Chael
I knew my fucking instinct to remain in Texas for the time being would serve me right. Even though Christophe had yet to pull up anything relevant on Pines, and there was a hell of a lot of pack business that I needed to get back home to take care of, I couldn’t leave Reese.
She didn’t know it, but I stayed in a hotel only about ten minutes from her home. Yes, ever since I first scented her and found out her name, I had my brother look up her address. While I couldn’t claim her as my mate yet, I would be damned if I let her out of my sight for too long.
When she called me, I knew something was wrong. I was in my truck and on my way to her place before the call disconnected. Less than ten minutes after ending that call, I parked in her driveway behind her car.
I bared my teeth as soon as I opened my truck’s door. The distinct smell of wolf DNA permeated the air. They weren’t just wolves but shifters, fucking werewolves around my mate’s home. And they weren’t from my pack.
I hadn’t assigned any of my protectors to watch over Reese, not since I was so close. In fact, the only members of my pack who knew about Reese were Chance and Christophe. I thought about heading into the woods and shifting to seek them out, but I needed to lay eyes on Reese first.
I ran a hand over my hair to calm my ire to not frighten her. I strolled up the concrete pathway that led to the front entryway. My booted foot hit the top stair, and Reese pulled open the door.
“You’re here.” The words came out breathy, and I had to fight to control my urges. There was fear in her brown eyes, which ignited my anger again.
Without thinking, I reached out my long arms and pulled her into me, needing the comfort as much as she did. She came willingly.
Damn, did her body feel divine pressed against mine. Leaning down, I buried my nose into the top of her head and inhaled deeply. The tingling sensation that I remembered from the first time I caught her scent was there but in much greater abundance. She smelled like vanilla with a hint of lavender and something woodsy that reminded me of the mountains of my mother’s home after a fresh rain.
Reese slipped her arms around my waist, holding me to her, and I knew that my long wait to find my mate was worth it. I pulled back and brushed my lips across her forehead. It wasn’t quite a kiss, but it was all I could do to contain myself. Not while the scent of foreign shifters continued to pulse in the air around us.
“Let’s go inside,” I said, loosening my grip on her body, though it was the last thing I wanted to do.
She went back inside, and I followed after doing a sweep of our immediate surroundings with my gaze. There weren’t any wolves in sight, but that didn’t mean they didn’t still linger around somewhere.
Reese moved a few feet away from the door to stand in the middle of her small living room. I stared down at her, dressed in a pair of red-and-black plaid pajama pants and a formfitting sleeveless white top. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and as soon as I caught her nipples peeking through her top, my mouth watered.
My wolf whined.
Take her!I gritted my teeth, quietly reminding my wolf that my human was in charge at the moment. Mauling Reese in her living room would only scare the shit out of her.
“I’m sorry.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I shouldn’t have called you.”
Before I could respond, a low growl sounded from behind her.
“Henry, no,” Reese commanded. She moved aside and lowered, petting the large black dog that stood behind her. “He doesn’t usually take well to new people,” she said, an apologetic smile on her lips.
He continued to growl. My face hardened, and I glared at him in the eyes, my stare unwavering.
Silence.My wolf commanded. Recognition soon filled Henry’s gaze, and he went from growling to lowering his head, bowing. The universal sign that he recognized who the alpha in the room was.
“Wow. I’ve never seen him do that before.” Reese stood, glancing between Henry and me.
“He just needed to know who he was dealing with.” I smiled down at her until the wrinkle in her forehead relaxed. Moving in closer, I brushed my fingers down the length of her arm. “Tell me what happened.”
Her lips parted, and her eyes swayed from one side of the room to the other. She ran a hand over the back of her neck. “It’s ridiculous. I thought I saw some wolves in my backyard. It was probably me making up things. I had a weird dream that woke me up and—”
“Show me.”
She paused and pushed out a heavy breath through her mouth. She waved her head toward the kitchen. “It’s likely nothing at all, and I’m overreacting.”
“Let me be the judge of that.” I bit back the desire to tell her that she wasn’t making anything up. Her senses were correct. But that would mean revealing the truth to her, and she wasn’t ready for that just yet.
She nodded, and I followed her into the kitchen. “They were out there.”
“Let me.” I covered her hand when she started to unlock the door.
She stepped back, and I opened the door. I sniffed the air and counted at least three different wolf scents. They weren’t alphas, though. Not powerful enough to take me on, even in a pack of three.
