Primal Heat: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 3) Read online

  “I think you better stick with Miss Winslow,” I said. Damn if that didn’t lift the corners of his mouth in a smile. I blinked hard against the memory of what that mouth felt like against mine and the promise of what it would feel like on other parts of me.

  “Fine. Miss Winslow. I really am sorry. I was out of line upstairs. You didn’t deserve that. I hope you can find it in your heart to give me another chance sometime. I promise I won’t bite.”

  Again, he had me speechless. I took a halting step backward, and he didn’t stop me. He just stood there staring at me with that infuriatingly sexy smirk. I wanted to say something to wipe it off. I meant something else, but my temper flared and it came out all wrong. Except that I did succeed in wiping the grin off his face.

  As the automatic doors slid open behind me, I stepped on the other side of them. Just before they closed, I turned back to face him and said, “Maybe not. But I might.”

  Sebastian Lanier’s deep laughter sent a shiver up my spine as I turned and left him there.

  Chapter Five

  I blew past Grace on my way to Thorp’s office. I tore the strap of my bag over my shoulder and barged in. She raised a finger and looked ready to tell me something, but I didn’t give her the chance. I had every intention of walking straight in and confronting Dale about whatever misguided ideas he had about my job description. But, Dale wasn’t there. The door to the congressman’s office stood slightly ajar and I heard both his and Dale’s hushed voices coming from inside.

  I meant to turn away. It was probably better for me to cool down a little before saying anything to Dale anyway. I would have turned away, except I heard a name that made me freeze.

  “You let me worry about Lanier,” Dale said.

  For once, I was happy about the cubicles in the outer office. No one could see me. I let out a quiet breath and moved closer to Foster’s office. I’m not proud of myself. I shouldn’t have eavesdropped. But, after what Bas said to me, I had to know for sure whether Dale really was trying to use me as some sort of bait.

  “You’ve said that before,” Foster said. “And yet he still sees fit to barge in here half threatening me. He’s not afraid of you, Dale. You’re not who you said you were, are you?”

  Dale let out a nervous laugh. “Congressman, pack rules are complicated. You’re just going to have to trust my advice as far as that goes. You don’t really have a choice there.”

  “Be careful, Dale. That almost sounds like an ultimatum. What I’m interested in is your ability to deliver on your promises when I brought you on the team. You know, there were a lot of people who advised me against it. You want to know what they said about you? They said you didn’t have the right pedigree for the job. Now, I thought that was either a bad pun or a borderline racist comment. Would you take it like one?”

  Dale let out a noise. Something similar to what Bas had done. Part human, part animal. All threat. It vibrated up my spine and I held my breath so I could hear what he said next.

  “Congressman, be very careful. I may not be an official member of a Wild Lake pack, but I can assure you, the pack connections I do have are far more powerful than any of theirs. You’re shortsighted if you think Wild Lake has any real influence outside this county. They lack the vision that you need. They’re content to just run, hunt, and live their lives. They’re not where the real power is.”

  “So far, those connections haven’t done a single thing for me, Dale. I think it’s time I start talking to somebody with more status than you have. Someone higher bred, maybe. Someone who can do more than talk at me about how to handle Bas Lanier and the rest of the Wild Lake packs when the day comes I take their land away.”

  The air went out of my lungs and I pressed my forehead against the wall. Take their land away? Is that what had Bas so upset about the language of Foster’s proposed bill? As soon as I had a chance, I needed to read through it myself. What the hell was he trying to do?

  “Tread lightly, Congressman,” Dale said. I dared to move a little closer. Through the crack in the door, I could see Dale lean on Foster’s desk, his palms flat and his neck stretched out. “Nothing happens if you don’t have the support of the southern packs. Nobody wants to drive Lanier and the rest of them north where they belong more than I do. But if you try to rush it, everything might just backfire on you.”

  Foster waved a dismissive hand at Dale. I got the distinct impression this conversation was one they’d had more than once. If Dale was trying to scare him, he had failed miserably. Foster rose and leaned across the desk, going nose to nose with Dale. My heart thudded. Dale was a shit. That was becoming clear. But, he was also were. One swift movement and I imagined he could have torn Foster’s throat open.

