Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply (2 page)

Which he did.

When Eric drew near enough, he saw five women in goddess-like semi-sheer dresses. He knew he had to be dreaming. Their silky pastel creations—in blues and pinks and mint green—fluttered about the women in the summer breeze. They were standing in the water up to their calves. Above them, the creek water was mostly gentle with a few small rapids. Down here, the rapids were much more common and significant, creating warmer pockets of water. The women were laughing and talking. A petite brunette with short, curly hair really caught his eye. She was wearing a robin's-egg-blue dress, the water sensuously plastering the bottom half of the gown to her calves and thighs.

Another woman with her back to him had long, brown hair and a mint-green dress. She moved deeper into the water, which effectively blocked his view of the woman in the blue dress.

The area was great for fishing, and he was mesmerized by the woman in blue, thinking what a delicious catch
she'd
make.

“You know, Pepper,” a blonde said to the woman in the blue dress, her voice darkening, “he wants you for his mate.”

Eric straightened a bit. No one used the term “mate” except
lupus garous
. He couldn't smell the women's scents from where he was, nor could they smell his. He would have to cross the creek upwind of them to learn if they were really wolves. But he suspected the woman he was carrying must be a member of the same wolf pack as these women. Why else would the wolf lead him in this direction?

The male wolf suddenly detoured, and Eric was taken away from the creek and back into the woods on a path that led straight to a small cabin. A few more people were there, warily watching him. So the pack was camping here, not just visiting for a few hours. As many of them as there were—he'd seen about fifteen—they must have rented a couple of cabins.

To reach these more isolated cabins, the pack would have had to hike in on foot. No parking was allowed next to the cabins, so no vehicles were in the area. That was another reason why he would have preferred to take her to his vehicle so he could drive her to see Dr. Weber in Silver Town.

The door opened for him, and a man stepped aside so Eric could carry the wolf inside. The wolf in charge ran into a room, then came out wearing a pair of jeans. “I'll take it from here,” he said. “Just lay her down on the sofa.”

“Is your pack from around here? Our town is only two hours south,” Eric reminded the man, hoping he would listen to reason. If the pack didn't have its own doctor, Dr. Weber would welcome the chance to take care of the injured wolf.

“We'll take it from here,” a woman added, and Eric swung around to see the brunette with the short, curly hair from the creek—Pepper, the other woman had called her. The other women were with her and some of the male wolves were at her side, as if guarding her. “Thank you for bringing Susan here.”

She was even more enchanting up close, and his image of her as a goddess remained the same. He wanted to make an impression on the beautiful she-wolf standing before him, who was obviously in charge and not the least bit hesitant. She was an alpha, and he was in love. It was the first time since he'd lost his mate that he'd felt any interest in another she-wolf.

Eric bowed his head a little to her. “I'm Eric Silver, a park ranger, and I'm with the Silver Town pack. I was telling this gentleman we have a wolf doctor in town if you don't have one of your own who can see to her.”

“We're fine, thank you. We'll take care of her.”

Did that mean they had someone in the pack with some medical training, maybe a nurse or an emergency med tech? Most packs did, but not many that he knew had actual physicians.

Eric turned and said to the injured wolf, “Take care, young lady. I hope you heal up soon.” Then he took one last, long look at the she-wolf in charge and inclined his head again before taking his leave.

The whole way back to his truck, he couldn't stop thinking about Pepper. Was she running the pack? Or was she just a sub-leader when the pack leader wasn't around? Either might be the case, since she had made the decisions once she arrived, rather than the male who had led Eric there. She didn't seem interested in mating the other male, who was clearly interested in her. Which would be good if Eric met up with her again.

Then his law enforcement training kicked in. What if the woman didn't want him to take care of her pack member because they were involved in the illegal activities in the park? Perhaps she didn't want anything to do with anyone in law enforcement, particularly when that someone was also a wolf and could smell things that humans couldn't.

Hell, he hated when his law enforcement training took control. He really wanted to listen to his wolfish side on this one. Damn it.

When he reached his truck, he tossed his medical pack inside, stripped off his clothes, and looked at the bloody bandage on his waist for a second before yanking it off. Stinging and a roaring ache accompanied every movement, but he bit back the pain. Then he locked up his truck and shifted.

