A SEAL Wolf Christmas (11 page)

The wily wolf had to know the answer to that, just from the way Bjornolf had such a time keeping his eyes off Anna, as if he was afraid she’d vanish in the blink of an eye.

“No,” Bjornolf said with a half smile.

“Been mated and have offspring already that you’re worried about?”

Bjornolf shook his head.

“Then what? It’s sure as hell not because you don’t want her. And I can tell the woman’s as interested in you. While I was chopping wood, I overheard Alice asking Anna if she was planning to mate you, and when I cast a glance in their direction, the she-wolf was blushing to high heaven. She didn’t laugh at the suggestion or deny it. You’re as good as mated, to my way of thinking. So what are you waiting for?” Carver shook his head and washed his hands at the sink, not giving Bjornolf time to answer. “Seize the moment. You never know when another wolf might come along and snatch your woman right up. Then where will you be?”

Killing the male wolf, Bjornolf thought darkly. The back door shut with a
clunk
.

The doorbell rang, and from the hurried footsteps moving in that direction, he assumed Alice and Anna were headed for the front door. Bjornolf and Carver hesitated. Both were annoyed with Nathan for running off. They also knew they had to handle the teens carefully or chance having them run off again.

He and Carver went into the living room to greet Nathan and Sarah, but instead they saw Alice and Anna standing at the front door talking to a big blond-haired, bearded man wearing camouflage hunter’s gear. His blue eyes were challenging Anna as he said, “Hi, I’m Henry Thompson and I work in a special capacity with the zoo. Eyewitnesses said they saw wolves enter your backyard.”

Alice turned to her father, looking for his help. Confronting the threat, Carver immediately approached the door, his whole posture stating he was in charge.

“I’m sorry,” Carver said gruffly, not sounding sorry in the least—more like
get
the
hell
off
my
property
. “We don’t even own a dog.”

“Are you friends with Leidolf Wildhaven?” Thompson asked, as if he knew something more about the wolves than he should.

Carver narrowed his eyes. His hesitation spoke volumes. Carver finally said, “He’s a wealthy rancher.” Like everyone in Oregon should know that.

“Yeah, but are you friends of his?” Thompson persisted.

“Did you say you’re a police officer?” Carver asked.

Thompson smiled, but the look was
not
friendly. “Not exactly. I help police wild animals running loose in the area that might come to harm.”

“Okay, so I said we don’t have any dogs here. Or wolves.”

“May I have a look around your backyard? Your neighbors said you have a dog door in your back gate.”

Because of the woodland setting, the neighbors were a long way from each other and a mini-forest surrounded each of the homes in the development. The neighbors couldn’t have
seen
the dog door in the gate unless they’d come onto Carver’s property.

Carver smiled, his expression dark and threatening. “No, you don’t have permission to traipse around my backyard.”

Thompson turned his attention to Anna and Bjornolf. “Do you know Leidolf?”

Bjornolf thought Thompson would have made a good alpha wolf with his tenacity.

Both he and Anna shook their heads. Bjornolf had never met the red wolf leader.

“I’ll find the wolves. I always do.” Thompson’s threat was a promise. Then he turned to leave, paused, and said over his shoulder as an afterthought, “You can tell Leidolf I said hi.” Then he headed for his pickup truck as Carver shut the door a little too forcefully.

“Lock the back gate, Alice, just in case Thompson decides to snoop around back there and sees wolf prints,” her father said.

“We can sweep the snow,” she said eagerly.

Carver watched out the window. “It’s too late. He’s headed to the cul-de-sac, and then he’ll go through the vacant woods and around the back of the property. He’ll see the tracks leading up to our gate even if he doesn’t try to enter the backyard. Dogged damned bloodhound.”

“I’ll lock it.” Alice grabbed a broom out of a closet and flew toward the back door and outside to sweep the snow anyway.

Thankfully, Leidolf and his men weren’t coming to search for the teens. If Thompson had found them here, what would he have concluded?

A blue sedan pulled up out front, and Carver muttered under his breath, “Finally.”

Nathan and Sarah. Now how would he handle
this
?

