Wolf Signs (5 page)

Maybe this was the reason.

Robyn pushed the notepad at TJ.
How come I’ve never turned furry?

TJ wrinkled up his nose and considered for a minute. “Keil? Ideas?”

Keil’s hand stroked down her arm and she bit back a moan. Oh man, that felt good. Her skin itched to be touched, and as much as she needed to find

answers, she needed to jump Keil more. The attraction that had begun last night, causing her to lose al sense and sleep in the man’s arms, it seemed to

be growing.

Concentrate. She needed to concentrate on the cool idea that she might actual y be able to turn into a wolf.

“Robyn,” Keil said. “Ful -blood wolves like us are born with the genes to be able to shift, but they’re turned off in newborns until triggered. Kind of like

they’re dormant. For some reason your genes must have never been switched on.”

A trigger?

Keil nodded. “Yeah. It’s a hormone and newborns get it from their mom’s milk.”

Robyn’s stomach fel . It more than fel , it leapt off the edge of Mount Logan and plummeted into the depths of the nearest crevasse.

The possibility that she was a magical being had excited her. Seeing TJ change had woken something inside her, ful of joy and freedom, and a deep

happiness she’d been missing al her life. Now it was slipping out of her reach and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She pushed away from the

table and grabbed her coat, fighting back the tears as she rushed outside. She saw Keil rise to his feet, but she ignored his outstretched hand.

Damn, it wasn’t fair.

She managed to get her coat done up before the tears fel . She stood gazing over the lake, arms wrapped tightly around her torso as her eyes wel ed up

and overflowed. The bright sunshine around her did nothing to lighten the spot of darkness she felt at the loss of something she’d wanted. Something she

hadn’t realized she’d wanted so much.

Robyn felt him approaching. Gentle arms slipped around her torso and pul ed her back into his body, supporting her. Holding her loose enough she could

escape if she wanted, but close enough to let her feel his concern.

Another sob escaped before she could stop it, and Keil turned her and gathered her up against him like she was a child. She wrapped her arms around

his neck, buried her face in his coat and let the misery release.

Her heart hurt.

Slowly, feeling his strength, feeling the comfort he offered, the pain eased. Keil’s hand ran over her hair, and she remembered him touching her like that

last night. He must think she was some kind of emotional yo-yo, running hot then cold. She took a deep breath and sniffed hard, pul ing away from his

embrace.

Keil reached a hand to cup her face. He wiped away a tear with his thumb. “I’m not sure what’s wrong, but I think I’ve guessed a bit. Did something

happen to your mom when you were born?”

Robyn nodded. She patted her pockets searching for tissue when Keil handed her a clean hankie. It took a minute to get herself back together, Keil

politely ignoring her runny nose and wet face until she felt presentable.

She flicked glances up at him as he stood waiting for her. He gazed over the lake, his strong body like a pil ar of granite. What was it about this man that

fascinated her? He turned to see if she was ready and held a hand to her. Robyn grasped his warm fingers, enjoying the tingling sensation that raced up

her arm as he wrapped his hand around hers and led her back into the cabin.

Inside Keil refused to talk. Instead he made her up a plate of food and sat beside her while he ate his own meal. The lump in her throat settled, aided by

the fact that sitting in close proximity to Keil made her mouth water and she had to swal ow twice as often as usual.

TJ spoke while he ate, which made for confusing moments as Robyn misread most of what he said. He was tel ing her al about their pack and how they

spent time together in human form as wel as in wolf. At one point she was sure that he said something about mooning people down main-street Haines,

but that had to have been the extra large piece of sandwich he’d shoved in his mouth.

Breakfast finished, Robyn had to admit she felt a bit better. Having an emotional breakdown on an empty stomach was too much. Keil grabbed her dishes

and kissed her softly on the cheek. “We’l wash up, you write. Tel me what’s got you worried.”

His dark eyes stayed on her until she nodded, then he turned away and got to work. He and TJ goofed off with the dishtowels and soap bubbles while they

cleaned up the dishes and tidied the sleeping bags. Robyn sipped at her coffee as she watched, the love between the brothers clear.

