Free Can't Touch This by J. Hali Steele Page B

itself.”
    “I’m the one at a disadvantage—you’re a goddamn werewolf.”
    “Shifter.”
    “I’m human, Castle.”
    “Odd a human feels disadvantaged. My kind spent thousands of
years hiding from humans who tend to kill anything they don’t understand.”
    “It would be useless for me to argue that point.” She
snuggled deeper into his arms. “Cass, the wolves will accept me because you’ll
make them. I’ll never know if they really like me.”
    “Animals are many things, including deadly, cunning and
they’re great protectors that die defending home or family. Still, we maintain
a very ordered and simple existence. If they don’t like you, Harlow, my kind
will simply steer clear of you no matter what I tell them.” She yawned. “Go to
sleep, darlin’. Tomorrow’s another day.”
    “Hold me tonight.”
    “Every night.”

Chapter Seven
     
    Castle should have told her about Brigadier when she
confided about her marriage. He had let the moment slip away.
    Upon their return from Big Bear, Harlow insisted on going
home to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for work, and Castle had spent
practically every weeknight for the last two weeks at her place, leaving at the
crack of dawn when she headed to work. A few days were eaten up with pack shit
and he didn’t like it. Hell, Castle didn’t like anything that kept Harlow from
him.
    Waiting was not something he handled well.
    To top it all off, Castle couldn’t stop thinking about her
marriage. Wolves mated for life. He had told her it didn’t matter but it bugged
the shit out of Cass and forced him to move cautiously because her husband was
alive. “Jesus, if he ever appears on Harlow’s doorstep, I’ll kill him.” He’d
already set wheels in motion to find out more about the bastard and when their
divorce would be final. Harlow never voiced it, but Castle guessed the man was
responsible for her earlier shyness and fear of feelings that ran rampant
through her luscious body. Initially he’d figured the culprit was someone she’d
dated in the past, not a husband. The son of a bitch had made her feel like a
freak.
    Cass had signed some contracts, finished up a proposal and
waited again , for Harlow’s call. Cass’s fingers drummed the desk. He had
had enough. He was used to taking action and this shit had to end.
    Picking up the phone, he punched in a number. “It’s Castle Briggs,
put him on.” He rubbed the growth on his cheek, listening to canned music.
“Goddamn it, everyone’s busy but me!”
    “Cass, what can I do for you?”
    “Jeremiah, glad you could scrounge out a minute for me.”
    “Next time I’ll poop with the phone on my lap. What do
you need?”
    Jeremiah Breton had one of the sharpest legal minds around.
He was a modern-day Machiavelli who happened to be a shifter with connections
to every shady politician and unscrupulous organization in the world. He had
the utmost respect of every alpha he worked with and he frequently supplied
identities or simply brokered deals for most of the packs on the west coast. He
was one wolf Castle knew who rarely shifted anymore, and he managed to stay
under the radar and not be identified as years passed. Jeremiah surrounded
himself with savvy young shifters who followed in his footsteps. Cass and he
had become friends over a hundred years ago when they both decided to attend
university on a lark. Jeremiah secured paperwork and completed enrollment
arrangements after which he garnered a degree in law while Castle received his
in engineering. Jeremiah was the only person Castle trusted with his holdings.
    Without Jeremiah’s handiwork, Castle wouldn’t have an
identity, nor would he be able to move about in the world of humans.
    “I pay you to be available and it’s… Never mind. Look into a
company called Overnight Success and get back to me with figures.” His fingers
continued to tap highly polished wood.
    “Sounds like you’re interested in acquiring? You want a
report on