Aimée joined Carver—along with Bjornolf and Anna—in the living room and took hold of Carver’s arm as if to calm him. Before Nathan and Sarah reached the front door, Aimée said to Bjornolf and Anna, “Thompson’s the one who put Leidolf and Cassie in the zoo when they were running as wolves.”

“Thompson and Leidolf sound like they have a history, and not a good one at that.” Bjornolf wanted to put his arm around Anna, but she was already headed for the door and opened it as Sarah raised her hand to twist the doorknob from outside.

Anna stretched out her hand. “Hi. You must be Sarah. I’m Anna Johnson.”

If Nathan had been in his wolf’s coat, he would have appeared as bowed as he did in human form, and his tail would have been between his legs. He glanced at Anna, avoiding Bjornolf and Carver’s gazes, and looked as though he wanted to be swallowed up by the terra-cotta tile floor in the entryway.

“We were so worried about you.” Anna pulled Nathan into a hug.

***

Bjornolf had no idea how they managed to get through lunch. Carver was furious. Bjornolf was upset with Nathan for putting everyone in danger. Bjornolf was even more concerned about Anna’s state of mind. She barely ate more than a couple of bites of food, withdrew from the small talk, and avoided looking at anyone.

Nathan and Bjornolf couldn’t help glancing in her direction, both wanting desperately to make her feel better.

Nathan cleared his throat and rushed through his words to Carver. “I want to date Sarah.” His eyes were dark with challenge as he met Carver’s.

Bjornolf swore the older man was fighting a smile as he paused in the process of cutting a slice of roast on his plate.

“When and where?” he asked.

Nathan’s mouth dropped open a little, then he clamped it shut.

***

On the trip home, no one said a word for several miles as Bjornolf drove a rental car with Anna up front with him. Nathan was in the backseat behind her.

“You really like Sarah? She seemed like a nice girl,” Bjornolf said finally.

“Yeah. Um, I like her. A lot.”

Anna swore Nathan wasn’t telling them the whole truth.

Nathan cleared his throat. “I’m so sorry that I ran like I… I did.” His voice broke on the last word. “I thought maybe if I saw Sarah again, I’d realize she was more suited to me than Jessica. Because Sarah’s a wolf. It didn’t work. I like Sarah, but she’s not… Jessica.” Nathan let his breath out on a heavy sigh. “Sarah will want to kill me.”

Anna reached over her seat back, took Nathan’s hand, and squeezed it. “You don’t really want to date Sarah, do you?”

“No. I mean, she’s a friend. Sure. But… I think she wants me to be more than that.”

Anna’s own teen years had been such a muddled mess; how could she offer advice? But she was worried about him.

“Was it because of me that you ran off?” Anna asked.

“No… well, and yes. You didn’t make me do it. But I got to thinking about what you said about Jessica being human and you were right. Seeing Sarah didn’t change the way I see Jessica, though.”

Anna took a deep breath and nodded. She couldn’t think of anything to say that would help, so she turned around to watch out the windshield, glad he was safe.

“I’m sorry I ran away. I promise I won’t again.”

Anna sighed heavily. “I felt the same way when I was your age. I think sometimes I’m still running away. We’re here for you now. I mean that. You’ve got a pack who cares about you. I didn’t have any of that. It’s really tough out there living without a pack. Believe me. You don’t want to lose what you have.”

“She’s right, Nathan. I was about your age when I lost my parents. They were missionaries killed while doing what they were called to do. When that happened, I was as wild as could be, no rules, no curfews, no family, nothing. I would have given up all that freedom just to have my family back.”

“I thought you were fine with not having anyone,” Nathan said. “I heard some of the pack members called you a ghost. That you never worked with a team. That you were your own man.”

“I worked with several different teams over the years. Lots of good men. The last twenty years or so, I’ve been alone. But you know what? If I needed someone to watch my back, I didn’t have it. No one knew I even existed. If I got wounded, I was on my own. When everyone else left the mission behind, I had to find my own way out.”

“You were ghosting different SEAL teams for a long time, weren’t you?” Nathan asked.

“I was.”

“Then you started to follow Hunter’s team. Why?”

“They were gray wolves. Not humans.”

