Call of the Wolf (8 page)

* * * *

Making a conscious effort to appear far more relaxed than he actually was, Cameron studied the competition assessingly, trying to decide if any of the three might have more appeal to a human female than he did or, more importantly, Abby. As far as physique went, he didn't think there was enough difference between the four of them to get too worked up. They were all Wolfen, which meant, largely because of their super metabolism, they were predisposed to be lean and muscular anyway, and they were all fully mature, which meant they'd broadened from the rangy youths they'd once been to the ‘gorilla’ build Abby had described. He didn't think she'd hold that against them, though, and, even if she did it was what they had to work with—all of them.

Of course they couldn't do anything about their faces either, he thought wryly. They either appealed or didn't. He just wanted to figure out, if he could, how hard he was going to have to work to charm her. If he was bucking the odds because she found one or more of the others more to her taste than him he was going to have to focus on edging him, or them, out as much as possible—not that he wouldn't have to anyway, given the time restraints, but he'd always found it paid to assess the competition with as much impartiality as possible.

Not an easy task given their history.

The four of them went way back, which was the main reason he, Adrian, and Jerico had shown up early for the main event—to give them time to catch up. Even though they'd barely been in contact with each other in the past five years, they'd served together in the special forces, had considered themselves a pack at one time. They'd been part of the same squad, watched each other's backs through countless missions, brawled together and with each other. And they'd been a force to be reckoned with when they hit port and managed to wrangle a pass, nailing anything with tits and ass.

And Seth had been squad leader.

Seth would've been some stiff competition, he thought, with pretty much anybody but Abby, but he'd noticed Abby was more than a little put off by his occupation. Even if she had seemed to trust him more—and he hadn't liked that worth a fuck—the irony was that the thing that had instilled more trust in him, his badge, was the same thing that repelled her on a personal level.

Good thing, too. The bastard had a face like Adonis and the dark appeal that had always drawn women to him like a magnet. Julie had set her sights on him the minute she set eyes on him—which explained why Abby had brought out the bitch in her without any effort on her part—and she wasn't the only one. Half the females in the fucking county—human, Wolfen, and Were—began to behave like witless bimbos the minute he smiled at them.

Not that he didn't have his own appeal. As downright fucking annoying as he'd always found it that women took one look at his face, his blond hair, and blue eyes and instantly thought ‘angel'—the completely opposite reaction they had to Seth's ‘devilish’ good looks—it sure as fuck didn't make him one, and it had the distinct advantage of making women complete
un
wary of him. He'd managed to charm the pants off of plenty of women—as many, he'd be willing to bet, as Seth had nailed in his time.

It annoyed the shit out of him that his past track record didn't bolster his ego like it should have. Ordinarily it never occurred to him even to wonder how he stacked up next to any other man—but he realized that it was because
this
time was the only time it had really mattered. This time was for keeps. This time, for the first time in his life, he hadn't looked at a woman and thought—good fuck.

Well, actually he had.

It was just that that hadn't been his
only
thought or even the dominate thought running through his mind.

Actually, now that he thought back on it, there hadn't been a hell of a lot of
thoughts
running through his mind at all. He'd pretty well drawn a blank as soon as she got out of the car and started up the walk. He'd zeroed his wolf senses in on her, drank her in like a smooth, intoxicating liquor, and got an instant hard-on. From that point onward, nothing was too fucking clear in his mind—beyond a fierce sense of possessiveness the instant he noticed that Jerico and Adrian looked like they'd been pole-axed.

He was sure, though, that fucking wasn't the
only
thing he'd had on his mind. Aside from the images that had danced in his head of her belly swollen with his pup, the magnitude of the possessiveness that went through him was enough of an indication that his instincts were screaming ‘mate’ not just ‘good fuck.’ Not that he didn't feel a certain amount of possessiveness any time he saw a female that strongly appealed to him, but this was Adrian and Jerico. In the old days, they hadn't had any serious problems with their natural aggressiveness. They'd shared plenty of females in their time and still managed to maintain the strong bond they'd formed as a pack in their youth.

He hated like hell that it had come down to this, but it fell however it fell. Everything inside of him was telling him Abby was the one. Instincts couldn't be argued with or reasoned with—and since it appeared they'd all had a similar reaction there was going to be hell to pay. Regardless of whether anyone else set their sights on her or not, the four of them had found themselves in direct competition for the first time in their lives.

