Chapter Two

Gage Erin White was the cutest, tastiest morsel my wolf or I had ever seen or been attracted to, but she was also either the most naïve or the riskiest woman I knew. It was apparent she didn’t have anyone to take care of her, or they would have already handled her unsafe behavior. Didn’t she know in this area of Alaska the female population hadn’t increased the way it had in other, more populated, areas of the state? In the less dense areas, hunters, trappers, loners would see her as prime sexy real estate, and that was from the male human perspective. The younger shifter population would love to take her for a ride. Her unprotected time was fraught with danger.

She had luscious hips and rounded bottom that had a distinctively gentle sway as she sashayed through the building, but she had breasts that could bring a man to his knees. They weren’t huge but ample, certainly and firm, yet still soft. Once, I was in the right place to catch her as she tripped. Those pillowy mounds of flesh pressed against my chest made my wolf howl.

Not only physically enticing, Erin had an almost ethereal aura of goodness that encased a sassy strength, an indomitable spirit that called to me. Any other woman that I’d lusted after, I’d bedded with few exceptions and didn’t crave more. I didn’t want to just bed Erin, I desired her and expected to claim and keep her when she was ready.

She gave me a forlorn sigh. “Nothing. I’ll figure it out. I’m fine, really. Thanks for asking.”

Her demeanor had a lingering essence of sadness, and I vowed I wouldn’t add to her sense of abandonment. It was that side that called to my nurturing animal the strongest and that side I fought most to contain around her. Few of my pack had the daddy urge to the level I did. I liked pampering my women, and I looked forward to the cuddle after a hard session of sex or administering punishment to a naughty girl. I seemed to have that strong nurturing and protection response in spades for only one woman, and she was human.

I opened my arms, and she sunk into their shelter. I took her bag from her shoulder and slid it to the floor. “I’m sorry it was such a stressful week, baby girl. Who can I maim or destroy to make it better?”

“Maim or destroy?”

I answered trying to interject humor that I didn’t feel. “Killing is against the law.”

She giggled just a little bit, and my wolf relaxed. “Hmm, this right here is the best thing I’ve had all year.” I pulled her closer. She laid her head on my chest and sniffed. “Mmm, you smell so good.”

I’d spent months thinking about why Erin might entice me so much, given her biology. I concluded there was something distinctive about her; her biology was unusual. She smelled different. To a shifter, that meant something. But there was another quality I had yet to identify. She was so unique, in fact, that I could understand why fellow shifters, desperate to have some type of love commitment, might consider outside of their kind. I wanted to keep her.

At first sight, I had wanted to bed her, plain and simple. I’d bedded other humans. But this was more. Like some of my fellow shifters had done, I had contemplated in recent weeks, that I might consider more with Erin. She got me and wasn’t intimidated by my mannerisms or size. It was apparent her intelligence was high, and her compassion was deep. Her senses were sharper than the average mammal, nearly rivaling mine and that right there was confusing. I’d never heard of a human with that type of sensory perception that wasn’t a mixed breed. And she needed me.

She was what non-shape shifters called a submissive. In my world, most submitted to someone’s authority and accepted it as a natural way of life. A comforting security in the hierarchy of life. In my community or territorial pack, I was the beta to my littermate Joshua Hunter, who held the Alpha position. I also held the second in command in Hunter’s business world, was his silent partner, and we liked to share our women. But we hadn’t ever discussed mating except with shifters. Those who did, often ménage mated with another shifter as they readily accepted multiple life partners.

It was well known that a mixed breed was more difficult if raised as human. Females were few and sometimes far between. There were not enough full female shifters to go around, necessitating looking elsewhere. Also, there was the issue of inbreeding that the world of shifters took very seriously.

I heard a stifled sniffle. “Honey, what’s wrong?” I almost said, ‘tell daddy’, which I felt sure would have ruined my slow, methodical stalking of this woman.

I kissed the top of her head, and she jumped as if startled, then snuggled in and a whimper slipped out. Erin had that distant look she had when something was preoccupying her, like trying to figure out a life solution—or listening to the essence of the Earth’s tempo around her. At those times, she wasn’t cognizant of her surroundings until jolted from her reverie. It was this that first alerted me to those hidden, almost mystical depths that made her unique.

