Page 9 of Anders
Her white-blonde hair caught the moonlight, making her appear almost ethereal as she moved through the room.
She was striking—tall and athletic, with high cheekbones and an aristocratic jawline.Her eyes, when she’d glanced toward the window earlier, had flashed golden in the darkness.Even her teeth, barely glimpsed when she’d yawned, showed the slightly elongated canines typical of their kind.
Anders settled into the shadows of a large creosote bush, watching.
She moved like a predator, he realized.The way she scanned her surroundings, the way she positioned herself in relation to exits—all classic wolf behaviors.
But there was something else.Something that made his wolf stir restlessly.
Etta paused, tilting her head in that familiar gesture of scenting the air.After a moment, she shook her head and returned to her task.
She looked like a wolf who had forgotten she was a wolf.
The thought made his chest ache with sympathy, and he pushed the feeling down.
He couldn’t afford to feel anything for this stranger.
Not until he knew if she was a threat to his pack.
Anders maintained his surveillance as Etta moved through the house, turning off lights, and eventually slipped into her bed.
Once he was certain she was asleep, Anders crept closer to examine her vehicle.The rental car was clean.No personal items visible, no distinguishing marks beyond the standard rental company identifiers.
He was about to retreat when the wind shifted, bringing with it a scent that stopped him in his tracks.
Her scent, presumably.
Mine, his inner wolf announced.
Wait.What?
Anders shook his head.
Granted, Etta’s scent was like nothing he’d ever encountered—sweet and spicy, with an underlying note of wolf that was…different, somehow.
But there was something else.Something other than that…
Mate!
The word exploded through his consciousness as his wolf surged forward, desperate to claim the woman Anders had been sent to surveil.
Anders’s whole body trembled with the need to howl, to announce his claim, to wake her and—
No.
He shut down the instinct ruthlessly, forcing his wolf back under control.
This woman was a potential threat to his pack.He could not—would not—let his wolf’s instincts override tactical necessity.
But oh, how his wolf fought him.Every fiber of his being yearned to go to her, to wake her, to help her understand what she was, what they could be together.
She’s dangerous, he reminded himself.A security risk.Focus on the mission.
Through sheer force of will, Anders backed away from the house.
His wolf whined, physically pained by each step that took him further from his mate.But Anders had not become head guardian by letting instinct override duty.
Still, he couldn’t help casting one last look at her bedroom window, where his mate slept, unaware of both her true nature and his presence.
