Free Wolf at the Door by Sadie Hart Page A

fault. I started that one.”
    Though he couldn’t for the life of him figure
out why. She was blunt, callous at times, off-putting. She’d made
no secret about her dislike of having a Hound around the house, and
yet her fingers were still clutching his shirt, one leg still
wrapped around his, holding him to her.
    “Thank you,” Timber said, reaching up with
her other hand to run her fingers along the edge of his jaw. “For
last night.”
    A tinge of fear and sadness crept into her
gaze.
    “Any time.” Though, if they always ended up
like this in the morning...
    Her eyes softened as she stared up at him. “I
don’t know what it is about you that makes me feel safe.”
    Hell. He didn’t know either, but he was
honored. Judging by the dark circles under her eyes and the
panicked screams last night, he didn’t think she ever got much
sleep. And the wary, everyone-out-of-my-life attitude she
maintained told him she didn’t let many people in, either. The fact
that he could help her feel safe, even just a little, shocked the
hell out of him.
    Brandt touched her temple, trailing his
fingers down along the length of her hair. He watched as she closed
her eyes for a moment, leaning into the touch. Most people wouldn’t
realize the vulnerable she voluntarily put herself in when she
closed her eyes, but it took trust to take away one of your senses
in the presence of another person, especially for someone like
Timber. The fact she could trust him at all, even for a
second...Brandt shook his head.
    She released him then, slowly, and he mourned
the loss of her warmth when she began to pull away. Brandt dragged
himself off the couch and took a few steps back, needing to put
some distance between them. Something about her made his brain
short-circuit, especially when she kissed him.
    Timber rolled to a sitting position, and
Brandt watched her notice where she’d ended up on the couch, an
edge of a smile touching her lips. She looked up at him, not shying
away from the moment like most would. “So, what’s on your list for
today?”
    He opened his mouth to answer her when he
heard his phone ring, muffled and soft. It sounded again and
Brandt’s eyes tracked the noise to the couch, where a sliver of
black peeked from between the couch cushions.
    “Never mind,” Timber said, pulling his phone
out and passing it to him on her way to the stairs. “Duty
calls.”
    The stairs creaked as she walked up, and
Brandt glared down at the glowing screen. Tate. Scrubbing his head
irritably, he lifted the phone to his ear. “Yeah.”
    “You sound like hell.”
    “What do you need, Tate?”
    “Well, I had the local packs pass around that
picture we have on Charles Wolfe? One of Bannock’s girls has had a
run-in with him before. Thought this was a chat you’d want to
participate in.”
    Jackpot . “For sure. Great work. When
are you meeting with her?”
    “Bannock agreed to let us into Delphi first
thing this morning. Whenever you get here, boss, we can be on our
way.”
    Brandt spun around in Timber’s living room.
He was used to waking up in a hurry and having to be out the door,
but here, hell, he couldn’t even remember where he’d put his
overnight bag. He found it under the table beside the couch and
dragged it out. “Give me ten,” he said and hung up.
    He’d been hoping they’d catch a break after
posting Wolfe’s picture everywhere they could think of, but even
with a visual they didn’t get lucky often. Those who’d seen someone
involved in a crime didn’t often admit it. For one of Bannock’s
wolves to say she’d seen Wolfe also put her in a hell of a lot of
danger.
    She trusts her alpha . Because if there
was one thing Nathan Bannock was good at, it was helping his wolves
feel protected and making damn sure they were safe. Brandt glanced
at the stairwell. Timber had tried, but she didn’t have the
background, training, or resources Bannock did.
    Dragging out a pile of clothes, Brandt
shucked yesterday’s