Terr5tory (11 page)

When she turned to him, he could still sense her tumultuous emotions close to the surface.  She was trying to change the subject and disguise that she was still distressed and he wasn’t sure he wanted to let her.  He frowned and spoke softly. “Eleanor…”

As if sensing his intentions, she cut him off.  “I guess I don’t even need the lesson.  Not really.”  She smiled weakly.  “You’re the Alpha now, so I don’t…  I don’t have any reason for the knowledge.” 

“I didn’t come up here to chew your ass for spoiling the girls.”

Dropping her hands she stared at him expectantly.

“I just…”  He blew out a harsh breath and turned to the door.  “I just needed an excuse to see you.”

Without another word, he left her room and Eleanor stood staring at the vacant doorway in utter confusion.  She was raw from the range of emotions she’d navigated in the past half hour and Delano’s last words were like a bucket of ice water, serving to snap her to attention. 
Excuse to see me?
  What in the hell was going on?  He didn’t want her, he’d already said so. 
So, why is he looking for excuses to see me?
  And just like that her weary heart suddenly swelled with unexpected elation.

Chapter 19

Delano stomped down the stairs feeling like hammered shit.  He hadn’t slept at all.  He’d been up all night replaying his conversation with Eleanor, and funny, but he finally understood her guilt.  Had he been too hard on her, I mean hell, he’d made her cry?  That mere fact alone had his wolf turning up his nose at him every time Delano tried to convince the beast that his words had been for her benefit.  Still, the knowledge that he’d only been trying to help didn’t soothe his conscience.  No, he felt worse now than he had all night…if that were even possible. Worse, he’d left her with his stupid cryptic comment about needing an excuse to see her. 
I mean who says that shit?
 

Snarling, he bumped into something at the landing and sent it flying backwards before he jerked to life and caught it just before it hit the ground.

On a knee, he held Eleanor in his arms and quickly gazed down at her slight frame.  “Shit!  You alright?”

“F-Fine.”

She tried to scramble out of his hold, but he didn’t let her.  He stood, lifting her with him before steadying her on her feet then quickly stepping back.

“Sorry,” they both said in unison and he felt his cheeks singe when she dipped her head with a blush.

O-kay, this isn’t awkward.

Clearing his throat he straightened to his full height, determined not to act like an idiot today just because he had last night.  “You’re back on rotation.  You have perimeter run tonight.”

She raised her face to his, clearly relieved at the change of topic.  “I heard.  Thanks.”  She offered a smile.  “I’ve been going a little stir crazy.”

“Yeah.” Delano rubbed the back of his neck and quirked his eyebrows as if it’d been a reluctant decision.  “Well, I wanted you to be able to stretch your legs, but not burden you with too much activity. It’s why I’ve only assigned you the northeast quadrant.”

“Well I appreciate that,
and
your vote of confidence.  It means a lot you letting me go out alone after what happened.”

He dropped his hand to pin her with serious eyes. “About that.”

Her smile faltered.

“You won’t be alone.”

“Delano, if you send one of the others with me, everyone’s gonna think...”

“I’m not.” Much to his chagrin, his cheeks actually reddened for the second time in his life.  “
I’ll
be accompanying you.”

She dipped her head again and he rolled his shoulders, trying to shake off some of his nerves.  Why did talking to her suddenly feel like asking a girl to the school dance?  He was Alpha for Christ’s sake, not some untried pup.  He eyed the kitchen.  “You coming to breakfast?”

“Already ate,” she supplied without looking at him.  “I’m going up to write for a bit while it’s still a little quiet.”

“We’ll meet on the front porch tonight at five for that run, yeah?”

She nodded. “See you then.”  Sidestepping him, her body brushed against his as she headed up the stairs. 

He turned and watched her go up, his eyes glued to her ass as highly inappropriate thoughts tore through him. 

“Delano,” she turned and he tried to jerk his gaze away so she wouldn’t know he’d been watching her ass, but he knew she’d caught him.

“Yeah?”

“You know you don’t have to…”

“I’m coming, El.”  He turned away and stalked to the kitchen, knowing she was going to try and talk him into letting her run alone. 
Not fucking happening.
Hell, she’d be lucky to ever run alone again.

***

Hours later, and after having successfully avoided Delano at lunch, Eleanor made her way down to the front porch as butterflies flitted incessantly in her belly.  Running the perimeter was nothing new, and even running it with Delano wasn’t what had her nervous as hell.  No, shifting in front of him for the first time was what had her feeling a little queasy.  She wasn’t relishing being naked in front of Delano again.  Added to that was the fact that there was something intimate about meeting another shifter’s wolf for the first time. When the wolves were in control, they didn’t always listen so well to the human side, and she knew her wolf wanted Delano in the worst way.  She was worried her wolf would do something stupid and make them both look bad or foolish.  She’d told Delano she was going to spend the afternoon writing.  Truth is, she spent the afternoon talking to her wolf and trying to remind her that the Alpha didn’t want them.  She prayed her wolf had gotten the message.

Out on the porch, Delano stood leaning against a banister, arms crossed over his chest as he stared off in the distance.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

His head jerked to her.  “Not a problem, lovely.  Wasn’t waiting long.”

She watched as he stalked down the stairs and shifted once he reached the bottom.  A smooth transition shuttled through him with a seamless ripple of energy until powerful male was replaced by powerful beast.  It was mesmerizing, and she wanted to stare at his wolf, taking in the rust-colored fur that coated the massive beast, but she was trying to get out of her clothes as fast as she could before Delano turned around and…
Shit!  Too late.

