Quinn Read Free Page A

them about her Arapaho heritage.
    The sight of Quinn’s tears had Jake nudging his mount closer to Josh for comfort.
    Despite all that their family had been through, these two had never seen their older brother cry. Not even when they’d learned of their mother’s mysterious, unexplained disappearance.
    The sight of their brave brother, his heart broken and raging against the injustice they’d been forced to witness, was an image they would carry with them for a lifetime.
    And for Quinn Conway this mother wolf and her pups seemed connected in some strange way to his own mother, and to her sudden, wrenching loss.
    This single incident was the germ of a passion, a wild longing in his heart that would forever set his feet on the path to his future.

C HAPTER O NE
     

    Grand Tetons—Present Day
     
    I n the predawn darkness storm clouds hovered, threatening more snow. A ribbon of pale pink rimmed the horizon.
    Red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning.
    The childhood rhyme played through Quinn Conway’s mind as he stretched his long, lanky frame and slipped from his bedroll. As if to prove the wisdom of the words, the first fat snowflakes began dusting his hair, tickling his face. It may be springtime in Wyoming, but here in high country drifts were still waist deep.
    For Quinn, the weather wasn’t even a distraction. He kept his attention focused on the wolf pack as they began emerging from their den. He could tell, by their happy yips and yaps, that they were content to be back on their home turf, after days of hunting and travel. These wild creatures could typically travel forty or more miles in a twenty-four-hour period while hunting food. And whenhe was tracking them, he traveled the same route, keeping them always in his sight and grabbing his sleep whenever they did.
    This was his pack. The one he’d been studying for more than five years. When the young male had been little more than a pup and Quinn an eager graduate student, he had implanted a tracking device under the animal’s skin that allowed him to monitor every movement. When the wolf matured and became an alpha male with his own pack, he’d become the perfect subject for a scientific study. The publication of Quinn’s papers chronicling the behavior of the pack had made him one of the preeminent naturalists in the country. His advice was often sought by scientists and ranchers in search of the latest up-to-the-minute information regarding wolves in the wild.
    Now, with his latest wilderness trek behind him, Quinn gathered his notes, securing them inside his backpack along with his bedroll. He ran a hand through the growth of beard that darkened his face. With any luck he would be home in time to help with some of the ranch chores before breakfast. Afterward, he intended to take a long, hot bath before tackling this beard.
    The thought of a hot meal and a steaming tub had him moving out at a fast pace.
    The sun had been up for nearly an hour when Quinn paused at the top of the hill to gaze down at the ranch that was home to three generations of Conways. It was a sight that always stirred his blood. The house and outbuildings of weathered wood and stone looked as though they had been here as long as the mountains. The hills and valleys dotted with lowing cattle. The horses in the corral, tossingtheir heads and occasionally running full out, as though daring the others to race them.
    A smile of contentment creased his face as he approached the horse barn and saw the big door standing open. A sure sign that his father was already hard at work mucking stalls.
    Quinn stepped inside and waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light.
    “Pa.”
    When there was no reply, he turned toward the stall of his father’s favorite gelding, Scout.
    The horse was standing very still, head down, as though watching something in the corner of his stall.
    Quinn paused to run a hand along the gelding’s muzzle. “Hey, big fellow…”
    It took a moment for the