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Chapter Six

"Anybody else as hungry as I am?” Adrian asked after a while, breaking the silence that had held the foursome for nearly an hour.

Jerico, Seth, and Cameron turned to look at him blankly for several moments, obviously considering it. “Actually,” Cameron responded slowly, “it's a little early to be thinking about supper, but I'm starving."

"It's the scent of the charcoal,” Jerico said. “Beer and steaks sounds good to me."

"It's Sunday,” Seth pointed out dryly.

Adrian shrugged and grinned. “Exactly. That's why I grabbed a couple cases last night before midnight."

Seth sent him an assessing look, but finally dismissed the objections that rose to mind. He'd been waiting for them to drift off and look for something to occupy their time, but obviously they had no intention of going anywhere. They were just as determined as he was to stand guard over Abby.

Since there didn't seem any tactful, or even any tactless, way to get rid of them, he figured they might as well make the best of it. “Who's going for steaks?"

Everyone looked at everybody else.

"Aw, come on!” he growled irritably. “If one goes and three stay, it isn't like anybody's going to get the chance to make any moves!"

Cameron and Adrian exchanged a look and shrugged. Jerico had already gotten up and headed over to the grill to check it out.

Shaking his head, Seth got up and stretched. “Fine. I'll fly.” He glanced at Jerico. “Watch it when you light that! Abby emptied a can of starter on it."

Jerico sniffed at it. “It's evaporated. Better get charcoal and starter fluid while you're at it."

Seth nodded, flicking a gaze at Abby's back door speculatively. A slow grin curled his lips as a sudden thought occurred to him. “I think I'll ask Abby if she wants to run to the store with me,” he said, striding briskly across the yard and up the back steps before anybody had the chance to object.

"Fucking asshole!” Adrian snapped.

Cameron narrowed his eyes at Seth as he tapped on the back door and then stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. “Just because he asks doan mean she'll go,
mon ami
,” he said pointedly.

"Right!” Adrian muttered in disgust. “Why didn't I think of that? He's such an ugly son-of-a-bitch women are always turning him down."

* * * *

As certain as she was that she needed to, Abby was too numb after all of the ‘excitement’ to think things through. Instead, as the tension slowly eased from her and she shifted to a little more comfortable position on the couch, she dozed off. A tickle on her nose roused her. Swatting at it, she'd already begun to drift off again when she felt another tickle. Certain it was a fly annoying her, she wiggled her nose. Since that elicited a husky chuckle instead of the cessation of torment as she'd expected, she lifted her brows high enough to open her eyelids a slit and peered at the grinning face above hers.

Recognition was slow in coming, but she finally realized that it was Seth. “Go away you annoying man,” she muttered. “I'm sleeping."

He grinned. “I've been called a lot of things, but I'm pretty sure nobody ever called me annoying."

Abby felt her lips curl and her belly perform a slow shimmy in response to that grin in spite of all she could do. “What do they call you?"

He chuckled. “If you're around long enough, I'm sure you'll hear it yourself. Are you going to get up, or am I going to have to resort to serious tickling?"

Abby groaned. “Why do I have to get up? I hardly slept last night."

"We're grilling. You and I are going down to the store for that steer that got away from you last night."

The reminder of the incident with the grill was enough to burst her bubble of amusement. “Smartass!"

"That's one of them,” he agreed cheerfully, grasping her hand and dragging her upright.

"I bet they call you bully, too,” she muttered, getting off the couch with an effort. She swayed, bumping against him, and he lifted a hand to either shoulder to brace her upright.

"You haven't been drinking have you?” he murmured, amusement threading his voice.

"No, but I have the hangover,” she said, allowing her head to drop forward until her forehead butted against his chest. His scent invaded her when she dragged in a deep breath and yawned. It didn't really help to wake her up, but it sent tingling warmth all through her. She lifted her head after a moment, placing her hands on his waist to steady herself and push away from him at the same time.

The body beneath his shirt felt as hard as it had looked, intriguing enough to tempt her to explore a little further. She tamped the urge, stepping away from him when he released his hold on her shoulders and turning toward the door to the hallway. “I'm going to go wash my face and see if I can get my eyes open. If not, you'll have to go without me."

The cold water splash helped, but Abby still felt almost intoxicated when she came out. She wasn't certain if it was from being awakened from a deep sleep, or because she hadn't really slept well in a very long time—not since her life had turned into a nightmare—but she couldn't seem to completely shake the sluggishness from her mind.

