Page 12 of Squirrel Hunt

He hoped it was Myka.

It wasn’t Myka. He knew it wasn’t. They’d agreed they wouldn’t meet up for a couple of days. But maybe something had happened to make her come here? He shook his head. Nope, she’d have called or at least texted to let him know she was on her way. And if she’d misplaced her phone—he did all the time—she’d have called from the doorstep.

On wobbly legs and with eyes wanting to tear from the stench of the perfume, he neared the front door. He could spot a hulking form through the window—not Myka. Perhaps it was Roan. He had no idea what he looked like. Maybe he’d heard about Myka coming here and wanted to check it out. God, he hoped not. It wouldn’t look good if he realized she was hiding some guy away.

With trembling hands, he reached out to unlock the door. If he died now, he only had himself to blame. Who was so stupid as to open the door for a stranger?

He had an out-of-body experience as he pushed the door open and looked into dark eyes that turned amber in a blink. Fuck. He took a hasty step back, but as he did, the wolf on the doorstep did too. He more or less jumped down from the doorstep and coughed.

Thank fuck for stinky perfumes.

Fire erupted in his chest, and he feared he’d breathed in too much of it but forced himself to keep his face blank. The wolf looked at him, a frown appearing between his brows as he rubbed his heart. Too much perfume for him too. Served him right.

“Yes?” Dahy was proud of how steady he managed to keep his voice. His body was acting funny though, heat was buzzing inside of him. He needed the wolf to leave so he could wash off the perfume before he overdosed on the fumes.

“I’m…eh…” The man cleared his throat, and Dahy almost laughed when tears formed in his eyes. Almost. Since his eyes also threatened to tear up, it wasn’t as funny as it would’ve been had he been unaffected. The man rubbed his heart again and frowned at Dahy. “Sorry, I’m feeling a little…funny.”

“Do you want me to call you a doctor?” It’s what a human would’ve done, right? If a stranger appeared on your doorstep feeling unwell, you’d call a doctor. “An ambulance?”

“No.” The man waved a hand, took another step back and gave Dahy a devastatingly handsome grin. Fuck. Dahy did not need to notice that in a wolf, his traitorous body should not react to the sight of him. Squirrels and wolves did not play well together.

“I’m Konrad Brody.”

Oh fuck, the alpha. He should’ve known since the air was crackling with energy. Dahy swallowed hard. He had to leave, had to run, had to shift. He pulled in a breath and sneezed.

“Bless you.” Konrad smiled again, and Dahy’s heart did funny things—not the fear-things it should be doing. It was broken. Damn, the perfume must have broken his heart and his flight responses. He wanted to go to Konrad more than he wanted to run away. Stupid squirrel brain.

“Thank you.” Dahy shivered, and it wasn’t only the winter cold wrapping around his damp body.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt your shower—”

“Bath.”

Konrad nodded. “Bath. I didn’t mean to interrupt your bath. I was simply checking in since…You’re a guy?”

“Last I checked, yeah.”

Konrad looked around as if double-checking he was at the right cabin. “Yeah, sorry, I assumed. Myka said you were on the run from a boyfriend and I…I guess I assumed you were a girl.”

Dahy nodded. He didn’t know what Myka had told him, so he’d do better by saying as little as possible. Silence descended, and Dahy wanted to squirm but forced himself to meet Konrad’s eyes. They were brown again.

“Right.” Konrad ran a hand through his hair. “Nothing out of the ordinary?”

Having a wolf on the doorstep who didn’t try to eat him was out of the ordinary. “What do you mean?”

“No one has come looking for you here?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t left the cabin since I got here yesterday.” Did he know about the man coming to Myka’s work?

“Good.”

Dahy stared at his mouth. What would it feel like against his? The fire inside flared again, and he almost whimpered. What the fuck? If that mouth got close to him, he’d get eaten, and not in a good way.

* * * *

Konrad didn’t know what was wrong with him. Every breath hurt his lungs because of the disgusting perfume the guy had drenched himself in, but he couldn’t make himself step away. He wanted to keep watching the man who most likely was freezing his balls off.

Konrad could warm them.