Matt chuckled. “You don’t miss much, do you? Did you say you used to be a cop or something?”
“No. That’s the woman you keep calling my beta. Brandi was the cop… or something… she hasn’t really said. I was…guess still am…a scientist. And I haven’t forgotten anything about that side of me.”
Matt lifted a brow as he took the chair across from hers. “A scientist? What kind of scientist?”
“Bio-Molecular Genetics. My specialty is DNA mapping. My claim to fame in the scientific community is that I discovered some unique strands in certain people’s DNA and postulated their purpose. What most people don’t know is I did all my research on myself because I couldn’t get funding to use test subjects. Turns out, I had the very strand I was investigating.”
“Why does this story make me so nervous?” Matt asked, crunching cereal.
Ariel hung her head. “Because the scientist I worked for at Feldspar Research figured out the strands I identified were people potentially capable of being genetically converted to werewolves. His problem was that an artificially inspired transpecies mutated change might potentially kill his human subjects the first time it happened. But he found a way to make sure they healed quickly.”
Matt stopped crunching and swallowed. “That’s the job of those nanos you keep worrying about.”
Ariel nodded. “You’re sharp.” She hoped Reed wasn’t going to be mad she had told, but she trusted Matt.
“The guy sounds like one of those mad scientist types in the movies. What happened to him?”
“Ever heard about a man’s work biting him on the ass when he least expects it?”
Matt laughed at her not so clever wordplay. “Yes. Did you bite the mad scientist on his ass?”
“More like on the back of his neck…and then I chomped down hard until he was dead. I killed the Egor dude who was helping him too.”
Matt went calmly back to eating before answering. “Good. That saves Reed the trouble of doing it himself later. Wait until you see Reed in his human form. You’re going to be surprised. I’ll give you a hint—he’s a native and a lot bigger than me. He keeps telling me my wolf is bigger than his, but I don’t see it.”
Ariel smiled and reached out tentatively for another piece of ham. “Can we try our food thing again later? My wolf is still mad me for letting you have a bite. I have the strangest urge to grab the entire plate of ham and run someplace with it.”
“We’ll calm her down later. She needs to learn to give in gracefully…and to share with those being nice to her,” Matt said firmly, grinning when Ariel laughed. “What? I can be very nice—when I want to be.”
Chapter 7
Matt swung his SUV into the lane leading to Eva’s house. His sister had gone in to work at the clinic, but reported Reed had chosen to stay at her house. When he and Ariel climbed out, he motioned her around to the back with him where Eva’s deck faced a large wooded area.
“Reed must be off exploring, but he will have smelled us by now. Have a seat. We might be in for a bit of a wait if he’s busy doing something.”
Ariel nodded and smiled, liking the way the hard ground gave under her new hiking boots.
“I’m not in a hurry. And I don’t think I ever really said thanks for buying me new clothes. It’s great to have shoes again. It’s hard to believe the things you take for granted until you don’t have them anymore.”
As she chose a chair to sit, Matt looked at her long sweater, longer t-shirt, and brand new jeans. While not as attractive as she deserved, the female at least looked comfortable with herself, and not nearly as wild-eyed as she had in her ripped up lab coat.
He kept the conversation light until he heard what sounded like a bear running through the woods. Ariel stopped mid-sentence, her attention going to the sound as well. Then she smiled. It wasn’t just a small smile either. It was a smile that took over her face. She was out of the chair and running by the time the big wolf hit the tree line. Ariel’s laughter carried back to him, each sound she made echoing in his chest and through his heart.
Matt shook his head when Reed galloped to her full out. While most werewolves would have shit themselves in fear of the giant Black Wolf Alpha, the female who didn’t know about such things rushed joyously to greet him. She laughed as Reed circled around her and rubbed against her legs—legs which had been twined around his while they’d slept last night.
If he hadn’t known her story with Reed, he’d have been jealous as hell of the other male wolf. What the fuck was going on with him? He’d never been jealous of a female in his life.
And hell—he still didn’t know enough about the laughing female to tell if she was even worth such caring. Sleeping with her once did not have to lead to any sort of commitment. Neither did having great sex with her, no matter how badly he wanted to be with her again.
Sighing over his confused feelings, which were probably being caused by the throbbing between his legs every time he looked at the laughing female still playing with Reed’s wolf, Matt leaned back in the lawn chair and closed his eyes.
The two alphas dancing around each other in his sister’s yard didn’t need him to make their formal introductions.
***
“Reed. You look amazing. Your coat is so shiny and black. You look so healthy now. Are you able to shift back to a human yet?”
Ariel’s face wrinkled as Reed growled low and backed up. Then suddenly where the wolf had been a moment before, a man now stood, a nearly seven feet tall native man with black hair to his waist. And he was dressed in clothes similar to what Matt wore. Wait…clothes?
“Hey. How come you get to keep your clothes on when you shift?” she demanded.
