We reach the end of my laps, and I look around for Wulf again. He’s still talking to his alpha now, but the conversation looks more relaxed. Both men are watching me still, but this time their focus isn’t just on me. It’s on Rook and me together. They both seem curious about Rook’s interest in me. I realize, now, that Wulf is giving his brother and me space, and I barely suppress a groan. Geez. Bunch of meddling busybodies!
“Nora?”
I turn my attention back to Rook and try to remember his question… Oh, the attack, right. “Yeah, it was just this stupid winter faerie. He grabbed me when I poured him a drink last night. I got a little colorful with my rejection. Guess I pissed him off, because he snapped and tried to strangle me.”
Rook’s eyes narrow, and a faint glow begins to shine from them. “Does that happen often?” His voice lowers and gets all growly like his brother’s does when he’s pissed. “Guys trying to grab you when you pour them drinks?”
“Often enough. Hence the reason I jumped at the self-defense lessons.”
The noise that escapes Rook next is a flat-out werewolf growl. No other way to describe it. “Whoa, dude. Relax.”
Rook blinks and shakes his head, as if startled he’d almost wolfed out right in front of me. “Sorry.”
“It’s all good. I just don’t need to witness my first werewolf shift right now.”
That reclaims his attention, and he smiles at me. “You haven’t seen a wolf shift before?”
“No. I was raised in the human world. I knew about the underworld, but no one was sharing their secrets with me, if you know what I mean. So really, I’m a newbie to all of it.”
“Oh. Well, allow me to give you a tour of the compound and explain a little more about my kind after I show you a few moves.”
He wants to teach me about werewolves? I won’t say no to that. “Yeah, sure. I’d like that. I might be allowed to be part of the underworld now, but so far most of the underworlders I’ve met have been close-lipped about everything.”
“Habit,” Rook says, stripping off his hoodie to reveal the most muscled body I’ve ever seen. The thin material of his black tank top does nothing to hide his ripped body. It’s hard not to drool. “Most underworlders are really wary around humans, even the ones who know about our world—which there aren’t many of. Wolves are different. We blend better.”
Honey, I’ve got news for you. In no way would you blend in a human crowd, I think as I try to tear my gaze from his amazing body. I may not date, but just because I don’t want to get involved with guys doesn’t mean I don’t notice them. Rook is impossible to not notice.
“All right,” he says, moving to stand directly in front of me. “How did this guy grab you?”
Forcing myself to get my hormones under control, I grip my wrist where the faerie jerk grabbed my arm the night before. There are a few bruises there, too. Rook’s jaw clenches when he sees them, but he doesn’t growl again. He reaches for my other wrist and says, “Okay, there are a couple of ways you can escape this grip, even if you’re not as strong as your opponent.”
For the next half hour, Rook takes me through a handful of different moves to break a hold. Skin-to-skin contact is unavoidable. At first, I worry because I don’t know Rook, but he keeps his thoughts pretty focused on training me. He thinks I’m gorgeous, but my beauty worries him. I’m too vulnerable to be so stunning, so he dives headfirst into teaching me to protect myself from predators.
Wulf never once interrupts us. When we’re finished, and Rook asks again if he can give me a tour of the compound, Wulf sits down at a weight machine and waves me off. “Go look around. I’ll wait here until you’re done.” The man has his shirt off now and is all sweaty. I guess hotness isn’t the only thing to run in the Winters family. Muscles do, too. Hot damn.
The first stop on the “tour” happens to be the alpha’s office. I’m not really surprised, but I don’t feel prepared to meet the pack alpha, either.
Alpha Toth is a large, formidable-looking man, though, again, I get the feeling both Rook and Wulf are more dominant than he is. I’m not sure how I can tell; I just know. That puts me at ease a little as the bulky, dark-haired, dark-eyed werewolf stands up and comes around his large desk to greet me. “Miss Jacobs, I’m Alpha Peter Toth. Welcome to the Huron River pack compound. It’s wonderful to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too. And, please, call me Nora.” I can’t refuse when he offers a hand to shake. Luckily, he gives me a quick, firm pump and then lets go. I still catch a single odd thought. I hope I don’t regret this.
Rook shuts the door to the office about the same time as Alpha Toth says, “Please have a seat.”
He waves to a set of wingback chairs in front of his desk and moves to sit back down in his own chair. Rook encourages me to sit in one of the guest chairs and takes the other. There’s a grave tension in the air. “I’m sorry,” I say, my heart kicking up with anxiety. “What’s this about? Was I not supposed to come here? Wulf said it would be all right.”
Rook chuckles. “You’re not in trouble, Nora.”
Alpha Toth is still wearing a grim face, so I’m skeptical of Rook’s reassurances. Not that I don’t want to believe I’m safe with Wulf’s brother—he obviously thought I would be, or he wouldn’t have let me go off with him—but my track record with underworlders isn’t the best.
“I’m not being kidnapped, am I?” I ask. “Or being forced into a mate bonding of some kind?”
Both men’s jaws fall open when they realize I’m serious.
“Of course not,” Alpha Toth sputters. “Why on earth would you assume something like that?”
“Um, because that’s usually what happens when I find myself unexpectedly alone with strange underworlders.”
Neither man has a response to that.
“Well…” Alpha Toth continues to gape at me, openmouthed like a fish, unsure how to proceed. He clears his throat and shakes off his shock. “I assure you, you are safe here on my lands. We mean you no harm. In fact…”
He shoots Rook an unsure look and grimaces when Rook nods. “Miss Jacobs,” Alpha Toth begins, “the pack needs your help.”
That is so not what I’m expecting that I sit back, blinking at both men. “I’m sorry, what?”
Toth and Rook exchange another glance. The alpha rakes a hand through his hair and then meets my eyes with a grim look of determination. “One of my wolves, Maya Forsythe, was one of the underworlders you rescued last month.”
I nod, remembering the name, and can’t help my smile. “That’s right. Maya said she was part of the Huron River pack.”
“My third in command, actually.”
My eyebrows hit the ceiling. I knew wolves weren’t a sexist lot—their hierarchy is purely based on dominance—but I hadn’t realized Maya was such a strong wolf. Though, she’d been weak at the time from all the magic and silver used to keep her subdued. “Awesome. I like her. Tell her hello for me.”
My comment breaks the tension, and Alpha Toth chuckles. “I’m sure she’ll find you before you leave here today. She’s been wanting to thank you personally.”
I nod. “I’ll make sure I find her, then, but…what does she have to do with me now?” Maybe it’s rude to cut straight to the chase, but I can’t help it. I hate not knowing what’s going on.
Alpha Toth sighs. “She told me about you. She mentioned you were an extraordinary human, though she didn’t know exactly how you’re different. But she knows you have strong power and unique gifts. I’m hoping…that since you used those gifts to find Maya and the others, you might be able to use those gifts to help me with a different problem as well.”
I sit up in my chair. “Are you missing more pack members?”
“Money, actually.” He grimaces. “Someone in my pack is ripping me off.”
The anger in his expression tells me this isn’t about the actual missing money. He’s glaring when he looks at me again, but he’s not glaring at me. He’s just pissed. Supremely pissed. “Miss Jacobs, if this is something you can help with, I’d like to hire you to find the wolf or wolves who would dare betray their pack.”