with Lori as a wolf. He hadnât done that in many years.
They paused to watch the sun begin to rise, turning the sky pink and orange before the darkness faded to light, and then they continued the short distance to the cabin.
As soon as they entered through the wolf door, Lori raced for the bedroom, and Paul shifted and began getting dressed in the living room. She was faster than him; he hadnât pulled on his shirt yet when she joined him.
â That was fun. I ran with Rose about a month ago, butâ¦â She shrugged. âI think I felt, well, safer with you. But donât read anything into that. Youâre a male wolf, and youâre bigger and scarier lookingâto wild beasts of prey, that is. Hunters with guns? None of us stand a chance against them.â
âI had fun, Lori. Somehow running with Allan isnât the same.â Wolves were social animals, so they did brush up against each other, touch noses in greeting, and lick each other, male to male, female to female, male to female. It was just a way of showing the pack bonds. But with Lori? Hell, rubbing his fur-covered body against hers while they ran or licking her cheek or nuzzling her meant a whole different thing to him.
âYouâre so used to running with him that you probably know just how heâs going to react. Me, Iâm an unknown quantity,â Lori said.
âSomewhat, but you still have some of the same wolf moves from when we were younger.â
âOh?â
âYou used to sit by a stream or river and watch to see if you could catch sight of a fish, and your tail would start wagging vigorously, sweeping the ground.â
She laughed. âIâm surprised you remembered.â
He couldnât forget how she had behaved as a wolf in their youth. Each of the wolves in the pack had different behaviors, just like humans. But heâd always been fascinated with Loriâs antics.
Lori hadnât expected him to kiss her again so soon. Or toâ¦continually get into her space on the run. Not in a protective way, but more likeâ¦courting.
Sheâd like that. If he intended to stay. She made eggs, toast, and bacon for them while he began to tape next to the brick fireplace. After eating, Paul pulled the plastic over the top of the mantel and taped it in place. Lori moved more plastic sheeting over to the base of the wall they were going to paint.
âOn the flight home from Ecuador, Allan and I were talking about how you, Emma, Catherine, and Rose need to join a pack. You need to be around more of our kind,â Paul said. âI really hadnât thought about it until this Cooper business, and now with a grizzly claiming this as its territory, itâs not all that safe to run as wolves by yourselves, or for just you and Rose to run together.â
Lori dropped to her knees and began taping around the rest of the fireplace at the base next to the wooden floor. âThe two of you were talking about us ? Deciding what we should do?â She snorted. âFigure out what you want to do about yourselves .â She shouldnât have, but she tacked on, âWhen you grow up.â That earned her a little smile.
Her grandma only shifted on her acreage at night now because of her more advanced age, and Catherine, Rose, and Lori sometimes ran together as wolves because of the safety in numbers. But she didnât need Paul telling her that she and the rest of them needed to join another lupus garou pack just so they could run as wolves.
Paul cleared his throat. âWe worryââ
She cut him off. âFirst off, you know it wonât happen. Our pack settled this land. We have history here. When that rabid wolf pack killed so many of our kind, we vowed to stay here and to continue on. We promised to be here for each other.â
Her face felt tight with annoyance. She hadnât expected him or Allan to stay in the area forever because theyâd always been
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