Reed laughed as he walked back towards her. “Hello to you as well, Dr. Ariel Jones.”
Ariel giggled, covered her mouth, and looked up and up to meet his steady gaze. “I’m sorry. If you’re someone’s grandfather, I can’t wait to see your sons and grandsons. Have you seen yourself?”
“Not in a while. Come here,” Reed ordered, opening his arms.
Ariel dropped her hands and started forward, fighting the urge to whimper. “You’re not going to do anything strange, are you?”
Reed laughed again, a big booming laugh. “Yes. I am going to hug you very tightly and say thank you for saving my life.”
Laughing at her trepidation, Ariel let herself be drawn against his chest. Reed smelled like home—only no home she’d ever known before. He smelled like love and kindness and welcome. She thought of him yesterday, nearly lifeless on Eva’s medical table. He could have died without her ever getting to do this. The knowledge had her sniffling.
“I made Eva do a direct blood transfusion. I don’t know what will happen to you long-term, but I wasn’t ready for you to die.”
“I wasn’t ready to die either,” Reed said logically, pushing her away to look at her face. “You seem better too. How are you adapting to being a werewolf?”
Ariel shrugged. “Matt has been nice…and just as helpful as you said he’d be.”
“That is not what I asked you,” Reed said, smiling about her first comments being about Matt. “How is Ariel Jones doing? How are the other two women? I have no mind link with them. I can only tell they are good souls.”
Ariel stepped away a little, but took his outstretched hand when he offered it. “Brandi and Heidi are doing as well as I am. We’re all just trying to figure out what to do. Thanks to Crazy Crane, the world thinks we’re all dead. None of us are in a hurry to change the situation yet. We seem to need time to figure out what to do about what we are now.”
She felt Reed’s arm tighten around her in a reassuring hug.
“I’m sorry, Ariel. Do you miss your families? You could go back to them and tell a story they would believe. There are many werewolves living among humans these days, but they get lonely for others of our kind. They take long, extended vacations and visit their pack.”
“I don’t think any of us have had time to think
much about the future. Surviving has taken all our energy. Today’s the first day I’ve even had actual clothes to wear. Matt bought them for me.”
“Well, it was the least he could do after sleeping with you,” Reed declared, shrugging.
“You can tell we slept together?” Ariel demanded, her face flushing.
Reed laughed. “Every werewolf with any decent sense of smell can tell. But I’m sure it only matters to the females who Matt has been saying no to for a long time.”
“Oh—okay. I guess I can’t complain then. Why does everything I say make you smile?”
“You remind me of my last mate. She wasn’t an alpha though. She was just a happy person trying to lead a happy life. She went to help a family member one cold day and never returned. We found her frozen body two days later. There were no signs of struggle, but I did not deal well with her death.”
“I was married once, but it didn’t take. He said I was boring. Maybe I was. Science is not the most exciting career—normally. Being made into a werewolf is something I never expected to happen to me.”
“Of course not,” Reed said, nodding. “Human turnings are not done any longer—and yet I cannot undo what has happened. You three are now part of me, no matter how the Great Spirits brought us together. In a few days, we’ll talk about what our connection means and decide on the best course of action to take going forward.”
Ariel nodded. “Brandi and Heidi are going to be shocked at how good-looking you are.”
“Good-looking? I like that. Do I have gray hair?” Reed asked.
Ariel frowned and shook her head. “No. Why?”
“I did before yesterday,” Reed said. “Dr. Jones, I think your blood did some amazing things to me.”
“I need to test us…and Matt. Damn it…and Ryan Calder, who helped Heidi. I don’t know about Gareth. Matt’s second spent time with Brandi. You see, Crane shot the three of us with a couple billion nanos each. They help us bear the shift change to our wolves. What I don’t know is if the nanos stay constrained in our bodies in the middle of…uh…certain activities.”
Ariel slowed her speech as Reed lifted one eyebrow.
“Like blood transfusions?” Reed offered.
Ariel cleared her throat. “And other kinds of fluid exchanges. We kind of had to address a pressing physical problem yesterday.”
“Ah yes…the burning. It comes hard with the first few shifts. So Matt helped you with your burning?”
Ariel nodded. “You know this is exactly as bad as talking to my father about sex, don’t you?”
Reed’s laugh burst out again. He saw the Gray Wolf Alpha rise from his seat and start their way. He felt the boy’s jealousy across the yard. “Quickly—tell me the truth. Was Matthew able to put out your fire?”
Ariel sighed as she watched Matt walk to them. “Well, he did, but it’s back again today.”
Reed chuckled and rubbed his nose. “It’s been so long since I felt the flames, but I remember how bad it was. There is no shame in seeking ease when you need it, child. I’m sure Matt will set you up with a place you can check on the outcomes of your fire joinings. I think my lack of gray hair and the vigor I feel sort of answer the blood transfusion question. However, you may still check anything else for me, you wish.”