  “Your job for now is Lanier,” he said through gritted teeth. “That’s it. You let me worry about the rest of it. I want him out of my hair.”

  Dale seemed to flinch first. He straightened, backing away from Foster’s desk. Though I couldn’t see his face, I imagined he fixed a smirk in place as he took a step back and addressed Foster again.

  “And I told you. I’ve got something worked out where that’s concerned.”

  “Is it something I need details on, or can I for once trust that one of your schemes won’t come back to bite me in the ass like the poachers are starting to do?”

  Fuck. So Foster had as much as admitted the wolf poachers on Wild Lake lands were his or Dale’s doing. But how? Dale was a werewolf too. Could he be slimy enough to pose a threat to some of his own people?

  “Just leave it to me,” Dale said. He started to turn, and I had nowhere to go but his office.

  Shit. I slid inside his office door, sweat beaded at my temples, and it got hard to breathe. I’d been stupid. I couldn’t be sure Dale hadn’t seen me out of the corner of his eye or with some extrasensory werewolf perception. I couldn’t be careless like that again.

  The rest of Foster’s and Dale’s words were muffled behind the door, but Dale finally emerged and I watched him through the glass wall. He ran a hand through his scruffy head of brown hair and his jaw twitched. He was unsettled, angry. But, he didn’t seem to have sensed me listening in. That was the good news. The bad news was he looked up and saw me now, waiting for him in his office. His grimace became a leer, and he headed straight for me.

  He leaned casually in the doorframe, playing with the end of his tie. No. He had no idea that I’d just listened in on his conversation with Foster. Dale’s mind was occupied by whatever he thought he knew about me.

  “How was your meeting with Mr. Lanier?” He pushed off from his shoulder and came toward me. I stiffened when he paused, getting a little close as he moved around me to get to his desk chair. It happened quickly. If I didn’t know what he was, or hadn’t been on my guard, I might not have noticed. But, as Dale passed me, he tilted his head almost imperceptibly toward me and flared his nostrils. He straight up sniffed me. The spark of light that flashed in his eyes at what he sensed made my blood run cold. He didn’t say it, but I knew what it was.

  He could smell Bas on me.

  When he turned and eased himself into his chair, Dale’s smirk was fixed firmly in place. God, I wanted to hurl my messenger bag at him and break his nose. He knew nothing, but assumed everything.

  Clenching my jaw hard enough to make the blood throb behind my eye, I pulled open my bag and took the thick file folder out. I lobbed it on Dale’s desk hard enough to get a raised eyebrow from him.

  “Mr. Lanier didn’t seem particularly pleased with whatever language changes the congressman wants. I’m afraid if you’ve given him the impression Lanier is handled, he very much isn’t.”

  God. Why the hell had I said that? Because I wanted to do something to wipe that simpering smile off his face. It worked. Dale’s eyes flashed dark and his lips became a colorless line. He snatched the folder and spread the papers out on his desk. Bas had made a few notes in the margins and crossed out great swaths of text. Dale pushed the paperwork aside and leaned ba
ck in his chair. I’d unsettled him for a moment, but no more.

  “But, he liked you I take it? Why don’t you have a seat? I’m anxious to hear your impressions of the man. He’s prickly; that’s for sure. But, I have a hunch he might be willing to listen with new ears if the message is coming from you.”

  I chose to stand. I gripped the back of the leather chair in front of the desk and plastered on a neutral expression. I had to be careful. Was I willing to throw over this internship because of Dale? If I confronted him head on, I wouldn’t be able to walk it back. But, I couldn’t just let him walk all over me and think he could use me to distract Bas Lanier. The reality was, it was Bas Lanier distracting the hell out of me.

  “I think you’re wrong,” I said. “I think my talents will better serve the congressman from the research end of things. Although I welcome the opportunity to network, I don’t think I’m the best person to act as any kind of go-between for you and Mr. Lanier. Whatever reservations he has about this bill, I’m guessing there’s a long history behind it. Far be it from me to do or say something that might get in the way of that history and your relationship with him.”

