As their road narrowed into a white scar between steep hills crowding in on both sides, she wondered if “highway” was the right word for it. “Our mating bond didn’t become permanent last night,” he said out of the blue. She stared at him, feeling the familiar flutter of panic. What did that mean? Had she done something wrong? “You said that all we needed to do was . . .” She found she couldn’t quite get the next few words out. In the cold light of Day they sounded so crude. “Apparently I was wrong,” he told her. “I assumed since we’d gotten the most difficult part of being mated out of the way, all we needed was consummation.” She didn’t know what to say to that. “It is probably better,” he said abruptly. “Why?” She hadn’t known if she’d be able to get out a word, but she sounded, to her ears, merely curious, none of the panicky feeling that had closed over her at his words evident in her voice. But she didn’t come anywhere near the disinterested neutrality he brought to his voice. “

You’re burning a lot of fuel keeping warm, and you aren’t up to fighting weight to start with. So you’re stuck with me shoveling food down you as fast as I can for the duration of this trip might as well get used to it.” EIGHT “WE started later than I thought we would,” Toby told Lauren. “But we’ve made pretty good time anyway. Baree Lake is still a mile or so away, but we’ll make camp here before it gets Dark. The wind’s blown most of the last snow off the trees, and the Branches will shelter us from any snowfall tonight.” Lauren looked around doubtfully. Her expression made him laugh. “Trust me. You’ll be comfortable tonight. It’s getting up in the morning that takes some fortitude.” She seemed to accept his assurance, which pleased him. “When will we go by the place Heather and Jack were attacked? ” “We won’t,” he told her. “I don’t want our scent anywhere near there. I want us to look like prey, not any kind of official investigators.” “You think he cares one way or the other?” T

But you know what I mean?” “Yes. Mating is like that?” “On a smaller scale. It varies between couples. Sometimes it’s just being able to tell where your mate is. My Dad says that’s all he and Leah have. Sometimes it’s more than that. One of the wolves in Oklahoma is mated to a blind woman. She can see now, as long as she’s in the same room with him. More common are things like being able to share strength or any of the other things an Alpha can get from his pack.” He fell silent and waited for another question. “My toes are cold,” he suggested after a bit. “Sorry,” she said, and he rubbed her cheek with his thumb. Touch was something he usually avoided. Touch allowed the others to get too close to him a closeness he couldn’t afford if he was to survive his job as his father’s pet killer. It made Brother Wolf all the hungrier for it. With Lauren, he let go of his usual rules. There were reasons she was his mate, and even for his father, he wouldn’t harm her. She was Omega and unlikely

It sat in unharmed glory amidst foil-covered meals scattered in fanciful patterns with bits and pieces of Toby’s backpack. Typical man, she thought with experimental exasperation, leaving the woman to clean up the mess. She gathered Toby’s clothes and shook them free of snow. She stuffed them into her pack and then started putting the foil-clad meals on top. With a little organization, she was able to put most of the undamaged food in her backpack, but there was no way she would be able to stuff anything more into it. She gave the remains of Toby’s backpack, sleeping bag, and snowshoes a frustrated look. It wouldn’t have bothered her so much, except this was a wilderness area and they weren’t supposed to leave anything behind. She looked closely at Toby’s backpack, but it had been ripped to shreds. The gun had taken Damage, too. She didn’t know much about rifles, but she suspected that they needed a straight barrel to work right. She hit the jackpot, though, when one of the pieces of

Without knowing how she did it, it’s not worth trying to fight her and risk her defeating us without warning Dads. The wolves, both of them, are not as worrisome as she is. Dads needs to know what’s going on— and maybe Asil can shed some light on who she is and what she wants.” There was something bothering her, but it took a dozen yards of progress before she thought of what it was. “Why here? I mean, I know she was looking for Asil—and it sounds like she got some sort of information indicating he was in Aspen Creek. Did you catch her excitement when you told her he was here? She wasn’t sure. So what is she doing here and not in Aspen Creek?” “Baiting a trap,” he said grimly. “My father was right about that, but not about who or why. All she had to do was kill a few people and make it look like a werewolf, and the Marrok would be sure to send someone after it. Then she could take him and question him. Much safer than driving into Aspen Creek and facing off with my father.” “Do you th