Werewolf in Denver (20 page)

“
Networking
was in your first rough draft!”

“And I’m rethinking the use of it.”

Duncan groaned and laid his forehead on the counter. “Now we’re backsliding.”

“I don’t see any more wolves out on the hillside.”

Lifting his head, he turned around on his stool and looked toward the window. She’d left her chair. Hands shoved in the back pockets of her jeans, she was staring at a landscape shrouded in darkness except for that pale row of lights on the ski slope.

“They might still be out there.” He climbed off the stool and went to join her. “There could be romance happening in the shadows.”

Her breath caught. “Duncan, you promised.”

“You’re right. Shouldn’t have said that.” But he’d been thinking about it ever since proposing that they take a run in the snow when they finished the damned mission statement. At this rate he didn’t think they ever would finish it.

But saying that a miracle happened, and they had a breakthrough, he’d love to take a run with her as wolves and then have a lusty bout of Were sex out there in the snow. Knowing the werewolf mentality as he did, others were doing that tonight, perhaps at this very minute.

He realized that craving Were sex contradicted everything he stood for. He’d written countless blog posts blathering on about how unimportant Were sex was in the grand scheme of things. In his book, which she might read soon, he’d labeled the practice a primitive holdover from the old days.

Yet he wanted to experience it with her. He longed to
see her romping through snowdrifts, exotic in her blond coloring with eyes bluer than the center of a flame. Then, when they’d run themselves until they were panting and pleasantly tired, he would take her as a male wolf takes a female. Warmth shot through his system and stiffened his cock.

And he wasn’t alone in thinking about sex. The scent of her arousal drifted toward him, exciting him even more.

She took a long, shaky breath. “Duncan, this isn’t good.”

“No, it isn’t. I’m sorry. My fault.” He forced himself to walk away from her, but like a restless wolf, he began to pace.

“It’s not all your fault. I was thinking about it, too.”

“Let’s change the subject.” He continued to pace. “Tell me why you’re so against the database. Even if we don’t have unlimited communication with humans as I envision, a central database would be a very unifying tool. Right now our information is incomplete, but if we had a database, we could send out global messages and coordinate our efforts in ways we’ve never been able to do before.”

“But it’s too much like a registration system. I don’t like it.”

“We could have safeguards, install warning systems. If we had the slightest hint that someone was accessing it in order to round up werewolves, our network, which is still a very good idea, by the way, would alert Weres to the potential danger.” The carpet felt good under his feet, the only sensual pleasure he was allowing himself right now.

“Assuming a Were was included in the network.”

“But why wouldn’t they be?”

She walked over to the counter, picked up the platters, and took them into the kitchen, where she began scraping them into the sink. “A Were might be listed in the database because she’s the offspring of other Weres, but she might not be part of the network anymore, maybe by choice because of the risk of discovery.”

Then he understood. “Like Penny.” He stopped pacing and faced the kitchen area where she was working.

“It’s one thing when powerful Weres like Aidan and Roarke Wallace take human mates.” She scrubbed the platters vigorously, as if cleaning them would somehow help. “In that case, the Weres protect the humans, and the humans, surrounded by so many Weres, are less likely to betray the werewolf community. But Penny…” She stopped scrubbing and looked over at him. “Penny’s out there alone, Duncan. Instead of being surrounded by powerful Weres, she’s surrounded by humans.”

“You’re right. It’s different.”

“You bet it is.” Her expression was grim. “If they discovered her secret, I don’t know what would happen. Maybe Tom would try to protect her. I want to believe that he would. But he doesn’t know her secret, either, and he might feel betrayed and angry.” Kate swallowed. “I’ve had many nightmares about Penny.”

“I’m sure you have.” He liked to think he was an intelligent Were, but he’d been missing a key point. Were-human mating, if it became a common practice, wouldn’t be confined to powerful male Weres choosing human mates. And if female Weres chose a human mate and went to live among humans as Penny had, would it be safe to reveal their Were nature?

