adventurers who loved to right wrongs. Staying here wouldnât have been a viable option for them. But the rest of them were happy where they were.
She shrugged. âThis is our home. Besides, do you think my grandma or Allanâs mother would leave? They lost their mates hereâtheyâd never consider it. Rose and I certainly wouldnât abandon them. Of course, weâve thought about you and the fun youâre having in exotic locationsâ¦â She paused to glance up at him.
He was smiling a little at her comment.
âOh, the occasional lone wolf comes through here and thinks heâll settle down, but then he learns that two SEAL wolves visit here on and off through the year, that one is Roseâs brother and the other nearly her brother, and off the lone wolf goes.â
Paul smiled, then sobered. âIf thatâs the case, he wouldnât be the one for you.â
âIâm talking about Rose. Not me. With me, theyâve been afraid of my grandma.â
âEmma? How could anyone be afraid of her?â Paul began taping the opposite wall.
âOh, she starts chanting and pretending sheâs casting a tribal curse on him, and the next thing I know, the wolf is out of here.â
âEmma does that?â He laughed.
âQuit laughing,â Lori said, though it was funny. She hadnât really been interested in mating the guys. Especially if they were afraid of her grandma. Lori could imagine someone pretending to cast a curse on Paul or Allan. Neither would have tucked tail and run off. âI really liked a couple of the guys.â Not enough to mate either of them. If they hadnât been brave enough to stand up to her grandma, how would they react if they ran into a grizzly in the woods? âBut Emmaâs always had her heart set on me marrying one of the two of you. Of course, I told her that neither of you would ever settle down, so she should quit scaring off my prospective mates.â
Paul quirked his lips a little at that, then frowned again. âSo you started dating Dusty?â
â No , I didnât start dating Dusty.â She stood and gave Paul an aggravated look. She knew heâd keep asking until she gave him the whole story. If she didnât, Allan and Paul would interrogate Rose next, so she might as well give her version.
âHe and his brother asked if they could come by and go swimming with Rose and me. We thought that we could learn why they had moved into the area. See if they had planned any trouble for the pack. They brought steaks to cook on the grill, and we made the vegetables. We thought it was important that we check them out. Just like the leaders of a pack would if we had any.â
He didnât like that she could have put herself at risk, but he admired her for stepping up to take charge. And her jab at him for not taking over? He couldnât fault her resolve.
Then he frowned. âBut things got out of hand.â
âYeah. We ate, then went for a walk in the woods. It was hot, and when we came back, we went for a swim. Rose and I were wearing bathing suits. The guys didnât mention that they had none and stripped naked. About that time, we were getting a little wary.â
âHell, Iâd say so.â
âRight, well, we figured they could have worn their briefs at least. As soon as they didnât and we didnât object, they apparently thought we were easy and got way too frisky. Here we are out in the lake in broad daylight. Not that itâs that easy to see us because of the size of the lake and how far we are from other houses and the trees surrounding the place, but still, we werenât willing to take the relationships any further.
âJust figured on a nice swim, the walk, lunch, and that was it. We know not to get involved with wolves to any real degree unless weâre thinking of a permanent mating. Too risky. They got mad that we didnât want to go
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