  Dale set his jaw on edge and narrowed his eyes. He leaned forward, resting his crossed arms on the desk. He flicked a few of the marked pages, sending them wafting to the floor.

  “Well, your reservations are duly noted, Miss Winslow. As it happens, I do have a rather sizeable project for you to start working on. Today in fact.” He pushed away more of the file and closed his fingers around a small black flash drive. He lobbed it at me and I caught it one-handed.

  “Eminent domain,” he said. “I might have mentioned it before. There are few unpublished cases and other materials on that drive. Why don’t you dive in? I’d like a memo from you by the end of the week. Think your talents are sharp enough to handle that?”

  “Of course. Is there any particular angle you want me to emphasize?”

  Dale let out a laugh that sent an icy chill down my back. “Yeah. Federal takeovers of state-owned and private property.”

  My mouth went dry when he looked up at me; his eyes had gone black. Foster’s words to him rang in my ears. He and Dale hoped to take land away from Bas and the Wild Lake packs. Now, it looked as though I’d been indirectly enlisted to help them.

  Chapter Six

  “You look like shit.”

  I kept my head down, my forehead resting on my elbow, my fingers lying flat against the keyboard of my laptop.

  “No, I mean it. Actual shit.”

  I raised my hand in a middle-fingered salute and opened one eye to face my accuser. Said accuser, Kendra Fletcher, peered at me with her wide brown eyes as she popped a Twinkie in her mouth.

  “It’s been a long day.” When I lifted my head, paper stuck to it.

  Kendra laughed and reached out to take it off. Popping the last bite of Twinkie in her mouth, she flipped the paper.

  “Kelo v. City of New London. Hmm, sounds juicy. Any sex scenes?”

  I snatched the paper back from her and added it to the ever-growing pile next to me. “Oh yeah. I found my new book boyfriend to be sure.”

  “Please tell me this is work related, not class related. ‘Cause I know I didn’t brief that one.”

  Darby Gaines plopped down in the chair next to Kendra. He put an arm around her and gave her a big, slobbery kiss. Kendra squealed and slapped at him.

  “Ugh. Not enough coffee yet.” I held up a hand to shield my eyes from the escalation of their P.D.A. Kendra’s giggles earned her a round of shushing from deeper in the library.

  Darby let her go and reached over to tousle my hair. “You’re keeping vampire hours, Winslow. Not good for your complexion.”

  I hauled myself into a sitting position and closed my laptop. I’d spent the last eight hours working on Dale’s project, plus trying to prepare for Con Law. I was just about to make a snide comment to Darby about his own complexion when he slid a steaming, 20 ounce Styrofoam cup in front of me.

  “Bless you. You are a miracle man. I knew there was a reason I liked you.” I carefully lifted the lid and gulped down a scalding mouthful of black coffee. Screw the roof of my mouth; I needed caffeine more than skin.

  “Don’t let him take the credit. That was all my idea.”

  I believed her. Kendra and I had only met six months ago as two wide-eyed first years on the morning of orientation. But, she, Darby, and I had instantly clicked during Legal Research & Writing I. None of us would have survived it without each other. Now, they kept me sane and drove me crazy all at the same time. The romance between them was only a week old. I just hoped it didn’t go sour and ruin our friendship. At the moment, they were all I had.

  “This is work stuff,” I answered after another steaming gulp of coffee. I wouldn’t have said no to one of Kendra’s Twinkies either. If Iris knew that’s what I planned for dinner, she probably would have boxed my ears as I got off the bus this morning. Or was that last night? I spent the entire day in the law library between classes and had one left to go before I could finally call it a day.

  “Anything you care to share? You haven’t said much about your fancy new internship. You know how pissed Ross and Cal are that you got it?”

  Ross and Cal were currently competing for the top spot in our class after Lud Morris dropped out of school. They were a couple of insufferable eggheads who fit the First Year Law Student stereotype to a tee. They proved the old saying: If you don’t know who the class asshole is by week three, it’s you. Let’s just say Ross and Cal had no clue who the class assholes were. Ross had taken an internship with a bankruptcy judge downtown and was rumored to be knee-deep in unglamorous Chapter 13 filings. Cal worked for his father, senior partner at one of the oldest law firms in town.