Dark eyes locked on where her hands stalled at her hips.  She’d already removed her shirt and was trying to shimmy out of her jeans when he’d turned to look at her.  For the first time in her life, Eleanor despised the fact that she’d never learned to shift while clothed like the Northwest packs.  Sure, she could let her wolf burst free and tear her from her clothes, but that type of shift was reserved for emergencies and would be highly out of place in this situation. To shifters, nudity wasn’t supposed to be a big deal, but suddenly—and for the first time ever—she was worried about getting naked in front of another shifter.  The last time she’d been naked in front of him, she’d been too preoccupied with the outsiders in their territory to give it much thought.  Now, she had plenty of time to think on it.  A bout of shyness and insecurity slammed into her and she wanted desperately to ask Delano if he’d turn around, but that wouldn’t make sense.  It was supposed to be natural for him to see her naked.  She just wished someone would explain that to her damn emotions.

By some miracle of God, a sound drew Delano’s gaze to the forest and Eleanor rushed to shove her jeans and panties down her legs.  She kicked out of them and reached around to remove her bra and let the shift take her. 

Dropping to all fours, she realized Delano still faced away and, standing in wolf form on the porch, she realized he hadn’t heard anything at all, but had turned to afford her privacy.  Gratefulness overwhelmed her, but she didn’t have time to contemplate it as she used her snout to shove her clothes to the side of the porch.

She’d just descended the stairs and brushed past Delano when he turned to look at her.  Comically, his mouth fell open when he took in the sight of her and she knew why.

When they’d first shifted together it’d been in frantic rush to protect their territory.  They hadn’t truly allowed their wolves to meet.  Today, they would.

Eleanor’s cinnamon-colored fur was just a touch lighter than Delano’s.  They looked like they were the same wolf, only she was significantly smaller than his much larger frame.

“I know,”
she smirked through their pack ties, surprised at how easily she could communicate with him for it being their first time. 
“We look like bookends”
She had to jerk back on her wolf to keep it from walking over and rubbing up against him.

“Beautiful,”
he responded, with pure reverence.

His reaction had the smile suddenly vanishing from her tone.
“We’re beautiful?”

“Fuck we. 
You!
” 
He corrected. 

“Thank you.”
  She was glad she was shifted so he couldn’t see her blush.  The habit wasn’t typical for her, but for some reason every time she was around him lately, he had her cheeks going pink like she was a damn schoolgirl.  Needing him to stop looking at her like he was, she pounced then lowered her shoulders and tossed her head playfully before she challenged,
“Race you to the fence line.” 
She shot off, not waiting for him. 

“Take it easy.  Your leg,”
he reminded from somewhere behind her, but gave chase.

She ignored the tightness in the mentioned limb and ran with abandon as she led her Alpha on a merry chase through their territory.  It felt good to be wild and free, but she knew it wasn’t just that.  It was being those things with him.  With him she felt like the world couldn’t touch her, nothing could harm her and she knew that when she was with him nothing would.

A few minutes into the run he caught up to her easily.  They relaxed their speed to a trot and finally slowed to a walk.  Silence hung in the air between them, but it was comfortable…
companionable.
  When they finally reached the edge of the northeast quadrant he turned and asked,
“How’s the leg?  We could keep going if you feel up to it.”

Nodding once, she took the lead when he motioned with his head for her to go first. 

Soon, summer would give way to fall and there was nothing in the world more breathtaking to Eleanor than North Carolina in autumn.  The leaves would give up their hold on the trees in vibrant explosions of color that could rival any Fourth of July fireworks display.  Her coat—and Delano’s too—would blend so seamlessly with the fall environment that they’d be practically invisible.  She wanted to see him in the fall and her feet stalled as she contemplated asking him if he intended on staying.  They hadn’t discussed it before and she wondered now if he was simply trying on her pack like a pair of shoes, still trying to decide if they were a proper fit, or if he was flat-out buying.  Blinking up at him, she stilled when she realized his attention was on something over her shoulder. 

Watching as his nostrils flared, she turned and lifted her snout as he brushed past her to investigate the area.  Pungent aromas slammed into her and she took an involuntary step back.

Plush grass was tamped down in what would have appeared to be a bedding area for deer or Elk, but the scents told her this area belonged to an entirely different animal. 

Circling the area, Eleanor felt ill.  The air reeked of sex and wolf.  A few articles of discarded clothing were familiar and she knew before her mind sifted through the scents that May and June had been coming here to breed with male outsiders.

Several spots around the area were “marked” where the males had pissed to claim the place as their own.

“Here,”
Delano growled.  Walking toward him, she was careful to keep from stepping on any of the clothes or the marked areas.  She didn’t want any of that scent on her.

When she got to Delano she looked down to where he pointed, inhaling shallowly, not wanting to take in too much scent lest she actually wretch.  Shock made her jaw drop open. 
Bose!
He’d marked the area too, and it had been recent.  Her eyes jerked to Delano’s as he confirmed,
“Yesterday was his day for securing this area.  He knows these males have been coming here.”

“But how…
why
wouldn’t he say anything?  Why not tell us?”

Delano’s eyes darkened dangerously. 
“I’m assuming it’s because he’s been mounting one of the girls too, if not both.”

Horrified, Eleanor turned and lowered her snout to the ground sniffing frantically as she tromped over the clothes and marked areas, suddenly uncaring if she was soiled with their scents. 
Please, no, no, no!

“She hasn’t been here, El.”

Her head snapped up and it wasn’t until she saw that her vision of him was blurred that she realized fearful tears had flooded her eyes.
  “You’re…you’re sure?”

“None of the other girls have been here.  May and June only.  Riss wasn’t with them.”

A broken sob left her throat as relief threatened to buckle her knees.  Delano took a step toward her when he suddenly tensed, his eyes shifting to the forest before his lip lifted in a vicious snarl and he commanded. 
“RUN!”

When Eleanor didn’t immediately move, he turned and commanded with a lash of Alpha authority. 
“RUN DAMN IT!”