But what had happened to that man? The wolf couldn’t have torn into him. She swallowed convulsively.
Then she reconsidered. The only one she knew by the name of Jake was Jake Silver. And the voice. The voice sounded like his. Yet he couldn’t have known she was out here. And if he’d had any inkling that she was, why had he stopped his truck by the roadside and chased after her—a wolf—calling her by name?
No way in hell could he know she was the wolf. Unless… unless Ferdinand Massaro had told him. A cold chill ran through her. She shuddered.
What if Jake was in on this with Ferdinand? What if Jake also had a vendetta against Mario? And that’s why Jake had come after her at the restaurant once he’d spied her, then made friends with her in Breckenridge, trying to keep her safe. Maybe it all had been a ploy. Keep Alicia safe from Mario’s men so that he and Ferdinand and whoever else was in their little gang could use her to do their bidding. Maybe Jake knew Ferdinand wanted Alicia for his own. Maybe Jake had also wanted her.
Because he was a werewolf, too.
She swallowed hard, her throat as parched as a dry Colorado summer. She couldn’t believe any more werewolves existed. How could she have been so naive about Jake? Thinking that he’d really cherished her like the way he’d behaved? She should have known the way he’d acted toward her wasn’t genuine. No one had ever treated her the way he had, as though he had really cared. The notion would have upset her more if she’d had time to reflect and wasn’t so desperate to get away.
As soon as she could, she had to escape the whole lot of them and disappear for good. How in the world could her life have turned so inside out?
She twitched her ears, listening to the approaching men as they ran through the woods. What if the two men headed into the forest toward Alicia and this wolf holding her hostage were all werewolves, too?
A shiver stole up her spine.
As the two people grew closer, she again instinctively struggled to free herself. And the wolf again forced her to stay still. If he’d been a normal wild wolf, he would have run off to protect himself. Even if he’d been someone’s pet, she didn’t think he could be trained to pin down another wolf until his “master” arrived.
The only saving grace? They didn’t seem to want to kill her. But she was still one of the good guys, and being the lover of anyone who would call Ferdinand Massaro friend wasn’t in the plans.
“Jake?” the man called out again and sounded worried.
The other person running with the one who was speaking remained quiet.
And then they drew close. Really close, their feet tromping through the underbrush only a few feet away. Then she saw them.
Alicia’s mouth gaped as she stared at the one man, who looked a hell of a lot like Jake Silver. His brother. Had to be.
This man was tall and broad shouldered with brown hair a little lighter than the man who had stolen her heart. This one had a more jovial expression, and his eyes were lighter. He looked so much like Jake that the similarities were uncanny, though.
“Hey, Jake, is this Alicia Greiston?” the man asked, crouching near her head, his gaze focusing on hers, but she thought he was addressing the male wolf pinning her down.
As much as she couldn’t believe it, the wolf had to be Jake Silver, her dream lover.
She took a deep breath and smelled the new man. A wolf. A sexy, virile wolf. She couldn’t believe he was one, too.
The other man joined him, his hair nearly black and his eyes just as dark. But what impressed her most was the police uniform he was wearing. And for the first time since her nightmare with the Mafia guys, she relaxed. But then she recalled Mario had a fair number of cops in his pocket. And a judge or two.
She stiffened.
“Is it her, Tom?” the police officer asked.
“If the way Jake’s holding her still is any indication, it sure looks to be,” Tom said. “What do you want me to do with her, Jake?” He dropped a bundle of clothes down next to the wolf that was pinning her down.
Without a doubt, Jake was the wolf, which meant he had to be a werewolf. Newly turned like her? Had Ferdinand turned him, too?
No, no, Ferdinand had said he was all alone. That he didn’t want to be alone. She was sure that’s why he had turned her.
She stared at Jake in disbelief. She’d never get used to any of this. How many were there really?
Jake slowly released her, but she didn’t move. His eyes told her to stay still. Dark concerned eyes. He sat up, but he was still way too close. She was certain that if she tried to bolt, he’d pin her right back down.
Tom put his hands on his hips. “Two of the men who went after her got away. They could be looking for her now. Should we take her home with us?”
But she hadn’t seen Jake since she’d been turned. He couldn’t have known unless Ferdinand had told him. None of it made any sense. Maybe Ferdinand hadn’t been making any sense to her that night.
And maybe all of these men were in with Ferdinand Massaro. Or maybe only Jake. The others might be clueless about what Jake had been doing in Breckenridge.
