Feral：Devils Point Wolves #4(6)

"Prue, this is my husband, Diego."

Brody felt more than he saw Diego stiffen slightly at Allison's use of the human term. They weren't legally wed, only mated. To Diego's credit he recovered quickly and Brody doubted the woman named Prue even noticed.

Prue.

He rolled the name back and forth in his head, allowing it to filter through his senses. Unusual and uncommon. He liked that. Although he really didn't like the fact that Diego was still touching her. His eyes narrowed and an all too familiar red haze began filling his vision.

As much as he wanted to deny what the pack kept warning him about, these bouts of inexplicable rage were not easy to control or push back.

Allison must have sensed his agitation as she acted quickly by turning to him. "And this is my brother, Brody."

Finally his mystery woman turned his way and their gazes met, making him forget for a moment that some other man had been too close to his woman.

Instead a pure moment of sizzling energy rushed down his spine making him swallow the need to lift his head and howl.

Up close he spotted the dark green flecks of her brown eyes and the small smattering of freckles across her button nose and the long inky lashes that fluttered against her skin every few seconds.

His body grew taut as he drank her in. He couldn't have looked away from her if there was a bomb going off in his vicinity. That's how entranced he was by this woman.

He stepped forward and took her hand. The energy already surging through him sparked and both their bodies jerked. Her eyes widened and her pulse sped up as he gently squeezed her hand and held onto it.

Mine.

The word repeated in his mind, making sure that he knew exactly what the wolf wanted and that he was going to get it whether he liked it or not.

"Prue," he said. Not really asking a question just wanting to say her name again.

"Yep." She gently pulled her hand from his and looked away from him. Turning to Allison she said, "I think I really should go now. I've got some work to do."

The hair on Brody's nape rose at the change in Diego's demeanor. It was weird how his wolf senses came out often even while in human form. Sometimes it surprised him and others it turned out damned convenient.

"What kind of work do you have here on the island?"

Not liking the steel in Diego's tone, Brody inched closer to Prue and angled his body so he was slightly in front of her and in a position to protect her if need be.

"I'm studying some plants here on the island. I think they might be affecting the wildlife in an unusual way."

Brody squeezed his eyebrows together. He wasn't getting why Allison and Diego seemed so concerned about Prue. What did it matter if she was interested in some sort of silly plant?

"How so?" Diego asked, taking the words out of Brody's mouth.

"There have been a lot of reports lately about increased wolf sightings in this area. Enough that I got curious and came here back in the spring looking for something that might be the cause."

"You study wolves?" Brody asked, unsure how that information was going to play out all things considered.

She turned to him, nodding. "I'm a wildlife biologist so I actually study many animals, but in this case, yes. I want to study the wolf patterns in this area.

"Unfortunately, this is private property." This time it was Creed who spoke up and his abrupt outburst did not sit well with Brody.

A faint blush crawled up Prue's neck. "I thought it was open to tourists. I camped here a few months ago and gathered some data. I only need a little more to finish."

Diego shook his head. "Probably not a good idea. If we've got an overpopulation of wolves, as you suggest, then you need to be careful. Plus there's a storm brewing."

"It really would only take me a few minutes. If I can prove that the unusual plant life of the island is attracting the wild wolves then our scientists can use that research in their quest to repopulate certain species of wolves that have been dying out and place them in more appropriate areas." She was shuffling her feet and pulling at the edge of her shirt. Her display of nerves said more than the words. This was obviously important to her for more reasons than she mentioned.

"Who do you work for?"

Her face blanked for a minute and her eyes darted past the men standing in front of her. He had a feeling she was about to take off on them and he couldn't let that happen.

Let her run.

The wolf had different ideas. Apparently the thought of a chase was his idea of fun.

"I don't work for anyone at the moment."

Diego and Creed frowned. "You said our scientists. Who is our?"

Diego had an incredible memory for detail. He retained things others didn't.

"Well..." She looked at the ground. "Just a general figure of speech?" The fact her answer came out a question made it obvious to them all she was lying.