Silence of the Wolf Read Free

have picked a worse place for me to meet with you.” North finally let out his breath. “If I have any trouble getting there—the road conditions are bad due to the snowstorm—I’ll give you a ring.”
    â€œAll right. See you this afternoon otherwise.” She ended the call and left the room to join Bertha, the owner of the B and B, in the kitchen for breakfast.
    She hadn’t realized the B and B was run by a gray wolf couple, but she’d been fortunate that the husband was off on a trip somewhere and his wife was really nice to her. She thought maybe Bertha was just an oddity, but then again, maybe because Elizabeth wasn’t a gray wolf, Bertha didn’t care what she was.
    â€œGood morning, Elizabeth,” Bertha greeted her. The woman had springy silver curls and a round face and a cherub smile that reminded Elizabeth of Mrs. Claus. She wore a colorful burgundy and blue floral dress that matched the bouquets of flowers sitting on the dining-room table, kitchen bar, and tables in the common room. Ivies wound around wrought-iron plant stands, and small ficus trees were grouped next to the big windows that looked out on a tree-filled yard blanketed in snow.
    â€œGood morning. The kitchen smells delightful.” Elizabeth sat down at the table covered in white lace to have a cup of steaming-hot chocolate and a freshly baked cinnamon roll. The frosting melted over the top and dripped down the sides.
    The scent of cinnamon filled the kitchen, and Elizabeth took in another deep breath. Just breathing in the sweet, sugary smell was bound to pack on the pounds.
    â€œAre you sure the ski patroller won’t be too put out about having to drop by and pick me up?” Elizabeth asked before she took a bite of the homemade cinnamon roll. If she didn’t ski enough to burn up the calories on the slopes, she would have to run in her wolf coat in the woods tonight.
    â€œNo, Tom has to drive right by here to get to the slopes. His brother Darien said Tom works until noon and would bring you home anytime you’re ready.”
    â€œHe doesn’t have to do that. I can take the shuttle.”
    The front door opened, bells jingling, and though Elizabeth couldn’t see the new arrival, she assumed it was her ride. She didn’t rise from the table, not wanting to appear too anxious or foolish if it wasn’t Tom.
    â€œTom, is that you?” Bertha called out. “We’re in the kitchen.”
    â€œYeah, is the lady ready?” Tom sounded a little gruff, annoyed, put out.
    Just like Elizabeth had assumed he’d be. She should have called a cab, if they even had cabs in Silver Town.
    Tom strode into the kitchen as if he was on a mission and ready to get it over with.
    He was tall, and his light-brown windswept hair and shadow of a beard gave him a rugged look. His cheeks were full of color from the cold. His eyes were the same rich shade of light brown as his hair, and they were instantly locked on hers.
    He took in a deep breath, and she did, too, in a wolf’s way of determining how someone felt. Instantly, she knew he wasn’t all human.
    She got a whole lot more of a perspective than just emotions.
    He was one hot-looking gray wolf . And that could mean trouble for her.

Chapter 2
    Tom Silver stared at the woman. She was too a wolf. He took another deep breath of the cinnamon-filled air, of the woman’s sweet scent of red wolf… and something else. Coyote .
    She was petite like a red wolf, but more than unusual because she wasn’t all wolf. He’d never met a wolf-coyote mix before. Never heard of a coyote shifter. Now he wondered if the coyotes he’d seen that dared encroach on their territory were shifters, not just plain old coyotes.
    He immediately thought of the Native American legends of Coyote, the trickster god, full of mischief, a thief, wily and sneaky. And a shape-shifter. Maybe that’s where the tales had come from, based