Not in the current environment, that was for sure. The
culture still contained too many movies and books that depicted Weres as dangerous beasts who could “turn” a human into a werewolf with one bite. That had never been true, but it made a good story, and the myth had been repeated so many times most people believed it.

Duncan realized that his Utopian dream would take years of reeducation before it had a chance of being realized. And thanks to Kate and her sister, Penny, he had a perspective that hadn’t been included in his thinking until now. He’d had male myopia, and he felt a little foolish having to admit that.

“I suppose you’ve figured out by now that I founded HOWL because of Penny,” Kate said.

“Aye. I suspected that, at least on some level, but I hadn’t really thought it through. I assumed you were mostly upset because she’s no longer close to your family.”

“That’s part of it. But I’m scared for her. And I don’t want other female Weres running the risks she does, so I created my Were-only dating site and founded HOWL for that reason. On the other side of the coin, if male Weres insist on hooking up with humans, then that reduces the number of eligible and safe mates for us.”

Duncan massaged the back of his neck, where tension had taken up permanent residence. “I hate to admit that I read that in your book, but it didn’t really sink in.”

“You were focused on the sex tips.”

He nodded. “I fear so.”

“What about you?” She stacked the platters in a wire rack so they could drain. “What inspired you to found WOOF?”

The question startled him. He couldn’t remember being asked before. “The easy answer is that I want to help create more freedom for Weres in all areas of life.”

“But why?” She leaned her hips against the kitchen counter. “Did you lose the human love of your life because of Were prejudice?”

“No. At one time I told myself she was my soul mate, but when my brother, Colin, challenged me on that, I realized that she was only my way to make a statement.”

“And why—”

“I’m way ahead of you, lass. Why did I feel such a pressing need to make a statement? Because of the very thing you’ve accused me of—ego. My big brother is the laird with all sorts of responsibilities. Very important in the grand scheme of things.”

“I see.”

He was afraid she really did see, and he felt more exposed than ever in his life. But he trusted her in a way he didn’t trust most others, and it felt good to get this out in the open. “Plus he and my parents used to bitterly oppose Were-human mating, so of course I had to come out in favor of it.”

She smiled. “It takes a humble heart to admit such a motivation. I admire you for telling me, and I don’t think your ego is nearly the size I used to imagine it was.”

“Maybe you’ve helped me shrink it down to a reasonable size.” There was some truth in that. She was good for him. “Don’t get me wrong. I believe in the cause. Inevitably Weres and humans will fall in love, and then you have that
Romeo and Juliet
scenario. I think it’s past time that we figured out a way around that.”

“Does that mean you’re ready to tackle the mission statement again?”

He blew out a breath. “No.”

“You’re not giving up, are you?”

“I won’t do that unless we run out of time, and we still
have some. I think we’ve been cooped up for too long and our brains are fried. If everyone else has gone inside, let’s go out and play in the snow.”

“Before we’ve finished?” She made it sound as if he’d suggested murder and mayhem.

“Howard told us to be creative, and I don’t know about you, but my creative well is bone-dry. Some fresh air and exercise is exactly what I need, and then I’ll come back in ready to tackle that mission statement.”

“As usual, you are a very convincing Were.”

“Does that mean you’ll go with me? Because even if you won’t, I’m set on it. You can sit up here and beat your brains out trying to write that statement if you insist, but I’m heading for the slopes.”

“Well, Howard did say we were supposed to work together.”

“So let’s play together for a little while and then we’ll be refreshed and renewed, ready for the task.”

“Okay.” She still sounded reluctant, though.

He’d coax her out of that reluctance soon enough. His pulse quickened as he imagined them out there together. He might be rationalizing this decision to take a break because he wanted her so desperately. But they wouldn’t stay out long, just long enough to play and…have a different kind of fun.

Then he’d put his nose to the grindstone. He had no choice. The clock was ticking.