If the wolves had been foraging for new places to take cannabis plants, he wouldn't smell anything in the camp. But he hadn't smelled all the wolves who were there either. He couldn't clear them for certain by checking out the campsite, but if the campsite was clean, the possibility of another pack's involvement in the illegal operations would seem more viable.

He raced back along the path, and when he finally reached the area near the cabin, he slipped around to where he could see it from a distance. They were packing up.
Good.
The campsite would be cleared out, so he could sniff around to his heart's content.

He remained silent. No one would be able to smell his scent unless they ventured in his direction. He watched the pack members as they all hoisted packs and began to move the injured lady. Their movements were quiet but complementary, as if they'd been together as a pack forever.

A few of them were taking off down a trail leading away from him when Eric saw a flash of gray and beige fur in the woods off to his right. Before he could react, the large, male gray wolf lunged from the trees and attacked him. Why would they need to post a guard?

“Ohmigod,” one of the women said as the attacking wolf growled and snarled.

Adrenaline pouring through his veins, Eric shot around to defend himself against the male wolf's vicious attack.

Eric didn't know if the pack continued to move away or if they were monitoring the situation, but he couldn't understand why the male wolf would attack him. Unless they were doing something illegal. Or maybe this wolf didn't know Eric was the same man who had carried the injured wolf to the cabin. Unless he'd seen him before as a wolf or could smell he was the same man who had helped the pack, he could be anyone. Even a wild wolf.

The hostile wolf was aggressive, alpha, not like any of the beta wolves Eric had met in the pack. Eric snarled and bit at him, telling him to back off. Since Eric hadn't met this wolf, he wondered where the wolf had been all this time. If he was the pack leader, he should have been helping the injured wolf long before this.

Eric intended to take off, his stance firm as he eyed the snarling wolf, who now stood still, half listening to the people clearing out of the cabin, half concentrating on Eric. But Eric didn't dare turn his back on the wolf just yet.

He didn't take a step forward to dominate the space, instead waiting for the wolf to give up and take off with his pack mates. When the wolf didn't, which was real alpha posturing, Eric had a choice: run off and leave the wolf's territory, or wait until the pack was far enough away that the wolf felt the need to keep up with them to protect them. Without proof the wolf was involved in anything illegal, Eric didn't want to take him down. Protecting his pack would be a natural instinct for the wolf, one Eric could understand.

The wolf took a few steps back and turned as if to go, making Eric assume that the wolf wanted to rejoin his pack. Eric turned slightly to race off toward his truck, with every intention of returning when all the wolves were gone so he could conduct his investigation. But then the wolf swung around and lunged at him, biting Eric in the shoulder.

Hell and damnation!

Sharp pain racked his shoulder, and he could swear it raced straight down to set the nerves on fire in the wound to his flank. Eric pivoted and clashed with the wolf. Snarling and growling, he matched the alpha's anger, the pain of his wounds fading as their teeth clashed.

Eric didn't want to kill the wolf and upset the pack when he was damned interested in the she-wolf named Pepper. Even so, he wanted to prove he wasn't about to be bullied by another wolf.
Any
wolf. He'd had his fair share of wolf fights over the years, and he never backed down from a fight another wolf started.

Rather than tearing into the wolf and killing him for the unprovoked attack, Eric ran off, his tail straight out behind, not tucked between his legs. It was a wolf way of saying he wasn't afraid in the least, but he wasn't going to fight.

The wolf doggedly tracked him, despite Eric's lead of several hundred feet, until Eric heard another wolf growling and snarling at his attacker. Eric figured the other wolf was warning the alpha that the wolf he was chasing had just helped them out, and he didn't want him fighting Eric. Or maybe they were afraid Eric would get suspicious of their activities because one of them had attacked him.

Then the woods grew quiet. Eric assumed the guard wolf and the other wolf had caught up to their people.

His shoulder and flank still burning where the wolves had bitten him, Eric finally stopped and listened to the breeze rustling the tree limbs and the crickets chirping. He heard an owl hooting in a tree several hundred feet away.

Despite how much he hurt, the woman in the blue gown—Pepper—fascinated him. He was dying to know more about the mystery wolf pack and this woman who had pinned him with a look that said she was in charge and he'd better mind. She could challenge him any day. He couldn't help but love it. Then he wondered if the wolf who had attacked him was the one who wanted to mate her.