She forced herself to pul the pad closer and write. When she finished she found Keil staring at her from where he sat waiting on the edge of the sleeping

platform. His gaze ran over her body and he wasn’t trying to hide the look of desire on his face. Their eyes met, and the shock of connection thril ed

through her.

The wolf thing. It had to be something to do with animal attraction that was making her want to rol al over the floor with the man. Preferably naked. She

licked her lips involuntarily, and the answering flash in Keil’s eyes heated her blood to near boiling.

Damn, it was time to stop with the coffee and break out the ice water.

Keil tapped the space next to him and held out a hand for the notepad. “Come here, Robyn, sit by me while I read.” She glanced over at TJ who was

sprawled in a chair in front of the stove, making notes in the cabin’s journal, before she took a step toward Keil. “He’s going to let us talk this out alone.”

Robyn sat, highly aware of the feel of his thigh touching hers as he shifted his body to wrap an arm around her torso and snuggle her tightly to his side. If

she looked up she could stil see his lips move.

In fact his lips were close enough to kiss if she leaned forward a tiny bit.

She whipped her head back to safety, examining the notepad and the message she’d written.

I was told that my mother and father were hunting caribou along the Dempster Highway when there was an accident at their hunting camp. Someone’s

gun went off and the bullet killed my father instantly and wounded my mother sending her into shock. The others at the camp managed to get her to

the hospital at Dawson City where I arrived almost two months early. When my mother died right after my delivery I was adopted. All I have from my

parents is my boot knife.

I guess that’s why I never got “triggered”? I can’t turn into a wolf.

I wish I could. I bet it’s amazing.

She glanced up to see if he’d finished reading. He smiled down tenderly. “It’s going to be al right. I’l explain a couple things first to help you understand.”

He ripped off the top sheet of the notepad to a clean page. She watched over his arm as he divided the page in three parts and drew a circle in each part.

In the top circle he wrote
Full-blood
, in the bottom he wrote
Half-blood
. He left the middle one empty. He adjusted them both to sit comfortably on the

platform and face her better.

“Short biology lesson, Robyn. Ful -blood werewolf, both Mom and Dad have the genes. Pass the dormant gene to baby. Baby triggered with hormones in

milk, can turn to wolf around puberty.” He lowered the notepad for a moment. “And if you think that teenage humans are moody, wait until you see an

angst-ridden fifteen-year-old wolf. Very scary.”

She snorted at him, and he winked and continued.

“Half-blood, only one parent has wolf genes. They’re stil passed on to the baby, dormant, but for some reason even milk from a werewolf mom won’t

trigger them. The hormones have to come from something else.” Robyn watched as Keil wrote
milk
across from the top circle. He paused before writing

sex
across from the bottom circle.

“Half-blood wolves can get triggered by having sex with a ful -blood. The hormones released during unprotected sex work fast, and since wolves can’t get

STDs, it’s both effective and safe. There’s a little added complication for males because of something cal ed ‘FirstMate’, but females don’t have to worry

about it.” He stopped and Robyn swal owed hard.

Wel . That was a bit of a surprise.

One circle left to fil in. She watched as he wrote her name in the empty space.

Oh shit. She knew where this was going.

She grabbed the pen and flipped over the page, crawling away from him on the platform to write. She might have the hots for the man. No way was he

going to use a biology lesson to get into her pants.

You want to have sex with me?

The flash of hot desire in his eyes answered the question faster than his mouth could.

“Hang on, Robyn. There’s one more thing I need to explain. And that’s al I’m doing, explaining. You get to make any decisions you want based on what I

tel you. Trust me.”

Robyn hesitated and then insistently shook the notepad at him. If he didn’t ’fess up she was going to hit him.

“Hel , yes, I want to make love with you. But that’s because you’re my mate.”

Robyn’s fingers were awkward as she scrambled to respond.
Convenient. Maybe I should ask TJ if he wants to fuck me too.

