Darien gave him an elusive smile, warning him that when Tom found a mate, he was in for the same trouble. “Two of the ski patrol are out sick today with the flu, and the resort could use you up there.”
That got Tom’s attention and he stiffened, alert and wary. Every time one of them got sick with flu-like symptoms, they worried about the wolf getting a virus that would prevent their shifting from wolf to human form.
“Don’t worry. It’s not anything like the cases of ‘wolf fever’ we had before,” Darien said quickly. “Jake will relieve you at noon. And a couple of other things…” He cleared his throat.
Tom couldn’t read his brother’s expression. Wolves paid attention to slight shifts in body language, and he could usually tell what his brother was thinking. But not this time. Which meant something was up and Tom wouldn’t like it.
“First, Anthony and Cody Woodcroft are on the slopes today. Their dad said that he wanted the ski patrol to kinda watch out for ’em. If they get into any trouble at all, he wants their passes pulled and them off the slopes. He also wants to be notified at once.”
“Okay, can do.” The boys had gotten into trouble before, mainly for participating in high-risk adventures, but Tom had never heard of them doing anything unsafe or against the rules on the slopes. Since it was the first item on the list Darien wanted to talk about, Tom figured it was the least problematic. “The other thing?”
“Bertha Hastings said she has a guest at the B and B doing a story on our ski resort. She missed the ski shuttle and Bertha wanted to know if you could run her up to the slopes, since you were going that way.”
Tom narrowed his eyes a little. “Is she a wolf?” Bertha wasn’t beyond matchmaking. He could imagine Bertha had delayed the woman on purpose so she missed the shuttle.
“She is and she isn’t.”
“She either is or she isn’t,” Tom countered.
Darien looked serious now. “Let’s just say she’s part wolf. We can’t put the town off-limits to visitors, but a woman like that could cause trouble for the pack.”
“Part wolf?” Tom echoed, frowning.
“I’m sure you can resist this woman’s charms. She’s up here doing a story on a ski resort. I don’t trust the other bachelor wolves in the pack to leave her alone unless one of us takes her in hand to signal the others to keep their paws to themselves.”
Tom understood why Darien wouldn’t take care of the matter himself. Running a pack and the town and raising three toddlers kept him busy. Still, he didn’t like it. “Why couldn’t—”
“Jake’s busy and he’s mated. That leaves the situation up to you to handle. They’ll listen to you and back off.”
Tom had thought he would be tracking the mysterious wolves who had been sneaking around their territory—a much more suitable task for a pack sub-leader. Now he had to babysit a couple of male teen wolves and a woman who wasn’t quite a wolf?
He took a deep breath. Still, he knew his brother’s reasoning was sound. Wolf-shifter females were rarer than males in any pack—and jealously guarded, too. The Silver pack had been through some trouble of that sort with female shifters from the neighboring red pack. The men in the red wolf pack felt that the gray wolves should have had no claim to the red she-wolves. Tom knew Darien would like to avoid that sort of situation again with this newcomer.
“All right. But I’ll be patrolling this morning, so I won’t be able to watch the teens or the woman all that much.”
“Alert the ski patrol to watch the boys and let you know if they do anything that’s unsafe. The others can be your eyes and ears. When our bachelor males see that the woman’s with you—so to speak—the word will spread and hopefully no one will hassle her. Learn when she’s leaving the area and work yourself into her schedule. If she doesn’t leave the slopes until later this afternoon when you’re free, you can be her ski buddy.”
Tom raised a brow.
“You know what I mean. Make sure you’re with her until she leaves. I don’t mean you have to stay with her overnight.”
“Not happening.” Although one-night stands with humans were acceptable for wolf shifters, Tom didn’t dare show any interest in a human around here. In this town, every wolf would hear of it. Too much of a problem with rumor control. And a part wolf? What the hell did that mean anyway? “I’m off.”
Tom threw on his parka, grabbed his gloves, and headed out. He had no doubt a woman who was part she-wolf wouldn’t interest him in the least.