Wolf Fever (9 page)

Betas.
“And Lelandi?”

“She's the pack leader's mate, so sure, she has a lot of say. But ultimately, it falls on Darien's shoulders to make sure that everyone follows the rules. His brothers help to enforce them also. So when someone does something that's contrary to those guidelines, there's a wait-and-see attitude. Does Darien find it acceptable or not? You might not think so, but the way he's taken you into his household means you're his ward, and no one wants to do anything to upset him concerning you.”

She snorted. “Darien is protective. I'll give him that. But he's more annoyed with me than anything.”

“That's because you're fighting the shift. It sets you apart from the rest of us, but worse than that, one of these days you won't be able to control it. And you'll put us all in a bind.”

Not liking the way he frowned at her and the sudden edge to his voice, she meant to pull away, but Christian tightened his hold. She was afraid that if she fought him, she might trigger the compulsion to shift again.

She could see it now—pulling her dress straps down, exposing her bra, yanking her dress the rest of the way off as fast as she could. Then before she knew it, she'd be standing naked in front of a crowd that was shocked
or amused or interested. Definitely the entertainment for the night. And the talk for years of Carol's coming out. She stifled a laugh. Yeah, coming out, all right.

Christian didn't seem to notice the tension in her body and continued to speak as if he hadn't upset her. “I'm your first bodyguard. And I'll take the job seriously. Anyone who tries to get to you will have to deal with me.”

“Anyone?” she asked, curious if this meant he didn't intend to let any of the other bachelors get close to her, either.

“Any red males,” he said, smiling. “I'd keep any male away, but not for that reason. Darien has sent some of the mated males out into the woods again tonight, looking for him. He won't get a chance to get near you.
Ever
.”

Not wanting to think about being stalked, Carol switched topics. “What do you think of Marilee and Becky?”

Christian glanced at Becky, who was dancing with Mervin. Carol almost laughed when she saw them together. Becky was keeping her distance, and Mervin was watching Carol. Another bachelor clung to Marilee.

His expression fierce, Ryan was standing alone, arms crossed, watching Carol. She wondered why he looked so angry, so dangerous. Maybe because he was irritated that another bachelor male had stolen Marilee from him.

“Cute girls,” Christian said. “They'll make some guys good mates.”

Cute girls? Sexy as all get out maybe, but cute? Not in this lifetime.

What she really wanted to hear was that Christian
didn't think the women were worthy of consideration. Not that she was interested in him, especially the way he'd come across concerning her fighting the shift, but…

The music ended, and before he could dance with her again, Tom butted in. “Mind, Christian?”

Even if Christian had minded, and she was sure he did by the disgruntled look on his face, Darien's brothers had priority as sub-leaders in having their wishes met.

His mouth curved down, Christian bowed politely and then stepped away. She couldn't believe Tom had even asked her. He kept her separated from his body, very dignified, very respectful, but when he spoke, she knew Darien had prompted him to dance with her.

“Did Mervin upset you in any way?” Tom began.

She loved the way he was always protective of her. She wished he felt something romantic for her, but she assumed his feelings were more brotherly love for a sister who needed protection. “No, Tom. I just decided to change clothes.”

Tom glanced down at her dress and smiled. “A different look for you. That's what the guys like so much about you. You're so… unpredictable.”

“It also bothers them.”

Tom, being the typical peacemaker, immediately changed the subject. “Did you see any red in the woods when you talked to McKinley there?”

“No. Lelandi already asked.” She was surprised Lelandi wouldn't have already told Darien and his brothers.

“Are you sure?”

Carol frowned up at Tom. “I
said
I didn't see anyone. Just Ryan. Why do you think I would lie?”

Tom cleared his throat, his cheeks faintly flushing. “Darien's just… well, worried you'd had contact with a red male from another pack. Believe me, Darien wants the best for you. If there
is
something you're not telling us… we don't want to kill someone we think is stalking you when he's truly a love interest.”