Ariel nodded and looked at Matt when he reached her side. “Do you think Eva will let me use the healing house as my lab for a little bit?”
“You can ask her if you like,” Matt offered. He turned to the male he had thought he knew. “Reed, you’re looking very different.”
Reed grinned and slapped his young friend on the back. “Yes. Ariel and I are going to try and figure out why. Thanks for taking care of my girls for me.”
“Reed, by girls…do you mean something like…daughters?” Matt demanded, crossing his arms.
Reed sputtered when Ariel punched Matt’s arm. His laughter over the younger male’s jealousy echoed through the woods and scattered all the birds from their nests. It was the best he’d felt in years.
***
“Why is Brandi smiling at Reed?” Gareth demanded. “The female doesn’t smile. Ever. No matter what you do for her. Even in bliss she frowns.”
Matt lifted his gaze and looked across the waiting area to where Reed sat chatting with a smiling Brandi, and a giggling Heidi, who looked like she wanted to crawl into his lap.
Beside their seats, Ryan Calder paced like a mad wolf, saying nothing. “You okay, Ryan?”
“I’m fine,” he said, tight lipped and glaring at the Black Wolf Alpha.
Matt went back to flipping the pages of his magazine. “You don’t have to stay, Ryan. Gareth and I can watch things. You can go back to work until she needs you again.”
“No. I’m not leaving,” Ryan declared. “Not while he’s here.”
“If you’re talking about Reed, he’s their primary, and you’re worrying about nothing. The females are like his children. He doesn’t desire any of them.”
“They aren’t really related to him,” Ryan said in a fierce whisper.
“They are related by blood. To our kind, such a bond is binding. If you see Heidi through her burning and find you want to keep her after, you will likely have to get Reed’s approval to do so. Ariel’s her alpha, but Reed is their true leader for now.”
Ryan growled and ran a hand over his face. “Don’t pay any attention to me. I don’t know what I want, except back inside Heidi again.”
“Now you understand why I have always stayed away from females during their burnings. They’re far too addictive. Reason and logic are lost to lust,” Matt said sharply. Beside him Gareth grunted his support.
“Heidi makes me alive again, but does not take our bonding seriously. She expects nothing more than to be serviced and left alone. How do you know where you stand with such a female?”
“You don’t,” Gareth answered flatly. He studied the steady smile of the most unusual female he’d ever met. “But they were ordered by their alpha not to get attached to us. Perhaps you need to be more appreciative of a female who shares herself without requiring anything but pleasure in return. There are not many of those in the world, my friend.”
Matt’s senses went on high alert when he felt Ariel return. She drew everyone’s attention as she came out of the back of the facility. Wearing one of their stolen doctor’s coats over the clothes he’d bought for her, Ariel looked every inch the scientist she had claimed to be.
“Good news. The only kind of fluid exchange we have to worry about is blood. So no one has to worry about kissing…or other similar activities. Just don’t bite each other. No blood exchanges allowed.”
Total silence from everyone made her raise an eyebrow, until Reed’s laughter rang out. Ariel looked over at him. “Glad you still find everything I say so damn funny, but I bet that changes soon. You and I have to have a different sort of talk.”
Reed nodded. “I am properly chastised by your severity, Dr. Jones.”
Snorting at Reed’s flippant remark, Ariel turned her attention to Matt. “Can the three of us go back out to Eva’s place to talk? She said it was okay with her. The kids are in school and her husband is at work. Then I thought you and I might go back to your house and have our own private discussion.”
“Are you still able to think clearly?” Matt asked.
Ariel narrowed her eyes. “Would I have suggested doing things in that particular order if it wasn’t the case? If I remember correctly, I was the one talking you onto the desk in your office, not the other way around, Matthew. I told you I would ask for what I needed and I am asking, but I think the fire can wait a while. Talking to Reed is more important at the moment.”
“Well, I can’t wait any longer,” Brandi declared, happily interrupting their argument. “I need a fix now. Reed said the worst should be over in a week or so. I’m comfortable with Gareth, so if you don’t need anything from us, he and I will just be heading back to his place to take care of business.”
Gareth rose
slowly from his seat and smiled at Brandi’s demand. “I guess that’s close enough to what I said I would do for you.”
Brandi narrowed her eyes. “Look—don’t do me any favors, buddy. You helped me, but Reed said my body won’t care about the male. Ryan can call one of his brothers as far as I’m concerned—well, maybe not the jackass one who made the stripper remark. Bottom line here—I’m good with whatever you decide. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”
Gareth narrowed his eyes in return. He opened his mouth, but Matt intervened.
“Don’t call Ryan’s brothers. Call Mark Lafayette. He’s seasoned and won’t mind helping Brandi. He keeps to himself too much anyway. He’d probably like some enthusiastic female company. And Brandi’s definitely his type.”
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