him a detailed explanation of what’s going on. He’s not going to get all that.”
“Then he’ll understand my tone of voice and know you’re not a threat. Ready?”
“Guess so.”
The door opened, and from his position under the bed, Jake saw Rachel’s running shoes and a pair of work boots coming in behind her. Rachel’s scent was already familiar to him—too damned familiar, in fact. Lionel’s was not, but Jake didn’t find it unpleasant—a little human sweat, a little Ivory soap, a little mint aftershave.
“Oh, dear, he’s gone under the bed again.”
“What do you mean, again?” Lionel didn’t sound happy with the situation. “Are you saying he did that before?”
“Last night, after I got out the scissors and razor.”
Exactly, sweetheart. If you’d kept those things out of the mix, I wouldn’t have had to hide. Jake still shuddered when he thought of what might have happened if he’d been more out of it.
“You slept with this wolf under your bed all night?”
“Part of the night. Lionel, he’s not dangerous.”
“How do I know that?” Lionel got to his hands and knees and peered cautiously under the bed. “Jesus. He looks enormous.”
“He’s pretty big.”
Lionel got to his feet. “I don’t like the idea of you staying alone in the cabin with a wild animal.”
Jake’s laughter came out as a snort, which made his side ache. Wild animal, indeed.
“Did you hear that?” Lionel became more agitated. “Like a sneeze or a snort or something?”
“Probably from the dust bunnies under my bed.”
“But there could be something wrong with him. I mean he could have fleas, or ticks…. What if he brought ticks into your house and you get Lyme disease? Did you think of that?”
With great effort, Jake kept himself from laughing again. It hurt his side and strange noises coming from under the bed scared the shit out of Lionel. A self-respecting Were wouldn’t tolerate the presence of a tick, but if Lionel knew Rachel had a werewolf in her house, he’d go ballistic.
“I’ll watch out for ticks,” Rachel said. “But he saved my life. I owe him –”
“What? He chose to attack the bear, but it might not have had anything to do with you. They might hate each other for other reasons, and you happened to be around for the smack-down.”
“I suppose that’s always possible, but I don’t think so. I think he was saving me.”
“Miss M, don’t be a hero. Call Game and Fish.”
Jake tensed. That was all he needed.
“I’m not doing that, Lionel.”
“Seriously, let them come out. They can tranquilize the wolf, check him for ticks and other parasites, and figure out where he came from and where he belongs. Don’t you want to know that?”
“Not really. I want him to return to whatever routine he had before he rushed in to save me. I don’t need to know all the details about his life.”
Lionel blew out a breath. “I think you’re asking for trouble keep
ing him here, but it’s your decision.”
“It is, and I’ll deal with any consequences.”
“But you have to promise me, if this turns into a big problem, you’ll call me.”
“You’d still help? Even if I’m ignoring your advice about notifying the authorities?”
“You bet I would, Miss M. If you don’t want anybody to know about this wolf, then that’s the way it’ll be. If he turns rabid and you need me to come and shoot him for you, I’ll do that.”
Rachel gasped. “Nobody is shooting this wolf!”
“If he becomes a danger to you, or if he harms a single hair on your head, I’ll shoot him without a second thought.”
Jake didn’t relish being shot, but he was glad to hear that Lionel was so protective. Somehow he’d make sure Lionel was aware of a grizzly in the neighborhood, and then Jake could leave for San Francisco without worrying so much about Rachel’s safety. Before he could catch that plane, though, he had to get out of this cabin.
“The wolf’s no danger to me,” Rachel said. “But I appreciate your support.”
“Anytime.”
“I guess he’s not going to come out from under the bed, so we may as well leave. We both have work to do.”
“Yeah, how’s the triptych coming along?” Lionel moved toward the door.
“I’m making progress.” Rachel followed him. “I’d like your opinion. Oh, and I’ve created an unholy mess in the shop. Sawdust everywhere.”
“I’m sure.” Lionel chuckled. “Hey, that carving on your mantel wasn’t there last time I was in here. Where’d it come from?”
“I sold that to Jake Hunter three years ago. He didn’t want it anymore, so I have it back.”
“What is he, dumb or something?”
“Yes, I think he is.” She closed the bedroom door.
Jake felt about as dumb as Lionel thought he was. What a situation he’d created for himself. He waited several minutes before he crawled out from under the bed. If he could be sure they’d leave him alone for awhile, he could shift to human form and back to wolf form to speed the healing. In fact, in human form he could crack the front door a couple of inches so that he could leave as a wolf.
Werewolf in Alaska Page 6
