Page 10 of Wolf's Midlife Bite

“At some point, we very well may need to fight, but not each other. It’s my job to make sure you know what the hell you’re doing so you don’t get creamed out there. So like I said, know your strengths and weaknesses and work on them. Don’t get cocky. And no sparring behind my back.”

There were more groans and grumbles, but Brody knew they would obey. He’d find out about it as soon as it happened, and that would take all the fun out of their training sessions.

Some of the young wolves quickly shifted back to their four-legged forms and streamed off through the woods as they headed home or elsewhere, but Hunter and Conner flanked Brody as he moved toward the trail.

“That was quite the little speech,” Hunter began.

Conner nodded. “And you let us spar a lot longer than you usually do.”

“We had the time,” Brody replied.

The boys glanced at each other.

Inwardly, Brody wanted to grin. They were solid enemies when they practiced their fighting skills, but they were packmates and family any other time. That was just as it should be, and he liked to think he had something to do with it.

“I don’t know,” Hunter hedged. “I think he seems kind of chipper today. For an old fart.”

“Yep. He ought to be at home warming his bones by the fire with a warm mug of milk, thinking about bedtime,” Conner agreed.

Stopping on the trail, Brody rounded on them. “Would you rather I take the two of you on instead?”

“You don’t have to. As long as you tell us why you’ve been grinning like a fool all morning.” Hunter cocked an eyebrow.

“Might have something to do with the fact that you got in so late last night.”

Brody sighed. He’d been thinking about Robin all day, but he hadn’t realized that he’d actually let it show. “Why do youthink?”

“Ha! I told you that was it!” Hunter gave Conner a shove in the arm.

“No, I toldyou. It’s not like you have any experience in the pussy department.” He shoved Hunter back.

“The hell I don’t!”

“Turn down the testosterone already,” Brody said with a laugh. “Yes, I was out with a woman last night, not that either one of you knows a damn thing about it.”

“Who was it?” Conner asked. “Anyone we know?”

“I highly doubt it.” Robin was human; that much Brody had known instantly. That didn’t mean she couldn't have mingled with the Glenwood pack at some point. After all, there were shifters all over Eugene. Most humans had met them at one time or another. “She works for a dental office, so she’s probably never seen the likes of you.”

“Is she hot?” Hunter pressed.

Brody could see the excitement in Hunter’s eyes, though he knew his definition of hot probably wasn’t anything close to his nephew’s. Robin was incredibly hot; his temperature rose at the mere thought of her after feeling her sweet naked curves pressed against his body. She was a woman who knew what she wanted and what she was doing, and he hoped she had a chance to show him that again sometime soon. Very soon. “Definitely.”

He turned and started walking down the path again while the boys ribbed each other about their romantic pursuits—or lack thereof. Brody couldn’t help but smile when he thought about Robin. She was pure torture when she was near, bringing his wolf simmering to the surface and threatening to boil over. He hadn’t felt that out of control since he was younger than Hunter, when a pretty girl could make a bit of fur emerge from the back of his neck. But his beast would never have truly come forward without his bidding.

With Robin, it was different. In a way, he was surprised he’d made it through tattooing her without completely losing his cool. Even so, he’d wanted to find whoever that JC asshole was and destroy him for marking her like that. When he’d gone to Watson Dentistry to make his appointment, he’d known Robin was in the building not just because it was likely, but because he’dfeltit.

And the scene the two of them had created in her bedroom last night? Hell, he never could’ve prayed to Selene for something that magnificent. She was like his fantasies come true, which was still almost too good to believe.

His mind, as it often did, drifted back to his art. Robin was inevitably mixed in with those thoughts. He’d tried to sketch his muse, and he’d only been left with fodder for the recycling bin. But that’d been when he’d tried to capture her the way she’d looked at the shop: standing in the doorway, beautiful, yet uncertain.

The key was to recreate her in the way he knew her now: lying on a bed, the sheets rumpled around her curves, hiding just enough to keep a bit of her modesty. Her eyes, lazy with the satisfaction of what they’d just done. Her lips, full from kissing him, yet ready to taste more. Her fingers, curved and relaxed where she’d flung her hands out on either side of her.

He could hear Hunter and Conner behind him, still razzing each other. The poor kids had no idea what was in store for them when they fell for someone for more than a nice rack or pretty eyes.

Shit. Right away, Brody had known this was more than simple attraction. It was an irresistible pull, one he’d recognized even though he hadn’t felt it before. Still, this was the first time he’d admitted it to himself, and it hit harder than he’d imagined.

Robin was his mate.

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