She loved the way he was always protective of her. She wished he felt something romantic for her, but she assumed his feelings were more brotherly love for a sister who needed protection. “No, Tom. I just decided to change clothes.”

Tom glanced down at her dress and smiled. “A different look for you. That’s what the guys like so much about you. You’re so… unpredictable.”

“It also bothers them.”

Tom, being the typical peacemaker, immediately changed the subject. “Did you see any red in the woods when you talked to McKinley there?”

“No. Lelandi already asked.” She was surprised Lelandi wouldn’t have already told Darien and his brothers.

“Are you sure?”

Carol frowned up at Tom. “I said I didn’t see anyone. Just Ryan. Why do you think I would lie?”

Tom cleared his throat, his cheeks faintly flushing. “Darien’s just… well, worried you’d had contact with a red male from another pack. Believe me, Darien wants the best for you. If there is something you’re not telling us… we don’t want to kill someone we think is stalking you when he’s truly a love interest.”

“Tom,” Carol said, unable to hide her exasperation, “if someone’s stalking me, I haven’t encouraged it. First of all, none of you let me out of your sight long enough for me to have contact with anyone else. And second, if by some miracle I did have an encounter with someone outside the pack, don’t you think that if I liked him, I’d tell you so you wouldn’t terminate him?”

Tom didn’t say anything right away, and as the music stopped, he glided to a halt. “No. I think you’d be afraid to tell Darien if you were interested in leaving the pack. Look at what happened last night. You were with McKinley alone in the dark woods. Not a word to any of us. We didn’t learn of it until we arrived home and Jake checked on you, finding your bedroom door wide open and no sign of you in the house. I found the back door unlocked, and you’d taken off into the forest.”

He had her there. “Fair enough. Now that this has come up, I assure you I have no interest in any red male. No gray either.” She smiled sweetly.

“All right.” Tom released her to another man and gave him a look that meant he’d better keep his distance. Then he headed to speak to Darien.

“Name’s Avery,” the man said to Carol, taking her arm. His light amber eyes matched his pale brown suit and compared to Christian, he had a much tamer look. His actions mirrored that, as his touch was light, not the least bit invasive.

“I’ve heard McKinley wants to talk to you later tonight about the investigation. Darien’s not happy about it.”

She shrugged. She wasn’t happy about it, either.

“And now McKinley seems to be targeting Marilee, like he can’t make up his mind which of you he wants.”

Carol looked around at the dancing couples and saw Ryan dancing with the masseuse. He was back for a return engagement. Carol attempted to hide a scowl. Ryan kept his distance with Marilee, but the woman attempted to snuggle closer. Wanting the alpha male? Had she learned he was an unmated pack leader? Or did returning to her show he truly was interested in her?

“Have you danced with her?” Carol tried for cheerful, not annoyed, when she shouldn’t have cared in the least.

Avery stiffened. “She seems intent on making the move on McKinley more than she does with any of the rest of us.”

Just as Carol suspected. Either she truly did find Ryan more appealing than the other men, or she was targeting him because of his position.

Becky was still dancing with Mervin, but he kept casting glances in Carol’s direction. Poor Becky. Carol knew the feeling, having dated a guy on a blind date who had eyes only for the girlfriend who had double-dated with another man.

“So what do you think of Becky?” she asked Avery.

“I haven’t had the opportunity to meet her. What happened between you and Mervin?”

“Nothing.” Brother, she didn’t think this was going to be so blown out of proportion. But then again, packs were close knit, she was learning, much more so than a human community, although juicy gossip often spread from social group to social group, no matter whether they were human or otherwise. She just hadn’t expected all the questioning.

The song ended, and out of nowhere, Ryan stepped in to dance with Carol, like a silent predatory wolf closing in on its prey. She wasn’t sure if that meant he wanted to dance with her or to rip Avery to shreds.

Instantly, everything changed between them. Avery scowled and hesitated to step aside. Ryan didn’t let that stop him. He slid his hand around Carol’s back and pulled her close and away from Avery. She couldn’t quash the annoyance she felt toward Ryan not only because he planned to interrogate her later to try and prove her a fraud, but also because he seemed so eager to get to know the masseuse better. That shouldn’t have mattered, but irritatingly it did.

