“The old Alpha and his crew, they never took part in anything like the Games. Too far beneath them.
It’s not just special events like this one. Man, at times it’s tough getting a job in Haines, but Erik and Keil have things arranged so there is never a chance for any of the pack to be unemployed.” He laughed. “That doesn’t mean you won’t be working your ass off. They seem to be able to find the dirtiest, rottenest jobs around for the pack members who are slow to get their acts together. No, it’s been good to see the younger kids find a way to stay in the North instead of having to head south where their wolves aren’t as happy.
Plus the old timers? You see them regularly around the pack house now, where before they used to hide out since no one wanted to listen to them talk. Especially the real old geezers who forget they’ve told the same tale a million times.”
She stopped to take a drink from her water bottle, thinking for a moment. It didn’t sound like huge changes to her. Well, jobs were good, but she’d been thinking in the line of murder and other crimes being the issues, not laziness and neglect. “Did you know Erik spoke Russian?”
“Of course. He knows seven languages.”
She jerked the bottle from her lips, the water sloshing down the front of her shirt. “Seven?”
Jared leaned back on a nearby tree, looking at her with a curious expression on his face.
“What?”
“You’re very pretty.”
Vivian Arend
She felt heat race over her skin. The admiration in his eyes embarrassed her and inside her wolf sniffed with disdain. “Thank you.”
“Is there something between you and Erik? TJ swears you two are scented like mates, but…” He shrugged. “You’re not acting like it. Just in case you’re interested in a—”
“I don’t want to get involved with you.” Maggie’s tongue tripped over itself in her hurry to turn him down. An icky sensation covered her at the thought of touching anyone but Erik.
Jared laughed out loud, his face split with an ear-to-ear grin. When he finally got himself under control he wiped the tears from his eyes and sucked in air. “I was going to ask if you were interested in a little advice. Sweetie, if you’re scented to the Beta, I’m not going anywhere near you in a sexual way, even if you beg. I’d like to keep the family jewels intact and usable for a few more years.”
She didn’t think she could be any more embarrassed. All she’d done lately had been jump to conclusions. “Sorry.” When she lifted her gaze, he was still grinning. “So, what’s your advice?”
Jared shrugged. “You don’t seem to know much about him. The mate thing is supposed to be cool, as in you’re positive they’re the only one for you. Yada yada. It works, I’ve seen it with the Alphas, and with others in the pack. I still think there’s nothing wrong with a little good old-fashioned conversation to go along with the instant physical attraction and the lifelong chemical bond.”
Maggie stood stunned for a moment.
“What? You look like I just suggested the two of you go bite heads off live chickens or something.”
She snorted. “I’ll confess your advice is not what I expected.”
Jared adjusted the straps on his pack and pointed up the trail. He resumed talking as she walked beside him. “Why? Because you heard I like the ladies? I do, and if you weren’t taken I’d be doing my damnedest to romance you. But I’m not stupid, I like more than a tumble. Sex is fun, but my hand is a lot safer than a regular routine of loving and leaving without more than a howdy-do and goodbye.”
Maggie walked in silence for a minute before facing him. “That’s good advice.”
He winked. “But if you’re not mates, then…”
She swung at him and he danced ahead of her, laughing. She took a deep breath and followed. These wolves were different from what she remembered in her teen years. The posturing and constant one-upmanship weren’t there. It must be because they were involved in the Games. This couldn’t be how they lived all the time.
Could it?
TJ and Erik disappeared from the top of the next rise, heading off the trail into the bush. They must have found another clue. By the time she’d reached the heights, the guys were back, Erik sporting a rather large grin.
“You found another one?” Without thinking, Maggie leaned against him to check out the paper in his hand. His body was warm and solid, and she adjusted herself to nestle closer, tugging until the clue sheet 40
www.samhainpublishing.com
Wolf Games
was within her vision. He chuckled and she suddenly realized she was completely inside the circle of his arms. When she would have retreated, he subtly closed the space and trapped her, drawing her attention to the paper.
“Number eight. I tell you, the clues are logical but if TJ didn’t have such a good sense of smell I think we would have missed half of them.”