Wolf Fur Hire(36)

Clayton looked exhausted as he nodded and murmured, “I hated that part. I’d hoped all three of you would be more like Eris. I couldn’t do anything for Cole and Miller, but you’re different. You’re like your dad. Good. Loyal. Redeemable.”

Link slid his hand forward and Clayton grasped it in a tight handshake. “Thank you for taking care of my father.” Link firmly shook his hand one last time, then stood and left the room. The front door opened and closed a moment later.

“Excuse me,” Nicole whispered as she stood to follow him out.

She pulled her jacket from the coat rack and went outside. She followed Link’s boot prints until she found his pile of clothes. Wolf sat in the snow watching her as she approached, zipping her jacket as she did.

Arching his head back, he let off a howl, low and quiet at first, then building—a beautiful wolf song.

Nicole fell onto her knees in the snow beside him, the closest she’d ever been to Wolf. And as he lifted his nose to the falling snow and began his song again, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against his coarse fur.

Link was the man of a thousand heartbreaks, yet he was still here, still trying. He was a true survivor, and for the rest of his life, she would fill as many of his moments with happiness as she could.

This was her silent promise to the man she’d fallen in love with because Clayton had been right.

Link was good.

Wolf was loyal.

And both of them were redeemable.





Chapter Thirteen




“Rise and shine, porcupines!” Vera sang.

Link groaned as the lights flipped on, and he hugged Nicole closer, then pulled the comforter over their heads. “Just ignore her, and she’ll go away.”#p#分页标题#e#

“False,” Vera said. “Ignore me, and I’ll bring the ice bucket. Come on, love birds, shake your feathers. The early bird gets the worm. Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey. Or eggs and cakey. I like cake. Tobias! Can you put cake mix on the grocery list?”

“Vera,” Link growled as Nicole giggled quietly against his chest.

“I’ve made good luck waffles!” she sang in an opera voice. “Link!”

Link threw off the covers and glared at the doorway where Vera stood in a pair of warm looking llama pajamas.

She pointed her finger and whispered, “Your dick is showing.”

Nicole pursed her lips, but her shoulders were shaking from laughter now. She’d snuggled into her warmest pajamas for this little slumber party, but Link hadn’t bothered putting on a stitch of clothing after he’d Changed back into his human self last night. Apparently, werewolves had no modesty.

Link looked at his cell phone on the night stand and growled. “You made good luck waffles at four in the morning?”

“You’re welcome,” Vera said as she disappeared down the hallway. “Get up or I’ll bite you.”

Link’s eyes rolled closed, and he let off a long, annoyed sigh. While he was distracted with his irritation, Nicole took the opportunity to hug him closer and sniff his skin. He smelled different right out of sleep, and she loved that she was the one who got to snuggle against him like this. He’d relaxed in the night, and when he smiled down at her, his eyes were a shade between gray and white.

“Do you feel better this morning?”

“Loads better,” he said, kissing her forehead. “And I’ll feel even better after the hunt.”

“Hunt?” she asked.

“We’re low on red meat, and the caribou have dipped lower in the valleys where it won’t be so miserable to hunt them. Tobias has been scouting their movements.”

“Oh. But I can just buy us more red meat from the store in Galena.”

Link leaned down and kissed her lips softly, then eased her back and leveled her with a look. “I love that you have the means to take care of yourself, but money is temporary. Even if you can cover us for five years, you’ll get accustomed to that lifestyle and won’t acclimate to Alaska. If you were living in Anchorage, it would be different. You would work a steady job and meat wouldn’t get scarce. But in Galena, you haven’t seen the meat section in the store lately. It’s mid-winter now, and any meat you can find is expensive.”

“Why?”

“Because the people here hunt their own meat, and even if they didn’t, it’s hard to get deliveries here between the storms. Ian and Tobias run deliveries from bush planes, but they’re grounded half the time because of the weather. And it’ll get worse as winter goes on. You need to learn how to hunt protein for yourself.”

“For us,” she said with a frown.