Page 23 of The Mating Need
Chapter 5
Spyingon her friend was not how Jenny intended to spend her day. Yet this pack had appeal to Troy, and for that reason, she decided to let curiosity get the best ofher.
It killed the cat, they said, but she was awolf.
Or at least she thought so. Didn’t want to think about the other mysterious powers lurking below thesurface.
Powers she knew existed, and frightened her. Powers that had flared that day her packdied…
But that was in the past. Today her focus remained onTroy.
From a perch in a pine tree near the meadow she’d watched Troy ride a horse as the wranglers rounded up cattle, taking them to another pasture. He presented a fine figure on horseback, a brand new black Stetson perched at rakish angle on his head, shading his lean face from the brilliant yellow sun. Those jeans hugged every inch of his long legs and the blue chambray work shirt rolled up his forearms showed his sinewy, muscledarms.
Those arms had held her with utter confidence as he’d kissed her good-bye.
Wonder what he’d be like naked inbed?
She adjusted her position and rubbed against the tree in sexual frustration. Hormones made her crazy, this yearning to lie down with Troy and tangle together as he slid in and out of her nakedbody.
Fantasies were one thing. Reality another. What if they got naked and these odd magick powers surfaced? Getting naked meant beingvulnerable.
She’d made a vow to never be vulnerable after whathappened…
Yet from her observations today, the Mitchell Ranch seemed like a good place to settle down. The Lupines had an easy, friendly relationship with each other, and even Troy seemed to be cautiouslyaccepted.
Except for that wrangler called Snake, who seemed to dislikehim.
The ranch itself, nestled in a valley surrounded by jagged, forested mountains, had an aura of peace and goodwill. She’d seen the alpha himself earlier ride out, a rugged Lupine who treated others with respect, but kept everyone inline.
The smell of juniper, freshly-mowed grass, horses and cattle filled the air. This smelled like a good place to live, and for Jenny, who tried to rely more and more on her Lupine senses, scent was mostimportant.
The longer she remained in Skin, the more her odd powers were likely to surface. She had to keep them at bay, like a dog straining to be off-leash.
Long after Troy and the other wranglers herded the cattle out of the meadow she remained in the tree. Something tingled on her skin. The smell here was off aswell.
Jenny jumped ten feet down to the ground, landing on her feet. Letting her Lupine senses surge, she shifted into wolf and followed thetrail.
It light up like green phosphorus to her vision. But if someone here saw her aswolf…
Shifting back to Skin and clothing herself as a cowgirl, she continued on. Immediately her powers surged, as if sensing the opportunity to act. Jenny thought of normal human activities to restrain her magickpowers.
If anyone saw her, well, she was part of the pack, or looked like part of them,anyway.
The trail ended where a line of cabins stood at the meadow’s edge. Housing for the pack, perhaps. But the trail circled around, as if this something nasty were casing all thehouses.
For whatpurpose?
Maybe she should warn the pack. No sentries were posted here, and inside some of the cabins she heard woman andchildren.
Why would they leave their women and children unprotected? Unless no one sensed a threat. Maybe it wasn’t seen or smelled byLupines.
To her the evil stalking this land was clear as black ants on white weddingcake.
At the largest cabin closest to the forest, the smell increased and the trail lit up like a Christmas tree. Something had been here. Something nasty. A miasma of thick foulness, like sewer gas. Her wolf wanted to howl and runaway.
Jenny shifted back, clothing herself by magick. The smell was just as bad to her human senses. Doubling over, she coughed, fighting thenausea.
She went around to the back. Tall pine trees shaded a child’s swing set and sandbox decorated with toys. Hearing a door on the back porch open, Jenny ran and hid behind one of thetrees.
