chapter 1

Kade

July was a busy time for Colorado. The summer heat scorched my face as I watched the hordes of tourists hike the mountains in the distance, no doubt in search of the waterfalls or a soak in one of the hot springs the town of Pagosa was famous for. The rest would migrate to Pagosa Country to visit the rivers and lakes to fish. I used to do that every year with my father. I closed down that memory and went back to what was needed –thick rope, duct tape, and a hack-saw. My usual vice for trapping werewolves that lurked with bad company, or for worse, when rival wolves and hunters prepared to attack.

They’d been against us a for long time and we, them. Becoming a guardian to a pack, when I was turned at eighteen, didn’t go down well with those that had long been a nuisance in these parts. I didn’t do alpha’s and betas and I rule all garbage most wolves and werewolf packs lived by. I wasn’t sexist before and I wasn’t going to become it now.
It was why I stayed in this town,. It was alot more open and allowed freedom for both sexes. They even had all female packs here. Besides, I was born and raised in Pagosa Springs. I wasn’t being pushed out without a fight.
Recently, though, something bigger had been cooking up a storm according to the pack I guided. Our rivals had been distracted by something or perhaps someone for the past two weeks, and it sure as hell wasn’t tourists. Whatever it was, it kept them off our tail for once, yet it irritated me to not know what they were preparing to defend themselves against. The new threat could affect us all.
The door to the new hardware store jingled open, making the place to lose points already. Inside, a woman struggled with a tall cylinder loaded with products on sale. She wore jean shorts, hiking boots, and a gray tee. Her hair was a tousle of long chestnut brown waves.
These days, I didn’t usually pay much attention to the opposite sex, especially the human kind, but there was something about this one; even from behind, she had a distinct presence, not to mention an interesting tattoo that ran along the side of her leg.
It dawned on me that there were three guys in the other aisle, staring at her butt as she leaned over the cylinder.
“Need any help with that?” I asked her.
She flinched. The ends of her hair brushed against my cheek as she whipped back to look at me. The scent of raspberry was somehow arousing. I didn’t want it to be. I also regretted offering to help. She was beautiful, all right. Scratch that. She was stunning. She almost didn’t look real.
Maybe I was having one of my strange dreams. They happened a lot after the change.
“Oh, would you? That would be great.”
I shot the assholes a look that made them move on, then managed a smile that could almost be classed as real. She didn’t melt like everyone else, just smiled back and told me where she wanted it. I let my ego burn a little, but for all I knew, she might have played for the other team. Not that I could have initiated anything if the assumption was wrong. Werewolves and humans didn’t exactly mix, especially not on a full moon.
I grabbed the cylinder and moved it to the corner where she’d pointed. When I turned she was staring wide eyed at me, mouth agape. Maybe I was wrong. I hoped not. She could get too tempting.
She laughed. “Wow, you just lifted that like a bag of sugar.”
Was that my heart pounding or hers? Jeez, she even had dimples. I was always a sucker for them as a human; now I just wanted to suck and bite on each one of hers. What was wrong with me? Oh right. I wasn’t normal, not anymore. It had been a long time since the change, but I still sometimes forgot I wasn’t the way I used to be, and that I still had needs beyond protecting my betas.
“I keep … fit.” I shook my head and tried to breeze by her.
She grabbed my arm and squeezed it. “Just checking.” She winked. A flicker of something appeared in her warm, hazel eyes, perhaps intrigue, only it vanished just as fast as it appeared. “Let me know if you need any help.” She walked over to the guy at the counter, oblivious to the way he was practically panting.
I could still feel the warmth of her hand on my arm. The tingling in my chest traveled to the pit of my stomach and kind of danced around there before fading. The emptiness it left behind felt like a large hollow crater.
Who was this woman?
Why did she have a strange affect on me?
I needed to find out.
It could be my only lead to finding out what had irked the other werewolves in town.
I turned at the door, “How long have you been here?”
“Two weeks.” She beamed.
She had to be connected to what was going on.
I had my clue.