Page 6 of Her Shifter Pack

There was an alleyway between the two shops on the street, and I put my nose up and scented the air once more.

An involuntary groan rose from my chest when another erotic cloud of need hit me. “What the hell is that?”

I stalked down the dark alleyway, looking for the thing that was making all my senses go haywire. My wolf was on full alert, and it was only because of years of training that my human self was strong enough to subdue him.

I took another step, then another, part of me expecting to find some secret bakery hidden down here among the trash cans and piss puddles.

I sniffed again and managed to stifle the groan this time. It was stronger suddenly. Why could I sense... “You!”

To my left was the woman we’d seen running out of the diner. She was standing totally still, her back pressed against the concrete wall. If I didn’t have wolf senses, which included night vision, I would never have seen her.

Her hands curled into fists and her huge breasts rose and fell as she began to pant, obviously readying for a fight.

And yet the words that came out of her pretty mouth were, “Please don’t hurt me.”

I turned to look right at her. What a contradiction this woman was. She seemed as tough as nails, and yet there was an insanely intoxicating amount of sweetness about her too.

I leaned forward a little and sniffed the air. “Why do you smell like cookies? Is it your perfume?”

It was a long shot, but I had to ask. My cock was thickening by the second, and if I didn’t pride myself on always waiting for the woman to make the first move, I would have pushed her up against that wall and kissed her.

Her lips parted on a soft gasp. “Cookies? I...”

My question must have caught her off guard because her fingers unclenched from their fisted position, then she did something so strangely innocent and weird. She lifted her arm and sniffed at her armpit.

O... kay.

Then she dropped her arm again, a wince on her face. “Oh, I definitely don’t smell of cookies. I’ve been working since six a.m., so all I can smell is sweat.”

I leaned even closer. “I don’t understand.”

“Hey,” she said, pointing her finger at me. “Didn’t I see you before with that guy that kinda keeled over sideways? Is he okay?”

I chuckled for a moment then could almost hear Ollie in my head whispering, “Touch her. Then you’ll know.”

I didn’t want to know whether she was my supposed mate or not. I chose my fate, not anyone else. But my wolf was howling at me to get closer, and I didn’t like to see such a beautiful woman pressed into the dirt of the alley.

“He’s fine. Gone home,” I said with a shrug, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Come on, I’ll give you a lift.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”

I gestured for her to follow me. “Well, I’m not leaving you in this alley. So, either tell me where you’re staying, and I’ll get you there or...”

She stared down at her hands, inspecting her unpolished nails. “Or what?”

I knew I should walk away. That this—whatever I was doing right now—was crazy.

I’d followed my wolf instincts into this alley and was now about to do the most stupid thing I’d done in a long time. “Or I’ll take you home with me.”

Her head shot up and her eyes were as round and wide as a startled deer.

I held both hands up. “Hey, this isn’t a line. We have a spare bedroom. You can take Kaity’s room.”

“Who’s Kaity?”

“Our baby sister. She visits on occasion.” I stared at her long and hard, assessing her defeated posture and adding it to the list of questions I had. “You don’t have anywhere to go, do you?”

She bit her lip in the most innocently seductive way, and I almost threw my head back and howled.