The wolf stood and kept a wary eye on her. She finally moved to a sitting position, figuring she didn’t have much choice about where she was going. Surely, these men meant to protect her for now, which had to be a good thing. Until she could shift, grab some clothes, and run.
Tom motioned back to the road. “We’ll take you with us. Don’t run, Alicia. Jake will chase you down if you try, and we’ll have to resort to other measures. We’ll give you protection at our home. You won’t get a better offer.”
Offer. The kind that no one could refuse. Jake had no intention of letting her go. Just like Ferdinand, if he hadn’t been murdered, had planned to keep her for his own.
She would probably shift again before long, and then without clothes to wear, what was she to do?
She stood, more shakily than she wanted to let on, then trotted back toward the road. Jake kept pace beside her, brushing her shoulder and hip with his as if to remind her he wasn’t going to permit her to deviate from her path. But his touching her was also a reminder of the intimacy they’d shared and which seemed odd now that they were both wolves. She wouldn’t have thought she could feel that way about him in this form. Yet, the deep feelings of longing for him stirred in her blood just like they always did when he was with her, either for real or in her dream state.
She didn’t try to move away from him, too aware of the way his heated body felt touching hers, making her desire him something fierce. She craved that closeness and wanted to renew their friendship, to make love to him in the flesh again and rekindle the bond that came of the sexual contact. And that made her hate herself for allowing herself to be taken in by his dark seductive ways. For wanting a wolf. But he wasn’t just a wolf. He was Jake. The man of her dreams. The man who had swept her off her feet the minute she’d laid eyes on him in Breckenridge that first day.
She glanced at him and couldn’t help but admire the beautiful way his dark brown fur masked the hairs between his eyes and ears, the fur dark red down his nose, and the same dark red coloring the curve of his ears, while he had beige fur underneath his chin and on his throat and chest. Dark brown fur covered his back like a saddle. He looked—distinguished, intelligent, his darkened brown eyes looking back at her, watching her expression as if he was trying to read what she thought of him. And in an instant, she remembered him from before. Remembered the way the wolf had growled at the two men who had accosted her on the trail where she’d left the wreath for her mother. This wolf. Jake.
She barely breathed as she thought about it further. About how the wolf had run off, then Jake appeared shortly afterward on the path. It had been Jake, coming to her protection.
That again tied him in with Ferdinand Massaro, didn’t it? He was a werewolf like Ferdinand, so they had to have a connection. That he and Ferdinand both were gunning for Mario. But when the men had come after her, definitely Mario’s men, Jake had once again stepped in to ensure her safety. She didn’t want to think of Jake like that. She didn’t want to believe he’d just been using her.
Breaking into her dark thoughts, Jake nuzzled her face, and the feeling was akin to the caress of a soft cheek against a soft cheek, only in this case, fur against fur. But her whiskers were extremely sensitive and his touching hers was pure delight, no matter how much she attempted to rally against the feelings he stirred in her.
He licked her face, then continued to run beside her, sticking close, touching, endearing, reassuring. Like when he’d held her cold hand in the restaurant, letting her know he was there for her when the menacing thug was ordering her from the place, Jake was here for her now. But it seemed unreal to feel these things for him as a wolf when he was also one.
Maybe he did truly care for her, but the fact he had been with Ferdinand ruined any chance she and Jake would have ever had.
“Peter can drive if you don’t want to shift back,” Tom said to Jake. “Or I can. I’ll let Darien know we’re headed back to Silver Town.” He pulled a cell phone off his belt and flipped it open, then punched a button. “Hey, Darien, we’ve found Alicia Greiston. The little lady’s a pretty gray wolf. We’re headed back to town now.” He paused and looked at Jake. “Yeah, Jake’s a wolf right now, too. All right. See you in about an hour,” Tom said into his cell phone, then snapped it shut and shoved it back in its pouch.
Peter pulled the door open to his Suburban, and Tom tossed Jake’s clothes in the backseat.
“I’ll drive Jake and Alicia. You can drive Jake’s truck back to the house,” Tom said.
“Will do.” Peter loped ahead to Jake’s truck.
“Too bad I didn’t know you were one of us, or I could have brought a change of clothes for you,” Tom said to Alicia. “Wait!” he called out to Peter. “Why don’t you drop by the motel in Crestview and see if you can get Alicia’s suitcases released to you?”
The police officer shook his head. “They’ll confiscate everything at the crime scene. The sheriff will need to get Alicia’s statement also, once she shifts back.”