“Tom,” Carol said, unable to hide her exasperation, “if someone's stalking me, I haven't encouraged it. First of all, none of you let me out of your sight long enough for me to have contact with anyone else. And second, if by some miracle I did have an encounter with someone outside the pack, don't you think that if I liked him, I'd tell you so you wouldn't terminate him?”

Tom didn't say anything right away, and as the music stopped, he glided to a halt. “No. I think you'd be afraid to tell Darien if you were interested in leaving the pack. Look at what happened last night. You were with McKinley alone in the dark woods. Not a word to any of us. We didn't learn of it until we arrived home and Jake checked on you, finding your bedroom door wide open and no sign of you in the house. I found the back door unlocked, and you'd taken off into the forest.”

He had her there. “Fair enough. Now that this has come up, I assure you I have no interest in any red male. No gray either.” She smiled sweetly.

“All right.” Tom released her to another man and gave him a look that meant he'd better keep his distance. Then he headed to speak to Darien.

“Name's Avery,” the man said to Carol, taking her arm. His light amber eyes matched his pale brown suit
and compared to Christian, he had a much tamer look. His actions mirrored that, as his touch was light, not the least bit invasive.

“I've heard McKinley wants to talk to you later tonight about the investigation. Darien's not happy about it.”

She shrugged. She wasn't happy about it, either.

“And now McKinley seems to be targeting Marilee, like he can't make up his mind which of you he wants.”

Carol looked around at the dancing couples and saw Ryan dancing with the masseuse. He was back for a return engagement. Carol attempted to hide a scowl. Ryan kept his distance with Marilee, but the woman attempted to snuggle closer. Wanting the alpha male? Had she learned he was an unmated pack leader? Or did returning to her show he truly was interested in her?

“Have you danced with her?” Carol tried for cheerful, not annoyed, when she shouldn't have cared in the least.

Avery stiffened. “She seems intent on making the move on McKinley more than she does with any of the rest of us.”

Just as Carol suspected. Either she truly did find Ryan more appealing than the other men, or she was targeting him because of his position.

Becky was still dancing with Mervin, but he kept casting glances in Carol's direction. Poor Becky. Carol knew the feeling, having dated a guy on a blind date who had eyes only for the girlfriend who had double-dated with another man.

“So what do you think of Becky?” she asked Avery.

“I haven't had the opportunity to meet her. What happened between you and Mervin?”

“Nothing.” Brother, she didn't think this was going
to be so blown out of proportion. But then again, packs were close knit, she was learning, much more so than a human community, although juicy gossip often spread from social group to social group, no matter whether they were human or otherwise. She just hadn't expected all the questioning.

The song ended, and out of nowhere, Ryan stepped in to dance with Carol, like a silent predatory wolf closing in on its prey. She wasn't sure if that meant he wanted to dance with her or to rip Avery to shreds.

Instantly, everything changed between them. Avery scowled and hesitated to step aside. Ryan didn't let that stop him. He slid his hand around Carol's back and pulled her close and away from Avery. She couldn't quash the annoyance she felt toward Ryan not only because he planned to interrogate her later to try and prove her a fraud, but also because he seemed so eager to get to know the masseuse better. That shouldn't have mattered, but irritatingly it did.

She pushed away from him and held him apart, like she'd danced with the others, not wanting to go so far as to deny him a dance and then have to explain to Darien, his brothers, and Lelandi, why she had said “no” to a dance. She was sure they'd all think he'd done something horribly scandalous. And then they'd send him away. Which bothered her more than she should have allowed.

Except for the music, everyone was quiet, and she feared they were watching every move she and Ryan made.

In perfect gentlemanly form, he moved with her across the floor, not saying a word, not pressing the issue. Then when she thought she couldn't stand the raw tension between them any longer, Ryan lowered his
head and whispered in her ear, sending warm tendrils of fission cascading through her: “Want to leave?”

