Page 54 of Wild Wolf
Nolan shifted into his wolf, bolted for the stairs, blocking their exit. Baring his teeth, he snarled atthem.
“Okay, okay!” Todd held up his hands. “We’regoing!”
Nolan herded them toward the kitchen door, following them inside. He shifted back into Skin, clothing himself by magick, and pointed to the stacks of dishes waiting to be loaded into thedishwasher.
He waited until they began working and then gave Dan, the head of the kitchen staff, a pointed look. Dan nodded. “No worries, alpha. I’ll make sure they’re here until we’refinished.”
He nodded and went outside, shifting into his wolf and leapt over the railing, landing two stories below on four paws. Gasps sounded from those watching above. Good. Let them see he was no weak Lupine who couldn’t rule thepack.
They were always watching him, testing him to see if he was strong enough to lead them. The bolder ones, like Palmer and Todd, liked to expose hisweaknesses.
Jordan sure was one of them. She vexedhim.
As always, the shift energized him. Smells exploded in his nostrils and the wind ruffled his dark fur as he raced toward thewoods.
Nolan hunted, flushing out a rabbit that thought to have a snack on the lettuce in their vegetable garden. After eating, he ran through the woods to rid himself of the restless itch he’d had until Jordan came back into hislife.
That itch calmed down when they were making love. When they had sex, he felt peaceful in his own skin for a change. Their bedroom was a haven from the pressures of pack and business, where he could lose himself in his mate’s soft body and her welcomingarms.
Picking up her scent near the path leading to the stables, he sniffed the ground, tracking her scent, the male instinct to protect, claim and hold riding him strong. He loped over to a tree and lifted his leg, marking it. Did the same with a few other trees as a warning to Todd, Palmer and the othermales.
Growling, he ran through the woods until reaching the family cemetery. Nolan shifted back into skin, clothed himself by magick. He went to his father’s grave, sat by the stone. Throat tight with emotion, he ran a hand over the rough edgedletters.
Damn he missed his father and yet did not miss him, a tough alpha who always had answers for everything. He resented Craig for his toughness, but after his father passed, understood the reasonswhy.
It took a strong alpha to lead a pack ofwolves.
“I keep screwing up with her, Dad,” he confessed. “Jordan is wearing on me, tearing the pack apart with her ways. She wants to rip apart all the old traditions that glued us together forgenerations.”
No answers but tree frogs and cicadas making their night music, and the soft rustle of leaves driven by thewind.
“I don’t know what to do,” he muttered, burying his head in his hands. “I don’t know how to handle her anymore. If I break her spirit, she’ll wither. But she’s wild and feral and I can’t controlher.”
A free spirit. He’d always loved that about her. Why change hernow?
Because she’s an adult now, anddifferent.
While he liked those changes in her, and the spark for life she always had, he sensed she hid something important from him. And that something was the reason she kept rebelling against him, and theirmating.
Their relationship. Maybe even it was the reason why she’d been threatened with shifter prison itself. Tristan told him Jordan had tried to burn down a Skin house where a young boy wasbeaten.
Her reasons were good, even if her actions had beendangerous.
Why was she acting thisway?
Something happened. He didn’t know what. Did it have to do with the real reason sheleft?
The sex on the first night of their mating had been terrific. And then, when he went to take her in the traditional Lupine mating position, to put his mating mark on her and claim her as his own, she’d foughthim.
He’d never force her, but her reluctance had startled him. At first he’d blamed her fierce independentstreak.
Nolan touched the gravestone again and had a flash ofinsight.
What if it wasn’t independence, but something else? Something that happened in thepast?
Maybe that was why she set fire to the Skin house. Seeing the boy beaten reminded Jordan of an abuse she’dsuffered.
Not the strappings she’d endured at his father’s hand. Craig had been harsh, but those punishments were limited for young Lupines. Jordan had always recovered, especially after Nolan soothedher.
