Seduced by Wolves
was fast
learning that the job description encompassed ailments of both
physical and emotional, surface wounds and scars that ran deep into
the heart of them all. She turned into a private area, ushered Zane
into one of the staff overnight rooms and locked the
door.
    “Remove the shirt.”
    He lifted one eyebrow in surprise, his
gaze lighting a wicked heat to burn inside her. “I want to clean
your wounds,” she admonished all while gathering some quick
supplies and dialing the sink faucet to hot.
    “I can think of more important things
you could do with those hands,” he teased.
    She smiled. She would never grow tired
of knowing that this man wanted her. She brought a bucket of warm
soapy water and some washcloths back to the small cot he sat on.
Her gaze lingered on his magnificent chest, watched the slow rise
and fall of each even breath.
    Wringing one cloth out, she worked it
over the rough skin on his hands, gently scrubbing away the dried
blood, refusing to think of the pain Cory must have endured to keep
them safe. “How is it my presence heals the Pack? It’s not just my
touch. It’s my person, isn’t it?”
    She rinsed the cloth and repeated on
his other hand, enjoying the tedious work and the calm that came
from lingering in Zane’s presence. She laid a towel on his lap,
placed his clean hands there to rest and began wrapping another wet
cloth around his forearms, soaking the mixture of blood and dirt
for easier removal.
    “Part of it is the belief that a
healthy Pack includes a mated Alpha. With my scent ingrained in
you, you are an extension of me. Someone the members of the Pack
can trust without question.”
    She scrubbed away the grime on his
arms. His wolf nature had already helped heal most of the minor
cuts and scratches so they glistened pink with fresh tissue now
that they were clean. “Helps that I’m not gruff and demanding all
day long.”
    Her breath caught at the sight of the
swollen punctures in his shoulder, knew if he wasn’t even babying
this injury that Cory’s must be ten times worse. His fingers slid
across her shoulders, cupping the back of her neck to quiet her
movements.
    “Look at you, Selena. Your first
instinct when you saw me was to soothe by both words and your
undivided attention to my care. You radiate calm. Your very nature
puts my wolf at ease. As it does Cory’s. And so on throughout the
Pack.”
    She left his side to draw fresh water
into her basin, working fast to cleanse the dirt from the nastier
wound. Her throat tightened with unspoken emotion, a ball of worry
lodged deep in her stomach. For Cory’s safety. For the strength to
believe that this new life would last. Fate and forever and
happiness and family. All things still too new and fresh in her
life to trust.
    Zane’s kiss on her forehead scalded,
her worries charring to ash in the aftermath. Lifting her gaze to
his, she studied the handsome lines of her mate’s jaw. “I would
take you right now against the wall,” he murmured and Selena knew
he’d sensed her darkening thoughts. “But he’s waiting for
us.”
    It took her a moment to understand.
Who? Then she noticed the pressure in her chest subsided, the dread
had lifted. “I need to see him.” She dried off Zane’s skin with
care, determined to have his wound looked at after they greeted
Cory and rose, her entire body thrumming with childlike
eagerness.
    “My thoughts exactly, little one. My
thoughts exactly.”

Chapter Twelve
    “This has to be enough.”
    Zane stalked around the edge of their
bed, unable to rest, refusing to lie around while this new doubt
festered inside him. Cory watched him from the bed, his face
pinched, his bare tanned chest slowly moving up and down with each
measured breath.
    “We are a tight knit Pack, Zane. Deep
down you know you’ve done everything you can to make sure of that.”
Zane stopped pacing and stared, amazed and frustrated that Cory
could relax so effortlessly while he exposed himself with

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