  “Nothing too exciting,” I said. I bit my lip and Kendra noticed. Though we may have only known each other for a short time, we’d gone through a kind of academic trench warfare together. She already knew me quite well.

  “Come on. You need to give me some gossipy nugget about working with Foster. You know, before Lud flew over the cuckoo’s nest, he told Ross one of his aides was, uh . . . you know. One of them.” She whispered “them” and looked around making sure no one overheard her.

  I gave her a coy bat of my eyelashes and rested my chin back on my hand. “Whatever do you mean, Kendra?”

  Darby reached over her and grabbed the other Twinkie from her pack, killing my breakfast plans. “She means werewolves.”

  “Thanks, Captain Subtle.” Kendra whacked him on the top of the head.

  I shrugged but kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t sure whether disclosing Dale’s werewolf status violated confidentiality, but I wasn’t in the mood for a zillion questions. But, Kendra hadn’t exaggerated about Captain Subtle. Darby shoved the entire Twinkie in his mouth at once and seemed to swallow it whole. I wondered if he might be a were-snake or something.

  “Fess up, Winslow. You’re busted. My sister’s a cashier at Wild Lake Outfitters. She saw you chatting it up with Sebastian Lanier in the lobby of the store the other day. She said he looked like he was into you. And that you were there for work on account of fact you looked ‘all worky.’ Her words, not mine.”

  Another round of frantic shushing followed Kendra’s gasp of surprise. So much for my plan to keep things under wraps.

  “Don’t get your shorts in a twist. I had to drop off some files for him. And that’s all you’re getting from me on the subject. I can’t talk about work stuff. But, suffice it to say it was work stuff. Nothing more interesting.”

  Kendra slapped my shoulder. “Bullshit! You’re gonna spill. What’s he like? Is he nice? God. He’s so tall. I just wanna, I don’t know. Lick him. Is he lickable? Could you tell? I mean the werewolf stuff. What’s he like up close.”

  I did my level best to keep my face neutral when answering her. A blush would give me away, and I’d never hear the end of it. “He’s, uh, a little intense. I don’t know if I’d use the word nice. He’s v
ery direct. And I didn’t spend more than five minutes alone with him.”

  The librarian started walking toward us as Kendra squealed. I nodded with my chin, mouthed “sorry” and started gathering my papers and laptop. “Come on,” I said. “We’re going to be late for class.”

  Darby grabbed Kendra’s books and made a talking gesture with his cupped hand as Kendra’s words gushed forth. “You were alone with him? Oh my God. I would die.”

  “Don’t fangirl out on me,” I said as we hit the elevator. “It wasn’t a big deal.” God. I felt like the worst liar ever. I was never going to hear the end of it from Kendra.

  “Did he bite you?” Darby asked, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

  “He did not bite me. He did not touch me. I gave him papers. He wrote notes on them. I left. Now, that’s the end of the story. Hush. Put a cork in it, Ken. Nothing to see here.”

  “Oh, you are going to do a better job of explaining yourself, Missy.” Kendra took her books from Darby as he leaned over me to press the down button and the doors shut.

  But, time was on my side. We had thirty seconds to make it to the other end of the hall when the elevator stopped. Professor Cline locked the doors on you if you weren’t inside the room at the top of the hour. We made it just in time, and Kendra was stifled by the alphabetical seating chart. Fletcher was across the room from Winslow, and I got to be alone with my thoughts. Lucky for me, the Commerce Clause turned out to be just the thing I needed to douse the more wicked ones brewing at the mention of Sebastian Lanier.

  Cline’s lecture ran long and when he finally let us go, I had about two minutes to race across the quad and make the last bus. Iris was off tonight, and there was no chance any of the other drivers would wait on me if I was late. I had to face Kendra’s indignant stare as I dashed out of the lecture hall and pushed my way through the throng of dismissed students.