Zoning out also made her a prime target. Since I had already discussed this with her ad nauseam, my wolf wanted to punish her for doing it again after so many warnings and then take advantage of her remorse. But I had to acknowledge reluctantly that often she had no control. That was why she needed a full-time keeper.

She wasn’t mine, although today, with her in my arms, I considered how that would play out. As my Alpha, Hunter would need to click with my choice. Since we often shared, I saw no reason why we would not do so in our bonding. However, most human women tended to be a bit squeamish about that. And the whole werewolf issue might put a damper on things, but somehow, with Erin, I wasn’t as worried about that.

I would have to talk to Hunter about taking a mate or at least importing more females from other territories. Maybe go into Anchorage and find a few. The presence of shapeshifters in Alaska was something people didn’t question, although we would never reveal ourselves outside of the pack. It was too dangerous because of the ‘outsiders’ or those from ‘down south’, those who came from the lower forty-eight states. The native people, however, had known of our existence forever. That was why they had so many retellings of how animal and man shifted from one to another. It was an accepted fact of life. It was the rest of the populace who caused the trouble. With Erin’s premonitions, it wouldn’t be as hard for her to accept.

“Erin, sweetheart, I’m worried about you. You seem concerned about something. I can help if you let me.”

She smiled ruefully. “I wish you could, but you can’t. However, if you were a werecat or werewolf or something, at least I’d be distracted.” She laughed. “I’m going to do a little work, then grab a glass of wine, and snuggle up to a shifter book boyfriend. That helps everything.”

She pushed out of my arms in sudden embarrassment. Her smile was self-deprecating as she trotted off to find her hiding spot behind her apartment door. I often passed her door to listen to her going about her day. Yeah, I had it bad.

“Eat a decent dinner first,” I growled.

“I will.”

She waved as she entered the elevator and I could tell she wasn’t going to listen to me. The elevator doors closed on her obstinance and my frustration. Again my hand itched, and my cock twitched. She might be the death of me. And what a sweet death it would be, but I hated it when she was hiding things and didn’t let me in. I’d been falling in love with this woman for over a year now and she’d just added another chink in my armor. Erin loved shifters. I could be her lover. The lips that she bit regularly were often in my dreams.

I wanted this woman, and after I spanked her ass for all the times she made herself vulnerable, I’d cuddle her in my arms until she stopped crying, and finally, I would take her hard and completely. Then I’d spank her for all her teasing before marking her with my scent so no one else would take her. No, that was for the bonding ritual that featured Erin in my dreams, not just tasting to satisfy my hunger.

Yeah, I was going to talk to Hunter about finding us a woman to share. Erin might have spoiled me for life-bonding right now, but a wolf had needs. My wolf was crying out for Erin, and I needed to appease him in some way. After watching her hot little ass disappear in the elevator, I called Hunter. Maybe we needed to check out this job and employer she had. And go for a run. And talk about Erin coming to our bed.

***

Erin My mind kept taking over. I tried to talk to Joey, reason with him but did I try hard enough? One of the many questions that plagued my confused brain as I tried to find something that sounded like I wanted to eat it. There was one pizza place that delivered, but they could only bring it to the building foyer. Gage had vetoed anyone entering without escort or prior approval since one of the older ladies was harassed by an unauthorized person when she came into the hallway.

Gage changed the protocol, so I have to meet them downstairs. Actually, what he said to me when he laid out his edict, was a security guy would greet them at the door, and I was forbidden to do so except if it was a friend. Like I have any. Well, damn it, it’s Friday night and I’ve had all I can handle with men telling me what they think I should do. Except Gage isn’t an ass, he was looking out for my safety.

It’s his job, I try to tell myself, but it didn’t help. Gage was my knight in shining armor with what I’m sure I’ve heard called a ‘daddy’ thing. I sighed and called in the all meat pizza with extra pepperoni and calculated the time I should go down to receive it. Gage should be gone soon, so he wouldn’t chew me out for not telling him to grab it for me. Or that I’m overexposed in my comfy nightshirt. That man was incredibly protective, and I loved it, on most days. Call made, I went back to fret over the issues with Joey.

What was so important that he had to hurry and get his final story told? It was the last book for this series, surely. Joey had always said that prematurely ending a good series was a bad idea and a flashing neon sign to a problem. I hadn’t been able to get more than a little peek at this last book, but I knew there were a lot of loose ends that the reader would have at the end of the previous installment. It would take more than one book to end this well. Because I trusted Joey knew what he was doing, I complied with his wishes. I loaded the draft directly to my cloud, hiding it well. I’d look at it later.