Ah, hell, that would be his luck. He wasn't into stealing another wolf's potential mate—at least not normally.

Still, he was dying to check out the wolf smells at the campsite. But he had to take care of his injuries first.

When he reached his truck, he shifted, got his clothes out, and quickly threw on his briefs, jeans, socks, and boots.

Tomorrow early, he'd go back to the campsite.

Then he pulled out his medical pack, reapplied a bandage to his waist, and did the best he could to bandage the shoulder wound. He pulled on his shirt just to keep blood off his seat, climbed into the truck, and drove to Silver Town to see Dr. Weber.

Eric would never have thought he'd be the one injured when he only meant to help a wolf in need. Now
he
would have to see Dr. Weber about his
own
injury instead. He was about to call CJ with an update when the truck's digital screen lit up with an incoming call. It was his brother Sarandon, and Eric knew he'd have to tell him what had happened, even though he'd rather not mention the second wolf fight to anyone. His own pack would be furious that he was attacked while helping another wolf pack.

Pepper Grayling couldn't believe it when she heard two wolves fighting in the woods. She'd caught a glimpse of both male wolves, the snarling, big tan and gray that bit at Waldron Mason, and Waldron himself, a beige wolf with a white front and a smattering of gray hairs. The mystery wolf had snapped at Waldron before he raced off. The way he didn't tuck tail meant he wasn't cowed by the aggressor. And that had intrigued her.

She was furious that Waldron was pulling her away from her own pack to deal with him when she wanted to ensure Susan was properly cared for. As quickly as she was able, she stripped off her clothes, shifted, and ran like the devil to chase Waldron down. Whoever the other wolf had been, he had posed no threat to them. When she ran after the two wolves, she smelled their scents. The mystery wolf was indeed Eric Silver. No way would she want Waldron to hurt Eric after he'd helped Susan!

She was so angry, she could have killed Waldron for his unwarranted actions.

When she spied Waldron still chasing after Eric, she tore into him, growling and snapping to let him know just how angry he'd made her. He whipped around as if to attack, then recognized her and realized that by attacking, he'd lose any chance of courting and mating her—not that he had any—so he backed off. From his narrow-eyed, harsh gaze, she could tell he was irritated to the max with her. If he could have, he would have continued to hunt the other wolf down and finished him off. She worried about Eric—she smelled his blood on Waldron. How badly had Waldron hurt him?

But she knew Eric had been injured even before this because she'd smelled both an antiseptic and blood on him when she first met him.

She listened but didn't hear any sign of Eric. Growling at Waldron again, she turned and ran off. She continued to pay attention to the sounds around her, making sure he wasn't following her back to their campsite. She didn't want to have to say a word to him about any of this when she reached camp. All she wanted to do was see that her cousin Susan was taken care of.

When she didn't hear Waldron following her, she wondered if he had gone back after Eric.

As for Eric, she already had trouble with one alpha male wanting to court her. She sure didn't need a second one bugging her, if Eric had any such notion. Still, she felt bad that Waldron had attacked him, and she really hoped he wasn't hurt too seriously.

* * *

Later that night, after a doctor had x-rayed Susan's leg and found a hairline fracture, Susan and Pepper settled on the couches at Pepper's home in the woods for a late-night glass of wine and chips. Susan had her wrapped leg propped up on Pepper's coffee table to help reduce the swelling.

“You should have played in the creek with us instead running off and starting a rock slide,” Pepper said, unable to let go of her annoyance with Waldron. “It would have been safer that way.” Had Waldron been watching the women playing in the creek before he attacked Eric? Most likely. She was certain Waldron wouldn't have been spying on the rest of the pack.

She still couldn't believe that Eric Silver had stood up to her about taking Susan to see his own pack's doctor. The challenge in his expression had said he didn't agree with her and that he wanted to do things his way. She didn't know anything about Eric's pack, and she had no intention of relying on a doctor she didn't know. She and her pack might not have a wolf doctor, but they trusted the human ones they saw. Not that their doctors knew anything about the
lupus garous.

She still could envision Eric finally bowing his head in concession, giving in to her ruling.

“Yeah, but then the most handsome of wolves wouldn't have carried me back to the cabin,” Susan replied. “I couldn't believe it when Richard told Eric he couldn't take me to see their doctor. Their pack actually has a doctor! Now how cool is that?”