She pushed away from him and held him apart, like she’d danced with the others, not wanting to go so far as to deny him a dance and then have to explain to Darien, his brothers, and Lelandi, why she had said “no” to a dance. She was sure they’d all think he’d done something horribly scandalous. And then they’d send him away. Which bothered her more than she should have allowed.

Except for the music, everyone was quiet, and she feared they were watching every move she and Ryan made.

In perfect gentlemanly form, he moved with her across the floor, not saying a word, not pressing the issue. Then when she thought she couldn’t stand the raw tension between them any longer, Ryan lowered his head and whispered in her ear, sending warm tendrils of fission cascading through her: “Want to leave?”

Chapter 8

DISAPPOINTMENT SLID THROUGH CAROL WHEN RYAN asked if she wanted to leave the gathering. He didn’t want to hold her close and dance after all. He just wanted to get this charade over, question her to satisfy some stupid need, and leave Silver Town. Either that, or he had wanted to dance with her but only close, and beyond that, no deal.

And she realized then just how much she desired being with a man like Ryan.

What the hell. At least Ryan had wanted to dance intimately with her, unlike the way he’d kept Marilee at arm’s length. Carol let out her breath, pulled him close, and melted against his heated embrace, loving the way he felt.

She hadn’t been with a guy who stirred her up like this since she was a nineteen-year-old in love with a twenty-one-year-old cad, who had used her and thrown her away for a much hotter number after a few months. Come to think of it, that hotter number had looked similar to Marilee, with darker hair and eyes and long lashes.

Carol sighed deeply. She didn’t care if Ryan might be infatuated with someone who looked or acted like the masseuse. It was only a dance, after all.

Ryan didn’t say anything about Carol holding him close at first. He just responded in kind, moving her across the floor slowly, his body pressed indecently against hers, heating her all the way from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes.

“Carol?” he finally queried, pressing the issue of leaving.

“Sure.” She began pulling away, figuring she might as well get this over with, if Ryan really didn’t want to dance with her. She’d show Darien she wasn’t going to be part of the nonsense of this gathering any longer. At least she hoped she could. He might have words to say about it.

“After we finish this waltz. Breaking off the dance after we’ve barely begun would be inappropriate.” His voice was husky and heated, and his eyes clouded with desire—or maybe just plain lust.

That’s when she noted his growing arousal pressed heavily against her thigh. It hadn’t been there when he’d first pulled her close. Maybe Marilee hadn’t intrigued him like Carol had thought.

She slipped her leg in between his in a suggestive way, rubbing against his erection. Teach him to want to hold her close in the beginning and not face the consequences. A throaty growl escaped his lips. She bit back a smile and placed her head against his chest so he couldn’t see the amusement on her face—and heard his heart beating at an increased tempo.

The smell of him—hot-blooded virile man, no fussy colognes covering up his delicious manly fragrance, just the woodsy scent of cedar, sage, and citrus—triggered an unexpected craving in her. And a reaction she didn’t expect… her hormones tumbled wildly, and a musky fragrance of her own drifted to her nostrils.

Her lips parted in surprise. She still couldn’t get used to being able to catch a whiff of smells so intimate that only wilder animals could normally sense them. She slipped one hand down his back and slid the other up his chest, feeling the muscles beneath the cottony fabric, every touch making them tense even harder.

His hands slid down her back, lower, until he was cupping her buttocks in a sexual way, leaning into her, making her wet for him. She almost laughed. So much for her attempt at enticing him to take notice. Ryan was an absolute wolf and well versed in the gift of seduction. Lelandi was right. With her, he was the perfect gentleman. With Carol, it was a whole different story.

If they hadn’t both been werewolves, she would have suggested they go to a hotel—in another town. Not that she’d ever felt that way about a man on a first “date,” but her wolf hormones must have had something to do with it. Or maybe it was just Ryan who brought out the desire in her. Except their kind didn’t have casual sex. The act was a pledge to commit as mates for life.

Too bad. A romp with a macho wolf like him would have promised much pleasure, she was sure.

“Darien doesn’t like it that we’re dancing so close,” Ryan whispered into her hair, but he didn’t make a move to distance himself from her, for which she was grateful.

The touch of Ryan’s heated breath on her scalp sent a new tingling sensation sweeping through her. “Hmm, I’ve never known you to care what he thinks.”

“Not so,” Ryan murmured huskily. “I respect another pack’s territory.”