she had believed that once she had turned into one of their kind, seeing a naked man built like ryan wouldn't affect her. she guessed that was a naive thought. especially when she had to take a look at his package- twice. would it make any difference if she had been a werewolf for eons and had seen others strip and shape-shift whenever in a pack?

maybe. like living at a nudist colony and being used to seeing everyone nude all the time. no big deal. even though the pack members didn't shift all the time. so they weren't often naked in front of other pack members. and they changed so fast that, to the naked eye, the shift was mostly a wondrous blurring of forms.

she had thought she wouldn't be affected, being a nurse and trying to look at him in a clinical way while maintaining an air of aloofness. right. she hadn't succeeded. now she couldn't shake loose the image of his powerful build, thinking how it would be with someone like him in the throes of passionate lovemaking. her face flushed at the thought.

"carol!" darien snapped again. she recognized the fear in his expression, although he often schooled his face to hide such emotions.

he stalked toward her, dark hair, dark eyes, a warrior ready to do battle. his brothers flanked him, all eyes on her, tensions running high, their postures ready to pounce if she attempted to run. where was she supposed to run to? she was clueless about so many aspects of being a lupus garou.

lelandi had warned her how vulnerable she would be on her own as a newly turned lupus garou. but she didn't want to live alone, either. despite the pack's restrictions on her, she still loved the whole lot of them. she loved their protectiveness, their caring, and the way they seemed clueless sometimes as to how to deal with her uniqueness.

even so, she thanked god that she hadn't yet changed into a wolf. but the urge to shift would make it impossible for her to fight it forever. she had no plans to go anywhere. this was home, such as it was, and at least she worked in the hospital, now that she was one of them-kind of. working as a nurse had been the job she'd dreamed of since she was a girl and had broken her leg. she wanted to help others in need, just like the medical staff had helped her. so this was it for her.

"i'm coming," she said in a grumpy way, as darien and his brothers drew closer. she really wished they wouldn't watch her so much. she was fine and didn't need them hovering over her like a bunch of old motherly hens. "i thought the three of you were at work."

jake and tom looked her over as if to ensure she was okay and then quickly searched the surrounding area, trying to locate ryan's tracks.

"is that why you left the house? because you thought i wouldn't learn of it? " darien took her arm and escorted her back to the house. he turned to peer over his shoulder at his brothers, took a sniff of the air, and grunted. towering over her, darien gave her a hard look.

"what the hell were you doing out here alone with mckinley? just because my brothers and i weren't home and lelandi was sleeping, that doesn't mean it's safe for you to be running around in the woods by yourself at night." then he considered her, his eyes narrowing. he shook his head. "he'd better not want you for a mate."

her lips parted in surprise. she should have known darien would recognize who ryan was, but why would a gray pack leader be interested in a newly turned red wolf? then again, why in the world would he want to see her so badly, potentially incurring darien's wrath?

she sighed. ryan was virile, rugged, and sexy with a body that wouldn't quit. hell, he was a feast for impoverished eyes to be sure. she hoped she'd acted less like a schoolgirl who hadn't seen goods like that on a man in a long time and more like a nurse concerned with his medical needs. but more than his physical good looks, ryan was protective and caring and dedicated. was he really interested in getting to know her better?

she smiled, each step becoming springier as she headed for the house. she'd always had a thing for alpha males. not that she had any intention of being bossed around, even if one had her best interests at heart. her fascination with alphas was that they were a challenge. betas didn't hold much of an appeal.

but then her step slowed. when he'd been here before, she had read in his posture and in his censure that he didn't believe in her psychic abilities. with that kind of attitude, he couldn't be interested in her.

she stiffened and cast a look over her shoulder in the direction he'd gone. so then what was he really doing here?

later that night, after not locating the red wolf who had run off in the woods next to darien's house, and irritated beyond reason, ryan came to the conclusion that the lupus garou was wearing some kind of hunter's scent concealer. otherwise, ryan would have caught up to him at some point. which meant the red was up to no good.

sneaking through darien's territory, the red had been careful not to mark the area, just as ryan hadn't, although the instinct was hard to control as an alpha in wolf form. ryan had smelled the scent markings made by darien and other pack members when he had crossed the invisible boundary into darien's territory earlier. the markings were a warning to other wolves and predators that the land was already occupied.

