River Wolf(21)

“I’ll only ask you nicely once. Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Damn good questions. What was her name again?





Chapter Four





Brett had been on a call when the car pulled into his drive. His pack knew to let themselves in, and he didn’t have time for strangers so he’d ignored the knock and the doorbell ring. The unfamiliar feminine call of ‘hello’ alerted him to the stranger entering his house. Surprise followed by fury rushed through him. Then she called again, but he missed the rest of her sentence thanks to three people talking at once on the conference call. Ending it, he informed his executives he’d call them back.

Her “Hallelujah!” beckoned him. Silent, he stalked through the house to the kitchen and discovered the young woman dripping water on the tile floor as she lifted the handset from the cradle. Instead of dialing, however, she stared at the phone with a troubled expression.

Everything about her assaulted him—her fresh raindrops on blades of green grass aroma occluded by the scent of gasoline, male wolf, and injury. The male he identified almost immediately, despite the troubling mixture. Luc.

“What the hell am I doing here?” she asked aloud. The last word came out more he-yah than here, but he understood.

“That’s a very good question.” No artifice disguised her shock. She flung the phone at him and he caught it. The force of the throw impressed him, as the phone slapped against the palm of his hand. Her pulse beat a frenetic pace and her eyes widened as she locked gazes with him.

Close enough to touch her, he stilled. If she were Luc’s ride, she might have a reason for being present—then again where the hell was Luc? Zeroing in on the flare of her dilating pupils, his wolf surged beneath his skin. The rush of his animal powered through him. Inhaling a lungful of her scent, he tested what he’d already learned about her and couldn’t identify what agitated the fuck out of his wolf.

Not discounting his wolf’s intuition, he narrowed his focus. Strangers were all suspect until proven otherwise. “I’ll only ask you nicely once. Who are you and what are you doing here?” Stephen warned him when she and Luc stopped at the service station, but he’d been under the impression Luc was awake.

“I…” She choked on the word, paling beneath her natural skin tone. No tan would give her the look of brushed amaretto though the deep black of her hair and the natural slant of her eyes suggested an Asian origin. All fascination with her appearance aside, she still hadn’t answered.

Raising his eyebrows, he held her gaze. More impressive, she didn’t look away. However, her fascination didn’t provide him with a response any quicker.

“I’m—I brought Luc.” The stutter underscored her honesty. Point to her.

“Where is he then?”

The second question managed what the first failed. She shook off her stupor. With a blink, she jerked her gaze from his. “He’s in the car and he’s unconscious. I was calling for an ambulance.” The shaken tone vanished to be replaced by one far more capable. “He needs assistance. This whole fool’s errand has endangered him.” Reclaiming the phone, she muttered. “Damn man got me into this mess…”

“Put the phone down.” Her irritation satisfied him. No one else he knew could engender equal parts of affection and irritation as Luc did. “We’ll help him here.”

“Did you not hear me? He’s unconscious.” Worry tinged the words.

After narrowing the distance between them, he took the phone from her and replaced it in the cradle. “I heard you. I’ll take care of him. You’re damp, and you seem a bit cold. Come, we’ll get him inside then you can warm up with a fire.”

Her scent offered more confusion—hope flared beneath layers of disbelief and annoyance. “He needs a doctor.”

Enough. “We have what we need.” His wolf roused to the challenge in her eyes when her gaze clashed with his, but neither he nor his wolf backed down. Impressively, neither did the woman. Who the hell was she?

“Look, I’m not a doctor. I didn’t even finish my certification for registered nurse, but I’ve worked in enough hospitals. He put himself through hell in the car to get here—stupid man—and he needs real medical assistance.” Fear spiked through her scent. Whether it was fear for Luc or fear of him, Brett didn’t have time to parse. One thing was certain—she had no idea about wolves.

“Miss…” Goddammit, he didn’t know her name.

“Colby. Colby Jensen. We need to call…”

“Colby,” he tested the name on his tongue, and he liked the way it formed. Locking gazes, he relied on his strength as an Alpha. Her pupils dilated then contracted to pin points. “We will take care of him. Go sit down. I’ll get Luc from the car.”