Stone Cold Fox Read online

  Wiggling out of Jo’s arms, though his Fox protested against it, he backed away from her and Shifted again, going back to human.

  He wound up crouching naked at her feet.

  “Oh!” Jo gave a little gasp and took a quick step back from him.

  “Sorry.” Reese started pulling on his clothes as fast as he could. “Can’t help it—the clothes don’t Shift with me.”

  “I see,” she murmured, although she was pointedly averting her eyes.

  “So?” Reese asked as he finished buttoning his jeans and reached for his shirt. “You believe me now?”

  “I guess I have no choice.” She frowned. “I’m sorry for doubting you—I thought you were like that pack of Skin Walkers that attacked me on the way here. But your, uh, other form isn’t nearly as scary as theirs. They turned into a pack of wolves—huge ones.”

  Reese felt a little guilty about not admitting that the little fox wasn’t his only size option, but he wanted to hear more about the ones who had attacked her.

  “A wolf pack, you say?” he said frowning. “Where about did you see them?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “In the woods outside of Asheville. I was leaving Avalon and I was already too far away to call for help.” She looked down at the ceremonial dagger still clutched in her hand. “Not that anyone would have come, even if they could have heard me.”

  “Avalon? You mean the private females-only Yoga retreat?” Reese asked. “Is that where you came from?”

  “What do you know about Avalon?” she demanded defensively.

  Reese shrugged. “I know because I bought my little sister, Meggie, a gift pack to take classes there for her birthday one year. She loves that kind of stuff.”

  “I miss it.” Jo’s voice had fallen almost to a whisper. “So much. But . . . I can never go back.”

  “Why not?” Reese asked, but she only shook her head. Clearly the pain was too great to talk about. He decided to go back to their earlier topic. “Tell me about this wolf pack that attacked you,” he said, going to sit on the porch steps with his t-shirt still in his hand. “What makes you think they were Skin Walkers?”

  “Well . . . because they changed. They . . . Shifted from human to animal form.”

  “Like I just did, right?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m just asking because I’ve never heard of real-life Skin Walkers before but there are plenty of Shifters around these parts. In fact, just on the other side of Asheville is a town called Wolverton—that’s dire wolf country. They have a pack about twenty or thirty strong—I know their head Alpha, Jase Saunders. Fixed his truck for him a couple of times.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “Is he a really tall man with coal-black hair and amber eyes?”

  Reese nodded. “Yeah, that’s him. Did you talk to him?”

  “He tried to stop the others from attacking me,” Jo said. “He kept shouting that they were a bunch of Betas and they had to control themselves. In fact . . . he held them off just long enough for me to get a running start. But then . . .” She shivered. “I looked behind me and I saw them changing. They were so huge—bigger than any wolf I’ve ever seen.”

  “Sounds like dire wolves all right. They went extinct shortly after the last ice age—all the animals were bigger back then. Well, most of them.” Reese frowned. “And that sounds like their Alpha, Jase. But I don’t understand why they would attack you in the first place.”

  Jo gave a short, hard laugh. “Because they’re men—what other reason did they need?”

  “I’m sorry about that,” Reese said quietly. “I just want you to know you’re safe with me. I won’t hurt you.”

  She took a deep breath. “Which is why I should stay with you, right?”

  “Do you want to?” Reese asked. “I mean, because I want you to—I really do. But I’d like to know how you feel about it.”

  “Well . . .” She looked down at her knife, studying it while she thought. “I want a place to stay—a place to catch my breath. It’s true what I told your fox—or you in your other form, I guess—I’ve been traveling for weeks and I’m really tired. And . . .” Her eyes were suddenly huge and haunted. “And I can’t go back in the woods. Not after the sun goes down, anyway.”

  “Then you should stay,” Reese said decisively.

  “All right.” She nodded as though making up her mind. “I’ll stay—but only on my own terms.”

  “Hands off, I get it.” Reese held up his hands, to show he wouldn’t touch her.

  “Hands off is right but . . .” she took a deep breath. “I have to be sure about that.”

  Reese frowned. “You want me to give you my word? Because I will.”

  “And if I knew you better, I would take your word,” Jo said. “But I’m afraid I have something else in mind—something you might not like.”

  “What? Try me.” He wanted her to stay so badly he would have agreed to almost anything. Inside him, he could feel his Fox yipping eagerly. She was going to stay! The wonderful female with the fox-red hair was going to stay!

  We’ll see, he sent cautiously to his other half. Settle down.

  Jo took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes.

  “I need to cast a spell,” she said. “A binding spell to keep you from touching me.”

  Chapter Three

  Jo waited to see what he would say to that. Most males, she thought, probably wouldn’t have taken it well. Not that she’d had much contact with the opposite sex for the past twenty years or so but from what she remembered they were a thin-skinned, easily offended bunch only interested in one thing besides their egos.

  Reese, however, just looked at her thoughtfully for a long moment before nodding.

  “All right,” he murmured in that deep voice of his. “If it makes you feel better, that’s all right with me.”

  Jo looked at him uncertainly. “Wow, you really do want me to stay.”

  “I do,” he said simply. “I honestly don’t know why. I know we just met and this isn’t something I normally do, invite strange girls over to stay at my house. But I can’t help it—I just . . . feel like you belong here.”

  Jo studied him carefully as he spoke. If he was acting or pretending she certainly couldn’t tell. He seemed to be thinking deeply about this and his warm, mellow voice was completely sincere.

  Why does he want me to stay so badly? she wondered. An even trickier question was, why did she want to stay as well? Because she did. Now that she was (mostly) over her fear of the big Shifter, she felt herself drawn to him, drawn to his house and the grounds around it—and not just because she needed to stay out of the forest and avoid the shadow creature.

  Her old mentor, Miranda, had taught her that physical places can hold memories and feelings. The big old Victorian house with its wraparound porch and green trim seemed to echo warmth and joy and love. She didn’t think she would get such happy echoes from a place where anyone evil or wrong-intentioned lived.

  “Well,” she said at last, thinking of his comment that he didn’t normally invite strange girls over to stay. “I’m hardly a ‘girl,’ although you might think I’m strange when you see me casting.”

  “Why?” Reese raised an eyebrow at her. “Is it weirder than watching someone turn into an animal in front of your eyes?”

  Jo felt her mouth quirk upward in a smile.

  “Okay, point taken. No, I guess not. Listen . . .” She cleared her throat. “I’m going to cast out here, in your backyard if that’s all right.”

  “Fine by me.” He shrugged, his bare shoulders rolling. He had yet to put back on his t-shirt and she couldn’t help noticing that his broad, muscular chest with its dusting of reddish-brown hair was very attractive. Not that she was attracted to men—not after her past. But still . . .

  “Okay well, I’ll need some time to get ready. And . . .” Jo bit her lip, wondering if he would accede to her next request. “And I need something of yours to use to bind you from touching me. Something person