“Cool.” Pepper thought it was great, but she didn't want to get involved with another pack. She was surprised another one lived only four hours south of where she and her people lived. Still, since each pack tended to run in its own territory, Pepper could see how they wouldn't have encountered each other before.

Susan snorted. “You wouldn't know a hot wolf if he knocked you down and licked you all over.” She smiled. “Now that gives me some interesting ideas. Let's see.” She lifted her phone off the table.

Pepper wondered what she was up to.

“He said his name was Eric Silver, and he's a park ranger.” Susan pulled up an Internet browser. “Yep, here he is. Giving a lecture to a group of senior citizens. With his dark hair and eyes, his height, and that gorgeous smile, he looks like every woman's fantasy.” She sighed dreamily. “And,” she said in a pointed way, “he's all smiles with the gray-haired women and men, so he wasn't putting on a show just for you.”

“He
wasn't
putting on a show for me. He wanted me to do what he said. If he'd wanted to put a show on for me, he wouldn't have suggested taking you to Silver Town.”

“He's clearly an alpha wolf, not a beta. And he's a park ranger, so he knows something about taking care of people in the park who are injured.” Then Susan frowned. “Ohmigod, you don't think he's the wolf Waldron attacked, do you?”

“Yeah, he was. Though I'm surprised Eric returned to our campsite as a wolf.”

“See? He's interested in you. Or, well, maybe he ditched his clothes somewhere nearby and was watching us as a wolf.
Although
”—Susan elongated the word, putting her phone over her heart and looking up at the ceiling—“in
my
fantasy of him, he would be thinking only of me and not of you.”

Pepper laughed.

“Did you bite Waldron?” Susan asked. “Richard said you took off after him, and you smelled of blood when you returned. Not your blood. I was in the car by then and missed out on all the action.”

“Waldron was chasing him, though I didn't see any sign of Eric. Waldron had bitten him, and I had to do something to get Waldron's attention. He was definitely in hunting mode and determined to catch hold of his prey.”

“And kill him?” Susan sounded horrified.

“If he could have gotten hold of him, I'd say that was a good bet.” That brought back memories of the alpha who had killed her mate—though her mate had been a beta—and Pepper shuddered.

Susan closed her gaping mouth. Then she set her empty glass on the table. “So, where did you bite Waldron?”

“His tail, the first part of him I reached. I didn't bite too hard, but I still drew some blood.”

“Was he pissed off at you?”

“We had a wolf-to-wolf confrontation. Yeah, he was pissed, but I wasn't backing down either, and if he wants me to look at his courting favorably, he has to mind me.”

“Oh, wow, I bet that nearly killed him.” Susan shook her head, taking another chip from the bowl and biting into it.

“Yeah, he didn't like it. If we'd been mated wolves, I'm certain he would have growled and snapped at me to back off.”

“You're not going to, are you? Consider courting him?”

“No way. Look how aggressive he was toward another male wolf who hadn't provoked him in any way. We aren't even courting.”

“Agreed. But now, Eric? He's my kind of guy.”

Pepper waved a potato chip at her. “You should have given him your number.”

“I would have, but I was a wolf. I wish he'd given me his business card.”

“He might have. But you were a wolf.”

“I should have shifted and given him a big smile and a big thank-you for his help.”

Pepper laughed. “You're way too shy to have done that.”

“Yeah. I keep telling myself I need to overcome that. I couldn't believe Waldron was watching our pack tonight. Well, and that he tore into the other wolf. He's becoming a real stalker.”

Pepper refilled their wineglasses. “He thinks he's protecting his ‘property.' But I won't be his mate no matter what.”

“Richard said Eric growled and snapped back at Waldron. I've never seen anyone stand up to him.
Besides you.
I wish I'd been there.” Susan sighed.

“Eric is a real alpha wolf. I was surprised he didn't stay and fight Waldron to the end.” But Pepper was glad for it. She wouldn't have wanted to see Eric hurt further since he'd already been wounded. Even now, she wondered if he was okay.

She didn't want to call and check on him though. She let out her breath on a frustrated sigh.

