Page 5 of Harvest

“Don’t you know?” asked Xander a bit surprised at Damian’s openness.

“In theory only. I’ve never knotted and tied a woman to me.”

“Never?” he asked, surprised.

“Not as a human. I can usually find a willing she-wolf when the urge gets to be too much, but only in wolf form.”

“As long and as well as we’ve known each other,” said Xander, “you still have the ability to surprise me. I would have thought, given what I’ve heard about an alpha’s need to knot a female, that you wouldn’t make the distinction between human and wolf form.”

“And this is the point where you laugh your ass off at the realization that your big, tough, vile-tempered and aggressive alpha is actually an incurable romantic,” said Damian.

Xander stood, looking his alpha in the eye. “No, this is where I pour my alpha a really good whiskey and stare out the window with him.”

“Shouldn’t we crack open a bottle of our own vintage?”

“We could… except neither of us likes wine.”

The two stood side-by-side, sharing the silence.

“Alpha,” Evan said, knocking on the office door before entering.

Damian turned to face him. “Did you collect your new assistant?”

“No. She wanted to spend the next day and a half in the city and do a little sightseeing. She’s never even been to the West Coast. Kayla and I left one of the Jeeps at the airport for her when we took that case of wine to be shipped. We figured it would be easier and if something happened, we’d be able to track her.”

“Good thinking,” said Xander.

“She had a bit of trouble with a guy on the plane, but Kayla said Stephanie took care of it herself.”

“All the same, make sure we know where she’s staying and what she’s up to. I’d hate to tell Marco DeMedici that we’d lost his she-wolf.”

“Our she-wolf,” corrected Evan and Xander in unison.

“Do you two practice that? But I stand corrected,ourshe-wolf. Xander, since you’re going into the city tonight, see if you can’t make sure she arrived safely. Make sure our people know she is one of ours.”

“Should we be concerned about the man on the plane?” asked Xander.

“Kayla didn’t seem to think so. Stephanie said Marco made sure his people knew how to protect themselves.”

“If our new Italian she-wolf is half as pretty as Kayla, she’s probably had a lot of experience fending off unwanted advances,” said Xander with a smile.

“She’s not Italian. She’s American, from Chicago. Luca said she’s a really sweet girl, pretty with strawberry blonde hair. She seemed really nice and knowledgeable when I interviewed her. Our male wolves are going to be buzzing around her,” Evan explained.

“See that she understands the rules and that our males are reminded she is pack first and potential mate second,” said Damian.

“Are you worried about her?” asked Evan.

“Not particularly, but with that she-wolf out of the Willamette Valley pack missing, I think it’s important that we tighten up security.”

“Does Linc think it’s Hunters?” asked Xander.

“Yes, but my younger brother thinks anything suspicious that happens to a wolf is Hunters.”

“Do you think he’s wrong?” asked Evan.

“Not necessarily, and in this instance, he’s probably right. No need to take chances.”

After arriving at her hotel, Stephanie called Torch Light.

---