Ryder nipped at her cheek then and startled her. He was pulling her out of her thoughts. She wondered if he knew that she was not in control of this wolf. She also wished that he could teach her the control that he obviously had of his wolf.
Cindy stepped up quietly to Ryder and yipped then turned and took her pup back to the house. This was going to get intense if she was leaving a pack run with those big wolves almost at the tree line and a huge Alpha standing here protecting them. Harper wondered where Nicole and her pups were. She didn’t recall them in the yard but there were so many new wolves and she hadn’t really looked for them. Cindy, Lucy, and Mathew were going inside the house now behind her. Her wolf should follow but it stayed right beside Ryder.
The scouts were coming back now. The moon climbed in the sky and lit their way back to their Alpha with the ‘all clear.’ Ryder acknowledged them then took off at a sprint passing the barn and heading for the trees. Harper’s wolf followed. It kept up and Harper thought he must have been running slower than usual to let her. The pack followed them. Ryder crashed through the brambles and the trees then turned suddenly. Harper scented it too. Turkey. Oh how she loved turkey.
Bronson rarely brought her a turkey, he preferred duck so she had to settle for turkey cold cuts and it was not the same. He stopped short and her wolf darted around him with only one thought. Turkey dinner with all the trimmings! Her wolf rounded a huge tree and there they stood two Toms and a hen. She wanted that Tom. She would leave the pair to breed but she wanted turkey dinner.
Her wolf eased around them and trapped them in a small clearing surrounded by dense thicket. She glanced over at Ryder whose eyes flashed back at her. She hoped that her wolf wasn’t making the Alpha angry. She saw the others then, they were going to let her have the kill. Her wolf sprang and captured the biggest of the three birds. The other two darted passed her but she didn’t move and didn’t give up her kill. Her wolf was ecstatic, pure joy raced through her veins. Bronson was right about one thing, hunger for something was a real motivator. Maybe he was trying to teach her to go get her own bird if she wanted one. No. He just hated turkey.
Her wolf trotted back to the house with the big bird flopping around with every step she took. Ryder was beside her, he seemed okay with her killing the bird, not angry like her former mate would’ve been. She shifted back to herself when she got to the house. “You were spectacular.” Ryder wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “You are a great hunter my sweet.” She shook her head slightly and gave him a small smile. “What is that look for? You did a great job and now we will have turkey tomorrow for dinner. I need to get that damned freezer ordered.” He said more to himself than to her.
“Bronson always said that I was a lousy hunter, that I was ‘dainty and too insignificant’ to hunt or to be of any use whatsoever.” Ryder scoffed.
“Darling, I know it is going to take some time to forget everything that you were ever told by that…wolf but you need to forget it. You are not dainty or insignificant. You showed a prowess not often found when you went after that bird. It was wise to leave a breeding pair behind and it took cunning to capture the one that you did. Turkeys are hard to catch, even with a gun and a blind. I’ve known plenty of humans that spent their hunting careers striving for that bird and you did it on the first try. Great job! Now for the other part, you are far from dainty. You are a strong well-toned wolf, you are beautiful and a sight to behold.” Her brows furrowed. “It was all I could do to keep him from mounting you.” Harper buried her face in her hands and he laughed. Her face was hot and she knew it was beet red. “Come on. Leave your kill on the porch, the boys will tend to it.”
“I should take care of it since I killed it.”
“You have to cook it. They can clean it. Come, I want to see if they made any progress upstairs today.” She let him take her hand and lead her up the stairs. Lucy was in her pink one-piece pajama set and laying on her belly watching TV. She giggled at something as they passed. Harper smiled. One day she would have a pup giggling there too. The thought made her happy and she felt Ryder’s hand tighten around her own for a moment. Her muscles clenched deep in her belly. She wanted him to father those pups.
This man, this wolf was incredible. He was caring and giving at once, something she’d never seen displayed in a wolf except her father perhaps.
Chapter 12
“Wow.” She said when she saw the room.
“Wow is right.” He pressed his fingers softly into the small of her back. “They’ve been busy. Good work.” Ryder bent to examine the floor. They’d finished the wood floor in one end of the room and set up his bed. The drywall was in place and it was already taped over the bed. It still needed sanding and painting but it was much better than last night. “They want you to stay.” Ryder said into her hair. “They need an Alpha female.” Harper shook her head. “I know you don’t think that you are capable but I say you are. You are more powerful than you think, more important than you think and if you can get him out of your head, you will accept it.” She went to the bed to look at it.