D
ISAPPOINTMENT SLID THROUGH
C
AROL WHEN
R
YAN
asked if she wanted to leave the gathering. He didn't want to hold her close and dance after all. He just wanted to get this charade over, question her to satisfy some stupid need, and leave Silver Town. Either that, or he had wanted to dance with her but only close, and beyond that, no deal.

And she realized then just how much she desired being with a man like Ryan.

What the hell. At least Ryan had wanted to dance intimately with her, unlike the way he'd kept Marilee at arm's length. Carol let out her breath, pulled him close, and melted against his heated embrace, loving the way he felt.

She hadn't been with a guy who stirred her up like this since she was a nineteen-year-old in love with a twenty-one-year-old cad, who had used her and thrown her away for a much hotter number after a few months. Come to think of it, that hotter number had looked similar to Marilee, with darker hair and eyes and long lashes.

Carol sighed deeply. She didn't care if Ryan might be infatuated with someone who looked or acted like the masseuse. It was only a dance, after all.

Ryan didn't say anything about Carol holding him close at first. He just responded in kind, moving her across the floor slowly, his body pressed indecently
against hers, heating her all the way from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes.

“Carol?” he finally queried, pressing the issue of leaving.

“Sure.” She began pulling away, figuring she might as well get this over with, if Ryan really didn't want to dance with her. She'd show Darien she wasn't going to be part of the nonsense of this gathering any longer. At least she hoped she could. He might have words to say about it.

“
After
we finish this waltz. Breaking off the dance after we've barely begun would be inappropriate.” His voice was husky and heated, and his eyes clouded with desire—or maybe just plain lust.

That's when she noted his growing arousal pressed heavily against her thigh. It hadn't been there when he'd first pulled her close. Maybe Marilee hadn't intrigued him like Carol had thought.

She slipped her leg in between his in a suggestive way, rubbing against his erection. Teach him to want to hold her close in the beginning and not face the consequences. A throaty growl escaped his lips. She bit back a smile and placed her head against his chest so he couldn't see the amusement on her face—and heard his heart beating at an increased tempo.

The smell of him—hot-blooded virile man, no fussy colognes covering up his delicious manly fragrance, just the woodsy scent of cedar, sage, and citrus—triggered an unexpected craving in her. And a reaction she didn't expect… her hormones tumbled wildly, and a musky fragrance of her own drifted to her nostrils.

Her lips parted in surprise. She still couldn't get used to being able to catch a whiff of smells so intimate that only wilder animals could normally sense them. She
slipped one hand down his back and slid the other up his chest, feeling the muscles beneath the cottony fabric, every touch making them tense even harder.

His hands slid down her back, lower, until he was cupping her buttocks in a sexual way, leaning into her, making her wet for him. She almost laughed. So much for
her
attempt at enticing him to take notice. Ryan was an absolute wolf and well versed in the gift of seduction. Lelandi was right. With her, he was the perfect gentleman. With Carol, it was a whole different story.

If they hadn't both been werewolves, she would have suggested they go to a hotel—in another town. Not that she'd ever felt that way about a man on a first “date,” but her wolf hormones must have had something to do with it. Or maybe it was just Ryan who brought out the desire in her. Except their kind didn't have casual sex. The act was a pledge to commit as mates for life.

Too bad. A romp with a macho wolf like him would have promised much pleasure, she was sure.

“Darien doesn't like it that we're dancing so close,” Ryan whispered into her hair, but he didn't make a move to distance himself from her, for which she was grateful.

The touch of Ryan's heated breath on her scalp sent a new tingling sensation sweeping through her. “Hmm, I've never known you to care what he thinks.”

“Not so,” Ryan murmured huskily. “I respect another pack's territory.”

She gave a short laugh. “Like you wouldn't give up trying to solve Larissa's murder, even though Darien didn't want you here getting into his family's business? You persisted until you had your man.”

