“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.

***

Decorated in Queen Anne-style furniture, Elizabeth’s bedroom at the B and B made her feel like she’d been transported to the past. The chairs had clawed feet, and everything from the footboards to the canopy over the bed was draped in ecru lace.

Elizabeth paced across the elegant bedroom. She had called North to arrange a time and place to meet with him. He had agreed to hand over the evidence of her uncle’s complicity in murdering her parents in exchange for the deed to her family horse farm, but the red wolf was not happy.

“What do you mean you’re in Silver Town?” North snarled.

“I’m writing the article for my newspaper here. Bring the evidence to the ski resort. You should be able to arrive there by two. Right?”

North didn’t say anything, but she could hear his highly agitated heavy breathing on the line.

“I won’t meet you at your place,” Elizabeth continued, disregarding how irritated he was with her. “I’ll be at the Timberline Ski Lodge at two.”

“You couldn’t have picked a worse place for me to meet with you.” North finally let out his breath. “If I have any trouble getting there—the road conditions are bad due to the snowstorm—I’ll give you a ring.”

“All right. See you this afternoon otherwise.” She ended the call and left the room to join Bertha, the owner of the B and B, in the kitchen for breakfast.

She hadn’t realized the B and B was run by a gray wolf couple, but she’d been fortunate that the husband was off on a trip somewhere and his wife was really nice to her. She thought maybe Bertha was just an oddity, but then again, maybe because Elizabeth wasn’t a gray wolf, Bertha didn’t care what she was.

“Good morning, Elizabeth,” Bertha greeted her. The woman had springy silver curls and a round face and a cherub smile that reminded Elizabeth of Mrs. Claus. She wore a colorful burgundy and blue floral dress that matched the bouquets of flowers sitting on the dining-room table, kitchen bar, and tables in the common room. Ivies wound around wrought-iron plant stands, and small ficus trees were grouped next to the big windows that looked out on a tree-filled yard blanketed in snow.

“Good morning. The kitchen smells delightful.” Elizabeth sat down at the table covered in white lace to have a cup of steaming-hot chocolate and a freshly baked cinnamon roll. The frosting melted over the top and dripped down the sides.

The scent of cinnamon filled the kitchen, and Elizabeth took in another deep breath. Just breathing in the sweet, sugary smell was bound to pack on the pounds.

“Are you sure the ski patroller won’t be too put out about having to drop by and pick me up?” Elizabeth asked before she took a bite of the homemade cinnamon roll. If she didn’t ski enough to burn up the calories on the slopes, she would have to run in her wolf coat in the woods tonight.