Forbidden Attraction (19 page)

It was a steep decline covered with drifting snow. The slightest of breezes came in their direction, carrying the scent of the werewolves walking a quarter mile or so below.

They were too far away for the
lunewulf
to pick up their scent, unless the wind changed directions. Of course one of them could turn around and look, or another possibly might have exceptional hearing and pick up on their boots crunching through snow.

The latter obviously proved true. Nicolo paused when the three men below turned, and the smell on the breeze turned aggressive.

“Three
lunewulfs
. No backup. And they’re scared shitless.” Josie had no problem reading minds from this distance. And it was times like this when Nicolo rather appreciated the fact that his friend had such strong possession of the gift.

“Wonder what they’re doing out here,” Nicolo said, slowing his pace and taking his time as they sauntered toward the
lunewulfs
. Let them sweat it out a bit.

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Forbidden Attraction

“I don’t pick up any guilt or panic. Oh wait.” Josie glanced at the snow in front of them, matching Nicolo’s pace and suddenly looking very lost in thought. His straight black hair fell forward, blocking his profile.

His scent never changed. Not only did Josie have his gift well mastered, he’d learned to keep his emotions in check while using it. Nicolo guessed it was Josie’s defense mechanism against his pack so no one would challenge him when he worked the gift to gain the upper hand among his packmates.

Heidi’s words about Malta werewolves needing to lighten up about the gift came to mind. She’s said it would be the only way other werewolves would learn to trust them.

They had a long way to go. Malta werewolves didn’t even possess that trust among themselves when it came to the gift. Josie’s lack of smell at the moment offered proof enough of that.

Josie glanced his way, raising an eyebrow when he realized Nicolo watched him.

“They’re worried about barbed wire,” he offered, whispering. “It’s hard when I’m getting all of their thoughts at the same time, and none of them impress me as being too damned intelligent.”

“Then we talk to them about barbed wire.”

“They’ll accuse us of putting it up.”

“Not scared, are you?” Nicolo kept his expression hard, knowing they were close enough for the
lunewulfs
to see them clearly.

“There are only three of them. You won’t even have to fight.” Josie’s dark eyes flashed and the smell of humor filled the air, then got carried away with the breeze.

They turned their attention toward the three males who’d stopped what they were doing and faced Nicolo and Josie. Their hostile smells curled Nicolo’s lip and he growled, giving a universal warning that he’d fight if one of them pushed him too far.

No matter that they were on
lunewulf
territory. They weren’t sneaking up on them and they walked closer with a slow stroll, crunching over the snow in unified steps.

“Are you two pups lost?” one of the
lunewulf
asked. He was the tallest of the three, although at least a couple inches shorter than Nicolo and probably a good fifty pounds lighter.

“Not at all.” Nicolo stopped a few paces from the three of them. “We saw you three and sought you out.”

“What do you want, Malta werewolf?” the same
lunewulf
asked. He was obviously their spokesperson.

“We found barbed wire this morning that reeked of humans,” Nicolo offered, watching the three
lunewulf
carefully. He didn’t need Josie to tell him what they thought. He smelled their suspicion all over them. “So we thought we’d come talk to your pack and see if you’d found the same.”

“More than likely, you came here to stretch the barbed wire over our land,” the
lunewulf
standing in the middle of the three snarled. “Looks to me like you’re busted.”

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Lorie O’Clare

“Nope,” Josie said, not elaborating.

The three males didn’t move, nor did they look at each other. For a moment, Nicolo figured they’d end up in their fur, teaching the three of them some respect.

And as pleasurable of a thought as that might have been, he couldn’t let it happen.

Heidi would have his throat. And it would complicate things even further if he decided to enter their territory again and sniff around her den to figure out why she hadn’t answered or returned his calls.

“Have you found any barbed wire out this way?” Nicolo turned his back on the three
lunewulfs
, an unspoken sign that he didn’t feel threatened. Let them take it as insult or not—he would focus on the situation. “What we found would actually run parallel to approximately this location. It was on the other side of that mountain.”

