Right Wolf, Right Time Read Free Page B

and shut the door, left alone to dirty dishes, a rerun of Jeopardy and a lonely heart once more.

Chapter Two
    Monty spent the next two days cursing his idiocy. Sophie had been so sweet sitting on that couch. He’d smelled her need. For the first time, he’d been close to claiming her, and she’d been receptive. No trace of fear. Maybe a little nervousness, but she’d been hot for him.
    But had he made his move? No. Worried she might freak if he pounced the way he wanted to, he’d watched a fucking sitcom, made small talk— small talk —and left with a dessert he should have been eating off her navel.
    He groaned to himself and rerouted the Gandersons around a fallen tree. “This way, folks. I’m going to show you to your campsite. I’ll be back to collect you in a week.”
    The Gandersons, an extended family out for a fun gathering, nodded and thanked him. They would spend a week roughing it at one of Chastell Tours’ nicer camping spots.
    He left the family and walked a mile or so before ditching his clothes by a familiar storage area, where he bagged his things and hid them under a rock that made a perfect hideaway. He keyed his radio. “Dean? You there?”
    “No, it’s me.” Grady. “Go ahead, wolfie. Or should I say Scooby?”
    Monty gritted his teeth while the moron snickered. “Dumbass. I’m letting you know I’m done with the Gandersons. I’m roaming for a few days. I’ll be back Wednesday. I’m not taking my radio, so you’ve got the group at the Vista site.”
    “Roger that. Have a nice run. I’ll keep an eye out for those wolves circling Sophie.”
    “Yeah, you do that.”
    Grady continued to poke at him, not realizing how hard it was for Monty to give Sophie the distance she needed. But now that the order was taking a keen interest in her, Monty thought he might have to speed things up a bit. Dinner at her place had been great. Maybe he’d try a night out on the town, to show others she belonged to him. It was a big step, but he didn’t think a simple date would freak her out too much.
    And hell, he’d make sure to move the rest of their get-togethers to public places. He’d been a heartbeat from throwing her down and fucking her in her doorway. That kiss to her forehead had been crazy sexy. A simple, harmless kiss, and he’d raced home and jerked off twice before he could relax enough to sleep.
    Sophie’s well-being came first with him. Or it had, until this clusterfuck. A week ago, Hunters had kidnapped Dean and his mate and nearly killed them. On the order’s territory. The gray wolves hadn’t had any luck finding the Hunters yet. But Monty knew one of the Hunters—the one he sought—wouldn’t have gone far.
    Trying to find that sadistic asshole sucked up his free time when he should have been putting the full-court press on Sophie. He couldn’t tell the others why he really hunted the man, or that he still believed Ted Norris was in the vicinity. The psychopath and Monty shared a history, one he didn’t want anyone to know about. The shame of his time in captivity burned like acid in his gut, and he wanted nothing more than to bury the feeling…right alongside Norris’s dead body.
    With a snarl, Monty shifted into his wolf and darted into the forest, his nose to the ground as he moved. The feel of fur and claws and fangs reassured him. He relished the thick earth under his paws, the soft moss that tickled his whiskers and the pungent aroma of deer musk covering a nearby patch of bushes. No human scent remained other than what clung to Monty from Lou Ganderson’s handshake.
    He continued to jog, settling into the rhythm nature had intended—the predator merged with the forest, seeking out prey.
    Ted Norris was a big man, still muscular despite more than five decades of life no doubt spent brutalizing Ac-taw. He had a quickness and strength that surpassed a normal human’s, but his mass would ensure he left footprints in the soil. He’d never had much of a scent, just