Page 30 of The Scent of Seduction

Cooper bowed his head and took a step back. “My apologies.”

She felt bad about the sharp exclamation. Jaryn had explained to her that the other wolves in the pack now looked at Nicole as being the Alpha female, and as such, would actively seek her praise. Yelling at Cooper probably gave him the impression that she was displeased with him, which was not at all the truth.

She went over to the window where Cooper stood and placed her hand on his arm. “No, I’m sorry. I’m not much of a morning person and for some reason today that seems to be doubly the case. Thank you for making the coffee.”

“It should be done brewing by now, since I started boiling the kettle when I heard you activate the shower."

Nicole smiled. “Come have a cup with me?”

Cooper nodded, and they went into the kitchen together. Nicole sat at the table while Cooper brought over the carafe and mugs. He seemed to enjoy doing this for her, and while it went against the training her mother had given about being a proper hostess, at this moment and with this man, it felt right.

“I’d like to go visit Jaryn’s parents today. I promised Charlie the other day that I’d help him with his science project.”

A grin arched the corners of Cooper’s mouth, but he quickly covered it with the rim of his mug.

“Better watch out. That pup will have you twisted around his little tail in no time, and you’ll find yourself doing most of the work.”

Nicole laughed and, for the first time in days, a lighter emotion filled her heart. “You forget I was a teacher. I know all the tricks kids pull to get out of an assignment. Don’t you worry about me.”

“We’ll have to contact them to make sure they’re home. I won’t leave the house without express knowledge that we have a secured location waiting for us. Also, we’ll take the back way through the pack lands. The main roads may not be safe.”

“I leave myself in your capable hands. So now that we have that out of the way, I’d like to revisit our discussion that was so rudely interrupted the other day. Are you seeing anyone?”

Cooper rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t believe that was part of our discussion.”

“Oh, come on. I’m going stir crazy here. I need some gossip to keep my head from rotating on the axis of my neck.”

“No, what you need is a target to focus all that restless energy on, and I have just the thing. Follow me.” Cooper got up from the table and walked into Jaryn’s home office. He sat at Jaryn’s desk and powered up the E-sphere.

Nicole sat in the chair beside Cooper. It was a little weird to see Cooper sitting at Jaryn’s desk, but obviously whatever task he had in mind required the use of her mate’s computer. Nicole eyed the wall and watched as Cooper opened the word processing document she’d written, listing all the inhabitants of Adam’s compound that she could remember.

“We’re going to go through this list and examine who we think are the most likely suspects for our watchers.”

“What good is that going to do?”

“If I know who I’m fighting, then I can get the information I need to know how to fight them.”

“All right, let me think.”

Nicole closed her eyes for a moment. She let her mind drift back to Wisconsin. It would most likely be an inhabitant that volunteered to be a part of Adam’s pack, or one of the security detail. It simply made little sense that Adam would send shifters that were prisoners. That certainly narrowed the list down, as there were only a handful of individuals in Adam’s intimate circle. There was Greg, but he was a huge bear shifter. Not exactly built for blending in and shadowy observations. There was Frank, a lynx. He was most definitely capable of silently stalking his prey. But Frank was as cold as they came. He’d given Nicole the creeps from the moment they met, and the voices they’d overheard sounded more innocent and inquisitive than sinister. But in reality, it could be anyone. Adam had those people so completely under his control that there was no telling who he would have sent. She wouldn’t put it past him to threaten one of the prisoners' loved ones if they didn’t come to Stonepass and report Nicole’s every move. Adam was a master manipulator. He could give the world’s scariest interrogators a run for their money.

“Coop, there’re so many possibilities. It could be any of them. Hell, it could be someone that I don’t even know exists. I had more freedom than most, but I didn’t have access to all parts of the compound.”

“Okay, then tell me about all of them.”

She stared at him, as it was evident that she was now dealing with the Sheriff or possibly even Lieutenant Tessen. There was little resemblance to the smiling jokester who’d made her laugh a couple of days ago. Nicole examined the list, trying to decide where to start.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the living room. Cooper was up from the chair and out the door before Nicole could process his hurried order to hide somewhere safe. She looked around the office. Under the desk would be too obvious. The closet wasn’t an option because it was full of shelving. She looked to full curtains draping on either side of the wide window, but she’d seen enough horror movies to know that intruders always looked there. There was really only one option.

Nicole pushed open the window and climbed out. It's a pity that she didn't find herself trapped on the other side of the house. She could’ve sneaked out one of the French doors leading to the stone patio. Instead she had to pretend she was a teenager trying to sneak out of the house in the dead of night once again. Nicole managed to slip through the window quietly with ease.

Guess I’m not as rusty as I thought.

She got down on all fours in the snow-covered field. Her jeans were quickly soaked and her hands became numb, but a minor discomfort was worth her life. Worse, though, was the wind. Her face felt as though each blast stripped layers of her skin away, and her hair whipped around her head to where it was actually difficult to see. She was very grateful in this moment that Jaryn kept the land around his home mostly in its natural state. The meadow had plenty of shrubs and rocky outcroppings for her to hide behind. She was making her way over towards the car when the front door opened and Cooper ran out, calling her name.

“Cooper!” She scrambled up to her feet and ran towards her designated protector. She threw herself at him and was very thankful when his brawny arms encircled her.

He ushered her inside and shut the front door. “Are you insane? There’s a storm blowing in! I told you to hide, not commit suicide.”

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