“And they had Anna working with them,” Nathan said.

Bjornolf glanced in her direction. She was watching him, curiosity in her expression.

Bjornolf chuckled. He’d developed an affinity for Hunter’s team—the camaraderie, the closeness, their successes—and he’d wanted to help them keep it going. He had to admit adding Anna to the mix sure livened things up.

Anna frowned and then said to Nathan, “He began to see them as his family.”

“And you, Anna,” Nathan insisted. “I loved the popcorn garland you made for the tree. Why didn’t you come get me? I would’ve helped.”

“You were asleep.”

Nathan let out a snort. “Not with Bjornolf pacing back and forth across the room. I couldn’t sneak past him. He wanted to be the one with you. He wouldn’t have wanted me to spend the time with you instead.”

Anna smiled. “I could have sworn you were both snoring away in your bunk beds.”

That was something Bjornolf wanted to change tonight. He wanted Anna in bed, in the master bedroom where they should have been together all along.

***

When they arrived at the cottage, the sun had already set. Nathan stirred in the backseat and sat up. “Can I help you take the rental car back?”

“Hunter said one of his people will take it back. Thanks for offering,” Bjornolf added, realizing the kid was trying to make amends and take some responsibility for his actions. He glanced at Anna. Her eyes were closed, her head was pressed against the window, and she had appeared to be sleeping for the short ride home.

Nathan whispered, “Oh, yeah, I gotcha.”

Bjornolf glanced into the rearview mirror and raised his brows, questioning Nathan’s remark.

Nathan tilted his head in Anna’s direction. Then he said in a hushed voice, “I won’t be any more trouble. I swear it. You can sleep with her, and I’ll stay put. You don’t have to babysit me. Honest.”

Bjornolf considered Anna, saw the hint of a smile on her lips, and shook his head. He was trying to come up with a way to change the subject before Nathan said too much more about the sleeping arrangements and got them both into hot water, when Nathan said, “You like Anna. A lot.”

Bjornolf sighed. Yeah, he did. He hadn’t realized just how much the she-wolf had gotten under his skin. He’d thought he could resist her charms on this last mission, just stay in the background watching the team’s backs. But he couldn’t, not when he kept wanting to dash out and save Anna from the threats all around her.

He wanted much more than that. Her. For his own. They could work together. Live at her place in New Jersey, or even find a new place. They could keep track of Hunter’s missions and ghost the team together, or just sign up as part of the crew.

“We’re here,” he said to Anna. In a way, he wished she was still sleeping so he could carry her to bed. It was better that she wasn’t because they had to decide the sleeping arrangements
together
.

She stretched and said, “Good. Time for bed.”

“You slept already,” Nathan said. “Did you want to decorate the tree now?”

“Tomorrow,” she said, sounding really dragged out. After the run they’d had all night, they were exhausted.

She reached for her car door, but Nathan bolted out of the car to get it for her.

She smiled at him as Bjornolf grabbed the bags of Christmas ornaments. He’d go along with whatever Anna decided as far as decorating the tree went. Then he was taking her to bed.

She patted Nathan on the shoulder. “We’ll do it tomorrow after we’ve had a good night’s sleep. I’ll enjoy it more then,” she said.

Nathan’s expression brightened.

“I bought eggnog just for the occasion,” Bjornolf said.

“With rum,” Nathan said, grinning.

“Only for the adults.” Bjornolf got the front door for Anna.

Somehow Nathan shot through the door ahead of them and headed for the bedroom. Before Bjornolf had shut and locked the front door, Nathan had grabbed Bjornolf’s bags and was hauling them toward the master bedroom.

“Guess it’s decided.” Bjornolf slipped his hand around Anna’s.

She snorted. “When a teen makes decisions of that magnitude for the adults, we’ve got a problem.”

“I see no problem at all.”

Anna looked at him. “I don’t even know which side of the bed you sleep on.”

“There’s only one side of the bed for me to sleep on. Your side.”

She shook her head. “You think you are one hot stud of a SEAL.”

“I am—where you’re concerned. But
only
where you’re concerned.”

