Free Wolf Bite (Wolf Cove #2) by Nina West

straddling.
    “It’s so dark,” Bell whispers from the passenger side
as we move slowly along the laneway. “Do you think there’s bears and stuff out
here?”
    Ronan reaches over to shift gears with his big, work-worn
hand. Even without touching me, the simple motion somehow feels sexual, the
gear sliding closer toward me. “Bears, wolves, cougars.” Bell slams her hand
over the pop-up lock, earning Ronan’s deep laughter. “Don’t worry. Nothing’s
going to get us in here.”
    I bite my tongue against the urge to tell them about the
grizzly bear we saw. That would mean telling them that I was out with Henry
cutting firewood, and there’s enough gossip around here, clearly.
    I breathe a sigh of relief as we turn onto the main dirt road,
a road built to truck wood to and from the clearing site. I can’t even fathom
how all this property is Henry’s. I’m sure part of the tension between him and
his brother has to do with his grandparents leaving this all to him. If I were
Scott, I can’t say I wouldn’t harbor at least a bit of resentment.
    Then again, he was handed a gold mine to run. He’s not
exactly hard done by.
    We turn right onto the main road, toward the hotel. I expect
to see the headlights that have been trailing us all this time come into view
in the rearview mirror appear again. When they don’t, I look over my shoulder to
find the truck sitting idly, the distance between us growing. I frown. “Something’s
wrong. You should turn around.”
    “Nah. They’re fine. They’ll catch up with us in bit.”
There’s just enough light in the truck to allow me to catch the sly grin on Ronan’s
face as he peers down at me, his gaze flickering to my mouth.
    And it clicks.
    Tillie’s sleeping with Connor.
    And he’s been blatantly flirting with me all afternoon. No
wonder she’s been so pissy. My head falls back against the rear window and I chuckle
at myself for not seeing it sooner. “Oh...”
    “You’re quick, red.” Ronan changes gears again, his fingers
doing a split-second graze along the inside of my knee on his way past.
    It could easily have been an accident, but something about
Ronan tells me it wasn’t.

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    It takes me a few moments to recognize the scent
of Katie’s spicy floral perfume.
    And another few moments to realize that she’s lying in my
bed, next to me.
    “Do you think I should talk to him about her?” she hisses,
and I’m hit with a wave of alcohol off her breath.
    I groan, reaching for my phone to check the time. It’s 2:00
a.m. “What?”
    “About Rachel. She’s still in Homer. She hasn’t been able to
get a flight out yet, so she’s just been touring around. When’s the next time
she’s going to be in Alaska, right? But what if she manages to get a flight
home tomorrow? So I was thinking, if I go to Mr. Wolf and ask him really
nicely, and promise that nothing like this will ever happen, would he change
his mind?”
    I groan, finally clueing in. “I doubt it.”
    Her body tenses next to me.
    “I’m sorry, Katie. But he can be a real asshole, you know
that.” He can also be very, very generous and giving, but in ways I never want
anyone to experience. Anyone except me.
    “I know. I was just thinking...” She burrows into my side.
“What if you asked?”
    “ Me ?”
    “Yeah. I should have been fired too, but he didn’t fire me
because of you. So maybe he’ll listen to you if you ask.”
    I sigh. “I don’t know, Katie.”
    “Please? Can you just try?” Her voice has taken on that
really whiny tone. She must be really drunk. “I can’t imagine the entire summer
here without Rachel.”
    Just like I couldn’t imagine the summer here without Henry. But...
I drop my voice to a whisper in case someone isn’t wearing their earplugs. “She
slept with someone else, Katie. She cheated on you. Don’t you care?” I’m not
sure how many people know about Rachel and Katie, besides me. And Henry,
because I told him. And I only know