Page 4 of Sanctuary

After only a few short moments of wolf and man staring at each other, Luna leaned into his hand that clutched the wire. Gemma knew her eyes were wide and her mouth gaped in disbelief. Even Larry couldn’t get near Luna’s enclosure. Gemma’s eyes flew to the man who smiled at the wolf, but there was a subtle smirk which she was sure was directed toward her.

“Really, Luna?” Gemma frowned. “He called you old, and that, my friend, is not a compliment.”

“It is very much a compliment.” Eric finally stood, turning toward her with one last rub of Luna’s ear. “Age is to be respected, especially in someone who has had to fight every single day of their life.”

Gemma watched as he looked down at the wolf before walking toward and then past her. It was as if he knew Luna’s story. There was no way he could know that. Gemma stared at Luna, who was now staring at her. “Traitor,” she whispered, but lovingly reached in and gave the wolf an affectionate ear rub before turning and marching past the man who’d actually stopped so he could open the trailer door for her.

Larry was already inside getting the food ready for feeding. “Has Rudy called? We’re running low on meat, Gemma.”

Frowning, Gemma shook her head, but her stare remained on the stranger. “No, I’ll call him in a few minutes.” She crossed her arms, tilting her head slightly. “Who are you?”

“Eric Jackson.” The man didn’t miss a beat with his answer.

“No, I meanwhoare you and why exactly are you here?” Gemma had a feeling there was more to this man’s story, and it was making her edgy. She had been inspected before, and this man was not at all the inspector type. Yes, therewasan inspector type.

“She’s not slow,” Larry said from behind her, “just thorough.”

“Larry,” Gemma growled in warning.

“He’s here to inspect, Gemma.” Larry grunted as he lifted and then set down a large bucket of meat. “We’ve been through this before. Let the man do his job, and then we can do ours. I got a hot date tonight with Lucy that I refuse to miss. Took me weeks of sucking in my gut, showering regularly, along with using that nasty mouthwash to land this hottie.”

Gemma’s shoulders drooped. Larry, her sixty-year-old helper, who she loved yet wanted to kill at least once or twice a day, had a date. She was twenty-five and hadn’t seen a penis in years. She snorted at that thought. Then her eyes shot up to the stranger who stared at her intently. Her face flushed with color. God, did she say that out loud?

“Come on.” Larry passed her after grunting with gusto while picking up the bucket of meat. “Seems Gemma is having a moment. I’ll show you around the place, answer questions or give you whatever you need to know. But make them questions short. I wasn’t kidding about missing my date with Lucy. She’s a wild one for sure, and I just refilled my Viagra script.”

Gemma’s lip quirked, but it quickly went back to a straight line as this man named Eric took the heavy bucket from Larry. He was not only a gentleman opening the door for her, but he was thoughtful of someone weaker than himself. Shaking her head, thinking that would somehow dismiss the thoughts of this man who’d just popped into her life, she grabbed her phone. She had work to do, dammit. Dialing, she waited and then without thought let the person on the other end of the line feel her frustration. “Where the hell is my meat, Rudy?”

******

Eric was happy that Larry was the one he was dealing with and not Gemma. Something about her got under his skin. His immediate reaction to seeing her in danger nagged at him. He would have been concerned about anyone in trouble, but this had been different. He had wanted to kill the wolf without even taking into consideration it wasn’t the wolf who was in the wrong. The woman should have backed off at the first hint of aggression. He knew it, the wolf knew it, and heknewthat the woman knew it.

“Okay, let’s cut the shit.” Larry stopped in front of an enclosure and faced Eric. “I don’t know exactly why you’re here, but I have a feeling it’s not for the reason you said you are.”

“Oh, and why’s that?” Eric nudged him out of the way and walked into the enclosure with the bucket.

“Well, because none of those Kentucky Wildlife assholes would be helping me do anything.” Larry pointed to Eric and then the bucket. “Kind of screwed the pooch with being all helpful and stuff.”

Inside Eric cursed himself, but nothing on his expression showed he was alarmed. “Yeah, well I’m a different kind of asshole I guess. I grew up around wolves. Now if you had cattle or anything else, you’d been doing this on your own.”

Larry stared at him for a long second. “Son, I’m just going to say this once.” Larry seemed to stand five feet taller in that moment. “You may be who you say you are, but I have my doubts. One thing I don’t doubt is if you have bad intentions or you hurt Gemma, I will kill you. Understood?”

“Is there a reason you have to throw that threat around much?” Eric frowned, not offended by the older man’s concern for the beautiful woman who he worked for.

Larry sighed before bending down, grabbing a huge chunk of meat and throwing it in the center of the enclosure. Some would think that was a cruel way of feeding the wolves, but it was what they preferred. It was closer to their natural habitat, eating kill from the earth, not a plastic container.

“Gemma has many enemies in these parts. They want to take her and this sanctuary down.” Larry wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I honestly can’t believe she’s been able to keep going as long as she has, but that little girl in there is as tough as they come, and nothing, I mean nothing will stop her from caring for these animals.”

Enclosure after enclosure they quietly fed the wolves. Eric didn’t ask a single question, which wasn’t smart on his part because if anyone would pick up on someone trying to pull off being a fake Kentucky Wildlife officer, it was definitely Larry, but the guy said nothing either and seemed as deep in thought as himself.

Eric had to admit he was impressed. Every enclosure was clean, the wolves content, and if anyone would know or have a complaint, it would be him. He knew wolves well, as well as he knew himself.

“Ah, dammit!” Larry cursed, heading quickly out of the enclosure.

Turning, Eric saw a shiny black pickup truck pull up on the property. Hearing the trailer door slam, he turned his attention toward Gemma, who looked enraged as she headed straight toward the new arrivals. His blood turned to ice as two men emerged, with one holding a shotgun.

Chapter 4

Gemma was so mad she couldn’t see straight. She was also a little scared, but more seething angry after her phone call. She knew the fear would overwhelm her soon enough. How was she going to get her meat now? It was clear who was behind Rudy’s change of heart. Her eyes caught movement on the camera. Just her luck the son of a bitch responsible was pulling onto her property now.

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