“Not so—violently.”
“It’s over now.” He stood and crossed the room. His expression was grave when he sat down on the edge of the bed.
“I vowed I was going to tell you something—before we made love again.”
“And I pushed you into breaking your vow.”
“Uh huh.”
She cleared her throat. “You were going to tell me about the wolf.”
His mouth went dry. “What about the wolf?”
“What you told Campbell was a lie. You don’t work with a wolf-shepherd mix. Youarethe wolf. Like he kept saying, only he didn’t really understand what he was talking about.”
“How do you know?”
“Because of what I sensed from the first. There’s a wildness in you I recognized.” She swallowed. “And I responded to it.”
“You don’t hate what I am?”
“I guess I’ll have to get used to it. I mean, if I want to stay with you.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Thank God.” He gathered her in his arms. “I was afraid you’d hate me.”
“No I love you.”
“I already told you. I didn’t mean to say it, but it slipped out.”
She tightened her hold on him. “I loved hearing it—even when I wasn’t in any shape to be coherent.”
“Maybe you were meant to be a werewolf’s lifemate.”
“A werewolf’s lifemate,” she repeated. “I like the sound of that.”
“I wasn’t expecting it. I’m younger than the usual age of bonding. But I think that drug freed me—to choose you.”
“Lucky for me.”
She lifted her face and he lowered his for a long, deep kiss. When they broke apart, she asked, “Who was the wolf who came into the room?”
“My cousin, Cole.”
“He’s like you.”
“Yes. All the men in my family. Several of us work for Decorah Security. That’s why he thought I’d fit into the organization. Cole came up here with three other agents, looking for me because my phone was out, and they were worried about me. Brand and Zack are also my cousins.” He paused for a moment. “Most Decorah agents have some special talent. Jonah, the other guy in the rescue party is a telepath. He was able to tell us that Campbell had drugged you.”
She nodded. “Where is Campbell?”
“In jail. Along with the rest of the crew. But we’re going to post bail for the chemist, Emery Livingston, so we can get some more information from him.”
“Good idea.” She looked down at her hands. “I’m going to feel funny meeting the rest of your group. Not because of them,” she added quickly. “Because of . . . the way I was out of control.”
“I knew you’d say that. The rest of them have cleared out. They packed up your camping stuff and put it in my car—along with my equipment—and drove the car over. We can stay at the house for a few days, if you want.”