Wolf Tales IV. Kate Douglas

      APHRODISIA

       KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

      Contents

      Acknowledgments

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Whether we accept it or not, our parents’ lessons shape our lives. I can still hear my father saying, “Don’t disbelieve something just because you don’t understand it.” Since there’s a lot I’ll never understand, his lesson left me wide open to accept the potential of just about anything. My mother, a writer from a long line of writers, taught me to love the written word and encouraged me to follow my dreams. Pragmatic soul that she is, however, she’ll never read my Wolf Tales. “It’s not the sex,” says Mom. “I just can’t believe stories where people can turn into animals.”

      I wish my father, an avid SF fan, had lived long enough to see my name on the cover of a book. I’m so glad my mother, who loves her romances, is still here and able to ask why I would want to write about shapeshifters, of all things.

      Imagination and practicality. What writer can ask for more?

      Acknowledgments

      Thanks, once again, to my fantastic critique group, talented wordsmiths all, who never hesitate to chortle over my many mistakes. Cassie Walder, Ann Jacobs, Sheri Ross Fogarty, and Camille Anthony—I couldn’t do it without you, and even if I could, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

      Chapter 1

      High Mountain Wolf Sanctuary, Colorado

      If she sat very still, the wolves ignored her, even now in the failing light of dusk. Ignored her, though it was obvious they’d come searching for her. Lisa Quinn heard the zing of mosquitoes near her ear, sensed the encroaching coolness as night settled in, but she focused exclusively on the pack of seven wolves circled around the flat stone where she sat. They waited, sitting just as still as she, watching.

      She recognized the alpha male and female, though even after observing this group for more than a week she still couldn’t keep their four half-grown pups straight without checking the tags in their ears. An older, grizzled male sat off to one side. He was badly scarred, one ear torn and his muzzle all tinged with gray. Lisa nodded to him, giving the respect his years had earned.

      The wolf blinked, almost as if he acknowledged her greeting.

      There was something magical about this time of night. Magic in the way their amber eyes glowed as darkness enfolded them, magic in the silence, the sense of otherworldliness, the connection Lisa experienced as the dark bodies faded into shadow until only the shining fire in their eyes remained.

      She lived for this moment in time, this sense that the beasts reached out to her, spoke to her. Though their thoughts were merely jumbled images, visual representations without language, the feeling of communication lingered long after each member of the pack finally turned away and glided silently back into the forest.

      Lisa sat very still, even after the last wolf had gone. Sat with her legs folded in the standard lotus position, her hands resting lightly on her knees, her body trembling with energy and something deeper, more confusing. Arousal? Yes, she was sexually aroused.

      It made no sense. None at all, but there was no denying the sexual energy coursing through her veins, throbbing between her legs, making her breasts ache. She breathed deeply, exhaled, took another breath, and felt the tension slowly begin to ebb.

      A symphony of night sounds slowly built around her, but still she held her position, all the while reevaluating the past few minutes, considering how those minutes connected with all the years of her life. As she pondered the details, the sensual feelings faded, but the awareness remained. The sense of self, of connection.

      Why now? Why here, in the midst of wolves, when she’d never found a sense of belonging among human society? Questions. Always more questions, when she’d hoped so much for answers. Dreams had led her to this place more than two years ago, dreams that took her through the forest, running with wolves, thinking as a wolf, being a wolf.

      Only in her dreams.

      For the first time, though, tonight they’d come to her. Come as if they’d expected her, as if they’d needed her. For what? It was more than mere curiosity about her. It was almost as if they needed answers just as she did. So many nights she’d sat here, aware of their presence as they hovered, unseen in the woods. Tonight, they’d shown themselves. Honored her with their powerful, feral presence.

      Unsettled her with their disquiet. Lisa felt a small shiver run down her spine and wished it away, unwilling to lose the basic sense of this night.

      Truly a magical moment. A time to savor. A memory to hold and, hopefully, to repeat tomorrow and the night after that. Finally, after a lifetime spent searching, Lisa felt as if there might actually be answers to some if not all of her questions.

      The corners of her mouth twitched at the thought. There would always be more to wonder about. All was never as it seemed. For despite the sense of serenity about this place, mysteries hovered in the background.

      Wolves gone missing. Four now, over the past two years. The shroud of guilt she bent beneath, that the disappearances began the month Lisa was hired, never fully left her. If only the wolves could speak. Tonight, the sense of communion Lisa felt had carried the whisper of answers.

      She clung to that possibility, saw it as a destination after so many years spent wandering. Lisa’s thoughts drifted from the poverty and anger of her dysfunctional childhood home to years of battling demons she’d not been able to name. The homeless encampment where she’d lived for a time under a Florida bridge was as far removed from this forest haven as she could imagine.

      Caught in her unsavory memories, the questions, and her fragile hope for something better, Lisa drifted with her thoughts. She’d felt the suspicion cast her way over the missing wolves and done her best to send it back. She found comfort in the dream she’d had last night and felt her heart speed up as her mind took her on a race through the forest, running with her packmates beside her. She was miles away and years beyond when a bright beam of light cut a swath through the darkness. She blinked and shielded her eyes when it found her.

      “Shit. Quinn? Is that you? What the hell are you doing out here in the dark?”

      “Hal?” Damn. Mr. Suspicious himself, her supervisor, Hal Anderson. She gritted her teeth in an effort to keep her mouth shut.

      Anderson pointed the flashlight directly