Free Fire Wolf: CINAED (New Scotia Pack Book 3) by Victoria Danann

as my guest.”
    “Your guest?” Star said as she learned that trying to sit up made her head hurt even worse than the rest of her.
    Brandish pushed her shoulders gently urging her to lie back down. “Be still. You’ve been injured. You’re safe here, but not entirely well.”
    The cadence and octave of his speech was pacifying.
    “I fell.”
    “Yes.”
    “You found me and brought me here.”
    “Yes.”
    “I have to go. My companions will be looking for me.”
    “They won’t be looking for you for a while. The snowfall is too heavy and covering your scent.”
    “Oh. Who are you?”
    He chuckled softly. “You asked already.”
    “I know your name. Brandish. I mean to ask if you live by yourself or with a group of, um, humans?”
    “Humans? No. I live alone.”
    He laughed soft and low and as he did he turned his face toward the fire so that she could see him clearly. She barely suppressed a gasp seeing his features for the first time. He was, perhaps, the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Strong features. Perfect skin. Full lips. And yellow-green eyes that glittered, reflecting both the firelight and a light from within.
    She took in a breath a little too quickly and he caught the reaction.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Your eyes.”
    “My eyes?”
    “You’re not human.”
    “Neither are you, sweet wolf.”
    “Stop calling me that. It makes me nervous.”
    “Why?”
    “For one thing because you don’t know whether I’m sweet or not.”
    He smiled. “Are you hungry?”
    She thought about it for a second. “Maybe. Depends on what you’re offering.”
    “I have meat. Cooked meat.”
    “What kind?”
    “Deer.”
    “Okay.” She looked around. “Are we in a cave?”
    “It’s my home. Call it what you want.”
    The floor was covered with a large woven rug, colorful with an intricate pattern.
    “This is a nice rug. Where did you get it?”
    “The market.”
    “The market?”
    “You repeat what I say a lot.”
    “Okay. Let’s talk about your name. Does it mean something?”
    He smiled. “You can call me Brand.”
    “You didn’t answer the question.”
    “My mother said I move my tail aggressively.”
    He put some meat in a skillet and set it on the fire. It immediately filled the space with a heavenly aroma that made her stomach growl.
    “Well. There’s a clue. So you’re a shifter with a tail.”
    “Yes.”
    “But not a wolf. Obviously.”
    “Obviously.”
    “So where’s the market?”
    “The villages on the other side of the mountains.”
    “Human villages?”
    “Mostly. There are shifters, too.”
    “How many? What kind? What sort of animal are you?”
    He pulled off his shirt, let his pants drop to the ground, and in a flurry of magic Brand’s striking human countenance melted into an even more beautiful panther with huge paws, a sleek tawny coat that was darker on the ridge of his back, and tufts in his ears that looked more like a wildcat than a puma.
    The transformation scared Starfire so badly that she flew into a tizzy of fury and confusion and shifted involuntarily, standing on top of the mattress on all fours, every hair on her body spiked making her look bigger than usual. She snarled and lunged forward, but the cat simply watched unfazed, swishing his tail back and forth.
    He blinked slowly, looking sleepy, then blurred into the shape of a man and stood tall.
    “Settle, little one,” he said. “I won’t harm you.”
    Starfire continued to growl and backed up until her rear end was against the wall.
    “I saved you and your friends from the bear. She would have killed you all, you know.”
    Brandish turned as if he wasn’t concerned about his back, pulled his clothes back on and turned the meat in the skillet. As he squatted by the fire he looked over his shoulder and said, “The meat is almost ready, but I’m only going to share if you shift and stop behaving as if you’re afraid of me.”
    The smell of the sizzling meat was a powerful motivator. She