Ryan's hands moved to her lower back as if she'd hit
a nerve. Sure, she'd solved the case through her psychic talents. Was it that he didn't like that she, rather than he, had broken the case? Or was it strictly because of how she had been able to do so?

Fine, might as well take the conversation to something less sensitive. She didn't want him pushing her away in the middle of the dance and acting as though she was too repugnant to touch. Maybe he felt that way, but she sure as hell didn't want him to show that in front of all the others.

That's when she noticed how nearly everyone was watching them, even those dancing on the floor.

Lelandi smiled at her as she passed by with Darien, dancing nice and close also. He was scowling at Ryan, big time. Silva smiled at her as she and Sam waltzed by, while he was behaving as though he was as irritated with Ryan as Darien was. Ditto with Tom and Jake standing on the sidelines. Tom's hands were in his pockets, and he shook his head. Jake folded his arms and gave her the evil eye rather than Ryan.

Yes, she knew it was all her fault. She should have kept some distance from Ryan. She smiled and winked at Jake. His hard expression grew even harder still. Teach him to taunt her about Mervin being interested in her.

She didn't have to see what the bachelor males thought of the situation. She just hoped they wouldn't gang up on Ryan later and give him a rough time. Although as alpha as he was and as beta as they were, she figured they didn't stand a chance.

“So what did you think of Marilee?” she asked him, her question an attempt at light and unconcerned.

Immediately, Ryan's hands returned to Carol's rump
and he rested them there, the sensuous touch making her heartbeat quicken. So what did his reaction mean? He liked Marilee and wished he had his hands on her backside instead? Carol hated how she always overanalyzed people's behaviors.

“Hmm,” Ryan said, and she didn't like the way he said it, thinking he enjoyed being with Marilee more, like some horny male, as he continued to dance with Carol crushed against his chest, his leg locked between hers and moving at intervals to brush her mound in an enticing caress.

She could imagine him closing his eyes and envisioning he had that hot, sultry number in his tight clutches instead—the long, curly hair, the luscious glistening lips, the fluttering long, dark lashes… all together tall, dark, and bosomy. Not short, pale and… well, Carol had nice-sized boobs, too, but that was about it.

“She's… not… my type,” he said slowly.

Carol glided with him across the smooth tile floor, trying to let herself just soak up the moment, but she couldn't give up the gnawing notion that he liked the other women better. They were grays, had been born as such, and weren't an enigma like she was. Why wouldn't he prefer them to her?

When she didn't say anything in response, he sighed. “She's too… clingy, too… sweet, too…”

“Hot?”

He chuckled. “I'd be lying if I said she wasn't hot. But that doesn't mean I'm interested.” He lifted Carol's chin and looked into her eyes. “You don't have to prove anything to anyone here tonight.”

Which meant what? She wondered if he felt a
connection with her, maybe because of her solving the murder —not in the way he would, but that she could— like he did in his line of work. Like a fellow investigator, even though she hadn't investigated anything. Maybe he didn't really feel anything for the other women. Except that one was hot.

“Did you dance with Becky?” she asked, wondering what he thought of her. “She seems to need rescuing from Mervin.”

Ryan's face turned dark. “What happened between you and Mervin?”

Not expecting him to question her about Mervin also, she pursed her lips in annoyance. And wished she hadn't brought Mervin's name up.

Carol shook her head. “Nothing happened between us.”

“You make a lousy liar.”

She stiffened her back. Didn't matter that he was right, but she didn't need him telling her so.

He immediately stroked her back as if attempting to placate her. “I'll learn one way or another, Carol. It's what I do.” His voice was back to being darkly seductive.

She harrumphed, although she admired him for looking doggedly into a situation until he discovered the truth. She just wished
she
wasn't the focus of one of his bloodhound hunts.

“Didn't you already scare the truth out of him?” she asked.

“I always get confirmation. That way I learn the
real
truth.” He slid his hands down her bare arms with a sensuous sweep, caught her wrists, and turned them to consider her skin, his touch gentle, concerned. “He didn't bruise you.”

