Page 27 of Wild Wolf

“Well, I need to at least start Nicolina’s rabbit, so she doesn’t try to end the world or kill her father, but if the ritual is what you want, the ritual is what you’ll get. But I think you deserve to be properly dated.”

She laughed. “More like you deserve to be properly dated.”

“Is it so bad I want to do the wine, the roses, and the fine dining?”

“You’re an amazing chef. It’d be weirder if you didn’t.”

As I could have a sense of humor when the situation demanded, I grinned at her and said, “You just want me for my cooking, don’t you?”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Well, you said no to my shooting, but can you say no to my brownies?” I eased Petra’s head off my leg, and the wolf snorted before resuming her sleep. I took out another corner brownie, set it on a plate, and challenged the witch with my stare.

“I could, but I won’t.”

I brought her the brownie. “At the risk of getting my ass kicked later, don’t do anything that might make that ticking time bomb in your head go off early. While Desmond did teach my wolf the ritual, I’d rather not have to try to figure it out during an emergency.”

“You got it. And anyway, if you make the request, any one of those louts can perform it, especially if you start panicking because you’re inexperienced. Just ask Richard to back you. He knows what he’s doing, and he’s done them in emergencies in the past. But honestly? If it’s a matter of life and death, your wolf will figure it out.”

“For some reason, I don’t find that to be comforting.”

“Good, it wasn’t supposed to be.”

Chapter Seven

Three wolves and a fox romped around my front yard, and Desmond supervised as a human while making neat piles of wooden crates beside my truck. He chuckled and shook his head at the canines and their rambunctious antics. “How did it go?”

“I told her she wasn’t allowed to do anything that might result in any emergencies, and I wanted to make sure Nicolina was fed her rabbit first. Amber is having more brownies right now, and I’ve fed her stew, but I doubt that’ll be enough.”

“I thought she might be losing weight,” Desmond grumbled. “She’s disgustingly clever at hiding it, and she uses her witchcraft ruthlessly to trick us. She doesn’t like when we worry about her.”

“The timeframe I was told is slightly off, and she recommended Richard oversee things, since he’s the most experienced?” I watched the older werewolf with interest.

“He’s yanked a mother and daughter from the brink of death at the same time before. He’s got a knack for it during emergencies, yes.”

To my amusement, none of the canines seemed to pay us any attention. “Who are those wolves? I know the fox is Dante.”

“Sanders, Richard, and Nicolina are the wolves. Sanders is the one with the stripe, Nicolina is the white arctic, and Richard is the gray one. He’s tarnishing right now. In the fall, he’ll be black, and then he’ll shed out to a metallic silver in the winter, and his coat starts tarnishing again in the spring. If he needs to fight in his prime, you’ll see him with his silver coat. Elliot’s catching a nap in one of the rentals, and your programmer and SEAL are on the other side of the truck pretending they aren’t napping.”

I went around the truck and peeked around it to discover the pair leaning against my vehicle passed out so hard I doubted a bomb would wake them. “And the translator?”

“With Elliot, although he’s not passed out. He’s debating what Russian name he wants to give himself. Greig is a pretty solid operative, and he views it as his sacred duty to try to keep the Anderson twins out of trouble. He’s been under foot for about a year now, and he does a good job. He speaks six different languages fluently, so he’s quite the asset.”

“And your thoughts on the Russians?”

“They’re keeping an eye on us. There’s a pack of them in the woods, and they’re keeping a watch in all directions, which leaves me to believe they’re spies as much as they are protection. That’s not unusual for when packs share space. With our affiliations with Moscow, they probably don’t want to invite even more trouble. I’m concerned with their general interest in you.”

I sighed at the thought of stumbling into even more trouble. “It’s probably because of their culture. They rank their wolves in a different way than you do, and my ability to keep from shifting for a long period of time seems to be more of a sacred thing for them.” I told him what I remembered of the folklore I’d read in the library. “I could have translated it wrong, though. I would go to the library after work as part of my cover, and since I needed to learn Russian anyway, I killed two birds with one stone. My verbal Russian needs work, but I was starting to get the hang of Cyrillic.”

“Has anyone told you that you’re ridiculously talented?”

“Not particularly.”

“You are. I think my first duty as your Alpha is to convert part of my empty basement into an art studio for you, and there will be an attached library. That should keep you visiting often. While you were off on your own, Anthony and I researched some of your restoration projects. You could easily make a career of it if you wanted. Or you can paint your own pieces if that’s what you’re interested in. Do you still have that cuff of yours?”

I held up my arm and pushed back my sleeve so he could see it. “I’ve gotten used to it.”

“Still stuck?”