Page 7 of Sanctuary

Gemma snorted, shaking her head. “No, when have you ever seen me cry?”

Larry gave her a sideways look before glancing at Eric, then back at Gemma. “Listen, I can cancel my date….”

“Oh no you cannot.” Gemma shook her head. “I’d have to hear about that for months. Everything is fine here. Go have a good time, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

Still not looking sure, Larry looked at Eric. “You leaving?”

“No,” Eric stated without explanation.

“Okay, good.” Larry turned and left without another word.

“You don’t work for Kentucky Wildlife Association, do you?” Gemma eyed him closely.

“No, he doesn’t.” A male voice came from the enclosure behind them.

Gemma jumped at the voice as she turned. Her eyes narrowed. “I knew you were a shifter.” She then looked up at Eric in surprise. “And you knew it too.” Holy crap on a cracker. Was Eric a shifter also? Her mind spun with the realization. Just because a wolf walked into her opened enclosure that offered shelter, food, and water didn’t mean it was a shifter. It took them shifting for her to know for sure.

******

Eric’s shock wore off quickly. Everything that had just happened finally made complete sense. “You’re her.” He stepped back to stare at her.

“I’m no one,” Gemma stated quickly. “Just Gemma Stone, owner of Stone’s Wolf Sanctuary.”

“It’s her,” the naked shifter, who’d just moments ago been a wolf, said as he walked out of the gate.

“In the trailer is a change of clothes that should fit.” Gemma rolled her eyes but kept them averted. “Please get dressed.”

“What? Don’t like what you see?” the man said, leaning close to her, but was shoved by Eric. “Hey!”

“Get dressed before I show you who’s alpha again,” Eric growled, which sent the man toward the trailer. Before he could calm himself down from seeing the man flirting with Gemma, his gaze drifted to her. She was looking at him oddly. Shit! He knew she was going to ask questions he wasn’t prepared to answer.

“You a shifter?” Gemma glanced his way.

Yeah, Eric was not ready to answer that question. He didn’t know who the hell this woman really was and what her motives were concerning shifters. “What do you know about shifters?”

“Answering a question with a question is quite telling.” Gemma cocked an eyebrow. When it was evident he wasn’t going to take the bait and talk, she sighed. “This Sanctuary has been helping shifters for as long as I remember, but I’m sure you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Actually, no, I didn’t,” Eric responded, crossing his arms. “We’ve only heard stories, rumors, not realizing they were true.”

“Well, now you know the rumors are true.” Gemma shrugged her shoulder. “After my grandfather died, I moved back here from LA to keep his dream alive. Helping wolves was his love, his passion, and he passed it along to me. Once I graduated, he wanted me to live life to the fullest because he knew one day I would be back here to continue his legacy.”

Before he could respond, the man came out of the trailer fully dressed and headed their way. “Sorry about the way I acted earlier today. I wasn’t sure I was in the right place. You sure don’t look like a Howard Stone to me.”

Eric watched a bright smile break over Gemma’s face and sucked in a deep breath. She was radiant.

“That was my grandfather.” Her smile saddened. “Guess word hasn’t spread about his passing.”

“Actually, it has. It is said that a woman with the hair of fire is who we should seek for shelter until we can get on our feet.” He nodded. “Name’s Alex. I appreciate you not letting that bastard shoot me.”

Gemma shook Alex’s hand. “If you guys are hungry, I can fix something up real quick,” Gemma said, looking at the two.

“Sure. I can always eat.” Alex grinned. “I’ll help out around here to pay you back in some way.”

“I won’t turn that down. I can always use help around here.” Gemma accepted his terms for food. “How about you?” she asked Eric.

“Yeah, I need to make a quick phone call first.” He pulled out his phone and walked away, still trying to wrap his head around everything he had learned.

Walking toward his SUV, he looked over his shoulder to see Gemma and Alex walking toward the run down house beside the trailer, which surprisingly made him a little angry. It was as if Alex were treading on his territory, and that territory was Gemma.

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