Free Seal Wolf Hunting (9781402293832) by Terry Spear Page B

believe her scent was fresh enough to indicate she had been.
    She shook her head.
    He immediately wondered if she’d been afraid to return to the cabin in case either of the brothers showed up. “Are you okay with staying here?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Of course I’m okay with it. Even if I wasn’t staying with one of the legendary SEALs, who happens to also be a damn scary wolf—with or without face paint—and who is armed to the teeth, I would be fine with it.”
    â€œSo, you’ve been afraid to return with Rose or on your own.”
    â€œI just said I wasn’t. No, I haven’t been afraid. I’ve been working. So has Rose.”
    But he knew she had been afraid. He could tell by her stiff posture and annoyed expression, her scent, and the way she turned her back on him again.
    He picked more berries and then started worrying about the reason her grandma wanted to fix up the place. What if she was apprehensive about the women coming up here on their own? “Emma isn’t planning to sell the cabin, is she?” The land had been the Greypaws’ for centuries.
    â€œOf course not.” Lori frowned, then shook her head. “At least I don’t think so. She never said anything to me about it.”
    â€œShe would have said something to you.” He was fairly certain. Still, if Emma no longer went to the cabin and Lori didn’t come out because she was afraid to, it made no sense to pay the high taxes on the lakefront property just to keep it in the family.
    They heard movement in the dark woods, and Lori said, “I’ve got enough berries. What about you? We can always pick more early tomorrow if we don’t have enough.”
    â€œI’ve got a bucket full.”
    Her eyes rounded a bit as if she was surprised to hear it.
    â€œI can talk and pick berries at the same time.” He gave her a little smile.
    â€œStart the inquisition rather.” She peeked into his bucket just to see how full it was.
    He chuckled at her tenacity. “See?”
    â€œYou would have had even more if you’d been concentrating on that and not me. However, between mine and yours, that should be enough.”
    They headed back to the cabin while Lori banged her tin buckets together, careful not to lose any of her berries.
    â€œYou think it’s a grizzly?” That would explain why Lori was making such a racket—to chase away anything in the woods.
    â€œIt might be. Or anything running around at dusk to find something to eat, just like we would be if we were all wolf. We had a female grizzly recently make the surrounding area her home range, with Flathead Lake in the center of it. She spent close to twelve hours swimming, staying at various islands, including Wild Horse Island for three days. Then she had a day of rest on Bird Island. No one’s ever seen a bear that swims as much as she does. So we’ve been watching out for her in case she comes around here.”
    â€œAll right. Grizzlies and the Cooper brothers. Gotcha.”
    She gave him an annoyed look.
    When they reached the cabin, their wolf instinct was to smell the scents around the place to ensure they hadn’t had any unwanted visitors. Paul couldn’t help feeling that Dusty or his brother, or both, might come back and retaliate in some manner. He shouldn’t have been concerned about it, since nothing had happened in the week that had gone by. But some men couldn’t let go of a grudge, and he worried about Lori. And also about Rose.
    He noticed then that the sun was beginning to set. He motioned with his head toward the deck. “Come on. Let’s watch the sunset over the lake. I can never get enough of it.”
    â€œYou’re a wolf,” she said, as if he needed reminding.
    They set the buckets of berries in the kitchen, and he walked with her out to the deck.
    The dusk and dawn were times for lupus garous to enjoy running in their wolf