Keil burst with a roar that she felt down to her bones. “No one else is going to fuck you, especial y not TJ!”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw TJ fly backward off his chair to land in a puddle on the floor. “Holy crap, Keil, what are you tel ing her?”

TJ must not have liked how Keil answered because he cowered lower on the floor. “Wel , hurry it up, listening to one side of your conversation is scaring

me to death.”

Robyn considered for a moment and held up her hand to Keil. She snuck over to TJ and wrote him a note. Even if they’d rehearsed this, she didn’t think

TJ was fast enough to try and pul one over on her. He’d be forced to tel her the truth.

Keil says he’s my mate. What does that mean and how can I tell if it’s true?

“Hey, bro, she’s asking me about you.”

Robyn stepped back toward the sleeping platform keeping her eyes firmly on TJ.

“Of course I won’t touch her. First, promise you won’t hurt me.”

TJ crawled off the ground. He wrinkled up his face and gazed upward as he rubbed a finger over his lips, as if trying to remember something. Shortly he

nodded to himself and turned to face both Robyn and Keil.

“Okey dokey. Mates are like getting married, only better for five reasons.” He held up a hand and lifted a finger with each comment he made. “First, mates

have similar interests and tastes. Second, the chemical attraction between mates makes it impossible to miss knowing they are ‘the one’. Third, sex

between mates is super hot and stays that way for their entire lives. Fourth, mates are connected deeper than physical y, there’s a mental and emotional

connection too. And final y, mates never, ever fool around on each other.” TJ looked at Keil who stood with his mouth dropped open in amazement. “Pretty

good, hey, Keil? Tony and I wrote that up for the pack chicks when they wanted to do a wolf version of a Cosmo ‘Find Your Perfect Mate’ quiz.”

TJ grabbed Robyn by the hand and pul ed her with him as he went to stand next to Keil. “How you can tel it’s true is easy. Remember, bro, you said you

wouldn’t hurt me. Robyn, give me a kiss.”

“TJ.”

“Just on the cheek! Check out my scent and how it makes you feel. Then kiss Keil. That’l explain better than words.” He turned his face to the side,

keeping a wary eye on his brother.

Robyn bit her lip. She didn’t need to do this “test” of TJ’s, she knew what he was saying already. She knew she was sexual y attracted to Keil. Completely

and utterly attracted.

But doing the test meant she could kiss Keil again.

She leaned toward TJ and took a long breath in through her nose. Nothing but the smel of dish soap and the slightly earthy scent of a male missing his

morning shower. She touched his cheek with her lips and felt like she did when she kissed Tad.

Connected, like family. No fireworks.

She shifted her weight and stared up into Keil’s beautiful eyes. She started to take a deep breath but stopped quickly. His scent fil ed her. She could taste

him, feel him slip down into her lungs and throughout her whole body. He smelt like the air of a starlit night, and dark-chocolate fondue and raw, passionate

sex. Unable to stop herself, she ignored his offered cheek and grasped him by the hair, pul ing him down to her reach so she could clasp their mouths

together. As Keil reacted, their tongues tangling together, Robyn acknowledged that she’d never felt anything like the satisfaction she experienced at

every contact with the big man in front of her.

Wel , it seemed she was getting hitched.

“This doesn’t mean we’l do anything until you’re ready,” Keil said when he final y managed to drag himself away from Robyn. “We can take our time, get to

know each other first. Now that I’ve found you, I can wait.”

Her bright eyes shone back at him.

TJ bumped up from behind.

“Umm, Keil, but what about—”

Keil swung his elbow and connected with TJ’s gut.

“Ugh.” The air whooshed out of TJ, but he struggled on. “I’m just saying—”

Keil turned to face his brother, careful to hold Robyn close enough that she couldn’t read his lips. “No, you’re not saying another word about this.

Understand?” It was a command, said in a tone that TJ couldn’t ignore. Robyn wasn’t the only one with the Alpha voice.

TJ froze. He dropped his eyes. “Understood.”

Keil pushed Robyn away a bit and winked at her. “It’s been a tough morning and I think we could use some exercise. Ski to the top of the pass for lunch?”