“Night,” Nathan quickly said, not even looking at them as he dashed into the guest bedroom and shut his door with a
thunk
. The lock
snicked
home.

And that decided that.

***

Anna led Bjornolf into the kitchen, asking, “Have you got any brandy?” She wasn’t sure what he had in mind, despite his sexy innuendos. But she couldn’t just go to bed with him. Not yet.

She’d tried to sleep in the car on the brief ride home. Despite being tired from running all through the night and part of the day as a wolf, she wasn’t able to sleep. She couldn’t quit thinking about the way Bjornolf had slid his large hands down her panties and cupped her naked ass. How he kissed the swell of her breasts, and the way he pressed his erection against her belly, taunting her with just how much he wanted her.

The thing of it was, wolves didn’t show this kind of interest in one another unless they were
really
interested in something permanent. They were genetically engineered that way—mating for life with life spans that outlasted humans.

She tried to ignore the growing craving she had for him. At the back of her mind, the thought plagued her that he was just teasing and not really wanting her. She also worried that if she ever had a mate and had children, she would be as rotten a mother to them as her own had been with her.

Bjornolf poured them both glasses of peach brandy, handed her one, then carried his and the bottle to the living room as he followed her.

“First, we have to have a fire.” He reached for a matchbox, and she realized tinder and wood were already stacked on the hearth and ready to go.

“We’re going to bed,” she reminded him, “or I’m bound to fall asleep on the couch.”

“I’ll carry you to bed. Fire first.”

“You were sure I’d agree with this plan of Hunter’s? That I’d stay with you and Nathan?”

Bjornolf lit the tinder and turned to face her. He had the most devilish look in his expression. “He knows how to pick the right people for a mission. You couldn’t have been more perfect, Anna.”

Perfect for the mission? Or for Bjornolf?

“Nathan and I will put out the outdoor lights together tomorrow. He has the next couple of days free from work, Hunter said.”

“Yes!” Nathan said from the bedroom, and she could envision him pumping his fist in victory. She also realized he was listening to every word they said. Reminder to self—don’t let things get too heated.

“
Go… to… sleep
,
Nathan
,” Bjornolf said, his words a strict command.

“Nearly there,” Nathan said, trying to sound like he was drifting off.

Bjornolf smiled at Anna. His sexy I-want-you expression, with his brows raised and his darkened eyes, told her that the bedroom wasn’t going to be used just for sleeping tonight.

She frowned at him and said in a hushed voice, “We can’t do this with him in the house.”

His smile broadened and he looked like one satisfied wolf—just by getting her agreement, in part. “Yeah we can. Parents do it all the time.”

Her mouth dropped open, then she clamped it shut. She wanted to say they weren’t his parents, that she’d never been around a teen in a situation like this, but she held her tongue.

They decided to get down to business and put the lights on the tree. A warm fire glowed in the fireplace as Bjornolf helped Anna spread out the strands of lights, then began draping them around the spruce like she’d done with the garland.

When they finished and stepped back to see if they covered the tree fairly uniformly, he plugged the lights in and they admired the sparkly blue spruce.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, her arms wrapped around her chest, the lights sparkling off her dark eyes.

“Even more so when we put the ornaments on it tomorrow,” Bjornolf said, but he was thinking how beautiful Anna looked standing before the tree, picture perfect for Christmas. Feeling tired all of a sudden, he wanted to take her to bed now, but he didn’t want to push her too fast. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

She turned to look at him, studying his sincerity. “I’d fall asleep. Besides, I’m afraid we’ll keep Nathan up.”

They both looked back at the guest room door, expecting Nathan to say something, figuring he was dying to but was feigning sleep.

“I agree. He’s got to get his sleep.”

“We do, too,” Anna remarked as Bjornolf banked the fire. She turned off the Christmas tree lights, plunging them into darkness.

Bjornolf grasped her hand and moved her toward the hall. “We will.” He had no intention of sleeping with her. Certainly not right away.

Unless Anna had other notions. Her unpredictability was one of the things that drew him to her. He envisioned she’d start ripping off his clothes as soon as they shut the door to the master bedroom.

Now that scenario he could deal with in a heartbeat.