ryan came across wolf tracks and red fur snagged on a pinyon pine branch, but the smell of the wolf's current location eluded him. when ryan sniffed the fur left behind, there was no odor at all.

he traveled after the red wolf for a couple of miles, but the trail led to a river and stopped on the rocky bank. even though the trespassing wolf was darien's problem, not his own, a nagging thought continued to plague ryan as he turned and headed through the forest to town. why had the wolf been watching darien's house?

his actions didn't make any sense, and ryan couldn't help worrying about lelandi and carol, the only two red wolves in darien's pack. except for lelandi's doctor from her former red pack, who was on loan to darien's pack for the time being. but the doctor lived nearer town, not close to darien's home. and he was a male. which made ryan believe that the red male lurker was interested in carol or lelandi. or both.

reluctantly, ryan followed the tree line and finally reached the back side of the hastings bed and breakfast, where his rented room looked out on the douglas firs, perfect for privacy. he'd left the window open so he could easily let himself back in. when he jumped at the opening, though, he realized too late that someone had shut the damned thing.

his front paws hit the glass pane hard, and he grunted and jumped back. hell. swinging his head around, he saw bertha hastings, the owner of the establishment, peer out the kitchen window. for a while, she just watched him, not recognizing him. a lone wolf. not of her pack. an outsider.

he sat and waited.

bertha's round face lifted in a happy countenance with springy silver curls tracing her cheeks where they'd fallen loose from a bun and a dash of white powder on the tip of her pert nose. did she finally recognize him? she hadn't been at the battle when the reds and grays fought. and he hadn't been in his wolf form at any other time when bertha had been around.

she opened the window, lifted her chin, and breathed deeply. then she smiled again, this time her eyes matching the cheerful greeting.

she knew it was him. he took a breath of relief as she disappeared from the window. then the back door opened, and she motioned for him to hurry inside. he hesitated, concerned she might have some human guests about. more vigorously this time, she again waved for him to come in.

with a loping gait, he hurried into the kitchen. the scent of strawberries and whipped cream, sugar-powdered cakes, roasting duck, and spears of asparagus grilling in olive oil met with his approval. he took another whiff, which made her smile.

"dinner will be served in a couple of minutes. what are you really doing here, ryan mckinley?" bertha asked as she pulled a key off a rack and hurried down the hall, the key clinking on its chain.

he guessed, as many years as she must have lived, she didn't believe he was just attending the spring festival the next day as he'd said. he followed close behind her, wanting to slip into the room before a human guest saw him and went into hysterics.

bertha unlocked his door and let him in. "i closed the window because heating this place is difficult enough. i didn't realize you'd taken a run on the wild side. i do have an electronic wolf door in the kitchen if you need to go out. no human guests are staying at the bed and breakfast right now, so feel free to come and go as you please in whichever form you prefer."

he'd seen the wolf door when he'd first checked in, but he hadn't wanted bertha to know he was headed out, figuring she would have been curious about what he was up to. and he hadn't known if she had any human guests, although that could have changed if one had checked in while he was on his run.

she motioned to the bedroom with its floral prints in varying shades of green on white backgrounds, dark forest-green walls, white furniture, and a vase filled with fresh green-and-white carnations. the place made him feel as though he was staying in a room in the forest, minus bugs and weather problems.

"this is the room lelandi used when she first arrived. she sure brought a hornet's nest of trouble with her, although in the end it all turned out for the best," bertha said and then raised a brow. she gave a resigned sigh.

"you aren't planning on stirring up the town also, are you? i should warn darien you're here. but i doubt you're any real threat. i take it you're not here to see lelandi this time." then bertha's brows both elevated as if she'd worked out the mystery on her own. "oh, not lelandi. carol, then?" her lips curved up in a sly way.

he waited patiently for bertha to leave, but she seemed preoccupied with sorting out why he was here and letting him know what conclusions she was drawing from the situation.

"oh... now i see. i'll leave you to your business." she turned to go but stopped and said over her shoulder, "darien's getting ready to encourage one of our pack members and carol to mate. so if you're interested..." she sighed. "i shouldn't be saying so since you're not one of our pack, but i think you could handle her best of all since you're an alpha and patient to boot.