He returned his attention to catch the three of them glancing at each other and Josie giving them that same contemplative look Nicolo had seen when they’d walked over.

“Why the hell would you care if there is barbed wire on our territory?” the original spokesperson asked.

“Because if humans are stretching this barbed wire across our territories, they’ve got a reason. More than likely, they think they’ll kill a few werewolves and then we’ll accuse each other of the act and kill the rest of us off. Would save them a hell of a lot of work.” Nicolo stared into the cold blue eyes of the
lunewulf
spokesperson, who also stood directly in front of him.

“What’s your name, Malta werewolf?” the
lunewulf
asked, squinting and staring at him even harder.

Nicolo hadn’t expected the question, but he kept his expression neutral—and hopefully his scent too. “Nicolo Spalto. My littermate is pack leader.”

“You didn’t come here to check on any fucking barbed wire,” the
lunewulf
hissed.

“The two of you walked over this land. Where were you coming from?”

Nicolo had no clue where the
lunewulf
headed with this line of questioning. He glanced at Josie, who now frowned. For the first time, he smelled something on Josie, and it wasn’t confusion or frustration like Nicolo would have guessed. Josie was getting pissed—really pissed.

“My truck is parked up on the road,” Nicolo said slowly, taking his time to look away from Josie and back at the three males in front of him. “Are you going to tell us whether there is barbed wire out this way? Or do we go exploring for ourselves?”

Josie gave him a quick look that Nicolo couldn’t read.

“I bet you’d just love to roam our territory, wouldn’t you, Malta werewolf?” the spokesperson sneered, insulting him by not saying Nicolo’s name after the partial introduction.

“I’d love to put an end to werewolves slashing their throats on barbed wire and killing themselves,” he snarled back, getting fed up quickly and not liking the sensation rushing inside him that he was missing something.

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“Seems to me that if you wanted to discuss the deaths of your werewolves, proper protocol would have you requesting a presence with our pack leader. But you wouldn’t want to do that, would you, Spalto?”

Nicolo glared at the
lunewulf
. The
lunewulf’s
anger at their presence made sense.

Their breeds hated each other. But suggesting he’d rather talk to several rogue
lunewulfs
over their leader was a direct bite on his integrity.

“We were headed into your town when we spotted you three out here.” He doubted honesty would sway this thick-hided asshole, but he still hadn’t figured out why his instincts told him their anger didn’t come from not liking the smell of them. “If you don’t know anything, just say so. We’ll head back to our truck and into your town.

Feel free to call your pack leader and announce us if you like.”

It didn’t smell right when the three of them seemed surprised by his words. Nicolo let the
lunewulf
take his time answering. A cold wind hit the three of them and his hair lifted off his neck. But the tiny hairs on his flesh bristled while the smell of the three
lunewulfs
grew stronger.

“Let him head in there,” the third
lunewulf
who hadn’t spoken until now said, glancing over at the spokesperson of the three. “I, for one, plan on being there when he’s taken down though.”

“You’ve either got some really sharp teeth or you’re an idiot.” The spokesperson ignored the comment from the other
lunewulf
and glanced from Nicolo to Josie. “But I’m sure Bob would love to talk to you, and if you’re willing to run into our town, by all means, we’ll escort you.”

“This isn’t about barbed wire.” Josie didn’t make it a question.

The
lunewulfs
looked at him as if he’d just howled at the moon. Josie straightened, reaching a good six and a half feet. The
lunewulf
who’d piped up about Nicolo heading into town took a step backward, but the other two held their ground, puffing out what little chest each of them had.

“I’m getting the same impression.” Nicolo glared at the
lunewulfs
. “I’ll ask you one more time. Have you found any barbed wire around here lately? And if so, did you detect the smell of humans?”

“I think you should ask our pack leader that question, if you’re werewolf enough to face him, Spalto.”

“Why don’t you tell us why you three are out here?” Josie stared at the
lunewulf
spokesperson until the male quit looking at him and squinted at Nicolo. “Seems you are quite a distance from your town.”