Seth, she noticed, looked at her several times a little worriedly as he walked her from the house. Instead of taking the walkway to her gate, he settled a big hand in the middle of her back and walked her directly across her yard, stepped over the picket fence and then caught her around the waist and swung her over it. That was almost more of an eye-opener than the cold water.

She hadn't been picked up since she was child. She wasn't certain that she'd ever even dated a man capable of lifting her, let alone at such an awkward angle and with no apparent effort. Obviously, he wasn't just pumped up. He was strong. She was no lightweight.

Escorting her to a small SUV type of patrol car, he helped her into the front seat and then went around to the driver's side. Mindful of the fact that she was riding with a cop, she grabbed her seatbelt and fastened it before he could point it out.

He slid her a speculative look anyway when he'd started the vehicle, but instead of commenting, executed a three point turn in the small backyard cum parking lot behind the Bed-and-Breakfast and headed out. Abby frowned as he turned into the street. “Now, what are we doing?"

"I suspected you were still half asleep. How long since you had a decent night's sleep?"

Abby dragged in a deep sigh, settling more comfortably in the seat once she decided his driving wasn't unnerving. “I don't know. A long time, I guess."

He frowned. “No wonder you were so wired."

She shrugged. “I've forgotten what it was like
not
to be a nervous wreck to tell you the truth. I always thought my old job was stressful, but I suppose it's all in the perspective."

"What did you do before?"

Abby swallowed with an effort, turning her head to stare out of the window. “I'd really rather not talk about it. All of that happened to somebody else. I just want to forget."

He was silent for some time. “You think that's the healthiest way to handle it?” he asked finally.

Abby glanced at him. “I think it might work for me."

He pulled up in front of a surprisingly large grocery store a few minutes later, parked the car and moved around to open her door, frowning when he discovered she was already halfway out. She smiled faintly as he settled a hand along the center of her back again. “You're an old fashioned southern gentleman at heart, huh?"

His lips curled faintly as he slid a glance at her. “I'm just a country boy, ma'am."

"I didn't realize they bred them so big in the country—must be the air."

A faint flush climbed his cheeks, but he chuckled. “I'm not real sure the
air
's got anything to do with it—least ways that's not what they taught in animal husbandry."

Abby stared at his profile in shock for a moment before it finally filtered through that he'd meant
exactly
what she'd thought he meant. Before she could think of a suitable retort, or even decide if she wanted to make one, a woman stopped Seth to ‘speak’ to him. She seemed a lot more interested in peeling his clothes off and having her way with him to Abby's thinking, though. After eyeing him up and down as if she was thinking about licking him, she flicked a look at Abby.

"This is Ms. Winthrope,” Seth introduced her. “The new teacher. Abby, Debbie Wendt. She owns the Repeat Boutique down on Main Street."

"Oh! You're the one replacing poor old Mary Jane Mortimer! Well, how do you like our little town so far?"

Abby smiled politely. “I only arrived yesterday. I haven't actually had the chance to settle in."

Debbie's brows rose. She slid a glance at Seth that was plainly questioning. Seth didn't enlighten her. “I'll be sure to have somebody take a cruise down the alley behind the store every night until we catch whoever it is that's been tinkering with the lock, Debbie."

Abby was not only pretty sure that nobody had been tinkering with the woman's lock but that she'd been fishing for a little ‘tinkering’ from the sheriff, but she kept her thoughts to herself as they moved on and finally made it inside the store after two more brief pauses where she was introduced to two more of Ajax's female citizens. She'd begun to feel like they were running the gauntlet. She wasn't sure who'd been checked out more thoroughly, her or Seth.

Seth grabbed a buggy once they were inside and headed directly for the meat department in the back. Abby followed him, trying to shake the ‘strangeness’ of the situation, but the truth was she'd never been to a grocery store with a man in her life. It just made her feel weird.

She wasn't even certain of why he'd wanted her to go with him. He stopped and examined the steaks critically and finally grabbed four up and tossed them into the buggy. “What cut do you like best?"

Abby blinked at him. “Uh...” Leaning over, she studied the packages and finally picked up a small rib-eye. “We're cooking out?"

He turned to look at her, a half smile playing along his lips. “I thought we'd already established that."

"Yes, but...” Four? “How many people are coming?” she asked cautiously.

He lifted his dark brows at her. “It was Adrian's idea—him, me, Jerico, Cameron, and you—unless you want to invite Julie?"

