This was no dog. It had to be a wolf. The length of its muzzle, the broadness of its frame were similar to Nathan’s.
Uncertainty kept her finger from getting anywhere near the trigger. This wolf was as black as night, with noticeable streaks of silver coursing along its chest and back. How could she possibly know who this was? She had never seen anyone she trusted in their wolfish form. That was something she would have to remedy after this was all over. Was this Dominic? Or Wyatt? It wasn’t snarling as Nathan had, so that was one thing to prove it might not have been Wyatt. What if it was her father?
The closer it came, unafraid and non-hostile, the moonlight told her something else. Its fur wasn’t clean. It was caked with something dark and thick. Mud? Blood?
Erica stared into the golden eyes that held an essence of intelligence.
“Dominic?” she guessed.
The pointed ears swiveled, and the wolf stopped. As still as a lifelike statue, it watched her and the gun. She didn’t want to drop her guard, didn’t want to take the chance just in case this was a shifter that intended her harm. Maybe it was Wyatt, trying to lull her into a false sense of security by not coming across as aggressive.
The longer she met his hypnotic gaze, the more she realized the truth. The mating bond came alive when the wolf drew nearer, chasing away the doubt. This was Dominic. One hundred percent.
Erica lowered the gun and fell to her knees as he approached. He was massive, his muzzle level with her brow when she sat back on her heels. The gun fell from her hand into the grass in favor of plunging her fingers into his thick mane. There was no fear, no apprehension, but as soon as she felt the slick blood on his fur, she gasped.
“Are you okay?”
She was answered by a quick lick to the cheek, cold and slimy, but she smiled anyway. Yeah, he was fine.
“Is it over?”
Dominic ducked his head low, and she didn’t shy away when he bumped his muzzle against her jaw. It took her a second to realize he might have been trying to nuzzle her with some kind of animal-like affection. She’d never owned a dog or any pet for that matter, so she didn’t know what was considered a sign of love, or what she should do in return.
So, she reservedly petted down the blood-encrusted locks of fur, accepting his open tenderness as a sign that everything was indeed over.
Tolstone was safe again, and Dominic didn’t choose her over his pack. That was what she hoped for all along, because Erica knew she wasn’t worth throwing away centuries of tradition.
What Dominic’s family did for distressed shifters was admirable. She saw that now. With all of Dominic’s talk about how much he hated his responsibilities, how adamantly he was ready to leave everything behind to have a life with her, it terrified Erica over the last quarter of an hour that he would actually take Wyatt’s ultimatum. She may not have seen all of Tolstone in its shifter-sanctuary glory, but based on the little she did know, this place was far too important to give up. There was nothing in the world that could compare to the relief she felt, knowing he hadn’t abandoned his town.
Though she didn’t understand or fully condone the way the Prime Alpha was called upon to keep the peace, Erica understood one thing. Tolstone would have been lost without him, and she would too.
Chapter Twenty
“So, what doyou want from the Lunar Lantern?” Erica asked Dominic over the phone as she played with the tip of her braid. In the living room, ABBA’s Greatest Hits CD played on the radio on the mantel, and she knew Dominic could likely hear it on the other end of the line, but she was done being shy about her music around him.
“Just tell Jaime to fix me up the usual.”
She could tell by the slow way he formed the words that he was distracted. The antique shop reopened a few days after the two shifters had trashed it. Some of Dominic’s pack came in to help clean, but reimbursement for losses through the insurance company proved to be the most difficult part of the recovery. He must have been filling out more forms, comparing his claims to his old inventory sheet to see how much he’d actually lost.
What became affectionately called “The Battle for Tolstone” ended a few weeks ago. All of Wyatt’s pack had been forced out, with the exception of Kaelyn and Nolan, who had completely disassociated themselves from the psychotic shifter’s scheme before it went too far. It took more than a little convincing to get Cole to adopt them into his pack, but Dominic was sure the arrangement would work out for the better.
When it came to the fate of the remainder of Wyatt’s pack, Dominic wasn’t without mercy. He called in a favor with a former pack that had moved on from Tolstone the prior year. They were willing to accept the stragglers, and the Prime Alpha footed the bill for any expenses involved with the move, his final parting courtesy.
Only Wyatt and Nathan got the short end of the stick. Nathan wouldn’t have been missed, but it took quite a bit of lying to cover up Wyatt’s sudden disappearance. A secret love affair with an unknown secretary from Springfield and an impromptu elopement to the Bahamas were thrown in, and no one questioned it further.
Xavier stepped forward to testify against Nathan, saying that he was the one to put the drugs in Erica’s home, and this was further enforced when the criminal’s fingerprints were found on the drug bags. One more warrant was added to his record, the drugs were turned over to county authorities, and Erica was acquitted of the charges against her. It seemed as if all had gone back to the way it had been, with some obvious exceptions.
“So, an avocado tofu burger with sautéed mushrooms and loaded with pickles?” she teased.
“Yeah, sure.” More page flipping on the other end of the line.
Erica knew very well that he hated all of those things she’d just mentioned. “Dominic, you’re not listening.”
He let out a sigh, and she heard the creak of his office chair. “I am listening.”
“So, you do want that tofu burger?”
“God, no! Who said anything about tofu?”