Chapter 13

Sniffer Update: @newshound—
Drinking hot toddies w/delegates in bar after romp in snow. Impressed w/wolf-friendly exit/entrance system. #admiresingenuity

Kate worried about getting the mission statement finished, but as Duncan had raved on about the wonders of playing in the snow, she’d had a thought. He’d said that shifting hadn’t been a priority for him recently. Encouraging him to do that now would remind him of the joys to be found as a wolf, joys he could share only with others of his kind.

She walked over to the desk and pressed the button to close the drapes. “I don’t know if anyone’s out there, but no reason to take a chance they’d see us taking our clothes off.”

“Good thinking.” Duncan pulled off his blue sweatshirt. “Before we shift, you should probably show me how we navigate from the third floor. I assume there’s some sort of passageway leading down there that we can access in wolf form.”

“The other rooms have sloping passageways and revolving doors at the bottom, but the exits from my suite and Grandma Elizabeth’s are a bit more sophisticated than that.” She loved showing this off and she didn’t get many chances.

Walking to the bookcase closest to the window wall, she pushed what looked like a knothole. A carefully matched rectangle of wood the size of a light switch slid back to reveal a control panel with a touch screen. Pressing her thumb to it, she heard the click of a latch. Then she placed her hand against the bookcase and it revolved slowly in response.

“I like it already. Like something out of a murder mystery.”

“Wait until you see the rest.” Inside was a small platform, and beyond that stood a magnificent glass elevator. The tall panels were etched with scenes of mountains, forests, and wolves. When Kate uttered the voice command of
wolf
, the elevator pulsed with a silvery light.

“That’s beautiful.” Still wearing his T-shirt and jeans, Duncan walked over to peer at the elevator. “I assume it has a touch pad inside the elevator we can operate after we’ve shifted.”

“I can operate it. It recognizes my thumb or paw print, and my grandmother’s, of course. It’s the smoothest ride you’ll ever have in an elevator. My grandfather had these built a couple of years before he died after Elizabeth complained about the drafty, poorly lit passageways. He had those redesigned, too, so they’re much nicer, but he wanted to do something special for his mate.”

“This is bloody damned special, all right.”

“Grandpa Mitchell told her that now she could
descend from their suite like an angel from heaven. And he wasn’t being sarcastic, either. He adored her.”

“Obviously he did, judging from this elevator. But why build a second one down here?”

“This suite was Penny’s back then. She was being groomed to be the next alpha, so my grandfather thought she might as well get the royal treatment, too.”

“She gave up a lot to be with the man she loved, didn’t she?”

Kate met his gaze. “Yes, she did. I would say she gave up too much, but how do I know? I’ve never been in love like that. I keep thinking, though, that if she’d never met Tom, none of this would have happened.”

“You don’t think she was destined to meet him?”

She studied him, intrigued by his comment. “Do you believe in that? Lovers destined to be with each other?” She’d always thought males were more inclined to be practical in such matters. If one female didn’t work out, another would be along soon enough.

“Don’t you?”

“I asked you first.”

“Then, yes, I do, lass. But you have to remember that I’m a Scotsman. We tend to give a little more credit to fate than you might over here.”

“I think I like that about you. It’s very appealing.”

He laughed. “I’m glad, because it’s bred into me and I’d be hard-pressed to root it out. So, since you’re now in this suite, I take it that you are being groomed for the alpha job?”

“Nothing’s been said in so many words, because my grandmother, as you can tell, is still fully capable of leading the Stillman pack. But I believe I’m next in line, and
this suite is meant for that purpose. Neil would love to move in, literally, but I don’t plan to let him.”

“Good. He’d make a terrible pack alpha, but you…” He gazed at her with warmth in his gray eyes. “You’d be terrific.”

“That’s nice of you to say, considering that we don’t agree on much of anything when it comes to the future of Weres. Neil seems to be leaning in your direction, though.”

“He doesn’t strike me as a Were with much integrity. You do, and I’d rather see someone honest be in power than someone who thinks like me, or at least pretends to.” He grinned at her. “But enough of that. Ready to shift and go? You still have all your clothes on, milady.”

“So I do.” Walking over to the red sofa, she started stripping down. She’d taken off everything but her bra and panties when he cleared his throat.