“We’re in
lunewulf
territory. And so are you. Seems to me the question is more why the fuck are you really here?”

Nicolo battled with his human and animal sides. They’d talked long enough. The
lunewulf’s
question had already been answered. Asking it again implied they believed Nicolo had lied.

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He barely managed to keep his teeth from growing. “If you smell any lies in the air, they sure as hell aren’t coming from either one of us,” he snarled, his voice thicker than it had been when he’d spoken before.

The
lunewulf
spokesperson’s short blond hair suddenly poofed around his head, reminding Nicolo of a fucking poodle. His teeth pressed against his lips and he fisted his hands at his waist while he snarled at Nicolo.

“You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve roaming our territory on the pretense of barbed wire. Tell us now where the hell you put her and you might live through the day.”

Nicolo’s cell phone rang, but it took a minute before he acknowledged it. “What the fuck did you just say?” he hissed, moving slowly to remove his phone from his belt while studying the outraged
lunewulf
standing in front of him. “Tell you where the hell I put whom?”

“Answer your phone.” Josie looked at him, but then growled a warning at the
lunewulfs
.

Something didn’t make sense here. The
lunewulf
demanded he tell them where he’d put someone. That could only mean one thing! His heart stopped beating and for a long moment, he didn’t breathe.

“Tell me Heidi isn’t missing,” he warned the
lunewulf
and then answered his phone.

The intense fury he suddenly experienced made his eyes water. He didn’t even try to hide the atrocious smell of his emotion.

“What?” he growled when he recognized Dimitri’s number.

“Where are you?” His littermate’s tone rumbled. As usual, he was in a foul mood.

Well, Nicolo wasn’t in the mood for Dimitri’s temper at the moment. “I’ll tell you later. What did you need?”

“Get to the den right now. I need you here immediately.” Dimitri hung up.

Nicolo opened his mouth to tell Dimitri he’d be there when he got there, but then heard the phone go dead.

Josie raised an eyebrow questioningly. The three
lunewulfs
looked and smelled ready to attack. The
lunewulf
who’d been the quietest pulled his phone out and took a step back from the rest of them. More than likely calling for backup. At least the three of them knew they didn’t stand a chance against him and Josie.

“You want to tell me what you meant by what you just said?” Nicolo challenged the
lunewulf
in front of him, taking a step closer and glaring down at him.

“Let me make it real clear to you, Malta werewolf,” the
lunewulf
hissed, daring to clear the distance between them so that his nose almost touched Nicolo’s chin. “The only reason you’re still breathing right now is because I want to know what the hell you’re doing here. And you can cut the crap about barbed wire, because I’m not buying it.”

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Forbidden Attraction

“Do you smell a fucking lie on me?” Nicolo roared, taking an intentional step forward and knocking the
lunewulf
backward. “I don’t think you do. Tell me what the fuck you meant by what you said a minute ago before I rip your fucking throat out.”

The two other
lunewulf
growled and Josie moved in on them, forcing them to back off and allow Nicolo free rein on the mutt who’d just pushed his luck too far. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement. Nicolo glanced over the
lunewulf’s
head and spotted the white blurs racing across the meadow toward them. More
lunewulf
—

probably the backup the
lunewulf
had called for when he’d pulled out his phone. And they were in their fur.

The
lunewulf
in front of him took advantage of his being distracted momentarily and leapt at him, amazingly stronger than Nicolo would have guessed.

He fell back a few feet before steadying himself and then sent the
lunewulf
flying, roaring as his anger boiled over inside him.

The
lunewulf
fell backward into his packmates, who grabbed him. The three of them snarled, the change tempting all of them, just as four more
lunewulfs
raced toward them.

They slowed, growling and baring teeth while slowly circling the small group.

“You stole one of our bitches,” the
lunewulf
spokesperson screamed at him, shoving his packmates off him and lunging toward Nicolo. “Now you enter our territory. What the fuck did you do with her?”