Page 18 of The Mating Need
The rain fell faster, and the wolf shook in an attempt to dry herself. Those eerie blue eyes stared at the food, but it seemed the wolf stared more at her. Again, she wondered about thiswolf.
“Come on up to the porch. Nice and dryhere.”
Doubtful the wolf would, for it had a natural distrust of Skins and even Lupines wearing human skin. To her delight and surprise, the wolf leapt onto the porch and snatched up the raw meat. It gulped it down in twobites.
“My grandma, what nice sharp teeth you have. The better to eat all my stash,” Jennymurmured.
She tossed the rest of the jerky to the wolf. Who could eat during a stormanyway?
Huddling in the corner, she shivered as the rain came down harder and the thunder crackled. Seemed as if it was right overhead. Jenny hugged her knees. The rustic cabin proved a little too rustic for hertaste.
Especially in arainstorm.
No, not a rainstorm. More like a tropicaldownpour.
Rain, she could handle. But this wasn’t a rainstorm with the gentle patter falling on the porch roof. It was a downpour, thunder cracking overhead. Rain fell in sheets, the gray skies flashing lightningoverhead.
To her surprise, the wolf crept closer and then lay down right at her feet. With a trembling hand, she stroked the soft fur. The wolf put its head between its paws and closed her eyes, seeminglycontent.
Utterlyunafraid.
Such lack of fear made her own terror lessen. If this wolf, a primitive creature, didn’t give a howl about a violent thunderstorm, why should she? It was nature, after all. Not a Skin with a rifle shooting at you from a helicopter like aiming at fish in abarrel.
Finally the rain slowed, then stopped, dripping off the overhang onto the ground. Jenny sighed and the wolf continued tonap.
Another howl echoed through the woods. The wolf sat up, alert, its earspricked.
She went in front of the wolf and looked straight into those beautiful blueeyes.
“Listen to me, wolf. You stay away from that ranch and the livestock, okay? I don’t want anything happening to you! They might shoot you, and trust me, bullets are not a good way todie.”
The wolf put a paw on Jenny’s arm as if to say she understood. Then she raced off the porch and bounded into thewoods.
The white wolfraced through the forest until reaching the meadow. A man clad in black, his ebony gaze intent, stared ather.
The wolf shapeshifted, feeling the amazing power transformation of turning into Skin form once more. She loved being wolf, but this was evenbetter.
Because in this form, she could kiss hermate.
Nikita approached Tristan the Silver Wizard and slid her arms around him, doing exactly that. He made a humming noise beneath the smooth pressure of her mouth, and leaned against her, then pulledaway.
That damnable intent look slid over him again, as if he had something bothering him, but would notshare.
“What? What’swrong?
Instead of answering, he gave a crooked grin. “Was the steak good? It lookedgood.”
“That’s all you noticed? The food? You’re always hungry.” Nikita smoothed down her bluegown.
“Hungry for you, my love.” Hewinked.
She had learned in her time with him to be patient. “How’s the Timberline pack? Anythreats?”
“Not now. I saw that Skin, Professor Chance, studying them. He is genuinely concerned with conservation andwolves.”
“He looks like a good-heartedSkin.”
“Don’t go flirting with him, my love.” Tristan winkedagain.
