“TJ.”
“All right, don’t get your fur in a knot. I’ll shift, but you keep an eye on her. If she signs anything that looks like ‘cute doggy’ or ‘sweet fluffy wuffy’, I want to learn them to insult the boys at the next pack meeting.”
Robyn raised her eyebrow.
“Stop it with the Spock look, Robyn, that seriously freaks me out. I keep expecting to see you grow pointy ears and hear you announce, ‘But this is not logical.’” TJ continued rambling as he dropped his clothes and stood naked in the middle of the cabin. He waggled his eyebrows at her and she blushed.
“Get on with it before I apply the Vulcan death grip to you, little brother.” Keil spoke through clenched teeth.
TJ shimmered and there were two images overlapping each other, another shimmer and there was a large silver grey wolf sitting on its haunches in front of them. Robyn tensed. Keil watched her rise from the chair, eyes wide with wonder. She stood for the longest time and simply stared, her breathing rapid, face flushed. He was ready to take her arm to reassure her when she dropped to her knees and reached out in slow motion to brush the fur on TJ’s head and neck.
After a few strokes of her hand, TJ rolled over to his back and tilted his neck up. A surge of pleasure raced through Keil’s veins at the sight. His brother, while not always the sharpest knife in the drawer, was a physically strong wolf. TJ didn’t give instant obeisance to just anyone. Another indicator that the woman kneeling by Keil’s feet was going to be a powerful addition in his life.
TJ shifted back and Robyn was caught stroking her hand down his naked chest.
“Damn!” Robyn shouted and shot away from TJ, backing into the door.
“Oops, sorry, Robyn. You were tickling me something fierce. Boy, am I glad you didn’t say ‘shit’ or some other swear word like that. With how strong your voice is I’d have been in a hell of a mess,” TJ muttered quietly to himself as he pulled on his clothes.
Keil watched as Robyn closed her eyes for a moment and drew a shaky breath. Hell, could TJ do anything without screwing it up?
Keil refilled her coffee cup and waited for her to open her eyes. He patted the seat next to him. He wanted to pat his lap and have her crawl into it like last night. Actually, he wanted to strip her down and crawl into her, but that was going to take a little more time and patience on his part.
Hell, he hated being patient.
Her head was spinning, her heart beat a million times a minute and somewhere along the line she must have fallen down a rabbit hole.
Tad was never going to believe this. She was having trouble believing it and she’d seen TJ change, she’d touched his wolf form. It wasn’t an illusion.
Unless there’d been something in her coffee. She gave it a cautious sniff. Smelt like normal Midnight Sun brew. She glanced up to see Keil’s gorgeous eyes watching her. A shiver raced down her spine and heat flared in her belly.
Damn, he was potent.
She grabbed the notepad and sat for a bit thinking what to write. She twisted her face up, tapped the pencil a few times while biting her lip. Finally she went for honest.
Well. I’ll admit it. That was pretty cool.
Keil smiled at her and she melted some more. Between his smile and the expression in his eyes, moisture was pooling in her mouth. And farther south.
She took a quick sip of her coffee and dragged her eyes away from his.
So what makes you think I’m a wolf? I’ve never turned into anything.
“You smell like wolf.” TJ leaned forward in his chair and sniffed in her direction. “Yup. I can’t explain it better than that. I can’t have you sniff a human and then sniff a wolf ’cause, we’re all wolves here. But when we go back to civilization, we can show you. Well, even there it’s tough to explain to someone that you need to sniff them but don’t want to say why. Trust us. You’re a wolf.”
Keil nodded in agreement and Robyn shifted in her chair to stare out the window. A tidal wave of emotions swept over her. The ability to turn into a wolf. Who wouldn’t want to be able to do that? It was the stuff of fairy tales and escape literature everywhere.
It also called to something deep inside her that had felt cooped up and trapped for many years. While she enjoyed her job at the bakery, and she loved her brother, she was never completely happy unless she was somewhere out in nature—skiing or hiking or canoeing.
Maybe this was the reason.
Robyn pushed the notepad at TJ. How come I’ve never turned furry?
TJ wrinkled up his nose and considered for a minute. “Keil? Ideas?”
Keil’s hand stroked down her arm and she bit back a moan. Oh man, that felt good. Her skin itched to be touched, and as much as she needed to find answers, she needed to jump Keil more. The attraction that had begun last night, causing her to lose all sense and sleep in the man’s arms, it seemed to be growing.
Concentrate. She needed to concentrate on the cool idea that she might actually be able to turn into a wolf.
“Robyn,” Keil said. “Full-blood wolves like us are born with the genes to be able to shift, but they’re turned off in newborns until triggered. Kind of like they’re dormant. For some reason your genes must have never been switched on.”
A trigger?
Keil nodded. “Yeah. It’s a hormone and newborns get it from their mom’s milk.”
Robyn’s stomach fell. It more than fell, it leapt off the edge of Mount Logan and plummeted into the depths of the nearest crevasse.
The possibility that she was a magical being had excited her. Seeing TJ change had woken something inside her, full of joy and freedom, and a deep happiness she’d been missing all her life. Now it was slipping out of her reach and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She pushed away from the table and grabbed her coat, fighting back the tears as she rushed outside. She saw Keil rise to his feet, but she ignored his outstretched hand.
Damn, it wasn’t fair.
She managed to get her coat done up before the tears fell. She stood gazing over the lake, arms wrapped tightly around her torso as her eyes welled up and overflowed. The bright sunshine around her did nothing to lighten the spot of darkness she felt at the loss of something she’d wanted. Something she hadn’t realized she’d wanted so much.
Robyn felt him approaching. Gentle arms slipped around her torso and pulled her back into his body, supporting her. Holding her loose enough she could escape if she wanted, but close enough to let her feel his concern.
Another sob escaped before she could stop it, and Keil turned her and gathered her up against him like she was a child. She wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her face in his coat and let the misery release.
Her heart hurt.
Slowly, feeling his strength, feeling the comfort he offered, the pain eased. Keil’s hand ran over her hair, and she remembered him touching her like that last night. He must think she was some kind of emotional yo-yo, running hot then cold. She took a deep breath and sniffed hard, pulling away from his embrace.
Keil reached a hand to cup her face. He wiped away a tear with his thumb. “I’m not sure what’s wrong, but I think I’ve guessed a bit. Did something happen to your mom when you were born?”
Robyn nodded. She patted her pockets searching for tissue when Keil handed her a clean hankie. It took a minute to get herself back together, Keil politely ignoring her runny nose and wet face until she felt presentable.
She flicked glances up at him as he stood waiting for her. He gazed over the lake, his strong body like a pillar of granite. What was it about this man that fascinated her? He turned to see if she was ready and held a hand to her. Robyn grasped his warm fingers, enjoying the tingling sensation that raced up her arm as he wrapped his hand around hers and led her back into the cabin.