Born of Ice

“Yeah, but I’m used to being outside.” He took the food from her. “So I take it I didn’t get us banned after all.”


She smiled, showing him that beckoning dimple that he would kill to kiss. “Far from it. Anyone who fights for us is always welcome here.”

His features relieved, he nodded. “Good. I was afraid I’d have to listen to Vane’s shi—stuff for the next few centuries.”

Aimee stifled a laugh at the way he caught himself before he cussed in front of her. It was very sweet and charming and also unexpected. “You’re not like other wolves, are you?”

He swallowed a drink of beer straight out of the bottle. “How do you mean?”

“I’ve never been around wolves who were so . . .”

He arched a brow as if daring her to insult him.

“Mannered.”

Fang laughed, a warm, rich sound that lacked any hint of mockery. The expression softened his features, making him even more gorgeous and intriguing. And for some reason, she couldn’t quite take her gaze off his well-sculpted arms as they flexed with every move he made. He had the best biceps she’d ever seen.

“Our sister’s doing,” he said after he swallowed a bite. “She has codes we have to follow and Vane enforces them to please her.”

“But you don’t like them?” There’d been a note in his voice as he spoke.

He didn’t answer as he cut the steak with his fork.

Aimee gestured back toward the bar. “You want to eat that inside with the rest?”

“Nah. I don’t like being indoors and I can’t stand most of them anyway.” He jerked his chin toward the saloon-styled door where Dev was standing guard again. “You should probably go back though. I’m sure your brother doesn’t want you out here consorting with dogs.”

“You’re not a dog,” she said emphatically, surprised that she actually meant it. An hour ago, she’d have been the one to hurl that insult at him and the rest of his pack.

Now . . .

He truly wasn’t like the others and she really wanted to stay out here with him.

Go, Aimee.

She took a step away before she remembered that she wore his jacket. Pulling it off, she held it out to him. “Thanks again.”

Fang couldn’t speak as he watched her cross the street and head back into the bar. As he held his jacket against his chest, her scent hit him full force with a wave so strong he wanted to howl from it. Instead, he buried his face against the collar where her scent was the strongest. Inhaling deep, he felt his body harden to a level it had only done for one other female. . . .

He winced as old memories tore through him.

Even though they hadn’t been mates, Stephanie had been his entire world.

And she’d died in his arms from a brutal attack.

That memory shattered the heat in his blood and brought him back to reality with a fierce reminder of how dangerous their existence was. It was why that jackal was lucky to be alive. The one thing Fang couldn’t stomach was to see a woman threatened, never mind harmed.

Any creature cowardly enough to prey on a woman deserved the most brutal death imaginable. And if it was delivered to him by Fang’s hand, then all the better.

Shrugging his jacket on, he picked up his plate and returned to eating.

Once he was finished, he took the dishes to Dev who thanked him again for saving Aimee.

“You know for a wolf, you don’t really stink.”

Fang snorted. “And for a bear you don’t chafe my ass.”

Dev laughed good-naturedly. “You going back inside?”

“No. I’d rather stay out and freeze my ass off.”

“I hear ya. I like it better outside myself. Too human in there for me.”

Fang inclined his head, surprised that the bear understood. Anya had made him human enough, he didn’t want any more house breaking than that. Tucking his hands in his pockets, he headed back to the bikes to wait.



Aimee went outside at Dev’s insistent grumblings that kept coming in through the earpiece she wore—all the staff wore them so that the Were-Hunters could appear more human whenever they used their powers to communicate with each other.

“What?” she snapped in the doorway.

He held out an empty plate and beer bottle.

“Oh.” She stepped forward to take them from his grasp. Unbidden her gaze went to Fang who was again sitting on the ground with his legs bent and his arms draped over them while he leaned against an old hitching post.

There was something very feral and masculine about that pose. Something about it that made her heart quicken.

He’s not the same species, girl. . . .

Yet it didn’t matter to her hormones. Gorgeous was gorgeous, regardless of breed or type.

Yeah, that was what she was reacting to. It was nothing more than the fact he was an exceptional specimen of male physiology.

“Something wrong?”

She blinked and looked at Dev who was watching her. “No, why?”

“I dunno. You have this dopey kind of expression that I’ve never seen from you before.”

She made a sound of abrupt disgust. “I don’t look dopey.”