Dreaming of the Wolf by Terry Spear Read Free Book Online Page A

easy.
    Alicia’s mouth had dropped open several degrees when she saw Jake in his wolf form, and her dark chocolate eyes were now nearly black.
    If she’d been in mortal danger, Jake wouldn’t have hesitated to end the thugs’ miserable lives. But if he did kill them, a hunt would ensue for a gray wolf who was a man-killer, and any gray wolf would be a prime suspect. Despite his noble intentions, he was sure Alicia would think he was an evil wolf from childhood tales.
    The thug fired at Jake, but he had anticipated the move and dodged back into the woods. “Kill her,” the injured man said through gritted teeth.
    “Aim your gun in my direction, and I’ll have to shoot you in a location that’s a lot more fatal,” Alicia warned the man threatening her with his weapon, her voice terse, her hands steady on the gun.
    Jake watched from the cover of the woods, ready to come to her rescue if she needed him, when the sound of a group of men talking and laughing and heading in Alicia’s and the armed men’s direction caught everyone’s attention.
    “Get up,” the uninjured man said to the other. “Hurry, we gotta get out of here.”
    “Kill her,” the injured man insisted.
    “Another day,” the other promised. He holstered his gun and then helped the wounded man to his feet as he cursed and groaned. Then they headed back the way they had come, the injured one walking with a pronounced limp as blood soaked his trouser leg.
    Before the four men walking in Alicia’s direction were in sight, Alicia had tucked her gun away, but she glanced warily toward the woods where Jake had taken off. He stayed hidden in the pines and continued to observe her until the hikers reached her.
    When the four men saw her, they greeted her, looking her over and probably trying to figure out why two men and a woman were wearing business suits there, and one of the men appeared injured. The hikers glanced at the memorial wreath she’d laid at the foot of a tree, expressed condolences, and continued on their way, a couple of them looking over their shoulders in her direction. Her focus remained on the path in the direction of the parking area.
    “She’s the one whose mother was murdered in the woods,” the one said to the others in a low voice, but with his enhanced hearing, Jake heard.
    “What about those two guys?” another asked.
    “I told you I heard gunfire,” the first said.
    “Think she shot the guy?”
    “It was hard to say, but the way he was limping and the other guy was trying to help him along the path, I’d say it was a good bet.”
    “Good for her.”
    Their conversation trailed off as they hiked on the path deeper into the woods.
    Jake didn’t like that she was trying to put Mario Constantino and Danny Massaro behind bars on her own, that they’d gotten away with murder, and that she appeared to be all alone in the world. But getting into human affairs was one of the things his kind didn’t do. That didn’t stop him from wanting to do something, though, where she was concerned.
    Satisfied she’d be all right until he could return to her, he raced through the woods to where he’d left his clothes, then shape-shifted and dressed. When he was again on the hikers’ trail, he stalked back with a hurried stride to Alicia’s location to intercept her.
    She was beautiful and sexy with the breeze tugging at her bun and more tendrils of her dark hair caressing her cheeks. Her jacket had been left open, and her silk blouse was now visible. She looked sensuously undone.
    “Jake,” Alicia said breathlessly as soon as she saw him. She was still standing in the same spot near the wreath of flowers, looking tense and anxious, and he assumed she was waiting until she presumed the thugs had left in their car. But as soon as she caught sight of Jake, she moved toward him, appearing glad to see him and a little shaken.
    He quickened his pace, trying to keep his expression neutral. But he was angry—furious with the bastards