She hadn't expected to have any trouble on their camping trip into the national forest. She was a forester and used to working with groups on forest management. Many of her pack members worked in some forestry job or another, with Susan supervising their own forest nursery and Christmas tree farm. Some of the pack members worked there or on other tree farms, and some worked on other forestry projects, such as tree removal. But they hadn't had a chance to visit this forest together as a pack in five years or so. It had been a vacation, and before Susan injured herself, they'd been having a blast.

Pepper had a lovely log home for pack meetings, with 250 acres of woods and a covered stone patio for outdoor gatherings. Most of her pack members had log homes of their own situated all over the territory to give them privacy, but close enough together that they could gather as a pack whenever they needed to.

“What if Eric could chase away Waldron permanently?” Susan asked.

“Then what? What if he expected something in return for his help? Our pack? Our land?”

“You? If I were the pack leader, I'd seriously consider it.”

“Yeah, well, I'm not interested. We'll continue to deal with Waldron like we have since he moved into the area with his pack two weeks ago.”

“I don't think Waldron will get the message without someone taking him to task physically. As alpha as you are, you couldn't beat him as a wolf. Not one-on-one. Not like you took that other wolf down.” Susan moved her leg off the table and winced. “I'm going to call it a night. When do you see the Boy Scout troop tomorrow to talk about being a forester?”

“First thing in the morning, and another after that. And I have two sessions after lunch, so I'll be hanging around the area. I'll have someone stop in to feed you while I'm gone.” Because Susan was using crutches, she was staying with Pepper for a couple of days. Longer, if she needed to.

“Thanks for putting me up for a couple of nights.”

“No problem, Susan. You know I always enjoy your company. If you think of it tomorrow, you could give Eric Silver a call and tell him that you're all right. I'm certain he'd like to know that. While you're at it, you can thank him for the rescue and, if it comes up in the conversation, ask him if he's okay.”

Susan smiled broadly at her. “You
are
interested in him! But I doubt he'd want you to know if he was injured. Macho wolf syndrome, you know.”

“Possibly. Unless he wanted to get our sympathy. The doctor said it should take about four weeks for your leg to mend, which means half or less time for us. Just don't put any stress on the leg for now. You don't want to increase the fracture.”

“No, that's for sure. It already hurts enough. I hope Pauline can run things until I return to work.”

“Pauline will be fine, but I'll run over there to check things out. You don't have to worry about anything. Just rest.” Then Pepper raised her brows. “You didn't do this on purpose to get some time off, did you? You know I'd spell you for a while if you needed vacation days.”

Susan laughed and hobbled off to bed, saying good night.

Pepper retired to her bedroom, hoping she could figure out how to keep Waldron away from her pack and her lands without having to take more drastic measures. He'd been scent-marking all over her territory and so had some of the males of his pack. She'd taken him to task for it, but what else could she do? They outnumbered her more than two to one, from what he'd said. And she couldn't complain to human law enforcement about Waldron and his men peeing all over her property. She still wouldn't give in to him no matter what. But his actions could be a real problem for the wolf pack if they ignored them.

She tucked herself into bed, thinking about Waldron attacking Eric and drawing blood. She should have told Susan to call her when she learned how Eric was,
if
he was willing to tell her the truth.

* * *

His injuries throbbing, Eric answered Sarandon's call while he got on the road to return to Silver Town. “Hey, what's up?” Like Eric, his brother loved the outdoors. He was a guide for anyone who needed one—photographers, nature lovers, hikers, and rock climbers. He loved doing it all.

“Just a heads-up. I might be a little late to the forestry careers talk tomorrow,” Sarandon said. “I've got a Lepidopterist Society meeting first thing in the morning so the members can count butterflies and identify different varieties. If we have a big showing, we'll be there a while. So I might have to talk after you do.”

“I'll let the Scout leaders know,” Eric replied. “I have something to do after I speak, so if I'm not there, just give your lecture and I'll meet you after lunch at the next Boy Scout campground. They'll love hearing what you do.”

“I thought you said you had the whole day scheduled to talk to troops.”

“I do. We have two other Scout troops to meet in the afternoon, but when everyone's busy with lunch, I have other business to take care of.”

“I thought we could get lunch together. We don't often see each other during the duty day.”

Eric suspected his brother sensed something was up. He couldn't get anything past Sarandon. His younger brothers, sometimes yes, but not Sarandon. Even though the quadruplet brothers were born only minutes apart, he and Sarandon were the closest to each other, just like Brett and CJ were close.