Apparently her reception to that idea flickered across her face faster than the will to control it.

"I didn't think so,” he murmured. “Potatoes? Salad fixings?"

Abby frowned, following him as he grasped the buggy firmly in both hands and strode away again. “I don't think I have a microwave ... do I?"

He glanced at her, then frowned. “Nope. Guess we'll have to do them on the grill, or throw them in the oven."

Abby thought that over. “They take a long time to cook in the oven—at least an hour, I think."

He looked disconcerted. “Really?"

"I think so."

"I don't think anybody is going to want to wait that long."

"I could cut them up and boil them,” Abby offered a little reluctantly. “That won't take as long—except the cutting and peeling."

He didn't seem to notice that she wasn't particularly thrilled about the idea of potato peeling. He grabbed a bag full and headed to the ‘salad fixings.’ “Do you have dressing?"

"I don't know."

Abby began to feel like she was running a race. Seth charged through the store, zipping up and down the aisles and grabbing things and tossing them into the buggy. She couldn't decide if it was because he was hungry and wanted to hurry, or if he just didn't want to spend any more time in the store than necessary, or if he thought walking fast enough might prevent someone else from accosting him.

If it was the last, it didn't do him that much good. He did manage to elude captivity at least half the time, but he had some pretty determined fans and several of the women he encountered simply turned their buggies around and followed him, chatting as happily as if he wasn't doing his damnedest to outrun them.

Abby was just relieved when they finally made it back to his car. She couldn't decide whether she was more irritated or more amused. “Is there one woman in this town that doesn't have a crush on you?” she asked with a mixture of annoyance and amusement once he'd shoved the key in the ignition.

His face reddened. “They're just friendly. Ajax is a friendly place,” he muttered uncomfortably.

"Yes, I noticed,” Abby said dryly, ditching the suspicion that he'd dragged her along just to witness his desirability to the opposite sex. As if she'd
needed
to see him in action!

He cleared his throat. “What did you think of the store?"

"I don't know. I'm still dizzy and winded from racing all over it."

He seemed to take that as a compliment. “It
is
big. Plenty of variety."

Abby slid a curious glance at him, but it dawned on her even as she did that she'd mistaken his objective in taking her to the store. At least, she thought she had. “It did seem to,” she said finally, then added a little tentatively, “It must be new."

He seemed to relax fractionally. “It just opened late last year. It's a nice town, small, but still ... and, of course, we're only about an hour's drive from the city, but most people just cruise the net days if they can't find what they're looking for locally."

Abby digested that for several moments. “Is this your home town?"

He glanced at her in surprise, but shook his head. “It isn't even my home state. I took the job here after I got out of the military ... well, not directly after. I rambled for a few years, but I moved here about five years ago."

That actually didn't help her pinpoint his age, which was what she'd angling at. “How long were you in the military?"

"I did two tours, but I finally decided I'd been dodging bullets long enough."

Still no clue of his age, she thought wryly, but smiled faintly. “You got tired of dodging bullets and decided to become a cop?"

He glanced at her, studied her a moment, and finally grinned. “There's not a lot of crime in a place like Ajax—petty theft, the occasional domestic dispute."

"Still ... there's always the possibility,” Abby pointed out.

"There's always the possibility of catching a bullet anytime, anyplace, but what I'm doing now is a sight more peaceful than what I did in the military."

She glanced at him, waiting for him to elaborate, but he slowed the SUV then and she discovered they'd reached her house. He turned into her drive instead of the Bed-and-Breakfast, pulling around to the back.

She discovered when they rounded the corner of the house that Cameron and the others had dragged the chairs from the end of the yard to surround the grill. They'd located two more chairs that she hadn't seen before and suspected must have been borrowed from her neighbor. They got up and met her and Seth at the car, grabbing bags and trooping inside with them.

Jerico located the charcoal and lighter fluid Seth had picked up and headed out with them to start the fire. Cameron unloaded the steaks and looked them over critically while Seth plundered through her cabinets in search of a pan and finally unearthed a cookie sheet she hadn't had when she'd left home.

Abby eyed the cookie sheet with some irritation, thinking the assholes were really full of themselves if they thought she was going to suddenly become Suzy Homermaker, but merely shook her head when Seth glanced at her questioningly. Adrian and Cameron examined the vegetables Seth had got to make salads, searched until they found a cutting board and knife and split the cutting and washing between them while Seth laid out the steaks and began another search for seasonings.