Right now, in case the whole Joey situation wasn’t scary enough, all those late nights spent watching cop shows, mysteries, and the like tramped through my brain to aid in building my fears. I called Joey. No answer. I just left him a little while ago. Maybe he was taking a nap. He had no circadian rhythm, destroyed by writing at all hours of the day and night. I checked the time and went for the door, leaving it open and my shoes off as I raced downstairs to wait for the delivery guy. Wolf Pass possessed two places that delivered: the pizza place and the Chinese place. Both were small mom and pop businesses, and they made the best food.

I saw a man arrive at the door holding an insulated bag presumably with my pizza. I was cold already, standing in the downstairs foyer because of the after-work door traffic. Without looking to see if there was a security man in the office to help me like Gage had instructed me to do, I opened the door to the hooded driver. Gage would have had a fit if he’d seen. That knowledge nearly caused me to slam the door shut again, but I shook that persistent worry from my head. Nonetheless, I did think it lucky for me that it was after he usually went home.

“Thank you for the delivery.” I held out the money.

The early January frigid cold swirled in, bringing with it powdered snow and frosty wind that chilled me to the bone as I accepted the pizza and paid the bundled-up man. He grabbed the money and held my hand a minute too long. I had a sense of being held captive, and I yanked my hand back, his nail scratching my palm, but he didn’t let go. I saw when he glanced over my head and dropped my hand.

“Have a nice night,” came out muffled as he rushed off.

I looked at my hand that stung where he’d scratched me. I started to put it in my mouth to lick my wound, but a large hand grabbed my wrist and flipped my hand to display my palm. When he saw the scratch, the owner of the big paw grunted. It wasn’t a real wound because it didn’t bleed much.

I didn’t have to look up to know who it was behind me, or who had my wrist. My heart sank as I prepared for the lecture. I gathered my flannel nightshirt around me and shoved at the door. Gage’s large hand pushed it the rest of the way closed.

“What were you doing, little girl?” he asked. His voice was low and deliberate, menacing. My belly started the acrobatics over again at the alpha tones.

“I’m hardly a little girl, but I would have thought it was obvious. I was hungry. You told me to eat.”

He stood and looked at me for a moment before reaching down and taking the box. “Hey, I can carry… is that dried blood?” I knew it wasn’t from my newly acquired scratch because there was little, to no blood. There was, however, a rather large bit on the corner of the box.

Gage was instantly alert. “Where?”

I reached over to point at it. “Right there on the edge. Someone must have cut themselves. Maybe the delivery guy.”

“And it seeped through the bag?” He sniffed at the corner and made a face.

“Oh, right, that wouldn’t work, would it?” I tried to puzzle it out. “Look, I don’t know, I’m just guessing but pizza, pizza sauce?”

I know I sounded testy, but I’d had a hard day, and I wanted to eat dinner, and that’s all. Gage always heats my blood and makes me a little unsteady. He put his arm around me, and I wanted to lean in, but I refused on principle.

“Let’s get you back to your apartment.” He looked down at my feet. “You have no shoes on, and you have nothing but a nightshirt to cover you. You need a spanking and a keeper. No, you need a daddy.”

I was right. My clit tingled and the muscles at the apex of my thighs actually clenched. I had to fight this attraction.

“I’ve been taking care of my own needs for more years than you can imagine.”

His voice lowered. “Don’t you think it’s time you let someone else help?”

I didn’t know what to say because the words stuck in my throat. Yes, I thought it was past time and precisely what I’d want. But I would never make myself vulnerable. I dropped my eyes.

“No.” My insides fairly jumped in disagreement, and I cringed.

He growled at my words, and his eyes brightened to a color close to silver. He knew I lied. He held the pizza box with one hand, and the other slipped around my waist, pulling me towards the staircase. I realized how big Gage actually was and how long his legs were as he took two steps at once but could have easily taken three at a time. He slowed to one step at a time for me. We made it to my landing, and he froze as he saw my door wasn’t only ajar, but at least a quarter open. I’d only left it cracked open. I stopped. He made a noise I’d swear was a growl. I shivered and felt his hold on my waist tighten.