Her lips parted in surprise. Did Ryan suspect what had happened? At this rate, she figured the truth would come out anyway. Except she wasn't mentioning the damned urge to shift. “He tried to stop me from leaving the house. That's all.”

“All right. That's what he said. And then? You decided to change into this?” He slid his hands down her back again, skin against skin, then lower, caressing her body beneath the clinging silk and leaving a sizzling trail of desire. “Why?”

She was still absorbing the sensual feel of his touch as she fought to respond with an intelligent reply, no matter how much he unsettled her—both with his words and actions.

“You know, if you really want a chance to have me for your own, you'll have to quit questioning my motives all the time. And frankly, Chester Ryan McKinley, it is
none
of
your
business.”

He whispered against her ear, “Why would you think I'm attempting to pursue you?”

She smiled just a hint. “It's your nature. You want what you can't have.”

He gave her a husky laugh and moved his hands to her buttocks again. “If I wanted you, make no mistake, Carol, you would be mine.”

She chuckled and rested her head against his chest again. “I love a man with a sense of humor.”

“Hmm.” He continued to dance slow with her, his arousal throbbing with need—that she'd happily created—and his hands treacherously sliding over her buttocks in a sensual caress. If he didn't want her, he sure was a master at deception.

She was beginning to think maybe he really was interested in her, and her psychic business was what still bothered him. Then to her disappointment, the music ended, and another man stood at her elbow, ready to dance with her next. She hoped he didn't think she'd want to dance close with him, too.

But would Ryan rescue her and take her to the tavern instead, like he'd wanted to, or give her up to the guy who was now tapping his foot on the floor, hands on his hips, an annoyed expression darkening his face?

“Sorry,” Ryan said to the man. “She promised me two dances.”

She was shocked speechless and quickly snapped her gaping mouth shut.

The guy scowled. “But…”

The music began again, and Ryan pulled Carol deeper into the group of dancing couples.

“I thought we were going on our
date
next,” she said, amused that Ryan seemed reluctant to let her go.

“We are on our date. First here, then at the tavern.”

“Yeah, but it's not a
real
date, and you're making a lot of men angry.” She frowned up at him, really hoping he wouldn't have a fight with the other men over her. Inwardly, she laughed at that. No one would have ever fought over her.

“They'll get over it when I'm gone.”

Her heart hitched a little, when she shouldn't have cared one bit. She should have known. Maybe he already had his sights set on a woman in his pack.

As soon as the music stopped, Ryan hurried her to the great room, his hand clamped around her wrist, moving
at double-time. Thankfully, his touch didn't force the urge to shift.

She was afraid to see who would come after them— Darien, his brothers, Sam—all intending to put a stop to it. But all that happened was the sunroom remained really quiet. No music, no conversation, just Carol's heels clicking on the tile floor, headed toward the foyer as Ryan rushed her to the front door.

And then Darien's harsh holler came from the sunroom, “Remember what I said, McKinley! Bring her back by midnight.”

Surprised he'd allowed it, she wondered if Lelandi had convinced him to let her go with Ryan.

“I feel like we're eloping,” Carol said, frowning at Ryan, barely able to keep up with his long stride while she teetered in high heels as he hauled her out of the house to his vehicle.

He raised his brows. “Just a meeting to set some things right.”

That's what
he
thought.

“Hope you're not too disappointed when you go home alone to your bed tonight
without
the answers you are looking for.” She gave him a sweet smile as he opened the pickup door for her, and she climbed into the passenger's seat.

His expression was noncommittal. “My conscience is clear, and I sleep well at night. What about you?”

She turned away and looked out the windshield as he still held her door, waiting for her response. She didn't sleep well at all. Certainly not last night after fighting the craving to shape-shift half the evening. Her lack of sleep had nothing to do with having a bad conscience
and all to do with the moon and a wolf named Ryan who had come to her in a vision. Mervin, too, wearing his red-and-white-striped jacket.